UK - The Claypaky K-EYE HCR has won the Plasa Award for Innovation. The award is assigned by a strict jury made up only of expert professionals in the field, who carefully analyse the various products. It is a highly significant prize specifically because it places great emphasis on product innovation, which is one of Claypaky's underlying key values, around which all the company's design efforts and products revolve.
The jury gave the following motivation for the award: “A new approach to accurate colour rendering starting at chip level rather than manipulating existing sources.”
Pio Nahum, Claypaky's CEO, welcomed this acknowledgement with great pleasure and illustrated the original specifications behind the K-EYE's design: "For years, our most demanding customers felt the need for a light that differed from the others not so much for the number of special effect devices, but also and especially for the 'quality' of the light it produced.
“This is a very difficult parameter to define, since it relates to perception: it is the sum of multiple factors such as diffusion uniformity, colour temperature, colour control features, and most of all a high colour rendering index. To meet these requirements, Claypaky and Osram have developed a technology named HCR, used in the K-EYE range and in ADB's Klemantis."
The heart of the K-EYE HCR wash light is a LED light source consisting of a module with six chips, each for a different colour: besides the three “classic” basic red, green and blue colours, Claypaky has added amber, cyan and lime. Th

UK - Eaton’s popular Zero 88 lighting control brand continues its winning ways - collecting a coveted PLASA 2017 Award for Innovation for the inventive ‘RigSync’ feature, a feature available with the latest version of its powerful and flexible ZerOS console software.
RigSync demystifies the work of DMX addressing for console users, allowing them more time to focus on being imaginative - while the technical elements sort themselves out via the console communicating with the lighting rig.
The judges commented, “RigSync opens up lighting creativity opportunities for non-technical people in an entry-level environment.”
The PLASA Awards for Innovation aim to recognize and reward new product ideas, and are independently judged by a task-force of industry specialists.
“We live in a world where smartphones assist in accomplishing numerous complex tasks very straightforwardly on a daily basis” explained Eaton’s product manager for entertainment, Jon Hole.
“We adopted this same philosophy and approach to developing RigSync, which doesn’t just read the lighting rig or patch the console - it manages the set-up with no interaction required at all from the user - making the process simple, enjoyable and stress free!”
For a large percentage of small to medium sized shows and events and venues, technicians and operators do not need to be involved or concerned about specifics like DMX addresses - as long as their fixtures are functioning correctly. As any active practitioner in the performance and entertainment industry knows

USA - Every summer, some of country music’s hottest acts head into Eastern New York’s Catskill Mountains to perform at the Taste of Country Music Festival, and every summer, the team at Atomic Professional Audio ensures the main stage sound is as pristine as its surroundings with an E-Series loudspeaker system from Adamson Systems Engineering.
“Atomic has been a proud Adamson house since the days of the Y-Axis series,” comments George Perone, Atomic’s head of audio. “Since the beginning, we’ve been impressed by every Adamson model we’ve heard, and we were an early E-Series partner based on that history of superior sounding loudspeakers. But on top of the sonic performance, we’ve also seen a substantial return on investment with Adamson every time we’ve bolstered our inventory.”
On the main RAM Trucks Stage, which featured performances by Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, and others, Atomic deployed a system comprised of 15 Adamson E15 three-way, true line source enclosures per side with two SpekTrix cabinets as down-fills and 20 T21 subwoofers per side kicking out the low end. Perone explains that the throw distance at the main stage is over 300 ft. uphill, and that the E15 covers that distance with ease year after year. “It can consistently take whatever you throw at it with zero problems,” Perone adds about the E-Series.
Kevin Margolin, the founder of Atomic Professional Audio, notes that the company’s Adamson systems not only offer a competitive edge in terms of sound performance, but also in terms of rid

Belgium - Creative Technology has installed 58 Panasonic projectors as part of the 100th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium.
As part of the two-day event, hosted by the BBC and The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the imposing façade of the historic Cloth Hall, was illuminated with projection and light displays as a backdrop to a special live performance.
Marking the 100th anniversary since the battle, the content, designed by Creative Technology, was brought to life using a total of 58 projectors (49 x PT-DZ21K’s and 9 x PT-RZ31K’s), delivering spellbinding, high brightness images – particularly suitable for event and staging applications.
Lucy Meredith, product marketing specialist for Panasonic UK, says, “The use of our laser projectors for events as big as the Battle of Passchendaele’s memorial is rapidly growing, and we feel extremely privileged to be part of such an historic occasion.”
“It was a great honour to be a part of such a historic event. We got to use all of our cutting edge technology to bring the Cloth Hall to life in a stunning projection display”, adds Paul Seeger, project manager at Creative Technology.
The 20,000 lumens PT-DZ21K was supported by nine 30,000 lumens PT-RZ31K solid shine laser projectors. Available in both WUXGA and SXGA+, the PT-RZ31K series is the brightest in the Panasonic range with a compact and lightweight body harnessing powerful laser technology. In normal operation, the RZ31K is designed for 20,000 hours of maintenance free operation.

USA - Fashion designer John Varvatos is synonymous with the rock ‘n roll look, and his nearly 30 stores around the world – from San Francisco to Mexico City to London to Moscow to Bangkok and beyond – attest to the global excitement for his uniquely put-together, yet authentically rebellious look.
When the Varvatos company added its fifth New York City location in the Westfield World Trade Centre mall, they hired Essential Communications (East Hanover, New Jersey) to design and install a killer music playback system worthy of the Varvatos name. Essential Communications relied on Ashly Audio’s four-channel nXp8004 DSP-equipped network multi-mode amplifier, paired with Ashly’s WR1.5 remote volume control & source/preset selector and Ashly’s custom iPad/iPhone remote control app.
“We specialise in retail, restaurant, and hotels where the client cares a lot about the aesthetics,” said David Schwartz, founder and president of Essential Communications. “Although we don’t design based on price, we have to be sensitive to it. Like us, our clients want an amazing sounding system that doesn’t cost a lot. Ashly is one of those rare companies that delivers great sounding products that are rock-solid reliable for way less than comparable products from other manufacturers. And they have a huge array of amplifier sizes: from two-, four-, or eight-channels, 75 to 3000 watts per channel, with or without network connectivity or DSP, so I can fit any project.”
At John Varvatos WTC, Schwartz opted for a four-channel Ashly nXp8004 Protea -ena

USA - The Maverick MK Pyxis derives its name from a constellation of stars in the galactic halo of the Milky Way. True to its celestial moniker, the newest member of Chauvet Professional’s Maverick family can produce an endless array of out of this world looks, thanks to a unique design that includes an outer ring of RGBW LEDs, a powerful zooming centre pixel, 360° continuous pan and tilt movement and a host of other performance features.
“The Pyxis blazes a new path in design possibilities by incorporating a variety of different design features in ways that have never been done before,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “Designers who we’ve shown Pyxis to have been shocked that one fixture can produce so many different looks.”
At the centre of the Pyxis is a single homogenous 60W RGBW LED with a fixed 3° beam angle. Surrounding this pixel is an outer ring made up of nine 15W RGBW LEDs with a 7°-45° zoom angle. Working together, the centre pixel and outer ring are capable of creating a dizzying variety of captivating beam, wash, atmospheric and set piece effects.
A built-in virtual gobo wheel with background colours can be used to make the outer ring appear as if it’s spinning. This effect combined with the retractable motion of the centre pixel and the 360° continuous pan and tilt movement can fill a stage of any size with dynamic high energy looks. Readily accessible built-in colour effects add to this pixel mappable fixture’s versatility.
In addition to creating moving looks, the Maverick MK Pyxis can also do double

USA - As part of the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game festivities, the FanFest is an indoor baseball theme park experience dedicated specifically to the fans of the game. With opportunities to take photos with MLB Legends, get free autographs, plus pitch, hit and run on an indoor baseball diamond, the FanFest is an event like none other.
Continuing the implementation of technology enhancements designed to heighten the fan experience, the producers once again worked with BaAM Productions and MSI Productions at the 2017 event, and together they created an LED video tunnel entrance using 3.9mm FLEXLite Plus from PixelFLEX.
“Major League Baseball made it known three years ago that they were going to implement a tiered series of capital improvements to the annual FanFest experience at the MLB All-Star Game,” began Tom Bollard, technical director, MSI Productions. “They wanted to bring more technology into the show to make it more dynamic for our younger audiences. Last year, we implemented the LED tunnel walls during phase one of the capital project, and this year we implemented phase two with the integration of the LED tunnel ceiling, both of which used the FLEXLite Plus 3.9mm LED video.”
“The nice thing about our relationship with PixelFLEX is that they can pretty much do anything with an LED video design,” continued Bollard. “When BaAM Productions started designing the show, we knew with confidence that we could handle any design they wanted. When we received their sketches, we sent them over to the PixelFLEX design team, and i

UK - Wayne Howell, founder of Artistic Licence and the inventor of the Art-Net ethernet lighting protocol, has been honoured with the 2017 Gottelier award at the PLASA London show.
Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator, this annual award recognises product developers who have made significant long-term contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology.
Wayne Howell founded Artistic Licence in 1988. He was a major contributor to the development of DMX512-A in the 1990s, and released his free, public domain Art-Net protocol a few years later. Art-Net is now in its fourth version and has been adopted by hundreds of manufacturers worldwide.
Wayne has continued to expand and diversify the Artistic Licence brand, and is well known for his books, articles and seminars.
Artistic Licence enjoyed a cracking show at London Olympia, with a hugely popular set based around a Van de Graaff generator to demonstrate the electrical resilience of its splitters and gateways.
Visitors were entertained as company mascot Captain DMX was repeatedly edged towards the generator, creating a 400,000V surge directly into the company's new product, DMX-Protect. On the output a DMX controller and fixture continued to function happily, and the DMX-Protect itself easily survived three days of continued abuse!
Also on show, the moody programmable LED controllers made for an eye-catching display, having been updated with a choice of cover plates in contemporary material finishes

UAE - Dubai Opera, located in what is claimed to be 'the most prestigious square kilometre in the world' in Downtown Dubai, has recently purchased 37 x Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K10s as part of a technical upgrade to the event space's lighting rigs.
Dubai Opera is considered a masterpiece of contemporary architecture. The 'dhow-shaped' building, designed by architect Janus Rostock, houses a flexible, 1900-seat venue which can be transformed into a theatre, concert hall or 'flat-floor' event space.
"Dubai Opera is a first-rate venue and we present and produce top-quality performances," explains Geoffrey Wheel, technical director of Dubai Opera. "Our audiences expect a high standard, and as such we always strive to be the best. We therefore invest in the very best equipment and this is demonstrated in our stake in the Claypaky brand. Its products are of an excellent quality."
The B-EYE K10 is a popular workhorse fixture for many designers across the globe, and the fact that it is widely available to hire in the Middle East market ensures that, alongside Dubai Opera's recent stock purchase, the venue can easily make additions on a production-by-production basis.
"Versatility is a key factor for us when investing in new fixtures," says Wheel, referring to the B-EYE K10's three modes of functionality - Wash, Beam and FX. "The fixture had to suit our main-stage concerts, meet the lighting and colour standard demanded by theatrical productions and adapt for use in our studio room and foyer for the more decorative lighting needs. Low power consumption, comb

UK - SLX has announced the launch of its new student bursary scheme. The scheme is aimed at second and third year lighting design, technical and event management students across England and Wales, providing five successful candidates with equipment, support and opportunities throughout the academic year.
SLX has supported and sponsored students in many ways through its history, employing student casuals, offering sponsorships and apprenticeships across the business.
Jo Sunners, business development manager at SLX describes the inspiration behind the scheme: “We’ve decided after a few months of consulting with drama schools and industry professionals to launch a new way of supporting the next generation of talent in our industry, something myself and SLX are extremely passionate about. I’m really excited to work with and support the successful applicants in the coming months.”
The bursary will be awarded annually going forward and will help the students who can best display a passion, dedication and enthusiasm for the industry, to grow their network and increase the tools at their fingertips.
Applications are already open for the bursary and the deadline is 11 October, after interviews of the shortlisted students have taken place, the recipients will be announced. The application form is now available at www.SLX.co.uk.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Martin Audio has announced a significant upgrade to its optimisation, control and monitoring software platforms. Display 2.3 integrates the recently announced Wavefront Precision series featuring scalable optimisation, while Vu-Net 2.1 integrates control and monitoring for the new iKON amplifiers, Wavefront Precision Series and XE stage monitors.
For the first time, Display will be available to anyone that registers for the software. Dom Harter, managing director, explains: “MLA users for years have told us that it does things that no other competitor product can do and that we should make this easier for the industry to recognise. Part of this understanding is making Display 2.3 more readily available for the industry to familiarise itself with and to demystify the process. The launch of Wavefront Precision - which has seen unprecedented demand - also precipitated the need to democratise this software.”
Jason Baird, R&D director explains further: “Display 2.3 calculates both inter-cabinet splay angles and the DSP parameters for optimum system performance in any given space. Unlike competitor systems, which generally use a basic geometric calculation to aim their arrays, Display adopts a completely revolutionary and patented approach. Using an extremely accurate computer model of the array to analyse the system performance in a drawing of the venue it is possible to calculate precisely the parameters for the system, in order to get exactly the coverage that has been specified.
“As a system designer you get to determine exactly how

Europe - The EVID-S series is the latest member of the EVID (EV Innovative Design) family of commercial loudspeakers for installed applications. Every aspect of the EVID-S series has been designed from the ground up to ensure efficient installation for the contractor and excellent results for the end-user, says the company. The series includes 4-inch, 5.25-inch and 8-inch 2-way models with matching dual-10-inch and single 12-inch subwoofers, making it easy to select a suitable model a specific space – a new go-to solution for distributed sound systems.
All EVID-S models offer Electro-Voice-engineered components for superior sound quality, low-profile looks and robust reliability for a wide range of indoor and outdoor applications. These include retail environments, hospitality settings such as bars, lounges, patios, pool areas and restaurants; conference and meeting rooms, fitness clubs, performing arts and sports venues and houses of worship.
The series offers true weatherproof construction for outdoor spaces, confirmed by extensive and rigorous testing above and beyond industry norms. All models are paintable and IP54 certified for weather resistance; an IP65 weatherproof version is available for the 5.25-inch loudspeaker cabinet and the 10-inch subwoofer models. The innovative, new wall-mount system makes installation simple.
(Jim Evans)

UK - This month’s London Design Festival 2017 sees the global launch of Tord Boontje’s new collection of chandelier and crystal lighting components, designed exclusively for Swarovski Crystal Palace in his 15th year of collaboration with Swarovski. The installation includes a highly innovative soundscape which was created in collaboration with sound artist Manabu Shimada and is presented via a surround sound system provided by Yamaha.
Yamaha audio equipment is bringing the unique interactive sound design to life. Visitors and people around the globe can tweet to alter the composition of the music by using one of the following hashtags on Twitter to change the soundscape: #crystal #light #reflection #water #swarovskicrystalpalace #tordboontje
The installation is accompanied by a quadrophonic, surround soundscape, delivered by four Yamaha VXS3F loudspeakers and a VXS3S sub in each room. The use of a Yamaha MTX5-D matrix processor assists the soundscape to be altered in real time by people using Twitter.
The sound field in each space has been created from four separate tracks of composed music and ambient effects, run from a Macbook Pro via a Steinberg UR824 audio interface. The MTX5-D is used to create an audio matrix and control EQ and speaker processing.
“Shimada has created a randomly-programmable software control, which responds in real time to tweets from anyone, anywhere in the world. Working with Swarovski, he has allocated key trigger words which will adjust the parameters for each individual track in real time,” explains Yamaha

UK - Canadian pop megastar Justin Bieber’s Purpose world tour made just two stops in the UK during 2017, one of which was a sold-out show at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in June which drew ‘Beliebers’ from throughout the UK and Europe.
London-based Capital Sound Hire were the audio contractors for the event and supplied a bespoke system design using Outline’s flagship GTO family of products designed by Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Perreux, who already had the Cardiff stadium stored in his OpenArray acoustic measurement files. Capital had of course worked frequently at the stadium before with major pop acts including Take That, and a last-minute decision to close the roof did not necessitate major changes to the basic system design.
The main and side hangs comprised 15 of the 2x15-inch GTO elements with one GTO-DF down-fill at the bottom of each hang, in addition to 12 GTO-SUB flyable subwoofers per side and a further nine DBS 18-2 subs per side. Near-field coverage was handled by LIPF-082 lip-fills, two 3-high ground stacks of Mantas 28 line array elements between the main and side hangs and a further three Mantas 28s on the thrust stage. Three downfield flown delays (in L-C-R configuration) used 15 of the Outline’s compact GTO C-12 elements plus three more Mantas 28s in each hang.
In the midst of a busy summer for Capital and with their extensive inventory heavily committed on other projects, the event was a perfect opportunity to engage the international Outline Network to source various system components.
Capital’s Robin Con

USA - Country music fans got a glimpse of the future on a warm August Georgia night at the Lady Antebellum Pavilion. There on stage, performing solos and as a group, were six budding talents visiting from Nashville. Having written hits for some of country’s biggest names like Luke Byran and Florida Georgia Line, the sextet was there to chase the dream, as performers. Supporting them with some colourful, evocative star-worthy looks was a John Berret designed lightshow that utilized 35 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Quest Sound & Productions.
“People familiar with country music know that quite a few stars got their starts writing music for established artists,” said Berret. “The musical talent on stage was pretty awesome. My goal was to give them a look that reflected their talent as well as their potential. I wanted to evoke the stardom yet to come.”
Berret accomplished this goal for the six writers (Ray Fulcher, Tyler Reeve, Cole Taylor, Trea Landon, Daren Racheals and Wyatt Durrette) with help from 19 COLORado 1-Tri IP Tours, eight Rogue R2 Spots and eight Rogue R1 Beams. His rig was controlled with a ChamSys PC Wing.
“I dispersed the COLORado fixtures throughout the stage to create warm colour washes that reflected the mellow sound of much of the music,” he said. “Of the 19 COLORados, 16 were on downstage truss spread out to create this nice back wash with blues, deep reds and other colours. Then I kept the other three COLORados in my back pocket so to speak to use as crowd blinders. They have the output (806 lux at

Germany - Ahead of the Sturmfahrt tour to promote their new album, hardcore fans of Eisbnrecher (Icebreaker) flocked to their own festival under the name Volle Kraft Voraus ‘Full Force Ahead). Billed as Eisbrecher and Friends, the band invited artists like Lord of the Lost, Combichrist and And She Came into the Ratiopharm Arena in Neu-Ulm to join them for the occasion.
Rain Age was technical service provider for the high-profile event, while LD Martin Heining is also one of the long-time associates of Eisbrecher. "I've been supporting them for a long time and am responsible for the set and lighting design as well as for the special effects at the shows,” he reports. “It was only logical to work together with them on this festival as well.” In fact, it is becoming almost a full-time job for Heining, because the upcoming Sturmfahrt tour and his commitment to VNV Nation will occupy almost his entire time in the coming months.
At the Volle Kraft Voraus Festival Martin Heining faced a very special challenge. "On the one hand, I wanted to translate the set of Eisbrecher as authentically as possible into a festival design. On the other hand, all other bands should also have the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible manner." This was only possible with a clear line in the design. "You cannot become too complex with such little time for programming, but you need to create a lighting design that quickly produces a result," he explained.
At least as important for Heining is the reliability and flexibility of the fixtures - which led hi

UK - Philips Lighting has announced that its support of London's Arcola Theatre in staging the popular Grimeborn opera festival helped the venue with its ambition to become carbon neutral. At the same time, the lighting rig also providing lighting designers with a dynamic, beautiful and consistent quality of light.
Arcola Theatre aims to become the world's first carbon neutral theatre, so being able to use low-energy, high-quality LED stage lighting fixtures from Philips Entertainment Lighting contributed a significant advantage to the production of Grimeborn. Arcola estimates that the inclusion of Philips Lighting's LED technology in the Grimeborn lighting rig delivered a 36% power-saving.
Philips Selecon PLprofiles and Philips SL BAR wash lights augmented Arcola's existing lighting equipment. "This dramatically reduced our power consumption," says technical manager Geoff Hense. "Currently, our older lantern stock is a major obstacle to our efforts towards being carbon neutral, due to the high-power consumption and lamps that regularly need replacing. The Philips Selecon PLprofiles do not have these limitations. We see this partnership as a bridge to converting entirely to LED lighting."
Hense, along with assistant technical manager Michael Paget, created a fixed lighting rig for the festival, with some additional 'specials' available to meet individual requirements. "Some companies may bring their own lighting designers or programmers, but all have to work within these limitations," says Hense.
Based on the feedback from

UAE - You can't miss the latest attraction at The Dubai Mall: the new curved video wall above the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo measures a stunning 700sq.m with 1.7 billion pixels on 820 OLED displays. Behind the scenes, you'll find Dataton's award-winning Watchout multi-display production and playback system, Watchnet manager software and Watchpax 4 servers delivering high-resolution content for the mall's estimated 80 million visitors.
The new video wall at The Dubai Mall, unveiled by Emaar Entertainment in August 2017, takes digital signage into a whole new realm and has already earned a hat-trick of records, in partnership with LG: largest OLED screen, highest resolution video wall and largest high-definition video wall.
Dataton’s Watchout multi-display system and compact Watchpax4 media servers handle content production and delivery, while LG’s flexible OLED screens provide the vibrant colour range and wider viewing angle necessary at the location. Show control onsite, including show selection and power cycling, is via Dataton Watchnet manager software. All functions and the user interface were tailored to meet the venue's specific requirements.
“The wall is designed to promote the aquarium, but will also provide a visually-exciting canvas for other content and companies, and with such a high-profile installation there are, of course, great demands on content quality and reliability,” said Trond Solvold, sales director at Dataton. “Watchout with Watchpax4 was likely the only system in the world that could pull off such a comple

Poland - Clarity and transparency were the key reasons why sound engineer Tomasz Klimkiewicz chose DPA microphones when he was recently tasked with amplifying a series of concerts featuring traditional Polish Lenten cantos.
“I didn’t want the true sound of the instruments to change in any way,” Klimkiewicz says. “For example, the drums had been tuned by the drummer and I wanted the microphones to capture that exact sound. I chose DPA because I knew that their microphones were capable of delivering the clarity I was looking for.”
Entitled For Every Soul, the concerts featured unconventional arrangements of Lenten cantos that, while not as well-known as Christmas carols, are equally rich in beautiful and poignant melodies.
With a project of such emotional intensity, Klimkiewicz was keen to keep the aesthetics as clean as possible by not allowing technology to dominate the stage.
“It is important that the technology doesn’t disturb the contact between the artists and the audience,” he says. “Therefore, I tried to avoid tripods and cables that might obscure the view. DPA’s d:vote Instrument Microphones, which we used for the musical instruments, and d:screet Miniature Microphones, which we used for the vocal quartet, were ideal because they are very small and unobtrusive so we were able to hide our tools and put the emphasis entirely on the artists.”
Klimkiewicz used over 20 DPA microphones so that every single sound source had its own microphone. As well as d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones and d:screet Minia

South Africa - To cater for theatre productions Priscilla Queen of the Desert (South Africa & Hong Kong Season), The Sound of Music (Asian tour 2017/18) and Evita (South African & Asian tour 2017/18), South African based Gearhouse Splitbeam, a theatre equipment rental company, has invested in 90 additional Prolyft motors and six controllers supplied by DWR Distribution. Alistair Kilbee is the managing director of Splitbeam and writes on his experience with the brand and why he went this route.
“I have always liked the Prolyft brand and this purchase made sense as we already had a stock holding of 57 Prolyft motors (1 Ton & ¼ Ton). The new acquisition, consisting of 85 Prolyte Prolyft Aetos 1 Ton and five Prolyte Prolyft Aetos 2 Ton, all in cases, along with six Aetos Pro range low voltage 8-way control, fits in nicely with our current stock holding to give us a total of 147 motors within Splitbeam.
“While the rest of the Gearhouse Group use CM, I felt that it was best to stay with a brand that I know and trust. We now stock 2 ton, 1 ton and ¼ ton motors. There was also the consideration that the Prolyft are easy to upgrade to double break for the future-proofing of the purchase. There is the noise factor that very few “non-theatre” people worry about, but in our market, this is a critical consideration. The new Prolyft motors are so quiet it is hard to even know that something is moving unless you see it happening.
“Theatre shows over the last few years have been getting bigger and heavier and the motor c

UK - PLASA 2017 proved a lively, energetic and vibey hub for meeting the UK’s lighting and visual designer community and other creatives commented Robe UK’s MD Mick Hannaford, words echoed by the moving light manufacturer’s CEO Josef Valchar, stating, “We have enjoyed seeing many individuals, companies and organisations from all over the UK as well as several from Europe – the quality of the visitors and the networking opportunities were really excellent this year!”
The annual trade show was again staged at the Olympia exhibition centre in west London over three days, with Robe’s large, high-impact stand right at the heart of the domed ceiling hall, attracting massive attention with a specular dance / light performance live show.
This year, the product focus was on Robe’s just launched MegaPointe multi-functional moving light.
Another stunning booth design complete with elaborate draping and dressing continued the theme of theatrical spaces around the world in which to showcase Robe’s diverse range of products.
The stand design and the live show’s direction and choreography was conceived entirely by Robe’s own creative team led by Nathan Wan and Andy Webb. The show starred Jake Stephens - a talented freestyle dancer who has auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent - together with 42 x MegaPointes.
The hourly live show, with a robot-brought-to-life narrative and an elaborate post industrial stage set - was complete with dynamic soundtrack which took the global launch MegaPointe video presentation as its starting

UK - On its first ever public outing at PLASA 2017, Le Mark’s new PAL Label Challenge was attempted by some of the shows strongest visitors and exhibitors, but remained completely undefeated.
“The PAL Label Challenge is so much fun. It gets really competitive between friends and colleagues but so far, no one has made it budge.” Said Le Mark’s marketing & strategy manager, Mark Gibbons.
What’s the PAL Label Challenge? Le Mark wanted an entertaining way to demonstrate the raw strength of the adhesive they use in selected PAL Road Case Labels. With the help of with 5 Star Cases, they designed a set of flight case plates, fitted with heavy duty handles and stuck them together using the very same super-strength foam adhesive used in their foam-backed PAL Labels. The challenge is to see if anyone has the strength to pull them apart.
With no one successfully completing the Challenge at PLASA, the search continues…
(Jim Evans)