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14 March 2016

Named in honour of the late Tony Gottelier, the industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the Gottelier Award is for our industry's product developers who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

The nominees for 2014 are:

Richard Belliveau

As one of the co-founders of Texas-based lighting manufacturer High End Systems, and still leading the company's product developments today, Belliveau has been behind a long line of successful products from the company, from the Color Pro,

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14 March 2016

Jeffreys' extensive background in the performing arts, encompassing programming, production and venue management, alongside roles as head of production at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and technical director at English National Opera, make her the ideal candidate to lead the ABTT's Council of Management over the next 12 months, says the association.

Her timely appointment comes at an exciting moment for the ABTT following 12 years of consolidation and steady development under White, and with the full-time Chief Executive Officer Robin Townley now in post.

Elected by the Council of Management, Jeffreys follows in a great trad

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14 March 2016

Raffle tickets are just £10 each and will be available throughout the show at the Behind the Scenes stand M65. The draw will be held on Wednesday afternoon, 8 October but you do not need to be present to win.

The raffle is to help raise funds for the new UK charity Behind the Scenes which will provide financial assistance to entertainment technology professionals, or their immediate family, who are seriously ill or injured. Grants may be used for

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14 March 2016

Pasquale 'Paky' Quadri was a highly successful entrepreneur, although very reserved. He preferred not to appear very much but every lighting professional, all over the world, knows that he was the creative soul of Clay Paky, the Italian company that exports 97% of its production and is present, with its sophisticated luminaires, on the stages of the most important events and shows in the world.

Just some of the most recent projects that are worth remembering include the London Olympic Games, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Academy Awards, shows by Bruno Mars and Madonna during the finals of the Superbowl, the tours of many artists such as Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, the Rolling Stones and, in Italy, Vasco Rossi, Ligabue, Laura Pausini and G

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14 March 2016

Visit uTRAC at PLASA on stand K03 where the team will be giving tutorials on how the software can best be utilised for your business. In addition to the re-designed interface, new features on show include safety certification management, automated scheduling and GPS tracking.

This summer uTRAC has invested significantly into the development of its team, and the uTRAC system, positioning itself as the go-to workforce management application for events. The comprehensive system improves efficiencies in all aspects of managing labour for an event, with operations managers finding an easier way to co-o

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14 March 2016

Hilary Hadley, live performance head at Equity, said, "We believe this is a win-win situation for our members and publicans. Pubs get more trade through people enjoying the live entertainment, the community benefits by joining together in a shared

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14 March 2016

Says the organisation, "Learn about the course from the world-class sound engineers who deliver our training, and who will be running practical demos for you. Explore the facilities and hear from students how our training has enabled them to start their careers in live sound. Come along and tell us how we can help you!"

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Introduced by Michael Eavis, the event serves as a thank you to Pilton village that lives with the disruption the main festival can bring, with all money raised given in grants to different local organisations.

Managing director of EnTEEtainment Ltd, Dick Tee said, "With the likes of Kasabian headlining in 2005 when it was held at the village hall playing fields, the popularity of the event quickly outgrew its former site, and moved to Worthy Farm in 2007. Drawing on our depth of knowledge of the site and long standing relationship with Glastonbury Festivals, we were brought in to provide

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14 March 2016

The KOI Awards, organised by Clay Paky alongside the Society of Television Lighting Designers (STLD), the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) and Ambersphere Solutions, will be held following the first day of the PLASA Show on the evening of Sunday 5 October at London's fabulous Art Deco Troxy Theatre.

Submissions for each sector are now closed and the shortlist of nominations for each of the sector categories have been agreed by the judging panels as follows:

Theatre Nominations:

Danc

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14 March 2016

Increasing numbers of residential properties being built close to venues has resulted in noise abatement notices from local authorities, said the union. It is calling for a new 'agent of change principle' law that would mean property developers are obliged to soundproof their accommodation, rather than the venue being responsible for reducing potential noise disturbances.

John Smith, MU general secretary, said,

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14 March 2016

The team at VER LIVE is headed up by Adrian Offord and Patrick Dore, both of whom have extensive experience in the market. VER LIVE will work alongside the current and busy Dry Hire division of VER's UK operation to deliver full video services to the Television & Live Events industry. This will include VER's vast and latest lines of LED screens and projectors, backed up by the comprehensive level of service and support demanded by today's productions.

Offord, who has 20 years' experience in the pro AV industry, commented: "It's a very exciting time to be a part of the VER team, particularly with new technologies comin

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14 March 2016

At the same time, the alliance will be exhibiting on the exhibition floor (booth 1152), explaining and demonstrating the benefits of the OCA standards-based control and monitoring architecture, with a live demonstration of control and monitoring across networked audio devices from different manufacturers.

OCA defines communications protocols for reliable and secure control and monitoring of AV device networks of 2 to 10,000 nodes. AES project "AES-X210" is currently working to render OCA into a ratified AES standard.

At the convention alliance members will be participating in panel discussions to increase the understanding of the benefits and impact of

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14 March 2016

Brighton & Hove City Council has approved demolition and redevelopment plans for the Grade II* Brighton Hippodrome to create a cinema multiplex and restaurant. Designed by Frank Matcham the theatre is of national significance as one of only three remaining Victorian circus theatres in the UK. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has yet to decide if he will call-in the planning and listed building applications and hold a

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14 March 2016

Mats has more than 30 years of experience in various roles spanning rental and production, lighting design, sales and product development - and joins the company after some 10 years in LED display development at Barco, Martin Professional, and most recently, VER.

He will be responsible for increasing the market share of AC-ET's exclusive and key brands internationally, including the supply of Chroma-Q, Jands, Prolights and many more marques - from a portfolio of over 200 - to selected territories.

Commenting on his appointment, Mats says, "My association with A.C. goes back almost 30 years, and so to be asked by co-founder David Leggett to come on-board to grow their international business is a real ho

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14 March 2016

Together over the past 10 years, Calvert and Green have worked closely with designers, artists and corporate bodies on a b

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14 March 2016

Eurovision - Ukraine has announced it will not be taking part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest due to limited finances. "We don't want to do something badly, and we don't have the money to do something well," said Zurab Alasania,

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14 March 2016

Robe Lighting is Platinum Sponsor for the third year running and will mark the occasion by occupying a huge, 1,000 square metre space on the show floor. Robe World - PLASA London's biggest ever stand - promises to deliver a new experience to visitors, while showcasing the manufacturer's range of innovative, high-quality moving lights and digital lighting products for the professional entertainment and leisure, architectural, and themed environment industries.

The s

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14 March 2016

TheatreStage provides a focus on the show floor for visitors and the theatre industry to network and learn about projects, initiatives, campaigns and organisations connected to the theatre sector.

New initiatives launched from TheatreStage this year include The Backstage Heritage Collection, and the ALD / Lightmongers' Award for Lighting Design 2014. The Theatres Trust will also launch its new Workshop Programme to support theatres developing capital projects and other key issues, and announce plans for next year's Theatres Trust Conference 15: Valuing Theatres on 23 June 2015.

Award highlights include the Technical Theatre Awar

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14 March 2016

The products will be judged against one another on the strength of their innovation alone. All nominees will have the opportunity to make a 5-minute presentation, during the show, to a team of independent expert judges, who will have eight awards of equal standing at their disposal - plus the option to give a 'Gold' Award to one or more products which they feel reach a particularly high standard of Innovation.

The judges are tasked with making their decisions based on the PLASA Awards criteria for Innovation. The winners will

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14 March 2016

Global creative agency, Imagination was briefed by Jaguar to design and produce a series of innovative special events across London at iconic locations, defining another moment in the remarkable history of this brand.

Events started with an installation of the XE word cloud sculpture in 'The Tank' at the design museum on the 5 September. Imagination worked closely with Jaguar's design team to hand craft these contemporary pieces.

Global lifestyle and automotive media were flown into London where they attended a media briefing at the ME Hotel on the 8 September. Imagination produced a series of workshops based around the all new XE, which was then revealed to them later that evening.

The journey began with 1

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14 March 2016

"The addition of Symetrix to its portfolio arrives at an opportune moment for both Axente and France's AV market in general. Demand for processing solutions integrating support for Audinate's industry-leading Dante media networking technology continues to grow - and these requirements are catered to abundantly in the Symetrix range with products including SymNet Edge, Radius 12x8 and Radi

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14 March 2016

From 1 October 2014, MDGfog UK, a trading division of Robe UK Ltd, will take responsibility for the exclusive distribution of the full MDG product range in the UK & Eire. This new division will be headed by Matt Wiseman, a well-known face in the UK entertainment industry who brings 20 years of experience to the role.

"I am looking forward to the new avenues and responsibilities this arrangement brings," says Wiseman. "It will allow MDGfog UK to focus wholeheartedly on promoting and servicing the MDG brand across the UK and Eire, with the added confidence of solid backing from Robe UK's established administrative, service and warehouse facilities in Northampton."

Mick Hannaford, Managing Director of Robe UK, adds, "We believe the quality and performance of th

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14 March 2016

Who's Next - The Who have unveiled their first song in eight years as they mark their 50th anniversary. Be Lucky includes lyrical references to Australian rockers AC/DC and French electro band Daft Punk and will be included in a d

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14 March 2016

The service already has an excellent track record: of the nearly 13,000 requests received since the service was inaugurated in 2002, over 95% have been published, with 40% of requests being published within a week and 50% published within two weeks. The tiny percentage that is not published is due to factors beyond Stardraw's control, such as manufacturers being unable or unwilling to provide the necessary product information (despite the service being entirely free for manufacturers). In addition to their Pr