Creative Technology joined Pump House Productions International to assist mobile telecom giants MMO2 with the staging of their recent AGM at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham’s NEC complex. Spread across three suites (configured as main auditorium, overspill and an exhibition area), Creative Technology rear-projected Powerpoint data in 16 x 9 aspect ratio using a Christie Roadster X10 DLP projector. They also provided Digibeta playback and Sony D30 fixed-point cameras with long lenses. The TX to screen was mixed through an Extron SGS 408 Data Vision Mixer to maintain picture quality.

In addition, CT was called on to look after the board members on the top table. The board desk was equipped with Sharp 10" TFT monitors for a variety of sources including live camera and graphic images. A further four 50" plasma screens were flown in the main auditorium to provide show rel

Crestron have extended and upgraded their award-winning 2-Series control systems, using a new Dual-Bus control engine, based on the 257 MIPS, 32-bit Motorola ColdFire processor, as the core of their redesign. As a result, the 2-Series is an ideal solution for control, distribution and automation of audio, video, lighting, security and HVAC in any application.

Onboard 36MB memory is enhanced with a 4GB expansion slot that supports off-the-shelf Type II compact Flash memory and the IBM Microdrive hard disk drive, allowing on-board storage of programme and touchpanel files, room and equipment profiles, firmware, upgrades, databases and schedules.

With this radically new Dual-Bus architecture, blinding speed and massive memory, 2-Series systems are built for high performance, secure Internet communications and dynamic expansion capabilities. The Dual-Bus system also allows for upgrades t

When Presentation Service Providers (PSP) were asked to provide AV reinforcement for a British Gas employee motivational roadshow, they sensed that Screenco’s Mini Mobile 2 would be the ideal display medium to reinforce the action. Easy to rig, and with the high brightness offered by the 10sq.m, 15mm LED display, PSP provided a three-camera (D35) PPU, with component vision mixing - augmented by the PPU which is inherent to the Mini Mobile 2 truck.

With audio reinforcement from a Nexo rig, this enabled them to capture the audience response - in the live outside auditorium. Here, small teams gathered to answer questions via a keypad driven audience response unit and participate in a game constructed within a Crystal Dome-type building under the production control of Triple A. The show itself visited British Gas car parks in Northampton, Birmingham and Manchester, and at each venue

After more than 20 years supplying sound, screens, lighting, power and other specialist services to all types and sizes of events, Oxfordshire-based event services supplier ARB is restructuring its operation to keep pace with the shifting dynamics of the events industry. The company is now gearing up for further substantial changes within the industry by improving and developing the range of products and services required to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Having steered the company through its acquisition last year and a successful 2002 summer season, Bob Boote has decided to step down. He leaves the company in an excellent position to capitalise on this growing market, with a new management team in place committed to continuing ARB’s increasing impact and reputation within the events market. Peter Boott (no relation) who will continue as managing director, commented: &quo

All eyes were on Hyde Park this July for the annual Party in the Park, the largest single day event in Europe, watched live by 100,000 people.

Now in its fifth year, the Capital Radio Party in the Park had an impressive line up of acts from around the globe, including Westlife, Shakira, Enrique, Natalie Imbruglia and Will Young, and the Prince’s Trust show sold out 100,000 tickets in just over four hours, in the process raising a huge sum for the charity.

ClearChannel Events managed the event production with John Probyn overseeing the licensing and production, whilst Mark Ward was the production manager charged to ensure the 30-act show ran smoothly.

"This year’s production infrastructure included several new products or procedures introduced by suppliers to build on our experience as a team over previous years," said Probyn. "The relaxed nature of the

In what can only be described as a milestone event, the Professional Lighting & Sound Association (PLASA) has cause to celebrate after recording one of the most successful shows in its 25-year history. PLASA's annual show confirmed its status once again as the leading international trade show for the entertainment, communications and presentation technology industries, as more than 400 companies from across the globe filled the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London from 8-11 September, 2002.

13,810 people (subject to ABC Audit), up by 4.2 per cent from last year, visited the PLASA Show to see the array of new product launches, attend the Masterclass Programme, network with industry colleagues and strike up new business relationships. PLASA managing director, Matthew Griffiths, said the show bucked the exhibition industry’s recent downward trend as many exhibitors conducted good

CKS Entertainment Systems, one of the UK’s fastest growing distributors of plasma screens, has strengthened its sales focus by expanding to a seven-strong team and appointing Geoff Stevens to the newly created role of sales director.

The new team brings a wealth of individual expertise within the sales and distribution sector. Stevens, previously general manager of the Battery Sales Group at Panasonic Industrial Europe UK, will head the division overseeing sales of all plasma and flat screen technology. He will be supported by three business managers, former CRT flat panel display and projector specialists, Mike Clayton and Geraldine Neilly, as well as Jit Mistry who, until recently, was an AV sales specialist for House of Fraser. Internal sales members Anne Evans, Andrea Horton and Hannah Clemo, complete the team.

The team will report to CKS Group managing director, Chris Ste

Following the continued growth of Cambridgeshire-based 5 Star Cases Ltd, the company has recently undertaken major changes to its management structure. Jim Willis, the current managing director, has taken the decision to plan for his retirement in a few years by handing over the day to day running of the company to the current technical director, Keith Sykes.

Sykes, who becomes works director (MD designate) has been with 5 Star since 1991 when the company acquired Pro-Tect Cases, the Ipswich-based manufacturer which he ran for six years. "The growth of the company over the last few years has seen 5 Star become a leading name in the case industry. It's down to a professional approach and hard work from everybody in the company," explains Sykes. Justin Locks, the current production manager is promoted to general manager, overseeing both the production and administration facilit

A new website for freelance professionals and employers in the UK and beyond has been launched at www.freelanceshowstaff.co.uk. The site has taken two years to develop, making it a very versatile and user-friendly service for the whole entertainment industry - a market sector which relies heavily of freelance labour. A mix of useful information combined with valuable functions, the website is designed for both employees and employers. Since its launch earlier this summer, the site has registered over 200 freelancers and 80 companies - from more than 20 different disciplines including audio, lighting, carpentry, rigging, scenery, stage management and wardrobe.

Potential employers can check a specific registered freelancer’s availability or search for new ones, as well as placing job advertisements. They can search by name

Show Presentation Services (SPS) has successfully completed its fourth consecutive year providing equipment and technical expertise at the Royal Albert Hall’s prestigious back-to-back award week. The events also mark more than a decade of partnership with Philip Talbot Productions (PTP) producing some of Britain’s highest profile awards ceremonies.

This year SPS and PTP teamed up with Qudos Productions to provide staging and production expertise for the Investment Week awards, the British Insurance awards, and the Motor Transport awards over a three-day period. The tight schedule was dictated by the limited time period when a false floor can be fitted in the hall to accommodate the 1,400 capacity audiences at these kinds of events. Following the success of previous years, it was decided to run the events consecutively to maximize the hall availability and ensure the smooth

Lighting designer Bryan Hartley has specified the High End Systems' Catalyst system to add another dimension to the recent Slayer tour. MCSi supplied the Catalyst and the video projection equipment, while Bandit Lites provided all the lighting, the Wholehog II console - which also ran the Catalyst - and the remainder of the production gear.

"The Catalyst was a lot of fun," comments Hartley, "and it was great to run the video edits through the Hog." The lighting veteran, whose design credits include Kiss, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Meat Loaf and many others, plans to use Catalyst an another upcoming project near the end of this year.

(Ruth Rossington)

Two specially designed Lighthouse LED video screens with Electrosonic VECTOR image processing were chosen as the high definition medium for a major new football and soccer stadium which opened in August 2002 in Seattle, USA.

The company behind the new stadium is First & Goal Inc, headed by Paul G. Allen, owner of the Seattle Seahawks and co-founder of Microsoft. The facility was built a few blocks south of downtown Seattle in the historic Pioneer Square district, on the site of the Seattle Kingdome, a 23.9 acres concrete and steel arena which opened in 1976, and saw over 73 million visitors pass through its doors during its life. Last year, 24 years to the day after it opened, the Kingdome was demolished to make way for the new stadium.

The stadium is the new home of the Seattle Seahawks football team and is designed with a 67,000 seat capacity, with 5,000 additional seats available

Electrosonic has announced the return of Nevil Bounds to the company as Senior Consultant, specialising in the corporate market. Nevil brings back to Electrosonic wide experience of the European audio-visual industry, in which he started when he was with the company between 1985 and 1991 and previously with Hammonds AV. Most recently, he was managing director of Dataton UK, where he developed projects with many core corporate clients.

Nevil is well-known to many suppliers and clients in the audio-visual and communications industry with a broad knowledge of the business, gained both in his previous employment with Electrosonic, and in subsequent years.

(Ruth Rossington)

Electrosonic Systems Inc only started its operation in Orlando, Florida, in1999 but has already outgrown its current facility. In an area surrounded by theme parks and large military contractors, the company has found a unique position in the market, and in 2002 has been awarded some major new contracts.

These projects include several Universal Studios installations, Del Monte’s corporate boardrooms, the Network Operations Center for the FBI, and many command and control centres on board US Navy ships. The expanded workload for Electrosonic Orlando required an increase in manpower, and a move to new premises. The 9,000sq.ft facility is about double the size of the original space and will allow for more local fabrication and engineering of projects. In addition, nine new staff members have been added to the office, including experienced project managers, project engineers and a fa

XL Video supplied five large LED screens to the Rockingham 500 Fed Ex Champ Cart racing event, held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby Northants. It’s the second time this American CART racing phenomenon has been run in the UK, and is part of the new CART European tour. XL supplied a 25sq.m truck-based screen and a 40sq.m ground-stacked Saco LED screen, located to cover all the grandstands on Turn 1. At Turn 4, the grandstands were covered by a 49sq.m Unitek MS17 screen. The picture was completed with two 20sq.m ground-stacked 15 mm Saco screens covering the main grandstand, sited on top of the garages over the pit lane.

The XL Video team also undertook some high-speed work themselves - all screens were installed quickly and efficiently the Thursday before the qualifying rounds took place on the Friday, ready for the event proper on the Saturday.

(Ruth Rossington)

Just under 500sq.m of Barco’s daylight display systems are currently at work at the annual Paris Motor Show in France. After a successful presence at the Geneva International Motor Show in March, where Barco had over 300sq.m of its LED displays used, it now has the largest overall surface of daylight displays by any one supplier at this year’s Paris Motor Show. No less than 21 stands, of some of the world’s leading car manufacturers, will feature Barco daylight display products.

The Barco daylight displays and spectacular multi screen presentations using Barco SLM G8/R8 and ELM R18 found on the Citroen, Lexus and VW booths, will be represented at the show through some of Barco’s European rental partners including ETF (Belgium), CT (UK), Gahrens & Battermann (Germany), VPS (France), Sono (Spain) and ICT (Germany). The vast majority of the 486sq.m to be seen at th

Des Fallon and Richard Burford have become directors and shareholders of XL Video UK, underlining their dedication and commitment to the company they've helped build. XL Video UK was formed in March 2000 by Chris Mounsor and Lee Spencer, and has gone on to become a market leader in the field of video production for all types of live events, festivals, concert tours and corporate presentations.

Working in conjunction with newly-opened identical operations in the USA and Germany, the UK operation supplies high impact, state-of-the-art digital video production, playback and display technology to the professional performance, entertainment and presentation industries. Sister companies in Belgium and North America provide LED screen solutions for major projects.

Live acts and events serviced this year by XL Video UK include Kylie Minogue, Travis, the Pop Idol tour, S-Club, Jamiroquai, San

Derivative Inc has teamed up with NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, to advance the art of real-time visual performance with an impressive display of 3D animation set to the music of legendary rock band Rush. As part of the band's current 40-city, 'Vapor Trails' concert tour of North America, Derivative's Touch 012 visual performance tools and NVIDIA GeForce4 Go graphics processing units (GPUs) are being used to deliver on-the-fly improvisation of 3D animations projected during 11 songs, providing concert-goers with an exciting new way to experience live music.

Designed for creators of interactive artworks, the Touch tool set uses powerful Academy Award-winning visual effects technology to enable digital artists to author, perform and share expressive interactive 3D visuals from their PCs. On the 'Vapor Trails' tour, Touch artist James Ellis is usi

Screenco provided three big screen displays for last month’s tense Ryder Cup competition at the Belfry in Warwickshire, continuing a long tradition with both the major sporting event and the production company, Viewpress. Such was the cheering from the huge partisan crowd out on the course that Screenco often had to use their 50sq.m screen on the 18th fairway to switch away from the live action to the Ryder Cup logo - in order to ensure minimal distraction for the players on the 1st and 10th tees.

The contest has come along way since 1985 - one of the first Ryder Cups that Screenco supported, which was also held at The Belfry. This year Screenco supplied three 25mm displays - the 50sq.m screen and two 32sq.m rigs - all configured in 4:3 aspect ratio. The two smaller displays were sited on the practice green and in the tented village, forming part of the corporate hospitality area

Avesco plc has announced that Creative Technology, a leading company worldwide providing audio-visual services, is establishing a new operation in Germany. CT is now based in London, NEC Birmingham, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Stuttgart.

Creative Technology Germany, will be located near Stuttgart and plans to be operational from mid-November 2002. The new company will be headed by Georg Roessler who gained his over 12 years of experience in the audio-visual industry at ict AG, latterly as Director of the Board.

CT Germany will specialize in project-oriented solutions for its customers. As a full service provider, CT Germany will be supplying a full range of audio-visual services used in events, trade shows and fixed installations. Georg Roessler and his qualified staff have years of experience in these activities. "I have known Georg for 12 years and, when we heard h

News of management changes comes from PSL, where Gary Davis now holds the position of vice-chairman, while David Barrass has joined the board as managing director. Gary Davis told us: "I have wanted to get closer to the business for a while and my new role will allow me to devote all of my time to developing relationships with existing and new customers. I still hold my position on the main board and will be heavily involved in the growth strategy for PSL."

Davis’ role as vice-chairman is a full-time role at PSL, focussing particularly on sales, marketing and business development. David Barrass’ appointment is intended to further strengthen the existing management team by adding a wider general management skill-set, gained from many years working at the most senior levels in various service businesses. Most recently, Barrass was European MD for Allied Worldwide In

Avesco Plc has announced the reorganization of the senior management structure of its audio-visual services business, following the establishment of CT Germany. Graham Andrews will head up a new division incorporating all the Creative Technology-branded audio-visual businesses in the UK, USA and Germany, as well as Screenco and Dimension.

MCL, Avesco’s full service audio-visual operation in the UK based in Birmingham, London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, will report directly to David Nicholson, Avesco’s chief executive, as will the CT OB outside broadcast business. Graham Andrews commented: "This is the right time to bring together these businesses as many of our customers are seeking a global service solution. This is an exciting opportunity to drive that further forward. Also there is more we can do on equipment sharing in this new division. We are ordering sub

Blitz Television Services of Elstree, UK, has taken delivery of 50 panels of Lighthouse’s new state-of-the-art 6mm LED video screen, the LV0630, with 30 panels immediately going into use on the newly-revamped BBC children’s television show Saturday Morning, which for the first time features a special Saturday edition of the chart show Top Of The Pops.The new-format show was first broadcast on September 21 with the TOTP slot featuring Saturday Morning’s house band Stamford Amp, plus guest artists including Busted, Gareth Gates, Will Young and Nick Carter.

Blitz Television Services’ account manager Jeff Bailey and project manager Mike Kane chose the Lighthouse panels, says Jeff Bailey, "Because we felt the picture quality was excellent, with very good contrast and brightness levels, and the resolution with the tight 6mm pixel pitch is ide

The Electrosonic Group has announced the addition of two companies, Lightinen and Qualitron, to the Group. Lightinen, based in Helsinki, Finland, provides audio-visual and lighting systems to the cruise ship, entertainment and corporate markets. The company employs 35 people and in 2001 the turnover exceeded US$10 million. Risto Oinaala, managing director of Lightinen, will continue the day-to-day management of the business.

Qualitron is a Helsinki-based broadcast systems engineering company serving the broadcast industry in Finland, Russia, Ukraine and other Confederation of Independent States (CIS) countries. The company employs 32 people, including a 12-person office in Moscow, and the emphasis is on the provision of the latest digital broadcasting technology. Turnover in 2001 was approximately US$10 million. Managing director Tapani Karjalainen will continue to manage the company.<

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