USA - D.A.S. Audio reports that All-star Audio Systems recently took delivery of a substantial D.A.S. Audio loudspeaker system. With offices in Smyrna, Tennessee and Merritt Island, Florida, All-star Audio Systems is a full-service sound, lighting, video, and staging design firm for corporate VIP events, live event marketing tours, concert tours, festivals, and other special events.

Over the last several months, All-star Audio has taken delivery of 24 D.A.S. Audio Aero 38A three-way, self-powered medium format line array elements, eight Aero 28A two-way, self-powered line array elements, four CA-215A mono-amplified arrayable subwoofers, and 16 Aero 218A high performance, powered subwoofers. Additionally, the firm took delivery of four PL-48 transport carts for the Aero 38As.

All-star Audio recently used their new D.A.S. equipment - with much success - during the Children's Mir

UK - Amid the continuing growth in membership and a broadening range of initiatives, this year's PLASA AGM and Lunch on 3 June saw a record turnout for the third year in succession, the Association reports.

Over 170 members and guests enjoyed a day in the glamorous surroundings of London's Hurlingham Club, where the AGM and members' questions were followed by a three-course lunch with a talk by renowned broadcaster John Humphrys.

In its fourth year as a combined AGM and Member Lunch, and its third at the Hurlingham Club, the event has grown into a major fixture on members' calendars and the growing demand for places means PLASA will almost certainly move to a larger, but equally special, venue for next year.

Members now see this as a prime opportunity to celebrate being part of an organisation that is moving the industry forward and to network with other members in relaxed s

Canada - Pacific West Sound Professional Audio and Design (PacWest), based in a newly constructed building in Bakersfield California, has made the decision to upgrade to an Adamson Y-Axis System.

Brent Milton, president and owner of PacWest explains: "It was a big, decision for us to add Adamson to our current inventory, but it gives us yet another means of meeting the demands of contemporary artists." PacWest currently has the largest inventory of Adamson Y-Axis in California which now includes 32 Y-10s and 16 T-21s.

PacWest had a busy year in the world of production, culminating with the New Year's Eve Together As One (TGA1) rave at the LA Sports Arena. This is the show in which PacWest decided to debut their new Adamson rig.

"2008 has been one of the most exciting and important years in our company's history; our output in all areas, production, desi

UK - Brähler ICS UK was selected by the International Coffee Organisation to replace the conference system at their London headquarters, which is also one of Cavendish Conference Venue's prime conference locations.

Based on Brähler's CDSVAN digital conference solution, the system is controlled by a powerful DSP card with all functions, routing and adjustments accessible via the CDSVAN software. This system was chosen because it is highly flexible and able to cope with multiple audio configurations. A sophisticated digital recording system is integrated, which automatically records and name-tags each individual speaker to an mp3 file as soon as their microphone is activated, and ends recording when the microphone is switched off. This allows for easier and faster transcription of the meeting, creates a running order for the meeting and eliminates the need for audio cassettes.

UK - Optocore devices were used again for the digital returns system on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this year, sending multiple AES channels to stage processors and distributing them, as well as transporting the RS485 control signal.

Andy Huffer of Optocore's UK distributor, HD Pro Audio, explained the setup: "At FOH, the AES outputs from the Digidesign Profile console were sent to the Optocore DD32E device, with all digital devices locked to an external wordclock. The DD32E also received an RS485 input from an XTA DP226 processor located at FOH.

"These signals (both AES and RS485) were then sent to the Optocore DD32 device located on stage, and distributed. The AES signals were patched to multiple outputs via the Optocore internal matrix, allowing the same signal to be sent to multiple XTA DP226 processors where necessary - as in the case of the main PA hangs

Mexico - Among many things, the Mayan civilization is noted for its spectacular art and monumental architecture, and the archaeological site of Edzná, in the Mexican state of Campeche, now combines remarkable architecture with a newer form of art, illuminating the building with colourful light shows provided by by Philips LED solutions and technologies.

At this historical site, the most remarkable building is the main temple called Pirámide de los Cinco Pisos or the Pyramid of the Five Floors. Built on a platform 131ft (40m) high, the temple provides views for visitors of the surrounding countryside. Another breathtaking view occurs on Friday and Saturday evenings, when a multimedia spectacle called the "Light of the Itzáes" occurs, bringing to life to the ceremonial centre that flourished between the years 600 and 900 A.D.

Lighting designer Elias Cisneros of 333

UK - Reading based Blinding Light designed and supplied lighting and crew for the British Airways Flying Club 60th Anniversary Dinner at Wycombe Air Park, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (AKA Booker Airfield).

British Airways Flying Club is one of the oldest flying clubs in Britain. It was originally formed in 1948 by employees of the then British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) with ex RAF Tiger Moths, named the Airways Aero Club.

The dinner for 900 guests was staged in one of the airfield's large hangars, which presented some major challenges for lighting, explained Blinding Light's Paddy Stacey who designed the system for the event. "We had to make the hangar look intimate and feel cozy with carefully thought through and understated lighting - a tall order in such a massive - and basically utilitarian - space designed for aircraft

USA - Industry members had the chance to relax and raise money for charitable causes during InfoComm 08. During its first joint show with InfoComm, NSCA hosted many of its popular events from previous NSCA Expos.

The Systems Integration Industry Charity Golf Tournament, host sponsored by Atlas Sound/IED, kicked off the week and raised money for the NSCA Education Foundation, the International Communications Industry Foundation, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"We were extremely pleased with all the NSCA-sponsored events during InfoComm 08," said NSCA Education Foundation president, Tom Frericks. "Our mission is to support education for industry professionals, but the Foundation also supports other charitable causes through its fundraising events. We accomplished both in Las Vegas this year."

The next evening the Drunk Unkles band made its I

UK - The Event Safety Shop once again contributed to a safe and successful Glastonbury Festival. Health and Safety is at the forefront of festival planning, and this year saw important legislative developments - notably the Control of Noise at Work Regulations and the smoking ban; both of which affected the Festival for the first time.

TESS worked closely with Licensee Melvin Benn to develop policy and deliver practical controls to meet the needs of both pieces of legislation. Independent monitoring proved the measures were an outstanding success.

This year, TESS, used a new computerised file sharing system to improve the exchange of health and safety information between the Festival, contractors and service providers. The huge amount of documentation generated by the event - and the need to scrutinise safety information, insurances and so on means the easy sharing and retriev

UK - May saw the Global Day of Prayer, held outdoors at London's Millwall Football Club, New Den Stadium. The event aims to help people of any age apply the gospel and biblical teachings to their everyday life. The event featured a 200-piece choir backed by an orchestra and band that is exactly what some 15,000 happy worshipers encountered.

Sound and lighting responsibilities fell to the capable hands of the Reading-based Sound Foundation Ltd Group. Having previously done the 2007 Global Day of Prayer held at Upton Park, West Ham United's Football ground, Andy Barr from the event's organisers Pure Solutions had no hesitation in calling SFL again. Yamaha mixing consoles handled sound at both FOH and Monitor mixing duties. Two M7CL-48s where required, giving a total of 96 channels for FOH and a single PM5D took care of monitors. Mark Payne, SFL's technical director and co-founder,

UK - RCF has appointed The Warehouse as its new distributor for Scotland. The Warehouse, one of Scotland's leading audio distributors, representing some of worlds major sound products first made contact with RCF at Eventech, Glasgow. A subsequent meeting took place at RCF's offices and factory in Italy.

Warehouse sales director Derek Blair comments: "We have been aware of RCF's growing profile and were really impressed at their presentation at Frankfurt's Pro Light & Sound this year. Visiting the RCF Factory in Italy did give us the time to take a much closer look at the products and meet with the RCF team. We had already identified the need for another product line to complement our exciting stock and looking at what RCF had to offer it seemed a good move forward for the company."

Warehouse will have total exclusivity in Scotland for RCF Acustica professional speake

Norway - Sound Projects have recently introduced the SP2-10, a twin drive hornloaded bass cabinet. Now, the new subwoofer is in production and the first 20 units have been delivered to Norwegian Sound Projects agent, PAP.

These SP2-10s debuted at the Classic Rock Festival 2008 in Sandnes where the acts included Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, Slade and Thin Lizzie. The sound system featured Sound Projects SP2-10s, Sound Projects Linex and 36 SP18 extra subs.

The self-powered SP2-10 complements the SP18 frontloaded vented sub-bass. With these identical shaped cabinets a wide variety of low-end configurations can be composed to augment the low end of any sound system, says the company. Physically the SP2-10 matches the Sound Projects Linex line array system.

Like the SP18, it's twin brother system, the SP2-10 is equipped with the same simple and elegant rigging or locking system. T

UK - Roland Systems Group (RSG) teamed up with South West Audio to put the first RSS M-400 digital consoles in front of a Glastonbury festival stage. RSG's Peter Heath and Martin Thomas joined the crew working on the BBC Introducing Stage, which had M-400 desks at both front-of-house and monitor positions, connected by the RSS Digital Snakes which could also be found on the Park Stage.

"All the bands on the BBC Introducing Stage are unsigned so they tend not to have their own engineers," explains Mark Bott, system designer and head sound engineer for South West Audio. "This gave us the ideal testing ground for Roland's new M-400 digital console; essentially we had a festival situation with hardly any guest engineers.

"The M-400 was really quick to set up, and we all felt that its worksurface was very intuitive and easy to use," continues Mark Bott. &qu

Serbia - This month's Exit festival in Novi Sad, has become one of the largest and most popular festivals on the European circuit.

Over 200,000 visitors are expected for this festival, which is located near the historic Petrovaradin Fortress, built high on the banks of the River Danube and offering a stunning view of Novi Sad.

The Exit festival was established in 2000. In 2007 it was awarded the prestigious UK Festival Award for the best festival in Europe for 2007, as voted for by festival-goers from all over the world.

Studio Berar, responsible for the technical organisation for the festival selected Prolyte to provide a large roof system for the main stage at Exit 2008. Prolyte is already established in this region, thanks to the enthusiastic support of Prolyte distributor PSP.

Novi Sad-based sound, video and light engineering and rental company Studio Berar contracted

UK - The East Riding of Yorkshire Council plans to use Cirrus noise measuring equipment to ensure the hearing of workers is protected at The Spa in Bridlington, one of East Yorkshire's premier entertainment venues. The Spa recently held a grand reopening following a £19.5 million refurbishment.

The council will be taking several noise surveys using a variety of Cirrus sound level meters and noise dosemeters during sound checks and performances in the coming weeks, as part of a full programme designed to determine the level of noise protection required for both the staff and the entertainers who will be performing at the venue.

New Control of Noise at Work regulations came into force in April this year, meaning that employers in the entertainment industry are required to manage the risk to their employees caused by excessive noise. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council are

Azerbaijan - Following the spectacular live show Land of Fire 2008, which was broadcast in February, Azerbaijan took their popular finalist duo, Elnur & Samir (Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzade) to Belgrade to compete for the top spot in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In a special promotion, Azerbaijan hosted a free live concert, Legends and Sensations of Eurovision on the grounds of the historical Kalemegdan Nebojsina Kula Fortress in downtown Belgrade, in front of a crowd of over 20,000. In addition to the finalists Elnur & Samir, the show featured popular acts from recent Eurovision shows including Ruslana, Dana International, Marija Serifovic, Zeljko Joksimovic and others. Robert Kelber was lighting designer working alongside operator Tobias Åberg.

Three grandMA full-size and two MA NSPs controlled the lighting on the massive outdoor stage, which included, am

Italy / Hong Kong - Faital has opened a new branch in Hong Kong to cover the professional market in the Far East. Complete with a warehouse, it is destined to serve the supply of professional FaitalPRO loudspeakers in a more timely manner throughout the whole Asian region. Faital Asia was born to reduce "time-to-market" to a minimum.

"Our new Hong Kong branch," says Flavio Naggi, FaitalPRO overseas sales manager, "will take care of the shipping and invoicing of the whole professional FaitalPRO range from the new warehouse, while the central management with personal technical-sales contacts, product quality and orders will remain as always, with our Chinese staff, handled from our historic FaitalPRO headquarters in San Donato Milanese."

Naggi adds: "This warehouse and the new offices will give us a fresher and stronger thrust in this area, whe

Sweden - Lab.gruppen has appointmented of TC Electronic Switzerland as its new Swiss distributor. The agreement takes effect from 1 July.

Long-standing national sales manager for TC Electronic Switzerland, Giovanni Dolci, will be handling day-to-day operations for the Lab.gruppen brand in the territory.

Lab.gruppen's international sales manager, Claus Behrens comments: "On a personal level, Giovanni is a huge asset to the team. He knows the industry inside out and has a deep knowledge of the Lab.gruppen range. Furthermore, everyone in the business knows and respects him, so he is a great ambassador for the Lab.gruppen brand.

"Secondly, from a corporate point of view, there is an obvious synergy to be gained by placing distribution with TC Electronic who are part of the same holding company as Lab.gruppen, TC Group. There are clear advantages for everyone in dealing

Czech Republic - MC2 Audio distributor Dancefloor has completed a major frefurbishment of top Czech nightclub Luxor. Located in the ancient city of Ceska Lipa, near the Machasee and the Czech border with Germany, Disco Club Luxor has been a popular music venue and cocktail bar for the best part of 15 years, having been voted 'Best Loved Nightclub' in the Czech Republic as long ago as 1994.

Having been damaged by fire three years ago, Disco Club Luxor was forced to close and undergo a complete refurbishment. A dance space dominates the new-look club with sound, light, lasers and special effects all flown on a supporting structure high above the floor. MC2 Audio E25 and E45 amplifiers drive a Logic System line array with more than 10kW. Sound, lights and special effects can all be controlled by the resident DJ.

Dancefloor spokeswoman, Vera Zemanova, says, 'We set up a comparativ

USA - Shure Incorporated has announced today that The Peter E. Schmitt Company, which is based in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, is the company's Representative of the Year for fiscal year 2008. Michael Schmitt, president, and Todd Peden, executive vice president, received the award at Shure's annual meeting of the Company's US sales representatives at the recent InfoComm Show.

"We're very pleased to present P.E. Schmitt with this year's Rep of the Year Award," said Mark Humrichouser, director of sales for the Shure US Business Unit. "We selected them for several reasons, not the least of which is their strong commitment to never settle for what worked yesterday. They have exceeded their quota over the past two years and continue to excel internally as a company and externally with customers."

Representing Shure throughout the New York metropolitan area, P.E.

USA - Nexxus Lighting Inc's Advanced Lighting Systems subsidiary completed a lighting project for the six-storey Elements Building, housing 7Stones Spas and Strega Restaurant in downtown Corvallis, Oregon. The Elements Building is silver-level LEED certified: LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Corvallis was the first city on the West Coast and only the third city in the nation to receive the Green Power Community designation by the EPA.

"Advanced Lighting's eLum Cove RGB lighting was used throughout all three levels of the spa and the 2 upper levels for the bar and restaurant," said Paul Benton, regional sales manager for Advanced Lighting Systems. "Strega Restaurant, a sustainable restaurant and bar on the 5th and 6th floors, made extensi

France - Studio 8 of the Carrère Studios at La Plaine St Denis, Paris, has been kitted out with over 140 Robe moving lights at the request of DoP David Seligmann-Forest.

The all-Robe rig was installed by French supplier Impact Evénement and includes 15 ColorSpot 1200E ATs, 26 ColorWash 1200E ATs, three white ColorWash 250 ATs, 90 ColorWash 575 XTs, two white ColorWash 575 XTs and six ColorSpot 700E ATs.

The majority of the lights are hung in the studio's ceiling on special trussing - also supplied by Impact - and the white units are specifically used for floor level lighting of sets and other scenic elements.

The move followed Seligmann-Forest's extensive use of Robe on the 2007 hit reality show, Secret Story and also on Le Grand Soir d'Eliane et Francis. He comments, "I really like the Robe brand and am very happy with the equipment and the relati

USA - Harman Pro Group was selected to provide components for a new PA system for the 1000-seat auditorium at Hollywood High School. The sound system was designed and installed by Richard Ralke, president of L.A. Sound Company in Canoga Park and features JBL Professional Vertec line array loudspeakers, Crown I-Tech amplifiers and a Soundcraft Vi4 mixing console.

The alumni rolls from Hollywood High School reads like a Who's Who of movie history. Former students include screen the likes of Mickey Rooney, James Garner, Judy Garland, Keith and Robert Carradine, Sara Jessica Parker, Lana Turner, John Huston, John Ritter and Laurence Fishburne. The school is located between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset. In addition to its star-studded alumni, the school has also hosted concerts for The Byrds, Elvis Costello and the Stone Roses among others.

The system comprises 14 JBL Vertec VT48

UK - i-Pix working with Greenpeace, supplied their BB4 and Satellite fixtures to Greenpeace's Greenfields site at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival, after being approached by the organisation who wanted their area to be as eco-friendly as possible.

The Satellites and BB4s were used to illuminate a large skate ramp complex at the centre of the Greenfields area, the end section of this also doubled as a band stage area showcasing a series of up-and-coming talent.

The Greenfields area lighting and AV was co-ordinated by Niall Whybrow of Potters Bars based PP AV.

"Anything that reduces the amount of energy consumed is good," says Bob Wilson, events co-ordinator for Greenpeace UK, "What i-Pix are doing is very interesting."

The skate ramp was illuminated with four BB4s, rigged at the highest point and washing along its length. In the evenings, a projection scree

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