UK - SES Entertainment Services on Stand number 1J-11, are running a competition at this year's PLASA show, with one lucky winner walking away with a holiday in Sunny Florida.

For every order placed on the stand this year, an entry will be placed into the competition to win a two week stay in a five-bed luxury villa in Kissimmee, Florida in 2012.

Just 10 minutes drive from the Gates of the Walt Disney resort in Orlando, Florida, the home sleeps up to 10 people and has a very large pool. Just off the highway 192, you will be in the heart of all the major attractions within a few minutes drive. The home benefits from four bathrooms, full air conditioning and a games room. Dates for the stay are subject to availability (Summer dates are still available) and the prize does not inclu

UK - InfoComm International will continue its programme of support for the UK's AV rental and staging community when it hosts a range of education sessions at this year's PLASA show next month.

The sessions will take place at London's Earl's Court on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 September. They will be led by Andre LeJeune, CTS, InfoComm's rental & staging staff instructor, who has more than 30 years' experience of staging and presentation and has been responsible for many large-scale productions for corporate clients around the world.

Topics covered will include 'Lighting for Video in the Large Meeting Environment', 'Audio Techniques for Corporate AV Events', and 'Project Management for Stage Labour'. Each session will last 90 minutes and will earn attendees 1.5 RUs (Renewal Units) towards continued InfoComm CTS certification. All sessions are free to attend.

Chris Lavel

USA - PLASA Events has announced its first ever PLASA Focus: Tech, a three-day audio/video/lighting workshop and live concert to be held 20-22 February 2012 alongside the recently announced PLASA Focus: Austin 2012 event.

PLASA Focus: Tech will bring together industry experts Richard Cadena (Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light), Brad Schiller (The Automated Lighting Programmer's Handbook), Chad Yeary of Portal Designs, Damon Lang of Nomad Sound, and Coolux USA for a hands-on learning programme.

The workshop will include a lighting track with design, visualisation, and programming; a video track with video content design media server programming; and an audio track with audio system design live mixing. Each attendee will programme and/or operate the lighting, audio, or video for a portion of a live concert before an audience on the final night.

Italy - Over 90 Robe moving lights including the new Robin 600 LEDWash are the core lighting fixtures being used on the new series of Reazione A Catena (Chain Reaction), a popular Italian games show based on contestants finding hidden words, which is being recorded at C Cinecittà Studios in Rome for RAI TV.

Lighting is designed by Massimo Castrichella, one of Italy's leading TV LDs, who has an impressive 33 year track record with the country's top TV channel, also making him one of the most knowledgeable and experienced practitioners in the art of TV lighting.

The set is based around a completely spherical auditorium with a small stage and curved seating. The studio walls are white and therefore ideal for colouration and gobo projections from the lighting, and a series of curved ribbon like LED surfaces are threaded around the space. The lighting is rigged on three cir

UK - The LAX series mixers have a natural sound with outstanding parameters and optimal user-friendliness as well as maximum dependability in day-to-day operation on the road. This makes them an affordable solution for a broad range of applications, says the company.

Andrew Richardson, managing director of Adam Hall UK comments, "The DJ mixer series with its built-in preamp stands out because of its outstanding capabilities and complete function that will make any performance incisive and vivid, the perfect partner for your events."

(Jim Evans)

UK - SGM's CC-4 is a four-bank high-powered multiple LED washlight with an enviable power output. With its IP65 rating it is designed for architectural use.

Each of the four chassis contains 44 of the LZ4 RGB Cool White Emitter LED's and thanks to its new light engine it can deliver 21,000 lumens - providing more than three and a half times that of SGM's original Palco 5 LED, which was designed for the same purpose.

The CC-4 offers CTC and white balance control. Power consumption is just 4 x 400W and the lamp life is rated at 50,000 hours.

Housed in a black slim aluminium chassis lenses are interchangeable (via the Narrow, Medium and Wide lens kit) and the fixture boasts eight or 17 DMX channels. Set up is via an OLED graphic five-button display.

Other features include: Simple menu structure; upgradeable software (via DMX); IP65 rated; standard Neutrik powerCON connectors

UK - Batmink Distribution, one of the largest UK distributors of professional audio, lighting and effects equipment, will introduce a number of new products at PLASA 2011. New brands on show include Visage Lighting, Vector Audio, Pro-Flite Flightcases, Pro-Stage Portable Staging and Lumaform LED Illuminated Furniture.

Of particular interest is the Visage LED Multipar RGBAW - a new PAR unit that delivers a truly impressive light output from 18 x 8w LEDs. 12 x RGBW and 6 x RGBA 4 in 1 LEDs produce full spectrum colour mixing and control is achieved through DMX, auto programs, sound to light or master slave functions. The black multipar housing is more robust than conventional PARcan bodies and completes this tough, powerful unit.

Another brand making its PLASA debut is Lumaform. Offering a range of LED illuminated furniture in a variety of styles; Lumaform is at the cutting edge

UK - QSC Audio Products will feature their new KLA Series Active Line Array System at PLASA 2011. KLA is latest addition to the House of K Family of active loudspeakers, joining the ranks of the successful K Series and KW Series. With similar user interfaces and sonic performance characteristics throughout the family, the K Family models can easily be mixed and matched to suit a wide range of applications for installed sound, as well as rental and portable PA, says the company.

"With the House of K line, system integrators, designers and installers have an incredible arsenal of tools that they can utilize to meet the requirements of contemporary sound applications," says Ray van Straten, QSC marketing communications manager.

"Since their introduction, the K Family of products has continually exceeded our customers' expectations in terms of sonic performance, eas

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UK - A new series of the tea time TV show Perfection is about to be broadcast. The BBC2 show is presented by Nick Knowles and filmed at BBC Glasgow

Martin Kempton designed the lighting show, provided by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) and supported by Tony Kennedy along with his team at TSL. The specification includes MAC 500s, VL1000TS, Alpha Beam 700s, 900mm Chroma Strips, Chroma Flood TCs and Stage Zoom 1200's.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Jodrell Bank, home of the famous Lovell radio telescope, has given visitors another reason to visit following the recent upgrade and expansion of its Discovery Centre. Electrosonic installed the audio-visual and interactive elements of the exhibits under subcontract to fit-out contractors, The Moule Partnership.

Part of the University of Manchester, the Discovery Centre works alongside the Observatory to educate visitors about the research and the live science that is carried out by the Jodrell Bank team. The new £3m project includes a new entrance building, the Planet Pavilion, and a new Space Pavilion for exhibitions and events.

Teresa Anderson, director of the Discovery Centre says, "We are delighted with the exhibition. It's a huge improvement on the last centre and the visitors are really enjoying the interactive elements. The exhibition enables us to insp

Norway - Kaizers Orchestra is recognised as one of Norway's most prominent rock bands and best live acts. On Saturday 9 April, the band played the concert of their lifetime in a fully booked Oslo Spektrum. An audience of 10,000 spectators got to experience a spectacular show.

"As Norway's most important venue, selling out Oslo Spektrum is a huge step for any Norwegian band and we were glad to be there to assist Kaizers Orchestra in making it a truly remarkable evening for everyone in the audience." states Rubicon's marketing director, Nikolai Perminow.

Rubicon is Norway's leading rental provider of Clay Paky and delivered a range of Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500 HPE, Alpha Spot 700 HPE and Alpha Wash 700s as moving fixtures for the show - alongside conventional lighting, rigging, PA and monitoring.

Neil Solheim, Kaizers Orchestra's lighting designer reports, "The

UK - Buxton Opera House in Derbyshire recently selected a combined Allen & Heath iDR installation and iLive digital mixing system as the audio distribution and FOH mixer for a new multi-format theatre in its Pavilion Arts Centre.

The 360-capacity auditorium, which hosts a varied programme of theatre and conference events, has an iDR-32 MixRack and iDR-8 Mix Processor installed in a backstage sound rack, with an iLive-T80 Control Surface at FOH position. There is also a PL-6 remote fader panel and a laptop loaded with iLive and iDR control software in the studio, as well as a PL-10 rotary control panel in the prompt corner position. The rest of the PA system comprises Martin Audio speakers and amps.

"An iDR-8 was installed in the main Opera House to control the speaker PA system and we've been impressed by its versatility and user-friendliness, so a combined iDR-8 and iLiv

Italy - London-based production company LarMac Live (LML) production managed the launch of the latest high profile Hard Rock Cafe venue, which has just opened in Florence.

Having a 'grand opening' event was fully endorsed by the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi. It was attended by a host of local dignitaries, politicians and celebrities, plus about 10,000 members of the public who pitched up to enjoy a free concert headlined by British rock superstars Simple Minds in the prime location of the Piazza della Repubblica, Florence (the venue is on Brunelleschi, 1 - just off the Piazza).

LarMac LIVE won the contract to produce and co-ordinate all technical production elements needed for the event through their previous work and connections with the client. They have worked on Women of Rock shows and Hard Rock Calling events in Hyde Park, London among others. They were also highly rec

USA - Tennessee-based rental company Morris Light and Sound reports that it can't keep its new inventory of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures on the shelves. The company is also doing a brisk business with its grandMA and grandMA light consoles.

"After getting a demo of Sharpy we purchased 24 for the upcoming Xtreme Muzik The Tour, with country duo Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson," says David Haskell, owner of Morris Light and Sound. "Then we used them on Country Music Television's live Music Builds: CMT Disaster Relief Concert for the victims of the recent storms, floods, and tornadoes. After that, we ordered 12 more Sharpy fixtures for Jake Owen, who's supporting Keith Urban on tour.

"We're among the first to take delivery of the lights, which are pretty impressive for their size and punch. For television, their most impressive feature is how quiet t

UK - Northampton based rigging specialists Unusual Rigging has officially launched its new website (www.unusual.co.uk). The interactive site provides clients, prospects and potential employees with extensive new features, higher quality content and complete information on services, news and events. The improved navigation, access to content and rich media additions, such as videos of installations, will aid users in making the most informed decisions about their options, says the company.

Since its founding in 1983 Unusual Rigging has grown to become one of the largest specialist rigging organisations in the entertainment technology industry, serving projects and clients nationwide. The new website is designed to inform clients and prospects in a straightforward manner, with concise content, SEO-rich text and stunning photography.

UK - PLASA 2011 will mark the official debut of the newest control desk in ETC's award winning Eos line - Gio.

Gio is designed to fill the mid range position in the Eos family, sitting between the Eos and Ion. It will offer the power of full Eos functionality, in a tidy footprint. Features include integrated, articulating multi touch displays, helpful backlit buttons and unique tactile response direct selects and encoders.

The look of the desk itself is elegantly polished and minimalist. ETC is set to release further in depth information in early September, as part of the international product reveal. Initial response from ETC's CUE end user conference attendees - who were the first to have a sneak preview in July - confirms that it will be a popular draw at the PLASA stand.

ETC is also showing for the first time at PLASA its new ultra bright, high colour, energy efficient S

The Netherlands - Christoph Willibald von Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice was staged during June and July against the royal backdrop of Soestdijk Palace in Utrecht, attracting 1,500 people per night. A large quantity of DPA microphones, including the first 2006A and 2011A mics to arrive in Holland, were provided by DPA's Dutch distributor Amptec for the event.

The opera, directed by De Utrechtse Spelen's artistic director Jos Thie, sees Orfeo persuading Amore, the god of love, to bring his beloved Euridice back from the Underworld. The action took place on a lake in front of the palace, with a steel net constructed just below the water level so the singers could walk, and even cycle, across the water from the palace to the main stage. Allowing the actors to appear in, on and below the water perfectly represented the two different realms - Earth, home of the living, and th

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd's managing director, David Leggett has been appointed to the position of executive chairman. Former UK sales director, Phill Capstick has moved over into David Leggett's role as managing director and Jonathan Walters has expanded his responsibility to UK sales director from Northern sales director.

David Leggett comments, "I am very excited about this new position as it allows me to concentrate on the direction of the way the company is headed and frees me up from the day to day management."

Phill Capstick adds, "I have been working with David on managing the company for several years now; relinquishing the duty of UK sales director to Jonathan will allow me to concentrate fully in my new capacity as managing director. I am looking forward to my new task within A.C. Entertainment Technologies."

Jonathan Wal

UK - PixelRange has announced that in addition to its major presence on the stand of master European distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies , the company will also showcase its new SmartRange of Intelligent LED fixtures at the STLD-hosted LED Shoot Out which is a central feature of this year's PLASA Show.

The Society of Television Lighting Designers (STLD) has arranged a 240sq.m space where LED lighting fixtures can be directly compared across three different areas. The first lighting shootout area features a specially built 8m-wide cyclorama, the second a practical hands-on 'mini TV studio', and the third section is a lecture and presentation theatre where LED fixtures from different categories are compared side-by-side with their traditional Tungsten or Discharge equivalent.

PixelRange will demonstrate three newly released lighting fixtures - QPar, PixelSmart and Smart

UK - EAW will unveil several product ranges to the UK market at this year's PLASA Show.

The new VF passive series consists of five models of VFR two-way full-range loudspeakers - two VFS subwoofers and three VSM stage monitors. This range represents a new approach to the needs of professional audio from EAW; combining a hybrid of portable and install features in one package, says the company.

The VF series is intended for both portable and install applications and environments, including auditoriums, theatres, nightclubs and DJ setups, bars, music performances, houses of worship, and mobile churches.

New SBK series subwoofers will also debut. Designed to complement EAW's MK Series full-range loudspeakers in construction, size and sound, they can also be used as stand-alone subwoofers in a system from any other EAW model.

The SBK line includes three models: SBK150 (single 1

USA - Since 1975, Tulsa's Mabee Centre has been the site of the annual Miss Oklahoma Pageant. Located on the campus of Oral Roberts University, Mabee Centre is also the home of the Golden Eagles men's' and women's' basketball teams and serves as the area's primary venue for concerts, business conferences, seminars, and other special events.

This year's Miss Oklahoma Pageant and its sibling event, Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen contributed more than $2M in scholarship funds to the contestants. To ensure robust music reproduction and the finest speech intelligibility possible, the Mabee Center staff pulled out all the stops with its deployment of a robust sound reinforcement system drawn from the catalogue of D.A.S. Audio.

Casey Phariss serves as Oral Roberts University's audio services manager and chief audio engineer. In this capacity, he oversees the day-to-day operations a

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