USA - This year's InfoComm Convention will be a busy time for Renkus-Heinz. The company will be sponsoring a full calendar of events and demonstrating a wide range of equipment throughout the show's three-day run.

The Renkus-Heinz booth will host a Technology Theatre throughout the show, with regular informative seminars on a wide range of topics given by presenters including Bruce Olson of Olson Sound Design; Stefan Feistel of Ahnert Feistel Media Group; John Murray, principal of Optimum System Solutions; Doug Fowler of Fowler Audio Services; Rik Kirby and Jim Mobley of Renkus-Heinz, and still more to be announced.

The booth will also host a 'geek bar' with ongoing demonstrations of Renkus-Heinz products and technologies including SysTune, EASE, EASERA and RHAON.

The Renkus-Heinz demo room will offer detailed demonstrations of a selection of the newest Renkus-Heinz loudspea

UK - At this year's ABTT show, The First Night Riders (FNRs), will once more be shaking their money raising buckets in aid of theatre charity, The Theatrical Guild.

On the 15-16 June, at the Royal Horticultural Halls, London, the money raising motorcyclists will be showcasing photo highlights from last year's charity ride. However this year they will be looking to top last year's total of £12,000.

This photo slideshow, which features backstage images of number of historically important UK venues, will be displayed on a large screen, generously provided by Blitz Video and positioned in the Lawrence Hall Foyer.

FNR organisers will be on hand on both show days to sign up any motorbike-riding volunteers looking for adventure! The ride will depart on 18 June from outside of the National Theatre, London, escorted by London police motorbike outriders.

FNR organiser David Ed

UK - At this year's ABTT Theatre Show, both the organiser - the Association of British Theatre Technicians - and an exhibitor that has appeared at the show every year since the show began - White Light - will mark important milestones, with the ABTT celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, and White Light turning 40.

While marking historic moments, both organisations will, as always, be concentrating on the future, showing some of the latest advances in lighting technology. White Light is taking two stands at the show.

Filling these will be some of the latest LED fixtures, which see LEDs move into the world of framing spotlights rather than just washlights: both the new Coemar Reflection LED ko and the Juliat Aledin spotlights will be on show.The Aledin takes the established Juliat profile spot bodywork and adds a white LED source, while the Reflection offers either white or colo

UK - The ABTT has teamed up with leading insurance broker Jelf Insurance Brokers to present its 2011 Awards.

Jelf Insurance Brokers are part of Jelf ,an independent consultancy that supports both businesses and individuals, giving expert advice on insurance, healthcare, employee benefits and financial planning. Jelf is launching a bespoke insurance package for ABTT Members at the Theatre Show and it represents their first move into the theatre and entertainment sector.

"We're delighted to be able to show our support of the ABTT by sponsoring the 2011 Awards," comments Andy Tedstone, partnerships director (Insurance) at Jelf. "It is the ideal showcase for us to launch our insurance package to ABTT members, which is specially tailored to meet the needs of professionals working in the theatre business. We are also honoured to be part of an Awards scheme that celebr

USA - R&B artist R. Kelly recently wrapped up a European leg of his Love Letter world tour that sees him playing shows across the US this summer. Lighting director for the tour is Alex Skowron who programmed and operates the show on a Martin Professional M1 lighting console.

"I've been programming on a Maxxyz since 2006 and made the transition over to the M1 on this tour. The M1 is noticeably faster than its predecessor," says Skowron.

"The bulk of my work is overseas, so I'm constantly repatching and cloning shows to accommodate local gear, so for the console to execute these tasks in a timely fashion means hours saved reproducing the show.

"One of its greatest benefits is its size. To have all the capability of a full size console in such a small footprint, and to be able to check it as luggage and travel with it around the world is priceless. I

UK - At ABTT 2011, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will highlight a selection of new theatrical solutions from the many brands it distributes - including Jands, Chroma-Q, GLP, Spotlight, Shure, Sennheiser, Prolyte, Litec, Columbus McKinnon, Green Hippo and many more.

Staff from AC-ET's specialist sales divisions will be on hand to discuss the company's one-stop service, which includes a stockholding of new and used equipment encompassing over 200 brands, one of the industry's largest custom colour filter and cable manufacturing facilities, product servicing and repairs, and a round the clock emergency delivery service during evenings and weekends.

As the exclusive UK supplier for Chroma-Q, AC-ET's Lighting division officially launches the new Studio Force V (Variable white 2,900K - 6,000K CCT) and Studio Force D (Daylight white 6,000K CCT) white LED fixtures.

The new

UK - At ABTT 2011 A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) will showcase and discuss examples of the many leading performance lighting, audio and AV system installations provided by the company.

ACSP's team of experienced project managers handle all aspects of a project from the initial design concept through to the finished system, including assisting with the specification, equipment supply, installation, commissioning and programming, or any part thereof.

ACSP has access to over 200 quality brands, including popular theatrical ranges from Chroma-Q, Jands, Spotlight, ETC, Philips Selecon, Pulsar, Sennheiser, Shure, Soundcraft, Allen & Heath, JBL, Andolite, J&C Joel, Litec, Prolyte Group and Doughty.

Once systems are operational, ACSP also offers a range of tailored service contracts to ensure installations "continue to deliver the highest level of performance".

(Jim Evans)

South Africa - Mediatech Africa 2011 - Africa's biennial trade exhibition showcasing broadcast, film and production and related industries, has announced Gearhouse SA (Pty) Ltd as the expo's official technical sponsor. Gearhouse will be handling the lighting, audio, trussing, audio visual, LED and draping for the expo.

The decision by Gearhouse to become the technical sponsor for Mediatech Africa is to showcase the latest solutions and service offerings targeted at the live event industry who naturally gravitate to Mediatech Africa.

"In addition to providing the latest technical support and solutions at the expo, we'll be raising awareness of Gearhouse Splitbeam," says Gearhouse's Robyn D'Alessandro. "Splitbeam is a new company which offers variety of smaller applications and their stockholding is specifically geared towards the Theatre market".

D'Alessan

UK - One of London's most colourful events, the Baishakhi Mela, enjoyed its 14th successful year in early May, as 100,000 people convened in and around Brick Lane in Tower Hamlets to welcome the Bengali New Year. Working closely with the local council and Metropolitan Police, AP Security helped to ensure that the family event was enjoyed by all.

"The Mela takes place over a wide area, covering Allen Gardens, Weavers Fields, Brick Lane and the surrounding streets. It's a complicated set up, including a parade, live music, DJs, a fun fair and many stalls, with thousands of people thronging the area," says Sammie Martins, AP's operations manager for the event.

"Our responsibilities include phased road closures, crowd management, keeping local residents happy and ensuring that everyone enjoys a safe day, so the planning is meticulous, as it is with every job we're i

UK - At the ABTT Show (Royal Horticultural Halls, London - 15th and 16th June), Philips Entertainment Lighting will showcase its latest range of lighting design and technical solutions from Philips Selecon, Phillips Strand Lighting and Philips Vari-lite.

Focus will be on the raft of exciting new LED fixtures from Philips Selecon and Philips Vari-lite along with the latest breakthroughs in control, networking and distribution from Philips Strand Lighting. The Philips team will also welcome new staff members Matt Hallard and David March, both already familiar faces to many members of the industry, especially those that enjoy the pleasures of working with the Vari-lite range of fixtures.

Graham Eales Regional Manager EMEA for Philips Entertainment Lighting says: "These are exciting times for the team at PEL. Over the last few weeks we've seen some exciting changes implemente

India - PALM Expo 2011 ended with a successful showcasing in its 11th year running in India. The annual event supported by the global industry was held from 2 - 4 June 2011, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.

PALM witnessed a jump from 75 exhibitors in 2010 to 117 Exhibitors in 2011 - an increase of 56% from last year; 15,959 total attendees in 2011, to the PALM + Integrate and Musician Expo; 8,424 visitors to the PALM+ Integrate - an increase of 30% from last year.

This year the Expo witnessed a restructured floor plan with the Musician Expo given its due importance and identity in a separate hall. The Musician Expo was well represented with booths of several new players in this segment.

Another accomplishment that was lauded by the exhibitors and visitors was the further control of noise levels with line arrays not allowed to play at high volumes in the PALM Expo Hal

UK - Like the ABTT, WiSE has much to celebrate: In just a few years it has grown to embrace over 420 female industry members worldwide; is about to complement its members only social networking site with a public facing website (so everyone can get involved) and, for the first time ever, will have its very own stand at the ABTT show.

WiSE was established in 2008 to address the under representation of women in the technical disciplines of entertainment. Since then the organisation has established links with colleges, businesses and training organisations, run a series of successful networking events, mentorship programmes and technical training sessions and lobbies for fair working conditions for everyone.

It could not have done this without the support of the industry it serves and works with. So, to celebrate its success, WiSE has invited aspiring cocktail designers from its

Paraguay - An Axiom system was chosen for the celebration of the bicentennial of the Independence of Paraguay.

The event was held in mid May in Paraguay's capital city, Asunción, and included the leading national pop and folk artists. Among the political figures who took part in the event was president Fernando Lugo, who welcomed the presidents of the neighbouring countries and addressed the enthusiastic celebrating crowd.

NJ Audio & Lighting was in charge of the technical production of this event, which was held in the park next to the Government Palace.

The features of the location led to the choice of Proel Edge bi-amplified monitors for the main stage, as they could provide the power and the acoustic clarity needed and also because their low profile fitted the purpose of keeping the focus on the event. The side-fills were two Proel Axiom clusters with relative sub-woofe

UK - Tower Productions recently provided a turnkey package in the grounds of Cardiff Castle for a Heineken Cup Final event, comprising power, heating, lighting, audio, video and networking.

Site access restrictions meant no large plant could deployed so Tower synchronised four 100kva machines from their own stock to give a 400kva generation package with 100% redundancy.

Christie Roadster HD18ks, Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 spots, and a dozen ETC Source Four profiles looked after the external branding/projection onto the castle walls with Dominator and NovaLight High Ground searchlights for aerial effects. 40 green 400W HQI's provided a solid base colour to the castle walls.

Inside the marquee, an array of HD plasma screens from Tower's newly formed AV department were recessed into the set showing the game, associated branding and information, live camera and a Sky HD feed.

In

UK / Australia - PLASA has confirmed the line-up of international speakers for the PLASA sponsored international seminar programme at ENTECH 2011.

Taking place from the 19-21 July 2011 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, ENTECH has been Australia's leading biennial trade show for the entertainment, live events and corporate installation sectors for 17 years. Visitor attendance to the event has always been strong and this year it will be further strengthened by the co-location of the SMPTE conference and exhibition - a major event for the broadcast, pro-audio, audio visual, lighting, staging and commercial integration markets.

Three keynote speakers have been confirmed as part of the PLASA programme, each bringing their expertise in the lighting, audio and rigging sectors to the event.

Lighting designer Rob Halliday is an internationally respected lighting program

USA - Bosch Security Systemsreports that more than 4,000 customers have interacted with Bosch products on the Safe & Sound Tour. Since its debut at the ISC West Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas, the tour has travelled more than 3,500 miles to stop in 12 cities across the Western region of the U.S.

"Customers appreciate the opportunity to explore our offerings without the need to travel to a trade show. In turn, we benefit from more focused attention over a longer period. The return is higher for both the customer and for Bosch," said Jeremy Hockham, president of sales - Americas, Bosch Security Systems. "The truck also exposes customers to the breadth of our portfolio - opening up new opportunities for dealers looking to expand their solutions offerings."

Featuring high definition video surveillance, access control, intrusion and fire detection,

UK - Entries are now open for The Theatres Trust second annual People's Choice Award, following a launch event at the ABTT Theatre Show 2011.

Entries are invited from entertainment industry manufacturers/suppliers with a product that they consider is making a difference to theatres sustainability, either through design, manufacture or operation. Successful applicants products will be displayed on The Theatres Trust's stand 2-M14 at PLASA 2011 from the 11-14 September and visitors to the show will cast their vote for the People's Choice Award.

Visitors to stands at both the ABTT Theatre Show and PLASA 2011 will be able to see a variety of information on the Trust's European Regional Development Fund-backed 'Ecovenue' sustainability project, which is improving the sustainability of 48 London performing arts venues.

At PLASA 2011, after three days of visitor voting, the award w

USA - LDI, the annual US trade show and conference for the entertainment design and technology industry, has announced a five-year partnership with PLASA, the international entertainment technology trade organisation.

The purpose of the agreement is to expand the reach of both PLASA and LDI, and broaden training options for industry professionals.

According to organisers Penton Media, PLASA's international reach adds a broader global dimension to LDI. The Technical Standards Updates track, now from PLASA (formerly ESTA) will again form part of LDI's training line-up this year, giving LDI professional attendees the latest information on essential issues at the heart of the industry.

PLASA will be able to share its technical updates with the industry at large and benefit from the additional US exposure for its trade show and association. By partnering with LDI, PLASA also adds

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that its 33rd ABTT Theatre Show maintained its position with the number of visitors remaining constant with last year's record attendance, and 15% up on previous years.

Despite recessionary marketing cutbacks, the Royal Horticultural Halls were yet again filled to capacity with over 100 exhibiting companies, with many launching new products and services, says the Association.

Show director Roger Fox comments, "We're thrilled to have held our position with visitors and exhibitors alike. Despite the heavy downpours we maintained the quality of the visitors and presented a show that was typically packed with innovation. The dedicated seminar programme and our annual Awards were boosted by support from JELF Insurance and our aim is to create an even better event in 2012."

The 2012 ABTT Theatre Show takes place

UK - This year the ABTT Awards were sponsored by Jelf Insurance who during the show launched their Public Liability/PI insurance scheme tailored to the needs of people who work in the entertainment industry.

The Lighting Product of the Year went to The Arc LED Houselight System from Global Design Solutions. The judges were impressed by the wireless dimming performance of these bespoke fittings manufactured to retrofit existing tungsten lighting in auditoriums and Front of House locations. Honourable mentions went to the LEDKO Reflection LED profile spot and the Robe Robin Wash 600.

Shure's new Axient Radio Microphone System took the award for Sound Product of the Year at the ABTT Product of the Year Awards. Axient was recognised by the judging panel for its clever frequency management, as well as its increased spectral efficiency, allowing large numbers of wirele

UK - The joint celebration between Northern Light and White Light to mark their fortieth anniversaries was enjoyed by hundreds of industry players on Wednesday 15 June.

Held during the ABTT Theatre Show, the party took place at a pub close to the exhibition venue and was well attended by the two companies' customers, suppliers and manufacturers alike.

John Simpson, White Light's chairman, said, "As we suspected, our industry pals were all too happy to have a drink or two provided for them to celebrate our fortieth birthdays! It was great to see so many customers and colleagues in one place, helping us to toast our four decades of success."

John Allen, director at Northern Light, added, "Having known John since we founded our respective companies in 1971, I very much enjoyed reminiscing about our early days and observing the next generation of the entertainment

UK - PLASA Events has announced half-price visitor registration is now available online for this year's PLASA 2011, which is already 90% sold out, three months ahead of the show opening at Earls Court on 11-14 September 2011.

Half-price online registration offers visitors the chance to not only save money but to avoid the registration queues and receive regular updates from PLASA Events about new product launches, the expanding seminar programme and new show features.

With 50% of all PLASA 2011 exhibitors based internationally, it's the best opportunity to see all the industry's big names under one roof - plus several names that are new or returning for PLASA 2011 - including Batmink, Capture Sweden, Eclipse Iluminación y Sonido, S., Focusrite, Lydrommet, RGGLED and State Automation.

In addition to new products, an expanded seminar programme and interactive feature areas, t

South Africa - The Mediatech Africa exhibition, which takes place at the Coca-Cola dome in Northriding, Johannesburg, from 20-22 July, will feature Live Outdoor Sound Demos, in which several exhibitors have chosen to demonstrate their state-of the art sound systems and sophisticated staging rigs.

Some of the most technologically advanced sound systems will be able to strut their stuff without the constraints of an indoor demonstration area and visitors will be able to view, hear and experience this outdoor fest between 20-22 July.

Viva Afrika Sound and Light will be demonstrating DAS audio sound systems in the outside area. "The systems we intend to demonstrate are the Aero 8A; Aero 12A and Aero 50 line arrays with a new powered, ultra-compact unit ideal for small to medium applications" says the company's Bernard Pienaar. "The Aero 8A was shown at the recent Pr

UK - Summer cocktails hosted by WiSE (Women in Stage Entertainment) went down a storm at the ABTT show. WiSE Industry sponsors were invited to dabble in cocktail design by inventing their own cocktails to raise money for industry charity, Light Relief.

The cocktail line up included: the Avolites Ruby Rum, Charcoalblue Cooler, White Light Wimms, Rosco Lux Sangria, Phillips Entertainment Blue Hawaii and the drink with no name from MA Lighting.

Whilst sampling the various concoctions on offer, WiSE sponsors, members, guests and the press had the chance to network, make new friends and give generously to charity. Ultimately the event raised a respectable £137 for Light Relief, all in the space of just a couple of hours.

Coral Cooper, industry veteran and Philips Vari-Lite trainer was cocktail coordinator extraordinaire and kept the

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