UK - The Showman's Show takes place at the Newbury Showground in Berkshire every October and its outdoor situation makes it an ideal platform for large-scale products to be examined at close quarters. Star Events Group took full advantage of this at the 2006 event to officially launch Morbit.

"The response to our announcement of the concept earlier in the year was excellent," says Jane Russen, director of Star Events Group's mobile division. "The majority of people who came to see the stage at Showman's had already heard of it, although I'm sure there were some who came along to see if it actually existed!"

Star Events Group founder Roger Barrett developed the first modern mobile stage in 1988 and, with the company having acquired Orbit UK in 2004, it rapidly became clear that a mobile version of the popular Orbit stage would appeal to a wide range of event

USA - Fits & Starts Productions will bring a pair of its How-To Church Sound Workshops to next year's NSCA Expo on March 16 and 17 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Offering applied, hands-on training for volunteer staff, music ministers, youth members, choir directors, musicians, or anyone seeking to gain a better understanding of sound systems or considering a sound system upgrade, the workshops will focus on both basic and advanced techniques.

The How-To Church Sound Microphone Techniques Workshop will focus on the proper choice and use of microphones in a house of worship environment, the workshop will examine correct microphone placement for musical instruments, choirs, and soloists, as well as the operation and differences between hardwired and wireless microphone systems. Different microphone polar patterns will additionally be evaluated

USA - The ESTA Foundation raised over $55,000 for Behind the Scenes at the recent LDI show in Las Vegas. Members of the industry supported the charity through the purchase of raffle tickets, bidding on silent auction items, and contributions including a generous donation from Cheryl and John Cox, owners of Sacramento Theatrical Lighting.

A wide range of items were offered at the silent auction sponsored by LDI and Live Design, ranging from an original signed lightplot by Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Allen Branton from this year's MTV Music Video Awards, a copy of Foundation Board member Robert Bell's book Let there be Light signed by all the interviewees, Cirque du Soleil and Disney packages, to a host of equipment and services donated by LDI exhibitors.

The raffle drew a steady stream of contributors all hoping to ride home on

USA - At this year's LDI Show, Tomcat offered attendees the chance to register to win a scholarship: the winner could choose to attend the 2007 Hoist and Rigging Workshop or the Advanced Truss and Motor Workshop. The winner is Kurt Jaeckel of Quickbeam Systems, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. QSI is an event production company that covers a wide range of services including video, audio, lighting, roofing and rigging.

The president of Quickbeam is no stranger to the industry and had to take a break from putting the Sandia Casino's roof system "to bed" for the winter to accept the much coveted scholarship. "I'm absolutely thrilled," he said before getting back to the project at hand.

Because Jaeckel has already attended the four day Hoist and Rigging Workshop, he has selected the Advanced Hoist and Truss Workshop.

Tomcat's annual school is February 21 - 24

The Netherlands - The Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) will be hosting a Collaborative Conferencing Pavilion at Integrated Systems Europe 2007, which opens on January 30th 2007 in Amsterdam.

The Pavilion is designed for companies to showcase solutions and technologies in video conferencing, audio conferencing and data/web conferencing in a dedicated area. The pavilion will encompass a presentation room where participating companies will also have the opportunity to be included in the scheduled programme of seminars to visitors.

Carol Zelkin, executive director at IMCCA states, "Any form of business communication including business conference calls, web conferencing and video conferencing is a key market that unites the corporate business, IT and AV industries. By working together, Collaborative Conferencing can create the perfect plat

USA - Robe's brand new StageQube 324 LED wall has won one of the LDI 2006 Debuting Product Awards in the projection category. The product was launched in September at the PLASA Show, and LDI saw it revealed to the American Market for the first time.

The LDI judges praised the StageQube 324 for its innovative engineering, integrating structural support into each display module. They were impressed with how easily and quickly the system was to set up and maintain by replacing any panel anywhere without taking the system apart.

The Award, announced on the second day of the three day Las Vegas event, was collected for Robe by international sales manager Harry von den Stemmen.

Robe's MD Josef Valchar SAYS: "It's a great honour to win this Award, and for our dedication to digital lighting to be recognised in such a high profile environment. We are expecting a very busy and po

Europe - Meyer Sound has long been committed to providing the professional audio community with high-level training seminars that present scientifically valid information on both theoretical concepts and their practical applications. Continuing the steady expansion the company's education program has seen in the last few years, Meyer Sound's latest seminars are now coming to the European continent.

"Our goal with the Meyer Sound seminars is to impart accurate, real-world professional information to the audio community," says educational programmes manager Gavin Canaan. "By offering instruction from some of professional audio's consummate authorities, we aim to bring a vital frame of reference and an unparalleled body of expertise to our users."

One of the most important seminars is a two-part, in-depth course encompassing both system design and training on

UK - AKG Microphones has linked up with myspace.com to promote its Unsigned Heroes 07 Battle of the Bands competition, which launched this month at Music Live in Birmingham.

The competition now has its own dedicated myspace page, making it easier for bands already promoting themselves through the website to log in and upload their demos.

Under the banner 'This Ain't A Competition - It's A Battle!', AKG Microphones is encouraging up-and-coming bands to enter the competition, which could win them a day in a recording studio with a named producer and the opportunity to play at a major festival in 2007. All bands have to do is submit an MP3 of their music for the judges' consideration. Bands must have a minimum of three performers and all songs must be original compositions, not cover versions of another artist's song.

AKG's Amanda Chester says: "We know there's a we

USA - With sophisticated AV technology assuming an expanded and increasingly creative role in contemporary worship, Meyer Sound will respond at the upcoming Worship Facilities Expo (WFX) in Dallas with a high-profile showcase of industry-leading audio systems that have found broad acceptance in churches of all sizes and types. On the exhibition floor at the Dallas Convention Center on November 9 and 10 (conference proceedings begin on November 8), the Meyer Sound booth (709) will spotlight several new loudspeaker products and introduce Constellation electroacoustic architecture to the worship facilities community. Nearby, a large meeting hall will provide an appropriate setting for full-system demonstrations of the eyebrow-raising M'elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array.

Those who have yet to experience M'elodie will have the opportunity on Thursday, November 9, when

USA - GoboMan, the online gobo and sales company, launched a full line of colour filters at this year's LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas. GoboMan was founded by Rebel & Steve Hoffman in June of 2006 with the aim to create a company that offers strong customer service selling cost effective lighting accessories directly to end users. The addition of their new GoboMan Color Filters, consisting of 116 colours in 20"x24"sheets, is the next step in creating a hassle-free, one stop experience for their online customers, says the company.

"To add a line of colour filters was an easy decision for us to make and rounded out what we already have to offer," says Hoffman. "We manufacture on a high-grade polymeric base material using a wide range of accurate and consistent colorants for optimum performance and life. GoboMan's colour filters are surface coated for excellent

Russia - Community Professional Loudspeaker's Russian distributor, Arsenal Music, was awarded a Gold Medal by the jury of the 'Stations of Russia' exhibition. The award was presented for the company's contribution as a supplier of hardware to the Russian Railways with quality sound equipment.

The 'Stations of Russia' exhibition was held in early November; Community's sales representative for the region, Sylvia Fritsch, commented: "'Stations for Russia' is very different to the usual pro audio exhibitions we're so used to. Being market specific it enables real focus on the needs of the application, and Community is unique in being to able provide such a range of all-weather systems, with high intelligibility over a comprehensive range of distances and coverage patterns. The Russian Railways need a broad range of loudspeakers for indoor and outdoor use and there is no greater

Eastern Europe - Over 400 visitors attended four ISE Roadshow events in Eastern Europe which concluded at the Istanbul Hilton last week. The organisers reported that attendee levels exceeded all expectations and the events attracted positive and enthusiastic comments from both visitors and sponsors alike.

Mike Blackman, ISE managing director was delighted with the results, which justified the decision to take this event beyond the existing European frontier. "Attendance was excellent and initial feedback has been extremely positive. We had visitors who came ready to talk and were prepared to do business. They brought with them an optimistic approach to the exciting opportunities in the AV and electronic systems industry. These events have demonstrated to us how influential and exciting the Eastern European and Turkish markets are for our industry. In every location attendee

Germany - The sun has set and the Mercedes Sprinter door closed for the last time this year on the Tannoy & Friends Tour 2006 in Germany. This year the Tannoy tour team was the strongest it has been to date, with special guests Panasonic, Shure, Crestron and Simax all on board and presenting their latest new products. Kicking off in Frankfurt on 17th October, the tour travelled clockwise around the country stopping at seven cities in nine days! (Frankfurt, Remscheid, Hamburg, Berlin, Halle, Munich and Stutgartt).

Celebrating 80 years in business this year, Tannoy presented their latest products to feature their renowned Dual Concentric drive unit. Since its invention six decades ago, the Scottish-based loudspeaker manufacturer's point source drive unit technology has been constantly refined. The latest incarnation of the 'Dual', a miniature 4" version, is used in the highly

France - Blackout, a supplier of drapes, rigging, starcloth and track, will exhibit on stand F67 at Heavent 2007 alongside three individual expert event suppliers including ETC Audiovisuelle, G-lec and Lumison. Heavent will take place between 21 - 23 November, 2006 at the Hippodrome de Longchamp in Paris.

"We have seen a rapid growth in recent years whereby the four companies products are often used alongside each other in a vast range of events ranging from exhibitions, seminars, parties, fashion extravaganzas and even multi-site product launches," explains Dominic Peissel, Gerant at Blackout France. "Heavent provides the perfect platform to showcase each company's expertise, talents and specialised products in an integrated show scenario."

On the stand, Blackout will feature their drapes, rigging, LED starcloth, track and Easi-Build Pipe and Drape system.

UK - PLASA has announced that the next meeting of its Manufacturers Forum will take place on Tuesday 5 December at the DTI Conference Centre in central London. The Forum, which was established in 2005 to allow PLASA to better understand the issues faced by its manufacturing members, is open to any member company who wishes to attend.

One of the dominant themes of the December forum will be a discussion of Ofcom's proposals, as part of the planned TV switchover from analogue to digital, to sell-off the radio frequencies currently used by the UK entertainment industry. If the sell-off goes ahead as planned, it will leave the UK live events sector without a licence - a major blow for the industry.

Thanks to a strategy suggested by PLASA and its political lobbyists Ranelagh, BEIRG is now lobbying Government to highlight the damage that the spectrum sell-off will have to a sector t

UK - Audio-Technica Ltd. has reported that this year's Music Live show was its most successful ever. Highlights included record visitor numbers on the company's stand, a prize draw featuring Audio-Technica endorsees Breed77, a Bluetooth mobile phone promotion, and record sales of microphones and headphones.

Audio-Technica's Music Live stand design featured the Zen inspired themes unveiled at PLASA. In contrast to the frenetic energy throughout the rest of the show, the stand featured a clean, gallery like approach to the display of products and graphics.

Over 500 entries were received for the Breed77 prize draw, held on the first day of the show. Prizes, which were presented on the day by the band, included Audio-Technica ATH-EM7 GM headphones, signed tee shirts and copies of the band's new album 'In My Blood'.

A new feature of the company's marketing campaign was an animate

UK - A Stage Pyrotechnics Safety Awareness Course will take place on Tuesday 28 November, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London.

The event will be hosted by Stage Electrics and for more information contact Sara Alarabi on 0117 937 9503.

(Chris Henry)

UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, in conjunction with The Eden Project and Lighting&Sound International magazine, is looking at the possibility of supporting a conference on environmental awareness in show and event production.

The proposed conference will broadly examine the current practices of the production industry and look at how companies and organisations can take steps to minimise the carbon footprint of staging shows, supplying and touring equipment, catering for audiences, etc. The event will draw on the expertise of the team at The Eden Project, the popular tourist attraction in the South West of England, whose environmental policies underpin a series of 'green' gigs at the venue.

At this stage, PLASA is gauging the level of interest in such an event, so we want to hear from everyone in the industry who would like to be involved. If you w

The Middle East - If your organisation has been involved in the design of a lighting project, within the Middle East region in the last five years, then you may want to submit an entry to the Middle East Lighting Design Awards.

The awards presentation will be held at a Gala dinner on the 21 May 2007 at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel in Dubai. The Awards are fully supported by Jonathan Speirs, of Speirs and Major Associates, who believes this event will further encourage and stimulate creativity in the field of lighting design.

The eight award categories, including the prestigious Middle East Lighting Designer of the Year, will be judged by a broad based panel of industry experts, including Barry Hannaford IALD director of independent lighting design company dpa lighting consultants.

For full details of the event, award categories, sponsorship opportunities, and how to ent

UAE - IIR Exhibitions, organiser of the annual PALME Middle East exhibition in Dubai, reports that the success of the 2006 event has led to another surge in expansion for the PALME 2007 event. Initially planning to increase the 2007 event from three to four halls of the DIEC, IIR has now announced its decision to increase the size of the show to five halls.

The main objective of PALME is to allow for manufacturers, suppliers and installers to meet with Middle Eastern buyers and specifiers from a wide range of industries who have a need or requirement for professional sound, light, music, audio-visual and systems integration equipment and solutions. The latest major companies to sign up for PALME 2007 include EVI Audio, Indu Electric, Martin Professional, RCF Spa, Prolyte, Projectiondesign, Audioprof and BG Franck Bichon to name but a few, say IIR.

The 2007 PALME Middle East sh

Italy - The steering committee of the SILB (Italian Dancehall Owners Syndicate) has formally authorized chairman Renato Giachetto to officially sign an agreement with Rimini Fiera SpA for the SIB biennial international exhibition for event and entertainment technology, which will see the SIB exhibition remain in Rimini for the next 14 years.

Contrary to what was previously reported, following the 2006 event, the next edition of SIB is scheduled to be held at Rimini expo centre from 6-9 April 2008. Rimini Fiera chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni commented: "Yesterday we announced the important agreement with TEN, a network of 50 large companies in this sector (lighting, audio and video, décor and theatre stage equipment and sets, musical instruments, industrial design firms, design studios, training, research) which has officially chosen SIB for developing its members' business

The Netherlands - The show organisers of Integrated Systems Europe 2007 today announced that 95% of available space at the show in Amsterdam from 30 January - 1 February 2007 had been sold, leaving only a handful of booths available.

Integrated Systems Europe have confirmed that ISE is on pace to set a record-breaking event. With the fourth show just three months away, ISE 2007 has grown larger, with the newly booked Hall Four nearly full. During the last six months, the show organisers have reacted quickly to meet the insatiable demand from companies anxious to be part of Europe's largest show for professional AV and Electronic System Integrators. Over 11,000sq.m of space has now been sold, making it the largest ISE show ever held.

Mike Blackman, ISE 2006 managing director urged any business intending on booking existing space to contact ISE immediately, as Hall 4 is nearly b

USA - JR Clancy's PowerAssist counterweight automation system was awarded both the 2006 Live Design International Product of the Year in the Rigging and Staging category and the ESTA Dealers' Choice Product Award at LDI in Las Vegas.

"This year at LDI we were honoured to receive both awards on top of the extraordinary feedback from attendees on the show floor. We were very happy with the response at the show before Saturday night's awards, but we were really happy on Sunday morning," says Tom Young, vice president of marketing for JR Clancy. "We're particularly pleased by these awards because the LDI award is from judges who are end users and specifiers of the product and the ESTA award is from dealers, who we consider our partners."

The PowerAssist allows the user to automate existing counterweight rigging sets, as well as add motorised rigging to new proj

USA - To celebrate the season, High End Systems Inc is hosting a Holiday Open House on 13-14 December, from 2-8 pm at its Austin, Texas headquarters. All are invited to join the company for festive drinks, hors d'oeuvres and, of course, entertainment lighting technology featuring demos of its latest products. Anyone interested in attending is asked to RSVP indicating which day they would like to attend by emailing the address supplied below.

High End Systems is located at 2105 Gracy Farms Lane, Austin, TX 78758. Call 512 836 2242 for directions.

(Lee Baldock)

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