The seventh World Lighting Fair was held at Pacifico Yokohama Exhibition Hall in early October. 50 companies from across Japan were joined by 21 international companies at the show, and the show enjoyed high visitor levels from the start, say the organizers.

Exhibits covered not only lighting products for stage and TV markets, but also new software and hardware were presented addressing their broad applications in markets such as retail, architecture, video projection, advertisement and promotion, design and presentation. The seminar programme included a broad range of topics from the latest on control protocols, education systems for theatre technology, opera productions and lighting design for theatres to a model of the lighting designer for the 21st century.

The next WLF will be held at the same venue from June 24 to 26, 2004.

(Lee Baldock)

PCM’s famous Lodestar Motor School continues its on-going world tour, with the first, highly successful event to be held in Dublin. The School was co-ordinated by top Dublin-based lighting sales and installation company Stage Lighting Centre, run by the charismatic Pat Walsh, assisted by Paddy Farrell. It was held in the prestigious Abbey Theatre in central Dublin - the National Theatre of Ireland.

28 people attended the School, presented by PCM’s tutor-in-chief Tony Dickson. They came from all areas of the professional entertainment industry from across the country. The two-day Motor School covered many topics. A king pin of the PCM course is the complete stripping down and re-assembling of a Lodestar motor, enabling students to learn about the role and significance of the machine’s electrical and mechanical components, and how they inter-relate. Working in pairs, st

The World Rally Championships were recently staged in Cardiff, and Stage Electrics was on hand to provide significant resources over a number of key sites for this major sporting event.

The Network Q Rally started on the 14 November and was timed to coincide with the switching on of Cardiff’s Christmas Lights. The main high street in Cardiff was closed to traffic from 10am, and there then followed a race against time to ensure all of the production was in place by 5pm. Stage Electrics provided main stage lighting on a Star Hire Mk1 Stage, as well as lighting to other areas.

The biggest focus of the Rally for spectators was the Super Special Stage, hosted in a purpose- built arena in Cardiff’s Docks. Stage Electrics powered the majority of all site services, as well as all spectator and emergency lighting. A total of 24 generators supplied through Power Electrics of Bristo

Could LDI capitalize on the renewed focus on business demonstrated at PLASA just a few weeks earlier?Ruth Rossington headed to Vegas to find out.

With PLASA providing a much needed fillip to the business, the question everyone wanted answering about LDI was whether it could pick up the baton and continue where PLASA left off. Well the jury’s marginally out on that one - certainly, the first day got off to a blistering start, but there were definitely times when things felt quiet on the show floor. That said, all the exhibitors I spoke to reported good levels of business and that’s the only yardstick a trade show should be measured by.

Much of the product on display had already made its presence felt at PLASA, but there were some real innovations and some noticeable trends. The undiminished homage to all things LED continues, to the point where Ellen Lampert-Greaux, part o

L&SI’s series of industry networking events got off to a flying start on 10 October when 58 delegates joined the PLASA Media team and the technical production crew at the London Palladium for a backstage tour of the world’s most technically-advanced musical production, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

After a welcome drink in the Palladium’s Cinderella Bar, delegates were welcomed to the theatre by L&SI editor Ruth Rossington, before being given a fascinating potted history of the site and the venue by theatre manager Nick Bromley. Following this, the delegates were split into groups to begin the behind the scenes tour, which took in the automation control position, the lighting control room, the lighting rig, FOH sound desk, the under-stage engineering and the radio racks, plus a chance to view the amazing car itself, built by Howard Eaton Lighting Ltd. At each point, deleg

You have until 12 January to visit the most exciting event in theatre design for years, the 2D>3D show at Sheffield’s Millennium Galleries. If you can, you should allow a whole day for your visit - I could have used a week to roam the tightly packed exhibition space, reading every label, browsing every sketchbook and scanning every storyboard in this fascinating display.

More than 150 set, costume and lighting designers, plus a distinguished band of theatre architects, are showing some of their best work produced over the last three years. Organizers Peter Ruthven Hall and Kate Burnett have prepared an excellent catalogue of the show (available from SBTD at £18), replete with sumptuous colour illustrations, but the very 2D nature of the book explains why you should, if at all possible, see the real 3D thing: the catalogue has a careful sketch from Nancy Surman of her costumes fo

The MTV Staying Alive concert, in Association with YouthAids, and staged at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium in late November, proved a major success with over 20.000 people witnessing the event live and millions more watching an edited version on television channels the world over.

Three of the world’s most successful music stars headlined the event, which was held to create awareness of HIV/Aids, as well as encourage tolerance of those affected by the disease. Alicia Keys, Usher and P. Diddy were joined by homegrown stars Mandoza, Zola, 101, Danny K, Bianca Le Grange and DJ Ready D.

Gearhouse South Africa was contracted to provide lighting, sound, structures, audio-visual, rigging and power. The SABC (South African Broadcast Corporation) filmed the show on behalf of MTV, for its MTV Presents Levi’s Jeans Staying Alive Concert In Association With YouthAids 90-minute

Canegreen Commercial Presentations Ltd continued a busy 2002 winter season, making sure the sound matched the quality of the winners at the Woman of the Year Awards, held at the Hyde Park Hotel Inter-Continental in London.

The awards, sponsored by O2, celebrated women’s achievements in music and related industries, with Sharon Osbourne walking away with the coveted ‘Woman of the Year Award’. Women from all areas of the music industry picked up awards in categories including lifetime achievement and special achievement of the year given by guest award presenters, from Dr Fox of Capital Radio fame, to Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and Will Young.

Canegreen Commercial was presented with the challenge of achieving audio coverage to all of the 450 guests in the Grand Ballroom at the Inter-Continental, from a central stage. They achieved this by flying eight Meyer UPA-1P S

The Event Show 2003 (28-30 January, National Hall, Olympia) will see leading event professionals come together to provide a unique forum of workshops, advice clinics and seminars. Over 250 companies will be on hand to help, as well as leading professional organisations such as TESA, NOEA, BECA, and PSA.

The main programme involves a series of high profile speakers. On 28th January, Brian Blake, MBE presents a talk on ‘The do’s and don’ts of getting a licence.’ Blake has been responsible for the technical aspects of public entertainment licensing within Westminster for 27 years, and has covered a wide range of events, including outdoor concerts in Hyde Park, and the Queen’s Jubilee, where he was responsible for public safety and contingency planning.

On the 29th January, the focus is ‘Spotlight on Local Authorities.’ Sponsored by NOEA, the s

UK - The APRS starts its 2003 programme with a seminar co-hosted by the DTI for all manufacturers and service providers who are interested in exporting goods or attracting overseas clients to UK facilities.

The event, postponed last year because of the Tube strikes, has been re-scheduled and re-designed to provide a broader exploration of exporting in general with a special focus on the fast-expanding Indian and Chinese markets. India has the largest film industry in the world and a significant proportion of domestic producers are now looking to enhance their production values in the hope that more Indian-made films are viewed by western cinema audiences. In the past, India has proved to be a challenging market beset with tariff and other bureaucratic barriers, however the World Trade Organisation rules mean that tariffs will be removed by 2005 and so now is the time to establis

UK - Applications are now being accepted for the first Lighting Masterclass held in London by Selecon on 21, 22 and 23 March 2003. Selecon is very proud to have Rick Fisher and Chris Parry to lead this unique event. Places on this first Masterclass are limited, and the aim of the event is to expand delegates' lighting craft with the assistance of two giants of the lighting industry, both working in different parts of the globe, bringing a wealth of experience to the debate. The Masterclass will be a hands-on lighting workshop held in a theatre environment.

The event is aimed at people working within the entertainment lighting industry who have experience in lighting or re-lighting shows; theatre electricians, technical assistants or similar grades within the industry.

The three-day Masterclass will use the 'Light Lab', a system used by Chris Parry at The University of Californ

UK - A regional meeting of the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) is to be held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama on Wednesday the 22 January between 5.30 and 8.00pm. The Conference Room in the Alexander Gibson Opera School has been booked and the meeting is being hosted by David Ripley, the Academy production manager and ALD member. Opera 1, a Ravel Double Bill, is on stage in the New Athenaeum (the main house) and there are also concert halls and a studio that members can have a look around, depending on production schedules.

No agenda has been set, but one of the main intentions of these regional meetings is to give members the chance to meet up and discuss issues about lighting and the lighting industry. It could also be an opportunity to talk about future regional meetings and how the ALD can help support them. A meeting in Bristol came up with several s

UK - Lightpower, one of Germany's leading lighting distributors, has announced that it has cancelled its participation in this year's ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt (5-8 March). The reason given for the withdrawal is the bad timing of the show. Lighpower's statement says: "We regret this decision, however . . . when a trade show is planned concurrent with a national holiday and preparations for the Cebit trade show overlap, then we, as well as other exhibitors, come across some serious coordination problems. This simply means that over 40% of our clientele shall not show up because they will be tied up at the same time with their own service activities during the Cebit show projects and Carneval activities. More than 1000 event technicians will be working at the Cebit."

At a press conference at ProLight+Sound last year, Lightpower - a long-standing ProLight+Sou

China - Music China, the international trade fair for musical instruments and services (15-18 October 2003, Shanghai) will this year be joined by ProLight+Sound Shanghai. At the same time, the organizers have announced that the show will include a British Pavilion, organized in conjunction with the UK's Music Industries Association (MIA) and Trade Partners UK.

The second Music China event is already generating great interest from manufacturers and so far over 120 companies have been confirmed as exhibitors or have made serious expressions of interest, say the organizers. The exhibition will be joined by a new international exhibition in China for the professional audio and entertainment lighting industry, ProLight+Sound Shanghai. ProLight+Sound Shanghai will be positioned as a professional marketing platform for manufacturers of sound production, broadcasting and recording equip

UK - This week, the Total Production 2003 Awards were once again held in the Monarch Suite at the Hilton Metropole in London's Edgware Road. Among the evening's highlights was the appearance of Motorhead frontman Lemmy as guest presenter for the first three awards.

Over 1,200 voting forms from readers of Total Production determined the results of 16 of the 20 awards, which were variously sponsored by Rock-It Cargo, Midas, Klark Teknik, Star Hire, Martin Professional, Clay Paky, Barco, High End Systems, Shure, EFM and Chapman Freeborn.

Damon Albarn, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman made a special appearance at the lectern to pay a heartfelt tribute to tour manager Terry Coyle, who tragically died whilst on the road last November. "I'll always be looking for Terry for his support and guidance," said Albarn. "He was a good friend to me and to many people in this room

UK - Event services supplier ARB and international temporary utility supplier Aggreko announced a strategic alliance at the 2003 Event Show in London. Since being acquired by the CSS Stellar Group Plc, ARB has implemented significant restructuring and expansion plans, focusing its various services into specialist divisions to offer clients improved service in all areas.

Aggreko is a world leader in the supply of temporary power, temperature control and oil-free compressed air services and has a track-record of successfully supporting events such as the FIFA 2002 World cup, numerous winter and summer Olympic Games and the 2003 Ski Championship in St Moritz.

This exclusive partnership will see the complementary strengths of both combined to deliver total power, cooling and technical solutions to events of all sizes and type throughout Europe. "The opportunity this link pres

UAE - The Middle East's sound and lighting industry is expected to be worth $1 billion a year in three-to five years time, according to Matthew Griffiths, CEO of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA), the leading international association for the industry. He was speaking in Dubai at the first Pro Audio Light Middle East (PALME) trade show, an event officially endorsed by the organisation.

PLASA's own research into the global market indicates that the sound and lighting sector generates $20 billion a year worldwide. "With so much construction and so many major events in the Middle East, we anticipate that the Middle East will grow to be worth $1 billion a year. The sector is already worth that a year in the UK and the Middle East can certainly match this given the level of activity here.

"This is a dynamic part of the world. It isn't afraid to be lo

USA - It's not just about products, you know. Financial news from Mackie, the launch of Apogee Lighting and company transfers all dominated the show. Phil Ward reports.

The news came not at the official press conference, but several hours later when public notification was green-lighted by shadowy figures on the other end of mobile phones. New senior VP of marketing Ken Berger - returning to the EAW fold - clearly expected to announce the deal at the conference, but was forced to play out a double act with PR manager Kyle Ritland, as ink failed to dry on remote contracts. Still, the sigh of relief come 5.00pm, and official confirmation, was almost louder than Behringer's hairy metal duo on the next stand.

Berger's appointment was one of many 'people launches' in a show more crowded with new executives than new toys. At Soundcraft, Andy Trott lived up to his name and covered a

China - China's biggest entertainment technology exhibition will be staged in Beijing for the 13th time from 16-19 May 2003, is expected to be 30% larger than the 2002 event, which itself featured more than 25,000sq.m of exhibit space and attracted 448 exhibiting companies and 55,408 trade visitors.

To date, CALM Expo has opened inroads for many international manufacturers and local companies to network and build businesses in the rising Chinese market. With the accession of China into WTO, the positive cultural directions revealed in the recent 16th Chinese Communist Party Congress and the prevailing reforms in China's performing arts and entertainment scene, such upbeat market forces inevitably increase the awareness of cultural developments across China and sound out immense business opportunities for the industry.

Recognizing the importance of industry advancements across

UK - This year’s Association Day will return to the historic setting of Coombe Abbey Hotel, near Coventry.

The Association Day is a key event in the PLASA calendar, and, in addition to featuring the AGM, will also include business-related sessions, together with plenty of opportunity for networking with other members. Invitations will be going out to PLASA Members in the next few weeks, and further information will be posted on the PLASA website

UK - The eighth annual CEDIA UK Expo will be held in Brighton between 24 and 26 June, 2003. According to the organizers, it will feature a wealth of new exhibitors from the security and lighting industries, as well as established leaders in the residential entertainment systems and home automation markets, and will occupy 25% more floor space than last year’s show.

The seminar programme is expanding as well, and includes the introduction of CEDIA certification examinations for technicians and designers, developed by the UK Education Committee from a structure successfully employed in the US. Manufacturer training will also be integrated with the seminars to ensure that theory and practice are perfectly complemented. Extra curricular activities include the Chairman’s reception for invited guests on the night of 24 June and the Expo party the following evening.

The

Greece - Jack Morton Worldwide has been appointed producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the next Olympic Games, to be held in Athens in 2004. Jack Morton will support Dimitris Papaioannou, the concept creator and artistic director of the Games’ Ceremonies.

Dimitris Papaioannou said: "Jack Morton Worldwide has an impressive track record and I am looking forward to working with them. We are all very honored to deliver the Ceremonies celebrating a special occasion: the return of the Games to their birthplace."

The appointment was announced by the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) this week after a seven-month bid process, which involved agencies from within Greece and throughout Europe. The European office of Jack Morton, based in London, led the bid with an international team most recently responsible for the successful pr

UK - A new concept in realistic visual effects is being launched this month. Scene Change, which creates digital video effects, aims to bring the latest in lighting techniques to the theatre.

At an open day on March 25 at the MacOwan Theatre, Earl's Court, Scene Change, a specialist creator of still and animated digital video images, will demonstrate how life-like effects can be brought to the stage. Technical Director Nigel Sadler says: "It's already been embraced by nightclubs, but it's the next big thing for the theatre. This year, we're likely to see it begin to take off in the world of theatre lighting."

"There's so much more that can be done with it. We can create 'real' rain, 'real' snow, moving water, a sun rising -the possibilities are endless." The theatre world has been slower to pick up on the technology, whose uses include visual displays at cl

UK - Saturday 8 March saw Manchester’s production community uniting to show their support for peace, on the occasion of the ‘Don’t Attack Iraq’ event organized by Manchester Coalition Against the War. Consisting of separate marches from the North and South of the city, together with one from Salford, the event culminated with some 12,000 people converging on a rain-soaked Albert Square to hear a packed programme of speakers, plus acoustic performances from Elbow and Josephine Oniyama.

The event was managed by Jon Drape Event & Production Management, with production management and trucking provided by Andy Stratford at Walk the Plank. With a budget of just £50 to cover fuel, Jon and Andy appealed to Manchester’s production supply companies to come up with the goods, a call that was met with overwhelming support.

So it was that Manchester Light & S

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