UK - CIE-Group's Team 00Heaven (Steve Collin, Chris Edwards, Martin Featherstone and Lauren Bamford) will this autumn be taking on the challenge of cycling 550 miles across Ireland in just three days.

Raising much needed funds for local children's charity Derby Kids' Camp, as well as Cancer Research and The British Heart Foundation, the team will be fully-funding the trip themselves, ensuring that every penny raised goes directly to the charities.

Says Chris Edwards, "By helping us to raise our target figure of £5000, not only will you be supporting these fantastic charities, but you could also be in with a chance of winning an amazing prize... in our Bond for a Weekend Prize Draw.

To sponsor the team online/make donations, check out www.cie-group.com and www.justgiving.com/00HEAVEN

(Jim Evans)

Fringe Records - The Edinburgh Fringe has broken last year's box office record by selling almost two million tickets. The three-week long arts festival sold 1,955,913 tickets, up more than 5% on last year. Festival organisers calculated that there were 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues across the city.

Fringe Society chief executive Kath Mainland said: "Edinburgh is without doubt the world's leading festival destination." In addition to official venues, the Fringe High Street Events team registered 662 acts from street performers to buskers and Fringe artists. An estimated 21,148 performers took to the stage during Fringe 2010 and 558 shows were absolutely free. Comedy made up 35% of the Fringe programme, followed closely by Theatre with 29%. Music 16%, Musicals & Opera 5%, Dance & Physical Theatre 4.5%, and Children's shows 4%, made up the rest o

UK - Wimbledon-based White Light is one of six companies shortlisted in the Best Green Business category of the Merton Business Awards 2010.

Organised by Merton Council, the local council covering White Light's south Wimbledon base, along with South London Business and the Merton Chamber of Commerce, the awards are designed to reward and celebrate the many dynamic and innovative businesses in the borough.

White Light's nomination is in the Best Green Business category, intended to "reward companies with an environmental conscience". The nomination reflects White Light's work over the last few years both to reduce White Light's own environmental impact and to promote improved techniques, practices and equipment for reducing the environmental impact of the shows and events it supplies.

This has seen White Light involved in a wide range of activities, from investing h

UK - Global Infusion Group (GIG) scored a 'triple-double' with Red Bull at X-Fighters 2010. For the second year running GIG were on-site with three of their companies..

Contracted by live event production company Innovision, e2B Logistics were on-site for two weeks installing Red Bull's experiential marketing, advertising and merchandising equipment. The Red Bull kit, including large star shades, inflatable arches, branded fridges, signage, DJ decks, vehicles, parasols and much more is stored and maintained in GIG's new warehousing facilities. It is then packed and transported to site before being installed in the grounds of Battersea Power Station.

During the site build, sister company Eat To The Beat were on hand to provide production catering On competition night Upbeat Event Catering and Design provided catering for the judges and riders.

John Ford, Red Bull's operations

USA/Germany - Intelix, the US-based manufacturer of audio/video equipment and software, has partnered with Sommer Cable to better serve the European audio-visual market. Effective immediately, Sommer Cable is stocking and supplying Intelix hardware, including their award-winning HDMI, digital signage, and audio/video over twisted pair solutions.

"In Germany, American companies are often considered somewhat conservative and lethargic," says Rainer Blanck, Sommer Cable CEO. "They are not really interested in grooming the German market because it is tiny compared to the US-market. Intelix is different. They are a clearly structured, modern American company with products strongly adapted to the European market. Plus, their technology is of good workmanship, have a very ergonomic and attractive design, and are known for their dependability."

"Sommer Cable's

UK - Colour Sound Experiment, the specialist lighting and sound designers, today announced investment of over £300,000 worth in new kit, to meet the requirements for Dizzee Rascal's summer tour and exploit high demand for lighting over the festival season. Investments include 25 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1500s, 60 Chroma-Q Color Force 72 LED battens and 6 GLP Impressions.

Festival season is always a busy time of year for Colour Sound Experiment, with an increasing number of headline acts on its books, it needed to rapidly scale-up its product portfolio, to include even bigger spots and popular lighting effects such as GLP impressions. Let down by its High Street lender, Colour Sound Experiment turned to Azule Finance, the specialist sound and lighting finance provider, to source a rapid and competitive quote.

Haydn Cruickshank, MD Colour Sound Experiment explained: "

UK - Independent Studio Services (ISS) is now the appointed installer for Le Mark's new range of projection screens and dance & stage floors.

Stuart Gibbons comments, "It's a pleasure to have secured Simon Caldwell and the ISS team's installation skills in the new Tüchler/Le Mark project. To be able to offer the new, exciting and innovative range of PVC Projection Screens available from Tüchler and have them installed by ISS means our customers will receive superior service from enquiry to installation."

Caldwell and his highly respected team have worked on a number of entertainment projects including installation of stage engineering equipment for Disney Cruise ships, Thesselonika Concert Hall and many projects for system integrators based within the UK .

(Jim Evans)

UK - CAST Software will be debuting their newest technology, BlackTrax at PLASA, September. BlackTrax is a motion tracking system for people and objects that operates in real time. BlackTrax is designed to work with CAST's BlackBox system of multi-directional high-speed control coordination.

The BlackTrax system works using a proprietary sensor device that is placed on the moving object(s). BlackTrax monitors the velocity of the object(s) in motion, as well as giving important spatial relationships between objects and people in a 3D space - and each moving object or person is an individual measurable set of data, completely distinguished from the next. BlackTrax monitors all of these parameters at a very high speed and with stunning accuracy, says the company.

During PLASA, CAST will be also be demonstrating BlackBox, wysiwyg R25, a sneak preview of R26 and Vivien - Virtual Ev

On The Move - The Brit Awards are to move to the O2 arena in south east London from Earl's Court. The annual UK music awards ceremony has been held at Earl's Court for the past 11 years. Next year's Brit awards will be held on 15 February. Brits bosses have also announced a further three-year deal with ITV to show the event live on television.

"Looking at what The Brits stands for - the 'must-see' spectacle - it was clear that moving to a state-of the art venue like the O2 was an obvious evolution," said Brit Awards chairman David Joseph.

Down The Bookies - The odds of Paul Weller winning the Mercury Prize have been slashed after a bookmaker took an "unprecedented" rush of bets from people backing him to win. William Hill dropped its odds from 20/1 to 1/10 over the weekend after what it called "extraordinary" activity. Its spokesman said m

UK - Where are we with Remote Device Management? What are the benefits? How do I use it, install it, specify it? For the answers to these and many other questions about RDM, just come along to stand 2-P37 at PLASA 2010. Sponsored by the PLASA Technical Resource Office and 25 industry supporters, the RDM 'Compatibility Corner' is a must for all consultants, specifiers, users and manufacturers of lighting systems.

Peter Willis and a team of industry experts will be on hand to explain each of RDM's key features with hands-on examples of RDM interoperability and connectivity using a range of manufacturer's compatible products. They will be offering one-to-one briefings for consultants and specifiers and regular mini-presentations on specific aspects of RDM benefits. There is also a special session for RDM developers, which will take place on the stand on Monday 13th September from 5

UK / The Netherlands - PLASA 2010 sees the announcement of the merger of two of the strongest names in the trussing and staging industry - Prolyte Products Group, based in the Netherlands, and UK-based Litestructures.

A statement confirming the merger declasres, "Both companies represent the cutting edge in professional truss and staging systems, each with their own strengths and specialities, their drive for high quality products and innovative design making them a natural fit. This merger will create a new organization that is stronger in every sense and is set to become a dominant force in the industry in terms of size, product range, resources and, crucially, sales force."

The statement continues, "This in turn will open up new market opportunities in and outside the fields that both companies have served up until now. Based on brand strengths and fuelled by

UK / Austria - A reciprocal business partnership has existed between Le Mark & Tüchler since the late 90's seeing strong growth of Tüchler flooring within the UK . PLASA 2010 sees the official launch of a new venture between the two companies with the introduction of PVC front and rear projection screens and frames.

"This opportunity will allow us to fully utilise the production skills of Tüchler," says Le Mark's managing director Stuart Gibbons. "We have for some time considered developing 'a screen range' alongside our existing line of performance flooring."

Tüchler GmbH was founded in the 1970's as a specialist supplier of fire proof textiles to the Austrian theatre industry. The Company has grown to be one of Europe's most renowned manufactures of theatrical textiles, high performance stage flooring, projection screens and technical accessories. Vie

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has confirmed its status as an official sponsor of the Jack Goff racing team for the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin Championship.

For this year's Championship, Jack Goff is sponsored by several entertainment technology companies, including Avolites, Fibre Optic Systems, GLP, HSL Group, Litestructures, Pixel Range, Robe, Rope & Rigging and SES.

Jack Goff and his Renault Clio racing car will be appearing in the JG-Motorsport Lounge at PLASA 2010. Visitors to the lounge have a chance to enter a free prize draw to win an exclusive track day experience with Jack.

AC-ET's UK sales director, Phill Capstick comments, "Further to AC-ET's sponsorship of the BRDC's exclusive Rising Stars Programme supporting promising young British racing drivers, it was a natural progression to sponsor a talented up and coming driver from the local ar

UK - For the second consecutive year, a team of LED lighting specialists named Team Easily LED and made up of employees from Architainment Lighting Ltd, EcoSense Lighting and Philips Lighting will hike a gruelling 20 miles across London at night in order to raise money for the charity Maggie's Centres.Maggie's Centres provides care and support to those affected by cancer, including sufferers, their family and friends. The charity helps to enable people to cope with the emotional stress and feelings of helplessness that cancer diagnosis brings. It provides courses in managing stress, relaxation and nutrition to boost the immune system and aid recovery. The centres give reliable advice and sources of information for anyone affected by cancer, in a caring environment. This invaluable service is provided free of charge and therefore the charity needs your help to raise money for its c

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has announced the appointment of high profile new roles in the company's UK sales and marketing teams, as part of its ongoing expansion programme.

Well-known lighting industry figure Spantax (Thor-André Sæther) has joined the company's UK sales department with immediate effect. Spantax will use his wealth of experience to look after technical sales for the Chroma-Q and GLP product ranges in the UK market.

His skillset includes working extensively with the Chroma-Q, Jands Vista and Robe product ranges in freelance lighting design and technician, dealer sales, rental, production, repairs and technical support manager roles for companies including Live Technic and Norsk Sceneteknikk As.

Also, AC-ET has appointed Isabel Gonzalez as marketing manager. Gonzalez has over 18 years' experience within a wide range of industries including FM

UK - After a record breaking 2000 visitor registrations in the final week alone, the opening day at Earls Court on Sunday 12 September has been packed with activity, as over 350 companies launch more than 500 new products.

A major strength this year has been the return of several leading audio brands and over 60 new exhibitors overall, including Ateis, Avid, Baldwin Boxall, Bosch, Bose, EAW, Electro-Voice, Intertek, Korg, Mackie, Martin Audio, Penton, and SCV/ Turbosound, as well as over 250 loyal exhibitors.

In one of the show's numerous innovations for 2010, visitors were able to watch the PLASA Awards for Innovation judges assess this year's exciting nominations in a series of live presentations on the interactive Innovation Gallery at the entrance to Earls Court 2.

Video of those presentations will be screened in the Innovations Gallery throughout the show, allowing othe

UK - Winners of the 2010 PLASA Awards for Innovation, and the 2010 Gottelier Award, were announced yesterday evening in a special presentation at PLASA 2010 in Earls Court, London - after a hotly contested nomination process that saw 62 products entered and six contenders for the Gottelier Award.

The Awards for Innovation, for the first time, were judged 'live' at the Innovation Gallery by an independent panel of 16 expert judges, in front of show visitors and a camera team on Sunday 12 September. Show visitors are able to watch the judging process replayed on large screens in the interactive Innovation Gallery for the rest of the show.

Seven Awards for Innovation and one Gold Award were presented by PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths, while ETC founder Fred Foster was honoured with this year's Gottelier Award in recognition of his work on such legendary products including the compan

Help For Heroes - Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow have performed live together for the first time in 15 years. The Take That pair, who announced this year they were working together again, performed their new single Shame at a Help For Heroes concert in London.

Earlier, Barlow and Williams said: "It's great that people like Shame so much and we can't wait to perform it live for the first time." Also in the line-up were Tom Jones, Alexandra Burke and Pixie Lott. The concert, which took place at Twickenham Stadium also featured comic talent including Bruce Forsyth, Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and Jack Dee.

Some 60,000 people were at the event - including 150 personnel injured in combat who attended the show free of charge. Proceeds will go to the Help For Heroes charity, which raises funds for wounded troops and their families.

In The Courts - An attemp

UK / Canada - CAST BlackBox Corporation has won a PLASA Innovation Award for their newest technology, BlackTrax. This Award marks two years in a row that CAST has won the highly respected Award, having won in 2009 for wysiwyg R24. The award was delivered by PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths during an award ceremony at PLASA, 2010.

BlackTrax is a hardware motion tracking system for people and objects that operates in realtime. BlackTrax is designed to work with CAST's game-changing BlackBox system of multi-directional high-speed control coordination.

"BlackTrax makes so many new scenarios possible," says Gil Densham, president of CAST, "All production aspects from increased safety to new levels of interactivity and spontaneity."

(Jim Evans)

Belgium - StageCo, Tait Technologies, XL Video and Barco are are all involved with the U2 360° tour which hits Belgium on 22 and 23 September. The audience will be able to enjoy the show, with a giant 360° stage and video screen, made in Belgium.

The U2 360° tour started on 30 June 2009 in Camp Nou in Barcelona and will go on until the summer of 2011. This month, it finally sets foot in Belgium. Both the spectacular stage, as well as the transformable LED screen were made possible by Belgian companies.

StageCo was responsible for the construction of the impressive stage. "As it became clear what the designer and the band wanted to achieve, it was obvious to me that this was something unprecedented," says Hedwig de Meyer, president of Stageco. "The sheer scale of the structure, the span of the legs, lifting the huge technical production 28 metres in

UK - PLASA 2010 closed on a high, with preliminary visitor figures set to show an increase over 2009 and strong international engagement from across the world. Exhibitors across all the show's sectors enthused about the quality of business leads and relished the show's vibrant atmosphere. The event, which filled London's Earls Court 1 and 2, drew over 12,000 visitors, while the international attendance continued to be strong with nearly 30% of visitors attending from 99 countries worldwide.

Show director Nicola Rowland commented: "The universally positive feedback and the strong visitor figures would be satisfying under any circumstances, but in the current economic climate it's a strong result for our exhibitors and for the show itself - it underlines just how important PLASA remains in the international events calendar.

"Numbers alone were only part of the story,&q

UK - As part of Hawthorn's personal development programme Nick Key and Derek Wilson have both attained the National Rigging Certificate (NRC) Level 3 for the operation and supervision of rigging operations.

In 2007 the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) introduced the National Rigging Certificate to formalise an assessment of competency in the rigging sector of the entertainment industry.

The NRC Level 3 standard is currently the highest recognised measurement of competency for rigging in the entertainment industry and reinforces the company's commitment to maintaining high levels of competency, service and safety.

Also part of Hawthorn's ongoing pledge to training and development, they supported the first ever PLASA International Rigging Conference which took place alongside this year's PLASA 2010 Show.

(Jim Evans)

Lennon Remembered - Celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birth will include a benefit concert in New York. Among the musicians slated to pay tribute to the former Beatle at the 12 November concert at New York's Beacon Theatre are Jackson Browne, Patti Smith, Cyndi Lauper, Aimee Mann and Shelby Lynne. The concert is one of several events and parties being held in New York and around the world to honour what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday on 9 October. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Playing for Change Foundation, a charity which promotes peace through music and builds music schools in the developing world.

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, is expected to mark the anniversary day in Iceland, where she will light the Imagine Peace Tower memorial located on the island of Vioey, near Reykjavik. Ono's We Are Plastic Ono Band has also planned trib

UK - The White Light Zone at PLASA 2010 - hosting the many companies for which White Light is the exclusive UK distributor - featured two products which were winners of the 2010 PLASA Awards for Innovation, and a third that was specially commended by the awards judges.

Launched at the show and an award winner was Coemar's Reflection FullSpectrum, a new design of LED washlight that offers an interchangeable LED light source that directs light from a configuration of LEDs onto a parabolic reflector. This optical design eliminates problems common in other LED fixtures, including visible RGB dots and multi-coloured shadows; it also allows the light source to be moved relative to the reflector, giving a smooth zoom from 18-37°. The fixture is available in Full Spectrum RGB colour-mixing and VariWhite variable white versions.

Introduced earlier in the year but winning an award o

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