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Austria - ARX Systems has appointed Signal Sound & Light Distribution GmbH as its exclusive distributor for Austria.

ARX MD Colin Park says, "Signal Sound & Light Distribution is a well-known and respected Austrian distributor. Here at ARX, we're looking forward to working with Matthias Reinthaler and his team. They're very enthusiastic about the possibilities for the growing ARX digital and analogue product range amongst their extensive dealer base throughout Austria."

Matthias Reinthaler, the founder of Signal, agrees. "Customer service and also after sales support is very important for us; our product specialists support the client at all times, especially after buying, so we have not only a selling position, but more of a cooperation with our clients and partners. We are proud to extend our product range with ARX products, they fit perfectly into our portf

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Venezuela - Right by the Gulf of Venezuela, the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge on lake Maracaibo connects the city with the same name with much of the rest of the country.

This 8.7 Km bridge opened in 1962 and serves as a vital infrastructure to the economy and mobility of the people in Maracaibo. To commemorate and celebrate its existence and importance, the government requested the six towers that support it to be lit. It became Viu Urbana & Varonaleds' job to design, install and commission this major task.

Viu Urbana & Varonaleds was challenged to complete this job in a short time-frame, and with a live bridge with traffic passing by around the clock. The lighting fixtures had to be installed at both sides of the bridge, which meant having teams in both lanes.

"It was almost impossible for us to use cable to communicate between towers. Each is 280 meters away from

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Sweden - Founded in 1788 and occupying an impressive Art Noveau building in Nybroplan, Stockholm since 1908, the Royal Dramatic Theatre - or Dramaten - is Sweden's National Theatre. After several years of renting Alcons loudspeakers for events, the theatre has installed a permanent system in its main space.

The state-owned venue produces classical theatre, new Swedish and international productions and is also a hub for child and youth theatre.

Dramaten has seven stages in three different buildings. Located in the main building, the 770-capacity Main Stage is, in many ways, the heart of the theatre. Its décor is maintained as close as possible to when the building opened, so the new audio system had to be compact yet deliver very high quality sound.

"The challenge was to find a physically small PA without compromising in sound. We demand even coverage throughou

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UK - Behind the Scenes UK has announced the inaugural members of the Ghostlight Society, the legacy giving programme that allows those who with careers in the entertainment technology industry to give back and make a lasting difference to their colleagues. Individuals can choose from a variety of options to become Ghostlight Society members including leaving a bequest to the charity in their will or naming BTS UK as the beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy.

Richard Thompson, a lighting designer at the Bingley Little Theatre as well as the Alhambra in Bradford and other area venues, was the first to sign on commenting, "When I made my last will some five years ago Light Relief was at the top of the list of organisations to benefit in the event of my death. Since then, of course, Light Relief has become BTS and to my mind has become even more important,

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UK - Bristol-based lighting and visuals rental specialist Fineline was commissioned by production company The Fair to add lighting ambience to the Islington Square Festival of Culture, a four-day event organised by the company at the heart of redeveloping the former site of the N1 post sorting office into a new and vibrant commercial and residential hub, due to launch in 2017.

Fineline's Rob Sangwell created a lighting scheme to illuminate a series of indoor and outdoor spaces on the site including a pop-up cinema, a live music stage, a children's theatre, a community gardening demonstration zone and a markets area, with the overall brief of making it look attractive and special.

The Markets area and the bar were internal and illuminated with a series of well positioned LED PARs, around 40 in total, together with mirror balls adding some sparkle and 250m of LED festoon to ge

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USA - Originally established in 1871, First Baptist Orlando has grown into a congregation of over 16,000 members who worship in a sanctuary with approximately 5,500 seats. When the church recently underwent a renovation, lighting designer Anthony Rush, working with the Orlando office of Stage Equipment and Lighting (SEAL), decided upon VL4000 Spot and VL4000 BeamWash luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

"I've been on staff at First Baptist Orlando since March 2013 and ever since I started in the lighting industry, I've been a fan of Vari-Lite luminaires," began Rush. "When the church decided to undergo a renovation earlier this year, I had been attending new product demos at the various dealers across the area and each time I saw the Series 4000 luminaires I would see something new. Because of their versatility and knowing the dependability of a Vari-Lite luminaire

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USA - As Elation Professional lighting gear helped ring in the New Year at events across the US, perhaps no celebration saw more enthusiastic revellers than the Resolution 2016 EDM party in Los Angeles. Held 31 December at the Garden Walk in the heart of the Anaheim Resort in Los Angeles, the Resolution event, a collaboration between Social Management Group and Heat Ultra Lounge, saw top acts 3LAU, WeareTreo and ANDR3X hype a charged crowd across multiple stages.

Lighting/set designer and production manager for the main stage was Ramiro Aguilera of Show Production Technologies, the southern California-based production and rental company that provided the Elation lighting for the event. Asked to design an EDM stage, Ramiro says the characteristics and location of the event demanded a compact stage. "Of course those of us who work in EDM festivals know very well that nothing

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Italy - Expo 2015 was held from May to October, in Milan, with the theme, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. One of the largest pavilions in Milan belonged to the US exhibition, which welcomed more than 5m visitors. And true to this year's green motto, the Americans relied on energy-saving LED technology from ETC for its lighting. Approximately 5,700sq.m of exhibition space was lit by 150 Source Four LED Series 2 luminaires, complemented by 20 Selador Desire D60 luminaires and 130 conventional Source Four fixtures.

Habegger AG, from Switzerland, was responsible for the detailed design and installation of the lighting technology; what tipped the scales for them to implement this prestigious project, according to Francesco Stendardo, managing director for Habegger Italia, was the readiness to work with partners to sustainably invest in products, making it possible to off

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Bahamas - Sitting down to design the lighting rig for the Albany resort's White New Year's Eve Party, Paul Francis Aranha and his team repeated the same vow that they've been making every year since they began working on the annual event in 2011: find a way to make this party more visually exciting than the last. This year, the team upped the excitement level in emphatic fashion by calling on the output and intense colours of Nexus 4x4 panels and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"Albany Resort and Spectrum Light & Sound are always looking for new ways to wow guests at this party," said Aranha. "It's been that way from the beginning."

Described by Forbes as "the most exclusive resort in the Bahamas," this 600-acre island complex includes 5-star restaurants, $6,000-a-night poolside condo units, over 70 deep water slips for 300' yachts and

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The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Europe is to host a specialist half-day AV/IT seminar programme exploring the synergy between IT and AV technology. It is taking place on the last day of the 2016 exhibition and will examine how AV and IT convergence impacts upon our traditional understanding of installed networks and the requirement for increased technical and operational expertise for professionals operating in these sectors.

Stefani Renner and Dieter Michel will curate the AV/IT seminar programme, on behalf of ISE. Stefani Renner is a sound and video engineer and has 25 years of experience working as a journalist and technical consultant. Dieter Michel is a physicist and the editor of Media Technology and Systems Integration magazine. In addition to having 25 years' experience as a technology journalist Michel also runs a measuring laboratory, which undertakes stud

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UK - Television and entertainment lighting rental specialists Aurora hit the stage with lighting director Gurdip Mahal for Lip Sync Battle UK, the new celebrity mimefest from Channel 5.

Following the success of its US counterpart, production company Whizz Kid kicked off Lip Sync Battle UK with a brace of exclusive performances from Alesha Dixon and David Walliams.

Loading in to BBC Elstree Studios with gaffer James Tinsley, Aurora kitted out the performance area with a host of Vari Lite fixtures including VL500, 2000 and 3000s to add colour and movement across the stage. Clay Paky Mythos were added for their pin sharp spots and powerful beam ability along with Martin's Viper Performance for key lighting the celebs in action.

Martin Rush Pars, SGM P5 and Phillips E Strips were woven in and around the set, highlighting the set pieces and providing the LD with

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UAE - Dubai-based AV and IT specialist, Almoe Group - which operates across the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India - has invested in 100 Chroma-Q Color One 100 premium performance colour-changing LED PAR fixtures for their busy rental inventory.

Founded in 1994, the Almoe Group of Companies has various divisions focusing on distribution, integration and equipment rentals. They state that one of their core values is "quality, and our passion for impeccable, stellar products and services".

"We have been aware of the Chroma-Q line of LED PARs for some time, having seen them in action at various trade shows," says Almoe's technical director, Michael Fudge. "The purchase was made for our own rental stock.

"We moved to LED PARs a few years back, but until now have been relying on lower end products, so these units are a direct upgrade from our prev

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Europe - The Netherlands-based Ampco Flashlight Sales has been elected as the main EU distributor for TourPro, a brand new range of high quality yet economical products designed and manufactured by parent company SHS Global.

Already seeing considerable success in Australia and the Americas over the past three years, TourPro has set its European launch in motion with extensive support from Ampco Flashlight Group's Sales and Rental divisions.

"We have had a long relationship with Ampco Flashlight Group in various types of business for more than 20 years," says CEO of SHS Global Leigh-Anne Aiken. "With TourPro, our focus was originally the USA. However during a meeting with Ampco at Prolight + Sound 2015 the European partnership organically came about and it's already proving successful."

The TourPro range sees a USP of superior design versus affordable p

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UK - It has been another successful panto season for HSL, supplying lighting for over 30 productions across the UK predominately for premier panto producer, Qdos during the 2015 / 16 festive period, plus rigging and a Kinesys automation system for the largest show, Peter Pan at the 3000 seater Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

Nineteen trucks packed with kit left HSL's HQ in Blackburn, Lancashire - with Swansea and Cardiff sharing transport - loaded up with a combination of moving lights, LED fixtures, strobes, follow spots and generic luminaires, together with cabling, power distribution, control and effects and atmosphere generators. Equipment flew out the door to keep pace of the barrage of slapstick, innuendo and one-liners.

The first truck was loaded up at HSL on 13 November and the most hectic weekend saw 11 trucks filled and dispatched over three days.

HSL's team

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France - No fewer than 156 Optocore devices were used to create a stable fibre backbone for signal transport when the recent COP21 (2015 Paris Climate Conference), was held at the Paris-Le Bourget Conference Centre. This ensured that audio and other data streams were delivered robustly and with minimal latency to a variety of destinations.

The summit, attended by 196 nations, set out to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.Host broadcasters, AV France, tasked with supplying live pool feeds to television and radio broadcasters and journalists, chose the Optocore solution to help create two distinct digital networks.

The first allowed AV France to provide the television and radio audio signal to the press. The second allowed connection of the OB vans and advanced SNG trucks that could live stream vid

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Switzerland - Two leading Croatian music artists - rock band Prljavo Kazaliste and pop singer Tony Cetinski - double headlined in a special annual concert event in Zurich's Stadthalle Dietikon, organised by Croatia-Media Organizacija (Croatia Media Organisation).

A striking lighting show was programmed by Sven Kucinic who works regularly with Prljavo Kazaliste. Tony Cetinski does not currently travel with an LD, so his management asked if Sven could also take care of lighting the show.

In addition to the house lighting rig which includes Robe LEDWash 800s and ColorSpot 575E ATs, the event's lighting supplier was Swiss rental and event production company eventattack, which has invested heavily in Robe in recent years. The rig featured 12 x LEDWash 800s, 16 x LEDBeam 100s and 16 x Pointes which were hung on the house bars in a relatively conventional set up. The versatility of

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UK - Since it first opened in 1732, the Royal Opera House has become one of the world's most recognised and respected performance venues. Based in Covent Garden, the building is home to both the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet and is renowned for its outstanding variety of traditional work and new commissions.

With such a vast array of productions seen by almost 800,000 visitors every year, the Royal Opera House must rely on state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that each show achieves its potential. As a result, the venue has invested significantly in Wireless Solution's W-DMX; with every purchase being made through White Light.

Justin Cook is the lighting systems manager and part of the technical production team at the Royal Opera House. He comments, "We decided to invest in Wireless DMX as we were aware of the huge impact it would have in how the productions are run at t

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UK - Ambersphere Solutions will be running free 90-minute training sessions on the dot2, MA Lighting's new console designed for smaller and mid-sized projects and venues, during PLASA Focus Glasgow at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). Upon completion of the hands-on session, participants will be well on the way to running their first show on the dot2 lighting console.

The 90-minute intro sessions will cover all the basic operational features of the dot2 console including an overview of the whole dot2 product range, before diving into controlling fixtures, creating pre-sets and cue lists. Building chases and creating and using effects will also be covered. Ambersphere staff will be on hand to answer any questions participants might have following the session.

The dot2 range consists of three lightin

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South Africa - From its modest beginnings at the OppiKoppi farm in 1994, this diverse festival has now celebrated its 21st anniversary by welcoming 162 artists to perform over three days on seven stages, to around 20,000 revellers.

Located in Northam, Limpopo province, north east of Pretoria, this South African festival boasts an unrivalled reputation as the live music event of the season. OppiKoppi 2015 welcomed the opportunity to embrace the latest software technology in the form of ArrayProcessing, from d&b audiotechnik.

Blue Array Productions from Pretoria supplied the audio equipment on all but one of the stages; The James Phillips Stage and the Skellum Stage were both rigged with a d&b Q-Series system, while the Bruilof Stage was kitted out with V-Series L/R. On the Main Stage, it was J-Series, comprising J8s and J12s, supplemented by a meaty number of J SUBs both grou

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Lebanon - Opened in the summer of 2015, Seven Sisters has fast become one of the trendiest venues in Lebanon's capital, Beirut. An oasis in the skyscraper-packed city, the day-and-night hotspot is located on the waterfront in downtown Beirut and clients can relax in a green environment, watch a show in the outdoor area, chill out under a tree, or savour a breath-taking sunset while having a drink at

To ensure the audio rig installed was up to the high standards set for the venue, the management team called in local system integrator Sound Pressure Level.

Headquartered in Beirut, SPL was founded in 1993, has a lengthy experience in touring, and now focusses on audio installation and rental. Thanks to its 24 hour, seven days a week year-round service, the company has built up an enviable client portfolio, installing systems in theatres, cinemas, hotels, ballrooms, conference c

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Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie, one of the most influential artists of his era, died on 10th January at the age of 69 following a private 18 month battle with cancer. The news was announced via the artist's official Facebook and Twitter pages, with Bowie's son Duncan Jones later confirming the news on his own Twitter feed. A true creative to the very end, his death came just two days after the release of his latest album, Blackstar which has been heralded as a 'parting gift' to his fans by many, including Bowie's friend and producer, Tony Visconti who writes: "He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life - a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordi

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UK - LSi magazine has teamed up with Production Park, Nitelites and RCF to give readers exclusive access to a tour of the largest facility of its kind in the UK. This brand new, £2.5m Phase One development is a cluster of live event production resources spanning over 300,00sq.ft and incorporating five LS-Live rehearsal studios, three of which are mega-sized spaces, each over 17,000sq.ft.

The park is also home to a variety of other industry brands including: Brilliant Stages, Perry Scenic Creative, Litestructures, LS-Live, The Music Consortium, Knight Rigging Services, Tek LED, J&C Joel - and, of course, the renowned live events university centre, Backstage Academy.

Across the three open days, from 1-3 March, you can also meet the Nitelites team, who (using LS-Live's 17,500sq.ft Studio 001) will demo their new turnkey arena touring package from the specialist Italian lo

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France - Robert Juliat has announced the appointment of two new distributors at the start of 2016.

ACT Canada, has become the new exclusive distributor of Robert Juliat products in Canada, following the conclusion of a successful relationship with MDG which has chosen to focus on developing its own brand. The new arrangement with ACT Lighting takes effect from 1 January 2016.

"We have worked with ACT Lighting in the USA for the past year and have been exceedingly happy with the relationship that has formed between our companies in this region," says Robert Juliat CEO, Francois Juliat. "It is a logical transition for ACT Canada to take on our distribution in Canada following MDG's decision to cease all distribution of other brands. ACT Lighting has offices in Toronto as well as Los Angeles and New York and we are confident the new arrangements in Canada will pr

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UK - Audio visual event supplier Smart AV, part of The Incredible Pixel Group (IPG), has announced an official partnership with LED manufacturer Shenzhen Eastar Electronic Co., LTD (Esdlumen) as its first LED distribution partner within the UK.

This follows a recent expansion into the permanent LED installation arena from Smart AV, which has served the events and exhibitions industry as a rental partner for over 10 years. As a distributor, under its new Smart LED division, Smart AV will offer quick turnaround and more direct support on a range of LED products including indoor, outdoor and creative LED. This will allow the company to offer training, servicing and technical support on the full range of Esdlumen products.

The partnership, confirmed during Smart AV's recent LED research and development tour in China, will strengthen Smart AV's position including the development

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