Zimbabwe - This year’s edition of the annual Worship Experience 2020 gathering at the aptly named Rainbow Towers in Harare was ‘an ecstatic, full throttled celebration of hope’.
This was evident in the musical segment of the event, which was organised by Kayse Connect, to showcase new talent, with a special emphasis on Zimbabwe’s abundance of emerging women artists. Adding to the occasion was a bright, bold, and fast-moving five-universe lightshow designed by Blessing Bero and programmed by Tatenda Gaylord Rushwaya of Events Evolution that featured Maverick and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional.
Relying on the intense output of the Maverick MK2 Spot, Rogue R2 Beam, and Rogue R1 Beam, Bero and Rushwaya sent multi-coloured and white aerial effects in every direction, symbolically raising the visual voice of the stage in concert with the uplifting music. Th

UK - Martin Audio will unveil new products and demo its most recent offerings during a series of open days to be held at its High Wycombe HQ in March.
Over three days and five sessions spanning 17-19 March, much interest will be focused on the new Adorn on-wall and ceiling speaker range, which was formally launched at the recent ISE 2020 show in Amsterdam.
During the course of the presentations, delegates will have the opportunity to sample all four of Martin Audio’s new Wavefront Precision Series, namely the WPM, WPS, WPC and WPL, offering comparative listening across all four arrays.
There will also be a wide range of subwoofers on show, including the new cardioid SXC118, as well as the new BlacklineX Powered portable series.
Finally, all the CDD-LIVE will be on demo, offering visitors the chance to experience the company’s proprietary Coaxial Differ

UK - Sennheiser Sound Academy training courses for the first half of 2020 are now available to book online.
Run by Sennheiser’s Andrew Lillywhite and Joe Mahoney from the Customer Development & Application Engineer (CDAE) team, the courses are designed for RF techs, AV integrators and technicians, sound engineers, designers or consultants, live event professionals, equipment resellers and apprentices, who want to further their understanding of the specific area of each course.
A wide variety of courses are now available, including Wireless Mics Monitoring Essentials, held at Sennheiser UK offices in Marlow as well as at Arnolfini in Bristol; RF Best Practice for Production and Touring course in London; Wireless Audio for AV Integrators, held in Marlow and London; Audio For Meeting Rooms & Conferencing, taking place in London and Sc

Europe - Adam Hall, Vari-Lite and Strand have pulled out of Prolight+Sound 2020 amid growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak sweeping across Europe.
The moves will put pressure on the organisers of the tradeshow, due to take place at Messe Frankfurt on 31 March - 3 April, to clarify whether the event will go ahead. The virus has recently spread to more European countries, causing disruptions to trade events on the continent, including the postponement of Messe Frankfurt's architecture and lighting show Light+Building until September.
“Although we were looking forward to meeting our customers and presenting our newest innovations at the fair, we must do our part to help to contain the issue,” explains Sameer Sodhi, business leader at Vari-Lite and Strand at Signify. “The health, safety and well-being of our employees, customers and partners is and remains o

Italy - MIR Tech (formerly Music Inside Rimini), the annual live entertainment technology tradeshow, has been postponed.
The Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), which organises the show, has taken the decision "in light of the critical international situation caused by the Covid-19 emergency". MIR Tech was due to take place 8-10 March at the Rimini Expo Centre.
New dates will be announced following consultations with exhibitors and the wider sector.
IEG has also moved to postpone its other March shows, including Enada Spring, the International Amusement and Gaming Show, the accompanying Rimini Amusement Show, and the spring edition of Abilmente Vicenza the Creative Idea Show.

France - PlugFest, the technical event for entertainment lighting interoperability organised by PLASA, is now underway in Lille. The annual three-day event welcomes manufacturers, developers and technicians from across the continent to test their products and learn about the latest protocols.
For the third year running, PlugFest has sold out, with delegates from major lighting manufacturers such as Robert Juliat, Claypaky, Chauvet, Eaton, GLP, ETC, TMB, ChamSys and Highlite.
The event’s expert hosts, Hamish Dumbreck (JESE Ltd), Peter Willis (Howard Eaton Lighting) and Wayne Howell (Artistic Licence) are set to host a series of break-out sessions covering RDM, DALI, RDMnet, Art-Net, sACN and LLRP, as well as recent ESTA TSC developments.
Nicky Greet, PLASA’s membership, skills and technical director, comments: “We’re delighted to present another PlugFest

UK - Out Board and EM Acoustics have joined forces to present a combined series of demonstrations offering offer a unique opportunity to experience TiMax spatial mixing, immersive 3D effects animation and vocal localisation with live stage-tracking using TiMax SoundHub and TrackerD4 on a multichannel immersive EM Acoustics system. Mark your diaries for Tuesday 3rd-Thursday 5th March 2020 as this amiable event will take place at SARM Music Bank Studios.
Out Board’s Dave Haydon and Robin Whittaker will be running sessions that cover: 
• TiMax SoundHub new HARDCore FPGA processing, PanSpace auto-calc spatial rendering and TimeLine showcontrol workflows.
• TiMax TrackerD4 all new Precision Stagetracking for live performer vocal localisation and fx panning.

EM Acoustics will formally demonstrate the Reference Series R10 flagship point source louds

Germany Artistic Licence will be showing sunDial quad, winner of the 2019 PLASA Gold Award for Innovation, at both Light+building (8-13 March) and Prolight + Sound (31 March - 3 April) in Frankfurt.
The product - a DMX/RDM/Xicato controlled trailing edge mains dimmer - offers ‘outstanding dimming performance and advanced safety features’. It works 'out of the box' with all dimmable replacement LED bulbs (also halogen and CFL). Performance is further optimized through the selection (via RDM) of one of four editable dimming curves on a per-channel basis.
Also new for 2020, Commissioner dali is a hand-held, battery powered tool for commissioning, testing and configuring DALI installations. The bright, 40 character LCD is easy to read and provides a wealth of information. Commissioner dali has numerous intensity control functions including direct control over DT8 colo

Europe - Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) has engaged support from its global community in a charitable project for the Emma Children’s Hospital in collaboration with the Amsterdam University Medical Centre. Multiple AV brands and a CEDIA Award-winning installer, Woelf, are working together to create an entertainment room at Het Jeroen Pit Huis, a new transitional care unit for chronically ill children and their families in the grounds of Amsterdam University Medical Centre.
“We are pleased that we can use our industry connections, and those of our co-owners, CEDIA and AVIXA, to bring together the very best products, design and installation expertise to support this project and build something wonderful for a very worthy cause,” comments Mike Blackman, MD of Integrated Systems Events. “This space will be a source of enjoyment, excitement and escape for all those stay

UK - The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced the appointment of five new judges across its three categories for the 2020 Awards.
The KOI Awards invites critics, journalists and industry professionals to form its three independent judging panels for the categories of Concert & Event, Television and Theatre.
Critic, broadcaster, and chair of the Theatre judging panel David Benedict is joined by three new judges: Mark Pullinger, an experienced opera critic and editor of classical music magazine Bachtrack; Sarah Crompton, dance critic for The Observer and theatre reviewer for Whatsonstage; and Susannah Clapp, theatre critic for The Observer. Each will serve a two-year term on the Theatre panel, where they join existing judges Louise Levene of the Financial Times, deputy arts editor and music critic of The Times Ne

The Netherlands - AV technology tradeshow Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 completed a 15-year residency at the Amsterdam RAI expo centre with a special event held on the show’s last day, 14 February (Friday).
Politicians and executives saluted the venue and the city of Amsterdam while looking ahead to the future, with the tradeshow set to move to the Fira de Barcelona for its 2021 edition.
Despite health concerns brought about by the coronavirus outbreak and major travel disruption caused by Storm Ciara, ISE 2020 took place as planned, but with markedly lower attendance of 52,128 unique visitors compared to 81,268 in 2019.
Mike Blackman, MD of Integrated Systems Events, comments: “This year’s show demonstrated to us just how determined our attendees were to come to ISE. Many of our exhibitors exceeded their targets for customer engagement and lead gen

UK - Stage and theatre drapes manufacturer J&C Joel has appointed Lauren Kellett as its new chief financial officer (CFO), replacing Nick Warton, who will leave the business in December after almost four years of service.
Kellett will helm J&C Joel’s Finance and IT department, assuming full responsibility for the company’s finances including planning, reporting and auditing. Working closely alongside the rest of the senior management team, she will support business growth across the world.
James Wheelwright, CEO of J&C Joel added: “On behalf of the company, I would like to welcome Lauren to J&C Joel. Her experience in the finance industry, as well as her knowledge of fabrics is very valuable to our team here at J&C Joel and I have every confidence she will be a great addition to our senior management team. We have expanded significantly in r

UK - Penn Elcom has announced that RGB Communications will be distributing its full range of 19-inch racking enclosures and associated accessories.
The move is in line with RGB’s goal of being a one-stop shop for AV racking solutions. In addition Penn Elcom’s various products for the AV market, along with its 19” ranges, complement, RGB’s existing product portfolios in the residential and commercial sectors.
Caroline Britt, RGB Communications MD, comments: “As a high-quality UK-based manufacturer with great support and a reputation for quick turnarounds on bespoke projects, as well as its practical off-the-shelf ranges, we are a good match.”
Penn’s sales director Rob Platt, adds: “We look forward to a busy and proactive working relationship with RGB. With 29 years’ experience in the pro AV industry built on understanding the products they distr

The Netherlands - Funktion-One has launched two compact loudspeaker models – the F5 speaker and the SB8 bass unit.
The Funktion-One F5 offers a balanced and natural sound quality that’s not often found in loudspeakers of its size, says the company. The F5’s ultra compact dimensions and high output mean it is suited to a wide range of applications, including distributed public address systems, bars and restaurants, as well as domestic applications, such as home cinemas, desktop monitoring and home music systems.
The F5 features a Funktion-One bespoke wide-range, high-sensitivity 5” driver, an integrated high pass filter for low frequency protection, angled cabinet design for desktop use and a 3/8” microphone stand mount.
The Funktion-One SB8 is a compact, yet powerful and convincing bass unit. It is suitable for applications where a conventionally sized

The Netherlands - Renkus-Heinz highlighted the premium quality audio offered by beam steering technology – effectively positioning more integrators and end users for performance in their businesses. Through key offerings in the Renkus-Heinz line, steerable solutions are now feasible integration options in more locations and more types of facilities.
“We’re showcasing the enabling technologies that allow integrators to introduce cutting-edge audio performance into additional locations,” said Matt Czyzewski, president of Renkus-Heinz. “We’ve engineered our offerings to provide effective and efficient installation, as well as intuitive setup and configuration. We aim to make digitally steerable audio accessible to all types of integrations – no matter the size, shape, or location construction.”
With the DC12/2 and ICLive X series – and the supporting te


USA - Design and BIM software provider, Vectorworks has named lighting designer Roland Greil and Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar as the keynote speakers for the fifth Vectorworks Design Summit. This year’s Summit will have two firsts: an entertainment design keynote speaker and a West Coast location.
From 22-24 April 2020 in San Diego, California at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, design professionals, educators and students in the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries will be able to participate in industry workshops, product training for all levels of expertise, inspiring keynotes, networking opportunities and a customer appreciation party.
Sarkar, with the support of Vectorworks staff will deliver the first keynote on 23 April. His talk Simplicity to Design the Complex will focus on Vectorworks’ strategies to see where the co

UK - The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced the introduction of two new awards to the Concerts & Events category for the 2020 ceremony. The new awards are being added to the line-up to accommodate the ever-evolving high standards of production in live events.
The new Award for Festival Headliner, sponsored by Ayrton, will be open to submissions for any festival headline set that has been designed with additional packages without relying solely on the use of the pre-installed festival rig. To accommodate the entire festival season, eligible performances will have been performed between 1 January and 31 December 2019, and the closing date for submissions is 30 June 2020.
Long-standing Concert & Events chair Jess Allan says, "We have seen such incredible growth in festival design over the last few years, with more and more designers implementing th

South Africa - DWR Distribution will present its first official MA3 basic training course from 25 to 26 February in Johannesburg.
Presented by DWR’s Jannie de Jager, the two-day workshop will focus on familiarising the operator with the basic functions of the grandMA3 software and lighting consoles, as well as the operating philosophy. The content will include patching, presets, phasers and timecode. The course will also touch on networking aspects of the MA3 family.
Delegates are requested to bring a MA3 console or MA3onPC Software on a laptop with an additional screen and a valid ID.
The course will be held at DWR Distribution, C1 Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew.
The cost is R1,200 and includes a light lunch and refreshments. Bookings will be confirmed once payment has been received.
Bookings on-line: http://dwrdistribu

UK - LVR Optical will host a laser safety training for operators, installers and manufacturers of laser products.
Taking place on 2 March at Hunton Park Hotel near Watford, the event will cover a range of topics relevant to the light show and entertainment industry, including hazards associated with the use of lasers; how to design safe shows and effects; and how to prepare risk assessments and working with the local authorities. The session will also include coverage of the British Standards Institute’s PD IEC/TR 60825-3 document relating to laser effect safety, and PLASA’s own laser display safety guidance.
The laser safety course will be hosted by James Stewart, an expert in the field with 25-year experience gained through working with entertainment venues and show providers. He will offer attendees valuable insights into necessary safety requirements and undert

The Netherlands - Shure has announced a firmware update (version 4.1) that provides additional functionality for multiple products in its Networked Systems portfolio. This update includes compatibility with Audinate’s Dante Domain Manager (DDM), compatibility enhancements with leading third-party software and hardware videoconferencing codecs, and AES67 networking compatibility for products utilizing the UltimoX chipset.
The expanded support for additional third-party video codecs includes Cisco, Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams, providing programming-free USB mute sync compatibility with the IntelliMix P300 and ANIUSB-MATRIX.
“This firmware update adds new features and capabilities that the market demands,” says Chad Wiggins, senior director networked systems at Shure.
With Dante Domain Manager compatibility included in firmware release 4.1, Shure products i

Europe - The Audio Engineering Society has opened registration for the upcoming AES Vienna 148th International Professional Audio Convention, taking place at the Austria Center on 25-28 May. Early registration discounts are available through 29 February for the dedicated European pro audio event that celebrates ‘A World of Audio’.
AES Vienna attendees will experience “stellar, leading-edge recordings - including VR productions from the Abbey Road Spatial Audio Forum and examples of immersive music and game audio - presented with production insights from the engineers who brought the projects to life”. Legacy productions will be examined, such as the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Core audio topics and the technology of today and tomorrow will be explored, including audio for new distribution platforms like Magic Leap.

The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Europe and global media brand TNW (The Next Web) have announced a multi-year strategic relationship aimed at bringing the best of tech and innovation to ISE 2021 and its new Barcelona home.
Formed in 2006 and now one of the world’s largest online media brands, TNW is primarily known for its news outlet thenextweb.com and award-winning tech event TNW Conference. The company also incorporates a co-working label, a global startup database and delivers custom innovation programmes to corporates and governments. The annual TNW conference in Amsterdam attracts senior executives from the world’s leading business and technology brands.
As part of ISE’s 2021 edition at Gran Via, Fira de Barcelona, on 2-5 February, TNW will programme three new content tracks focused on technology and its impact on society. This will run in parallel to

The Netherlands - The OCA Alliance has added Adamson Systems Engineering as its latest member company.
“Adamson has stepped up as a major advocate in the media networking development and standards arena,” says OCA Alliance marketing chairman Ethan Wetzell, “Their support of the AES70 standard in recent product developments is a significant milestone for the industry. Needless to say, we are extremely pleased to welcome them into the alliance.”
Commenting for Adamson Systems Engineering, head of product and technology, Brian Fraser states: “As an audio manufacturer, we recognise the immense benefit open source protocols offer to the industry as a whole. Open Control Architecture is a protocol we've been investing in for a while and we're happy our choice has been validated and standardised by the AES as AES70.”
ISE 2020 sees a significant number of new

USA - Solotech was recently recognised with the Parnelli Award as Lighting Company of the Year for their work supporting P!nk’s The Beautiful Trauma world tour. This marks the fourth Parnelli Award won by Solotech in recent years.
The 19th edition of the Parnelli Awards were held on 17 January in Anaheim during The NAMM Show.
In attendance was Martin Tremblay, CEO of Solotech, who commented on the recognition of the company and its team. “I was very pleased to be able to attend the Parnelli Awards and support our team in Live Productions, as well as the many Solotech clients that were nominated. We take a tremendous amount of pride as a company in the Live Production team and the support they provide to clients around the globe.”
“We are very honoured to have so many nominations this year and are truly proud of this win for our lighting support on

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