UK/USA - By popular demand UK TiMax developers Out Board have announced a Spring season of ‘One-on-One for One’ online training sessions with TiMax specialists in the UK and USA. Anybody interested in developing their leading-edge skills in the rapidly growing use of TiMax immersive audio, spatial mixing and showcontrol may well want to check this out. Sessions are open to all sound designers, sound engineers and production sound techs worldwide on a first-come, first-served basis. Simply register to download TiMax SoundHub software (Mac or Windows) from outboard.co.uk and enter “1on1” into the About You section. Alternatively contact Out Board direct on software@outboard.co.uk. Out Board will respond with an invitation to select an available time and date for a personal, one-on-one, one-hour Skype screen-share trai
UK - Martin Audio has unveiled a series of weekly webinars aimed at helping technicians stay up to date with the latest technology during this unprecedented time for the industry. The live webinar series will begin on Wednesday 1 April with all sessions remaining available on the Martin Audio website. The live webinars will begin with Low Frequency System Design, presented by Simon Purse and will be followed by sessions on Display 2.3, EASE Focus and WPS Optimised Line Arrays. In addition to these initial sessions, the company will be adding a variety of topics over the coming weeks, covering Martin Audio’s products and software, as well as more general pro audio topics. In addition to this, in the coming months Martin Audio will also be hiring freelance industry professionals a
Europe - Benelux rental companies recently took part in #LightTheSky, an initiative in support of key workers and those on the frontline of fighting the coronavirus pandemic. On 22 March, for half an hour, companies and individuals - in fact anyone with access to a light - were invited to point it upwards and #LightTheSky. The idea was conceived by a Dutch rental company and became a clarion call taken up by numerous entertainment rental companies, venues, broadcasters and others, by people working in every segment across the whole Benelux Region with some extremely creative results. Heart shapes were a popular choice and many of the lighting schemes utilised Robe products - MegaPointes and Pointes were a favourite for their brightness - however other products and brands were also involved in this spontaneous and imaginative expression of solidarity. It highlighted gra
UK - Glyn Owen, a self-employed rigger at the ACC Liverpool, expressed his bewilderment at why the UK government has not offered comparable financial backing to the self-employed. Last week, the chancellor Rishi Sunak opened up access to the Universal Credit system to workers including freelancers and zero-hour contractors. However, claiming from the welfare system would only secure £94.25 per week for a self-employed worker, whilst the government promised to cover 80% of the salaries of employees. On Sunday, the communities secretary Robert Jenrick recognised “this isn’t perfect”, adding: “It isn't easy, it's not as simple as supporting those who are in employment. The purpose of our employment mechanism is to help continue the connection between employees and their business so once this is over - and it will be over - those individuals can return
Europe - Highlite International has vowed to support its clients affected by the coronavirus outbreak. “For almost everybody who is active in the entertainment-business our line of work is no profession. Entertainment is a passion which, for most of us, started long ago as a hobby and gradually over the years became a calling, if you will. How else can you explain all these short days and long nights building, rigging, producing, controlling and entertaining and doing the same thing the next night. Every DJ, bass player, singer and entertainer knows this feeling through and through. “There is nothing greater than being able to put smiles on people’s faces, let them feel good during a couple of hours. Be it at a festival, a family reunion, on tour, during a fashion event or a children’s birthday. Entertainment comes in many forms as does joy. “The coro
UK - Neutrik (UK) would like to take the opportunity to provide reassurance to staff, distributors, resellers, suppliers and customers that, in the face of the current evolving Covid-19 emergency, “we are rapidly adapting and innovating, wherever possible, to provide and maintain the greatest possible level of service. “In the first instance, the company is taking every possible means to ensure the safety of our personnel, implementing all government and WHO recommendations relating to onsite hygiene and employee safety in the workplace. Wherever possible, those who can are already working from home. “Having put these measures in place, we are able to fully maintain production, fulfil and ship orders at this time. All frontline sales and support team members are contactable on all the usual channels of communication. Managing Director Neutrik (UK) Mark Per
Spain - Barcelona-based Amate Audio’s founder and CEO Juan Amate says the company has implemented “adaptive measures” in this time of unprecedented crisis. “All of us are faced with challenges outside of our common experience, for which we are unlikely to have prior contingency,” he says. “At Amate Audio, we are moving rapidly to confront and meet those challenges. We are taking immediate action to secure the integrity of our supply and distribution chains and our clients' business, as well as our continued financial health and corporate wellbeing, throughout the course of the crisis and beyond. “To this end we are able to guarantee the continued delivery of orders to our clients during any reasonably foreseeable interruption to production, as may be required by the civil authorities. Likewise, our ability to quickly restart and achieve volume production
Hong Kong - LED lighting manufacturer Illumination Physics has reported it is now in recovery mode after its business – with bases in Melbourne, Hong Kong, Macau, Dubai, Delhi and Europe - was among the first wave of companies to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have certainly faced some challenges caused by the effects and reactions to the current coronavirus pandemic,” say the directors. “Our factory and the attendant procurement chain was shut down effectively for more than a month and various levels of difficult planning and logistics followed that. But we are now part of the first wave to recover. “Thanks to the hard work and excellent strategy employed in our manufacturing operations, Illumination Physics is now back at 100% operating capacity. “We have clawed back the lost time and we are preparing to deliver three large projects on t
UK - Event production supplier and AV integrator SFL is calling on the entertainment technology and events industries to stand by their teams as the COVID-19 outbreak threatens the liveliehoods of many industry workers. “Events of every kind have been seriously affected in a very short space of time,” comments the company’s managing director, Tom Jeffery. “As with many organisations, this is a significant part of our business, but we know we have to look to the future. At SFL, we consider our team to be our family - one that we will stand by. We have always run a financially-prudent business and we are grateful to be in a position to be able to weather this storm and put our team’s needs first in such a difficult time.” As well as looking close to home, SFL is finding ways to support positive expressions of community on a wider basis, as new ways to communi
Sweden - Gothenburg-based LumenRadio AB has announced the acquisition of Wireless Solution Sweden AB. The two brands will maintain their market identities and operate separately. The combined business will have a yearly turnover of more than €10m and more than 50 employees, with complementary products and solutions, addressing a much bigger customer base. Alexander Hellström, CEO of LumenRadio, comments: “We are really excited about this! Together we will define the wireless standard for the future and with all the great technology and know-how Wireless Solution has built up over the last two decades, we strongly believe that our existing and future customers will benefit from the combined offer. Professional lighting is a high-stakes, no-nonsense business, putting high pressure on suppliers to always deliver, something that Wireless Solution, under the dedicate
UK - As with many businesses in the UK, loudspeaker specialist EM Acoustics is closely monitoring the current public health challenge linked to the Coronavirus, and following advice and applying procedures recommended by the WHO and Public Health England with regard to health and hygiene. Operations director Mike Wheeler reports: “Since we source very few of our components in South East Asia, our exposure to supply chain disruption from China is extremely minimal. Additionally we understand that Chinese manufacturing has resumed to near normal levels, and so we do not anticipate any significant negative effects on our supply chain. “Although restrictions on the movement of goods in Europe, and particularly Italy, is of concern, we do have considerable reserve stocks of components that will allow us to complete current production schedules without disruption.
UK - Artistic Licence reports that it is ‘business as usual’ for the company in the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The lighting control specialist says, “As a small company, Artistic Licence is keen to reassure all our customers that we are open for business as usual. Our sales and production departments are operating normally and we have good levels of stock available for immediate delivery. “As a precaution, the decision has been made that staff who can work from home will do so from today onwards, until further notice. Email and telephone details will remain the same and all staff can be contacted as normal.”
UK - Creative Technology (CT) UK is home to hundreds of media servers, each with the latest in GPU’s and processors. Ordinarily, these servers are key to delivering live events for clients but following the outbreak of COVID-19 throughout Europe and beyond, and the related reduction in live events, CT has found itself in a position to get creative with its technology in the form of the Folding@Home project run by Stanford University. CT London has set up a server farm and is inviting researchers from all over the world to use the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) capacity of its media servers to draw, calculate and analyse complex formulas and graphics in the global fight against COVID-19. Folding@Home is a distributed computing project for disease resea
Mexico - LEA Professional has partnered with Soluciones Proactive Latin América to serve the company’s growing customer base in the Latin America region. Based in Mexico City, and owned by Berenice Gutierrez, Proactive will represent LEA Professional’s full suite of products - including its cloud platform set to launch next month. “We are delighted to partner with a nimble and innovative brand like LEA Professional. LEA continues to break barriers in the industry, and I look forward to working with LEA and some of the top distributors in Latin America to help strengthen the industry,” comments Berenice Gutierrez, owner and director Pro Active LATAM. “We are proud to add S. Proactive Latin America to our growing network of global sales representatives and distribution partners,” said Scott Robbins, VP of sales for LEA Professional. “At LEA Professional
UK - Edinburgh-based event company 21CC Group Ltd who deliver events throughout the UK has launched an online campaign #ThinkOthers with the aim of connecting those who need help and those who can offer help during the coming weeks and months as a result of the effects of COVID-19. Director Geoff Crow says, “Our business, 21CC Group, is about bringing people together through events. Like many businesses we are working to come to terms with the impact that the coronavirus is having on the nation, our families, neighbours and our business. “Events are our business; however, events have been halted across the country at this time in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus. “Whilst we are not able to deliver events in this current state of nationwide shut down due to the Coronavirus, in the midst of panic and fear, our team want to deliver a message of h
USA - A group of leading live event industry organisations has joined together to create a GoFundMe campaign to raise $250,000 in donations to provide relief to eligible freelance professionals affected by the coronavirus pandemic due to event cancellations. The campaign is initially being sponsored by Alive Risk, Clair Global, the Event Safety Alliance, Griffin360, Merch Roadie, Show Makers Symposium and Take1 Insurance, with other companies expected to join the cause. The goal of the campaign is to reach out to entertainment industry businesses and live entertainment fans worldwide to raise $250,000 in direct contributions to the Roadie Relief GoFundMe campaign that will then be distributed to eligible freelance professionals through MusiCares. Information about the Roadie Rescue Campaign, who it benefits and how to apply can be found at
World - Industry professionals looking to make use of any downtime caused by the coronavirus disruption across the events industry can now access various web workshops and seminars for free. Lighting professionals can look to the Avoliteswebsite for upcoming online tutorials, webinars and support on the company’s Titan and Ai platforms. Ambersphere has added ‘free for freelancers’ grandMA2 user training and network introduction classes, details of which can be found at training@ambersphere.co.uk. The grandMA2 user course will be 24-26 March and the grandMA2 Network course will be the 27 March. Meanwhile, ETC has made its Learning
UK - PLASA has announced the cancellation of its popular PLASA Focus Leeds tradeshow, which was scheduled to take place on 12-13 May 2020 at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. The Association said in a statement: "Following the concerning developments of the Covid-19 outbreak over the past week, PLASA has come to the disappointing yet inevitable decision that we must cancel PLASA Focus Leeds. This decision was made in order to ensure the health and safety of both our exhibitors and visitors, as without all of your continued support, the show wouldn’t be the success it is today. "We regret that we cannot now share the incredible programme we had planned, as well as two sold-out show floors full of industry figureheads. However, we are pleased to announce that PLASA Focus Leeds will return next year, taking place from 11-12 May 2021, bringing with it the usual vibran
Bangladesh - Adamson Systems Engineering has further bolstered its foothold in Southern Asia with the appointment of Mainspring as its exclusive distributor for Bangladesh. Headquartered in Dhaka, Mainspring will represent Adamson’s loudspeaker offerings in the country’s live production and integration markets. “We’ve seen Adamson’s profile growing significantly in Southern Asia and around the world and saw a lot of potential for a high-end brand with great support and a strong focus on user education here in Bangladesh,” comments Rezwan Rahman, executive director of Mainspring. “We’ve had great interactions with Adamson’s APAC team and Canadian headquarters thus far and look forward to working together to generate new business and opportunities throughout our territory.” Mainspring is currently well-stocked with Adamson’s tour-proven S-Series of
Europe The latest major events cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak include Glastonbury Festival and the Eurovision Song Contest. In the UK, Brighton’s annual arts festival will not take place for the first time in 53 years, while organisers of major festivals such as Reading, the Isle of Wight and Cropredy are monitoring the situation closely. Taylor Swift, Sir Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar were due to appear, alongside Diana Ross and Dua Lipa at Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary gathering at Worthy Farm in Somerset in June. "We're so sorry the decision to cancel has been made," a statement said. "It was not through choice." Just six days ago, organiser Emily Eavis said she had "fingers firmly crossed" the event would go ahead. But after the government advised people to avoid mass gatherings on Monday, cancellation became increasingly likely. Fans who h
South Africa - DWR Distribution is now offering training free of charge. New to DWR’s schedule is a Networking and Lighting Protocols workshop presented by Jannie de Jager on 1 and 2 July at DWR Distribution's base in Johannesburg. De Jager will cover topics such as network protocols, show control protocols, planning a network and troubleshooting. Delegates are to supply their own laptop or PC and an optional network switch. Please also bring a valid ID. Delegates are requested to supply their own packed lunch. Bookings can be made online at dwrdistribution.co.za.
USA - In light of the coronavirus outbreak and the challenges it presents the entertainment industry, Obsidian Control Systems will provide free weekly training sessions covering the Onyx control platform and new Netron data distribution range. These classes will be hosted online and are available globally for anyone interested in learning more about Obsidian’s advanced yet intuitive lighting control products. Every week a different range of topics will be discussed in an open forum that encourages user interaction and questions. Topics will include navigating the new Dylos pixel engine to the building of cue and playback structures, as well as FX creation. The Onyx workspace environment will be discussed in depth along with any other topics users are interested in addressing. For details and registration, visit
USA - Behind the Scenes has announced an online behavioural health screening programme as part of its Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative. These free screenings are completely anonymous, private, easily accessible, and quick to complete. The entertainment industry has unique rewards, practices, stressors and challenges that are not commonly experienced in the same way in other professions. By its very nature our industry can impact your physical and emotional health with long hours, pressure to push your body, and high workplace stress. These screenings are a tool to check in on a key part of your overall health - your behavioural health - which includes mental health, substance use, and more. The program consists of nine different sets of questions which can help you self-identify symptoms you may be experiencing. You choose which of the screenings you w
USA - Reacting to the coronavirus crisis, the Chauvet Professional team has offered words of encouragement. “While we are all facing the harsh impact that the coronavirus pandemic is having on our family, friends, colleagues, customers and businesses, we believe that even in the midst of this darkness, light will find a way to come through. And does,” says Chauvet. “This is reflected in the resilience and resourcefulness of our own industry members who, with the door closed on large gatherings, have ingenuously turned to lighting live streamed events. “We’ve been inspired by the example of Events United, which has partnered with UltraSound LLC to live stream a Drop Kick Murphy’s concert; Star Design Event Services, Spectrum Audio Productions and MediaQuest, which streamed a music video by Code Orange on Twitch; and Nic Vasquez who streamed services Sunday
