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14 March 2016

It is a serious attempt to avoid offering a cook-book description of a fire safety curtain system and, instead, to specify how a fire curtain shall perform. That is, it doesn't tell you what kind of fabric to use for a fire safety curtain, for example, but instead tells you how strong whatever fabric you use must be and what abrasion and fire tests it must pass. The document may be accessed by visiting http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_do

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14 March 2016

Born and bred in Ipswich, Antony moved to London in 1982 to study Physics at Imperial College in South Kensington. He rapidly immersed himself in the Drama Society there and within a year was one of the main "techies". His involvement with Dramsoc resulted in an 'unplanned' gap year during his course which he spent working for Theatre Projects Lighting, then at Blundell Street. He ultimately returned to Imperial to finish off his degree before re-joining TP for a further 18 months.

From there he joined Strand Lighting's service department in 1990, spending the next five years travelling the world, commissioning new installations or servicing existing installations of Galaxy, Gemini, EC90 and LP90. His expertise in LP90s resulted in a two-year stint at S

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14 March 2016

Well known throughout West End theatreland where he spent most of his working life, Nick van Wijk placed great emphasis on passing on his stage technical knowledge to the next generation of theatre technicians and these bursaries pay tribute to that enthusiasm.

The bursaries are available to sponsor two participants in the ABTT Bronze Award. To support the professional development of practitioners in technical theatre, each bursary of £550 covers the tuition fee for the certificated ABTT Bronze Award. This course includes: electrical fundamentals, portable appliance testing, kno

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14 March 2016

Over the last few months Rycote has been creating a more dynamic and bold image for the company and its products. Barneys Strategic Communication has been working with Vivienne Dyer, Rycote MD, to create a new look which marks a new phase in the company's plans for the future.

"We have new and exciting plans for the future, both through continued innovative product development and in the way we will be raising our profile in the year ahead," says Dyer. "Endorsed by the new strapline Sound Sense, we are actively planning new initiatives that will raise our Rycote brand image and which will directly benefit our distributors. Similarly, we will be supporting our valued customers with more new pr

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14 March 2016

"Many educational institutions now offer courses in music and video technology, which means they have an ongoing requirement for cable for their recording studios and edit suites," says VDC Trading's commercial director Nigel May. "However, there is also significant demand for cable to support AV installations in lecture theatres and seminar rooms - and that's an area where we have seen a marked increase in business."

Among the many customers VDC Trading supplies is the Media and Learning Technology Service (MALTS) of the University of Edinburgh, which has over 40 lecture theatres an

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14 March 2016

For 25 years, Interkom electronic Kock & Mreches has manufactured innovative products for the conference installations market. That tradition has continued with its recent focus on customisation and tailor-made solutions of analogue and digital wired conference systems. The company will remain at its Wedemark location through March 31, 2006, at which time it will relocate to beyerdynamic's production facility in Heilbronn Germany.

"beyerdynamic and Interkom are a perfect fit, given our respective product portfolios," commented Wolfgang Luckhardt, beyerdynamic's worldwide managing director. "We will capitalise on this synergy, improving our rese

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14 March 2016

Commented Richard Osborn, managing director, Albion Group, "We are proud to have been chosen by 3M as UK distributor for XRVS screens and are pleased to be associated with such a well-established, international brand. XRVS screens are highly complimentary to our existing System-AV range, enabling us to leverage and sustain our strengths in the AV trade and displaysectors. It also offers the potential for expansion into new markets as the product develops."

XRVS display screens sizes range from 60-inch up to 95-inch in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios

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14 March 2016

MAS has derived its successful installation business from its corporate origins as a rental company. The company's Erik Bjerre explains that, despite handling distribution for some distinguished sound reinforcement brands, MAS was seeking a line of installation loudspeakers which would be suitable for restaurants and other such venues which didn't require high SPLs but wanted real speech intelligibility and accurate reproduction.

"We first saw Vieta's Do-Line at the PLASA show in London, where the design of the cabinets stopped us in our tracks," says Bjerre. "This range is a perfect fit for designer restaurant and bar interiors, and its availability in black and white f

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14 March 2016

"The dramatic improvements in price/performance in all AV products, and specially in large displays, is leading to expanded market opportunities," suggests Bryan Denyer, editor of AV News. "As the vital link between manufacturers, distributors and end users, resellers are in the best position to know what is going on in the industry ... who is buying, what the applications are, what sort of products are most in demand, which manufacturers and distributors are doing the best job working with them, and a host of other key issues.

"We are hearing repeatedly from our manufacturer and distributor contacts that they need a better un

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14 March 2016

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14 March 2016

Held at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith, the fifth edition of the show was production managed by Steve Allen, and featured the input of PSL Music (video), ML soundadvice and Meyer Sound (audio), HSL Group (lighting), A.C. Lighting (additional lighting equipment), Star Events Group (rigging & truss), Kroos (crewing), Blackout (draping), Ice Lighting (bar LED lighting) and Edwin Shirley Trucking (transport).

A highlight of the production was the work of video graphics director Richard Shipman, along with Richard Bagshaw and Kate Perring of Digital Insanity, who designed a video projection wall

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14 March 2016

The new project, BSR E1.32-200x, Recommended Practice for the Inspection of Entertainment Industry Luminaires, is designed to help electricians conduct regular inspections of lighting instruments. In working on the BSR E1.19 GFCI project, it has become clear to the working group that one of the causes of ground-fault circuit interrupters tripping on stages, in studios, and on location shoots is faulty lighting equipment. Regular inspection would allow faults to be identified and corrected so they aren't risks to personnel or causes of production delays.

Interested parties - who would be anybody who owns, rents, uses, inspects

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14 March 2016

Showsec has continued with the investment and expansion of it's training and research department in 2006. The staff development programme will set new standards within the industry, say the company.

The IOSH-accredited Supervising Safety in the Events Industry course has been devised by Showsec's training manager Roy Wise, H

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14 March 2016

Held at White Light's base in London, south-west London, classes are generally held on Wednesdays and run from 10am until 4pm. The season started on Tuesday January 24th with a free Advanced course on the grandMA console; this was complemented the next day with a Basic grandMA course.

February started with a session on the Avolites consoles and will concluded with a session on the Whole Hog 2 console on the 22nd. March's cou

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14 March 2016

So on the rare occasion that someone is prepared to open up and reveal what are, let's face it, the really interesting facets of their operation, it's always a treat. In this industry, the extreme case of such openness has to be Le Mark, the Cambridgeshire-based manufacturer of sticky tapes and labels so indispensable to the entertainment industry, which decided last year to expose its soul to BBC 3's fly-on-the-wall business documentary, The Ferocious Mr Fixit.

Le Mark has

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14 March 2016

By supporting this charity, Global Infusion has pledged to buy 80,000 500ml bottles in 2006. This in turn will raise £5,000 to buy a village a well, a pumping system and a 'magic roundabout'. The children of the village play on the roundabout, and each revolution pumps a litre of water into storage tanks, so water can be freely available.

The concept was launched to the team at Global Infusion Group at their AGM in January this year by managing director Duncan Goose. The team wholeheartedly bought into the concept without exception.

Currently, one billion people in t

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14 March 2016

The three new services - free credit checks, credit insurance facilities and a debt collection service - have been launched to minimise the risks involved in trading with particular customers and enable members to make more informed decisions.

PLASA Members can now request free credit checks on all UK companies. The service, provided by CreditSafe, allows members to request Reports on clients or business contacts. Updated on a daily basis, the Reports include financial information, key ratios, trend analysis, directors' details, payment record and a rating system classifying companies on a scale from 0 t

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14 March 2016

The Home page features colourful, easy to navigate links, which are regularly updated and have been designed to guide browsers quickly to the relevant sections of the site.5 Star's continued investment and innovative qualities are highlighted, including a new 'Technology' section, added to detail 5 Star's recently installed Solid Edge software, a world renowned 3D design, assembly and visualisation tool of which 5 Star has three 'seats'. Solid Edge is now used in production as well as providing clients with accurate virtual models of the proposed case.

The

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14 March 2016

"I've been showing it to people and they were more than excited-they were positively giddy!" says John Mordal, a Vivien user who recently demonstrated the latest in Vivien at The Event for Planners and Suppliers Expo in Minnesota. "I believe that the success of this product depends on how easy it is for the lay person to get up and running quickly, and Vivien 1.2 does it," he says.

The Vivien team gave tools like the Missing Coordinate and Shaded View more user-friendly names like Height and Virtual View. "We've listened to feedbac

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14 March 2016

PLASA Members can now request free credit checks on all UK companies. The service, provided by CreditSafe, allows members to request Reports on clients or business contacts. Updated on a daily basis, the Reports include financial information, key ratios, trend analysis, directors' details, payment record and a rating system classifying companies on a scale from 0 to 1

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14 March 2016

Harman's HiQnet connectivity and control protocol was used within a CobraNet environment so that all audio and control data could be routed over a common Ethernet pipe. Making its debut alongside other HiQnet-compatible devices in the Harman product portfolio were five of the new dbx DriveRack 4800's - the first to be used outside the United States - optimizing the performance of the two powered 10 x JBL VT 4888 DP-CN Vertec line array hangs.

With its 96kHz DSP engine and standard anal

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14 March 2016

Harnessing all these advances together in one place at one time is PLASA06 - the main international exhibition for the theatre, architectural, touring, DJ, club, leisure and TV sectors, which takes place from 10-13 September at Earls Court in London.

Six months from opening, the show is 80% sold, guaranteeing that the industry's top 500 brands will be at PLASA06 showing the latest innovations in the lighting, audio, AV, stage engineering and control fields. Not only will PLASA06 have a strong showing of core products and services to meet the demands of projects and ins

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14 March 2016

Martin Lupton, worked with Birmingham City Council to make possible the success of this year's workshop, titled 'Eastside Story' and held in the city's industrial Eastside area. The purpose of the workshops is to educate students and professionals as well as private and public agencies and the public, about lighting design and how it can contribute positively to the environment and enhance people's sense of safety.

As technical coordinator of the February 2006 event, attended by 47 students from 24 different countries, Martin Lupton reported that this was the most gritty, urban and industrial of all ELDA+ workshops to date. He said of the project: "Students had the opportunity to work on sites of a uniquely urban s

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14 March 2016

"Chris's leadership on the operations side has been integral to the steady growth and profitability of Shure for several years, "says Sandy LaMantia, president and CEO, Shure. "We are confident that her management of our marketing and sales functions will continue this success given her broad knowledge and understanding of all areas of our company's worldwide operations."

Schyvinck replaces Mike McGinn, who has left the company. Previously, Schyvinck had been executive vice president of operations and ha