UK - Live entertainment sustainability consultancy Entertaining Sustainability will be joined by energy monitoring partner MeasureMyEnergy at PLASA Focus Leeds, which begins at Leeds Royal Armouries on Tuesday 29 April 2014.

Visitors to the entertainment technology show will have the opportunity to receive a full introduction to the sophisticated near-real time logging system, which allows venues and distributors to accurately measure consumption of electricity, water and gas. Live data can be accessed securely over the internet, including via an optimised iOS web interface.

With cu

UK - Black Light has announced that it has achieved certification for the ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001 quality, environmental and health and safety management standards. The company reached these milestones in March after a comprehensive process of auditing and assessment.

"These certification awards mean a great deal to us," says Barclay Dakers, who leads the integrated management team at Black Light. "They prove that we have the systems in place to deliver internationally-recognised levels of management in the areas covered by the standards."

"I never

UK - Chroma-Q's award-winning lighting products deliver premium performance for - and have been adopted by leading users in - some of today's most demanding and prestigious lighting applications, including opera, theatre, film & TV, venues, touring, events, retail, houses of worship, and others.

The latest Chroma-Q product range will be showcased at PLASA Focus 2014, Leeds on the stand of UK dealer, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (stand N-E02).

Highlights include key models from the latest generation LED lighting range illuminating various surfaces to demonstrate the products' meti

Qatar - Showforce has won a prestigious four-year contract with leading event agency, Sports & Entertainment Solutions FZ LLC, the company licensed by Feld Entertainment for the next five years to deliver Disney Live! and Disney On Ice in the Middle East.

The relationship began with Disney Live! Mickey's Music Festival in February and March in which Showforce supplied a host of event staff, crew and skilled labour to the exciting new stage show.

The hugely successful Disney Live! Mickey's Music Festival featured an all-star line-up of more than 25 Disney

Short Run - The West End musical based on The X Factor is to close after just two months. Co-written by Harry Hill, I Can't Sing! pokes fun at the talent show and its creator Simon Cowell. The show, which opened to glowing reviews at the London Palladium in March, will close on 10 May.

Rebecca Quigley, chief executive of producer Stage Entertainment UK, said the show had been well received "but it seems that isn't always enough...The West End can be an unpredictable place as the closure of a number of high profile productions recently has shown."

Announcing t

UK - Le Mark have produced their professional tour labels for the Production Office Ltd for the Gary Barlow Since I saw you last Arena Tour 2014.

"Thinking about design is hard but not thinking about it can be a disaster," wrote Ralp Caplan. The Production Office Ltd is one of the world's leading concert tour & event production companies with offices in London & New York proving how important this statement is.

Georgie King contacted Le Mark's Linda Gibbons with a brief to produce a clear, durable and position specific labelling system. This would be used on all the

UK - Now in its third consecutive year, the 25th of April saw the return of the hugely successful PLASA charity golf day. Since its inaugural competition in 2012, the popularity of this event has snowballed, drawing in suppliers and manufacturers from all over the UK to the leafy suburbs of Surrey where giants of the theatre and events industry do battle to become PLASA golf champions. With more teams competing than ever before, this year's competition raised a phenomenal £7,500.00 for Behind the Scenes - a charity which provides support to entertainment technology industry profes

UK - Over £2.5 million in seed finance has been released to fund approximately 400 new start-up businesses in London over the next 12 months. The cash, available through Start Up Direct, a direct delivery partner of the Government's Start Up Loans scheme, will help make the dreams of budding entrepreneurs in the capital a reality in 2014, as the hiatus in bank lending continues. The scheme is targeting the TV and Events sectors.

Start Up Direct, which has recently established a base in the heart of London's Tech City, is targeting talented individuals who wish to start a busines

UK - Each April teams representing the two oldest universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge, meet on the Thames for one of the toughest challenges in rowing. A very popular event, this year's race, which was covered by BBC Sport, saw Oxford claim an emphatic 11-length victory over their old rivals. Hire company Presteigne provided all the RF and special camera facilities, and enabled comprehensive coverage by implementing a new wireless mesh technology to route a large number of differing sources over one RF network.

The course, from Putney to Mortlake, stretches along 6.8km of th

USA - The second in a series of three training DVDs presented by ETCP Recognised Trainer Richard Cadena is now available at http://bit.ly/EEonVid2. Entertainment Electrics on DVD Part 2 is a series of 22 video modules with a 10- to 15-minute presentation covering a single topic related to live event production electrics, followed by a short quiz to test your knowledge and retention.

Part 2 covers electrical safety and practical aspects of power distribution for the live event industry. It covers topics that are listed as being in the content outline for the ETCP Entertainment E

UK - The Health and Safety Executive has recently held a briefing meeting for interested parties within the entertainment industry to layout the changes to the 2007 Construction, Design and Management Regulations and their decision to include the entertainment industry within the scope of the new Regulations. The meeting coincided with the release of the 10 week consultation document which started at the beginning of April and closes on 6 June (D- Day!!!).

Please take a moment to read through this report and decide if this applies to you and your undertaking. The PLASA Technical Resou

Royal Record - London's Royal Albert Hall enjoyed a bumper year in 2013, posting record audience numbers of 1.71 million and operating income of £18.6m, up 10.4% on the previous year. The figures represent the most successful year of trading in the venue's 143-year history with 390 events driving a 7% increase in audiences. The venue recorded its highest ever operating surplus of £5.3m. The Hall's own promotions - which included performances of Carmen, Swan Lake and live orchestral accompaniment to films including Fantasia and Singin' in the Rain

UK - Specialist electrical contractor, The Technical Department, has recently moved to larger offices in Guildford, Surrey and has strengthened their team by appointing two new technical managers.

Jerry Singleton, MD, comments, "Our move to larger premises brings together under one roof our office staff, warehouse facilities and workshop, allowing us to have instant access to the equipment and respond to requests for dry hire immediately. In addition, we are delighted with the appointment of both Jeff Jones and Phil King who bring to the team a great depth of knowledge and experi

USA - Christie Lites is moving this week to a larger location in Las Vegas to accommodate increased demand for its entertainment lighting and rigging services. This expanded location further strengthens Christie Lites' multi-office network supplying full service stage lighting equipment rentals across North America.

Mike Gaynor continues as the operations manager. The new address: 4850 Statz Ave - Suite 103, North Las Vegas, NV 89081. The phone number remains the same at 702-222-0363.

Said Christie Lites VP rentals Ken Alexander, "The Christie Lites Vegas operation services the

Rural Mayhem - US metal veterans Metallica have been announced as the Saturday night headliners on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. They will join the previously announced headliners Arcade Fire and Kasabian at the event in Somerset on 25-29 June. It marks Metallica's debut appearance at Worthy farm and it is the first time a heavy metal band have headlined the event.

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis says, "[Metallica] wanted to play for a long, long time and they're one of the most amazing rock bands in the world, everywhere I go people say 'When are Metallica going t

UK - Backstage Academy students are currently confirming work placements for the summer season and invite employers to get in touch if they need extra skilled people to support existing crew teams.

The students, who are half way through the Academy's 16-month FdA Live Events Production, are available to work in June, July and August and are seeking either ad hoc events work or three-month placements.

Most students have already gained experience at live events in a variety of backstage roles and all have completed modules in Introduction to Working in Live Events Production, Concept

Eavis Honoured - Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis is to be honoured for his contribution to the music industry. The Music Industry Trusts (MITS) award recognises his achievements in staging live music and supporting charity. Eavis first held Glastonbury festival on his Somerset farm in 1970. Profits go to Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid. "When I set out on this crazy hippy trip 44 years ago, little did I know how this rollercoaster would run," Eavis said."But now I have to pinch myself every morning when I wake up to the excitement of another day - heading up a t

UK / USA - Le Maitre Ltd, a leader for over 35 years in the manufacture, design and development of pyrotechnics, smoke and haze machines and other special effects, announced that it has hired Bruce Baum as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Baum will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of Le Maitre's US operations and the oversight and management of Le Maitre group's financial team. He will be based at Le Maitre's US location in Las Vegas, Nevada. Baum's efforts will be to support the current management team in the development and implementation o

UK - Showforce has opened a dedicated office in Glasgow ahead of the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup this Summer. Amongst the services that the Glasgow operation will provide are event, site and seating crew, overlay support, qualified plant operators and specialist labour.

The office will deal with enquiries and bookings along with recruitment, training and accreditation to ensure that their usual high standards of service are maintained.

Showforce's operations director Chris Martelly explains, "We have already secured a contract with a leading power provider and have a numbe

USA - PLASA will host the Behind the Scenes Happy Hour, a pre-LDI party with music, food and drinks from 6pm-8pm on Thursday, 20 November 2014 at The Las Vegas Hotel.

The goal of Behind the Scenes Happy Hour is not only to throw a great party but also to raise money for Behind the Scenes, which provides financial support to entertainment technology professionals when they are ill or injured or to their surviving family members. Funds are granted which can be used towards medical care, basic living costs and funeral expenses. Behind the Scenes, an initiative of the PLASA Foundation (fo

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. has announced that well-known industry figure, Ian Muir has been appointed as TV & film development manager for the company's UK and international sales territories.

Ian brings a wealth of TV & film lighting industry experience to the new role from his previous position at Gekko, where he worked for over six years as business development manager for the LED lighting brand. Prior to this, Ian has also held various sales roles involving managing relationships with customers and suppliers in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Based in AC-ET's

UK - The Theatres Trust has announced that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has appointed six new board members and reappointed five board members to The Theatres Trust.

New appointments include Dara Ó Briain, Professor Gavin Henderson CBE, Peter Roberts, Simon Ruddick, Ann Skippers and Anna Stapleton. Trustees reappointed for a second term include Nicholas Allott OBE, Ruth Eastwood, Oliver Goodwin, Jerrold Katzman, and Judith Mellor OBE.

All Trustees will be on the board of The Theatres Trust for a term of three years.

(Jim Evans)

Ivor Novello Awards - Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie has been honoured with a lifetime achievement at this year's Ivor Novello songwriting awards. McVie played with Fleetwood Mac for 28 years and wrote some of their most famous songs, including Don't Stop and Little Lies. Other winners at the ceremony in London included London Grammar, The Chemical Brothers and Nile Rodgers. The annual awards, now in their 59th year, are voted for by songwriters.

Picking up her award, McVie confirmed she had rejoined Fleetwood Mac after a more than 15-year absence and would join them on

UK - Visitor registration for PLASA London 2014 is now open and for a limited time attendees can register for free.

PLASA London is offering free four-day passes for attendees who register before Tuesday 1 July. The show, which has been a pivotal date on the international entertainment technology tradeshow calendar for more than three decades, will return to ExCeL London for the second consecutive year on Sunday 5 October until Wednesday 8 October.

Exciting developments to the show's format mean that the registration offer is just one of many visitor incentives for 2014, as PLASA's

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