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UK - Initially launched by PLASA in response to calls from its membership, the #WeMakeEvents campaign aims to raise awareness around the current plight of the live events sector and how it urgently needs financial support in order to survive the COVID-19 crisis. The initial response resulted in a collective Day of Action on 11 August, with creative expressions across the country, including over 700 buildings lit up in red and other activities that culminated with 4,000 socially distanced event professionals lining bridges and the bankside of the Thames, expressing their need for support

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UK - On 11 August, as part of the PLASA-initiated UK-wide #WeMakeEvents day of action, the live events and production community in Manchester organised a silent and socially distanced flight case march across the city which culminated in a dramatic red flare exhibit.
Over 1,000 freelancers and supply companies attended the regional protest which collectively asked the Government to extend its furlough scheme and allow access to grants in order to help save an estimated 114,000 jobs.
The protest implemented the Tour Production Group (TPG) COVID-19 Working Guidance.
Ac
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Island Music - While most music festivals over the bank holiday weekend switched to online streams one had a sell-out crowd. Guernsey has been Covid-19 free since 27 May and ended social distancing in June. It meant the Vale Earth Fair was able to continue to provide 12 hours of live music as it has done for 44 years.
The event proved so popular that some people who hadn't purchased a ticket were turned away later as the site was at capacity. About 3,500 islanders enjoyed bands, choirs, acoustic sets, DJs and spoken word across six stages in the grounds of the 600-year-old Vale Ca

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UK - Resource management software provider Xytech continues to innovate its MediaPulse resource management system, this time with the release of a new, fully featured graphical user interface for the Media Orchestrator.
Seamlessly incorporated to the workflow software, the new graphical UI merges asset management, operations and resource management, allowing game-changing media services companies to monitor the people, facilities or equipment needed to complete a given task.
“All too often, companies are adversely effected by a lack of efficiency in their workflows, and th

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Risk Research - Scientists in Germany held three pop concerts in a single day to investigate the risks posed by mass indoor events during the pandemic. About 1,500 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 50 - only a third of the expected number - took part. But the head of the study, which was carried out in Leipzig by Halle University, said he was "very satisfied" with how the event unfolded. Singer-songwriter Tim Bendzko agreed to perform at all three successive gigs.
The concert study, called Restart-19, was created "to investigate the conditions under which such events can be c

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USA - PSAV has announced that Ben Erwin has been named chief executive officer, effective immediately, and will maintain his current title as president. In his new role, Erwin will be responsible for driving the strategic direction of the company and overseeing the execution of its business plan.
Says the company, “This leadership transition occurs as PSAV continues to take a leading role in helping its customers adjust to the current environment of the meeting and events industry. Erwin succeeds Mike Mcllwain, who has served as CEO since 2011.”
“I am honoured to assum

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UK - Singer-songwriter Joe Bygraves has produced the single, Stand As One in support of charities helping the live entertainment and events industry. Its official release on Spotify, iTunes and all streaming services is today, 21 August at 12.00pm.
The 24-year-old from Bedfordshire has written and performed the song, which aims to reach out to people struggling with issues surrounding mental health during and looking past the COVID-19 pandemic, especially focusing on the behind-the-scenes professionals who, in any other year, would be pulling together to create the infrastr

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USA - Inspired by efforts in the UK, mainland Europe and South Africa, the US live events industry is set to host its own #WeMakeEvents ‘Red Alert’ day of action on 1 September.
Using the hashtags #WeMakeEvents #RedAlertRESTART and #ExtendPUA to gain momentum, the move represents a major call to action on Tuesday, 1 September, imploring the US Congress to pass the RESTART Act (S.3814) as quickly as possible, offering economic relief to America’s live events industry, which has been shuttered since March, 2020, putting millions of people out of work. Additionally, the movemen

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UK - AnyBrand is introducing face coverings treated with HeiQ Viroblock technology, a “tested and proven COVID-19 barrier” that counteracts the airborne transmission of the virus.
HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 Swiss technology has been tested to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in the laboratory and the ISO-tested 18184, which is added to the fabric during the final stage of the textile manufacturing process.
AnyBrand founder Colin Graham states: “The new every-day problems we face need high tech and sustainable solutions. Partnering with HeiQ allows us to do this wi

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Financial Guidance - Guidance has been published on how arts organisations can apply for the government’s £270m repayable finance scheme. The repayable finance was announced as part of the government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, which also includes £622m of grants.
Theatres can either apply for grants of up to £3m or for loans for larger amounts. With the repayable finance package, which is geared towards larger organisations, the government aims to "stabilise cultural organisations until they can return to sustainable operations". Applications will be "assessed agains

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USA - LSi is sad to report that Howell Binkley, one of the most distinguished theatre/dance lighting designers of his generation, died on Friday 14th August in Jacksonville, North Carolina, of lung cancer. He was 64. "He was just a special spirit," his widow, Joyce Storey, told the Winston-Salem Journal. "He was adored by so many and will be missed by all."
According to the Journal, Binkley, a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, attended Atkins High School, where he was first drawn to theatre. He worked at the Little Theatre o

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UK - With government guidance now emerging for the events industry, Showforce has partnered with industry safety specialist The Event Safety Shop (tess) to develop COVID-19 protocols and risk assessments specifically for the global crewing business.
The new working practices have been written in-conjunction with Showforce’s NEBOSH qualified health, safety and training manager, Laurence Jones and the highly experienced team at tess. They are designed to minimise the risk of infection and ensure the safety of Showforce’s crew, clients and fellow contractors in the working envir

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Pantos Postponed - Four of London’s biggest pantomimes have become the latest major productions to postpone their 2020 performances amid ongoing uncertainty from government about reopening.
The Hackney Empire’s annual show will not take place this year, neither will pantomimes at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, which will not be staging a pantomime for the first time in nearly 70 years. Last year, the four pantomimes attracted audiences of more than 145,000 and typically employ over 280 freelancers.
A join

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Germany - Berlin-based full service live event and technical production specialist TSE AG has been utilising the unexpected downtime of the pandemic in a number of constructive ways including professional development and launching a new exercise for all their trainee staff and apprentices called The Next.
This is designed to encourage their budding new talent in the fields of event management, production and organisation, lighting, visual, production and audio design to shine through.
The trainees themselves initiated the idea of setting up and creating a lighting,

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UK - Lights Camera Action (LCA) has re-located to new premises in High Wycombe and will be trading as normal from this location with its newly-built offices and demo area.
Stock levels on all the products will be maintained at their current levels so the fast turnarounds you have been used to from LCA will absolutely continue, says the company.
“If getting out to our new location is a little harder for you don't worry we have access to a greater number of delivery vans or we can happily ‘meet you halfway’ as needed.”
The new address is: Centauri House, Hillbo

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Rebuilding Trust - Industry leaders are developing a quality mark to be displayed in theatres and on other promotional materials, aimed at rebuilding trust among theatregoers. It is one of a number of measures being planned to regain the confidence of theatregoers when venues are able to reopen. Staggered start times for shows are also being considered, as well as plans to work with Transport for London on helping audiences get to theatres.
The plans are being drawn up by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, which have revealed they will be creating a quality assurance ma

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USA - Theatre Projects has announced the addition of Gena Buhler in the new position of head of new business development, North America. Joining from the Wheeler Opera House (Aspen, CO) where she served as the executive and artistic director, Buhler brings over 20 years’ experience in event production, venue management, operational logistics, festival and program development, and relationship-building of critical partnerships.
She will lead the business development team in North America and will act as a key member of the strategic pla

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UK - Harry Parslow, managing director of TourLife, which provides support services for the touring and live entertainment industry, has been shortlisted for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category at the 2020 Great British Entrepreneur Awards for the South West region.
The Great British Entrepreneur Awards - which will be held on 23 September via a virtual ceremony for the first time - has shortlisted 550 entrepreneurs and 433 businesses across eight regions in 15 categories, including Creative Industries, Disruptor, Scale-Up and Young.
Launched in 2012, the Great Britis

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UK - Electro Kabuki has started a process to enhance its website. The site at https://electrokabuki.com now offers an online ordering and payment facility covering the entire range of Electro Kabuki systems, components, accessories and spares for UK delivery.
With the new e-commerce and shopping cart functionality, web visitors can now select from over 20 different products lines including Starter Packs, Flight Cases, individual Electro Kabuki dropper modules and an array of accessories.
In this first phase of the website’s upgrade, online ordering and delivery is limited

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Belgium - Harlequin Floors has launched its new manufacturing plant and distribution centre in Liège.
The new 2,000 sq.m plant based in Liège will manufacture Harlequin Liberty sprung floor panels and will ensure an even faster service for our European clients, especially those in the events industry where a rapid turnaround on orders is a prerequisite and will be even more important to help rebuild the industry post-pandemic. The new site will improve efficiencies in manufacturing and supply, says the company.
It will also enable Harlequin to service the growing demand fo

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Emergency Support - Grassroots music venues in England will be the first cultural organisations to benefit from the government’s £1.57 billion package for the arts, with the most at-risk organisations receiving cash in the “next few weeks”. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that the first tranche of money - totalling £2.25m - will fund emergency support grants for music venues at risk of imminent collapse.
It is the first news about how the billion-pound package will be spent, coming nearly three weeks after the initial announcement and fol

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UK - The entertainment industry as a whole has been widely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and resource has been put into new, on-demand projects such as virtual events and live streams, temporary structures for health services, and educational systems for schools, colleges, and universities.
The team at Current RMS has recognised the shift in priorities and has launched new features that represent this new climate. Their new ‘postponed’ feature allows for users to temporarily pause jobs that will be reinstated in future, and retains all asset allocations, bookable resource

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UK - A recent prosecution at Glasgow Sheriff Court has highlighted both the human and financial consequences when work at height is not properly planned, designed and managed, PASMA has said.
The association highlighted a recent court case, which looked at an incident from 2 September 2016 when an employee of JR Scaffold Services Ltd, who was erecting a tower scaffold to carry out roof repairs, fell 8m after the cantilever section on which he was standing collapsed. According to reports, the fall left him hospitalised for two weeks, with severe injuries including a collapsed lung,

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UK - The collective behind the #LightItBlue campaign has formed a community interest company (CIC) dedicated to raising funds for mental health charities, with particular focus on benefitting people from the events and entertainment sectors.
#LightItBlue was created at the onset of lockdown by a group of events and entertainment industry professionals to show a united display of gratitude to the NHS and frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within four months the campaign had become a global movement spanning 23 countries across six continents and enjoying a socia
  1. The Week in Light & Sound
  2. The Week in Light & Sound
  3. BTS launches suicide prevention campaign
  4. Over 670 buildings join #LightItInRed across the UK
  5. Freelancers resource hub launched
  6. The Week in Light & Sound
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