Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

Video and AV

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Mick Scullion is to head up PSL Lighting, formerly Lighting Unlimited, as part of the re-launch of the division under the Presentation Services Group branding. Mick brings with him over 20 years’ experience within the industry, having worked for both Concert Productions (now Vari-Lite) and the Spot Company where he was a director for five years. "It is an exciting time at PSL, the new structure will bring a lot of benefit to the lighting division and allow us to offer an even better service to our clients," commented Mick. "We are currently investing in the latest lighting equipment and along with our lighting design service, we aim to build on our already successful position within the marketplace providing our clients with service to the highest level." Barry Dennison, formerly of Gearhouse XTC, also joins Mick alongside current project manager Iain Grant. The

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Continuing its programme of expansion, Crestron UK Ltd has announced the appointment of Andrew Butler as technical sales manager. The move follows an outstanding year for the company, which has seen them win a number of awards, including AV magazine’s Company of the Year. Butler joins from Midnight Security, where he gained experience in the specification, programming and installing of Crestron control systems.
Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

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Alan Law has recently been appointed general manager for the SPS group, with responsibility for service delivery, quality assurance and Health & Safety. Alan joins SPS from Earls Court & Olympia where he has spent the last three years as technical services manager and health and safety manager responsible for non-exhibition related events and conferences including The Brit Awards, the Vodafone Gala dinner and numerous pop shows. Law was then asked to take on the role of Halls H&S manager, with the brief to audit and re-evaluate Earls Court’s approach to the ever-increasing H&S legislation. Prior to this Alan worked with Blackout, the drapes and rigging company and was a key player in the rapid expansion they experienced in their early years. SPS managing director Robin Coles comments: "To have a manager of Alan's experience and ability in this new key role adds another dimensi

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Digital Projection International (DPI) - a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMAX Corporation - has announced a strategic partnership which will expand IMAX's market-leading digital projection technology into the realm of digital electronic billboards. The agreement, with Sweden's DHJ Media AB, is to develop and install digital media network systems that will replace traditional poster advertising with high-revenue digital billboards. The companies announced today that the London Underground is the first to sign up for an installation of the system. To be marketed under DHJ's trademarked ‘Outdoor Evolution Systems’, the IMAX-DHJ networked digital billboard system will allow owners to increase revenues and direct advertsiements to any given location at any designated time of the day, thus allowing for better timeliness of messages, flexibility, and the ability to purchase the entire

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Point Promotions have announced a 72% increase in attendance at last week’s ABTT Theatre Show. The show this year expanded into both of the Royal Horticultural Halls, and had widened its remit to attract 30 new exhibitors. The initial un-audited visitor attendance figures show an increase of 72% over last year’s registered numbers. Point Promotions was appointed by the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) to administer the change from the ABTT Trade Show to the bigger and improved ABTT Theatre Show. The expanded show featured on-stage technology such as lighting, rigging, drapes and sound and also many exhibitors with front-of-house technology including seating and staging.

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Show Presentation Services (SPS) has launched a new department dedicated to support the use of all types of information technology in the live events market. SPS Event IT will cater for the now commonplace use of IT within conferences and exhibitions, but its approach will differ from ‘traditional’ IT ideas. "What matters to us," said SPS managing director Robin Coles, "is the event as a whole. Stand-alone computers, flat screens, local networking, Internet access, webcasting and all the associated peripherals are becoming as fundamental as video, sound and lights at many events, and should be delivered with the same professional attitude, with all the technology that comes together to service an event being intrinsically linked. We have staffed SPS Event IT with people who approach anything computerish from the live show perspective. Our crew are not ‘ne

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InspHire Ltd, providers of hire management systems for hire companies, has signed a Partnership Agreement with Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions. inspHire will offer Great Plains Dynamics and e-Enterprise solutions as the fully integrated Back Office solution for inspHire’s SQL Edition. With a long history of working together to deliver new business technologies, the two companies are joining forces to provide a package for small and medium companies. Andy Beal, inspHire MD told PLASA Media: "The signing of the Partnership Agreement between the two companies was the culmination of a two-year search for a suitable Back Office partner to integrate into inspHire SQL Edition. Great Plains' purchase by Microsoft, together with the VBA tools available to us in the end, made it an easy choice. Not only will we be able to offer the same level of two-way integration with our h

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Cereco International, the on-line equipment auction facility run by John Lethbridge, believes it has found a way to protect both buyers and sellers from fraud, without the need to use a credit card. The solution, the company believes, is to be found on their two new sites.

Cereco Used Trade Auctions is again for goods supplied by manufacturers and distributors but will now include VAT registered rental companies, installers and VAT registered sole traders. All of the equipment will be ex-rental, ex-installation or part-exchanged audio, lighting, video or special effects. All of the sellers on this site are known to Cereco International, and have to enter into a written agreement to fulfil certain conditions including replacing any goods not received in the condition described. Buyers deal directly with the seller. This service is completely free to sellers if no sale is achieved.

Gea

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Creating a thunder and lightning special effect was just one of the tasks facing D J Willrich Ltd (DJW), the AV and multi media specialist, at X-treme World in Doha, Qatar this month. Situated on the third floor of a large shopping mall in the centre of Doha, X-treme World incorporates a go-kart track, rock climbing, a real snow ski slope, fairground rides and other extreme sporting activities. DJWs 10-day remit included sound, video and the rumbling special effects. DJW’s 16-screen videowall placed at the entrance offers both film footage of professional and extreme sports as well as links with the complex’s eight CCTV cameras set up to capture all the action at the attractions. The wall, which features16 Pioneer 40" rear-projection video cubes, has a 4-channel MPEG2 server plus control and switching hardware.

DJW, through Simon Rice-Oxley, supplied four video films f

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The 2001 PLASA AGM, along with the popular AGM Dinner, will take place on Thursday 14 June in the historic setting of Coombe Abbey, near Coventry. Set in 500 acres of parkland and dating back to 1150, this former Cistercian Abbey is now a thriving hotel and conference centre. In a slightly revised format for 2001, the day will include an opportunity for members to meet with key representatives of PLASA’s various operations in a number of small, hour-long ‘break-out sessions’. These will be organised as follows:

- PLASA Show - members of the Clarion Events show management team and members of the PLASA Exhibitor Forum will be on hand to discuss PLASA Show-related issues.
- Membership Services - PLASA’s head office staff dealing with membership services will be joined by consultants from certain of our service providers and members of the PLASA Executive Commi

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The well-appointed showroom at Dial HQ was packed. No less than three PAs - Bose, Martin Audio and ASS - stood arrayed before us at the far end; above, hung from Tri-lite trussing, were the latest lamps from Abstract, Clay Paky and Opti. Was this to be a light and sound shoot-out?

Well, no - and the clue to why lay in the neat little Sanyo video projector (700 lumens yet barely bigger than a desk diary) tucked neatly in amongst the lighting gear. "This is to witness the birth of a new AV control," Andy Blackwell of Dial Sound and Lighting confided.

None-the-wiser, we settled in as the presentation began; music played and lights began to dance in harmony. We are informed that all the elements of light and sound were being controlled by a single piece of software. Nothing revolutionary there, but then the screen rolled sedately down from the trussing. It wasn’t so much

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Managing director Robin van Meeuwen has revealed that following consecutive quarters of record-breaking sales and recruitment, Crestron UK has committed to a proactive programme that will not only include improved customer service but additional training and resources. At the same time, the company has expanded its operation in Kingston, Surrey with a new demonstration showroom with Crestron total control solutions. "What this basically means is that we are infusing more energy and dedication into our service with the new ‘True Blue’ initiative." Van Meeuwen explains that the ‘True Blue’ name symbolises Crestron's core principal - total focus and commitment to their partners and the industry as a whole. "For example, all Crestron products are now available for shipment from stock, since we've doubled the size of our facilities in California and Chic

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A number of management changes have been announced within the Avesco group following the creation of their new Audio Visual Services Division, which will be headed up by former Creative Technology managing director, Graham Andrews. As a result, Andrews hands over the day-to-day running of CT to Mark Elliott, simultaneously assuming the role of chief executive, in order to oversee the strategic development of the company. CT’s new managing director has worked with the company for the last nine years, latterly as operations director. "I have a long history in the industry, extending back to 1982, and recent years have proved both exciting and rewarding," said Elliott. "My role will now be to further develop the management structure underpinning a high quality and specialist service business, while supporting the growth of Creative Technology within the full framework o

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Over the past six months, Unitek Displays has supported their growth by making a number of key appointments in different departments. During that time, the company has added three new members to its sales team alone, firstly with Russell Hartwell (sales manager) - who brings 10 years’ experience in the LED display and customer information display market - followed by Terence Ulysses (field service supervisor) who has been working in the maintenance and support of electronic information display systems for the last 15 years. Now Unitek has recruited Ken Browne (Sales Executive), latterly with Gearhouse, and prior to that with a 15-year service record at Pioneer UK. The new sales force will be supported by the long-serving marketing team of Paul Freeman and Andrea Sheldon. Finally, Unitek have made two key appointments in their engineering department, with Quality Manager Terry Seymo

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Forever Living Products, the world’s largest cultivator and distributor of Aloe Vera products, brought their motivational world rally to Wembley on April 21, where the Arena was configured as a 5,000-seat auditorium. Hired by production company Creative Realisation Ltd, AV solution specialists, Creative Technology provided a record-breaking backdrop over the elevated stage. Their modular 10mm pixel pitch LVP-102D LED screen fromLighthouse Technologies, configured as a 12 x 9-module display (7.86m x 4.32m) for 16:9 aspect ratio projection, became the largest 10mm LED screen ever flown in the UK.

Flanking each side of the LED screen at Wembley were gauzes, onto which Creative Technology projected graphics, via their recently-acquired Christie Digital 10k Roadies. The world’s first purpose-built projector for the rental staging community, the Roadie delivers 10,000 ANSI lumens

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Live concert touring and special event video production specialist XL Video is opening its new USA Office in Los Angeles. The US operation is headed by Bob Higgins and Barbara Riedling; both of whom have vast experience of the US concert touring business. The US base is designed to offer video equipment, crew and service for all XL clients whose tours originate from US, European and Far Eastern operations. The first tour overseen by XL’s new US office is U2’s Elevation world tour; using Barco, the video projection surrounds the stage, while motorized LED video screens come and go throughout the show. U2 begins its LA area performances this week in Anaheim.

The US office carries the same fully digital touring systems that are now standard XL issue in Europe. Bob Higgins’ career in the music business started as a Hollywood recording engineer. While working with a gold r

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There’s an orange-haired clown from the USA who 30 years ago perfected a presentational strategy that’s seen his products grow to become a global monster. The recipe for success is to satisfy the appetite with something that’s unlikely to offend even the most delicate palette.

While the three girls and brother Jim can hardly be likened to a hamburger and fries, they do present an inoffensive brand of pop that while delightful, is unlikely to become a healthy diet if taken in excess. It was March ‘98 when I last saw the Corrs, in a sub-2,000-seat theatre on that occasion. Their early singles had begun what’s become the band’s long flirtation with the charts. Have three years been a long enough break? In short, yes. The band’s live performance is much improved in that there is now an edge to them, and, dare I say it, I prefer the songs performed

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Those masters of rock industry logistics, EST, are once more in the thick of the action over the summer season. Touring with a list of bands that reads like a roll-call of the top aristocracy of the rock music industry, the range of locations and number of vehicles involved is staggering. The tours are all major Arena and Stadium scale and are forecast to be the biggest gross-earning acts of the summer season. 16 of the familiar yellow and purple trucks will provide logistic support to Madonna’s European tour running from the 5 June until 12 July. A further eight trucks will provide transport for the Eagles, starting in Moscow on 29 May and finishing in Glasgow on 28 July. Another 16 EST trucks will accompany Bon Jovi’s European Tour which starts in Stockholm on 31 May with 16 more shows in locations as diverse as Huddersfield, Hamburg and Zurich before ending in Munich on 30

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A number of successful projects and an expanding market have encouraged AV and multi media specialist, D J Willrich Ltd (DJW) to open their new office in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Located approximately 15 miles out of Dubai, in the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone, DJW’s new base will be run by Southampton couple Josh and Liz Miller. Josh, previously one of DJW’s senior project managers, will now be responsible for all DJW’s projects in the Middle East, whilst Liz will assist with the marketing and administration. Established in 1986, DJW grew from the AV Department of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Since then the company has grown to achieve a multi-million pound turnover and become a major force worldwide in the AV and multi media industry. DJW’s ability and reputation is based on providing creative solutions that deliver the ultimate v

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Electrosonic’s tradition of creating giant high-resolution electronic images continues with the completion of a 180sq.m display in Beijing, China. The China Millennium Monument is China’s memorial building to the Year 2000. It is a grand structure, occupying a total floor space of about 30,000sq.m. Its Century Wide-Screen Projection Hall houses an impressive 56-screen (30m x 6m) projection videowall. Measure Scientific of Beijing was responsible for the design and integration of the system which uses Sanyo projectors and locally-manufactured screens controlled by an Electrosonic Vector image system.

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Three European entertainment industry veterans have announced the formation of Ground Zero BV, which they claim to be ‘the first system integrator and show control specialist company in Holland’. The founders of Ground Zero are Sierk Janszen, Rutger van Dijk and Reind Brackman, all well known figures in the worldwide entertainment industry. The company’s main working area will be North-Western Europe and Spain.

Sierk Janszen has worked as applications manager at Avenger Systems in Belgium for the last six years after he had worked as a sound-engineer for several theatre-companies in Holland. Rutger van Dijk has been the manager of Vari-Lite Production Services Amsterdam since it establishment, before which he worked as technical production manager on many musical productions, Cirque du Soleil Europe and Focus Showequipment. Finally, Reind Brackman is the owner and fou

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The Christie Lites group of companies has announced the addition of Ian Gordon, formerly of Westsun International Inc, to the Christie Lites team. Gordon brings to Christie Lites 15 years’ experience servicing the concert industry in North America and Europe and will be working from the Christie Lites Vancouver office. "I’m extremely excited about the opportunity Christie Lites provides for myself and my family. The owner/operator business structure, combined with quality equipment and multiple offices throughout North America provide me with the desirable tools to service today’s concert marketplace. I have admired Christie Lites as competitors and look forward to being part of their team," says Gordon.

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MCL, the new AV staging services company set up by Avesco plc, has announced a major consolidation of its lighting department, which will enable it to offer sophisticated high-quality solutions on a par with investments already made in video, sound and staging. The highly experienced Nick Whitehead had been recruited to develop MCL London’s lighting inventory and create a support infrastructure. Nick was previously managing director of Lighting Unlimited, establishing the company on behalf of Gearhouse Group plc. His experience in lighting ranges from theatre work for the London Fringe, National Theatre and Orchard, to high-end design for corporate presentations. He said: "Alongside our established rental staging fleet, MCL’s investment in leading-edge equipment will enable us to meet a wide range of lighting requirements - from simple lamp kits for conference solutions

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High performance projection specialist Christie Digital Systems has announced it is the first company to deliver a complete suite of stereoscopic single projectors featuring 3-chip DLP technology. Specifically designed for stereo, the new Mirage line offers advanced performance features to revolutionize virtual reality (VR), entertainment and simulation markets worldwide. "With the introduction of Mirage, a noteworthy improvement in the projection of stereoscopic moving images is taking place. The Stereo3D image is the cleanest, clearest, and easiest ever seen. Moreover, the setup of projection is vastly simplified, and requires no tweaking for continued performance at a high quality level," said Lenny Lipton of the StereoGraphics Corporation.

Since the introduction of its high performance CRT stereo projectors in 1985, Christie Digital has established itself as the leading m

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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