UK - Under a new Calibre Premium Channel Partner Programme, Calibre UK will incentivise companies selling commercial Calibre LED and image display solutions. “It takes more than just a product to be the supplier of choice,” says Paul Wilson, account manager EMEA at Calibre UK. “We’ve introduced a new partner programme to enable our business partners to deliver innovative and high-quality solutions to integrators and specialists across a broad spectrum of applications, markets, and geographies. “Based on vertical markets, other revenue and business models, the Calibre Premium Channel Partner Programme will reward partners with several benefits to help partners win business and make money.” Benefits include online training opportunities, increased knowledge transfer, a web portal for web-based product support, promotions such as e-shots and newsletters
UK - 7thSense has announced the completion of its merger with Medialon. In June 2019, the team behind 7thSense acquired the Medialon brand and ShowControl activities from Barco to form Medialon Limited. Since then, the Medialon team and product line has expanded from offices in North America, Canada and the UK. As part of the integration strategy, which became effective on 1 October 2020, all Medialon products have been added to the 7thSense product portfolio and Medialon product names remain the same. All Medialon staff will now join the 7thSense team and continue to work on the development of the Medialon product line. Matt Barton, 7thSense CEO, comments: “The synergies between Medialon and 7thSense have been demonstrated since the 2019 acquisition - this merger is intended to cross pollinate the knowledge and skills of both companies, while maintaining inde
South Africa - The South African live events industry once again joined hands with #WeMakeEvents to participate in charity bike ride #TheSurvivalTour and raise awareness of the plight of event industry affected by the COVID-19 disruption. Similar to the action that took place in the UK, the South African cyclists embarked on a lengthy route, passing by some of the country’s iconic venues, now closed due to the pandemic. As many as 24 cyclists participated in a 60km route, visiting Constitution Hill, Teatro at Montecasino, Sandton Convention Centre, Nelson Mandela Square, Joburg Theatre, Market Theatre, Mary Fitzgerald Square, and the TicketPro Dome on 24 October in Johannesburg. Many industry players cut their teeth at some of the venues on the journey, and the
UK - Arts Council England has opened its £18m Developing your Creative Practice (DYCP) fund to a wider pool of creative practitioners in light of the COVID-19 effects on the workforce. Able to apply for a grant this year will be DJs, performer/creators, arts and cultural educators, community practitioners/engagement specialists, movement directors, cultural conservators, creative enablers and creative technicians. “We know that COVID-19 has had a significant impact for individuals, and many will need to develop themselves and their work to respond to the new environment,” says the Arts Council. “We want to support as many people as possible to reshape and redefine their work and continue to make a positive impact on creativity and culture.” The grants, ranging from for £2,000 to £10,000, will be awarded for development activities from practitioners worki
Australia - Fibre network specialists Optocore has appointed CMI as its new Australian distributors. The brand provides a strong addition to the Melbourne company’s audio division portfolio. CMI CEO, Peter Trojkovic said he was delighted with the appointment, stating that he was impressed by Optocore’s ability to provide “innovative, scalable and rock solid backbones”, embracing open standards. He noted that this will influence a range of their core market segments, including events, theatres, stadiums and studios. “With many fibre-compatible solutions in CMI’s portfolio, this marks a strategic move by the audio division to position CMI as a one-stop solution for performance, broadcast and commercial audio networking. “Optocore are the world’s most popular and innovative manufacturers of fibre optic networks. With systems already deployed in ve
UK - Loudspeaker manufacturer PMC has opened a new factory in Bedfordshire, to cope with burgeoning demand for its CI series. Since launching last September, CI monitors have proved ‘hugely popular’ with the installation market where they are delivering Hollywood studio audio quality. Incorporating the same proprietary PMC technology as the company’s award winning audiophile speakers and studio monitors, these slimline speakers are designed with a shallow depth for on-wall and in-wall custom installations. This design feature also makes them suited to professional studios that are embracing Dolby Atmos immersive audio for music and film mixing and want discreet monitors for their wall and ceiling channels. “In addition to the flourishing custom installation market, CI monitors also form an integral part of our loudspeaker systems for Dolby Atmos and we anticipa
UK - The BPI/BRIT Awards have announced the donation of £54,000 to the COVID-19 Crew Relief Fund administered by Stagehand, the Production Services Association (PSA) Welfare and Benevolent Fund. The money will help Stagehand’s relief fund to approach £240,000, which will be invested in supporting live music and events professionals affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The contribution from the BPI and BRIT Awards comes on top of £1.62m of BPI-co-ordinated funds donated earlier this year by the recorded music sector to charities and organisations supporting artists, managers and venues through the pandemic - bringing the total distributed to date to £1.67m. Geoff Taylor, chief executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, comments: “Our industry is deeply interconnected and while everyone is feeling the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic in some way, no sector has fe
UK - Events and creative industry professionals Mark Davies, Jerry Cleary and Edwin Higgins have joined forces to launch a new event production company, JEM LIVE. The new venture combines a physical event production offering with services such as live streaming, extended reality (xR) and social media amplification to enable organisers and agencies to expand the reach of their event. “We wanted to create a company which was fluent in virtual event technologies while not forgetting the importance of more classic elements of event production,” comments Davies. “High quality design, lighting, sound, staging etc. remain at the heart of live events but in the COVID-19 era we have to be willing to integrate virtual elements too.” Davies has more than 25 years’ experience in live events and entertainment architecture and is responsible for the commercial and
Australia - Green Hippo has added two new distribution specialists to its international sales network. Representing the brand in Australia and New Zealand is Melbourne-based Corsair Solutions. Established in 2009, Corsair imports and distributes professional and commercial AV equipment and has established itself as a trusted partner of AV system integrators, pro audio and video equipment resellers and equipment rental companies throughout Australia and New Zealand. Corsair also distributes Green Hippo’s sister brand within Spitfire Creative Technologies, tvONE. Meanwhile, Wholestage has been appointed to represent Green Hippo in Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in Venezuela in 1998, Wholestage is today based in Miami, Florida, with offices in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama, Chile and Spain. It specializes in the distribution of pro video, audio, riggin
Recovery Grants - Twenty-eight performing arts organisations have been awarded a share of £75m in the latest round of Culture Recovery Grants. Theatres including London’s Old Vic, Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Northampton Royal and Derngate and Shakespeare’s Globe have all been granted between £1m and £3m each in the first of two rounds for this strand. Six museums and one visual arts organisation were also awarded grants as part of the scheme. Recipients include: Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust - £3,000,000; English National Ballet - £3,000,000; Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust - £3,000,000; The Old Vic Theatre Trust - £3,000,000; Shakespeare’s Globe - £2,985,707; Sadler’s Wells - £2,975,000; Adlib Audio - £1,650,356; Fabric Life - £1,514,262; Lights Control Rigging Productions - £1,076,179 and The Octagon Theatre Trust - £620,232. Virtual Aw
Thailand - Powersoft has appointed M.I. Engineering as distributor for Thailand. Established in 1994, M.I. Engineering offers a wide range of audio solutions to a variety of projects, from home cinema to fixed installations. The company is a member of the Mahajak Group, a full service importer of sound system products. “We pride ourselves in providing excellent service and quality audio products to our customers, which drives us to always be aware of the best solutions available on the market,” comments Attapol Praisri, M.I. Engineering’s product manager - professional audio division. “Everything that we have in our arsenal, not only suits our philosophy, but also the systems our customers want to build. Having Powersoft added to our portfolio is going to strengthen this position.” M.I. Engineering was introduced to Powersoft last January by Arthur Soh, Power
Germany - Last year the Bremen-based service provider AVM Veranstaltungstechnik, chose to make a significant investment in Coda Audio systems. The company, led by managing director, Jens Wiegandt, took delivery of a range of sound reinforcement, including the compact arena line array AiRAY system, SCP-F subwoofers, APS (Arrayable Point Source), APS-SUBs, as well as LINUS DSP loudspeaker management amplifiers. In the months before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, the systems had provided sound at top events such as the Summertime@Norderney and Tabularazza festivals, as well as at a host of concerts and corporate events. “In the first instance, we chose Coda because we consider them to be a very technically innovative company. We were impressed by the excellent sound characteristics and high output they achieve from such compact and lightweight systems,” commented Ma
USA - ETC has postponed any participation in traditional trade shows until July next year. “Out of concern for the safety of its employees and global community, ETC has announced that it will not participate in traditional trade show exhibitions until July 2021,” says a statement. “With the pandemic affecting many people’s ability and desire to travel, the company has instead decided to focus its resources on remote demos and online events.” The statement continues, “A major part of the trade show experience is the chance to see the latest gear and get one-on-one face time with product experts. With this in mind, ETC has been hard at work converting in-house demo spaces throughout the company’s offices into studios for online product demonstrations. Customers may now use an online portal to schedule live, one-on-one demos of some of the company’s newest fixtu
USA - The Meyer Sound education team is returning with a series of Spacemap Go roundtable discussions in November and December. Each session will welcome questions from attendees and be answered by a team of panellists. The roundtables will also focus on different features of Meyer Sound’s new Spacemap Go spatial sound design and mixing tool. Roundtable 1, What is Spacemap Go: Getting started quickly and programming offline (4 November) will explain how to get started, the components of a Spacemap Go system, the concepts of a Spacemap as well as provide a general application overview. Roundtable 2, Implementing Spacemap Go into your workflow: System example and saving your work (11 November) will explore building multiple Spacemaps for a simple loudspeaker configuration, plus saving projects and snapshots. Regardless of a system’s size, Spacemap conce
USA - Harman Professional Solutions has announced the addition of 10 free Live Workshops available for registration. From musicians and performers to designers and programmers, upcoming workshops feature audio and lighting experts who have extensive industry knowledge and experience. Collectively, the presenters have worked with various artists including Bob Dylan, Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Janet Jackson, John Mellencamp, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Lou Reed, Marilyn Manson, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Styx, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, U2, Van Halen and many more. The workshops open for registration include: The Art of Perfect Playback in Lighting Design with Michael Keller (27 October), A Brief User’s Manual For A Lighting Career with Benny Kirkham (28 October), The ABC's of Awesome Lighting Technology with Brad Schiller (2
USA - For more than four decades, the Dee Events Centre (DEC) on the campus of Weber State University (WSU) in Ogden, Utah has served as the home court of the NCAA Division I WSU Wildcats men’s and women’s basketball teams and played host to many Big Sky Conference championship games. This summer, the domed arena welcomed its newest ‘player’ - a new L-Acoustics Kara(i) loudspeaker system designed and installed by Salt Lake City’s Poll Sound. Capable of seating nearly 11,600 spectators in its circular bowl, the Dee Events Centre is a multipurpose venue. It has also hosted its share of other college and professional sports, major touring concerts, commencements, religious and community events, and much more. Although the school has continually invested in various upgrades to the venue over the years, one thing that has remained unchanged for more than a quarter centu
Portugal - NEXT-proaudio has opened a new logistics centre that will operate as an extension to the company’s factory in Porto. Utilising three new automatic logistics software programmes (online interactive platform, Internal logistic software NXT and an automatic packing optimisation software) all based on the 4.0 technology, the new centre will significantly increase the available space, flexibility and efficiency of the company’s warehousing and all domestic and international operations, says NEXT. The new logistics centre provides 1000sq.m of floor space for warehousing and logistics, as well as office space for sales, marketing and logistics control. The centre is located in Porto, 10km away from the main port and airport, making transport and logistics “easy and convenient”. The centre is already in operation and gearing up for the launch of NEXT Audioco
UK - Five event professionals encapsulated the trials and tribulation of the UK’s events sector on the Survival Tour, 3-18 October. Their 1,700km ride traversed over a hundred venues closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the riders met the people who would have normally produced all kinds of events (insights into their journey can be seen here). It was a bitter-sweet experience for the riders, both physically and psychologically, as Proper Productions’ Mark Ward explains: “Without any events to work on, we clipped our barely trained legs into our pedals, to highlight the dire plight of our industry. It was inspiring to bring together the venues and people along our route and hear tales of their personal circumstances and battles first hand. The support has been
South Africa - Making a decision to swim rather than sink, Sound HQ Solutions along with production manager Sharif Baker, who is also the chairman of TPSA and spokesperson for #LightSAred, have survived the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa with fewer bumps and bruises than many other companies during this tough time. They recently launched their new Festival Studio in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg, a hybrid and virtual facility which includes outdoor stages, and are confident that they are able to pull off a variety of festivals and events for their niche gospel, jazz and music markets. Alvin Bruinders, the owner of technical supply company Sound HQ Solutions, started working with Sharif Baker some 20 years ago on MY Joyous Celebration, a gospel powerhouse formed in 1996 to celebrate the political change in South Africa and the peaceful transition into democracy.
UK - Epic, the company behind Unreal Engine, has finalised the refurbishing of its London-based Innovation Lab, including a complete virtual production LED stage featuring ROE Visual LED products. Epic Games, known for its video games, develops the Unreal Engine realtime 3D creation tool. This game engine not only powers their internally developed video games such as Fortnite and Infinity Blade series but is used to develop the virtual backgrounds and sets that made virtual production in film possible. Since the technique of LED virtual production was explored and the first pioneering steps were taken, both Unreal engine and ROE Visual have been involved. “ROE had already proven itself at the very cutting-edge and high end of LED virtual production with its pioneering use on Star Wars Mandalorian. It was important for us at Epic to give c
Japan - Established in 1995, All Creation is a professional construction team that provides stage setup, LED assembly, lighting installation, TV, movie set assembly, and other event services. The collaboration between All Creation and Prolyte dates back to 15 years ago. At that time, bolts were the mainstream for connecting truss flange surfaces, and work would not progress without an impact driver. “However, Prolyte truss is easy to be connected by a hammer, and I was surprised and interested in the overwhelmingly fast assembly speed without worrying about forgetting to tighten the bolts,” says Koichi Okajima, CEO of All Creation. Back in the day, there was a concern about the lack of experienced engineers in Japan. Safety issues and personnel training were the most discussed topics in All Creation. More importantly, they are the present and future subjects to be
UK - Over the last five months, the #WeMakeEvents campaign has been raising awareness around the current plight facing the live entertainment sector and its urgent need for financial support if it is to survive the COVID-19 crisis. With the introduction of tier systems and the continued local lockdowns, hosting live events has become even more difficult than before. The campaign is therefore continuing to make its voice heard with the next stage of its protest action - Survival in the Square. Gary White, lead producer of #WeMakeEvents, comments: “The latest government support packages, although welcome, are not reaching those who need them the most and will only benefit a small group. Larger, more meaningful action needs to be taken and, until it does, we will still be here campaigning.” From 26 October (Monday), Survival in the Square will comprise a series
USA - Continuing its commitment to cultivate future generations of designers, global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks will open submissions for its fifth Vectorworks Design Scholarship on 1 December. The scholarship programme invites undergraduate and graduate students in major disciplines related to architecture, landscape architecture, landscape, entertainment and interior design to submit either new or old projects. “Last year, we received over 1,600 submissions worldwide and we’re looking forward to getting even more submissions this year,” said marketing programmes director Alice Lowy. “The Vectorworks Design Scholarship is an amazing opportunity for students to take the next step in their professional development by submitting to win scholarship prizes while showing off their creative designs.” Students will be able to submit their be
Europe - OCA Alliance, the not-for-profit trade association that exists to promote and support the AES70 standard for open control architecture, has launched a new website with better, more easily accessible information and new resources for anyone that is interested in adopting or using AES70 in their projects. “Our mission is to simplify the lives of AV professionals everywhere by encouraging and facilitating the adoption of AES70 as a universal, standards-based control and monitoring protocol,” says Bosch Communications’ platform strategist, Ethan Wetzell - also marketing committee chair for the OCA Alliance. “It’s a complex subject and knowledge levels vary enormously, so our first task was to distil the key messages so that the benefits are immediately clear to all. Then, we