USA - InfoComm’s organisers have issued a statement revealing that, at present, the show is ‘proceeding as planned, June 13-19, 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.’ The statement, posted on the show’s website, continues: “The show management of InfoComm and the executive staff of AVIXA are continuing to monitor the evolving situation around the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on a day-by-day basis, and our thoughts continue to be with those affected across the world.” Stay up-to-date with the very latest on InfoComm's status regarding coronavirus via this page on the show’s website.
USA - US-based trade show USITT has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The event was was due to celebrate its 60th anniversary edition this 1-4 April. A statement from the shows organisers reads: “The USITT Board of Directors, in an unanimous vote, has cancelled the 2020 Annual Conference & Stage Expo scheduled for April 1-4 in Houston.” USITT executive director David Grindle said in a video message posted on the show’s website: “I have to let you know that we have cancelled this year’s annual Conference and Stage Expo. This is a very, very difficult decision. At USITT we talk a lot about safety and health and making sure our workplaces are safe spaces. Today, we had to make the hard decision to ensure the safety and health of our members.” He conti
France - The first sponsors of Showlight Quadrennial (Fontainebleau, France – 22-25 May 2021) have been announced by its organisers. Joining Headline sponsor Robert Juliat, the 100-year old, family-run, French manufacturer of lighting equipment are: Platinum sponsor, Ayrton; Gold sponsors, Eyetidy, Robe and SFL Group; Silver sponsors, ABTT, ACT Lighting and White Light, and Bronze sponsor, PRG. Media Partner for Showlight 2021 is LSI, with generous support from LSA and PLASA. “We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors, partners and supporters, but this list is just the beginning,” says Showlight. "It is a little-known fact, but Showlight is organised entirely by volunteers and would not be possible without the generosity of our sponsors. We are currently looking for more sponsors to make Showlight 2021 a success, so why not get involved? There are many ways to become a
Germany - Following the announcement of Prolight+Sound 2020’s postponement until late May, MDG has moved its planned anniversary celebrations to next year. MDG president and CEO Martin Michaud comments: “We are sorry to announce that, in view of the current situation regarding the coronavirus, (Covid-19), we have taken the decision to postpone MDG’s 40th anniversary celebration at the Union Halle in Frankfurt. “We have given this careful consideration and strongly believe that the safety and security of our MDG Family comes first. Seeing the increasing measures being taken on an international scale to contain its spread, we feel a social responsibility to play our part in reducing the chances of transmission, and feel it is a prudent move to postpone the gathering. “We are, of course, very disappointed but have no doubt this is the right decision for ev
Germany - Prolight+Sound 2020 has been postponed due to coronavirus (Covid-19) concerns, Messe Frankfurt has announced. The annual entertainment technology tradeshow was initially scheduled for 31 March - 3 April, but organisers have now said it will take place on 26-29 May. Musikmesse, the music industry show that runs alongside Prolight+Sound, has also been postponed, with new dates yet to be released. Messe Frankfurt said in a statement: "The ongoing spread of Covid-19 in Europe called for a reassessment of the situation in close cooperation with the public-health authorities in Frankfurt who require that steps be taken to prevent event participants from high-risk regions coming to Frankfurt and visiting the fair when ill. "Given that these participants could also be infected by Covid-19, it is necessary to conduct a health check to prevent the infection spr
Security Measures - A new law proposed by the UK government will require venues to put measures in place to protect the public from a terrorist attack. Security minister James Brokenshire has announced plans for the new Protect Duty, following a manifesto commitment to improve the security of public spaces. The new law, which is to be consulted on this spring, would require owners and operators of venues and public spaces to consider the risk of a terrorist attack and take “reasonable measures” to protect the public from such an incident. Venues can include concert halls, stadiums and conference centres. Measures could include increasing physical security, staff training and incident response plans in case of an attack. According to the Home Office, the Protect Duty “reflects lessons learned following the terrorist attacks in 2017, as well as more recent attacks”. Br
UK - Hundreds of television buyers from across the globe headed to ACC Liverpool on 9-11 February for BBC Studios Showcase 2020 international television market. For the 14th year running, creative technical event production company Hawthorn supported the distributor to showcase its premium programmes, delivering two evening events. The events previewed some of the BBC’s top programmes including Doctor Who, A Perfect Planet and The Watch. Led by the BBC Studios team, Hawthorn’s head of creative technical Peter Harding helped to produce and deliver a production design for the two evenings. This year’s format saw a considerable shake-up with the construction of a curve-fronted 1000sqm 5m-high platform over a section of the arena’s tiered seating and floor. Hawthorn worked with specialists Acorn Event Structures and Steeldeck to create the stru
Czech Republic - The 2020 edition of Rigger’s Voice turned its ear to voices from the north of Europe, as experienced riggers and production professionals from Scandinavia travelled to Area Four Industries headquarters in Roudnice nad Labem for this annual conference. Arriving from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, attendees took part in high-level rigging and support structure discussions that were led by Area Four Industries technical director Norbert Tripp from 11-12 February. Many questions were asked, various rigging, truss and support structure discussions held, and even truss stress tests conducted during the two jam packed days. Participants were also treated to a grand tour of the Milos factory. Ideas and recommendations from these experienced professionals, for helping steer future product development by Area Four Industries brands, were also provided d
Zimbabwe - This year’s edition of the annual Worship Experience 2020 gathering at the aptly named Rainbow Towers in Harare was ‘an ecstatic, full throttled celebration of hope’. This was evident in the musical segment of the event, which was organised by Kayse Connect, to showcase new talent, with a special emphasis on Zimbabwe’s abundance of emerging women artists. Adding to the occasion was a bright, bold, and fast-moving five-universe lightshow designed by Blessing Bero and programmed by Tatenda Gaylord Rushwaya of Events Evolution that featured Maverick and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Relying on the intense output of the Maverick MK2 Spot, Rogue R2 Beam, and Rogue R1 Beam, Bero and Rushwaya sent multi-coloured and white aerial effects in every direction, symbolically raising the visual voice of the stage in concert with the uplifting music. Th
UK - Martin Audio will unveil new products and demo its most recent offerings during a series of open days to be held at its High Wycombe HQ in March. Over three days and five sessions spanning 17-19 March, much interest will be focused on the new Adorn on-wall and ceiling speaker range, which was formally launched at the recent ISE 2020 show in Amsterdam. During the course of the presentations, delegates will have the opportunity to sample all four of Martin Audio’s new Wavefront Precision Series, namely the WPM, WPS, WPC and WPL, offering comparative listening across all four arrays. There will also be a wide range of subwoofers on show, including the new cardioid SXC118, as well as the new BlacklineX Powered portable series. Finally, all the CDD-LIVE will be on demo, offering visitors the chance to experience the company’s proprietary Coaxial Differ
UK - Sennheiser Sound Academy training courses for the first half of 2020 are now available to book online. Run by Sennheiser’s Andrew Lillywhite and Joe Mahoney from the Customer Development & Application Engineer (CDAE) team, the courses are designed for RF techs, AV integrators and technicians, sound engineers, designers or consultants, live event professionals, equipment resellers and apprentices, who want to further their understanding of the specific area of each course. A wide variety of courses are now available, including Wireless Mics Monitoring Essentials, held at Sennheiser UK offices in Marlow as well as at Arnolfini in Bristol; RF Best Practice for Production and Touring course in London; Wireless Audio for AV Integrators, held in Marlow and London; Audio For Meeting Rooms & Conferencing, taking place in London and Sc
Europe - Adam Hall, Vari-Lite and Strand have pulled out of Prolight+Sound 2020 amid growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak sweeping across Europe. The moves will put pressure on the organisers of the tradeshow, due to take place at Messe Frankfurt on 31 March - 3 April, to clarify whether the event will go ahead. The virus has recently spread to more European countries, causing disruptions to trade events on the continent, including the postponement of Messe Frankfurt's architecture and lighting show Light+Building until September. “Although we were looking forward to meeting our customers and presenting our newest innovations at the fair, we must do our part to help to contain the issue,” explains Sameer Sodhi, business leader at Vari-Lite and Strand at Signify. “The health, safety and well-being of our employees, customers and partners is and remains o
Italy - MIR Tech (formerly Music Inside Rimini), the annual live entertainment technology tradeshow, has been postponed. The Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), which organises the show, has taken the decision "in light of the critical international situation caused by the Covid-19 emergency". MIR Tech was due to take place 8-10 March at the Rimini Expo Centre. New dates will be announced following consultations with exhibitors and the wider sector. IEG has also moved to postpone its other March shows, including Enada Spring, the International Amusement and Gaming Show, the accompanying Rimini Amusement Show, and the spring edition of Abilmente Vicenza the Creative Idea Show.
France - PlugFest, the technical event for entertainment lighting interoperability organised by PLASA, is now underway in Lille. The annual three-day event welcomes manufacturers, developers and technicians from across the continent to test their products and learn about the latest protocols. For the third year running, PlugFest has sold out, with delegates from major lighting manufacturers such as Robert Juliat, Claypaky, Chauvet, Eaton, GLP, ETC, TMB, ChamSys and Highlite. The event’s expert hosts, Hamish Dumbreck (JESE Ltd), Peter Willis (Howard Eaton Lighting) and Wayne Howell (Artistic Licence) are set to host a series of break-out sessions covering RDM, DALI, RDMnet, Art-Net, sACN and LLRP, as well as recent ESTA TSC developments. Nicky Greet, PLASA’s membership, skills and technical director, comments: “We’re delighted to present another PlugFest
UK - Out Board and EM Acoustics have joined forces to present a combined series of demonstrations offering offer a unique opportunity to experience TiMax spatial mixing, immersive 3D effects animation and vocal localisation with live stage-tracking using TiMax SoundHub and TrackerD4 on a multichannel immersive EM Acoustics system. Mark your diaries for Tuesday 3rd-Thursday 5th March 2020 as this amiable event will take place at SARM Music Bank Studios. Out Board’s Dave Haydon and Robin Whittaker will be running sessions that cover: • TiMax SoundHub new HARDCore FPGA processing, PanSpace auto-calc spatial rendering and TimeLine showcontrol workflows. • TiMax TrackerD4 all new Precision Stagetracking for live performer vocal localisation and fx panning.
EM Acoustics will formally demonstrate the Reference Series R10 flagship point source louds
Germany Artistic Licence will be showing sunDial quad, winner of the 2019 PLASA Gold Award for Innovation, at both Light+building (8-13 March) and Prolight + Sound (31 March - 3 April) in Frankfurt. The product - a DMX/RDM/Xicato controlled trailing edge mains dimmer - offers ‘outstanding dimming performance and advanced safety features’. It works 'out of the box' with all dimmable replacement LED bulbs (also halogen and CFL). Performance is further optimized through the selection (via RDM) of one of four editable dimming curves on a per-channel basis. Also new for 2020, Commissioner dali is a hand-held, battery powered tool for commissioning, testing and configuring DALI installations. The bright, 40 character LCD is easy to read and provides a wealth of information. Commissioner dali has numerous intensity control functions including direct control over DT8 colo
Europe - Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) has engaged support from its global community in a charitable project for the Emma Children’s Hospital in collaboration with the Amsterdam University Medical Centre. Multiple AV brands and a CEDIA Award-winning installer, Woelf, are working together to create an entertainment room at Het Jeroen Pit Huis, a new transitional care unit for chronically ill children and their families in the grounds of Amsterdam University Medical Centre. “We are pleased that we can use our industry connections, and those of our co-owners, CEDIA and AVIXA, to bring together the very best products, design and installation expertise to support this project and build something wonderful for a very worthy cause,” comments Mike Blackman, MD of Integrated Systems Events. “This space will be a source of enjoyment, excitement and escape for all those stay
UK - The Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced the appointment of five new judges across its three categories for the 2020 Awards. The KOI Awards invites critics, journalists and industry professionals to form its three independent judging panels for the categories of Concert & Event, Television and Theatre. Critic, broadcaster, and chair of the Theatre judging panel David Benedict is joined by three new judges: Mark Pullinger, an experienced opera critic and editor of classical music magazine Bachtrack; Sarah Crompton, dance critic for The Observer and theatre reviewer for Whatsonstage; and Susannah Clapp, theatre critic for The Observer. Each will serve a two-year term on the Theatre panel, where they join existing judges Louise Levene of the Financial Times, deputy arts editor and music critic of The Times Ne
The Netherlands - AV technology tradeshow Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 completed a 15-year residency at the Amsterdam RAI expo centre with a special event held on the show’s last day, 14 February (Friday). Politicians and executives saluted the venue and the city of Amsterdam while looking ahead to the future, with the tradeshow set to move to the Fira de Barcelona for its 2021 edition. Despite health concerns brought about by the coronavirus outbreak and major travel disruption caused by Storm Ciara, ISE 2020 took place as planned, but with markedly lower attendance of 52,128 unique visitors compared to 81,268 in 2019. Mike Blackman, MD of Integrated Systems Events, comments: “This year’s show demonstrated to us just how determined our attendees were to come to ISE. Many of our exhibitors exceeded their targets for customer engagement and lead gen
UK - Stage and theatre drapes manufacturer J&C Joel has appointed Lauren Kellett as its new chief financial officer (CFO), replacing Nick Warton, who will leave the business in December after almost four years of service. Kellett will helm J&C Joel’s Finance and IT department, assuming full responsibility for the company’s finances including planning, reporting and auditing. Working closely alongside the rest of the senior management team, she will support business growth across the world. James Wheelwright, CEO of J&C Joel added: “On behalf of the company, I would like to welcome Lauren to J&C Joel. Her experience in the finance industry, as well as her knowledge of fabrics is very valuable to our team here at J&C Joel and I have every confidence she will be a great addition to our senior management team. We have expanded significantly in r
UK - Penn Elcom has announced that RGB Communications will be distributing its full range of 19-inch racking enclosures and associated accessories. The move is in line with RGB’s goal of being a one-stop shop for AV racking solutions. In addition Penn Elcom’s various products for the AV market, along with its 19” ranges, complement, RGB’s existing product portfolios in the residential and commercial sectors. Caroline Britt, RGB Communications MD, comments: “As a high-quality UK-based manufacturer with great support and a reputation for quick turnarounds on bespoke projects, as well as its practical off-the-shelf ranges, we are a good match.” Penn’s sales director Rob Platt, adds: “We look forward to a busy and proactive working relationship with RGB. With 29 years’ experience in the pro AV industry built on understanding the products they distr
The Netherlands - Funktion-One has launched two compact loudspeaker models – the F5 speaker and the SB8 bass unit. The Funktion-One F5 offers a balanced and natural sound quality that’s not often found in loudspeakers of its size, says the company. The F5’s ultra compact dimensions and high output mean it is suited to a wide range of applications, including distributed public address systems, bars and restaurants, as well as domestic applications, such as home cinemas, desktop monitoring and home music systems. The F5 features a Funktion-One bespoke wide-range, high-sensitivity 5” driver, an integrated high pass filter for low frequency protection, angled cabinet design for desktop use and a 3/8” microphone stand mount. The Funktion-One SB8 is a compact, yet powerful and convincing bass unit. It is suitable for applications where a conventionally sized
The Netherlands - Renkus-Heinz highlighted the premium quality audio offered by beam steering technology – effectively positioning more integrators and end users for performance in their businesses. Through key offerings in the Renkus-Heinz line, steerable solutions are now feasible integration options in more locations and more types of facilities. “We’re showcasing the enabling technologies that allow integrators to introduce cutting-edge audio performance into additional locations,” said Matt Czyzewski, president of Renkus-Heinz. “We’ve engineered our offerings to provide effective and efficient installation, as well as intuitive setup and configuration. We aim to make digitally steerable audio accessible to all types of integrations – no matter the size, shape, or location construction.” With the DC12/2 and ICLive X series – and the supporting te
USA - Design and BIM software provider, Vectorworks has named lighting designer Roland Greil and Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar as the keynote speakers for the fifth Vectorworks Design Summit. This year’s Summit will have two firsts: an entertainment design keynote speaker and a West Coast location. From 22-24 April 2020 in San Diego, California at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, design professionals, educators and students in the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries will be able to participate in industry workshops, product training for all levels of expertise, inspiring keynotes, networking opportunities and a customer appreciation party. Sarkar, with the support of Vectorworks staff will deliver the first keynote on 23 April. His talk Simplicity to Design the Complex will focus on Vectorworks’ strategies to see where the co
