Finland - Housed in the Sibelius Hall Congress and Concert Centre, the 1,229-seat Main Hall serves as the home to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and a year-round programme of Finnish light music, stand-up comedy, and operettas.

Listed by Sydney Morning Herald and Gramophone magazine amongst the world's best concert venues, the Main Hall's celebrated physical acoustic features were designed by New York-based Artec Consultants in 2000. For presentations that require amplification, the hall has recently upgraded to Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

Featuring flexible acoustical designs such as corrugated walls to scatter reflected sounds, and moving canopy above the stage, the world-class concert venue chose carefully when it came time to update the sound r

USA - Yost Ice Arena, home of Michigan Wolverines hockey, is the new home of a spectacular centre-hung Lighthouse video system. Integrated by Lighthouse partner TS Sports, the four-sided system features four main video screens, full-colour corner screens, and a 360-degree lower fascia ring.

The arena was constructed in 1923 and has undergone major renovations four times in its illustrious history. A classic collegiate hockey facility, Yost seats 6,637 and has hosted NCAA tournament games five times, most recently in 2003.

Yost's newest upgrade includes a four-sided board featuring Lighthouse Pi10 screens measuring 3.96m high by 5.12m wide, capable of in-game replays, animations and sponsor messages. Full-colour corner screens and a lower fascia ring constructed of Lighthouse F16 add dazzle to the centre-hung board and help keep Michigan hockey fans fired up.

For the Yost Ice

Turkey - After a very successful 2011 with Hippotizers attending a host of events and projects in Turkey, Green Hippo has decided to appoint a new distributor for the region.

Phantom Engineering has so far purchased nine HDs for various projects, plus two demonstration HDs for their role as Green Hippo distributor.

Phantom Engineering first contacted Green Hippo at the end of 2010 with a view to buying six HDs for the 25th Winter Universiade in Erzurum earlier this year.

Since then Phantom has not stopped. They have worked continuously on one event after the other and their projects include The World Children's Games Opening in Turkey with seven Hippotizer HDs using a total of 13 outputs for 12 Christie HD18K and one Curved LED display running content of 5Kx3K.

By this year's PLASA it was decided that with the hard work Phantom had put in, their knowledge and experience of

Korea - International hit musical Mamma Mia! has opened at the D-Cube Art Center, Seoul, which has been equipped by L-Acoustics Korea distributor Dream Sound with a K1 WST line source and XTi coaxial system. This is the first permanent K1 theatre system to be installed worldwide.

Located within Seoul's futuristic D-Cube City, the 1,242 seat venue has been installed with two hangs of eight K1s and two K1-SB subs left and right of the stage, six KARAs as down-fill, and two stacks of four SB28 subs in cardioid mode positioned on stage below the K1 hangs. Additionally there are four under balcony hangs of two KIVA WST enclosures, while 32 8XTi coaxial speakers relay musical surround effects throughout the venue. The system is driven by L-Acoustics LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - JoeCo has appointed Mega Audio GmbH as its new distributor for Germany and Austria. The Bingen-based distribution company adds the BlackBox Recorder/Player range to an established portfolio of pro audio and live sound products.

This latest addition to JoeCo's international distributor network follows the recent launches of the BlackBox BBR64-MADI and BBR-DANTE Recorder versions, which have increased the product's live multi-channel audio capturing capabilities from 24 channels to up to 64 channels in the compact 1 rack unit format.

"We are delighted to welcome Mega Audio on board," said JoeCo managing director Joe Bull. "Burkhard Elsner and his team have many years of experience in our key market sectors and we are looking forward to building a strong working relationship that will enable us to take the brand forward in Germany and Austria."

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Singapore - Wireless Solution Sweden is now part of Sentosa, the popular island resort in Singapore which attracts millions of local and foreign visitors every year. Its most famous resident and visitor attraction - The Merlion - a 37m statue formed in the image of the fabled half-lion and half-fish guardian of Singapore recently got a makeover using W-DMX technology.

Sentosa Development Group, which manages the Sentosa Merlion Park had decided to look into enhancing the Merlion Park's environment with the use of creative outdoor lighting. Synergy AVL Pte, a Singapore based audio-visual and lighting system solutions company, was invited to propose a lighting solution for the island's statuesque icon. Synergy's project team, led by senior project engineer Chip Chong earnestly conducted a series of site surveys before deciding on which types of indoor and outdoor luminaires were b

South Africa - Lira's The Captured Tour is midway, performing to sold out audiences across South Africa.

Kurt du Preez, co-director of Pan Tilt, was honoured when approached to be the touring lighting designer for South African's Afro-jazz star Miss Lira, as she is affectionately known. "It's the work we live for," said du Preez, who operates the show using the Avolites Tiger Touch.

"The Tiger Touch is incredibly fast for its size and mobility. It's user friendly and if you make a mistake, forgiving. Avolites have come a long way in regards to moving lights software and the user interface."

Insane Sound supplement the in-house equipment at each venue with various fixtures including Robe and two Le Maitre units. "We use a lot of haze which makes a huge difference," he added.

(Jim Evans)

France - Medialon has released Manager KIOSK, billed as "the ultimate kiosk application generator for Media Control for interactive kiosk applications in Museum kiosks, Theme Park interactive attractions, and more".

Manager KIOSK is the solution when link to other controls and link to external world is needed without the burden of doing C++ or Flash programming.

This new special edition of Medialon Manager, Medialon's awarded Windows-based powerful audiovisual control software, benefits from Medialon Manager's control programming environment, its graphical user interface and its easy programming tools which make kiosk programming easier and more powerful than ever.

With Manager KIOSK, it is easy to build user interfaces with buttons, sliders, text displays, gauges, lists, and text entry fields as well as embedded media or video playback without being a C++ or Adobe

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

USA - City Theatrical is launching a wide range of new products at LDI 2011 in Orlando this month, including the US debut of SHoW DMX Neo and SHoW DMX SHoW Baby. These two products are the latest innovations in City Theatrical's 10 years of wireless DMX development and manufacturing.

SHoW DMX Neo has advanced Ethernet gateway functions including dual Ethernet ports and accepts multiple show protocols such as sACN, Art-Net, and KiNet.

SHoW DMX Neo includes a RDM controller provided with the Transceiver which allows anyone to monitor RDM devices from their laptop during the show, perform all radio setup functions, and to check RDM responder functions such as Receiver signal strength, battery voltage on SHoW DMX Dimmers, change DMX addresses, and any other RDM functions that are supported by any manufacturer's equipment on the system.

SHoW DMX SHoW Baby takes the same wireless

UK -- Independent technology consultancy Visual Acuity is expanding once again, this time appointing Damian Andrews to the position of lead consultant, project development. Andrews brings a fresh perspective to the consultancy with a wealth of experience working in various project roles ranging from client user, owner, operator and integrator, says the company.

Blair Parkin, managing director, Visual Acuity comments, "The technological scope of our work continues to develop, as does our geographical reach - we are currently working on projects as far afield as Asia, the Middle East, the US and Europe.

"Damian will lead and champion our customers' interests and provide advice and support to architects, building engineers, vendors and other service providers on each project."

Andrews' industry experience dates back to the mid-1990s when, while studying for a Dip

USA - Artistic Licence founder, Wayne Howell, has accepted an invitation to speak at the forthcoming LDI show in Orlando, Florida, as part of the Innovation and Technology Conference. The training session, to be held at 10am on 30 October (Room S319), will allow participants to access Howell's considerable expertise in the use of Ethernet TCP/IP for the lighting industry.

Covering essential information on the 'hows and whys' of Cat 5E and Cat 6 cables, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in the entertainment technology sector, the seminar has immediate relevance for any designer, technician or electrician interested in keeping up with the state-of-the-art.

Howell enjoys communicating his extensive theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject, having authored the handbook Rock Solid Ethernet and participating for many years in the ESTA (now known as PLASA) te

Q Awards - Adele has won best female artist and best track at Q magazine's music awards in London. Other prizes went to rapper Tinie Tempah, who was named best male artist and Coldplay, who picked up best act in the world today. Readers voted U2 the best band of the publication's lifetime. Speaking on the red carpet, frontman Bono said Q had been crucial to his career. "It's a truly great thing," he said. "They're so important for anyone that wants to take all their music all the way."

Adele's Rolling in the Deep was picked out as the best track of 2011 ahead of her ubiquitous hit Someone Like You, which was also nominated. The singer's victory comes just a fortnight after she was forced to shelve a US tour due to problems with her throat. The ceremony also saw Queen entered into Q's Hall Of Fame and Siouxsie Sioux awarded for her outstanding contribution to

USA - Stage Technologies has confirmed its major sponsorship of the North American Theatre Engineering & Architecture Conference (NATEAC). The next two day conference will be held in New York on 22-23 July 2012 and Stage Technologies is once again the first company to commit its support as Platinum Sponsor of this key industry event, having been one of the main sponsors of the inaugural event in 2008.

The NATEAC conference provides a forum for consultants, architects, engineers, technicians and technical managers to discuss planning, design, construction, installation and commissioning entertainment venues, conference and international sporting event spaces, and houses of worship.

Mark Ager, CEO of the global Stage Technologies group said, "We are pleased to once again offer our support to the 2012 NATEAC conference. This industry thrives on the opportunity to exchange id

UK - PA/VA specialist Ateis has supplied a sophisticated PA/VA system to The American Express Community Football Stadium - the new home of Brighton & Hove Albion FC - aka The Seagulls.

The 22,5000 capacity stadium is nestled in the rolling hills of the South Downs, situated just outside Brighton's busy city centre. The club has been without an official home since the sale of its original stadium in 1997. And the launch of this new stadium coincided with Brighton & Hove Albion being promoted to the championship league for the 2010-2011 season.

Working with specialist installer, VCP Services and electrical contractors, NG Bailey, Ateis UK supplied an Ateis IDA VA networked public address - voice alarm system, which drives 38 zones via Ateis SPA series amplifiers. LAP G2 network audio processors are used for control and DSP. The racks were assembled by Ateis at the Devon based HQ

Malawi - The new Midas PRO2C live audio system has passed its first real world challenge with flying colours, handling front of house at the Lake of Stars Festival on the sandy shores of Lake Malawi. The PRO2 faced extreme temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius, an abundance of sand and grit plus a severe fuel crisis, which meant power was only available 30 minutes before the festival opened.

"I really love the PRO2C; it was very easy to get to grips with, and after just 30 minutes I could start the show confidently," says FOH engineer Craig Williams. "I'm more accustomed to the Midas Heritage series and the classic XL3, which I will always love, but the tiny footprint and low weight for a festival like Lake of Stars is perfect. Not needing a rack of outboard saves a huge amount in shipping costs to somewhere like Africa, and even more in sweat when you have to

USA - The PLASA Focus: Austin 2012 floor plan is now live. From today, participating companies and a full programme of events can be found alongside visitor registration facilities and exhibitor application information at www.plasafocus.com/austin.

The two-day event, to be held 22-23 February 2012 at the Renaissance Austin, Texas, is the first of a new style of regional event for North America. Based on the successful PLASA Focus events in Europe, the new regional model seeks to bring world class professional knowledge and high-profile exhibitors to the heart of beautiful Texas hill country.

Confirmed exhibitors include ETC, Arri, GDS, Robe, Rosco, CommuniLux Productions, GLP German Light Products, Daktronics Rigging, Clay Paky, Total Structures, High End Systems, Chauvet, Philips Color Kinetics, A.C.T Lighting, Doug Fleenor Design, Strong Entertainment Lighting, and Secoa, wi

UK - More than 61,000 people turned up to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium recently to watch the free live streaming of Wales v France in the Rugby World Cup 2011 Semi Final from New Zealand.

This required a hasty sound reinforcement infrastructure to be constructed inside the Stadium for the commentary and live performances, including an EAW KF740 line array speaker system and three big screens.

For Huw 'Buz' Evans and Rob Ashton from Welsh sound rental company ABacoustics, it might have seemed something of a poisoned chalice as they accepted the challenge from local production company Orchard Media & Events Group to rig their EAW PA - and deliver the same outstanding performance from the KF740 system as they had achieved when the two companies last worked together on Ponty's Big Weekend in Pontypridd.

For whilst this would be the biggest production the company had ever

Australia / China - A new addition has been made to the Illumination Physics Bar Pro range of linear direct view LED products. Developed and implemented for the façade of the Landmark China Resources Building in Hong Kong, the unique rectangular shape of Illumination Physics' Bar Pro Rectilinear has been developed to suit applications where the physical appearance of the LED Bar must conform to a more planar appearance:

"The semi-square profile suits certain architectural applications better than a round profile LED BAR," says the company. "The unique linear end cap design means that there is no change in profile as one Bar Pro Rectilinear is butted up to the next. This is because the bonding surface of the end cap is inside the profile of the Bar Pro Rectilinear and the transition from one section of Bar Pro Rectilinear to the next is perfectly smooth."

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Russia - As the latest step in their global growth strategy to provide support for local partners, projectiondesign has opened an office in the heart of Russia's capital.

To coincide with the increased local presence, industry veteran Stein Ramsli has taken on the role of regional director, Russia and CIS. Ramsli previously held the position of managing director at Cisco/TANDBERG Russia and PLC and has extensive experience in working in the region.

Ramsli comments, "Our opening of an office in Moscow clearly demonstrates projectiondesign's commitment to supporting partners in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our products are already very popular in the region, and we foresee strong continued growth here. Localising sales and marketing, training and product service and support is important for us, and will ensure our continued success."

At the same

USA - A.C. Lighting Inc.'s booth at the 2011 LDI show, Orlando will be showcasing the latest technology innovations from Chroma-Q, Jands Vista and LedGo - all of which are distributed in North America by the reseller.

The new Chroma-Q Color Force Compact will be officially launched at this year's show. Utilizing core LED technology from the popular Color Force range, the Compact provides a powerful 1,700 lumens of output in a slim, compact profile - making it suitable for lighting areas while occupying a very small footprint.

By incorporating the same LEDs as the 12", 48" and 72" fixtures, the Compact works in harmony with the popular Color Force range; providing the deep cold blues, red hot lava looks and super soft pastels that designers love.

Another Chroma-Q innovation on show is the recently launched Studio Force White LED range, which has been designed s

USA - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light returns to exhibiting at LDI in Orlando this year, after a several years absence from the show floor. The reason for the return - new products from i-Pix and Core Lighting, both companies are members of the White Light Family of manufacturers distributed by White Light.

On the White Light booth, i-Pix will be showing their new LED Beamlight, which surprised and delighted many on its first appearance at the PLASA Show in London in September. The fixture offers a new, low-energy alternative to the classic ACL effect, and is described by i-Pix as being "unlike any other LED fixture you have ever seen". The compact fixture is available with RGBW, RGBA, daylight white, UV and other light engines, creating a focusable beam that can be adjusted from+/-35degrees, with the highlight a tight 5 degree beam.

The fixture itself

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