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Rigging / Staging

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Saudi Arabia - The largest Milos trussing installation in the Middle East to date was built for a special presentation ceremony to give out the 2011 Makkah Awards for Excellence, staged in the Hilton Hall of the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.

Milos trussing and staging products from Bright Star were used to build a spectacular stage set for the event, including a 50m diameter circular truss that circled the perimeter of the entire presentation space, which was also used to hang a 360 degree projection screen and an 18m diameter round stage.

The installation was designed by Hattan Madani, who was also Bright Star's site and project manager for the event. Bright Star is a leading technical and event production company based in Jeddah, headed by Ibrahim Madani, and with a large stock of Milos products.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Batman Live tour directors will join leading Tait staff to reveal production secrets behind the astounding Batman Live show at a seminar during this year's PLASA exhibition in Earls Court, London, at 5pm on Monday 12th September.

Tait is widely considered as global leaders in the design, manufacture and tour logistics when it comes to scenic motion, and were an obvious choice for production director Jake Berry (who was in charge of all technical elements) and set designer Es Devlin as they conceived one the most ambitious live touring productions ever seen.

Berry and Devlin will be joined at this unique seminar by James 'Winky' Fairorth, president of Tait Towers, alongside Dana Bartholomew from Fisher Technical Services (FTSI), also part of the Tait Towers group. Following presentations by each of the panellists there will be a question and answer session fo

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UK - XLNT CyberMotion, billed as the world's first fully integrated motion control system, is officially launched at PLASA 2011 on Stand 1-E33.

XLNT CyberMotion is a complete range of motion products designed specifically for the entertainment industry. SIL3 certified technology is used to create a unique series of intercompatible products to create breathtaking shows and installations as well as the durability for cost efficient global touring.

The plug & play CyberMotion system provides a choice of two intelligent, variable speed chain hoists, the XLNT CHII-Hoist, for worldwide touring and spectacular shows, and the XLNT C-Hoist, designed for multi-purpose venues, permanent installation and theatres.

The XLNT C-Winch is an intelligent, high-speed, zero fleet winch for ultra-fast lifting and movement of objects with 0.1 mm positioning accuracy.

XLNT C-Track and XLNT C-Tro

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CyberMotion, said by developers XLNT Advanced Technologies to be "the world's first fully integrated motion control system", is officially launched at PLASA 2011. The company says it will bring "a new world of stage automation to the European concert touring, events, theatre and installation markets".

CyberMotion, developed by XLNT Advanced Technologies, is designed not only to change the philosophy of motion control but to open the horizons of stage engineering to new creative potential. The system is 'Plug & Play' and fast to install.

XLNT CyberMotion is a complete range of motion products designed specifically for the entertainment industry. SIL3 certified state of the art technology is used to create a unique series of intercompatible products to create "breathtaking shows and installations" as well as the durability for cost efficient global touring

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Promising "no more overloads on stage", Eilon Engineering is launching a new, improved version of Ron StageMaster wireless and wired load monitoring and overload prevention system, featuring longer transmission range, longer battery life, faster update rate and more, at PLASA 2011.

Tens / hundreds of load cells' measurements are displayed on one laptop screen and create a real time load map, allowing the rigger to detect an overload and handle it before it becomes dangerous.

The load cells enable minimum headroom loss and have up to 1500 battery hours; up to 96 wireless load cells, or up to 256 wired load cells with just a single cable descending from the truss. All wireless and wired load cells are displayed on one laptop screen as a real-time load map, overlaid on the stage-plan layout (AutoCAD etc), enabling the rigger at the venue to immediately identify the location of

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A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd., a leading one-stop provider of cutting-edge new and used professional equipment to the entertainment industry, showcases a selection of lighting, audio, rigging and video solutions available from its vast range of premium brands on Stand 1-E10, Hall 1 at PLASA 2011.

Teams from all of AC-ET's specialist product divisions will be there to discuss the massive multi-million pound stockholding of over 200 leading brands available from AC-ET's High Wycombe and Leeds offices for worldwide dispatch to over 80 countries - as well as in-house filter and cable manufacturing facilities and wide range of consumables - backed up by an emergency evening and weekend delivery service.

The A.C. Lighting division will showcase the new GLP Impression Wash One and Spot One high powered LED spot and washlight moving heads. The latest moving lights available fr

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UK - Following a meticulous design and testing process Stageco is unveiling details of the company's new Tower Staging system at this years' shows in Earls Court, London. The new system is significantly stronger, bigger, and, in-keeping with Stageco's approach to stage design, is a modular component system. This means the new XL Towers can be used in multiple configurations, allowing more flexible design on a larger scale than ever before, says the company.

Director Dirk De Decker was part of the development team and he explains, "The XL Tower system has arisen from our experiences designing and building the extra large steel for the U2 360° World Tour. We learnt a lot about large scale fabrication, engineering and handling large steel components on site.

"While we've been developing our skills over the last two or three years working at that scale, we have also

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UK - Green arts organisation Julie's Bicycle has launched its new UK-wide Better Batteries campaign at PLASA 2011. The campaign aims to bring together the music and theatre industries in a drive to switch over to rechargeable battery systems, particularly for portable sound equipment, and increase the rate of recycling for both disposable and rechargeable batteries. Focused on venues and individual productions the campaign is backed by scientific research and case studies from commercial theatre productions which prove the reliability of the technology, environmental benefits and cash savings available.

The environmental benefits associated with using rechargeable batteries and recycling after use include less pressure on natural resources, less pollution from the manufacturing process, less waste created and less carbon emissions resulting from transport and distribution, due t

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UK - With preliminary visitor figures of over 12,000, showing a marginal increase over 2010 and strong international engagement from across the world, organisers PLASA Events are "delighted" with the positive feedback to this year's PLASA 2011, which has just closed its doors at Earls Court after a vibrant four days.

This year's event sets the scene for a strong return to Earls Court in 2012. Events Manager Sophie Atkinson commented: "Exhibitors have been enthusing about the high quality of visitors and the rate of sales enquiries, and with hundreds of new products being launched, there has been a great return on investment for them. We expect to see many back here at Earls Court next year."

Visitors also relished being first to get their hands on some of the industry's hottest new products. Over 500 products were launched at the show, including major new d

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UK - With preliminary visitor figures of over 12,000, showing a marginal increase over 2010 and strong international engagement from across the world, organisers PLASA Events are "delighted" with the positive feedback to this year's PLASA 2011, which last week closed its doors at Earls Court after a vibrant four days.

This year's event sets the scene for a strong return to Earls Court in 2012. Events manager Sophie Atkinson commented: "Exhibitors have been enthusing about the high quality of visitors and the rate of sales enquiries, and with hundreds of new products being launched, there has been a great return on investment for them. We expect to see many back here at Earls Court next year."

Visitors also relished being first to get their hands on some of the industry's hottest new products. Over 500 products were launched at the show, including major new

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UK - M-Sport, the organisation chosen by the Ford Motor Company to mastermind the assault on the World Rally Championship, recently commissioned Litestructures (Prolyte Group's brand team dedicated to custom projects) to design and manufacture a modular touring infrastructure centre.

The Litestructures team fully designed, built and kitted out the structure, which includes a full size, fully fitted catering kitchen, toilets, air-conditioning and an integrated AV system. The structure had to be portable to allow transportation between events, but equally, as a key part of the company's branding, it had to have outstanding visual impact.

A clear requisite was that every area had a solid quality, giving an almost permanent feel, whilst the deployment should be restricted to three days for a crew of no more than eight operatives.

When fully assembled, the structure measures 16m

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UK - When ETC introduced its iRFR (Radio Focus Remote for iPhone and iPod Touch) two years ago, Luke Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in London suggested that the profits be shared between Light Relief and its US equivalent, Behind the Scenes. Little did his bosses realise just how much this would amount to.

At PLASA 2011, Delwiche presented Light Relief trustee Rick Fisher with a cheque for £12,458, collected over the previous 12 months. A similar amount of money will be presented to Behind the Scenes at the LDI show in October this year. These two cheques bring the total raised by the sale of the iRFR application to a staggering $86,000.

Delwiche was obviously delighted that his idea has paid off so handsomely, while CEO Fred Foster said,"One of the nicest aspects is that each individual who has found our iRFR to be a useful tool has helped raise this money. Chris

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UK - Flightcase manufacturer, 5 Star Cases, celebrating its 30th anniversary year in 2011, enjoyed another very busy PLASA Light & Sound Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

5 Star's MD Keith Sykes says, "All our shown products were well received, and we received plenty of inquiries as well as finalising some deals during the four days. PLASA is definitely the UK's premier entertainment technology trade show, and once again we saw a good cross section of new contacts as well as existing clients, and generally experienced high visitor quality."

On display was a selection of 5 Star's custom designed and standard case ranges, including a special edition 'Eurotrucker' road trunk, featuring an eye-catching digitally printed 'wrap', which was applied to the exterior and visible on all sides including the bottom.

Also highlighted at the exhibition was a new 'r

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Turkey - Stageco provided the festival stages for Rock'n Coke and the Fanta Youth Festival in Istanbul this summer.

Rock'n Coke took place on 16-17 July at Hezarfen Airfield. The popular festival, which has been running since 2003, attracts major international artists which this year included Limp Bizkit, Motorhead, Moby, Travis, Paolo Nutini and Skunk Anansie.

An audience of over 50,000 people attended, with the main stage capacity catering for 25,000 fans at any one time. Stageco provided its 18m by 14.5m Boogdak stage system, incorporating two PA wings with in-built video screens.

Uluc Dundar, production director at Rock'n Coke, said, "The Boogdak roof provides perfect clearance and width of performance area for the artists. The PA wings adds to the quality of the artist's performances and helps to make the festival a big event in our territory.

"We have used

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UK - Milton Keynes based Impact Production Services (IPS) has added a customised Prolyte Roof System to its range of outdoor stages. Following a first build at the LS-Live Studio in Wakefield, the 16m by 14m structure has already been used at the Grand Scottish Prom at Glamis Castle, and as the main stage at Standon Calling, Hertfordshire.

Manufactured by Prolyte Group, this variation of a CLT Roof System is constructed from S52V grid truss supported by seven S40T truss towers from the Prolyte Structures range. A Layher Allround Scaffolding system base structure supports EV100 Event Decks that form the 16m x 14m stage platform.

IPS MD James Mason is very happy with the new structure, saying, "The CLT takes our range of stages to the next level".

The Grand Scottish Prom at Glamis Castle took place on Saturday 30 July, and was a huge success. Alan Hillary Event Manag

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UK - Engineers from A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) 's Rigging division have passed the new official Columbus McKinnon (CM) 'Certified Hoist Technician' examination, making AC-ET the only CM Entertainment reseller and servicing agent in the UK to have engineers trained and authorised to this level of certification.

The course - which is a new initiative by the manufacturer - was conducted by CM's training manager, David Carmack, at their UK headquarters in Merseyside. All four AC-ET engineers who attended passed the full set of practical modules and a detailed written examination with flying colours.

The AC-ET staff - Martin Price, Julian Tether, Keith Hartley and Graham Lovell - are based across the company's High Wycombe and Leeds offices and work as part of the highly experienced A.C. Rigging team.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - PLASA 2011 was reportedly a "highly successful" event for first time exhibitor Backstage Academy.

The new industry-led training centre, based at the LS-Live rehearsal studios in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, registered the interest of over 250 students who visited the stand between 11-14 September. The Academy received enquiries relating to its many short courses in backstage skills, Apple-based technologies or Avid training.

It also grabbed attention for its new 15-month Foundation Degree in Live Events Production, with several students signing up for an interview for the forthcoming course this November, for which there are a few places remaining.

Said chief operating officer Robin Watkinson, "We were bowled over by the flurry of activity surrounding our stand at PLASA. Even though it was our first time exhibiting here, a lot of people and companies in the

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UK - For the second year running, figures released by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that the number of injuries involving the use of ladders and stepladders has fallen from 2132 in 2007/08 to 2011 in 2008/09 and 1817 in 2009/10. This despite an average overall increase of 51 per cent in the total number of falls from height reported to HSE over the same period.

The figure of 1817 compares with 2631 ladder-related injuries reported to HSE in 2001/02, a drop of 31 per cent.

According to the Ladder Association, no one single initiative is responsible, but rather a combination of initiatives driven by the association itself and in collaboration with other agencies, in particular HSE and the Access Industry Forum (AIF), of which it is a founder member.

"Whatever the sceptics may say, it cannot be denied that these welcome statistics coincide with a significant i

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UK - Saville Audio Visual provided the staging and facilities for the launch of Fiery Irn-Bru, a limited edition soft drink from Scottish drinks group, AG Barr. The new brand was launched to the public in Glasgow's George Square by former AG Barr chairman Robin Barr, who donned protective gloves to pull the first-ever bottle out of a furnace to present to the gathered crowd.

The Saville team provided full project support for the outdoor event, from the design process through to production and delivery. The facilities included staging, truss and a PA rig for the 300-strong audience, plus smoke machines and external and internal lighting to create the realistic furnace effects.

The spicy version of the more familiar fizzy drink will be on sale alongside 'trick or treat' packs to coincide with Halloween.

Saville business manager for Scotland, Chris Lawson said, "Designing

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USA - Two life-sized pirate ships, bands of swashbucklers sword fighting across a 15ft-deep lagoon, sails unfurling and props descending from the sky...there's nothing like a major family entertainment attraction to challenge every aspect of theatrical production.

When Mike Compton of Pirates Voyage took on the challenge of bringing the new attraction to life in Myrtle Beach, SC, he turned to the rigging experts from J. R. Clancy. Compton had worked with Clancy on three other recentprojects, so he knew they could help make the technical aspects of this show as exciting as they could be.

The latest attraction from Dolly Parton, Pirates Voyage moved into the building that housed her famous Dixie Stampede attraction for 19 seasons. Transforming a former Dixie Stampede hippodrome into a pirates' show in just five months - from its closing in January 2011 to its grand reopening on

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UK - Hawthorn Walling Systems has just celebrated its first birthday. Hawthorn Walling Systems designs and manufactures set, stand and display solutions for exhibitions, conferences and product launches.

The first year of trading has been "phenomenal", says the company. The bespoke in-house workshop has already been extended and the team has expandedsignificantly to meet ongoing demand for the Walling Systems product.

Hawthorn Walling Systems uses a patented tensioned fabric on an aluminium frame system to create seamless high resolution panels for the events and exhibition industry. The product is lightweight, modular, quick to build and easily re-brandable for road shows, multiple brands/languages and also helps clients to reduce their transport costs and enhance their eco credentials.

(Jim Evans)

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Lecture Notes - Pete Townshend is to deliver the inaugural John Peel Lecture, in which he will assess the state of music in the internet age. The lecture, part of the Radio Festival in Salford at the end of this month, will become an annual event given by a different music figure every year. Townshend will ask how musicians can survive in the age of free downloads. The lecture, named in honour of legendary DJ Peel, who died in 2004, will be broadcast live on BBC 6 Music.

Townshend said he was "honoured" to be asked to deliver the address, adding that the former BBC Radio 1 DJ had introduced him to bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Undertones before they had signed record deals. "John didn't just listen to music, he played it on air and let his audience decide," the 66-year-old guitarist said. In his lecture, Townshend will pose the question: "C

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World - PLASA members worldwide have begun voting in the Association's yearly elections, which commenced this week.

The month-long ballot, in which over 1,000 members participate, will decide places on PLASA's European and North American Regional Boards, together with a single seat on its over-arching Governing Body.

The two Regional Boards are still a relatively new concept for PLASA, having been formally launched at the start of 2011. Their role is to represent the interests of members affiliated to those regions, ensuring that PLASA offers strong on the ground support to members.

Both the North American and European Regional Boards are looking to fill a number of places for 2012. Following the death of the European Chair Rob Lingfield earlier this year, Ed Pagett of Panalux, who served as Vice Chair, is standing for the position of Chair. A number of representative positi

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UK - Mojo Barriers worked closely with organisers Festival Republic to develop a bespoke front of main stage barrier design, incorporating BLMS (Barrier Load Monitor Systems), and NME/Radio 1 stage barrier designs. The new designs were suitable for both the Reading and Leeds sites.

A total of 1,100m of stage barrier was supplied to each festival, which included Mojo's line-up gate system for the silent disco.

Mojo's BLMS detects and records pressure applied by the crowd throughout the event with its unique pressure sensors. It was first used five years ago at Reading and Leeds and includes CCTV monitoring and personal observation by production and security professionals to monitor crowd dynamics.

As a result of previous years' results analysis, Mojo installed one of its trademark thrust systems into the main arena as a primary stage barrier, a first for the Leeds and Reading

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