USA - Executive pastor Josh Parker and his team at Central Church in Augusta, Maine, have started livestreaming their Saturday evening and Sunday services.
Streamed on Facebook and YouTube, the services are providing the church’s community with an enriched and engaging worship experience, complete with production-level audio, graphics, and lighting. Still, as Easter approached, pastor Parker and his team were seeking to add an extra, and even more immersive element to their online services. This ultimately led them to journey 147 miles south to the Events United’s Studio Lab in Derry, New Hampshire.
“During Easter we always look for creative ways to reach more people by expanding production,” said Parker. “Once it became clear we would not be able to hold our usual Easter services, we started searching for innovative ways to improve our online production level. We had great experiences working with Events United before on our arena services, and most recently, I’ve been impressed by how quickly Tim Messina and his team have worked to provide a very generous and affordable online recording option for churches and events at their space in Studio Lab. It became clear to us that this was our Easter service solution.”
On Sunday 29 March, pastor Parker, along with a group of associate pastors and musicians, took to the Virtual Event Stage set up at the Events United Studio Lab to record a special service that will be shared on Facebook and YouTube on Easter Sunday. “The majority of our services, including the worship and sermon, were re

USA - As the nation and entertainment industry navigate the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic, all Bandit offices have made available to local governments and hospitals, power distribution systems, IT data distribution systems, and portable structures and lighting, completely free of charge. Bandit has also made available, free of charge, its Nashville rehearsal facility, Venue One, for use by any artist that needs a place to perform a live stream event during this critical time.
“Tennessee has been known as The Volunteer State since The War of 1812, and it was only right that Bandit step up and offer this free support,” said Bandit Lites chair and founder, Michael T. Strickland. “While all Bandit offices are under Safer-At-Home Orders, the entire staff is on full payroll. No one has been laid off at Bandit.
“When individuals are needed to accomplish a task, they are covered by the legal exemptions and the Bandit team jumps in and performs the task at hand.”
As the live entertainment industry went dark on 13 March, Strickland jumped into action. By Saturday he was on the phone with Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn working hand in hand all weekend and through the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
Strickland was representing the interests of everyone in the live entertainment segment, from full time employees to freelancers. The Senators were not completely aware of the fact that the entire industry went to zero revenue in a single moment, and once Sen. Alexander and Sen. Blackburn fully unders

UK - In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, disguise has launched disguise OnDemand - a virtual hub that features access to free training and webinars exploring key features and elements of the disguise workflow. Held in multiple languages, multiple times a day, the platform will feature exclusive content, including the opportunity for the community to take part in specialist discussions on key industry topics, and hear from customers during spotlight discussions on showstopping case studies.
Designed as a place for the community to learn and keep up-to-date on all things regarding disguise, free online training sessions take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are planning on running a condensed version of the Fundamental and Pre-Production Workflows Training, broken down into a series of six one-hour sessions where attendees can learn the core features, including the timeline, stage, configuring output feeds, and how to set up devices.
As part of a wider initiative to reach out to the disguise community, disguise is also offering the Designer software free until September, and giving a series of discounted USB dongle giveaways, as well as partnering with Notch on a ‘codemeter’ dongle sharing scheme, allowing more people to access to both their software.
“We understand this is a really hard time for our industry, and disguise is committed to doing what we can to support our community of freelancers, partners and customers across the globe,” said Fernando Kufer, CEO at disguise. “These initiatives are vital to support our communit

UK - A survey carried out by PLASA has revealed the financial struggles faced by businesses in the entertainment technology industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conducted from 18 March and completed by 145 PLASA members, the study shows the early impact that various restrictions triggered by the pandemic have had on the industry, with PLASA currently conducting a follow-up survey to gain insight into the ongoing challenges that the sector is facing.
From those surveyed, half said that they’ve lost at least 50% of the business for the year, with a fifth saying they’ve lost between 80% to 100% of all their business.
PLASA is currently pushing for the government to include the events supply chain in the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business category in order to qualify for much needed Business Rates cash grants which are already available to shops, pubs, restaurants, theatres and music venues. Alongside asking the government to insist that landlords of rented business premises support business tenants through the coronavirus crisis.
PLASA says it is also concerned about "the number of freelancers who operate as limited companies who are not receiving a fair amount of support in comparison to their sole-trader colleagues. Many were forced to operate as a limited company to comply with off-payroll tax rules, are now unable to claim for dividends meaning they lose out on fair government support."
PLASA has a dedicated web page to support businesses and individuals during the pandemic, as well as closed groups on Facebook and L

New Zealand - The Paraparaumu Southwards Car Museum marked the installation of its new lighting system with a concert in its 474-seat multi-use theatre by Adrian Dittmer’s Bruce Springsteen tribute band.
When he isn’t playing bass for the Springsteen tribute band, Dittmer is the sales and marketing manager of MDR Sound and Lighting in Palmerston North. After he reached out to the museum theatre, about a possible gig, its tech director Levi Hampton told him that the facility was looking to do a lighting upgrade.
“Once Levi mentioned what the theatre wanted to do, I put on my MDR hat and told him that we could supply anything he needed,” said Dittmer. “The theatre was pulling out the existing fly system, as it was no longer effective, and they were no longer hosting traditional theatrical productions. They were wanting to replace that system with a truss grid and a modern LED lighting solution.”
Dittmer gave the theatre the lighting versatility it needed by putting together a flexible rig that includes, 12 Maverick MK3 Wash, 16 Maverick MK2 Profile and eight Ovation E-910FC ellipsoidal fixtures (with 25- and 50-degree lens tubes) on a 15m by 13m truss grid with hoists.
Positioned evenly on the truss grid, the fixtures are able to provide full coverage across the theatre for dances and events thanks to their impressive output and throw distance. They can also turn around and create tight focused looks for concerts. This was made brilliantly clear during a performance at the theatre by Dittmer’s Springfield tribute band.

World - Chroma-Q is offering free Vista by Chroma-Q lighting and media control training. Aware and saddened by the current market situation, they will be hosting weekly webinars to help you develop your knowledge and skills, from the comfort of your own home.
Says the company, “Understanding the importance to continue to support loyal clients and to continue education in the wake of cancelled events and one-to-one meetings, last week Chroma-Q hosted the first round of one-hour Vista 3 webinars, with an overwhelming 260 attendees. Each session ran twice, once each in BST and CDT time zones, making the training accessible to a wider audience.”
“Nurturing and developing the skills of our new and existing customers is so important to us. During a time where people may be unable to get on with their ‘usual’ jobs, we wanted to provide learning opportunities that we’re certain will come in handy in the near future,” said Paul Pelletier, global brand manager.
If you are interested in sharpening your Vista 3 skills, the Vista by Chroma-Q team will be bringing you a series of webinars every Wednesday and Thursday throughout April. Keep an eye out on the Vista by Chroma-Q website - course content and registration will be updated every Friday.
Visit www.vistabychromaq.com/training-events to register for the next webinars.

UK - A team of entertainment technology professionals have joined forces to form People Powered UK in a bid to help relieve the pressures of the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative was started by LDs Katharine Williams and Jono Kenyon and has so far amassed 915 members and counting from across the entertainment and live event industries. Williams previously worked on Crew for Calais, a project that saw event professionals build shelters for refugees, whilst Kenyon has first-hand insight into the pressures of the UK’s health service thanks to his partner, an ITU worker.
A statement from People Powered UK says: “People who usually work at venues such as the London Roundhouse and provide production services to festivals are working together across the entire UK. They’re using skills and ingenuity honed building festival infrastructure to provide structures quickly and effectively, and sourcing equipment from outside the NHS’s usual supply chain to provide solutions to challenges hospitals are currently experiencing. Production people already work with emergency services and local authorities at SAGs, on health and safety, and at planning meetings, so already speak the same language.”
Sam Oldham, commercial and operations director of Camden arts venue the Roundhouse comments: "Our industry is full of highly skilled workers, many of whom are currently out of work or have been furloughed. They have essential skills which can be used to support the NHS and we're so proud to see the Roundhouse technical and production team joining for

UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting And Sound Association, has urged businesses and individuals to get in touch with more evidence on how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is affecting their operations.
The information is sought by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and will help the Treasury to better understand the devastating impact the situation is having on the events industry.
To gather the evidence, The Events Industry Forum - of which PLASA is a member - has created a survey, which can be completed here until 5pm on Tuesday, 7 April.
"We are working hard alongside other industry associations and organisations to ensure the voice of our industry is heard," says PLASA in a statement. "We hope that through this work we can secure measures already gifted to leisure and hospitality to be extended to events and the events supply chain."
(LSi Online)

Germany - Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe did not choose to celebrate his birthday privately, but instead filled the Hamburg Barclaycard Arena with around 12,000 fans last December. The show, which also marked the end of his successful SaMTV Unplugged tour, was attended by numerous guests. On top of that was the unexpected release of his new album Hochkultur, which was also given as a present to all birthday guests.
LD Bertil Mark, who has been working on the artist’s tour design since 2019 (after handling various festival engagements in previous years), was given the task of transferring the ‘living room’ atmosphere endemic to an unplugged concert to Hamburg's largest concert location. In terms of lighting technology, he included 24 GLP impression X4L, 12 X4 Bar 20, 22 JDC1 hybrid strobes and 18 Highlander Wash lights, in his set design.
“’Unplugged’ always implies something warm - a kind of living room acoustic atmosphere - and that was also the idea for this show set,” explains Bertil. "Samy's own musical implementation of the unplugged concept was extremely 'fresh' overall and so I was able to develop theme based on that. In the end it became a nice mixture of old and new technology, along with some wooden set elements."
Bertil, who regularly turns to GLP solutions, had already used the S350, X4S, X4 Bar 20 and JDC1 during the unplugged tour in March and April. X4 Bar and JDC1 in particular are among his standard tools. “The X4 Bars are my fixture of choice for 3D light surfaces and light curtains. In single-pixel mode, they ar

Spain - Marea has been rocking for over 20 years as one of the most popular Rock en Español bands around. In 2019, the band released their first album in eight years, El Azogue and promptly hit the road in support with renowned Spanish lighting designer Miguel González on board to define the visual concept.
Gonzalez has worked with a variety of high-profile acts over the years, including Marea since 2007, and incorporated 52 Elation Chorus Line 8 LED battens in his design. Seeking a linear light that was something more than a static wash light, he chose the Chorus Line 8 for its 4 to 40-degree zoom and 220-degree tilt axis movement, dynamism that allows it to fulfill a number of roles in a single show from directional stage wash to dynamic eye candy effect.
“I chose the Chorus Line for its versatility and the short 50cm length, which gave me plenty of possibilities when positioned in vertical truss pipes. The fast zoom and the speed of the tilt movement added vitality and I used them quite a bit throughout the show,” stated González, who also handled programming and lighting desk operation on the tour.
The Chorus Line 8 fixtures were positioned in eight 2m vertical truss pipes, four fixtures per pipe, with the remaining fixtures located under a stage riser (behind retro lenses), a position that allowed the LD to take advantage of the fixture’s zoom. “The Chorus Line 8 played a major part in every scene of the show,” he said, “from pixel-mapping effects to fast beam sweeps.”
One of Spain’s largest AV rental companies

Serbia - With an impressive line-up of EDM stars, the Green Love Festival in Novi Sad has grown into a magnet for music fans, not just for its sounds, but for its visual treats as well. Aside from being located in a beautiful vibrant city on the Danube that was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2021 by the EU, the indoor and outdoor festival also wows fans with some stunning stage panoramas.
This was readily apparent in the looks that lighting designer Predrag Djordjević and stage designer Dragan Rajčin from Chameleon Rental conjured up for artists like Spartaque, Metodi Hristov and Fernanda Martins during the most recent incarnation of the festival. With its crossing patterns of beams set off against a massive wall of bright blinders and video panels, their design wrapped itself around the music, commanding attention without taking attention away from the artists.
Aiding them in this endeavour was a collection of over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Chameleon Rental that included 16 Maverick MK1 Spot, 20 Maverick MK2 Wash, 24 Rogue R2 Beam, and 60 Rogue R2X Beam fixtures.
Massing some of their fixtures along the upstage wall to create a stunning backdrop, positioning some on the stage deck, and flying the remainder on overhead truss that extended midway through the indoor performance area, they were able to immerse the crowd in a field of light from multiple directions.
Key to providing a colourful visual foundation to underline the electronic beats was the output from the combination of Maverick MK1 Spot and MK2

UK - The Space is a theatre training complex for 16-19-year olds at Heathfield Community School, located next door to Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre in Taunton, Somerset, UK.
The complex includes an 85-seat performance theatre, dance and drama studios all kitted out to high technical specifications – including new Zero 88 Chilli Pro 24 Bypass dimmers.
This impressive facility offers young people in the south-west of the country opportunities for developing future careers in the performing arts. It specialises in a range of interrelated disciplines including dance, acting, film, production arts, makeup, set design / building and more, with an intake of around 80 students over two years.
The Space’s technical manager Tom Froom explained that the students from both years will produce between 10 and 12 shows over the course of the academic year.
Tom has been at The Space for three years having started as a student there himself and before undertaking a two-year apprenticeship at Tacchi-Morris and The Space. He expresses the importance of having the latest technologies available as part of the learning tools to benefit students.
The new Chilli Pro dimmers have replaced older units which had been in residence for around a decade.
They control 120 circuits of lighting. Currently, the lighting rig includes Selecon Rama 150 and Acclaim PC’s, ETC Source Four Zooms and Source Four Juniors plus a lot of PARs all on the LX rig above the 8 x 8 metre stage. The venue also has retractable seating for configuring in different formats.
They

Australia - Canberra -based technical production and event specialist and rental company Elite Event Technology ensured that Horizon 2020 – the Friday Night Party event that was part of the Australian National University Students' Association (ANUSA)’s annual Orientation (freshers) Week activities in February – had appropriate lighting and sound for their main stage.
Staged at the Fellows Oval sports ground on the University of Canberra campus in ACT, around 3000 students enjoyed great weather and a line-up of young emerging talent including Cub Sport, Holy Holy, Wafia, Graace, Remi, Adrian Eagle and Hayley Mary.
Elite also provided a d&b PA system for the event. The company supplies lighting, sound and AV production for numerous other functions at the university.
The lighting rig was based around a festival lighting spec created by headliner Club Sport’s LD Jake Ploss.
Elite’s owner and house FOH sound engineer for the night Darren Russell took this as a starting point and – in consultation with Jake – modified elements to make it practical for the event and to fit the 14-metre-wide truck stage.
The stage offered 6.5m of headroom to its structural gantry, below which Elite flew their four production trusses.
Elite’s Blake Watkin operated lighting for all the other bands apart from Club Sport and the challenge was in lighting each artist differently to match their performance and musical style. With the Robes on the rig, there was plenty of versatility and dynamics!
Over 60 per cent played in daylight wh

Germany - The ARRI Academy has announced the launch of a new course designed for all levels of lighting and video production professionals. Lighting Systems Control with Richard Cadena is an 11-part video course that serves as a guide to get you up and running with digital lighting control, using DMX, RDM, Wireless DMX, and ethernet-based networks.
The series consists of short, informative videos with classes ranging in length from five minutes to 34 minutes. Course attendees will gain a working knowledge of standard and emerging technologies and will be trained on the latest lighting technology. The complete list of classes is as follows: DMX, Building DMX network, Troubleshooting DMX network, RDM, Wireless DMX, Intro to ethernet-based networking, Testing ethernet-based networks: PING and IPCONGIF commands, Art-Net, sACN, Consoles, and ARRI LED Ecosystem.
The series is taught by Richard Cadena, an ETCP recognised trainer and certified entertainment electrician. Cadena brings over 30 years of lighting industry experience and has been training entertainment lighting professionals around the globe.
The series gives an overview of established and emerging technologies, best practices, and guides users on how to troubleshoot potential issues. Cadena’s insight into the discipline of lighting and the industry is extensive. In the episode on Wireless DMX, for example, he explains, “When people tell me, ‘Oh, I don't trust wireless DMX,’ I start asking questions.” Cadena continues, “‘Well, what kind of wireless were you using? Whose tran

China - Chinese industry is now back to work following the COVID-19 crisis, and Guangzhou-based PR Lighting marked the start of a new month by putting out a statement reassuring their global reseller and customer base that it is once again business as usual.
China was the first country to register the outbreak of the coronavirus (on 31 December, 2019) and while production remained temporarily idle throughout the country during lockdown, PR Lighting used the first quarter of the new year not only to fine tune new products already under development but to make some strategic changes to their global sales infrastructure.
“PR Lighting is back running 100% as normal,” confirmed company president, Dave Liang. “Our technical and marketing departments are fully operational, and production and shipment are back on schedule. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.”
Moving forward, PR Lighting’s senior sales managers, Lawrence Mao and Bruce Tian, stated, “Although the pandemic in China is now well under control we are aware that much of the globe is presently trapped in crisis. We want to reassure customers that we are here, ready to support them in whatever way we can with their needs. Meanwhile, we are grateful to our international network of distributors and dealers for marketing the products in their local territories.”
The two men emphasised that PR Lighting holds plenty of inventory of all popular items. “These are available for shipment, subject to the current transport

USA - Bandit Lites has announced that long-time team member Stephanie McSpadden will be taking on a new role as a sales support manager. Her new duties will include overseeing sales invoicing, administrative support of inventory, sales project management within accounting, tax reporting, fixed asset reporting, revenue recognition and project administration.
“All these functions occur as Stephanie is seated in a position between sales and accounting,” comments Bandit Lites chair and founder Michael T. Strickland. “She is truly a hybrid leader in her functionality.”
McSpadden first joined Bandit in 2007 as the Knoxville office manager, answering phones and assisting each department as needed. She then joined the purchasing department to support inventory management and shipping followed by a move to the sales department.
“I am so very proud of Stephanie, not just for her daily accomplishments at work, but for the phenomenal task of earning an MBA while working and being a wife and mother,” adds Strickland. “Stephanie is part of a transformational team that is and has been leading Bandit to new, higher areas in business.”

Europe - Madrix 5 software has always been available as a demo version for everyone to try out the pixel mapper at the convenience of their own work machines.
Madrix 5.1 launched the additional 'pre-programmer' software license to facilitate show and project preparation without the need for a full output licence.
A new way to fully test Madrix 5 is now being introduced as an additional resource to support the current workflow needs of operators, lighting designers, VJs, and project companies around the world.
Madrix 5 professional is an extensive software licence, which is available free of charge as a time-limited license that works until 1 June 2020. It is fully functioning within this time frame. The only requirement is to make a small, one-time purchase for a Madrix Key from a local dealer. This USB dongle then remains universally usable for the range of Madrix software products and licences.

Thailand - The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence recently upgraded its headquarters with Harman Professional Solutions AV, lighting and control systems.
Part of Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, the Office of the Permanent Secretary is responsible for determining strategic goals, executing plans, drafting policy and the inspection and monitoring of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
Occupying a grand, nine-story building with multiple wings outside Bangkok, the organisation’s headquarters includes a multipurpose hall which can seat 1,500 and be divided into two separate spaces on demand. To ensure world-class sound, video, lighting and control for presentations and events, the Office of the Permanent Secretary deployed a range of solutions from JBL Professional, Crown, Soundcraft, BSS, Martin Professional and AMX.
"The client needed cutting-edge AV and stage lighting systems for the multipurpose hall that seats 1,500 people,” said Pongsakorn Kanchanachayphoom, director of project, Mahajak Development Co. “A robust and flexible solution was necessary to facilitate different types of events. Evaluating these requirements, we designed a system with Harman's industry-leading networked AV and lighting solutions, providing the client with the required flexibility and allowing them to upgrade the platform in the future."
To achieve suitable sound reinforcement in multiple room configurations, the Office of the Permanent Secretary installed a range of JBL loudspeakers in the main hall. When the hall is divided, 15-inch JBL AM7215 speakers

South Africa - Days before lockdown, thousands of fans gathered at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria to celebrate the 2020 edition of RAMfest, South Africa’s music festival for all things alternative.
This years’ line up included some of South Africa’s most popular alternative bands, including Facing the Gallows, Peasant, Man as Machine, Newtown Knife Gang, The Valley, Stoker, and Truth & It’s Burden. Highlights of the event included a much-anticipated reunion show by South African rock legends, The Van Coke Kartel and USA-based death metal giants, The Black Dahlia Murder, who headlined the one-day festival.
Festival organisers Real Alternative Music (RAM) once again contracted Stage Effects and Blue Array Productions to provide technical services for the event. Stage Effects’ Erik de Bruin has been working with RAM on the festival for several years and he says that it is one of his favourite festivals to work on.
In the lead up to this years’ RAMfest, Erik used the opportunity to give an up-and-coming young lighting designer, Ethan Benjamin, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get behind an MA3 light console at a festival of this size.
“A few years ago, I found this young guy, Ethan Benjamin, on YouTube, who was making videos about his experience programming on the MA2 platform. I got a hold of him and discovered that, at the tender age of 16, he had taught himself how to programme an MA2 by following YouTube tutorials and online resources. I decided to allow him the opportunity to programme a few gigs over the past two years

USA - Mirror balls have been used to create atmosphere in dancehalls and nightclubs for almost a century, and became synonymous with the ‘70s disco explosion. Dance Studio Vol. 1, the latest new addition to the nightlife scene in Chicago’s River North neighbourhood, takes this lighting staple to a new level by filling the ceiling above its dancefloor completely with ADJ mirror balls of various sizes.
The new nightclub and event space is a renovation of the ‘dearly departed’ Studio Paris, which closed in January 2019 after an eight-year run. With a totally redesigned interior, Dance Studio Vol. 1 is a 350-person venue that hosts live music, DJs and ‘surprise entertainment’. It features a lighting system that was designed and installed by Craft Lighting, a Chicago-based AV design and integration company.
Craft Lighting supplied and installed a total of 470 ADJ mirror balls of different sizes, hanging them at various heights to create a sea of glass facets above the heads of dancers. A mixture of standard 8”, 12”, 16” and 20” balls were combined with three of ADJ’s huge 40” units to create a truly dazzling, eye-catching installation which surrounds a moving light package consisting of fixtures from ADJ’s sister company Elation Professional.
“The mirror ball installation sprung from conversations and design explorations with the client,” explains Noah Craft, owner and lead designer for Craft Lighting. “They were exploring visual themes for this project that relied on repeating patterns/textures and wanted to evoke feeli

USA - High End Systems has announced new live events via its Study Hall programme, featuring webinars, Q&As, and round tables led by both employee experts and friends around the industry. “The content will be geared toward all our audiences around the globe, including dedicated events for just our dealers and reps - so be sure to log in to MyETC to see all the upcoming listings!” suggests HES.
This week’s schedule includes: Thursday, 2 April, 10:00 am CDT - Intro to Controls Networking - “It's all about making meaningful connections... between the components of your lighting system! ETC NYC's Nick Gonsman presents a special intro to the theory and practice of controls networking.”
Thursday, 2 April, 12:00 pm CDT - Let’s Go Hog Wild - “Join Maegan Wilson and Noah Allen, product support specialists for High End Systems, as they will cover the basics of the Hog 4 console, including console layout, navigation, patching, and controlling fixtures.”
Says HES, “We welcome your feedback, so please reach out to the HES Sales team with any suggestions and topic ideas. In the meantime, stay safe and stay connected.”

UK - Touring and live events may be on hold for now, but learning and career development continue to move forward at the ChamSys Training Academy. The lighting console maker has been actively expanding its online education resources with new courses, tutorials and appointment opportunities being added on a continuous basis. In addition to providing programmers with the chance to sharpen their skills (and develop new ones), the academy is serving as a platform for them to remain connected to the industry in the wake of the closings and cancelations that have taken place.
Open to anyone, the academy offers daily online webinar training sessions. Conducted by active lighting designers and programmers, like Philip Watson, Brett Lorins and Charles Courser, these sessions cover a range of basic, intermediate and advanced topics.
The ChamSys Training Academy also features an expanded menu of video tutorials, including Beginners Sessions that provided a basic look at subjects like windows, buttons, faders and shortcuts; to Intermediate Sessions that deliver in-depth guides to topics like using the Execute Window to its maximum benefit. An extensive collection of Advanced Sessions is currently under development.
Another highlight of the academy is its free MagicQ and QuickQ online training sessions. Free of charge, the sessions provide practical user-friendly guides to mastering these powerful software tools.
For programmers and designers seeking a more personal learning experience, the ChamSys Training Academy offers one-one-one consultations duri

Europe - Lightpower has announced a number of organisational changes and senior personnel moves. “After 42 years of successful activity on the market, it is time for our company to take another step,” says a statement.
“Over the years, our company has developed and established numerous national and international business activities. In order to give these businesses a common roof, we have founded the Lightpower Holding company. The task of this holding company is to act as a control centre for all underlying companies and to develop future strategies in close cooperation with their managing directors.”
The establishment of the holding company is also accompanied by a change in the management of Lightpower GmbH. As part of this process, Herbert Marx and Michael Rickers will succeed Ralph-Jörg Wezorke, managing director of Lightpower and Franz-Josef Wewer, authorised representative of Lightpower.
As joint managing director, Herbert Marx is responsible for sales, marketing and purchase. Herbert Marx, a well-known personality within the industry, is appointed to the management board. Having been with the company for 12 years, Marx initially worked as marketing manager before he took over as director of sales.
Michael Rickers also becomes joint managing director and concentrates on the areas of finance, human resources and organisation. Michael has been with Lightpower for three years. Prior to this, Michael was responsible for finance and controlling at a German Bundesliga football club for several years.
Additionally, the managemen

UK - Stage Electrics has won the contract to complete the technical fit out of production lighting, sound, video, comms and stage engineering systems at the new purpose built, fully accessible, Brixtonhouse Theatre (formerly Ovalhouse Theatre) which forms part of the Somerleyton Road Project in the heart of Brixton.
The new building will have two performance venues and seven multi-use accessible studios and a whole new inventory of equipment and is set to at the end of 2020.
Stage Electrics will again be working with main contractor Galliford Try with who they previously completed the Southampton New Art Complex.