The Acclaim Axial is the latest addition to Selecon's Acclaim range of 500-650W luminaires, incorporating the superior efficiency of the latest compact filament lamps, axial configuration and custom lens designs. The result, says Selecon, is a high-performance variable Zoom luminaire a precise and even beam. As well as the standard safety features, the Axial also benefits from safe and easy adjustment of the light distribution from a centre peak to a flat field and two interchangeable beam angle choices for short or longer throw applications. The heat management system uses hot mirror technology: the lamp socket and wiring are contained in a separate compartment, isolated from the direct energy of the light source by a substantial heat sink. Air moves through the two zones dissipating the heat, maximising component life. The Astral Axial model, meanwhile, combines a high-quality projector like beam with a long life display lamp. Typical applications include pattern and logo projection for retail display, museum and gallery lighting, framing spots and area illumination. The Astral Axial uses the single-ended CDM ceramic discharge type lamps - 150 and 70W.

Seelite has organised a series of workshops. The first covers the fundamentals of the software programme WYSIWYG. Lars Nissen and Leif Hellberg will introduce participants to WYSIWYG demonstrating how it was used on earlier projects such as the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 2000 and the Danish Grammys 2000. The briefings will take place in Aarhus on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 October and in Copenhagen on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 October. The company is also organising a rigging course, led by Martin Svane and Martin Corneliussen. Participants will become acquainted with subjects such as suspension of equipment, personal safety, choice and use of gear, and, finally, use of truss systems. The course is mainly theoretical, but includes a few practical features. This takes place on Copenhagen on Wenesday 1 November and Aarhus on Monday 2 November.

Laser Grafix has welcomed Paul Sadler back to the fold. Sadler first began working for them in 1988, progressing to hire manager before leaving to join Stagestruck as project manager. He returns to the company as technical sales executive.

Vari-Lite International has sold its operations in Madrid to an investment group led by Pablo Galindo Aragon and Sonia Martin, the managers of VLPS Madrid. Terms of the transaction are being kept under wraps, but we understand it includes the sale of Vari-Lite Production Services SL, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary in Madrid, and all the Vari-Lite automated equipment located in Spain and Portugal. Additionally, VLPS Madrid has been appointed a dealer for Vari-Lite International in Spain, Portugal and Northern Africa.

Gearhouse has underlined its expansion by setting up a new base in Bournemouth. The move will enable the company to service both the hotel trade in the seaside town, following the contract it signed recently with De Vere Hotels, in addition to events in mainland Europe. Heading up the new operation is the experienced Chris Eveleigh, whose background includes hotel management, a stint with British Airways and work for the AV and conferencing industries for AVA Europe. Gearhouse project manager Alex Quarterman, who will relocate from the company's Birmingham office, joins him in the new venture.

As part of its ongoing expansion programme, Northern Light has announced that Colin Cuthbert is to join the company in the key role of regional sales manager. Previously with Strand for three years, Cuthbert's experience will make a significant difference to Northern Light - Strand's largest distributor. His professional career started in lighting and technical management with companies such as English National Opera, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Glyndebourne. Based in London, he will be responsible for development of Northern Light's business in London and South of England.

California-based Lumenyte International Corporation, a specialist in the development and manufacture of plastic fibre optic lighting systems, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings with the confirmation on 3 August of its Plan of Reorganization. The case was filed after LIC's secured lender, Imperial Bank, declared a default claiming that LIC tangible net worth did not increase at the rate called for under Imperial's loan documents. Imperial subsequently moved for the appointment of a state court receiver which compelled LIC to institute the bankruptcy proceeding. The Board of Directors of LIC decided to institute the proceeding to allow LIC to restructure financial affairs through a plan of reorganization. LIC had approximately $1 million of general unsecured debt, as of the bankruptcy petition date, which was all current within agreed upon terms with LIC's vendors. LIC has been financially stable this fiscal year as the result of an internal financial restructuring which began around January and has paid the loan to Imperial in full.

Following a period of rapid expansion, the changes at board and senior management level at Lighting Technology Group, announced in January, have been followed by a further stage of restructuring. Business development director Paul de Ville is to leave the company. De Ville, who has been with the company for over 15 years and has made a valuable contribution to its progress, is off to explore new challenges.In the meantime, several new members have been appointed to the sales and administration teams. Jonathan Price, who has a wealth of technical experience in the theatre, conference and exhibition industries, joined the company in April to cover entertainment field sales in the South East. Joining the sales team at Park Royal is Anil Talwar, who moves in from ETC Europe, bringing with him excellent knowledge of the ETC product range. Sarah Davis, late of Stagetec, has been employed to handle image projection products for the retail sector and Clive Tallent joins via Light Projects to promote the Group's interior architectural lighting products. Eva Rodriguez, who is fluent in Spanish, and Emma Cepek, formally of Stage Electrics, will add their skills to the work of Lighting Technology's busy export department. Joining Lighting Technology's Manchester sales team is Brian Simmonds, who moves across the city from the Playlight Group, where he has been sales manager for the past six years.

As part of the ongoing development of international sales, and following the announcement that it is now marketing its full range of products direct to overseas customers, DHA has restructured its sales division to incorporate four international regional sales managers. As well as seeking out new international stockists, they will also arrange joint product training and workshops for end users. Three of the regional sales managers have been appointed from within the company: Louise Robson-Tester will be responsible for stockists and dealers in the UK and Eire, while Nigel Sadler assumes control of Benelux and Scandinavian countries. Julie Harper, previously head of DHA's marketing, will now concentrate on the development of sales in Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East. The appointment of the fourth RSM, who will cover middle Europe and Eastern Bloc countries, will be announced later in the year.

Reel EFX Inc, the original manufacturer of the Skydancer Fan, has announced the availability of the first disposable air tube puppet - now seen at various trade shows, parties and many other types of special event. The puppets are made of the same polytubing used for the original Skydancer Fan. The company currently produces 11 at very reasonable prices, and more are on the drawing board.

Registration and sponsorships are now being accepted for High End Systems' Third Annual Gary Whittington Memorial Golf Tournament, in conjunction with LDI 2000 in Las Vegas. The shotgun/scramble event tees off at 8am on Thursday 19 October at the Las Vegas Paiute Resort at Snow Mountain, 10325 Nu-Wav Kaiv Blvd. Team prizes will be given, with individual prizes for longest drive men's and longest drive women's, closest to the pin and hole-in-one. If you would like to participate, the cost is $179 per player and deadline for registration is 1 October.

Our telephone numbers at PLASA Publishing have changed. The old number - 01323 642639- has now been replaced by a new number - 01323 418400. Callers to the old number will, for the time being, be redirected to the new one automatically. The PLASA office number remains 01323 410335, although each member of staff at head office will now also have a direct line. The fax number for the entire office - 01323 646905 - remains unchanged.

PLASA Exclusive: In a move which aligns DHA's international marketing strategy with its UK business practice, DHA and Rosco have redefined their long-standing marketing agreement. Effective from September 10 - the opening day of PLASA 2000 - the new agreement will enable DHA to market direct its catalogue of 900 plus metal gobo designs and its range of moving effects products, in all countries except North and South America, Canada and Australia, where Rosco maintains its exclusivity. The decision to redefine the partnership, which gave Rosco exclusive worldwide (except UK) marketing rights for DHA gobo designs and moving effects, and DHA the right to market the Rosco images, recognises that design and international business practices have changed dramatically in the 16 years that the two companies have worked together. The gobo design of DHA's business will also continue to develop and the design team are currently working on 30 new architectural designs which will be launched at PLASA, together with six new glass gobo designs.

The high-profile circus of the Republican National Convention 2000 in Philadelphia, which ended yesterday with George W Bush's nomination as the Republican Presidential candidate, featured an extensive entertainment lighting system, composed mainly of High End Systems fixtures. Lighting designer Bill Klages specified 44 Cyberlight Turbo units, 40 Studio Color 575s, 30 Studio Spots and 40 Dataflash AF-1000 xenon strobes, supplied by the Production Resource Group (PRG), to enhance the stages, seats, ceilings and spectators in what is literally a political arena. Performers during the four-day event have included Jimmie Vaughan and his Tilt-a-Whirl Band, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, The Delfonics, Jon Secada and Lee Greenwood.

PJ Lighting has been granted a full patent for its PLASA Award-winning Multi Truss Adaptor - the CD146. The product, which was highly commended in the 1998 PLASA Awards, is a heavy-duty, multi-use truss adapter for mounting trussing to tripod or trussing stands. The main feature of this product is its unique ability to hold trussing in all of its differing angles - apex up, apex down, ladder truss and box truss. As well as holding trussing to stands, the adapter can securely clamp light or sound products to trussing.

Geoff Jones of Laser Studio and Illuminatum, has teamed with Dublin-based Kevin McCarthy (AVL) to form a new company, JMC Lighting. The new enterprise will be dedicated to providing an exclusive UK and Irish dealership for the full range of Coef intelligent lighting products and will operate out of both the UK and Eire. AVL has already used an assortment of Coef products for a series of high profile venues in Ireland, including many of Dublin's major recently opened venues.

MAD Lighting has gained an out-of-court legal settlement to stop UK distributor Terralec Ltd importing the Pearl River Tornado - a product which is practically a look-a-like of its own MAD Scan. The settlement followed MAD's decision to register the design for its MAD Scan fixture and, in particular, its plastic casing (reg. 2058915). As a result, Terralec has given an undertaking not to import, sell, and advertise infringing goods in the UK, nor can it infringe the design or assist others to do the same. Full story August L&SI.

Martin Professional is continuing with the expansion and strategic reconfiguration of its sales department with the appointment of Graham Barron as corporate sales co-ordinator.Barron brings to Martin 26 years' experience, most recently running outdoor lighting specialists Lumenation for Coe-Tech. A fully qualified lighting designer, Barron will be using his vast experience to provide a dedicated service to designers and installation contractors whose core business activity is with the nationwide, corporate club and bar estates.

Le Mark Group of St Ives, Cambridgeshire has announced a closer business association with GAM Products Inc of Hollywood, California. GAM has been Le Mark's exclusive West Coast Dealer for StudioTak stick and peel temporary studio and stage flooring, and has appointed LeMark as its lead distributor within the UK, tasked to re-introduce selected items from GAM's unique Lighting and Effects range. This includes items such as GAM Patterns (gobos), Twin Spin Rotators, and GAM ColourTube. Jeremy Bramley will head up the GAM distribution in the UK.Le Mark will introduce the products at the PLASA Show in September, and a free seminar will be held on Sunday 10 September in the Kensington Room above the Earls Court showfloor. The seminars will be introduced by Steve Hoffman, US sales manager for GAM Products Inc.

Stu Chalmers has joined High End Systems as the company's new vice-president of operations. Starting in mid August, he will be based at the automated lighting manufacturer's headquarters in Austin, Texas, to oversee product manufacturing. Areas of responsibility include all production and assembly areas, materials and purchasing. Chalmers was the first employee of the Kaizen Institute of America and as a consultant, has worked with a number of manufacturers including Ford Motor Company. Prior to that, he worked for 3M Company for 15 years. High End is currently working towards ISO Certification which it hopes to complete before the end of this year.

PLASA Exclusive: Vari-Lite has entered into a letter of intent to sell its operations in Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Sweden to an investment company which owns Focus Showequipment BV in Amsterdam. The intention, according to Vari-Lite CEO Rusty Brutsché, is to allow the company to concentrate on the development and sale of its automated lighting systems in the US, Asia and London. The sale is subject to various conditions, but is scheduled to be completed in September.

AC Lighting has supplied an extensive amount of new lighting equipment to the University of Derby for their Live Performance Technology course that was recently launched. Students progress to degree level over the programme's three years, which aims to produce technically competent researchers, designers and operators for the growing entertainment industry. Equipment from manufacturers such as James Thomas, ETC, Anytronics, Vision, Zero 88 and Manfrotto were supplied along with a multitude of cables, internally wired bars and power distribution equipment. All of this equipment is now located in Richardson Hall, the main training and performance area for the programme.

High End Systems lighting plays a part in South Africa's version of the popular TV game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. LD Hugh Turner (previous projects include The Three Tenors) specified 20 Studio Color 575 and 9 Studio Spot 575 automated luminaires to highlight the set and add excitement to the contest. Installation and weekly operation is by Southern Lighting. The show is shot every week in Johannesburg at the AGN studios downtown for clients M-net and Videovision entertainment.

Legendary Parisian restaurant Chez Maxim's, in the heart of Paris, has always represented the epitome of refinement and elegance. Steeped in tradition, it maintains its position by mixing old world sophistication with the best from today's modern life. To this end it has recently installed a number of Martin's MiniMAC luminaires (supplied by Martin France) in the legendary dining room. These are discreetly positioned around the restaurant and now enhance the atmosphere with subtle colour washes and delicate colour hues.