20 Years Ago . . . LSi February 1995

""The implications for the industry could be enormous," said LSi this month, after The Really Useful Theatre Company's insurers had paid out on an £878,000 claim for nine cancelled performances of Sunset Boulevard. The problem was caused by hydraulics control equipment being affected by nearby walkie-talkies - and the insurers promptly pursued the manufacturer of the equipment, Berendsen Fluid Power Ltd, for the money. "This is precisely the scenario that the forthcoming EMC regulations are designed to eliminate," said PLASA's standards officer, George Thomson."

10 Years Ago . . . LSi February 2005

""Barco acquires System Technologies" was our lead headline this month. Founded by Frederic Opsomer in 1995, System Technologies specialised in creative designs for special projects in the rental and staging markets. Barco, the Belgian visual systems giant, said that the company would be renamed Innovative Designs and "would maintain its own infrastructure and facilities. "

This month: A Tale of Two Cities

"This is where the organisation's newly acquired SSL L500 console was first put through its paces, trying to overcome the kind of tiled reflections that would have many a sound engineer reaching for the smelling salts."

This month: QLab

"What makes a classic piece of gear? In my mind, one factor has been something that causes a dramatic shift in the way we work - because curiously, many in the entertainment technology world show no fear of new tools, and once the pioneers accept them they tend to spread rapidly."

This month: Lighting maintenance technician, Justin Cook

"I started playing with lights aged 12 in my tiny home town of Levin, New Zealand. Left school at 16 to run a followspot on a NZ tour of Porgy & Bess and haven't looked back. Earning $400 a week at that age beats chasing sheep around a field!"

This month: Environmental Strategy

"Tom Harper has been engaged as the company's Sustainability Coordinator. I'm thrilled to hear that this is a post that companies within the industry are creating, and Unusual are to be congratulated for it."

This month: Virtualisation

"It says quite something about the tremendous advances in the power of the computer on your desktop - or your lap - that whereas it used to struggle to keep up with you, it now not only takes everyday tasks in its stride - but can also happily run a completely separate 'virtual' computer inside itself, effectively turning one computer into two. "

This month: Points for Thought

". . . to my way of thinking the most sensible and competent approach is to treat any equipment used in entertainment rigging according to risk, irrespective of its designation. Inspect or thoroughly examine as appropriate. Record as appropriate."

This month: ETC Nomad with Pixel Mapping

"Setting up the display to which the content will be mapped is quick and easy. Within a matter of a few keystrokes you can have an array of pixels displayed graphically on the Pixel Map space showing the status of each pixel . . ."

This month: Lee Baldock talks to Carol Scott of Tait Towers. . .

"I realised that my forte was actually organising getting all the right things in the right place at the right time - that's really what I like doing. I like budgets and technology, I like the math of a lighting design . . .""

We've added over 175 photos of the PLASA Show in London from the LSi archives dating back to 1993.

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