Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Rigging / Staging

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UK - For the fifth year in succession Hawthorns were contracted by Worcester based DRP Group to supply some of the technical needs for Thomas Cook's annual overseas conference, held in Malta. This year's was different in many ways as they opted to use Malta's all new 130m x 50m structure, recently erected by Arena Structures.

Hawthorns were responsible for all the lighting, power, sound, trussing and drapes. Once again the structure had to be multi functional in terms of hosting conferences, talent shows and gala dinners, and the lighting and sound systems had to be versatile.

Because of this factor, Hawthorns sound designer, Iain Reinhold opted for the new Yamaha Digital desk, recently added to Hawthorns hire stock. The desk proved an invaluable tool, as it allowed Reinhold to store each show and recall them with minimum fuss.

A seven-man crew that included sound, lighting

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USA - Nemetschek North America hasannounced the launch of vLearning webinars, a new virtual trainingseries delivered to VectorWorks users over the web using WebExtechnology. vLearning webinars provide VectorWorks users with convenienthour-long training sessions on a variety of VectorWorks topics,including instruction on how to use specific feature sets andfunctionality, as well as techniques and workflows to enhanceproductivity. Each session is live and concludes with time for questionsand answers.

"vLearning webinars are perfect for users who are looking for short,self-contained workshops on VectorWorks topics they'd like to learn moreabout, at their own convenience," says Frank Brault, Nemetschek NorthAmerica's director of training and technical support. "Our new virtualtraining series is designed as another option for users who might notprefer to devote several

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - This year's A.C. Lighting North Tradeshow is moving to a new purpose-built exhibition hall with 50% more space to facilitate an expanded exhibitor line-up and rising attendance levels, the company reports. The event takes place on 1-2 May in the new Saviles Hall at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, which is adjacent to the original location and now the city's largest exhibition venue.

As well as accommodating the show's expansion plans, the improved facilities also enable the organisers to provide the main exhibition, complementary theatre seminars programme and buffet lunch with a bar and dining area, all within the same hall.

Full show details will be confirmed in the coming months, but visitors can expect the same popular format, "including exclusive 1st UK showings of new products, the latest innovations from over 70 leading brands, one to one demonstrations a

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UAE - Dubai-based production company HQ Creative, working closely with Done Events, delivered the opening ceremony of the 18th Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium. The show, conceived by HQ's creative director Katie Veira, was a 37-minute mixed media spectacular, and the largest opening event to date for a football tournament.

The performance featured 1200 live performers, 55 horses and an international production team of over 400, working with around 1700 local crew over the build period. The show was enjoyed live by 55,000 excited spectators and a TV audience of 50 million who tuned in to Dubai Sports.

The building of the complex technical infrastructure was co-ordinated by production director Jo Marshall, working with his key HQ team including project manager Jo MacKay, production co-ordinators Ian Greenway, Candice Dalziel, Nadine Manning and site manager Nig

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USA - Total Structures, Inc., a manufacturer of industry standard truss, custom set and structures and a Columbus McKinnon hoist distributor has announced a new initiative to benefit The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes Programme. Total Structures will donate $10 to Behind the Scenes for every Lodestar and Prostar Columbus McKinnon hoist they sell.

Adrian Forbes-Black, vice president operations, made the announcement to Lori Rubinstein and Bill Sapsis, members of the Behind the Scenes Committee, during the recent LDI exhibition.

"Behind the Scenes is a wonderful programme and we wanted to find a way to help," said Forbes-Black. "There are a number of people and organisations that have put together programmes to benefit Behind the Scenes, and this idea seemed to be a good way for us to do our part." Forbes-Black also noted that "this initiative is fo

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UK - Plans for a National Skills Academy for the creative and cultural industries have been boosted with the addition of more influential supporters. PLASA - the Professional Lighting and Sound Association - is the latest organisation to join the unprecedented alliance of employers and industry bodies backing the project.

The Academy is designed to address shortages in offstage and technical skills for live music and the performing arts. Detailed plans being prepared by Creative & Cultural Skills, the employer-led Sector Skills Council, will be submitted to the government in April 2007.

"PLASA's support is hugely significant," says Tom Bewick, chief executive of Creative and Cultural Skills. "Its wide membership of leading specialists in professional audio, lighting, staging, rigging, communications and related disciplines fully understands what skills are neede

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Czech Republic - Students and graduates of art schools and young beginning artists have until the end of January to sign up for workshops that are being prepared within the framework of the Scenofest - Student Section of the Prague Quadrennial 2007. The international competitive showcase of scenography and theatre architecture, PQ 07, will take place from 14-24 June 2007. The Scenofest program is one of the three main sections of the event.

Workshops and informal meetings with authors working in the field of theatre will occur over the entire ten day event. The rich program will include scenography, lighting design, sound design, theatre costumes, puppet theatre and various types of theatre technology. The workshops will be held in the Central Hall of the Industrial Palace (in the centre of the Scenofest exhibit), at the Alfred in the Courtyard Theatre and the NoD Experimental S

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UK - A 22-way Kinesys Elevation motion control system was in action on the final leg of Kylie's epic Showgirl Homecoming tour - using an additional 10 Kinesys motors over and above the 12 on the original tour. The system was specified by lighting designer Vince Foster.

The 10 new motors - a mix of half and one tonne Liftkets - were used to control four extra high resolution video screens, two punchbags that dropped in for one song, plus the tips of a massive pair of wings that opened out at the end of the second encore.

The 10 original Kinesys 500kg 400mm/s vari-speed motors were utilised to suspend five lighting trusses, supplied as part of the lighting rental package from Neg Earth Lights. The other two 1 tonne Kinesys hoists flew the centre hi-res Barco I-12 screen that was in the original show.

For the updated Homecoming tour, all five video screens glided

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UK - Mojo Barriers UK office ended 2006 in Aberdeen, supplying their Line-Up gates for Scotland's only Hogmany event to survive terrible weather, and then began 2007 at the opposite end of the country in Brighton for Fat Boy Slim's New Year Day Big Beach Boutique show.

Over 15,000 people attended Aberdeen's Hogmanay Party, at which Wet Wet Wet were the headline act. It was the only large-scale event to take place in Scotland on the 31 December 2006, with others falling foul of the Scottish weather the event.

Dorothy Anderson, Aberdeen City Council's events officer says: "This year for the first time we decided to implement an entry control system to monitor the numbers attending and to ensure public safety at the event. We were looking for a quick to assemble solution that would assist us in doing this and decided that the 'Mojo Line Up Gates' would be ideal. On the night

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South Africa - Gearhouse (PTY) Ltd and Ashraf Omar (AV Network) this month announced the launch of a new company, Inhouse Venue Technical Management (Pty) Ltd (IVTM). Part of the Gearhouse group of companies, Inhouse VTM was formed to facilitate the supply and management of technical equipment and personnel within key venues across the Western Cape. The service enables venues to rent in the latest equipment and technical expertise without incurring expensive capital outlay. Cutting edge lighting, audio, staging, audio visual, daylight screens, power and rigging equipment coupled with experienced technical staff ensure that the event is seamless and there is also the additional benefit of an onsite branch to resolve any last minute eventualities.

The joint venture is the culmination of years of discussion between Inhouse managing director Ashraf Omar and Gearhouse directors, whic

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UK - For the 12th successive year, Hawthorns were contracted by East Midlands based The Christmas Company to provide the technical solution for it's Christmas party events held at Marquee venues in Bracknell, Leicester and Nottingham.

The Christmas parties take place over 20 nights in December and attract up to 1200 guests per night at each venue.Each Marquee is individually themed for the parties, with Bracknell hosting One Night in Bangkok, Leicester with its Russian-themed Gatecrash the Kremlin and Plunder the Pyramids in Nottingham.

Hawthorn provided all lighting, sound (Bracknell only), power distribution, drapes, star cloths (not Bracknell) and rigging.

80 days of manpower and effort were required by the Hawthorn team to rig each marquee and 30 days for de-rigging once the party schedule has been completed. Furthermore, Hawthorn provided operating

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UK - Just a week before the second anniversary of his arrival at Total Solutions Group (TSG) and Mervyn Thomas is appointed MD of Total Fabrications Ltd (TFL). "If more evidence were needed of the impact this man has had, this is it," said Group chairman Chris Cronin. "He's a great team leader, a superb operations manager; I have every confidence in him."

Thomas was equally enthused, commentin: "This will relieve Chris of the day-to-day running of TFL," he said, "leaving him free to concentrate on what he does best; steering TSG strategically, and addressing the increasingly complex engineering demands placed upon us. So much of our work is now project led, and that's where Chris excels; with enough metal you can engineer your way out of any problem, but Chris creates elegant solutions that are lightweight and efficient."

TFL is the core

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UK - Summit Steel supplied a Kinesys automation system for the English National Ballet's recent UK tour of their acclaimed production, Alice in Wonderland which culminated in a run at the London Coliseum.

Summit was asked by ENB technical director Al Riches to come up with a tourable solution for accurately flying in and tracking the house - a large scenery piece weighting almost a tonne - diagonally across stage at a 45 degree angle; an effect specifically required by the production's choreographer Derek Deane.

Summit's Chris Walker came up with the method of using a vari-speed, position encoded, motorised beam trolley and two Kinesys-modified Lodestar hoists. The system was supplied for the ENB crew to be able to operate it themselves with Summit providing a technician to oversee the installation into each venue.

In previous tours of this production, the house has b

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USA - PRG drew on its experience with theatre and other staged events for the scenic and lighting innovations that helped draw crowds to exhibits for Hyundai, Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge at Detroit's North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). PRG also provided lighting and rigging for press events for other top automakers at the expo, which ran January 7-21 at Cobo Hall.

"Being a broad-based company allows us to draw on a wealth of experience and innovations in all areas and apply these to meet our customers' needs," says Jere Harris, founder and chairman of PRG.

To dramatize the sleek durability of Hyundai Motor America's new concept car, the HCD-10 Hellion, Hyundai asked its partner, Exhibit Works Inc, to design a turntable that tilted while it rotated - an eye-catching contrast to the flat, earthbound motion of typical auto show turntables. Putting Hyundai's ide

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Qatar - Stage One pulled off one of its greatest technical challenges ever, putting their extensive engineering capabilities into practice for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, in December. Both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were produced and created by David Atkins Enterprises (DAE) of Australia and told the story of a young man on a voyage of discovery through Asia, guided only by the stars and his Astrolabe.

Stage One was commissioned to supply all the aerial engineering and associated automation for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies along with three of the Opening Ceremony's' main stage trucks. Working closely with the director of ceremonies and Cultural Events in DAGOC Sharif Hashisho, producer David Atkins, director of design Eamon D'Arcy, technical director Paul Bates and production designer Michael Scott-Mitchell,

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UK - Arena Group, the UK's largest events services supplier, has undergone a management buyout from parent group Evenser. The MBO team is being led by Group CEO David Walley, managing directors Grahame Muir and Joe O'Neill, sales director Dave Withey and finance director Mike Seaman.

Also investing in the group and joining the board as non-executive directors will be Greg Lawless and Dermot Divilly, the industrial investors who have also invested in a number of other event companies including furniture supplier Spaceworks, Well Dressed Tables, Caterhire and Hireall in Ireland.

The Arena Group Companies are recognised as the very best in their respective fields; specialising in the provision of temporary and permanent seating, temporary structures, multi storey hospitality boxes and temporary support systems. Servicing many of the major events held in the sporting, exhibition a

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USA - Tomcat USA has teamed up with Cirque du Soleil once again to provide equipment for Delirium. The show is a live music concert that features remixes of existing Cirque music and reinterpretations of performances from other Cirque productions. Not a traditional Cirque show that plays over multiple weeks in a city at a time under their trademark Big Top tent, this is a multimedia / theatrical production designed to perform in arenas for one or two nights then moving to the next location.

For its part, Tomcat delivered two new curved bridges to be used as replacements for the bridges originally created for the show. These new pieces were specifically designed to be smaller and lighter. With the pre-existing bridges weighing in at approximately 1,200 lbs a piece, the goal of the new design was to cut the size by 25% and weight by 50%.

To achieve this Tomcat designed a

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UK - March once again brings the RSAMD (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) Graduate Exhibition and Trade Show (21-22 March, 10.00am - 5.00pm). For two days, final year students of the Technical and Production Arts Course will be exhibiting a broad range of work from their three years of study in the Chandler Studio Theatre.

At the same time, the Academy's main theatre, the New Athenaeum, will become an exhibition space for the Technical and Production Arts Programme's sponsors and suppliers, enabling them to demonstrate and discuss their most recent equipment and products with prospective clients and visitors to the Academy. Companies such as Black Light, Stage Technologies, ETC, MA Lighting, Green Hippo, Selecon, Martin Professional and White Light will be taking part.Alongside this, a range of seminars will also be taking place over the two days, lead by Bernie Davies

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UK - Summit Steel is once again supplying rigging infrastructure and associated support services for Cirque du Soleil's acclaimed production of Alegria at the Royal Albert Hall.

It's the seventh Cirque production that Summit has put into the venue. Alegria was also the first Cirque production which Summit were involved with in the central London venue, back in 1998.

The 2007 project involved the preparation of over 100 points of rigging, for which Summit has supplied 40 of their own Lodestar hoists in addition to using the house hoists.

Summit also designed and installed truss mothergrids, lighting and drape masking trusses, utilising nearly 400m of James Thomas Supertruss. This is needed for Cirque to produce their daring, highly acrobatic production in a Grade One listed venue, as opposed to staging it in their own purpose-built big top.

Before Christmas a

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UK - Showsec has gained SIA Approved Contractor Status (ACS) accreditation in two sectors: Door Supervisor and Security Guarding. With an overall aim of supplying the best customer service Showsec has invested heavily in training and internal business systems over recent years. This was acknowledged during the independent audit during process undertaken to gain the SIA ACS approval, which considered everything from recruitment through training to actions in the workplace. This process involved many key members of Showsec staff who reached (and sometimes exceed) the stringent criteria of the SIA audit requirements.

Managing director Mark Harding said: "I'm very proud of the positive comments we received from the independent assessors that related back to our staff at all levels. Following on from being awarded 'Investors in People' in 2006, this SIA approval re-iterates our

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UK - Star Events Group and SRC have announced that they are combining their mobile stage operations to form what is probably Europe's biggest rental fleet.

"We are always looking for ways to expand our operation so that we can continue to provide our clients with a first class service," says Star Events' group sales director Jane Russen. "There is an obvious synergy between our Star Mobile division and SRC, so when the opportunity to combine our two mobile fleets presented itself, it seemed a logical progression."

Jon Slater of SRC commented, "SRC has always had a good working relationship with Star Events Group. Combining forces in this way can only make our service stronger. We are looking forward to the challenges ahead."

The new alliance will operate from Star Events Group's headquarters. All contact names, numbers, web and email addresses r

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UK - A.C. Lighting has announced a new staff appointment at the company's Northern Sales office in Leeds. Paul Hadfield joins the company's Sales department as rigging and trussing sales executive, providing office and in-the-field support for the company's expanding range of leading rigging & trussing brands.

A well-known face in the industry, Hadfield brings many years of technical experience and industry knowledge to the new role, having previously worked in a variety of entertainment industry sales roles.

Previous roles include working in the Sales department of Tomcat UK supplying CM Lodestars and trussing equipment to a Global network of dealers and working in the rental hire departments of Lifting Gear Hire. Hadfield also gained a knowledge of rigging and various other lifting equipment whilst working in the Sales department at PCM.

Phill Capstick, A.C. Lighting's UK

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USA - The ESTA Foundation's Behind The Scenes has announced The Challenge Grant Programme, an opportunity for donors to see contributions double in value while providing help to peers in their time of need. Established challenge grant slots are currently available for the Behind the Scenes / Long Reach Long Riders 2007 USITT Raffle, March 15 - 17 in Phoenix, Arizona (six openings) and The Long Reach Long Riders 2007 New England Charity Ride, July 29 - August 6 (two openings).

"Our industry's history is full of strong partnerships that have led to technological advances, artistic reaches, and goals we continually strive to achieve," says Behind the Scenes committee chair Rick Rudolph of the new initiative. "Many of these partnerships have also led to lasting friendships that are at the foundation of our industry. We hope that the relationships and partners we work

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UK - PLASA Events Ltd, the new wholly-owned events division of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA), has revealed the first details of the PLASA07 Show at Earls Court - including a new layout that extends the show over one floor into both Earls Court 1 and Earls Court 2.

A host of innovations, based on exhibitor and visitor research, are designed to build on the show's reputation as the premier international new product showcase and PLASA Events anticipates a record number of new product launches this September.

The most radical development is the new show floor layout, which sees PLASA07 transformed into a two-hall, single-level show by expanding into the adjacent Earls Court 2. Essentially, this re-draw will secure premium exhibition space for the future growth and expansion of the show, whilst addressing industry and exhibitor demands.

The show design t

  1. Ampco Flashlight's TPi Award
  2. The Rigging Partnership at the Young Vic
  3. Summit larges it in Lisbon
  4. Support Behind the Scenes
  5. Desert Rock gives Event 360 a boost
  6. The ABTT Show announces a Full-House
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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
Sennheiser - MPU - June 2025

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