UK - It is estimated that by 2017 visitors from China to the UK will spend £1bn a year; currently there are approximately 150,000 Chinese tourists who choose to visit London each year. There won't be many who don't take the opportunity to visit Trafalgar Square, feed the pigeons, gaze up at Nelson on his Column and pop into the National Gallery before exiting through Admiralty Arch to walk down towards Buckingham Palace. These iconic images of London are at the top of the 'must see' list for every visitor.

So it comes as not real surprise that Weli Media, the London-based Chinese media organisation that specialises in cross cultural events between the UK and China, chose Trafalgar Square as the setting for a Chinese TV advert. The project required recording facilities for a large group of performers singing as well as foldback to provide tracks for them to dance to. Sound

UK - Brazilian footwear brand Melissa's London store launch attracted a VIP guest list most fashion brands would dream of, so the pressure was on for the store design to impress. The 6,000sq.ft store would follow the brand's 'Galeria' concept, found currently in the flagship stores in Sao Paulo and New York, where shoes are displayed alongside art installations and sculpture.

Melissa's brief to Intevi, the digital solutions provider appointed on this project, was to blend their artistic designs with suitable technology to bring their creativity to life. Intevi knew it was going to need an impressive piece of technology to deliver on these requirements, leading them to super high resolution LED as the display choice.

Commenting on the project, Tom Scott, managing director of Intevi said, "We had previously worked with the contractors on another retail project and they knew

UK - Rose Bruford College students, staff and guests gathered for Sir Richard Eyre's annual President's Talk on Wednesday 21 January 2015 at the College's Rose Theatre.

Sir Richard, who has been the President of Rose Bruford College since 2010 and was director of Great Britain's National Theatre for a decade from 1987 to 1997, is currently working on a number of theatre and television projects, including an adaption for BBC 2 of Ronald Harwood's play the The Dresser, that stars two great theatrical knights--Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ian McKellen.

The talk centred around readings from Sir Richard's latest book What Do I Know? People, Politics and the Arts (Nick Hern books) and was followed by questions from the audience.

Personal stories of Judi Dench, John Mortimer, Alan Bennett, Margaret Thatcher and Mary Soames (Winston Churchill's daughter) kept the audien

Israel - Top Israeli technical production and rental specialist Argaman Systems from Rosh Hayain lost no time in investing in Robe's new BMFL Spot multifunctional moving lights, taking delivery of their first batch of 60 units to service a variety of ongoing and upcoming projects - one of which was the recent Israeli tour of Michael Flatley's Lord of The Dance's Dangerous Games show.

Dangerous Games started off at London's Dominion Theatre with a lighting design by Paul Normandale - well known for this inventive and out-of-the-box creative vision - before embarking on an extensive European tour which is still ongoing, as the mesmeric magic of Irish music and dance continues to enthrall audiences worldwide.

It played 12 sold out shows in four Israeli cities - Haifa, Beersheeba, Jerusalem - at the brand new 11,00 seater Arena - and Tel Aviv, where it played the 10,

Poland - The biggest live event in Polish Mixed Martial Arts history, KSW 29: Reload, took place this month at Krakow Arena in front of over 16,000 audience members, with thousands more around the globe tuning into the live broadcast in Pay per View. Lighting designer and director Pawel "Spider" Pajak therefore chose the power and effects of the Clay Paky Sharpy, SuperSharpy and A.leda B-EYE K20 to ensure the tournament packed a serious punch.

Pajak's company Fish Eye was also responsible for the whole technical coordination of the event, with Marcin Szczakiel working as programmer and operator and Tomasz Szwelicki leading the technical department.

Organised by one of the leading MMA promotions in Europe KSW Federation, Pajak specified 40 x SuperSharpys, 32 x Sharpys and 24 x B-EYE K20 fixtures from prominent rental operation Transcolor for the event.

"The key

Arts Education Funding - Youth dance and music schemes will benefit from an increased £109m in government spending in the coming year, after the Department for Education pledged its support for cultural education programmes. A number of projects - including the National Youth Dance Company and the BFI Film Academy - will be granted a share of £4m in the 2015/16 financial year. It was also revealed an extra £1.1m with be spent on In Harmony programmes - which aim to engage children in deprived areas with orchestral music - as well as National Youth Music organisations such as the National Youth Orchestra and Music for Youth's Schools Prom concerts.

The Music and Dance Scheme, which provides financial assistance to applicants for specialist arts schools, has also had its financial support bumped up by £1m - bringing its total funding to £29m. In addit

UK - Well known throughout the entertainment industry for its lighting services, White Light will now offer sound equipment and services with the launch of a dedicated audio department.

The London-based supplier has earned its reputation for quality products and reliable service throughout its more than four decades in the entertainment business. The company has taken the decision to expand based on increasing demand, especially from existing clients. "Our success has always come from listening to and understanding our customers," explains Bryan Raven, managing director for White Light. "With more and more clients requesting sound packages and support, offering these services just makes sense."

Leading the department is Lee Dennison, formerly of Delta Sound and Autograph. Since his arrival at White Light in November 2014, Dennison has set out to build the c

UK - When London's Royal Opera House decided to measure the electricity consumption of the Linbury Studio's stage lighting equipment, they opted for a MeasureMyEnergy system, provided by industry consultancy :entertaining sustainability. The modular nature of the MeasureMyEnergy system proved ideal for monitoring 36 key circuits across two separately located major distribution boards to monitor - plus mains incomers at 630 Amps per phase.

Tim Atkinson, technical director at :entertaining sustainability, said: "After a site visit to establish exactly what needed measuring, we put together a package that allowed the Lighting Systems Team to monitor the electrical consumption of the Linbury Studio in real time over the internet."

A 12- or 24-channel Power Distribution Monitor (PDM) with network access sits alongside each distribution board, with current clamps feeding d

UK - Brazilian footwear brand Melissa's London store launch attracted a VIP guest list most fashion brands would dream of, so the pressure was on for the store design to impress. The 6,000 square foot store would follow the brand's 'Galeria' concept, found currently in the flagship stores in Sao Paulo and New York, where shoes are displayed alongside art installations and sculpture.

Melissa's brief to Intevi, the Digital Solutions Provider, was to blend their artistic designs with suitable technology to bring their creativity to life. Commenting on the project, Tom Scott, managing director of Intevi said: "We had previously worked with the contractors on another retail project and they knew we could deliver on the very distinctive brief Melissa had produced. In the large entrance hall, visitors would be surrounded on three sides by floor to ceiling LED screens. These screen

UK - Registration is now open for BVE 2015 (24-26 February 2015, ExCeL London), which will welcome more than 240 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and technologies that take content from creation to consumption.

Alison Willis, Event Director, said: "BVE is the number one destination for the UK broadcast industry to launch their new products and services. The internet is great for research, but nothing beats actually meeting vendors who can explain their products in human terms or, for the vendors, meeting the people who will use their products. It's also a chance to see pieces of equipment in action - press buttons, flick switches and get excited about the technology. We have over 60 new exhibitors this year, many product launches and some exciting innovations that may well turn out to be the new must-have solutions."

Leading manufacturers including Sony, Pan

Spain - San Sebastian-based Entertainment Equipment Supplies (EES) has signed an agreement to become Doughty Engineering's Super Dealer in Spain.

EES is a successful importer and distributor of equipment and accessories for professional entertainment lighting in Spain and Julian Chiverton, sales director at Doughty, hopes this partnership will see his company's name grow in popularity in the region.

"EES is very much regarded as the premier supplier of lighting equipment and accessories across the region. It has been supplying the needs of Spain's touring market and new venues for over twenty years, with the CEO, Nacho Acha-Orbea, building the business around delivering quality and reliable solutions to his customers' technical problems. Doughty is already known in Spain but we are confident that with EES as our main representative for the region Doughty's reputation will

The Netherlands - Panasonic Visual Solutions division has launched a training programme exclusively designed for visual professionals, such as resellers, system integrators, AV rental companies and distributors.

The Panasonic training programme includes several levels to develop Panasonic visual product knowledge and gain special certifications.

Split between projectors and display (which have three and two levels respectively) Panasonic partners can engage in free online training sessions through the Academy portal to gain Visual Professional certification.

When Visual Professional certification is attained, face to face training is made available to gain Expert, and Advanced Expert (projector only) certification, which takes place at the Panasonic European headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Panasonic European training manager Siegmar Küll, said, "Greater product k

France - Award-winning French attraction Puy du Fou has become the world's first theme park to introduce a drone fleet with embedded intelligence to enhance the visitor experience.

France's second most-visited theme park (after Disneyland Paris) allows visitors to witness history being brought to life through over 60 shows - from the Vikings and Knights of the Round Table, to Richelieu's Musketeers and Gallo-Roman gladiator games.

The park's flagship show Cinéscénie - which, at over 23 hectares is also the world's largest night show - provides a look through the ages and utilises the latest advances in technology and artistry. It was for this show that the drone technology was created.

Nicolas de Villiers, President, Puy du Fou, says: "The team was searching for a way to incorporate new heights to Cinéscénie. We wanted to create the biggest c

Egypt - TIU opened its doors in November 2014, unveiling a new nightlife concept from three of Egypt's best-known operators and promoters. The new venue, which resides where Tamarai once stood, has brought a new direction to one of Cairo's most famous night time locations. With an emphasis on quality and with a desire to create the city's best clubbing experience, TIU's owners opted for a Funktion-One sound system.

Tamarai was one of the most well known venues in Egypt. It was admired for its glamour and exclusivity but as Egypt's political landscape took a seismic shift, the appetite for such attributes naturally subsided. Tamarai's owners, Ayman Baky and Ahmed Beltagy, in keeping with the general mood in the country, plotted new beginnings. The partners teamed up with Ahmed Ganzoury of ByGanz Events and drawing from a formidable pool of knowledge and expertise, the trio create

UK - Lighting designer Ewan Cameron joins an increasing list of LDs to specify Robe's new BMFL Spots. He caught the BMFL fever on UK rockers Status Quo's most recent 'Status Quo Live 2014' tour.

Status Quo's distinctive 'boogie rock' sound has earned them over 60 chart hits and a Brit Award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Music' in a career spanning 45 years. They are still going strong, with more energy than ever, delighting their very loyal original fanbase as well as at least two generations of new - and equally enthusiastic - younger Quo fans.

Ewan took over the LD slot at the end of 2013 when Quo's previous LD - almost as legendary as the band - Patrick Marks - decided to retire after 25 years in the 'hot seat'.

When it came to creating a lighting design for this tour, Ewan wanted to retain a continuity with some of the classic Quo aesthetics that Pat had evolved over

The Netherlands - Opened in 1887, Amsterdam's Koninklijk Theater Carré (Royal Theatre Carré) has played host to circuses, vaudeville, one-man shows, revues, plays, operas, operettas and musicals. Completely renovated in 2004, the venue has continued hosting a wide range of events to the present day. The ongoing demand meant a major upgrade of its audio system became necessary, with a Yamaha CL digital mixing system the chosen solution.

With a lot of main productions now running in the theatre for longer periods than before, the management wanted the flexibility to host smaller morning or afternoon productions on the front of the stage. This would allow two or more events to be run on each day - the main part of the stage containing the set for the evening's production being unused during the day.

"Koninklijk Theater Carré is one of Amsterdam's most fa

USA - Audinate is taking its successful Dante AV Networking World events on the road to six North America cites. These free, full-day events are geared toward anyone involved with the design and installation of networked audio systems, including design consultants, system integrators and sound engineers. The interactive sessions will introduce attendees to the benefits of Dante and audio over IP networking, showcase example Dante installations, and feature of a full afternoon of hands-on training.

The events are co-sponsored by Audio-Technica, Bose, ClearOne, Focusrite, Presonus, Shure, Symetrix, and Yamaha, and will feature products from these manufacturers during the hands-on training sessions and in a dedicated demonstration room. Participants to AVNW may also earn four CTS InfoComm RU credits.

The winter/spring sessions are scheduled for the following locations and dates:<

Sri Lanka - ARX's MSX series audio splitters featured prominently in the audio system for Pope Francis's recent overwhelmingly successful visit to Sri Lanka.

Mr Chaminda De Mel at Panadura based Creative Entertainment Pvt Ltd supplied the Audio System for the sea-front Mass in Colombo where in front of a reported crowd of over 1m people, Pope Francis canonised Sri Lanka's first Saint 17th Century missionary Joseph Vaz.

ARX's managing director Colin Park comments, "The supply and sale was arranged in late 2014 by ARX's Sri Lankan representative Mr Mohan Jayasuriya. Audio contractor Creative Entertainment utilised four units of MSX 32 TALL Active and one unit of MSX 48 Passive Mic / Line Splitters.

"The ARX splitters were used for broadcast & microphone splitting and for the signal distribution to the sound reinforcement system(s) providing an extensive area of cover

Australia - Rental provider Gearhouse Broadcast has rolled in nine Lawo mc2-56 audio mixing consoles, 21 x Lawo V__pro8 video processor units and a Nova73 HD router for the broadcast of the first big international sports event of 2015 - the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Traditionally, the tournament attracts the tennis elite to the 30 tennis courts in Melbourne Park where, from 11 o'clock in the morning till late at night, they fight each other for the prestige of victory and the €2.1m prize money that awaits the winners of the singles games. The finals will take place on 1 February in the Rod Laver Arena in front of an audience of 14,820 tennis fans.

Lawo staff went down under in order to support Gearhouse Broadcast in setting up and commissioning the Lawo systems. Of the nine mc²56 consoles, five are networked via a Nova73 HD to provide sound feeds for host broadcaste

UK - GDS, alongside project partners Haworth Tompkins Architects, Charcoalblue, White Light and Skelly and Couch, were closely involved in the refurbishment of the Chichester Festival Theatre in Sussex.

In refurbishing Chichester, it was essential to preserve the magic and warmth that had cast a spell over audiences for years, whilst at the same time replacing outdated and unsustainable technology. GDS was to address all aspects of auditorium and backstage lighting. The catenary lighting above the thrust stage at Chichester Festival Theatre lies at its very heart and soul and its upgrading, without any loss of original character, was crucial to the entire project.

GDS's award-winning LED ArcSystem was installed for all aspects of house lighting, including emergency lights (around 200 fixtures in total). In this case fully wired and dimming seamlessly from 100% to zero, this aw

USA - PLASA Focus: Orlando 2015 begins 17 February, and pre-registration is already hitting record-breaking numbers for attendance. Thanks to a showfloor filled with industry leaders, and the best industry professionals hosting educational seminars, pre-registration numbers are over 25% higher than PLASA Focus: Orlando 2013.

With numbers expected to increase significantly over the next three weeks, PLASA Focus is off to a great start for 2015. "We are thrilled to see such high numbers for pre-registration so far. The high quality of our exhibitors and talented panellists are proving to be of interest to attendees, and that's what we strive for with PLASA Focus tradeshows," said Laura Hoepker, sales executive for PLASA Events.

From 17-18 February at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, attendees can visit with over 60 regional and national companies, network with representatives, s

Australia - Light Tonight has launched on YouTube as a video news magazine for the English speaking professional lighting industry worldwide. The show runs less than 30 minutes, is "fast paced and loaded with news, reviews, interviews, techniques and equipment".

Produced by CX Network, the show caps 25 years industry publishing experience for the network which until now has produced publications and internet TV in Australia.

"When we started CX-TV in 2010, YouTube had a seven minute clip limit and was standard definition," CX chief Julius Grafton said.

CX Network established several successful internet TV shows, including Gearbox, CXtra and most recently The Hump. They have been broadly viewed on the website cx-tv.com and are specific to the Australian market, whereas Light-Tonight is intentionally global.

A team of presenters from

Germany - New Year's Eve on the Fan Meile in Berlin is the biggest Sylvester party in Europe, attracting well over a million visitors to the street party in front of the Brandenburg Gate. National and international performers on three stages put on a spectacular show that was broadcast live by ZDF. For several years, regular audio provider Auvisign has used Nexo PA systems for this prestigious event - this time, it was an occasion to push the new STM M28 modular line array into the limelight.

Taking everyone into 2015, the massive Sylvester party was attended by 1.2m visitors, entertained by Tony Christie, Katherine Jenkins, Annett Louisan, Howard Carpendale, Tokio Hotel, David Garrett and David Hasselhoff! As every year, it was enabled by key players Wohlthat Entertainment GmbH (production), auvisign GmbH (sound company) and Steel United Group (technical direction), reportingto

UK - XL Video supplied impressive 100ft widescreen projection and an IMAG camera system for the final three week arena tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.

XL Video's project manager was Paul Wood. He and XL have delivered the live video solution for all previous touring versions of Jeff Wayne's epic creation since its inception in 2006. Each time the video elements have become more prominent and dramatic in impact as the Martian invasion goose steps across the 'human' world.

Paul states, "It's been a great experience working on all the TWOTW shows and seeing the application of video grow along with the evolution of the whole show. It's a real case of the latest technologies being used wisely and appropriately to bring a classic story - still extremely relevant today - to life, ensuring that the presentation stays relevant and stimulating."<

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