General

Details

14 March 2016

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

Details

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,

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

14 March 2016

Senior design technician, Barry Gaynor, brings more than 30-years' experience as a project designer/draughtsman in the construction industry to the role.

Sales administrator, Sharan Tott, comes to the job from a very well known internet and telecommunications provider, where she managed a range of large projects and high net worth clients as project coordinator.

Martin Hunt, tasked with overseeing crew management and deployment, spent the last 12-years in transport logistics, overseeing thousands of movements for vehicles and drivers.

Technical services manager Tim Ford, who joined Star Events in August, has already worked on a number of profile projects, including the Jaguar XE launch on the Thames. Ultima

Details

14 March 2016

With the launch of uTRAC v2.0, the team has bolstered its drive to become the go-to workforce management application for events. The significantly re-designed interface has been tailored to improve the user experience and make its mobile app more touch friendly for people wanting to do their scheduling on the go with their tablets.

The new notification centre showing outstanding tasks includes notifications for unpaid invoices, unfilled shifts, and overdue payments among many other updates that will help all team members stay on top of their tasks.

The certificate management feature means workers will be able to record details of their relevant qualifications. An expiry date linked with uTRAC's notification centre allows both wo

Details

14 March 2016

Laurie Giraudeau joins AC-ET in the new role of marketing manager, with immediate effect. Laurie will use her proven track record within digital marketing & brand communications to develop and oversee the marketing strategies for AC-ET's specialist lighting, audio, rigging and video sales divisions, and sister installations company, A.C. Special Projects Ltd.

AC-ET Director, Peter Butler, comments, "The Board of Directors are delighted that Laurie is joining us to spearhead the marketing team. We feel certain that with Laurie's knowledge and experience of the markets we operate in, she will bring a lot to the table - helping us to focus our efforts and create a greater synergy working alongside the sales divisions."

Jack Moorhouse is appointed product m

Details

14 March 2016

Dennison brings more than 20 years of audio experience to the position. He has previously worked with Autograph Sound Recording and most recently spent seven years working with Delta Sound/Sound by Design in a projects director position. In his new role at White Light, Dennison will work with Events, Sales, and Installation teams on audio elements for a variety of projects using his experience, knowledge and relationships with key manufacturers, suppliers and end clients.

Managing Director Bryan Raven explains the new addition, "We have always grown by listening to the needs

Details

14 March 2016

Here are some of the highlights from today's show:

World Class Exhibitors

Every year, PLASA London brings together the most important audio, lighting, video and staging companies, filling the show floor with a feast of exhibitors. This year is certainly no different, with more than 250 companies exhibiting. Looking around ExCeL London's first class exhibition space, we see companies like Robe, Clay Paky, Shure, Polar Audio, Autograph, SSE Audio, FBT, Philips Entertainment, White Light, Highlite, Chauvet, MA Lighting, SGM, Prolyte, A.C Entertainment Technol

Details

14 March 2016

Mick Hannaford, Managing Director of Robe UK offers his view of Robe's huge 1000sq.ft stand: "To be honest, we've been overwhelmed - it's working really well," says Mick. "There are so many business conversations going on in here, it's amazing. Normally, when we're in a much smaller space, there are people trying to get a drink, trying to say hello. Here, there was a concern that everyone was spread out and so the atmosphere would be lost, but everywhere you look there is business happening. It is really fantastic."

And a number of major na

Details

14 March 2016

Now in their second year, the Technical Theatre Awards (TTAs) were established to give due credit to the often unsung heroes and heroines that work backstage to make the theatre magic happen.

The winners are:

The Douglas Turnbull Award for Outstanding Achievement in Stage Management (Supported by Opera Holland Park)

Sharon Hobden

The Philips Entertainment Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting

Richard Rhys Thomas

The PRG Award for Outstanding Achievement in Production Management

Paul Hennessy

The Triple E Award for Outstanding Achievement in Flys & Rigging

Karl Meier

The Rigging Team Award for Outstanding Achievement

Details

14 March 2016

Clay Paky's Chief Operational Officer, Pio Nahum, graciously accepted the Gottelier Award on behalf of his friend and colleague. The other nominees - Richard Belliveau, David Cunningham and Dr Christian Heil - withdrew from the running following the sad news. The lighting industry has lost a great character and a true pioneer.

Every year, PLASA recognises products that demonstrate progress, through attributes like a new style of thinking, an improvement in technical practice, new technology, materials or technique

Details

14 March 2016

Suzanne told LSiOnline: "Prior to the event I was quite overwhelmed to receive so many messages of support . . . doing this had clearly made people think, and some had even decided to do their own fund-raising, which is great. I also met one of the Macmillan ladies, Stephanie, who had been through cancer twice, and the way she faced it and embraced it was quite inspirational - I was in awe. I had bought a wig before-hand, but once I'd spoken to her and listened to what she'd

Details

14 March 2016

SEDA's Honorary President, Theo Loyla, told LSiOnline: "SEDA was involved with the formation of the British Association of Discotheque Equipment Manufacturers [BADEM - the forerunner to PLASA] following the demise of Ben Cree's DJ Magazine and National Association and associated Discotheque equipment exhibition. I remember SEDA organising the meeting at the Ski Club of Great Britain in Eaton Square, with the help of folks from Opti

Details

14 March 2016

Says a statement from EnTEEtainment: "In the past two years since Festival Republic ended its involvement with the festival there have been a series of management restructures and operational changes at Glastonbury, which Dick feels leave his team unable to fulfil their role professionally."

Dick states: "I am extremely sad and disappointed that my concerns regarding the way certain elements of the festival are now being structured and managed are not being adequately considered and dealt with, and as

Details

14 March 2016

Westminster City Council launched prosecution proceedings and last Wednesday, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that Presdee had suffered serious spinal injuries requiring a six-month stay in hospital and had been left a paraplegic unable to walk or return to work. An investigation by Westminster City Council after the incident "identified serious safety failings" at the central London venue.

In a statement, Soho The

Details

14 March 2016

Fundraising kicked off on Sunday evening at the Knights of Illumination Awards Ceremony when Clay Paky's commercial director Pio Nahum presented a cheque to lighting designer Rick Fisher for Behind the Scenes UK. Pio explained to the large gathering that one of the last things approved by the late Pasquale Quadri was this generous contribution to the new charity.

On Monday afternoon, ETC's Fred Foster presented the cheque from the proceeds of the iRFR app which continues to provide an incredible income for the charity on both sides of the Atlantic. Tuesday saw Rosco's Mark Engel present a cheque for the proceeds from the sale of Roscolux Light

Details

14 March 2016

Speaking at the PLASA Awards for Innovation and Sustainability 2014, held on the penultimate day of the show, PLASA's CEO Matthew Griffiths revealed some of the changes for 2015, which will redevelop the scope and delivery of the event. Under the leadership of Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's Director of the Events Division, the show is being remodelled to become a PLASA Member-focused event: developments will include moving from four days to three days, introducing a new floor plan concept, expanding the education offering and i