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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 several titles.
On her retirement, Frances remarked, “I will miss engaging with members and staff. We are irreverent, creative, resourceful, opinionated, and uproarious. But most of my family and friends are as well, so I will be happy.”
As her successor, ESTA has appointed Laura Hoepker

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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 sell all of StubHub's business outside North America to satisfy competition concerns. The CMA's latest intervention comes as big music and sporting events are set to resume in the UK in the next few months after the Covid pandemic, fuelling fans' demand for tickets.
The watchdog's recommendation
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Renkus-Heinz - Banner - April-May 2025

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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 program and mental health initiative.” In 2016 NATEAC donated the proceeds from its conference dinner at Sardi’s to the charity. In 2021 the pandemic forced NATEAC to cancel the dinner but the conference organisers were determined to continue the support for BTS.
NATEAC’s mission is to promot

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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, star of Oscar and Bafta-nominated film The White Tiger, will host the event.
Prohibitively Expensive - Theatre heavyweights Cameron Mackintosh, Michael Harrison and Sonia Friedman have criticised the government’s recently announced insurance scheme, labelling it “prohibitiv

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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 see the government act as a ‘reinsurer’ – stepping in with a guarantee to make sure insurers can offer the products events companies need.
This scheme will support live events across the UK that are open to the general public - such as music festivals and business events. It will cover

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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 mixers and the AV matrix for its events.
“TSL enables us to produce more events that are more intensive and complex,” says Zhang Xuming, head of broadcast technology planning at TJ Sports. “The TSL TallyMan controller greatly reduces execution risk during production while improving the overal

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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 produce music despite geographical barriers, and deliver new, engaging ways for audiences to interact with live performances.
5G Festival will showcase creative talent blended with the power of advanced digital technologies, broadcast live directly to audiences at remote locations from world-le

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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 lateral flow test or natural immunity.”
Audience members providing “proof of full vaccination” can do so through the NHS App. Those without both vaccinations are able to “present proof of a negative lateral flow test”, either via the NHS App or from a text message, and this test must

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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 purchase our third CNC router, increase the number of production staff and increase stock holding of raw and finished goods. We will also have a separate R&D workshop, which allows us to increase the capacity of our already large test and inspect facility.”
SES is planning open house days c

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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 vetted, pre-qualified and selected to fill job vacancies globally.
For UK clients interested in its contract recruitment services THE Production TEAM will renumerate employees, including sickness and holiday payments. This will also be the case in the Middle East, but the company will also faci

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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 26% of jobs – 80,000 – due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The creative industries as a whole – made up of nine sub-sectors also including film, tv, video, radio and photography; design; architecture; and museums, galleries and libraries – are estimated to have lost nearly £12bn in GVA, wi

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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 strenuous 80-mile ride traversing the Surrey Hills. The two routes will cater for all levels of cyclists, from casual and commuting cyclists to serious road bikers. London-based cyclists are also invited to join for the last leg through the capital. 

All money raised will go

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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 different equipment and found that all Van Damme leads and jacks were exceptional. Ever since that day, all of the wiring inside my double bass has been Van Damme. I’ve never used anything else because the brand has never let me down - the leads have never broken, and none of the ends have come loose.

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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 return, however a spokeswoman for the show said: "It’s hard to see a route forward under current rules, but we will do everything else we can to come back as soon as possible."
Lloyd Webber said that, despite negative test results following one cast member testing positive, he had been forced

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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-class event destination and the sector’s associated £6bn annual visitor spend within the Scottish economy.
The EIAG, which represents the events and festivals sector, has been lobbying Holyrood through pandemic and earlier this year presented Scottish Government ministers with a submission

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Turning Point - Most COVID safety measures will remain in theatres from next week, including a "strong recommendation" for the continued use of face masks, the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre have announced. As the government confirms that Step 4 of the reopening roadmap will go ahead on 19 July, SOLT and UK Theatre said that, despite key measures such as social distancing being relaxed, theatres in England will maintain many of the mitigations brought in to limit the spread of COVID-19. These include face coverings, enhanced cleaning and restricted stage-door interactions.
UK Theatre president Fiona Allan said the body was "relieved" at the news of full reopening, describing it as a "turning point on the road to recovery", while SOLT and UK Theatre chief executive Julian Bird stressed the importance of preserving audience confidence as theatregoers return.
"

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USA - The 2021 Behind the Scenes Holiday Cards are on sale now at the BTS Boutique. It’s important to let family, friends and colleagues know you are thinking of them and these unique holiday cards say it perfectly. They are also a personal and inexpensive way for a company to keep in touch with its customers and let them know “We are here and you are important to us”.
Sending a BTS holiday card helps spread the word about the charity and lets your recipients know you are supporting industry colleagues who are ill or injured as well as the BTS Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative.
Cards are available in a variety of options: card packs of 10 with a standard greeting, personalized cards with a company logo and custom message, and electronic cards in multiple file formats and an array of price points starting at just $20.
This year’s cards featu

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Insurance Scheme - UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden indicated last week that the government will step in to support the theatre sector with a government-backed insurance scheme after 19 July.
Dowden told the House of Commons earlier this week that the government was likely to provide an insurance scheme should commercial providers be unable to offer any to the theatre sector. He was quizzed on the issue by shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens, who asked Dowden why no insurance scheme had been presented despite an announcement to MPs in March that a decision on such an initiative was with the Treasury at the time.
“I very much understand the industry’s desire for insurance and I have engaged with them. I have said all along, as with film and TV insurance, the first step is to get all the other restrictions removed and we are making very good progress towards doing

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UK - The Neutrik Group has announced the launch of Rean, a global brand ‘marrying over 45 years precision engineering know-how with the group’s own dedicated state-of-the-art production facilities’.
Rean offers designers of audio, video and lighting products a comprehensive range of connectors featuring’ robust, high-reliability designs, that promise unrivalled cost-performance ratios, backed by a truly global supply-chain and experienced regional sales network’.
An extensive worldwide portfolio of connectors incorporates a full range of ’standard’ professional XLR, ¼” Jack, XLR/Jack combo, ethernet, power connector, 3.5mm, phono, DIN, and dual banana plug solutions, and the new Z Series of IP65 rated XLR and RJ45 ethernet connectors. These are specified for outdoor applications, resistant to water and dirt, and optimised for use in lighting and digita

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Survival Course - The Womad music festival has been cancelled "to guarantee its survival", co-founder Peter Gabriel has announced. Earlier this month, the former Genesis singer warned that the three-day event might not go ahead without government-backed insurance or test event status. Confirming the cancellation, he said waiting for either would "put Womad's long-term future at risk".
In a statement, Gabriel said the decision to cancel his world music festival, which was launched almost 40 years ago and attracts about 40,000 people each year, was made "with great regret". "We feel that our audience, artists, staff, and contractors, who have been amazingly supportive throughout all this, will understand the need for us to act to guarantee our survival," he wrote.
Gabriel said the decision to grant test event status to some festivals due to be held on the same 22-25 July

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Europe - German-based audio network specialist DirectOut and the Italian IT system provider Vivivaldy will use SRT for ViViD, a customized service that permits audio professionals to easily setup remote productions using standard internet connections.
The two companies have joined the SRT Alliance following the strategy of providing easy and reliable remote production solutions.
Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is a free, open-source AV transport protocol and technology stack originally developed and pioneered by Haivision that enables the delivery of high-quality and secure, low-latency audio/video across the public internet.
Luca Di Chio, CEO of Vivivaldy, comments: “As Vivivaldy we’re proud to join the SRT Alliance to implement the open-source AV transport protocol into our VPN-routers. We think it’s a way to bring additional value to our clients. As the

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Germany - Van Damme cables has announced that it has agreed a new MI-only distribution partnership with German audio industry specialist, Audiosteps.
The deal is designed to expand Van Damme’s reach in the German market through Audiosteps’ local expertise. The partnership will offer German customers support and availability of the latest products, including Van Damme Silver Series guitar cables, Starquad and Classic mic cables as well as the Blue and Black Series speaker cables.
Audiosteps.de was founded in 2018 as a website offering free tutorials to anyone wanting to learn more about the music industry. Professionals in the sector would live stream sessions on various topics including recording, mixing, mastering music production and distribution. It was initially very much a ‘hobby project’ but it quickly became a well-known platform used by German producer

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No Guidance - Organisers of the Kendal Calling festival have blamed the government's "complete absence of any guidance" for their decision to cancel again. It had been due to take place at Lowther Deer Park in Cumbria from 29 July to 1 August after cancelling in 2020 due to the pandemic. Promoter Andy Smith said a delay in publishing research from national pilot events had made planning impossible.
Stereophonics, Supergrass, The Streets and Dizzee Rascal were set to headline. About 25,000 people were expected to attend the four-day music and arts festival. The promoter said there had been a "complete absence of any guidance" from the government, adding: "The fear for us is we build a festival and we find out on, say, 21 July we have to double the size of our campsites or something. We don't know what that could be, it could be anything. It's a complete unknown."
He sai

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UK - The mental health of jobless events industry professionals will be supported by Indie rock band Memphis Stone and the Elevators, which has pledged to donate all proceeds of its new song, Summer to help the industry.
Written in the first UK lockdown, Summer is an ode to better times and the return of music festivals.
Tom Weaver, the band’s bass player and co-writer said: “It’s a celebration of being in a field with thousands of other people and sharing the amazing experience of live music. So many of us have so many great memories from festivals and that’s what we wanted to capture in this song.
“At the same time, we know that thousands of technicians, engineers and production crews have been without work for over a year. Summer is dedicated to them and its proceeds will go to support their mental health. This is an industry t
  1. PLASA Show 2021 registration now open
  2. The Week in Light & Sound
  3. New talent agency supports Springboard
  4. Guide to lighting televised live events published
  5. SA Event Safety Council works towards recovery
  6. Back Lounge offers resilience workshops
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