UK - With PLASA 08 hosting the world premiere of Stagetracker FX, its new performer tracking and audio localisation system, Norwegian theatre specialists TTA reports that its four-day show attendance brought a flood of enquiries from Europe's leading cultural centres.

"Last year, we came to PLASA as visitors," said Stuart Kerrison, sales director of TTA."This year we were exhibitors and the show has given us great insight into how far TTA and the Stagetracker product have come in 12 months. We've met industry professionals from all over the world - Canada, Iceland, Singapore, Greece - who have heard about and read about our system. At both distributor and end-user level, a lot of people indicated to us that they are really excited about this genre of technology and its implementation."

Co-exhibiting with new UK distributor Ambersound, TTA was demonstrating

UK - In 2003, Rosco introduced a new colour to its Supergel range to raise funds for the UK charity Light Relief. #313 Light Relief Yellow has proved a popular colour and at PLASA 2008 Light Relief trustee and PLASA managing director, Matthew Griffiths accepted a cheque for almost $3,700 (£2,100).

Making the presentation, Mark Engel, president of Rosco, said: "This is the fourth year we've been able to support Light Relief with a cheque at PLASA. Our contribution to date now exceeds $15,000 and has been funded by purchases of #313 Supergel. We envisioned this arrangement as 'a gift that keeps on giving' and we're delighted that it continues to fulfil that promise."

Developed with the help of Rick Fisher, co-founder (along with the late Tony Gottelier) of the industry charity which supports lighting designers in difficult times, Light Relief Yellow is the vibran

UK - Proteus Displays reports a great success at PLASA08. The company was launching a new, ultra low power reflective display screen for indoor or outdoor use, also called Proteus, which represents the first reflective display product of its type.

Dr Tim Coker, CEO, comments: "This was our first time at PLASA and we were uncertain how this new product would be received amid today's difficult financial climate. A little to our surprise, the buzz the product has generated has been beyond all our expectations, amplified of course by the Innovation Award. We have seen that this industry has an appetite for new technologies and ideas and every visitor to our stand was most enthusiastic about the product."

For the first time the PLASA Innovation Awards included an environmental prize and Proteus was the inaugural winner. Dr Coker continues: "It has been through develo

UK - The PLASA08 exhibition (7-10 September, Earls Court, London) has bucked the general exhibition industry trend in spectacular style with an 11 per cent growth in visitor figures across the event's four days compared to 2007. The 13,000+ attendance figure (subject to ABC audit) reflects an exceptional level of visitor pre-registration as well as a growth in new and returning exhibitors to an expanded show floor, say organisers PLASA Events Ltd.

"The show's success was due to a combination of factors," said Director of Events Nicola Rowland, "in particular a targeted marketing campaign combined with special online registration offers; a growth in exhibitor numbers; even more new product launches than in 2007; a greatly expanded educational programme; and improved visitor and exhibitor facilities.

"Combined with the effort that so many exhibitors made to p

UK - For the fifth consecutive year Stage Electrics' Welsh trade show is being held at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff on Thursday 16 October.

Allen & Heath, Avolites, ETC, Le Maitre, Lee, MA Lighting, Martin, Pulsar, RCF, Roland, Rosco, Selecon, Sennheiser, Strand, Yamaha & Zero 88 will be exhibiting their latest products, offering demonstrations and providing product advice.

Other products on display include Qmaxz Moving Lights, the Xenonspot follow spot, Altair wireless intercom system, Apollo Right Arm and an array of products from Edirol. PLASA will be joining the event this year. PLASA and representatives will be there to answer questions and to discuss the benefits of membership.

New to this year's show are three Training Taster Sessions, which aim to give an insight into the industry training Stage Electrics offers. Training sessions include Worki

UK - One of the hottest topics in the lighting world at the moment is the green issue. Is tungsten dead? Is it possible to have a carbon neutral TV studio? Can you run theatre lighting on a wind turbine? The discussion that such topics generate will be just one of many at the 2009 Showlight event which takes place in Glasgow next May.

The Green issues will be debated by a panel of speakers that includes Fred Foster, CEO of ETC; at the other end of the spectrum Alex Wardle of Arup venue consulting will be taking a backward look to stage lighting in 1750, when the bleached beeswax candle was cutting edge, as he discusses how he re-created the feel of a candle-lit stage without actually using a naked flame.

The venue for 2009's Showlight is BBC Scotland's new state of the art headquarters, which boasts the latest broadcast technology. It is the biggest TV recording space to be bu

UK - Global Design Solutions (GDS) has been awarded the PLASA 2008 Innovation Award for the MOBAL ProTester 19, a premium cable diagnostic tool. This is the second Innovation Award in two years for GDS. Over sixty-five products were put forward for the PLASA '08 awards, all of which were showcased in the PLASA Innovation Gallery.

GDS developed the MOBAL (Make Or Break And Load) digital Socapex tester to meet a market need in the entertainment industry for a comprehensive and automatic fault diagnosis and correction system. The product is compact, digital, splash proof and operates fully automatically; its OLED (organic LED) display provides the test results in symbols rather than words, making MOBAL a truly international product.

TMB are Global Distributors for the ProTester 19 MOBAL cable tester. Paul Hartley, TMB-UK's GM, says, "Over the years we have seen Socapex teste

New Zealand - New products on debut from Selecon at LDI include the Rama 6" Fresnel with the new Osram 575W BTH lamp. Footcandle light output readings taken at spot focus are only 21.5% less than those recorded with the 1000W lamp and, at flood focus 36% less - an impressive 42.5% reduction in energy consumption.

There's also the Hui Work Light which is proving a popular addition to the Hui family of Cyc, Flood and Groundrow. Fitting the Cyc with wire safety mesh instead of safety glass means that the air flow system works in any position for extended operating hours required for overstage or rehearsal applications.

Plus, there's the 8-leaf barndoor and a new and improved rock'n'roll type colour change for the Performer Series range of Followspots.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Making scenery safe through operator training, regular maintenance and the use of top quality theatrical rigging is the hallmark of J. R. Clancy's worldwide business. That's why the company has chosen LDI to remind entertainment professionals to take safety seriously.

"No matter what kind of rigging system a performance space may have - counterweights, automation, a combination of the two or a customized system - we can't emphasize enough that you're hanging heavy set pieces over people's heads," said Tom Young, J. R. Clancy's vice president of marketing. "We're taking a light touch with our safety message, but we're very serious about the need to do annual maintenance, train rigging operators to spot problems, and keep everyone in the theatre safe from rigging accidents."

LDI attendees can see J. R. Clancy's PowerLift Automated Hoist with its outer c

India - Over 3,000 professionals from the sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration industries visited the recent PALME India trade show in Mumbai.

By the end of this successful show, it became clear to trade fair organisers, IIR Exhibitions, that the expo may be ready to evolve into its next phase.

After mounting a successful launch campaign in India's Bollywood capital there is now a groundswell of exhibitors asking IIR to repeat the formula in a different location in 2009.

The 2009 edition of PALME India is also likely to occupy a different date in the calendar - away from the Festival season.

Exhibition organiser James Raffoul, said: "We can look forward to the future as PALME India has become a permanent fixture in the Indian industry calendar."

(Jim Evans)

Spain - Expo 2008 has finally drawn to a spectacular close in Zaragoza, Spain after a three-month tenure. 105 nations took part in the world fair which was dedicated to the topic of Water and Sustainable Development and attracted over 6 million visitors.

Situated in a meander of the Ebro river, the Expo 2008 site is home to some groundbreaking architecture such as the emblematic Bridge Pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid and the imposing Water Tower designed by Enrique de Teresa. The exposition site also hosted several daily shows including Iceberg, a visual and poetic symphony evoking water and climate change as its central themes. Leading Spanish production company, Focus, created the iceberg itself and designed the audio system which was entirely powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers, including 24 PLM Powered Loudspeaker Management systems.

From a technical point of v

USA - Royal Philips Electronics today announced that it will present its latest innovations in entertainment lighting technology at LDI 08 in Las Vegas.

At LDI, the Philips 750/115 FastFit and Philips 800/230 FastFit will be on display for the first time, designed in fixtures of the American manufacturer Strand. These new Philips lamps offer maximum light and minimum heat at performers, a longer lifespan and fewer early failures.

Philips has extended the FastFit product range over the last few months with the Philips MSR Gold 300/2 FastFit, Philips MSR Gold 1500 FastFit and Philips MSR Gold 2000(/2) FastFit.

(Jim Evans)

Ireland - In less than one month, EvenTech Ireland (18 - 19 November, 2008 - RDS Dublin, Ireland) opens its doors for the first time.

Iain McLean, one half of the Scattered Media duo responsible for the EvenTech model, reports: "The EvenTech brand is just in its first year and already we've had two very successful shows in two very different regions. EvenTech Ireland has been our fastest sell out to date and all exhibitors are very optimistic about the success they will see in Ireland. It's going to be a very pivotal show for EvenTech, the exhibitors and the visitors alike."

Darren Brechin, co-director of Scattered Media notes: "From our experience we realised that the visitors - the installers and the system integrators - need to be able to quickly and easily access these shows, taking hours rather than days out of their schedules - and actually finding informa

USA - Chauvet will unveil a variety of new LED products at LDI 2008 (24-26 October, Las Vegas, USA) with applications for stage, production and retail venues, plus a preview of the company's new architectural line, which is expected to lunch in the first quarter of 2009.

The company's product display list includes the Legend 1200E - Chauvet's first 1,200W moving yoke. Features include 12, 24, or 32-channels of DMX-512 control, linear zoom, variable frost, two gobo wheels, each with 12 interchangeable glass gobos, and a colour wheel offering seven vibrant colours, variable colour spin and seamless split colours.

The Legend 6500 is a 10 or 14-channel intelligent LED moving yoke, offering full RGBW mixing. Features include adjustable colour temperatures, the capability to trigger instant colour changes and colour consistency ensured by tight binning requirements. Also new, the Le

USA - Martin Professional is featuring a number of new products at LDI including the MAC III Profile and the MAC 2000 Wash XB. Also on display is EvenLED, a modular LED system for extremely even field projection; new hazers in the Jem and Magnum lines; and several new products and product updates in Martin's controller range. Martin is also showing the Exterior 1200 Image Projector and new indoor and outdoor LED luminaires.

The MAC III Profile is the first product in Martin's third generation of MAC moving heads. It features package of performance features, such as colour mixing with a broader colour range plus deeper more vibrant hues, a fat beam look with serious beam definition, up to 75% more output than current 1200 W profile fixtures, wide zoom range, new gobos, animation effects, fast effects and movements and low noise cooling.

The MAC 2000 Wash XB is now even brighter

UK - XL Video has announced details of its new division XL Events which has been created by consolidating the corporate division of XL Video and AV specialists Show Support.

Located in both Bromsgrove and Hemel Hempstead, the operation will be headed up by Rich Rowley, assisted by an experienced and professional team of 23. XL Events has been established to offer the latest sound, lighting and AV technology drawing on the experience, resources and project management of the XL Video group of companies in the UK and Europe.

Rowley comments: "We have a vast pool of knowledge and creativity, plus access to a wide variety of equipment. As part of the XL Group of companies we have the resources to offer the most comprehensive and cost-effective packages and support involving everything from providing the technical infrastructure to the logistics of making an event happen effici

UK - Ward Steedsy Associates (WSA) in association with, Allen & Heath, Funktion One & Polar Audio are running a training Demo day on Monday 10 November 2008 at The Bongo Club, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh.

Le'on Philips, Allen & Heath's product manager will be giving a full training session on the iLive digital desk. Mark Bromfield from Polar Audio will be bringing a full range of Beyer Dynamic mics plus some XTZ , MC2 & ASL gear; the mics will be demo'ed on a live band.

John Newsham co-founder of Funktion One Research will also be in attendance, demonstrating various Funktion One Resolution products.

"This will be a great event to gets hands-on' experience for a range of fantastic products, and meet the people behind the products," said David Steedsy Stevenson.

(Jim Evans)

UK - This year's Reproduced Sound Conference and Exhibition takes place 20-21 November at the Brighton Old Ship Hotel, Sussex.

Reproduced Sound 24 - Immersive Audio will feature an array of papers from well known experts in the industry. Further information is available at www.reproducedsound.co.uk.

(Jim Evans)

Ireland - D.A.S. Audio continues its worldwide seminar series, and Ireland recently received a visit from D.A.S. Audio engineer Joan La Roda.

The two-day seminar took at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlon, an hour away from Dublin. The event was organized by D.A.S. distributor Reynolds of Raphoe and was attended by some 25 D.A.S. customers and prospective clients.

The seminar's main focus was Line Arrays: How they work, detailing the technical features and applications of line array systems as well as an explanation about subwoofer characteristics and configuration entitled Subwoofer Configurations and Time Alignment. The theoretical section was followed by Arco, DR, Reference, Artec, Variant112A and Variant 18A product demos. Brian McGrath of Reynolds of Raphoe personally took charge of the demos and the D.A.S. systems presentation.

(Jim Evans)

China - The sixth edition of Prolight+Sound Shanghai drew a record crowd of visitors from 82 countries and regions when held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, 9-12 October 2008.

Visitors to the show found a variety of sound, entertainment and lighting technology spread over two halls as well as exclusive live concerts hosted by Sennheiser microphones and Pioneer.

Prolight+Sound Shanghai attracted 14,152 visitors, an increase of nearly 4% compared to last year. Of these 13,008 were domestic visitors, a rise of 6% and 1,144 were international visitors. The exhibition saw 308 exhibitors from 10 countries and regions showcasing their products in 23,000sq.m, the organisers say.

(Jim Evans)

USA - The first annual Rock Our World Awards were presented at ESTA's Annual Dinner on 23 October, the evening before the LDI show. These awards, which recognise groundbreaking achievement by ESTA Members in new products, product applications, or projects were created to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designer or integrator who applies the technology in a real world environment.

Over 30 nominations were received from across the industry and these were narrowed down to a shortlist of nine finalists for the panel of judges to ponder upon. The judges for this year's awards were Rick Baxter, Ken Billington, Cory Fitzgerald, Elaine J. McCarthy, Rocky Paulson, and Bruce Rodgers.

The judges panel was chaired by Mike Wood, who said prior to announcing the winners: "We wanted to create an award series that had no rules except for excitement

UK - Point Source Productions supplied the lighting and rigging equipment for The Heroes Ball which took place at London's Hurlingham Club in September.

The evening took the form of dinner for 800 VIP guests followed by a band and a Charity Auction which aimed to raise £250,000 for Help for Heroes - the charity formed in 2007 to raise money for the rehabilitation of wounded ex-servicemen across the Armed Forces.

Lighting designer Jono Kenyon was brought in to design the lighting for the band, the charity auction and the general dinner states, and had the added responsibility of acting as production manager for the evening.

The brief was to keep the costs as low as possible since all funding would come directly from the charity, yet to produce a stylish event suitable for the large number of dignitaries attending. The lighting was designed to play a signif

Israel - An In2Structures Maxi Dome made its debut in Israel as the VVIP Arena backstage at Paul McCartney's recent concert in Tel Aviv.

In2Structures is a South African based custom structures design and manufacturing company that is part of the Gearhouse SA Group. The 800sq.m capacity two-bay Dome at the McCartney show was supplied to Tel Aviv-based staging and rigging company Stage Design, provider of most of the overall event's technical infrastructure.

The Dome - launched by Gearhouse In2Structures as a fully flexible, aesthetically pleasing, structurally robust solution for all types of events - offered 12.5m of headroom and was located behind the main stage.

Its interior was fully fitted out and dressed by Market King complete with comfortable seating areas, a large central bar, a buffet area and a chilling one. A full lighting rig was hung on a circular truss above t

UK - As part of its ambitious plans for 2009, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust will be opening a new exhibition and visitor centre at Shakespeare's Birthplace. Following a competitive pitch, the Trust has appointed UK creative design and AV specialist Sarner to redevelop the visitor centre and give the Bard a modern makeover.

The attraction, entitled Life, Love & Legacy: A New Introduction to William Shakespeare, is due to open in April 2009, and will see visitors journey through five zones in an immersive experience bringing the history of Shakespeare to life. Set within the grounds of the house where Shakespeare was born, the visitor centre is the centrepiece of the five houses that The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust opens to the public in and around Stratford.

Utilising its in house creative and AV departments, Sarner has designed a fully automated dark 'walk through'

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