New Zealand-based luminaire manufacturer Selecon has released the latest CD-ROM version of its product catalogue. The CD-ROM includes full details of the company's architectural and entertainment fixtures, as a well as a virtual test lab which allows the user to try the fixtures, a lux calculator, DXF files to download, cut sheets ready to print out and details of the company's distribution network.

Coe-tech Ltd. has supplied no less than 53 Studio Due Mini City and 24 Coemar Panorama Cyc 1800s to Light & Sound Design in Birmingham for immediate general hire and for use on LSD's own major architectural projects. The first of these will be for the Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals at Twickenham followed by the Final itself at the new Cardiff Millennium Stadium.

Lighting and sound rental company, CAV, has purchased a Flying Pig Systems Whole Hog II lighting console to add to its stock of lighting equipment. According to CAV proprietor, Hans Beier, the purchase was made following repeated client requests for the Hog. CAV will be offering the console for hire with the option of twin LCD flat panel monitors in a single pre-configured flightcase. The company's inventory also includes Avolites Diamond 3, Pearl 2000 and Jands Hog 600 consoles, plus a wide range of intelligent lighting units including Studio Colors, Cyberlights, Technobeams and Mac 500s and 600s. The company will soon be purchasing additional Mac 250+ and 300s, and High End Systems' Studio Spots.

Lightfactor has supplied leading Irish rental company, Just Lites, with a large order of High End equipment including 14 Studio Spot 575s, which will join the company's existing stock of Studio Color 575s, purchased from Lightfactor last year. Just Lites carry out a wide range of lighting and design projects, particularly in the areas of live music, fashion and presentation. The new Studio Spots went straight out on a show for Mary Black, the day after the deal was signed, and her LD, Liam McCarthy, will be taking them on her UK and European tour this autumn.

White Light' sales department celebrated the post-PLASA show period with confirmation of two large orders. The first was from London's Royal Court Theatre, currently being re-constructed with funding from the National Lottery and due to re-open early in the year 2000. The Royal Court's order, worth approximately £27,000, includes the supply of the City Theatrical AutoYoke moving light, as already supplied by White Light to the Royal Opera House. The order also includes other lighting equipment and smoke machines from The Smoke Factory.

High End Systems (HES) has appointed Guillermo Cabada as West Coast regional sales manager. Cabada's territory will include Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Prior to the appointment, Cabada worked in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, importing professional lighting equipment.

Over the next year, DHA will be issuing a range of new gobo designs for collectors, to be available for a limited period only. The collectors' series begins with the Y2K Collection and features five metal and one glass design all celebrating the move into the next century.

The last ever Intellabeam 700HX has come off the production line at High End Systems' (HES) headquarters in Austin, Texas. The unit - number 18,871 - was presented to High End co-founder Richard Belliveau in September. Belliveau designed the Intellabeam 400 back in 1989, and it became a success in dance clubs worldwide. The later 700HX model continued the success of the fixtures. First specified for tour use by LD Chas Herington for the 1991 Dire Straits 'On Any Street' tour, the Intellabeam went on to feature in rigs with Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Iron Maiden, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Thin Lizzy, the Moody Blues and many more.High End co-founders Lowell Fowler (left) and Bob Schacherl (right) present the last Intellabeam off the HES production line to Richard Belliveau.

Lancashire-based Lite Alternative has recently added a range of new stock in response to increased demand. The new equipment purchased includes 16 Starlite Mk 5s from distributor Lane Lighting, and 16 Martin Professional Mac 500s, which will complement the company's existing Vari-Lite Series 300 stock of VL6B and VL5 luminaires. The company's ChromaQ Par 64 scrollers have been augmented with both the Broadway and the new 4-Lite ChromaQ scrollers, while the truss options now include a 10m circle of Tomcat MD stacking truss. In lighting control, Avolites Pearl and Sapphire consoles have also been added, along with Art 4000 dimming, widening the range of control options the company now offers.

One of the latest additions to Selecon's European distribution team is Lumeko, led by Vladimir Lukasevich and based in St Petersburg, Russia. This is a collaboration which is already showing impressive results - the first major sale of 90 Pacifics along with Arena PCs and Aurora Cyc lights have been installed in the Academie Pushkin. Selecon luminaires also now feature in other major St Petersburg venues - the Maliy Drama Theatre, the Academic Comedy Theatre and the Mariinsky Academic Opera and Ballet House.

In association with CAST Lighting of Canada, AC Lighting have begun establishing a network of WYSIWYG service providers around the world. Each is equipped with the full range of WYSIWYG products and accessories and offers a dedicated facility with fully trained personnel available for hire. A full list can be found on the WYSIWYG product section of AC's website.

Armin Kloss has taken on the job of building up transtechnik's business in professional lighting equipment in Eastern Europe. He was head of the technical systems department at the Friedrichstadtpalast in Berlin for nine years and was also divisional manager of Studiotechnik GmbH and project sales manager for Strand Lighting GmbH. The move into Eastern Europe is the next stage in transtechnik's worldwide expansion of its sales organisation.

Vari-Lite International is embarking on what it describes as "an inventory consolidation strategy". According to a recent statement issued by the company, the Dallas and Atlanta offices are to close and product and personnel from these is to be relocated to other offices within the VLPS regional network. The statement doesn't give any indication of timing, but it is anticipated that the offices will close shortly.

AC Lighting has appointed Lisa Young to join the busy export administration department at the company's headquarters in High Wycombe. Young is new to the lighting industry, but brings with her a wealth of experience from her previous work. She will work alongside Jo Young, assisting the export sales staff with the processing and despatch of orders.

A trio of popular Welsh theatres have all completed new lighting installations, courtesy of Cardiff-based Theatre Vision, who specified a wide range of Strand products in each case. Theatr y Werin in Aberystwyth were happy to replace their old Strand kit with a new stateof the art system. Their entire complement of lanterns now comprises a combination of both fixed and zoom Strand SL luminaires and 34 Cantata Fresnels, alongside a new 530i desk loaded with Tracker, Networker and CommuniquePro and driven from 108 channels of Strand EC90 dimmer packs. Presently Theatre Vision are on site at Theatr Elli in Llanelli in a contract worth around £64,000, which is being supported by an Arts Council National Lottery grant. Again the company is providing an assortment of lanterns including 12 Alto Profile 14/32s, as well as a 520i control console and five LD90s. Further recent sales of Strand control desks by Theatre Vision include a 520i to the Dept of Theatre & Media Studies at Aberystwyth University, a 55i to St. David's Hall, Cardiff, and a 530i to the Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea (along with six LD90 dimmers).

Lighting director Victor Fable used a new Virtuoso lighting control console from Vari-Lite for September's MTV Video Music Awards, which took place in New York. Using a Virtuoso for just the second time, Fable worked closely with lighting designer Allen Branton and lighting directors Tom Beck and Michael Goodwin for the live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House. With a rig of moving lights including VL4, VL7, VL7B, VL5B, VL6 and VL6B luminaires, Fable found that the Virtuoso made his job easier. "It actually made doing a large show much easier than if I had used an Artisan console. I would have had to put the show on two separate Artisan desks and run them both, whereas Virtuoso handled 440 channels easily and managed it all quite well."He continued: "Virtuoso allowed me to load up many more chases and break up the show much more effectively and quickly. The ability to have more than the Artisan console's four submaster capacity was a lifesaver. On this show I used 16 submasters and broke it up into four areas and effects. I used a lot of macros to load in effects and I used a lot of snapshots, whether I was programming or playing back."

Royal Festival Hall, London's famous South Bank complex, has recently added to its existing range of Jem products. The world famous live venue has just purchased a Jem Heavy Fog 2500 complete with a full range of ducting accessories. RFH has also purchased a special customised version of the Jem Club Smoke System modified for the theatre environment. The new Jem products are the latest purchases in are re-equipment programme that also included a comprehensive Martin Professional lighting package. On a separate note, Jem also announced the sale of two Roadie smoke machines to London's newest landmark the Millennium Dome.

The autumn season is proving busy for Stage Light Design, the exhibition and conference creative lighting design specialists. The company is providing equipment, crew and lighting design services for no less than four stands at the massive Geneva Telecom quadrennial at the PalExpo. All stands have creative lighting designed by a collaboration between John Rinaldi and Alastair Crooks. In Geneva, Stage Light Design lit two shows for Intel, one in Paris and the other in Milan. These were re-runs of their highly successful imaginative lighting for Intel stands at the Networks show in Birmingham earlier in the year.

The PRG Lighting Group has made three changes to its sales and marketing team. Bill Groener and Zoe Paine move to expanded roles at Production Arts, while Patrick Eagleton has new responsibilities with the PRG Lighting Group. Groener becomes vice president of system sales for Production Arts, whilst Paine has been appointed director of rentals and production sales for the company. Meanwhile, Eagleton has accepted the position of marketing support manager for the newly formed marketing group at the (PRG) Lighting Group. Most recently, he was product manager for the Robert Juliat product line.

High End Systems has promoted several key sales representatives. HES Canadian sales representative Patrick Bouchard, who has been involved in the Canadian lighting market for many years, has been named High End's Regional Manager in Canada. In another strategic move, the company promoted Charlie Hulme to a new position as sales manager for Lightwave Research Architectural Products. Hulme will oversee sales and distribution, as well as design support of these products through High End's worldwide network.

High End Systems formed a new architectural division using the Lightwave Research brand. As a result, the High End brand will be used with entertainment lighting products and the Lightwave Research brand will be used for products developed specifically for the architectural lighting market. The promotion of High End's Charlie Hulme to Architectural Sales Manager for Lightwave products is the company's first appointment to the new division. Hulme will oversee sales and distribution, as well as design support of Lightwave products through High End Systems' worldwide network of manufacturer's reps, dealers and distributors.

Strand Lighting has expanded their SL series to include an architectural version. The new SL Architectural line includes fixed spotlight with beam angles to match their incandescent range of fixed and zoom spotlights. Utilising the new Phillips 150W CDM lamp, the Architectural version provides high light output, cool operation, sharp focus, and pattern projection. Since the introduction of the SL range in April 1999, Strand Lighting has already sold and shipped 15,000 units. The addition of the architectural version will increase the various applications of the SL range.

At PLASA 99, the White Light Group launched Colourhouse Technical Presentations, its new specialist conference and exhibition lighting company. Formed to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of corporate and exhibition clients, the new operation is headed by Steve Bartlett, familiar to many in the conference trade from his time at TIS. He is joined by former TIS colleague Cliff Williams. Though Colourhouse was officially launched at PLASA, the team were busy prior to the show having already completed a corporate event for Blitz Vision at the Pyramids in Cairo.

High End Systems Inc and Flying Pig Systems have released two new controllers in the Wholehog II family - the Hog 1000 and Hog 500 consoles. The Hog 500 and Hog 1000 include fewer control channels than the Wholehog II consoles, but feature the industry standard Wholehog II operating system, making them perfect for smaller professional applications.