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14 March 2016

TAO Group's Andy Cotton said: "There are a number of superb awards events in the calendar including the TPi Awards, NOEA Awards and the TESA Event Awards, some of which we as a company have been honoured to win. The idea of these awards was to recognise the work of the stage builders, truck drivers, humpers and all the other disciplines required to make an event happen. We wanted to award the 'blood, sweat and tears' of the workers on TAO events as opposed to the companies, as without these people events don't happen."

The awards were hosted by Ian Sandy and presented by va

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14 March 2016

Managing Director, Mark Harding, spoke to the prestigious audience on the second day of the event, focusing on the critical issues around training in the UK. Speaking alongside the BSIA's Olympic 2012 project director David Evans, Harding focused on the potential benefits and pitfalls for the UK security industry presented by the 2012 London Olympics.

Harding stated: "The security industry contains a lot of experienced, qualified professionals and it should be those people driving the agenda towards the Games. The training programmes and qualifications infrastructure for the Ga

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14 March 2016

Events in South East Asia also saw the cancellation of another concert due to be held in Bangkok over the weekend. The Bangkok 100 Rock Festival, scheduled for 29 and 30 November in the Thai city, was to have featured appearances by Manic Street Preachers, Ash and US band Hoobastank. The announcement follows demonstrations at Bangkok's international and domestic airports t

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14 March 2016

Those attending will get to see presentations on Video Integration and how it will affect the Industry; Health & Safety for Freelancers; Finance for Freelancers; Sound Reinforcement - Developing Technologies and Current Trends and a special session on The Benefits of PLASA Membership.

To tie in with this, there will also be an exclusive PLASA Membership offer on the day. Any freelancer who signs up to become a member of PLASA will have the advantage of Stage Electrics contributing the first £40 of their annual membership fee - equating to a third off. In addition, PLASA has pledged to waive t

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14 March 2016

The theatre, which is run by Mehmet Ergen, Leyla Nazli and Dr Ben Todd, aims to be the world's first carbon neutral theatre. The installation of a fuel cell in February 2008 made the venue the first in the world to power its main house shows and bar/café on hydrogen.

Other winners of Growing Business Awards include several household names. Will King, founder of King of Shaves, collected the Company of the Year award. Judges felt that King's men's grooming brand had proved that constant innovation was the key to continued growth. This year, the company he se

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14 March 2016

The Apprenticeship Expansion Programme trials will provide extra funding to employers who are currently running high quality Apprenticeships. It aims to develop and test models which will allow employers to recruit and train additional apprentices. The trials will help the apprentices secure employment with employers in the supply chain or elsewhere in the wider sector. This exp

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14 March 2016

The show has suffered from accusations of block voting, which was blamed by some for leaving Britain's 2008 contestant, Andy Abraham, with only 14 points. Wogan said, "I've had 35 wonderful years commentating on the Eurovision for radio and television. From my first, in a small musichall in Dublin, to my last, in the huge arena in Belgrade, it has been nothing but laughter and fun... The silly songs, the

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14 March 2016

Lisa Tapper explains: "It is a very exciting time for us all; we have a clear focus and a driven, knowledgeable team. Certain assets were acquired by Stagecraft Technical Services from Stagecraft Limited, which recently went into voluntary liquidation.

"Stagecraft Technical Services is well placed to offer full technical support services for staging, lighting and sound projects of all sizes, alongside extensive a

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14 March 2016

Rob Lingfield (Martin Audio), Bob Mundy (Adam Hall) and Ric Salzedo (Avolites) were all due to stand down at the end of this year, and while Rob Lingfield and Bob Mundy decided to re-stand for election, Ric Salzedo did not.

Matthew Griffiths, PLASA CEO, commented: "We would like to thank Ric for the time and energy he has devoted to PLASA during his tenure on the Executive Committee. His commitment and his input has been of great value to us, and we wish him well."

The other PLASA Members putting themselves forward as nominees for election were Matt Lloyd of GDS, Craig Buckley of RW Salt, Tim Roberts of The Event Safety Shop and Clive Kinton of IDEX.

Following the voting, PLASA has announced that Ro

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14 March 2016

One of the most popular will be the visit to the Philips factory in Hamilton, which offers the opportunity to see one of the last remaining lamp manufacturing processes in Western Europe. Philips makes the SOX range of lamps here, with much of the work still being carried out by hand, and also assemble other types of luminaires, many of them specifically for sports venues, such as all the fittings for the first night time Grand Prix at Singapore.

Other 'business' vis

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14 March 2016

The 2009 awards mark the introduction of a new Best Lighting Designer category to the awards. This category is sponsored by White Light.

As with all of the other categories, nominations for the Best Lighting Designer award came from members of the public. The lighting nominees are Chahine Yavroyan for Relocated at the Royal Court Upstairs and Wig Out! at the Royal Court Downstairs; Jean Kalman for The Year of Magical Thinking at the NT Lyttelton and In The Red and Brown Water at the Young Vic; Malcolm Rippeth for Brief Encounter at The Cinema, Haymarket and Six Characters In Search Of An Author at the Gielgud; Mark Henderson for U

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14 March 2016

The show has been put together by director George Lucas' company Lucasfilm and composer John Williams. It will premiere at the O2 Arena in London in April before a European tour. It will not be a traditional musical with actors playing characters from the films, but will feature live narrators. The six Star Wars films have been edited down to two hours for the show, and Williams has "painstakingly rewritten" the music he wrote for the movies, a statement said.

The Royal Philharmonic will use an 86-piece orchestra and an a

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14 March 2016

At a meeting with the ABTT held on the 3 December, the HSE explained that research that they have carried out indicated there were potential occasions when such a practice could cause the Tallescope to topple and thereby seriously injure the technician in the cage or those on the stage. This research follows on from similar, but not exactly the same, research, carried out on behalf of the ABTT. Therefore, the HSE considered that they would not change their position or advice until such time that it could be shown that their research had produced an erroneous conclusion or the statistical risk of an accident could be reassessed.

Having seen the confidential report, the ABTT is content that

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14 March 2016

Unfortunately Phil's trip got off to the worst possible start, losing four days after arrival in Nepal to a stomach bug, leaving the entire trip in jeopardy for him. But this is where his audio crew's sense of dedication and unwillingness to be beaten came to the fore - he wasn't about to let a bout of illness stop him. After racing against time to catch up with the rest of the trek, he met them at Island Peak Base Camp and was the first to the summit.

"It was the hardest journey of my life!" says Down. "But the thought of letting down

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14 March 2016

"For Litestructures Studios, 2008 has been year of growth and development." says the Studio's general manager Brent Woods. "Increasingly we are becoming the rehearsal facility of choice amongst the biggest touring productions. We have been honoured to work this year with the most innovative and ambitious tours. We have exciting plans for developing the Studio further and are looking forward to a fantastic 2009."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy - which runs the Grammys - called the recipients a "prestigious group of legendary performers, creative architects and technical visionaries". He added: "Their outstanding accomplishments, legendary passion and artistry have positively affected our culture and will continue to influence and inspire ge

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14 March 2016

The new vans will save fuel, vehicle emissions, noise and engine wear. Such features are especially beneficial for branch vehicles which often spend large periods of time stuck in traffic with the engine running. The vans are due to roll out across the branches from January, with two vehicles allocated to each branch.

Gordon Wells, head of finance, comments: "This significant capital investment highlights not only our fleet growth, but ensures we are actively reducing our corporate carbon footprint."

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14 March 2016

A.C. Entertainment Technologies product development director, Glyn O'Donoghue, along with BRDC President Damon Hill OBE and Graham Hill's widow, Bette Hill, presented the esteemed Graham Hill Trophy to Lewis Hamilton. The trophy is awarded to the British Driver for the most meritorious performance in single-seater racing.

A.C. Entertainment Techno

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14 March 2016

After completing three years in the army as a tank mechanic, Marshal moved into theatre and has worked for much of the last 40 years as chief electrician for the Northcott Theatre in Exeter. Maurice has been committed to training new entrants to the industry for numerous years and many of today's top lighting designers and technicians have benefited from his tutelage.

In addition to his full-time commitments to the Northcott Theatre and to national training, Marshal co-founded Stage Electrics with managing director David Whitehead in 1979 and remains actively involved in the business tod

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14 March 2016

In The Money - Madonna's Sticky and Sweet show was the highest-earning tour of 2008, taking $281.6m (£193m) worldwide, according to music trade publication Pollstar. It also became the eighth highest-grossing tour of all time in North America, Pollstar said.

Celine Dion's

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14 March 2016

This two-day course is designed for entertainment technicians at a basic to intermediate level. The session will be held 16 and 17 March at the Duke Energy Convention Centre. Training will cover current control protocols including Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512-A and Architecture for Control Networks. This course qualifies for ETCP Certification Renewal Credits for ETCP Certified Entertainment Electricians.

The Control Protocols course will be taught by ETCP Certified Electrician and ETCP Recognized Trainer Milton Davis, of Doug Fleenor Design. Davis is a member of the Control

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14 March 2016

At the 2008 ETC/ABTT Christmas party, held at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 15 December 15, Light Relief Trustee John Simpson accepted a cheque for £5,000 from ETC's general manager, Matthew Brookfield - part of a £12,500 commitment made this time last year. Thanking ETC for its continuing generous support, Simpson, who is also chairman of White Light, said: "There is no doubt that the economic downturn will affect our industry, magnifying the problems that can be triggered by illness or injury. While Light Relief's funds cannot be used as unemployment benefit, I am sure that the calls on our resources will increase in 2009."

For ETC, M

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14 March 2016

This follows the confirmation by Royal Parks that Live Nation successfully retained the contract which extends their 10-year history there. Over the years Showsec has supplied a range of event security services for live events including the Wireless and Hard Rock Calling series of festivals.

Showsec operations director Simon Battersby comments: "We are delighted to be returning to Hyde Park. It is the jewel in the crown of London's outdoor event spaces, attracting prestigious events with high profile artists and visitors. I enjoy the challenge of delivering a consistent high standard security service at a range of very different events, working alongside the best production teams in our industry."

Live Nation's festival director

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14 March 2016

GDS, now in its fifth year, has been through some important changes during 2008 - focusing the business on product development and manufacture only, and increasing its product range to five main lines - Blues System, MOBAL, Motor Control, Stage Manager's consoles and its new RGB LED Wireless DMX Up-lighter.

The new operation will be in operation from 1 February 2009, with Scott Vontobel (previously with GDS's US distributor, TMB) at the helm as GDS-US Director. Vontobel has been in the industry for over eight years with significant success in brand de