UK - Classic Technical Services has secured an exclusive three-year contract with the Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour hotel as in-house AV and sound supplier.

The contract involves supplying equipment including large screen projections, video wall, plasma screens and sound systems which will be used for a variety of events staged at the hotel.

Paul Seeney, account director for Classic Technical Services, said: "We are thrilled to be working with one of the most exclusive hotels in London and we look forward to continuing our association. Our vast amount of stock, our exper

Canada - Ross Video has announced the appointment of Alan Bunting, as regional sales manager for Central Europe. He will be based in the UK and will report to Sharon Quigley, manager, international sales - EAIME. He will be responsible for managing Ross Video sales in Central Europe with a strong focus on supporting the distribution channels in Central Europe.

"Alan is a great addition to the Ross Video Europe sales team," said Sharon Quigley. "His enthusiasm and experience in the broadcast industry will have an immediate impact for Ross Video. "

"I am looki

Ireland - HSBC has moved its Ireland headquarters to Dublin's Grand Canal Square - the new commercial heart of the city - and its AV systems were supplied by Electrosonic.

Completed in October and with a project value of in excess of £750,000, the new base contains 11 meeting rooms and two boardrooms, alongside a building-wide digital signage and employee information network.

A scaled installation, the AV systems have been specified according to the complexity required - the internal meeting rooms are equipped with high definition video conferencing, PC and laptop display, as

UK/France - Christie reports that it has been appointed by XDC for the third year running as the supplier of digital cinema projection solutions at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, 13-24 May 2009. This includes the opening 3-D screening of Up, the new Pixar/Disney animated comedy adventure.

XDC has specified a Christie CP2000-SB projector to deliver the long-awaited 3-D presentation of Up, which takes audiences on an immersive journey into a lost world. Enhancing this inaugural screening, the CP2000-SB's in-built Christie Brilliant3D innovative technology "maximizes b

Germany - Gerriets reports that it is "highly satisfied" with Prolight&Sound 2009 in Frankfurt, especially because of the positive feedback regarding the new products in the Vario dance floors range.

Gerriets presented the new Vario Brilliance, available in seven high gloss colours, as well as Vario Grip which due to its PU coating and its stain-resistant and anti-skid surface is suitable for application in the event and show sector and is available in 10 different colours.

The new Vario Print attracted interest as a dance floor that can be custom printed with any imaginab

UK - XL Video UK is supplying cameras, PPU, LED surfaces, media servers and projection for Pink on the latest European leg of her hi-energy Funhouse world tour.

With a set designed by Mark Fisher and show direction / lighting by Baz Halpin, the show is action packed with visual extravaganza from start to finish. Video was always going to be an integral design component, for which they wanted the contrast of both high and low resolution surfaces.

Upstage, a central section of 7mm F-LED flanked by two Barco MiTrix panels are masked by a scenic interface congruous with the overa

UK - Electrosonic, the AV systems integrator and products manufacturer, has launched a newly redesigned website, located at www.electrosonic.com. The new website provides online visitors with "dramatic improvements" in navigation, content and appearance.

The new website's top page directs users to Electrosonic's products division's global website or regional websites for Electrosonic's Solutions businesses. This new design reflects the products division's recent separation from Electrosonic's AV Systems Integration and Service business.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The charity live event for Cancer Research that PLASA's Ron Bonner and L&SI's technical editor James Eade are currently pulling together for 8 August this year is coming along nicely. Known as Vibes from the Vines, the event was last held in 2006 and raised £32,000 for the charity (if you are wondering about the name, the first event was held in a vineyard!). Offers of help from all around the Industry have been already received with companies and personnel being quick to step up to the plate with huge contributions in time and kit.

Ron Bonner says: "There will

UK - PSCo has added full HD 82" LCD's to its rental fleet. The new 82" is available on the 'Super ScreenLifter' which allows it to be wheeled into place and raised three metres in the air at the touch of a button, making it suitable for temporary installation at events, exhibitions, conferences, awards and meeting areas.

Stuart Holmes, managing director of PSCo comments: "The new screens are the perfect solution for those looking for big LCD technologies but without the space for a 100+" screen. The Samsung 82" is a big jump in impact from the 65" screens

USA - Medialon is organising a Training Session on its show & media control software, Manager V5, prior to the InfoComm 09 Trade Show. The two-day course will be held on 15 and 16 June in the premises of Electrosonic, Orlando, FL.

During the session, Medialon engineers will provide students with the technical skills required to set up and programme a show control system based on the latest Manager V5 software release.

The course is aimed at show technicians, freelancers, and end-user technicians who are responsible for programming and running show control systems in live events or p

USA/Canada - Paul Mitchell has a hair salon network of over 70,000 around the United States and Canada, as well as having a presence in 44 countries worldwide. Its professional training arm, Paul Mitchell the School, has a 20-year history, with new sites constantly opening around the US. Its Wichita, Kansas school has recently installed a Turbosound audio system.

The educational facility covers a total area of 12,000sq.ft, which is divided into various areas for specific activities. In The Clinic hairstyling instruction area eight compact passive two-way Impact 55Ts and two TXD-118 su

Germany - Human Laser Artistics - the successful collaboration between performance artist Martin Mall and Tarm showlaser has thrilled audiences the world over. The multi-discipline show (juggling, diabalo and more) established a new concept of interaction between human performers and laser light.

Building on the international success of the show, Martin Mall and Tarm showlaser invested 18 months into the planning and development of an extended, evening-long, show programme, LichtGestalten.

The project premiered at the Apollo-Varieté Theater, Düsseldorf in March

Channel Islands - Since its inception in 1985, the Guernsey Awards for Achievement has focused on celebrating corporate and personal success. Now in its 23rd year, the initiative continues to attract the interest and support of companies and individuals island-wide.

This year's event reached its climax recently at a glittering Awards gala evening, held at Beau Sejour Leisure Centre; attended by close on 800 people it again proved to be the highlight of the Island's corporate calendar.

Production company Joy's were brought in to provide the spectacular projection backdrop. The compan

UK - MTFX expanded in to additional new premises earlier this year in order to improve the storage facilities for its extensive range of equipment.

The new unit has meant that all the storage and customer areas have been re-arranged so that they now have a demonstration area for their Aquagraphics water screen where it can be viewed by potential clients, together with storage and a demonstration area for the new high voltage special effects equipment.

There are also larger storage and maintenance areas for the ranges of confetti and special effects equipment enabling them to carry a

Canada - Ross Video has officially announced Blackmagic Design's partnership to expand the openGear terminal equipment platform.

Blackmagic Design manufactures video editing products, converters, and routers for the post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic introduced eight new converters that support the openGear platform at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) that will be shipping July 2009.

"We are excited to be part of the openGear platform," said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. "Our high quality converters fully support the openG

USA - Medialon has been selected to go on tour with Tina Turner, the eight-time Grammy Award winner. The star has recently made her long-awaited return to arenas with more than 80 dates scheduled throughout North America and across Europe.

The mission for Nocturne Productions - the production crew - was simple and challenging at the same time: make the stage show as powerful and exciting as the performer herself.

Tina's Production selected Geodezik - a video content designer and producer company - who put their trust in Nocturne Productions and Medialon to be part of the project for

UK - PSCo has announced the relaunch of its website, www.psco.co.uk. Managing director Stuart Holmes comments: "We are launching the first phase of the website which is online now, designed to help clients access technical information more freely, find out about our training courses and to make contact with the team more simple. We wanted to create a site which easily cross referenced the products with their accessories and gave clear outlines about our services to the trade."

The new site has video content, showing the PSCo technical team in action as well as details of the

UK - eMerging, the UK distributors for Merging Technologies' Pyramix audio workstation and the Smart AV Tango control surface, has signed a supplier agreement with Jigsaw Systems, the Nottingham-based hi-tech equipment retailer. Under the new deal, inked after the Broadcast Video Expo show earlier this year, Jigsaw will be able to offer Pyramix systems and Tango controllers to their customers in the creative audio-visual and IT industries.

"We're well known for being Pro Tools suppliers, but we've never carried Pyramix before," says Mark Rickaby, audio consultant at Jigsaw S

UK - Arcstream AV has sent the world of plasma in a spin at the O2's British Music Experience with the new PlasMotion concept, screens that can rotate 360° on their Z-axis to create an eye catching display.

The new concept was chosen by PRS for Music, for the British Music Experience at the 02 London.

In a video display that rotates just like a propeller, three PlasMotion screens are installed on truss stands, side by side, and co-ordinate image content and screen rotation to create stunning imagery. PRS for Music used the screens as part of the welcome area leading into the exh

USA - Spring in New York and Tribeca Film celebrates emerging and returning filmmakers. The Vanity Fair party was held on 21 April at the historic State Supreme Court building in downtown Manhattan. At the top of the portico steps, guests were treated to a 4 x 41ft. Barco LED wall programmed to resemble a marquee. The LED wall was divided into two sections, forming a portico into the building's rotunda.

Media content for the LED wall utilised a combination of graphics promoting Tribeca Film, Deluxe, and Panavision. Logos for the three brands were animated into a sequence that played a

UK - Digital Projection International (DPI) has announced the appointment of Neil Draper to customer support engineer. In his new role at Digital Projection he will work within the technical operations team to provide technical support to DPI customers in Europe and Asia as well as implementing technical training initiatives to customers worldwide.

Trevor Middlemas, technical operations manager said, "Neil will be a welcomed asset to the team and the company. His in depth knowledge and experience can further enhance our dedicated service to the customer."

Draper has more t

Israel - Compulite's flagship console Vector has a new major software release centered on productivity features that accelerate the programming and operation of even the most complex show, says the company.

New features allow the user to organize editing and playback screens in multiple workspaces. Each workspace allows you to customise a whole environment with multiple views and panes. You can build each one and save/open each workspace separately. Create various workspaces such as live workspace, editing workspace and TOPO workspace.

You can also use the navigation utility when so

Portugal - Arcstream AV worked with Hipnose Events in Portugal to create a giant projection screen, laser show and the largest MagicSymbol demonstration ever attempted to launch Portugal Telecom's high profile rebrand.

Arcstream AV sourced a massive 25m x 10m projection screen which formed a backdrop to the stage set, Hipnose Events used six Barco 20K projectors edge blended to create the image.

Arcstream commissioned Harkness Screens to manufacture the Translite Midnight Rear projection screen, a dark grey screen which produced a stage backdrop,ommiting all ambient light in the ven

USA - The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is more than a race. Held in this seaside city's downtown area, the three-day event is billed as the "World's Fastest Beach Party," drawing 180,000 spectators and featuring live concerts and a Lifestyle Expo with over 270,000sq.ft of merchandise displays, interactive games and racing-related exhibits.

This year, the Grand Prix venue featured a new attraction that was viewed by virtually all who attended: a sprawling EVLED1024SMD 20mm LED video screen from Elation Professional. Positioned near the outdoor stage at the Long Beach Conve

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