USA - Bandit Lites has announced the hiring of Andy Reese as the newest technical assistant to its Technical Services Department. Reese will be coordinating with the both the technical services and the sales departments to ensure that all customers (internal and external) get the parts and supplies that they need.

Originally a Knoxville native, Reese received his bachelors of science from Middle Tennessee State University, where he majored in the recording industry with a concentration in music business. He has since relocated to Nashville after working in Tulsa, OK as both an event a

Germany - An increasing number of modern sound reinforcement systems require real-time monitoring of the loudspeaker lines. This is especially true in the context of evacuation systems, in which long loudspeaker circuits comprising many smaller, high-impedance boxes are often required. The Electro-Voice CPS series and Dynacord DSA series multichannel amplifiers already provide 100-volt-line direct drive operation for these types of loudspeaker circuits but in the past supervision of such Hi-Z lines was not practical due to the high impedance characteristics of the load.

The LML-1 (Lou

USA - Continuing an ongoing research and development cycle, the new ADA8200 features Midas mic preamps, as well as a host of other new and powerful features.

The ADA8200 is a state-of-the-art, eight-channel A/D and D/A converter with eight onboard Midas-designed mic preamps. Users can connect their favourite mics, including studio-grade condensers thanks to built-in true +48 V power, and record directly to a multi-track or computer-based recorder via the built-in ADAT interface. Digital to analog and analog to digital conversion takes place accurately and instantaneously via reference

Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB has reported its achievements during 2012 and is preparing for "an even stronger future". The company broke its own record with a 50% increase of turnover between 2010 and 2011, and an additional increase between 2011 and 2012, even during a slower economy.

Wireless Solution was nominated the highest ranking of financial strength in 2012 from International Dun & Bradstreet with AAA.

Wireless Solution has invested heavily in a new approval for Russia, being the first company outside Russia that has import approval to Russia as well as an

Belgium - Allen & Heath has appointed new sales and distribution company, XLR, as its exclusive distributor in Belgium and Luxembourg. A fledgling operation, XLR's team is already well established in the pro audio business as it is owned and run by Louis Lukusa and Jan De Brucker, who previously worked at ASC, Allen & Heath's former distributor for the region.

Louis Lukusa commented, "We are delighted to continue working with A&H, this is a leading brand with a long history of innovative products. We are looking forward to developing a successful business and to ensure customer s

UK - Crestron UK has announced expansion in Scotland with two new appointments; Alistair Kelly as commercial account manager and Peter Brown as business development manager. They will be key members of Crestron's expanding UK team, based in Scotland.

As commercial account manager Kelly will be supporting reseller partners and training programmes, and provide end users with a dedicated solution for their commercial needs. He joins Crestron with a good knowledge of its products and solutions, having worked for over five years at an AV conferencing distributor. He says "I am looking

USA - Audinate has announced the newest member of the Dante product family: Ultimo. Ultimo is a complete, fully-featured, ready-to-use Dante interface for networked audio products, integrated into a single 13 x 13mm chip. By providing an integrated, cost-effective networked audio solution over a 100Mbps Ethernet interface, Ultimo extends the benefits of Dante networking to a wide new range of audio devices.

As with Audinate's other networked products, Ultimo uses high-quality, low-jitter clocks with ±1?s time alignment between networked devices. Ultimo does not require specialised sw

The Netherlands - As ISE 2013 opened its doors, organiser Integrated Systems Events has announced a further extension of its contract with Amsterdam RAI.

ISE has been located in Amsterdam for eight of its 10 years. Its previous contract with the RAI - one of the world's most successful convention venues - ran until 2016. This has now been extended for a further three years.

"Extending our contract with the RAI provides certainty for all of our event's stakeholders: associations, exhibitors, visitors and press," explains Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems

UK - Prolyte Products UK has expanded its projects team with the appointment of Alex White as trainee project manager.

This development follows Prolyte Group's acquisition of Brilliant Stages in July last year, which consolidated the custom capabilities already established within its special projects division, Litestructures. As envisaged, the two entities have pooled their knowledge and experience to deliver several impressive projects over the past six months. The synergy between the companies has proven to be very successful, with further collaborative ventures already lined up for

UK - From riggers and tradesmen to specialist stunt teams, Dirty Rigger's new Secutor Utility Belt has drawn much interest from end users and distributors around the world.

The new belt has been designed and engineered with comfort and versatility being paramount. The Secutor Belt features a 5-inch wide padded back, lined with specially selected foam and a breathable mesh for exceptional all-day comfort.

The belt also boasts four fully adjustable and re-positionable D-rings for securing additional attachments and a 2-inch outer belt, designed to work with all Dirty Rigger tool pouch

Russia - SES Entertainment Services has appointed the Moscow based company Skyfox as its sole distributor for the region. Following a very positive meeting at PLASA, in September, the deal was finally signed in the offices of Skyfox in Moscow, to the satisfaction of both companies.

Gordon Cooper from SES commented, "We are committed to finding quality distributors in several key areas around the globe, and having Skyfox in Moscow fits perfectly with our plans. The company have a very professional approach to the market and offered SES exactly what was required in order to use and

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has announced that Peter Butler has been appointed to their board of directors as audio visual director.

Joining the company in 2003 as audio sales manager, Butler has been instrumental in driving forward and helping to establish the dedicated Audio Division, forging many new associations and relationships with manufacturers and customers along the way, says the company.

In 2011 Butler was appointed as acting video sales manager for AC-ET's Video Division, taking on a range of additional challenges and responsibilities.

Since then, he h

USA - Three PLASA standards are now in public review. The public review materials for the standards are available at the web address below. The last day to comment for each of them is April 1.

BSR E1.44 - 201x, Common Show File Exchange Format For Entertainment Industry Automation Control Systems - Stage Machinery, defines a common show file format for the exchange of automation control data between control systems by different manufacturers of stage machinery.

BSR E1.45 - 201x, Unidirectional Transport of IEEE 802 data frames over ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A), defines a minimal method to

World - PLASA, the global leader in developing technical standards for the entertainment industry, and the Event Safety Alliance, the emerging voice of event production best practices, are formally announcing their mutual endorsement in the ongoing efforts to raise awareness and use of industry best practices and technical standards throughout live entertainment production.

Lori Rubinstein, PLASA's North American executive director comments, "The ESA's Event Safety Guide will be an important and relevant tool for disseminating the vast array of industry best practices nece

USA - The Long Reach Long Riders and The ESTA Foundation will host their annual raffle to benefit Behind the Scenes at the USITT Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 21-23 March. This year's raffle will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride. The Riders have raised over $350,000 for charity in their 10 years of touring some of the country's most beautiful areas.

The Behind the Scenes Boutique will also be open for business during the show featuring the new USB LED Ghostlight, an assortment of great Behind the Scenes swag, and the fam

USA - PLASA has announced the members of the 2013 PERG Council who are responsible for overseeing the activities of the Production Equipment Rental Group which serves the needs of the film and digital community within PLASA. The PERG Council is made up of leading members of that community who donate significant time and resources to shine a light on the challenges and opportunities faced by professional rental companies and focus the collective experience and expertise of members to shape solutions and responses.

Mark Wofford, general manager of Production Consultants & Equipment in A

Keeping Clean - London's National Theatre is one of four historic sites to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for "wash and brush up" restoration work. It has been granted £2.5m to help enhance the 20th-Century modernist building on London's South Bank. Last year, Arts Council England gave the theatre £17.5m to aid its upgrades. The remaining sites include Rochester Cathedral in Kent, the Carnegie Library in Dunfermline and Victorian mansion house Insole Court in Cardiff. A total of £11m was awarded to the places of cultural interest in England, S

Czech Republic - A.C. Entertainment Technologies has announced that Ales Grivac will be working with their international sales team as regional sales representative.

A well known figure within the entertainment technology industry, Grivac brings with him over 10 years experience in the business. Based in Czech Republic, he will be travelling extensively to further increase AC-ET's growing presence within the European market, as well as promoting the company's wide range of key and exclusive entertainment technology brands.

Grivac comments, "After taking a couple of years out, I

USA - Orlando-based Alcorn McBride is well positioned for growth in international markets. In the past year, Alcorn McBride has restructured distribution in Asia, partnering with Wincomn in China and Hong Kong, Electori in Japan, Sovico in Korea, and several companies in Singapore.

"We anticipate significant growth in the themed entertainment and family entertainment markets in Asia. Our products are uniquely engineered for the those markets so we sought to partner with the most aggressive and well respected distributors in each area," notes Alcorn McBride's sales manager La

UK - Star Events Group Ltd has signed a preferred supplier agreement with R.C Robinson Haulage Ltd. These two long standing Bedfordshire based companies have been working together over the past year and chose to formalise what has been a very successful relationship between them for some time. This agreement coincides with significant changes introduced by Cheryl Bowden the new logistics manager at Star Events Group.

After 25 years of running their own trucks, Star Events have made the switch to subcontracting all of their haulage in order to introduce cost savings and efficiencies. B

UK - Qdos Event Hire has been appointed to provide cabins, luxury toilets and waste tanks for this year's Brit Awards.

The contract was awarded by Brit Award Production Ltd and will see Qdos supply their cabins for use as production offices and hospitality areas for backstage and the after-show party. They will also supply a range of their luxury toilets to support the existing facilities in-house at the venue. In addition they will be installing tanks for catering waste.

The 2013 BRIT Awards, widely regarded as the biggest event in the British music industry's calendar, will be hel

Grammy Awards- The 55th Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles, with Fun, Gotye and Mumford and Sons among the winners. Fun's anthem We Are Young, featuring Janelle Monae, was named song of the year, with the New York band going on to win the best new artist prize.

Gotye's international hit Somebody That I Used To Know received the record of the year, one of three prizes received by the Belgian-Australian artist. Mumford and Sons took home the album of the year prize for Babel. The English folk rockers received their honour from fellow-countrywoman Adele, who had

UK - Dave Bellamy, Showforce's client relations manager, was awarded the accolade of 'Best Employee' at the Event Production Awards 2013.

With 20 awards presented in total, by comedian Tom Stade, Dave Bellamy and Kim Gavin, artistic director of the Olympic and Paralympic closing ceremonies were the only individuals to receive awards on the night.

Bellamy was nominated for the award by Showforce's chairman Ian Spendlove who said, "I really wanted to formally acknowledge the hard work, commitment and high standards demonstrated by Dave throughout, what was undoubtedly, the busies

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd have announced their continued sponsorship of promising young UK racing driver, Jack Goff, who is taking his career to the next level this year by competing in the Dunlop MSA 2013 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season with Team HARD.

GOff's debut in the BTCC follows his triumph in 2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup, which saw him crowned Championship Winner after a gripping title fight down to the deciding last race of the season.

AC-ET have supported 21 year old Jack whilst he competed in three successive Renault Clio Cup seas

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