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UK - On Saturday 4 September, a cohort of industry professionals cycled from SFL in Reading to PLASA Show at Olympia London to raise money for Backup, the technical entertainment charity and mark the return of PLASA Show.
Fourteen cyclists made the journey, representing Autograph, Avolites, Backup, Collaborative creations, Creative Technologies, Event Decision, PLASA, SFL, SLX, TSL and White Light. One team cycled 40 miles direct to London, while the other traversed the challenging Surrey Hills - together they have so far raised over £1,300, with donations still coming in.

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UK - East London art deco venue Troxy unveiled a substantial restoration project ahead of its 88th birthday on 11 September.
The venue, which reopens this month with a series of events, including a gig with ska band The Specials on 25 September, has completed the first stages of an ambitious transformation project. The team has been working for over 12 months, to create a new stage, enabling larger productions, restored the foyer and entrance area and created new facilities for visitors to the venue.
The project design has been led by historic building specialists Ian Chal
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USA - Magmatic atmospheric effects is offering two new snow machines in its Polar series of high-volume snow effects that ‘make it easy to create wintry scenes of natural-looking snow’. Suitable for any seasonal production, in stock and ready for delivery are the compact and lightweight Crisp and the road case-protected Crisp Max with 20-litre fluid tank.
With its small size and easy mobility, Crisp is a set-it-and-forget-it snow effect. The unit weighs 33.5 lbs. (15.2kg) with a hanging bracket that doubles as a convenient carrying handle. Crisp uses Magmatic’s specially fo

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Light Night Leeds - Digital lightning bolts and a light sculpture of a giant endangered marine mammal are among the spectacles set to light up Leeds as part of the city's annual Light Night festival. The two-day event starting on 14 October will see some of the city's well-known buildings and landmarks lit up with light projections - and this year's theme is nature and climate change.
More than 40 installations and artworks will be on show including a large-scale replica of the Earth by artist Luke Jerram and an illumination of lightning bolts on the front of Leeds Civic Ha

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UK - At this year’s PLASA Show, on stand D4, Data Strategy will showcase QC-Check’s integration with SimplyPATS, a software programme that specialises in providing the download of data from over 50 PAT Testers.
This integration was developed to allow QC-Check to import into its database the test results from other manufacturers’ Portable Appliance Testers. It offers the facility to use the powerful QC-Check database to selectively filter equipment requiring a test into manageable chunks of data and download it to the client testers.
The new SimplyPats integration will

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USA - Behind The Scenes has reminded that September is National Suicide Awareness Month - “and while we may be getting back to work, the need for awareness and action is greater than ever,” says the charity.
“Underemployment, new demands in the workplace, and worry about the future are all contributing to the negative impact on mental health. The reality is that many are not coping well and reports of suicide are on the rise,” adds BTS.
Running from 5-11 September, National Suicide Prevention Week is an opportunity to learn what you can do to help those you may be co

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Socially Distanced - The Royal Shakespeare Company will host a series of socially distanced performances of its new musical throughout November and December to cater for audiences that do not want to attend a full-capacity show. Seven socially distanced performances of The Magician’s Elephant have been scheduled throughout the three-month run, which marks the reopening of the RSC’s main house in Stratford-Upon-Avon for the first time since the pandemic began.
At each of the designated performances, audiences will be seated with an empty row in front of and behind them,

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UK - Industry charity Backup has long recognised the technical entertainment industry as an exciting, but challenging place to work and is committed to helping those who face the pressure and stress involved by providing further help and support.
Now, the charity has launched a free helpline that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide a centralised access point for both urgent and non-urgent well-being support.
The helpline offers a number of options, from a dedicated Backup counsellor, to direct transfer to other industry charities, including the Music S

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Pilot Programme - Further findings from the government’s Covid pilot programme claim that mass participation events "can be conducted safely", with case numbers from four months of crowds remaining in line with, or below, community infection rates. Little to no coronavirus cases were detected among audiences that had attended several theatre pilots, including indoor and outdoor performance.
The second release of data from the Events Research Programme, covering phases II and III of the pilot scheme, concluded that major events can take place in a safe way and demonstrates how ce

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USA - After a storied career in the entertainment industry, ESTA’s membership manager, Frances Thompson, will be retiring at the end of 2021. For over two decades, she has been a vital force in the growth of the association and a galvanizing presence at trade shows and events.
In 1996, Frances was appointed to the ESTA Board of Directors, after being a part of the Business Resource Group for several years. She then served as manufacturer director until early 2000, when she was appointed as an affiliate director. Around 2001, Frances joined the ESTA staff and has since held sever

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Reselling Regulations - The UK's competition watchdog has said ticket resale firms such as Viagogo and StubHub should face tighter rules. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said current laws meant it was not possible to act swiftly and effectively against touts. Another problem came from resellers who speculatively sold tickets they did not own, the regulator said.
The CMA has previously taken action against both Viagogo and StubHub, which have made changes as a result. In February, a year after Viagogo bought StubHub for $4.1bn (£3.1bn), the regulator told Viagogo to se

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USA - Behind the Scenes reports that NATEAC, the North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, has made a $10,000 donation to support the work of the charity. NATEAC is a quadrennial conference which had been scheduled to take place in New York City last summer and was turned into a highly successful virtual conference held 20-22 July, 2021.
On presenting the cheque, NATEAC founder, Bill Sapsis, commented, “All of us at NATEAC are very happy to provide this donation in support of the terrific work the Behind the Scenes Foundation offers through its grants progr

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Virtual Fundraising - Musicians including Annie Lennox, Ed Sheeran and Sir Mick Jagger will join with Bollywood stars to raise funds for Covid relief work in India. A virtual fundraising event entitled We For India: Saving Lives will take place on Sunday 15 August, in both London and Mumbai.
The three-hour event, ran by social impact enterprise The World We Want, will be livestreamed over Facebook. It will feature more than 80 Indian performers such as composer AR Rahman. Nile Rodgers, Sister Sledge, Jay Shetty and Nancy Ajram will also take part in the event. Rajkummar Rao

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UK - The live events sector is set to get a boost with a government-backed insurance scheme worth over £750m, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday (5 August).
The news comes after many months of campaigning by the events sector and the wider music industry for the introduction of such a scheme. However, it comes too late for many, with over fifty per cent of scheduled festivals – both large and small – cancelled or postponed.
The government has partnered with Lloyd’s to deliver the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme as part of the Plan for Jobs. The scheme will

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China - Resulting from the heightened popularity and massive growth within the eSports industry, Tencent China and Riot Games recently joined forces to create TJ Sports, Asia’s first large-scale eSports remote production centre. As the eSports industry continues to expand across the globe, production companies are looking to streamline operator workflow.
Providing a technologically advanced, yet simple-to-operate control solution, TJ Sports selected TSL Products’ TallyMan Advanced Broadcast Control System to accomplish the management of large-scale video switchers, audio mixer

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UK - The partners behind 5G Festival have successfully completed the second set of trials to test critical aspects of the technology that will be used to deliver a music collaboration toolset and experience for artists, audiences and venues. The results will deliver the world’s first 5G powered hybrid immersive festival experience early next year.
The social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the live music industry has been severe. 5G Festival is part of efforts across the sector to create innovative platforms for musicians and artists to write, rehearse and pr

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Vaccination Proof - Delfont Mackintosh Theatres has become the second major theatre group to require audience members to show proof of vaccination before seeing a show. The company follows Ambassador Theatre Group in introducing the requirement, after all social-distancing measures were lifted.
DMT owns eight West End theatres, including the Novello, the Noël Coward, the Sondheim and the Prince Edward Theatre. The company states on its website: “As capacity restrictions are lifted, we ask that all audience members bring with them proof of double vaccination, a recent negative l

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UK - SES is moving from its Datchet base to a new facility in Colnbrook. Having continuously expanded over the last few years, SES has taken the decision to move to much larger facilities which will enable the company to expand further over the next few years.
“Our new home enables us to have all our manufacturing, design and production under one roof,” says group director Gordon Cooper, “and allows us to continue to develop industry leading products and facilitate customers’ requirements in a more efficient manner.
“The space that we will have will allow us to pur

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UK - Global event specialist, The Spendlove Group has announced the launch of THE Production TEAM. The new company will combine the skills and expertise that exist within the group to deliver a global event recruitment business.
Launched as the event industry makes a welcome return, THE Production TEAM will offer ‘a myriad of recruitment services to event management companies, venues and production houses operating within film & TV, events and theatre’. Offering complete transparency for both clients and freelancers with competitive rates of pay, all candidates will be ve

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Hardest Hit - Music, performing and visual arts has been the creative sector hardest hit by the pandemic – losing 80,000 jobs and an estimated £4bn in gross value added for the UK economy, according to new data.
Before the pandemic, music, performing and visual arts contributed £10.6bn in GVA and employed 314,000 people. However, new data from Oxford Economics, published in a report by the Creative UK Group, estimates that these sectors have lost 39% of GVA, equating to a loss of £4bn to the UK economy. According to the report, music, performing and visual arts have also lost

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UK - On Saturday 4 September, a group of industry professionals will band together for BikeFest, a fundraising bike ride from SFL’s headquarters in Reading to PLASA Show at Olympia London. BikeFest aims to raise funds for industry charities and mark the return of live events and entertainment following 18 months of unparalled challenge. 

The organisers of BikeFest are calling for fellow cyclists to sign up and follow them on one of two routes: a relaxed 40-mile ride direct to London via flat roads and cycle paths, or a more st

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UK - The Kingshakes, an old-school neo rockabilly band has kicked off its post-pandemic gig calendar. Van Damme cables have been at the core of every performance, most recently at the Hot Rod and Custom Car Show in Peterborough.
Formed in 2013 The Kingshakes are a three-piece ensemble, consisting of guitarist Andy Kandil, drummer Steve Clark and double bass player Dan Clark. Prior to the global COVID-19 outbreak, they played all over the world and across the UK.
Dan Clark explains: “I’ve been using Van Damme cables since I was in my teens. I was trying out lots of diffe

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Blunt Instrument - Future performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella have been cancelled, with the composer blaming the “blunt instrument that is the government’s isolation guidance”. Lloyd Webber said “Freedom Day has turned into closure day” as he announced the decision not to open the musical, which was due to have its press night on 19 July and a gala performance on 20 July. It follows the cancellation of two shows at the weekend, which Lloyd Webber said had been a "precautionary measure".
Producers have not yet indicated when Cinderella will re

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UK - The Scottish events industry is appealing to the Scottish government to provide a further financial boost and additional support to secure a safe and sustainable return of the sector devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Scotland’s Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG) is recommending an extra £40m in re-start funding be made available along with a raft of other initiatives including continuation of the Job Retention Scheme on a flexible basis from this September to March next year.
The group warns that failure to act could cost the country its status as a world-c
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