UK - TechLED will showcase its range of UK-manufactured lighting effects on stand G30 at this year’s PLASA Show. Contributing the lowest possible airmiles to low-energy LED effects, the show-stopping range from UK-based Abstract, is a must-see for any UK installer with a green agenda and an eye on sustainability.
Recognised as one of the pioneering market leaders in effects lighting with a manufacturing legacy spanning over 30 years, Abstract’s key lighting effects units will be demonstrated, including the Abstract Candi Blox and Abstract Candi Bar, the Abstract X-Lite Pro freestanding lighting system and the Abstract X-Drive. The popular Abstract-supplied, Pixel Neon lighting system will also be at the forefront of stand G30.
Pixel Neon is a square neon flex lighting effect supplied by Abstract. Flexible, weatherproof, and easy to install, Pixel Neon is perfect fo

UK - Voting is now in process for this year’s Gottelier Award, which has received a record number of nominees. Named in memory of renowned industry innovator and commentator Tony Gottelier, this special award recognises the invaluable contributions of the people behind the products.
LSi readers, pre-registered PLASA Show visitors and PLASA members are eligible to vote for the Gottelier Award. The recipient of the award will be announced during the PLASA Awards for Innovation ceremony at PLASA Show on Monday 4 September. The nominees for the 2023 Gottelier Award are:
Mark Ager - XM Automation
Mark’s influence over the past 40 years has been intrinsic in creating and defining the theatre automation industry as we know it today. Known by some as the father of automation, he co-founded and managed Stage Technologies (STL) which developed many of

UK - At PLASA Show 2023, Highlite International will be presenting a wide selection of audio, lighting and special effects products and accessories from its renowned brands Showtec, Infinity, DAP, Artecta and Wentex, as well as from distribution brand Antari.
Among many other products, the powerful Showtec Polar Wash 740 will be on display along with DAP’s new NRG speaker range and there will be some exciting developments by Infinity waiting to be discovered too.
The Showtec Lampy light controller now benefits from a major V2 software update, which has made it faster and brought countless new features including MultiCell capabilities and a CIE colour picker with XY editing - a feature unheard of for light consoles product in this price range - which is why the Lampy has been nominated for a PLASA award.
With all the extra features that the V2 software brings t

UK - Production Futures, the initiative which creates opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop careers in production across the live event industry, has signed with Martin Audio, as their latest high-profile partner.
“It’s wonderful that Martin Audio have seen the potential of Production Futures,” said CEO, Hannah Eakins. “We’re particularly delighted to welcome them as a British manufacturer.
“They are a forward-thinking company with a diverse workforce, and we’ve seen them transform over the last 20 years.”
Production Futures is also in the process of transformation, including the announcement of a new audio learning zone. Along with Martin Audio, this will debut at the 28 September event, which takes place at Production Park in Wakefield.
“In that sense the timing couldn’t be better for Martin Audio as we re

UK - British manufacturer of professional audio solutions, Wharfedale Pro, has announced its return to PLASA London, taking place at Olympia, London, from the 3-5 September. The Wharfedale Pro team looks forward to engaging with industry professionals and sharing their latest cutting-edge technologies and product offerings.
Visitors to the booth can expect to see a selection of Wharfedale Pro hardware, ranging from the flagship WLA-1 Hybrid Curvature Array to the reliable workhorse Delta-AXF series. Wharfedale Pro has long been synonymous with quality, reliability and performance, and the products they will be showcasing at PLASA are a testament to these values.
One of the highlights of Wharfedale Pro’s PLASA offering is the release of the latest version of their DSP Controller Software. DSP Controller v1.1.8 serves as a management system for the brand’s DP-F and D

UK - At this year’s PLASA Show (3-5 September, London Olympia), LSi magazine’s popular column Classic Gear will be brought to life on the show floor via a new attraction called Classic Gear Live. In association with CH Vintage Audio, the display will enable visitors to experience for themselves a range of defining products from the last 50-plus years and meet some of the people who made and used them.
Throughout its 38-year history, PLASA’s LSi magazine has looked forward, covering the never-ending stream of innovations in the live production industry, and the shows and people that create and use those innovations on spectacular new shows, events and installations. For 17 years of that history, LSi has also looked back, with Rob Halliday’s popular Classic Gear column taking a light-hearted, nostalgic look at the products that have shaped our indu

UK - Following on from a record-breaking BikeFest in Spain earlier this year, the #WeMakeEvents fundraising bike ride returns to London this September to raise money for industry charities Backup Tech, Music Support and Stagehand – and the team is calling for new recruits.
Since being spearheaded by PLASA and Backup seven years ago, BikeFest has grown into a popular industry event, taking place in Spain and the UK each year in the lead up to ISE in Barcelona and PLASA Show in London respectively. Each BikeFest event raises thousands for industry charities, with BikeFest Spain 2023 raising an incredible £50,000, helping industry professionals suffering with ill health or financial hardship.
And soon the BikeFest London team will be back in the saddle, ready to cycle up to 80 miles on Saturday 2 September, in time for PLASA Show at Olympia London from 3-5 September. T

UK - The ABTT’s International Theatre, Engineering and Architecture Conference (ITEAC) has announced its most ambitious schedule yet, including over 50 sessions from around the world for its 2023 edition at the IET, London on 19-20 September 2023.
With contributors from Australia, America, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea and Wales – ITEAC 2023 brings more variety to the table than ever before. A full timetable has now been released. The programme includes a variety of live seminars and discussions informed by short films and pre-recorded presentations from prestigious projects and commentators.
Delegates can expect discussion, debate and sharing of best practice, with those attending the IET London event able to create new connections and forge lasting collaborative relationshi

Australia - Following record-breaking attendance in 2023, Australia's largest festival, Vivid Sydney, is inviting expressions of interest (EOI) for its 2024 event programme.
In 2023 Vivid Sydney attracted more than 3.28m attendees who experienced the 300+ light, music, ideas and food events of the programme. Now, artists, musicians, thought leaders and food creatives are invited to submit an EOI to be part of the 2024 programme under the unified, creative vision – Vivid Sydney, Humanity.
Destination NSW CEO Steve Cox said Vivid Sydney presented an opportunity for those in the creative sector to showcase their talents to a large and far-reaching audience as part of an event that exemplifies Sydney’s standing as the major events capital of the Asia Pacific. “Vivid Sydney is a globally recognised event that brings together creativity, innovation and technolog

USA - Audio-Technica has recognised Mavric Incorporated with its Samurai Award for the 2022/2023 fiscal year, for representing Audio-Technica in the US Southeast, covering Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.
Audio-Technica held the awards ceremony to honour its dedicated force of manufacturer’s representatives on the eve of the InfoComm Expo on 13 June, 2023, in Orlando.
Mavric Incorporated was congratulated for outstanding sales performance and bestowed with Audio-Technica’s Samurai doll. Mavric Principal Pete Petty accepted the award, which was presented by Reid Peterson, Audio-Technica US executive director, system solutions, and Jeff Beck, Audio-Technica US territory sales manager, system solutions.
Peterson said: “We are proud to honour Mavric once again with our Samurai Award. Pete Petty and the res

UK - Production Futures exists to create opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop real careers in production across every area of the live event, music, touring, theatre, TV, broadcast and film industries. The organisation has announced that its flagship On Tour event will take place at Production Park, Wakefield on Thursday 28 September.
Featuring international special guest speakers, panel discussions and learning zones, the event will place emphasis on the theme of transferable skills across the production industries. Production Futures’ diversity partners will also play an important role on the day with Black Lives in Music, The Association for Black Event Professionals, Women in Live Music and The Network of Women in Events, all represented. New features for this year’s event include new ‘speed networking’ and ‘recruitment’ areas.<

UK - Vision: 2025, the UK outdoor event industry's steering group for environmental sustainability, has been commissioned by the Event Industry Forum’s (EIF) Purple Grants Fund, to write a new chapter of the Purple Guide on Environmental Sustainability for events.
It is intended to provide clear guidance on best practice and signpost to users to resources and guidance to minimise the carbon impact of events.
Feedback will be reviewed in September and the chapter will be launched 18 October 2023, at SES 23, hosted at the Showman’s Show.
The draft is available online for comment until Friday 1 September on the Vision: 2025 website.
The draft has been prepared by an industry working group including Hope Solutions, the Local Authority Event Organiser’s Association (LAEOG), Julie’s Bicycle, The Association of Festival Organiser’s (AFO) and even

UK - Eight years ago, 11 teams turned up, had a bit of fun and raised a small amount of money driving some karts for the live events industry. Fast forward to 2023 and The Parish of Backup delivered the Village Fete, its biggest and most successful event to date. The day was set against the backdrop of a traditional British Fete, 350 members of the live events industry came together to have the best of British days out.
With Chauvet Professional once again taking up the headline sponsor slot, and first-time main sponsor 5 Star Cases joining them and providing a colourful selection of flight cases for the Flight Case Challenge, over 40 companies, along with many individuals, descended on Daytona Sandown Park. Outside of the traditional award shows and trade shows calendar, this event has become one of the biggest fun days out for the live events industry.
“Raising the

Germany - Digital Signage Summit Europe (DSS Europe) celebrated its 50th edition at Hilton Munich Airport in Germany, earlier this month. A joint venture between Integrated Systems Events and invidis consulting, the summit attracted digital signage specialists from across Europe to explore this year’s theme: Engaging Experiences - Concepts, Creation & Content.
This year’s line-up of speakers, including experts from First Impression, Futuresource, Google, M-Cube, Trison, Visual Art and ZetaDisplay and spanning a wide range of sectors such as media, retail, and corporate, addressed the current market outlook and the impact of major trends.
Highlights included Dave Haynes, editor of Sixteen:Nine, and Mark McDermott, CEO at ScreenCloud, discussing How to get the message across to your employees and why agnostic software solutions that integrate with other s

UK - ISCVE has announced the dates for its annual event, ISCVEx 2024, which will be taking place at Coombe Abbey on 19-20 March 2024. Attendees can expect ‘30+ exhibitors and distributors, thought-leading seminars, inspiring talks and more’.
Taking place in the Coombe Abbey Hotel, ISCVEx day one includes ISCVE’s Member’s Day, AGM and Networking Dinner whilst day two includes three seminars and exhibition.
Attendees also get the opportunity to network with other industry people from all sectors of the audio, communications and visual industries with more than 30 exhibitors and distributors in one convenient location.
"This year, in addition to our regular attendees and exhibitors, we saw increased engagement from audio visual companies showcasing their businesses at the exhibition and attending seminars," comments Ros Wigmore, ISCVE business manager.

UK - With just six weeks to go, PLASA Show has announced the first wave of programme sessions, which include global brands and eminent thought-leaders from across the entertainment technology industry.
Taking place in Olympia London’s Grand Hall from 3-5 September, the show will feature 70+ keynote talks, panel discussions, live demonstrations, and practical training sessions - all of which are free to attend with an entry badge.
Lighting designer Tim Routledge will present his creative vision for lighting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in the UK. Ahead of his session, Tim comments: “I'm thrilled to be able to talk at the PLASA Show this year, and to share the journey my team and I had to create Eurovision 2023's monster show. It was a dream come true for me and an experience I will never forget. I hope that the story I tell will inspire others

UK - Production Futures is an initiative created to provide opportunities for young people to learn, train, network, and develop real careers in production across every area of the Live Event, Music, Touring, Festival, Theatre, TV, Broadcast and Film industries.
At its most recent On Tour roadshow event in Manchester, which was opened by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, chief executive Hannah Eakins announced the expansion of the Production Futures Breakthrough Talent Awards to better reflect the wide range of roles and skill sets required across the production industry. These rely heavily on transferable skills such as computer science, architecture, engineering and business management, as well those associated with the traditional event-management, music, TV, film, media and live technical fields. Hannah explains:
“The Production Futures initiative originated

USA - The 2023 AES International Conference on Audio Archiving, Preservation & Restoration, held at The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia, concluded ‘with resounding success’.
Over the course of three days, nearly 200 researchers and practitioners from around the world gathered to discuss critical preservation issues and explore strategies that foster collaboration and interoperability between the industry and the preservation, restoration, and archiving communities.
The conference, which took place from 1-3 June, provided an opportunity for experts in the field to come together and share their knowledge and insights. The event's focus on audio archiving, preservation, and restoration emphasized the importance of safeguarding our sonic heritage and ensuring its accessibility for future generations.
Part

UK - For a second year, PLASA is able to support UK-based companies who wish to exhibit at LDI. Working in conjunction with the Department for Business and Trade, UK companies can make their debut at the Las Vegas trade show for a specially reduced rate.
When LDI returns this year from 3-5 December, the show will yet again feature the Meet the Brits Pavilion, which will introduce UK companies to the expansive US market and facilitate valuable in-person networking.
The Meet the Brits package includes a 5sq.ft logo-branded kiosk, complete with furniture, lighting and power, as well as online and onsite promotion. With PLASA’s support, this package is reduced from $3,800 down to $2,600.
Exhibitors in the Meet the Brits Pavilion will also gain an invitation to a special networking reception and have the opportunity to attend the Department for Business and Trade Ex

UK - Atlas Show Control for spatial audio which was recently named Sound Product of the Year by the ABTT, has been officially launched.
The show control software is designed with the control and implementation of spatial audio engines at its heart. Atlas ‘aims to change the way in which designers and operators interact with the plethora of audio hardware and software within their environment’.
Atlas supports incoming positional data from trackers offering control and smoothing algorithms. Atlas can also output control data to other audio applications, sound consoles, video servers and lighting consoles.
Atlas allows for manual positional programming, the use of hardware trackers or a combination of both as demands dictates. Atlas is designed to provide users with a friendly user interface whilst unleashing the full potential of spatial audio control.

UK - Innovate Audio, creator of the panLab software, will show its latest spatial audio solution at the PLASA Show in London (3-5 September, Olympia). The new development, called panLab Console, is a software solution that adds spatial audio functionality to a range of live mixing consoles.
Cost and time constraints currently put spatial audio technology out of reach of smaller applications. Now, however, panLab Console presents a straightforward solution for more users than ever before. Put simply, panLab Console takes the proven panLab algorithm and applies it directly to the mixing console itself. It allows audio to be spatialised through existing hardware, without requiring expensive, dedicated processors. The solution is designed to be so simple to setup, users can be up and running in under five minutes.
“It enables people to deploy amplitude-based panning wit

UK - PLASA and LSi are calling for nominations for this year’s Gottelier Award. The award recognises the invaluable contributions of the people behind the products, from pioneering product developers to creative R&D teams.
Named after the late lighting designer and industry commentator Tony Gottelier, the Gottelier Award aims to recognise product developers who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of entertainment, presentation, or installation technology.
Launched in 2007, previous recipients include: JB Toby (Avolites), Christian Heil (L-Acoustics); Alan Jacobi (Unusual Rigging); Wayne Howell (Artistic Licence); Anne Valentino (ETC); David Cunningham (Entertec); Pasquale Quadri (Claypaky); Jim Bornhorst (Vari-Lite); John Meyer (Meyer Sound); Terry Clarke (Klark Teknik, MC2 Audio); Fred Foster (ETC); Alex Cooper (Midas & Klark Teknik); Joh

UK - With over 3000 registrations, this year’s ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace was busier than ever. The event drew a broad range of attendees at all stages of their careers alongside an ever-increasing list of exhibitors from all areas of the industry, say the organisers.
Running once again over two days, the ABTT Theatre Show gave the industry an opportunity to meet face-to-face in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. With an increase of 15% of exhibitors on the show floor, this year’s event featured over 150 brands.
The ABTT reports an 82% growth in overall visits among which was a 53% increase in students attending. The new ABTT Skills Workshops were particularly popular, tutoring over 150 attendees over the two days in a broad variety of topics. Responses from those who attended have been ‘overwhelmingly positive’.
This year, ABTT focused on you

UK - The Robe UK team report a busy, successful, and very positive ABTT (Association of British Theatre Technicians) expo staged at Alexandra Palace in London.
The company had two exhibition areas, with a stand upstairs in the main hall and a large demo area downstairs in the Palace suite - both showcasing a range of its latest lighting technologies for theatre, performance, TV, and broadcast scenarios.
The stylish booth in the main exhibition hall featured a selection of the newest Robe, Anolis and MDG products.
A video wall at the back offered four separate brand windows / digital messaging boards snapshotting information, with two dedicated to Robe, one for Robe’s architectural lighting brand Anolis, and one for atmosphere and haze specialist MDG, which is distributed in the UK by Robe.
Selected products were also showcased on raised displays aroun

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