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UK - J&C Joel has announced three appointments as it expands its senior management team.

Nick Worton has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company's financial strategy, accounting and IT.

"Nick brings over 20 years of financial, commercial and administrative experience to J&C Joel" said James Wheelwright, CEO. "His impressive background complements J&C Joel's dedication to excellence and growth." Prior to joining J&C Joel, Nick served as director of finance of Camira Fabrics.

In addition J&C Joel has confirmed two other senior appointments - Scott Carter, operations manager for purchasing, logistics and warehouse and Matthew Oldfield who joins as manufacturing production manager. Both appointments are part of the company's commitment to improving service whilst growing both the UK and international business.

Scott brings more than si

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Germany - Guang Jian Gao, designer-in-chief and art director at the Chinese National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing, will present a keynote lecture at this year's Prolight+Sound exhibition (Frankfurt, Germany, 5-8 April 2016). The lecture will be held on Thursday, 7 April at 15.30.

"Products and subjects relating to theatre and stage technology have gained greatly in significance for Prolight+Sound. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that, with this lecture by Guang Jian Gao, we can also present a special highlight for trade visitors from this segment at this year's fair", says Prolight+Sound Director Michael Biwer. "Our special thanks go to Florian von Hofen, CTO of Rouge AVE, who made contact with Guang Jian Gao and went to great lengths to make this extraordinary highlight possible."

China's leading stage designer, Gao has been honoured many times for his work a

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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USA - The Long Reach Long Riders and Behind the Scenes will host their annual fundraising raffle at the USITT Conference in Salt Lake City 117-19 March. This year's raffle will celebrate the 13th Anniversary of the Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride. The Riders have raised over half a million dollars for charity in their years of touring some of the country's most beautiful areas.

The Behind the Scenes Boutique will also be open for business during the show featuring an assortment of great Behind the Scenes swag and the famous Long Reach Long Rider T-shirts and kazoos.

Tickets for the raffle are an affordable $5 each or five for $20 and can be purchased at the Behind the Scenes booth throughout the show. Winning tickets for nine regular prizes and one grand prize will be drawn at 1pm on Saturday, the final day of Stage Expo.

The prizes, provided by t

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Grammy Awards - Taylor Swift's 1989 won the album of the year award at this year's Grammys in Los Angeles last night. The singer - who is the first woman to win the award twice - also won best pop vocal album and best music video for her track Bad Blood. Rapper Kendrick Lamar won the most prizes on the night with five awards.

Ed Sheeran also won his first two Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance for his number one hit Thinking Out Loud. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars won two awards for their hit Uptown Funk, including record of the year, while Meghan Trainor was named best new artist. Muse won best rock album for Drones, and Tony Bennett collected his 18th Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album.

There were also a number of acts who gave tribute performances - Lady Gaga sang a medley of David Bowie songs, Jackson Bro

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South Africa - Brian Madiba is a theatre crew freelancer who is passionate about running. This year will be his tenth Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon race but many are not aware of what it takes for this man to be there. A couple of friends in the industry, Alistair Kilbee from Gearhouse Splitbeam and Duncan Riley from DWR Distribution, decided to lend a hand.

Running is in Brian's family, it's what his brothers and uncles do, and the sport he has participated in for the past 27 years. He trains every day, twice a day in fact when he is not working.

Based in Johannesburg, Brian makes use of public transport to get to the Two Oceans in Cape Town. It means catching a mini bus and travelling some 1 400 kilometres.

When he arrives in Cape Town, usually on a Thursday, Brian stays in a tent in Newlands at the Runner's Village, designed to give runners who have financial const

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UK - This week the Current RMS Team is celebrating hitting the 1,000-user mark with close to 700 rental businesses worldwide now relying on the system to manage their hire processes.

Launched just 15 months ago, Current has experienced rapid growth, illustrating the need for AV, lighting and production hire businesses to be able to work on the move, raise quotes on the fly, check stock availability and generate invoices from any device and location.

"Current has been so well received across the UK and we are now seeing significant growth across USA, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East - that's the beauty of the cloud, businesses can sign up within 60 seconds online and receive the same level of support from us, no matter where in the world they are," says business manager Lisa Kenward.

Since launch, Current has heavily invested resource in development, building

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UK - MCS has announced that MCS-rm, its leading rental software solution, now offers a comprehensive integration to the popular cloud-based online accounting software package, Xero.

With more rental companies choosing to move their entire software solution to the 'cloud', MCS has met this demand by integrating MCS-rm with the Xero accounting software solution for those clients who wish to host all of their key business applications remotely. The technology union will help businesses to work smarter and faster, improve team collaboration and give a holistic view of their operations and finances.

With the integration of the two systems, users can automatically sync and seamlessly transfer financial transactions such as invoices, credit notes, cash payments, depreciation and client details from Xero to MCS-rm and vice-versa. In addition, they can view aged debt, any outstandi

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Canada - The new BlackTrax Beta 2.0 makes tracking even easier, faster to calibrate, programme and use. Developed for over a year, 2.0 has the largest number of new features, GUI and workflow improvements in any BlackTrax release yet.

"A lot of these improvements were developed from customer suggestions, requests and general feedback," explains Marty Cochrane, BlackTrax product manager. "This includes better system reporting, real-time chapter programming and more control over fixtures during the calibration process."

Highlights include: All-new GUI designfor BlackTrax, BTWyg, Tracker, and Follower - with full-screen mode for BlackTrax and new simpler basic mode for Tracker and Follower; new Fixture Calibration mode improvements ensure faster calibration; rigid and soft frames for more flexible tracking operations and objects. Frames combine a collection of Stringers (aka

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UK - Two of the most renowned companies in touring and production - Cato Music and Production Park - have confirmed that they are to join forces. Touring specialists, Cato Music, will become part of the Production Park family based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The acquisition will pave the way for Production Park's popular Backstage Academy and Cato's specialist "Roadie School", Cato Academy, to create a Centre of Excellence for training the next generation of touring and production professionals.

The Cato Academy - based in South West London - is the only training centre in the world that educates future tour and production managers, backline techs and live sound engineers under one roof; whilst the Backstage Academy is renowned for its high quality delivery of degree programmes and courses dedicated to the live events industry. Both Academies have been pioneers in the f

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New Rules Please - New rules have been announced for the Eurovision Song Contest in the biggest change to voting since 1975. In previous years each country's jury and public votes were combined and announced in one go. Now the votes will be split with each country's jury vote cast first, and votes from viewers in all countries combined and announced at the end. Organisers say this will create a "dramatic finish" as the winner will only be revealed at the very end. In previous years the winner has been known for up to 20 minutes before the end of voting. "This format change will inject a new level of excitement into the finish of the Eurovision Song Contest," said Martin Osterdahl, executive producer for this year's show.

Beatles For Sale - A lock of John Lennon's hair that was cut off as he prepared for a film role has sold for $35,000 (£24,298). The four-inch pie

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UK - Crestron has announced that it has promoted Phil Breitschadel to the role of European VP of sales effective 1 February. This is the second promotion for Phil in the four years that he has worked at Crestron. He began his career with the company as UK sales manager and in 2012, he was promoted to regional director - UK and Ireland. Under his tenure, the company doubled its business both in the commercial and residential markets.

In his new role, Phil will become a key member of the senior management team and will be responsible for over 70 sales personnel including all regional directors and managers. He will primarily be responsible for spearheading the company's growth plans to double in size again over the next five years. Matthew Buck will succeed Phil as UK Sales Manager.

Commenting on his promotion, Phil said "This is an amazing opportunity to lead our highly ski

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South Africa - Media Film Services is offering a reward of R10,000 for the recovery of a quantity of camera equipment including a number of specialist High Speed Zeiss lenses (see list) which were stolen in December 2015.

Should you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the equipment, contact Sean Sims at seans@mediafilmservice.com or +27 (0) 21 511 3300.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - CIE-Group has entered into a partnership with the HDBaseT Alliance to deliver free accredited training courses for integrators and installers in the UK.

CIE-Group is already well recognised for its provision for AV training, not least its support for the HowtoAV online training channel, and the two organisations will now jointly be delivering the HDBaseT Installer Expert Program at locations across the country. The first dates are already announced with events taking place in London, Leeds and Nottingham during April 2016 with more to follow throughout the year.

The HDBaseT Installer Expert Program was launched by the Alliance in 2014 and almost 2000 delegates throughout the world have completed the course. Almost 4000 AV installers have registered at the Alliance's Installer Zone,

The courses cover HDBaseT technology principles, installation advice and best pract

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Headline News - Muse have been announced as the Friday night headliners on the Pyramid Stage at this year's Glastonbury Festival. The Friday slot makes Muse the first band to have headlined every night of the festival - they played on Saturday night in 2010, and Sunday in 2004. Coldplay revealed last week they would headline the Pyramid Stage on Sunday. The Saturday headliners are yet to be announced - but Jeff Lynne's ELO have been confirmed for the Sunday teatime slot. The 2016 festival runs from 23 to 26 June.

Sweden Bound - Pop duo Joe and Jake have been selected to represent the UK at May's Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden. The singers, both former contestants on The Voice UK, won a public vote with You're Not Alone, an uptempo, piano-driven song "about unity and love". The duo will be hoping to avoid the fate of last year's entrants, Electro Velvet,

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Europe - The Wider Spectrum Group (WSG) met with Andrus Ansip, the European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, yesterday to urge support for creative producers and distributors of European cultural content in upcoming EU legislation on the UHF frequencies.

Commenting on the outcome of the meeting WSG's Alan March said, "Europe's creators of content are a global success story that rely heavily on ultra-high frequencies (UHF spectrum). Some of these frequencies have been promised to the mobile sector [the 700 MHz Band], but European content creation and distribution, along with associated jobs are at risk without a fair and sustainable transition plan, coherent with the introduction of technologies for an improved TV experience.

"Some Member States will need until the end of 2022 to achieve the transition out of 700MHz - and long term guarantees for the

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UK - PLASA is pleased to announce the launch of its new National Event Lifting Certificate (NELC), with the support of the National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) and key industry sponsors including the BBC, White Light and Britannia Row.

The official NELC launch took place on Thursday 3 March at the International Live Music Conference Production Meeting at the Copthorne Hotel, Kensington, London, with PLASA's NRC Manager Paul Riddiford introducing the new certification scheme to those present.

NELC has been created to meet the needs of those who already work in the industry in disciplines other than Rigging, such as Lighting, Sound, Video or Scenery etc, who are called upon to carry out occasional Rigging tasks including lifting operations as part of their duties. It is also suitable for individuals wishing to be assessed for their skills within Rigging, without undertakin

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Talent Search - Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley has spoken out about the need for the arts and culture sector to attract talent from all backgrounds if it is to thrive in the long-term. Giving the keynote speech at the Creative and Cultural Skills National Conference 2016, at the Backstage Centre in Thurrock, Henley said he embraced apprenticeships as a way of opening up routes into the arts.

"We need an emphasis on diversity in its widest sense, across barriers of race, diversity and socio-economic disadvantage. We need greater diversity because it will create a just, fair and strong society and because a society that's equipped for the future makes use of all of its talent, wherever it emerges."

He credited the Creative Employment Programme, a £15 million fund delivered by the National Skills Academy to support the creation of traineeships, forma

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UK - Adrian Searle, former technical director at Stage Electrics, has joined technical production expert, Hawthorn to drive forward the ongoing development of its successful equipment hire service.

Adrian is based at Hawthorn's headquarters in Old Dalby, Leicestershire, and has been appointed to head up the company's seven day a week hire service. Working together with Hawthorn's head of hire, David Slater, Adrian will ensure the smooth running of the operation, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement and development, in line with Hawthorn's commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience.

Adrian joins Hawthorn at an exciting time for the hire service which has recently seen significant growth in commissions to supply equipment to the touring productions. Hawthorn has recently worked with renowned lighting designers, Mark Henderson on the Mark Knopfl

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UK - PLASA members enjoyed a unique opportunity to take part in an informative and fun day backstage at the recently refurbished Sadler's Wells theatre last week.

The venue - one of the most respected and important receiving and co-producing dance houses in the world - recently underwent a major refurbishment, as detailed in the June 2015 issue of LSi.

Emma Wilson and Christian Wallace from Sadler's Wells, plus the specialist teams from Stage Electrics, Stage Technologies, Carr and Angier and GDS led the tours from the impressive auditorium up to the dizzying heights of the grid and flying system. Members then reconvened for a lively networking lunch before taking the opportunity to further explore areas of specific interest. The busy and insightful day finished with tea and cake.

Look out for details of the next PLASA B

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Romania - Prolyte Group, renowned manufacturer of trussing and staging systems, officially open its new purpose-built factory in Piatra Olt, Romania, with a series of opening ceremonies this week. Distributors, press, governmental authorities and stakeholders were invited to join the celebrations at the new, ultra-modern manufacturing location.

"Prolyte started to translocate all its manufacturing facilities to Romania as part of a long-term plan in 2010. The commissioning of the new factory is the final and most important phase of this plan, consolidating all its European manufacturing capacity into a 5.000sq.m facility, with scope to expand to 16.000sq.m," the company says.

The new production facility features brand new automated production equipment, new welding jigs and state-of-the-art product lines. In addition, the building contains industry-leading employee welfare

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UK - Martin Audio has appointed Dom Harter as Managing Director with immediate effect.

An experienced business leader with a deep history and passion for pro audio, Dom's remit will be to build on the success of the Martin Audio brand and help grow this success across multiple markets worldwide.

Dom has an impressive CV for someone still relatively young, with multiple pro audio roles including serving as both Director of R&D as well as Sales Director with Turbosound before joining Harman's Mixer Group with several roles including Global Sales Director/VP for Harman's Mixer BU.

"Pro audio has been my entire professional career having worked for some of the best known pro audio brands alongside a number of prestigious installations, one off events and tours", said Dom.

"It is an honour to lead the Martin Audio team", he continued. "It is a brand of tremendous pedigr

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USA - Last month, the American National Standards Institute's Board of Standards Review approved four ESTA standards: two brand-new, safety-related documents and two control protocol documents that were reaffirmed. These and all of ESTA's published standards are available for free download to everyone, courtesy of ProSight Specialty Insurance, at tsp.esta.org/freestandards, or they may be purchased from ANSI or IHS.

ANSI E1.46 - 2016, Standard for the Prevention of Falls from Theatrical Stages and Raised Performance Platforms

The users of theatrical stages and raised platforms can suffer debilitating injuries from falls into orchestra pits, open stage lifts, and similar openings in stage floors. Health and safety regulations require action to prevent these falls by employees, but offer little guidance that is suitable for theatrical environments. This document provi

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USA - Five documents are available for public comment, reports ESTA. The drafts, review forms, review instructions, and prior public review resolutions, if applicable, may all be downloaded at estalink.us/pr. Comments are due before the end date on the website. The documents will no longer be available when the date on the website is reached.

Control Protocols Working Group

BSR E1.33, Entertainment Technology - (RDMnet) - Message Transport and Device Management of ANSI E1.20 (RDM) over IP Networks

This standard describes a method of implementing ANSI E1.20 Remote Device Management messaging over an IPv4 network. The primary anticipated use of the standard would be to complement ANSI E1.31 on an IPv4 entertainment lighting control network. This project was originally described as offering extensions to E1.31, but in fact the messages work alongside E1.31 in the s

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Living Life to the Full - Stevie Wonder will play his landmark album Songs In The Key Of Life in full in London's Hyde Park this July. The R&B star is the latest act to be confirmed for the BST festival, which also sees Carole King recreate her Tapestry album, as well as sets from Take That and Kendrick Lamar.

Songs In The Key Of Life features hits like I Wish, Pastime Paradise and As, and won a Grammy for album of the year. Wonder has been playing it to rave reviews in America since 2014. Rolling Stone called it "free-spirited, triumphant and huge," while The New York Times described the three-hour show as "a journey of jubilation". Wonder's 30-piece touring band features his first daughter Aisha, who inspired the opening track of the album's second disc, Isn't She Lovely.

Spaced Out - Veteran French co

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  3. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  4. Theatres Trust responds to Culture White Paper
  5. LRLR raises funds for Behind the Scenes at USITT
  6. DWR appointed DiGiCo distributor for South Africa
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