Italy - Aethra.net and Synergie Spa have signed a commercial agreement for distributing the Ceelab video conferencing products, based on Sony technology, along with the Visual Nexus infrastructure, whose Aethra.net holds the exclusivity for the Italian market.

"Along with the launch of our New Partner Programme for the development of the Italian market," says Chris Romei, Aethra.net product BU sales director, "We have signed a strategic agreement with Synergie Spa, because we believe they are a great partner to achieve our main goal, due to the fact that they can fully cover all the regions through a specialised network of resellers."

"Our real strength is the continuous support that we provide to our customers, from the commercial offer, up to the fulfilment of the entire project, as well as our complete offer made up of the brand leaders in each sect

China - Medialon has confirmed the signing of an exclusive distributorship in China with ProLSI Systems Consulting Co.

With three locations in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, ProLSI's factory trained sales representatives and technicians will be able to specify and support the entire range of Medialon products, from Show Controllers to Audio and Video servers.

"We are very impressed by the professionalism of ProLSI", says Alex Carru, Medialon CEO, "and we are convinced that with strong support from Medialon, they are the distributor of choice in China."

(Jim Evans)

Australia - The biggest, boldest and brightest show on Australian television this year has tben X-Factor lit by Ian Anderson.

The lighting rig, supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems, is heavily dominated by Vari*Lites including 50 x VL3000 Spot, 12 x VL2000 Spot, 14 x VL3500 Wash, 30 x VL2000 Wash, 16 x VL3000 Wash and 14 x VL500 Wash.

"The Vari*Lites are my preferred light for television," states Anderson. "Their optics are very clean and their light output is bright and crisp particularly out of the VL3000.

"We have replaced five of the standard gobos to allow some different break-up looks and a couple of old favourites like the cone gobo which we've used heaps. The zoom range on the VL3000 Spots is great from very narrow up to a nice wide for soft gobo looks. They offer great flexibility, the colours are good and they are quick. In terms of the

Poland - Lighting designer Steven Abbiss has been on tour with DJ Fatboy Slim since March this year, fulfilling a busy schedule playing international festivals and their own headliner gigs worldwide.

The itinerary has often included visiting two or three different countries in a weekend, so all the equipment for the lighting design was specified by Abbiss and sourced locally at each venue, including an Avolites Tiger Touch lighting console.

Abbiss also carried his own Tiger Touch console to some of the shows to guarantee getting his control desk of choice. Weighing only 27Kgs tucked neatly into a Peli case, it is a small and light enough option for baggage on any tour with this set up.

At the Heineken Open Air Festival in Poland, he ran all 12 data control lines via Ethernet out of the desk, whilst using the touch screen to make a basic schematic of their standard rig

The Netherlands - Clay Paky and Netherlands-based AVL Concept recently joined forces to provide one of the more exciting celebrations held in the Netherlands for Queen's Day 2010.

Queen's Day, or Koninginnedag, is an official holiday throughout the country to commemorate national pride and the royal house. Celebrations begin on the evening of 29 April for the Queen's official birthday. The party continues to 30 April with most cities and towns holding street parties and erecting stages in the town square for live music and other performances. During the last few years AVL Concept has been responsible for the technical side of the Koninginnedag event in the city of Groningen.

AVL Concept was the first customer in the world to buy the new Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700. This young company based in Leek, the Netherlands, specialises in the design, supply and installation of audiovi

Canada - Intelix, US manufacturer of audio/video equipment and software, has partnered with Mitek Canada. Effective immediately, Mitek is stocking and supplying Intelix hardware, including their award-winning HDMI, digital signage, and audio/video over twisted pair solutions.

"Intelix is continually striving to provide the best possible technology and support," says Cameron Smith, Intelix sales and marketing manager. "To accomplish this we have partnered with Mitek Canada, a master distributor for numerous industry-leading audio-visual manufacturers. They are not only stocking Intelix inventory in multiple points throughout the country, they are also equipped to handle applications, technical support, warranty, and advance replacement concerns locally. Mitek is truly a great partner."

(Jim Evans)

UK - West London-based rental company Entec is supplying lighting designer Mark Wood with a lighting package and video projection package for his tour with indie pop songstress Marina & The Diamonds, currently enjoying success with her debut album, The Family Jewels.

Wood's show matches the dynamics of Marina Diamandis' stage performance, adding theatricality, drama and creative texturing to great stagecraft with a minimal but diligently thought out rig.

He was recommended for the designer's role in April this year and started touring with the band in June, kicking off with a festival run which now continues with 2 months of headliners around the UK and Europe.

He was given a creative blank canvas on the lighting, but Diamandis herself was heavily involved in commissioning the video content, some of which was edited by Wood, and she generally takes a keen interest in

Spain - Stonex, a leading Spanish distributor and installer of entertainment lighting systems, this week hosted an open house with LumenRadio hands-on product demonstrations and training for all their customers. LumenRadio personnel were present and CRMX products for indoor and outdoor use were shown with systems featuring premier brands including ETC and Clay Paky.

"Spain is a growing market for wireless lighting controls and Stonex is the driving force in establishing CRMX as the de-facto wireless standard in this market," said Anders Ardstål, VPO of LumenRadio prior to the event. "Our cooperation with Stonex has been very successful and we are excited to have been given the opportunity to participate in this Open House event. We will be conducting training sessions with customers who want to learn how to utilize the full potential of CRMX and its extensive sup

Italy - Proel products feature in a number of new installations in the San Teodoro area of Sardinia.

After choosing them for the Bal Harbour Restaurant and the Ripping Discotheque, Quadra Luce and Design again thought of Proel for the audio of three new venues on the Riviera: Ambra Night, Ambra Day and Luna Glam Club.

Ambra Night, 20m from the sea, features the famous gazebo-shaped dance floor which now hosts a 20,000 watt Proel set up composed of four Edge 218SP Subs, two Edge C210P96 Satellites, eight Edge 25PB Satellites, four Edge 112SP Subs, two Powersoft K3 Amplifiers and one Powersoft LD3004 amplifier.

Ambra Day, situated in a large 6,000m² park in the centre of San Teodoro, is one of the most charming and picturesque meeting bars in Italy. It continuously hosts music festivals and live performances and can now count on four TFL12 Satellites and two PRL950 amplifiers

Australia - ARX Systems has announced the appointment of Manila-based Yupangco Electronics Corporation as its distributor for Philippines.

ARX managing director Colin Park says, "Jose Mari L. Yupangco, president of Yupangco Electronics Corporation (YEC) and I initiated discussions regarding ARX distribution at the Frankfurt Pro Light and Sound earlier this year.

"YEC is excited by the prospects of introducing our USB DI series of interfaces, MSX series of signal distribution products and AudiBox series of audio toolbox essentials products to their pro audio and broadcast clients and markets. ARX is looking forward to working with YEC, one of the mainstays of our industry in South East Asia."

Founded by Gary A. Yupangco in 1967, YEC now operates more than 30 stores and 35 music school centres across the Philippines.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - Martin Italy is holding two Brighter World road show dates, in Rome (30 November) and Milan (2 December), and invites all interested lighting professionals to attend.

Martin technical personnel will be on hand to provide an up close look at the latest Martin Professional lighting gear, architectural as well as entertainment, including the MAC 350 Entour and MAC 101 LED moving heads.

All participants will have the opportunity to participate in a draw for a free MAC 101, one draw in Rome and one in Milan.

The Rome event takes place at the Hotel Capannelle and the Milan event is at Novotel Milano Linate Aeroporto.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Enchanted Forest - an annual sound and light show in Highland Perthshire for which Northern Light carried out the technical production - has broken all previous records by clocking up over 20,000 visitors in just 17 days.

This year's event was run for the first time by the Highland Perthshire Community Interest Company (HPCIC), on behalf of the community, who selected Northern Light to work with the sound and lighting designers to bring the show to fruition.

The event has been particularly well received this year, with over a thousand customers rating it the most enjoyable yet.

Nick Read, Northern Light's head of hire and events, said, "This spectacular event was months in the planning and we worked very closely with composer and sound designer R J McConnell and lighting designer Simon Wilkinson to realise the overall concept. We subcontracted the sound

UAE - Melody House, distributors of HK Audio speaker systems in the United Arab Emirates have recently supplied Delta Sound with 16 cabinets of the CT108.

Projects completed by Delta Sound include the stunning opening of the Atlantis Hotel, George Michael, F1 concerts in Abu Dhabi and numerous corporate events. The company is carving a niche, providing technical support to the major rental companies in the region.

"The CT108s provide great clarity at a relatively high SPL in such a compact enclosure," comments Dino Drimakis, business development manager at Melody House. "Since they are also running at 16ohms, rental companies can run four of them on each amplifier channel making them a great solution."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Cooper Industries plc has announced the acquisitions of Mount Engineering plc, a UK based manufacturer of specialty threaded adaptors and reducers for harsh and hazardous environments, and Apex Lighting Controls, a private manufacturer of energy management lighting controls also based in the UK.

Mount Engineering specialises in the manufacture and supply of thread-converting adaptors and reducers that are "Ex Certified" for use in potentially explosive or hazardous areas. Additionally, Mount Engineering is engaged in the sale and distribution of industrial valves and actuators to the oil, gas, petrochemical and process industries throughout the world. Mount Engineering will become part of the Cooper Safety division of Cooper Industries.

Apex Lighting Controls delivers integrated lighting control systems and services to manage lighting and energy usage for commer

Italy - For the past 400 years the Roman city of Pompeii has been one of Italy's top tourist attractions. Famously buried under volcanic ash for over 1500 years, since 1599 the remarkably-preserved city has been excavated, revealing an insight into the life of the Romans. Now, the city's past has truly met the future, with a Yamaha installation telling the story of one house's inhabitants.

Today around 2.5m tourists visit the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, every year. Yamaha equipment has been installed in one dwelling, playing a key role in a multimedia experience which gives visitors the experience of what life in Pompeii was like at the time of the eruption.

Commissioned by the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Naples and Pompeii, the installation is in the house of Iulius Polibius, an affluent citizen.

Commentary delivered by holograms of Iu

Malaysia - A K.M.E. Pano line array system has been installed in the banquet hall of the Kingwood Hotel in Sibu, Sarawak.

The Kingwood Hotel is the only four star hotel in the state of Sarawak and owns the largest banquet hall of the region with up to 2.500 seats. It is used for conferences, industry events, balls and banquets. Recently the 12th Senior Citizen Fellowship Conference and the 7th Biennial Union of World Liu's Association Convention took place, two important Malaysian events with each up to 2.000 international guests.

Wah Lee Hong of Kuala Lumpur decided on four QL 906 Line Source Units and two QL 1215 down-fill units per side driven by digital controller amplifiers DA 428 and subs QLB 118. QSA 200 formed the side-fill. The fully digital high-performance loudspeakers VL 750 are used as stage monitors.

(Jim Evans)

Canada - Fresh from a whirlwind European tour, Canadian indie pop band Stars are now back on home ground for their Fall tour with a DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console at Front of House.

Specified by FOH engineer Kevin Madigan, who had just finished an extensive tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash using a D5 and supplied via DiGiCo's US and Canadian distributors, Group one and Gerr Audio respectively, the SD8 was a good fit for the Stars tour.

"I already knew the SD8 would sound great," says Madigan. "And it fit the bill perfectly for this tour; great sound quality, functional layout, small footprint, and suitable input capabilities."

Madigan utilises 38 inputs for the SD8's 60 available flexi channels for the band and picks up 'racks and stacks' daily. "I usually run four or five outputs; left, right, sub, front fill and sometimes a balcony feed, then I

UAE - Nicolas Kyvernitis Electronics Enterprises (NMK), exclusive distributors of Midas and Klark Teknik products in the United Arab Emirates have supplied a PRO6 Live Audio System to Se7en Productions for their new HD OB truck. The system is the second PRO6 in an OB truck globally and the 10th Midas PRO console in the Middle East.

Se7en, a Dubai-based production and events company has acquired a High Definition (HD) truck over the summer and refurbished its audio room with the PRO6 to cover the region's major events that include sports, live performances and national celebrations. It is the first OB truck in the Middle East to be fitted with a digital Midas console.

"The system supports 5.1 mixes out of the box as their truck is HD and it also allows them to have their own mix at a concert rather then relying on the mix from FOH," commented Richie Hiranandani, marke

UK - Rental company Adlib Audio reports that its L-Acoustics K1 line source system has been employed on a diverse range of events since its purchase this summer.

"We were lucky enough to be able to work the K1 on many widely different styles of gigs soon after it arrived," says Adlib's Tony Szabo. "This included the Radio City Liverpool multi act arena show, the 12,000 capacity Green Man festival, a 94m long big top tent at the Leeds festival and a show with German band Pur at the Schalke stadium, in combination with Network Rental Agent Sirius. On all these gigs and others, the K1 has lived up to expectations and more."

One of the things to impress Szabo is the K1's rigging, which he describes as "the best cabinet rigging on the market. We have confirmed that the 'L-Acoustics method' of putting the K1 up and bringing it down is actually the best way.

USA - "Thirty years ago most churches had an organ, a piano, a microphone on the pulpit, and a pair of column loudspeakers," says Chuck Walthall, whose Pensacola, Florida design and consulting practice covers both acoustics and technical systems. "But churches have responded to the impact of entertainment on our society, and yesterday's sanctuary has evolved into today's worship cenre. Worship now incorporates elements from the worlds of theatre and live music, and the technology has changed to reflect that."

A case in point is First Baptist Church Cleveland in Cleveland, Tennessee. When the church decided that its campus in downtown Cleveland was no longer meeting its needs, it set out to build a new facility whose technical capabilities would support and enhance a variety of worship styles, including contemporary services with a strong sound and media compo

Qatar - Dubai based Al Laith Event Services built the 2000 capacity Open Air Theatre - and main hub - for the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) on the esplanade at Katara, Doha.

The impressive architecture of the temporary structure featured 14 large arches, the largest at 85m wide and 26m high. It had an overall weight loading capacity of approximately 100 tonnes and was designed by Jeremy Thom, production designer for the DTFF event.

In addition to the seating tribunes (also supplied by Al Laith), it also housed the 23m wide screen, a full orchestra stage, several technical areas for sound, lighting and projection and backstage facilities like dressing and green rooms. The project was managed for Al Laith by Jo Marshall.

The complex and demanding brief for the structure required it to be capable of hosting a world premier screening; to accommodate the 88 piece Qatar P

Sweden - Late in September, six international lighting designers came to the small city of Alingsås in Sweden to participate in the traditional PLDA workshop, Lights in Alingsås, which has grown over the past decade to become the largest exhibition of lighting design in public spaces in Northern Europe.

Together with more than 50 participants from 17 different nations, the workshop heads created unique examples of urban lighting design and light art, as dark evenings and outdoor environments in and around Alingsås were transformed into exciting lighting design installations.

The six lighting workshops were presented in various locations throughout the town from 24 September until the end of October. Martin Professional sponsored two of the workshops.

The pedestrian underpass - Karen van Creveld / PLDA / UK: The group used UV-paint to create wavy lines on the underpass wal

China - The Shenzhen Grand Theatre has just completed a major AV refurbishment to upgrade their systems from analogue to digital, installing Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixing system at FOH.

Built in 1984, the modern multi-purpose theatre is famous throughout China as one of the country's top cultural venues, hosting a demanding schedule of prestigious performances visited by state dignitaries and more than 2m foreign visitors.

Purchased through distributor Sanecore Group, the theatre selected two modular iDR10 MixRacks with control provided via the modular large scale iLive-176 Control Surface.

One iDR10 is installed in the equipment room at the side of the stage with 48 inputs to manage stage inputs and 24 outputs for the speaker system, while the second iDR10 has 32 inputs and is positioned in the audio control room alongside the surface to manage wireless microphones,

USA - The Christian University Azusa Pacific University has installed a MediorNet fibre backbone solution from Riedel Communications to provide signal transport and routing of HD video signals on their Campus. California-based system integrator Enders & Associates supplied the equipment that was installed by the Azusa Pacific University.

The Azusa Pacific University is one of the largest Christian universities located just outside Los Angeles. To provide routing and distribution of HD video signals between their two campus chapels for the daily services, the Azusa University furnished a MediorNet mainframe in each of the two buildings. Both mainframes are linked via dual fibre link to provide bi-directional transport.

The integrated CWDM multiplexing of MediorNet allows transport of up to 36 HD 1080i signals per direction via one single fibre link. Due to MediorNet's multi-poi

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