General

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14 March 2016

With his partner Noreen O'Riordan, director of the lighting department at Entec Sound & Light, John was father to two young sons - Kieran, aged 9, and Thomas, aged 6.

Among his many clients as a freelance engineer were George Michael, David Gilmour, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Macy Gray, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, The Pretenders, Phil Collins, Ozzy Osbourne, Luther Vandross, Sting, Sinead O'Connor, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

In his early career, working mainly with Entec and Tasco, he laid the foundations of his skills working with bands including The Stranglers, Thomas Do

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14 March 2016

Wiedenbeck's 30-plus years in professional audio started at Harman Deutschland in the mid-seventies, and have included high-level positions at Studiosound + Music GmbH, Plus Audio, Lawo and Klein + Hummel. Wiedenbeck spent the last four years as an independent audio consultant with a particular focus on studio monitoring, stage control systems, and digital mixing consoles.

"Chris has experience in sales, marketing, customer support, engineering, and communications, all of which have built him a great reputation and earned him a lot of respect within the industry," says Meyer Sound Germany managing director Jim Sides. "We could not have found s

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14 March 2016

The restructure, one of the key items on a packed agenda, was voted in on a show of hands by an overwhelming proportion of the record number of members who attended the AGM at the Hurlingham Club in London on 6 June.

The restructure, which is designed to ensure that PLASA represents the highest possible professional standards, will also provide a framework that better reflects the industry. As such, the existing nine categories of membership have been simplified to just four - Business, Educational, Individual and Affiliate. PLASA is now working on the fine detail behind the restructure and the new scheme will be officially launche

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14 March 2016

Prior to joining Vari-Lite, Kibbe was the national sales manager for Rosco Laboratories. He has also served as a project consultant with Theatre Projects Consultants, as well as a regional sales manager for Strand Lighting.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The show was halted after just six scenes on its opening night for about 10 minutes due to "technical difficulties", the audience was told. Fans were left waiting while the problem was sorted - thought to be an issue with the rotating floor.

It was not the first occasion in recent times that a technical issue has hit a high profile West End production - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also had difficulties in its early shows. And a West End preview performance of the Lord of The Rings musical had to be cancelled earlier this year when actor Adam Salter broke his leg after getting it trapped in set machinery.

Despite the first half hiccup, it was a standing ovation for t

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14 March 2016

"We will also create the first centre for new energy technology in the arts. It will be a knowledge incubator with dedicated workspace where engineers can develop initiatives to tackle climate change. Arcola Energy will be a hub for new thinking and cross-fertilisation between art and science, bringing together artistic, entrepreneurial and technological creativity.

"As a theatre we have a longstanding tradition of innovation, inspiration and deep integration with the local community. Working to the same principles, Arcola Energy will integrate

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14 March 2016

Named in honour of the late Tony Gottelier, the industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the Gottelier Award is aimed at those members of our industry who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

Following a six-week period of gathering nominations from across the industry, the shortlist of leading nominees can now be revealed, ready for the voting process to begin.

The nominees are as follows (in alphabetical order):

• Tony Andrews is a highly regarded designer and manufacturer of high quality point source loudspeaker systems, w

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14 March 2016

ISE is appointing three new members to its Board of Directors - Timothy Penn, managing director of AMX UK; Matt Teevan, international director of Da-Lite Screen Company; and Thierry Ollivier, sales manager of projectiondesign. The trio replace A C Ter Meulen, president of Mitsubishi Europe Benelux; Susanne Seidel, vice-president, Sennheiser, and John Forney, vice-president, Lutron, who have all just completed their terms of office.

Additionally, Ian Morrish has joined ISE as sales manager responsible for the UK, Benelux, Scandinavia and Latvia, as well as the residential sector of the US market. Morrish comes to ISE after spending eight years w

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14 March 2016

Chairman, president and CEO Larry Powers said: "We are pleased to report second quarter increases in both sales and earnings. Our focus on higher margin product lines and the price increases helped us achieve higher sales and gross margins for the second quarter.

"Our commercial lighting business grew moderately from last year, but the growth was offset by weakness in the residential sector. In addition, results for the second quarter of

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14 March 2016

The 1800mm long by 1300mm high, navy blue case contains a complete engineering and service workshop, including clean and dirty work benches, a vice and full set of 10 drawers containing enough tools and spares to keep his hot-rodded Zivko Edge 540 single-seat-single-engine aerobatics plane going for a year.

A separate section at the back of the case contains other essentials, including two mountain bikes (for Bonhomme and his race engineer Wade Hammond), a kettle and a toaster.

The Red Bull Air Race is an adrenalising flying competition staged around the world, pitting the speed and precision skills of the world's most talented pilots against each other. There's a total of 10 races and 13 pilots, three from the UK including B

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14 March 2016

"Now in the fourth year of trading the time is right for enlarging our accommodation and facilities to cope with the sustained growth of business," states Eddy O'Hare, company director.

The company's current commitments include major theatre refurbishments in Newcastle, Coventry and AV, lighting and sound projects of all sizes throughout the UK.

The new contact details are: Audio Light Systems, 8A West Telferton, Edinburgh EH7 6UL. Tel: 0800 043 4600. Fax: 0131 669 4231.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

"What makes NSCA great is having great members, and Nancy will reach out to these members and forge relationships. As a journalist, she'll expand NSCA's media relations programme and educate the public about the latest projects and news from our members."

Before arriving at NSCA, Owen worked at CNN Headline News in Atlanta, as a television reporter, freelance writer, publishing account representative, and as a director of community relations.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

According to Kobi Danke, building-project manager, the new footage will give ETC more manufacturing and warehousing space: "We continue to introduce new products requiring greater assembly space. We also recently brought surface-mount technology in house to manufacture our own PCB/circuit board technology, which required spatial adjustments. And we anticipate further increases in production to meet rising order

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14 March 2016

Talking to some of the serious players in the business, including Britannia Row's Bryan Grant, John Penn from SSE and XL Video's Lee Spencer, along with key manufacturers Barco and Lighthouse, Part One, entitled All the World's a Stage Payment, looks at the evolution of the industry and the attitude of the banks and asset finance institutions that service it.

"We decided to commission a series of Podcasts looking at how the industry has changed over the last four or five years," explains Medialease's Paul Robson. "It's gone from being very much a cottage industry, run by people who were passionate, but treated it pretty much as a hobby, to a multi-million

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14 March 2016

The Championship is designed to equip every member of every team with the experience, knowledge and determination to succeed in Formula One and features cars running at speeds only a few seconds shy of F1 pace. For this season Arden opted for rookie drivers Adrian Zaugg and Bruno Senna, nephew of the triple F1 Champion Ayrton Senna.

A.C. provided the Arden GP2 team's innovative 'bullet-shaped' garage lighting pods, which feature the latest LED colour-changing technology and were custom designed to be in keeping with the cars' cutting-edge aesthetic and functional design.

Phill Capstick, the company's UK sales director, comments: "A.C. Lighting is extremely proud to be sponsoring the Arden International GP2 racing team. Their tr

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14 March 2016

"Over the last year or so, Presteigne has made a number of significant acquisitions, as well as taking the decision to open offices in The Netherlands and Germany," says managing director Mike Ransome. "This means we can service the Northern and Central regions of Europe on a more local level, which benefits our customers.

"We have invested heavily in equipment and have the latest in HD and SD camera equipment, VTRs, EVS hard disk recorders, lenses, RF links and de-rig systems available. We also took the decision last year to launch a broadcast audio rental division. We invested ov

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14 March 2016

According to Chuck Wilson, executive director of NSCA: "This is simply a huge deal for our industry and one we have been discussing for at least ten years. It's exciting to finally be able to say yes to the hundreds of shared exhibitors and attendees of both trade shows who have been asking for us to do this."

As part of further event consolidation, InfoComm will discontinue its Executive Business Conference and become a primary sponsor of the 2008 NSCA Business Conf

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14 March 2016

Martin now expects to generate revenue of approximately DKK 1.2 billion (approx. $218.2 million) in 2007 with a pre-tax profit of approximately DKK 70 million (approx. $12.7 million) compared with the previous forecast of DKK 40 million (approx. $7.3 million).

Shipping of large single orders, among other factors, positively impacted H1 2007 reve

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14 March 2016

Jack worked on theatrical projects of all sizes across the world including the Peace Center in Greenville, SC, the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Chicago Opera House, and the United States Naval Academy. He had a long-standing concern for safety and served on the Ente

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14 March 2016

Thomas Descamps, Verlinde's managing director, said: "Simon has proved over many months an enthusiasm and aptitude to perform in the role, and he continues to hit his new business targets. Our sales in UK and Ireland are on track, and we are pleased to extend Simon's role to South Africa where he has already helped us make significant inroads into a major new marketplace."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The company suffered severe damage to its Birmingham manufacturing plant during the recent floods in the UK, and had hoped to have time to recover from the damage. However, the situation was exacerbated by a reoccurrence of the drainage problems over the week-end of 1 September, prompting CEO Sammy DeHavilland to make a formal statement:

"We consider the PLASA Exhibition to be the most important in the calendar; however the recent flooding has forced us to focus on the continuity of supply to our customers, rather then attending the show - it has become obvious we cannot do both.

DeHavilland explained: "Ironically the main problem, which involves the run-off of excess water from the site, was not our responsibility until last y

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14 March 2016

The programme kicks off at PLASA with a special seminar titled Wireless Control Technology held on Monday, 10 September from 10:30am to 12:00pm.

The series of technical sessions will continue at LDI in November and throughout 2008 in all major exhibitions worldwide, says the company. Two kinds of courses will be offered: A general overview and a more technical course, with completion earning a 'diploma', certifying the holder as a master Wireless DMX technician, available for on-site support.

In addition, Wireless Solution will host Road Shows and Open Houses in Europe, America, Middle East and Asia, which will give industry professionals a chance to n

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14 March 2016

Timed to coincide with both the PLASA 07 and the re-launch of the popular LSI Online website, L&SI's digital edition will offer an easily navigable and fully searchable on-screen version of the familiar magazine, accessible for subscribers anywhere there is Internet access, as soon as the magazine is published.

The digital edition will allow PLASA Media to significantly increase the global circulation of Lighting&Sound International magazine.

Available free to industry professionals worldwide, the digital edition will boost readership, particularly in developing markets where the cost of subscriptions has previously been an obstacle, and equally in far-flung territories where

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14 March 2016

Following the Kyoto Protocol, the UK Government set a goal for CO2 emission reductions at 20% below the 1990 level by 2010. With the Climate Change Act due to be in place by Easter 2008 all businesses are being asked to play their part. Many theatres are aware that reducing emissions also helps to reduce their energy bills and are taking action now.

At this seminar, organised by The Theatres Trust, Dr Ben Todd, executive director of Arcola Theatre and Natalie Lewis, group operations co-ordinator of Ambassador Theatre Group, will talk about their plans to reduce CO2 emissions in their theatres and what