USA - Over 200 customers attended the opening of the new 48,000 sq ft ADJ Group facility in South Florida on December 11th with guests getting a first look at the building's modern amenities and enjoying a light show that featured over 400 products in action.

The new facility, located just 15 minutes north of the Miami International Airport, serves all ADJ Group companies: Elation Professional, Acclaim, ADJ lighting, American Audio, and Global Truss America/DuraTruss. It includes extensive warehousing and shipping areas, a 3,200 sq ft state-of-the-art showroom, training centre, and quality control and service areas.

Established to support US dealers east of the Mississippi, as well as distributors for Latin America, the new Florida facility allows for faster product delivery and

UK - Audio manufacturer Audient received a significant boost in the form of new ownership under audio veteran Simon Blackwood. Taking the helm at Audient this month, Blackwood is already working closely with the Hampshire-based team, using his considerable business experience within the audio industry to further strengthen the Audient brand.

Blackwood is clearly impressed by the current product line and personnel - including recently appointed managing director, Steve Flower, chief technical officer, Tom Waterman and sales and marketing director Luke Baldry. "I have keenly followed Audient's success over the years, so the opportunity to work directly with the team to take the business to the next level was too compelling to turn down," he says.

"The brand has become universally recognised for producing award-winning, innovative products for modern music recordin

Canada - Justin Timberlake kicked off his 20/20 Experience world tour in Montreal a grandMA2 full-size was a key player. True to its name, the tour is "an experience rather than a show," says lighting designer Nick Whitehouse. "It's very visual with lots of projection and lighting and a lot of new technology. We got pretty creative with everything and had fun putting it all together."

The tour is in support of Timberlake's third studio album. The singer will play dates in North America, Europe, Australia and South America.

Whitehouse programmed the tour on a grandMA2 full-size with Jason Gangi, who is also the lighting director. "I like using grandMA2 best," Whitehouse says.

"We did seven weeks of rehearsals," Whitehouse reports. "The gear really got a workout - 20 hours a day." On the tour "the whole rig is hidde

UK - Le Maitre has launched a new range of Comets - Tracer Comets, which are much faster and brighter than conventional comets.

They project a single star to a specified height of 20ft, 30ft or 40ft and leave the image of a coloured streak. Tracer Comets can be shot on various angles with no noticeable variation in direction. They are available in several colours, with and without tail.

(Jim Evans)

Poland - An Outline sound reinforcement system has been installed in the Kashubian Philharmonic Hall, located in the city of Wejherowo in northern Poland.

As well as the multi-purpose concert hall, the striking venue (which takes its name from the local area's ethnic and linguistic community), designed by Arch-Studio and inaugurated in 2012, also features a culture centre with numerous workshops hosting a wide variety of artistic activities.

Leading Polish designer, manufacturer, and supplier of sound reinforcement systems and system integrator, Gda?sk-based Outline distributor Ambient System was called in by the venue's owners, Wejherowo City Hall, to supply and install the audio equipment, as well as coordinating the hall's AV design.

The company's brief was to provide a system which, as well as ensuring high quality sound and even coverage throughout the 400-seat auditori

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USA - Sommer Cable and Hicon have named Danny Woodlief as representative and general distributor for the USA.

Danny is CEO of Wiring Solutions & Interconnect, a successful distributor for electronic components and cable, located in Fuquay-Varina, Wake County, North Carolina. Danny is not only a successful business man but also developer of electronics controls and an enthusiastic musician - the perfect match to Sommer cable and Hicon!

Wiring Solutions & Interconnect has a sales forces of more than 70 agents and has established state-of-the-art cable production. This Know-How will enable Sommer cable and Hicon to develop and produce the best possible products for the US market, says the company.

Danny will be supporting the Sommer Cable team at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, USA, from the 23-26 January 2014. He looks forward to this event meeting active and new Sommer

UK - Jarrod Bischoff returns to the Gallowglass Group as head of training - responsible for the group's stand-alone events industry training company. Having joined events crewing firm Gallowglass in 2004 as senior crew chief, Bischoff moved to a client liaison role between 2009 and 2012, before leaving the company to hone his business development skills with coffee company, CaféPod.

"I've been willingly seduced back to the events industry - and my year's sabbatical has shown me just how far the bar has been raised in expectations of gold-standard event delivery," he said. "Many companies are taking speed, efficiency and safety really seriously nowadays, while others simply want to operate within the law. Either way, training has become an essential, not a luxury."

Gallowglass Training was launched in 2011, to build on the basic on-site induction cour

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Events reports that Dr Dirk Schlesinger, the global lead for manufacturing industries of Cisco Consulting Services, will present the Opening Keynote Address of ISE 2014.

Titled Kick-Starting the Market for Building Automation, Schlesinger's speech will give attendees an exclusive insight into how a new cross-industry initiative set up by Cisco, ABB, Bosch and LG will transform the world of 'smart' building technology by offering a common standard for data exchange across multiple appliances and disciplines.

"In October 2013, Cisco, ABB, Bosch and LG signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of a common, open and discrimination-free platform to unite diverse services such as lighting control, energy management, security, healthcare and, not least, audiovisual entertainment and communication," Schlesinge

UK - XL Video is supplying a high powered projection system, Pandora's Box mapping and media server control, cameras and PPU to the current #willpower tour by will.i.am, which originated in the US and is currently in Europe.

The tour's all-white stage and production design was created by will.i.am and is heavily video orientated with minimal lighting. The tech savvy artist is involved with all aspects of his visual presentation - overseen by production manager Neil Porter - as well as bringing his innovative musicology and techniques to the stage.

The set features three large inflatable heads - a larger central one which moves on and offstage throughout the show - flanked by two smaller ones. All three have a DJ set up on top and were constructed by All Access, together with three roll-down projection screens upstage of the heads.

The projection system design was crea

USA - The Cambridge University American Stage Tour (CAST) is the largest and most prestigious international touring theatre show from Cambridge University, now in its fourteenth year. Each year, a company of Cambridge's most talented directors, producers, actors and technicians bring one of Shakespeare's plays to Ivy League universities, high schools and professional theatres across the east coast of America. Le Maitre was delighted to provide an MVS Hazer for the tour.

This year CAST attempted to present a highly stylized and timeless version of Measure for Measure. Faced with restrictions on set size, governed by the weight limits of luggage on the flight over, they chose to create a minimalist but highlight adaptive set, consisting primarily of three trucking gauze screens which were inlaid with LED strips controlled through Wireless DMX solutions. The movement of thes

UK - Lighting specialists, Utopium, transformed Bristol Zoo's award winning gardens into a festive winter wonderland for its Enchanted Christmas 2013, 18-20 December.

Working with the zoo's events team for the first time, Utopium created an immersive visual spectacle illuminating the rich collection of plants and trees. In the Herbaceous Border Utopium produced a truly magical experience installing a lightshow, which was controlled remotely and featured an array of festive-themed lighting that was timecoded to music.

To create this stunning display, Utopium used mainly LED lights including James Thomas Pixel Par 90, Chauvet ColoRADO Quad IP, i-Pix BB4, James Thomas Pixel Line 1044 and Chauvet 230 SR Beams. The team also utilised over 14 Universes of SGM LB-100 light balls to ensure audiences were wowed. The lighting fixtures were controlled using an Avolites Pearl Expert, with

USA - In the last few years, ETC has entered new markets, introduced dozens of products, surpassed three million Source Four luminaire sales and gained new customers worldwide. To keep the pace of this steady growth, ETC is expanding its office in New York City and opening a new factory in Wisconsin.

"Our New York office is in the heart of the theatre district," says ETC CEO Fred Foster, "and we want to get the most out of the location. We're using it to support the local community, by opening our doors to lighting professionals to drop in and experiment with new products and collaborate on projects."

The renovated office is twice its previous size and includes state-of-the-art demo and training rooms, product labs and working lounges, where visitors have access to all of the latest ETC technology.

Like Town Square in ETC's headquarters in Wisconsin and T

France - Puy du Fou has used a large number of Clay Paky fixtures to light its flagship live show - Cinéscénie. Principal lighting designer, Koert Vermuelen, deployed Clay Paky's Alpha Beam 1500s and Sharpys to create the sensational light show, which ran throughout the season.

This year, the historical theme park celebrates its 25th anniversary and Cinéscénie heads up a programme of live productions at the cultural attraction, which first opened in the heart of the Vendée region of Western France in 1989.

This summer, the show, which lasts 1hr 40 min, has reached over 10m spectators and is described as the largest night-time show on earth. Taking place every Friday and Saturday, the show featured 1,200 actors, 300 animals, 24,000 costumes, 1,000 fireworks, 3,000 projectors, and a 23-hectare stage.

The brief from Puy du Fou as

South Africa - Robe moving lights were right at the hub of the lighting action for the 2013 Crown Gospel Awards, staged at the Durban International Conference Centre (ICC), South Africa, and broadcast - live for the first time - by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), recognizing the best of South Africa's vibrant gospel music scene.

Lighting was designed by Ryan Dunbar from the Durban branch of Gearhouse South Africa, the country's largest technical production rental facility. It was his first time lighting the event for which he was also the set designer, and in another first, he decided to use 80% LED sources for the lighting rig.

These included 18 x Robe DLF Wash fixtures, six DLS Profiles, 30 x LEDWash 600s and 70 x LEDForce PRs.

He also used 24 of Robe's new Pointe multi-purpose moving lights for beam effects, which helped create the spectacular 'big room

Finland - Solid State Logic has appointed pro audio sales and support company msonic Light + Sound as its Live console distributor in Finland. msonic specialises in high-end audio and video sales and engineering, and is the latest addition to SSL's Live console partner network.

"We are very proud that we have the opportunity to represent the SSL Live console for the Finnish market, and are convinced that the future is bright for SSL Live products," says Tero Hölttä, pro audio sales manager, msonic. "After we first saw the SSL Live Console at Pro Light + Sound, we knew that it would be the next big thing in the live market and that it would be the perfect addition to our premium product line, which already includes d&b audiotechnik, DirectOut, Radial, Sony Digital Wireless systems and, of course, SSL broadcast consoles and studio products. We recently presented t

UK - Rounding off a successful 20 month world tour with a headlining show at London's O2 Arena can be both exhilarating and stressful; for Two Door Cinema Club's show designer Squib it was more of the former and less of the latter, thanks to some shrewd choices.

"With a single show at the Blackpool Empress Ballroom as a warm up, the O2 presented me with all sorts of questions. This was the first time I'd done a show on this scale, certainly with video, and it was nice to have someone to turn to and say, what do you think about doing this?" Squib is nothing if not modest about his own abilities, the mentor to whom he refers, Alex Leinster of Chaos Visual UK, had only been introduced to him a few days before. "It was obvious to me straight away that Squib had some fresh and interesting ideas," said Leinster. "Fully formed, it only required us to marshal th

USA - PLASA Focus: Nashville 2014 is set for success with organizer PLASA Events confirming new exhibitors and seminar speakers. The event is taking place on 18-19 February 2014, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

The latest exhibitors to sign up include AC Lighting, Apollo Design Technology, Doug Fleenor Design, ETC, LSC America, Philips Entertainment Lighting, Show Sage and Link. They will share the show floor with other industry leaders including; Aeson, ETC, Bandit Lites, Group One, Chauvet Professional, Lightronics, Elation Professional, Creative Stage Lighting, and Applied Electronics, to name a few.

Three new sessions have been added to the PLASA Focus: Nashville 2014 Professional Development Programme, a two-day programme of free educational seminars and workshops running alongside the event.

Ben Jumper, the owner of Soundcheck, will present After the Flood

UK - POLARaudio has recently engaged new staff to reinforce its team in the light of its continued success in adding new brands to its portfolio.

Three new faces have joined the internal sales team - Nigel Brake, Alison Knight and Allison Geal, whilst Jo Griffin has joined the accounts department (purchase ledger). On the logistics side, Juan Recouso has joined to bolster the warehouse operation.

POLARaudio MD John Midgley welcomes the new arrivals with enthusiasm, "2013 saw us take on a number of new and exciting brands, the addition of which, we believe, will continue the onwards and upwards trend of the business in 2014. Strengthening staffing levels is vital to supporting our operation as it strives to meet the increased demand brought on by our expansion. We place great emphasis on the value of our team members and are delighted to welcome the new recruits to the POL

UK - Theatre consultant, manager, producer and founding member of the ABTT Ian Albery, has been awarded a Fellowship of the Association. Individuals are appointed Fellow if they "have rendered signal service to the technical aspects of the art of the theatre".

In recognising his outstanding contribution to theatre - including work as both production and technical managers and service as vice-chairman of the ABTT, as well as an executive member of the Society of West End Theatre - Nimax Theatre chief executive, Nica Burns, praised the former chief executive of Sadler's Wells Theatre, acknowledging the importance of Albery in her own career.

The list of ABTT Fellows now reads as follows: David Adams, Ian Albery, Jason Barnes, Fred Bentham (deceased), Richard Brett, William Dudley, Tim Foster, Roger Fox, Roderick Ham, Chris Higgs, Ethel Langstreth (deceased), Iain Macki

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden's award-winning W-DMX technology is now available in the new moving head range of products by PR Lighting, adding to an already widely adopted array of fixtures featuring Wireless DMX capabilities.

W-DMX comes standard in the XRLED line, which includes the 300-W Spot, 500 Spot, 1200 Spot, 1037 (already in mass production), 1061 and XR 800 Spot. In addition, W-DMX is OEM installed in the PR Lighting LED Series of automated 'double headed' fixtures, including the ARC LED 3216M and the outdoor waterproof rated ARC LED 3216 and ARC LED 3108. With the addition of W-DMX, these new fixtures open a whole world of lighting possibilities and early reviews have been stellar.

Ernie Armas, sales director for PR Lighting commented, "We have been using W-DMX for years and have experienced great service and support, a strong OEM network, optional RDM fea

USA - Live performance reinforcement company Alto Professional has announced the availability of its much-anticipated Black Series - an all-new line of top-level loudspeakers and subwoofers with wireless capability and impressive inbuilt power.

Alto Professional's all-new active Black Series collectively comprises three two-way loudspeaker models - namely, the Black 10, Black 12, and Black 15 (which, as implied by name, feature 10-, 12-, and 15-inch low-frequency drivers, respectively, alongside a 1.75-inch high-frequency driver, and are optimised with a 90° x 60° coverage field and an extensively tested high-frequency waveguide) - and two subwoofers - namely, the appropriately-named Black 15 Sub and Black 18 Sub (with 15-, and 18-inch low-frequency, long-excursion drivers, respectively).

All are designed and tuned to exacting standards in the USA with premium, purpose

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