USA - PLASA Focus: Orlando 2015 opens in one week, taking place on 17-18 February at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

The two-day event kicks off Tuesday at 9:00am with Richard Pilbrow's educational seminar titled Light and Theatre? 50 Years of Change. Additional seminars follow and the exhibition hall opens at 10:00am-5:00pm with over 60 regional and national companies exhibiting the latest in entertainment technology. On Wednesday, the exhibition hall and seminar programme runs from 10:00am-4:00pm.

"We are thrilled with the incredibly high pre-registration numbers that we've seen so far, and can't wait for an extremely successful PLASA Focus event," said Laura Hoepker, PLASA Events sales executive. "Between the show floor and educational seminars, we are providing access to the best in the industry to everyone who attends."

Free registration to both the sh

UK - Bristol-based lighting, visuals and rigging specialist Fineline supplied lighting and rigging equipment and expertise in a series of creative solutions for the world premiere of Walking The Chains, an ambitious circus / theatre production staged in the historic Passenger Shed at Bristol Temple Meads station.

Celebrating 150 Years of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Clifton suspension bridge, its spirit and impact as a landmark of Victorian engineering from conception to completion, the narrative also recalled how the bridge integrated into the community and industrial history of the region. The show was a collaboration between Bristol's Show of Strength Theatre Company and circus / physical theatre performance company, Circomedia.

The show's designer James Helps contacted Fineline on the recommendation of several others - to provide the solutions needed to stage the show

Australia - UK based Mantracourt is celebrating the sales of its BroadWeigh wireless load monitoring systems into the Australian stage and entertainment sector.

With the technical and sales support of Botany based The Rigging Shop, Mantracourt have sold a number of BroadWeigh systems that are now being used for concert halls, touring companies and stage shows. The BroadWeigh system provides essential measurements of force and thereby helps operatives avoid overload of design parameters.

The Rigging Shop sells many products aimed at the entertainment rigging industry and also supplies similar equipment to other industrial and commercial industries. The Rigging Shop was appointed as BroadWeigh's Australian technical partner early in 2014 and has experienced a lot of interest in this product range.

"We are delighted with the sales and support effort provided by the team at

The Netherlands - Crowd safety barrier specialists Mojo Barriers will feature on Discovery Channel's flagship How do they do it? documentary, this Friday, 13 February.

The documentary explains how Mojo Barriers' patented stage barrier system is made, and the important role it plays at some of the world's largest and most well known events.

Jasper Caldenhoven Mojo Barriers' project manager supported the filming production process with WAG TV, ensuring that the film crew captured the exclusive content, from the manufacturing of barriers, to their installation and use at the Netherlands' oldest festival Pinkpop.

Jasper comments, "The documentary gives a great insight into our world: it follows every step of Mojo Barriers' procedures including the manufacturing process, which saw us filming at four different factories. We then filmed the rigorous testing systems back

Europe - Belgium-based engineering and automation specialists WIcreations is supplying several custom moving elements for the current European tour by French rock singer and multi-instrumentalist Calogero.

The tour is produced by TS3, also responsible for the acclaimed Mylène Farmer Timeless tour, for which WI designed and supplied bespoke automation. Based on this success, they returned to WI to deliver more imaginative, reliable and tourable engineering solutions.

Calogero's avant-garde lighting scheme designed by Dimitri Vassiliu is based less around traditional lighting instruments and is more about using the direct and ambient light - and darkness - created by LED screens with content flowing through them. For this ambitious idea to work, they required a series of six LED panels to move around the performance space, so they can act as light sources.

The six screens nee

UK - The award-winning staging, structures and seating specialist will unveil a new name, simplified to Star Events Ltd, a new logo and a new website at the Event Production Show, as it takes formal responsibility for parent company Altrad Beaver 84's events division.

The amalgamation adds crowd control barriers, fencing, mobile grandstand seating and ground protection to Star Events' product range. Existing Beaver 84 contracts, with the BBC, Festival Republic and V Festivals among them, transfer too, along with Beaver's events team.

Steve Tysoe, managing director at Beaver 84 and Star Events, comments: "It makes perfect sense to put the portfolio together. It's a more focused approach for the client, with Star capable of providing the core equipment for any type of outdoor event."

(Jim Evans)

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will be featuring new lighting solutions from Chroma-Q, Mole-Richardson and Fiilex, grip equipment from Manfrotto, and video innovations from Green Hippo and Prolights - at the Broadcast Video Expo (BVE) 2015 show, held at Excel, London on 24-26 February (stand E20).

The company offers a comprehensive one-stop inventory of equipment solutions for film, television, and studio or location broadcast applications. This service covers products through to complete lighting and video systems, from supply through to installation.

The award-winning Chroma-Q Studio Force premium performance soft light range provides a soft, even light source in a choice of daylight, tungsten and variable white LED models which are comparable to traditional lighting technologies - and produce a massive output for their size.

The Mole-Richardson lighting rang

South Africa - DWR Distribution is hosting its first Fall Arrest and Basic Training, presented by Jacobus Myburgh from Gravity Training in Johannesburg. The three day training kicks off today and ends on 20 February.

With a background in the hospitality industry, having managed hotels and venues both locally and internationally, Myburgh can relate to the events and entertainment market. When a new door opened for him to join Gravity Training, he received extensive training on rope access, rigging, climbing with a harness and safety.

The aim is to train technicians, riggers and all those who work on elevated platforms with the tools required to conduct a possible rescue. Subjects covered include falls and fall factors, shock absorbing lanyards, connectors, helmets, anchors, slings and wire strops, work positioning lanyards, rescue and practical training.

The three day course,

Germany - Prolight + Sound is set to provide the stage for J&C Joel to unveil a number of exciting new developments and products this April.

J&C Joel, one of the world's leading manufacturers of flame retardant fabrics and flooring for the entertainment and event industries, will also be celebrating its rich textile heritage at the Frankfurt show.

The British company has achieved global reach through an international network of offices and has been providing bespoke theatre curtains, drapes, canvasses, backdrops and stage engineering services for stage shows, events and exhibitions for more than 35 years.

As well as showcasing a number of new products and fabrics, which have been kept a closely guarded secret, the J&C Joel team will be launching its latest catalogue alongside a fresh new look for its website which will feature a number of technical enhancements to help custo

Poland - Entertainment engineering expert Triple E has designed and supplied 12 of its Chaintrack systems for the newly opened world-class concert hall in Katowice, Poland - a new venue for the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR).

The new building is billed as a concert hall with 'perfectly-designed acoustics'. In addition to smaller spaces and an atrium, at the heart of the building is the 1800-seat Great Concert Hall, which is shaped in a hybrid form mixing classic 'shoe-box' and more recent 'vineyard' designs.

The 12 Chaintrack systems, which were supplied with Spiral storage areas, are installed on the three balcony levels within the Great Concert Hall, with four systems on each level.There are two systems on each balcony side, which share a common stacking area, and the tracks layouts are mirrored on each level and on each side. The installation required over

USA - Every year, the NFL Super Bowl attracts hundreds of millions of viewers; many are there for the football game. Others are there for the halftime. The core create team includes executive producer Ricky Kirshner of Touchdown Entertainment, production designer Bruce Rodgers of Tribe Design and special effects designer Mark Grega of Strictly FX. "The production is really a team effort. It's the third year that we've been working with Mark; his creativity and experience are a vital part of creating a memorable Super Bowl Halftime," states Rodgers.

For the Super Bowl XLIX Pepsi Halftime featuring Katy Perry, the special effects portion of the production was remarkably flexible. "We change the show up until the day of- in fact, we made changes on Super Bowl Sunday, because of the camera shots. We try to maximize the best shot that the director, Hamish Hamilton, is

UK - When working as a lighting gaffer, David Oldroyd always struggled with the movement of kit in and out of location trucks especially on TV dramas with a small crew. The problem still bothered him when he took up his position as a rental agent with leading motion picture rental company Cinelease, so he began looking at ways of making the moving of kit easier.

David knew that with the varied kit used on each job, any solution would have to be adaptable and so sat down with Doughty's Dan Phillips to come up with a modular trolley system that could be easily adapted.

David explained, "I have always known Doughty to be an effective engineering grip company, so contacted Dan to see if it would be possible to figure something out between us. We drew up a few sketches which he then developed into technical drawings. It became apparent straight away that Doughty had more knowl

USA - ANSI E1.19 - 2015, Recommended Practice for the Use of Class A Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) Intended for Personnel Protection in the Entertainment Industry, and ANSI E1.23 - 2010 (R2015), Entertainment Technology - Design and Execution of Theatrical Fog Effects, were approved by the ANSI Board of Standards Review on 10 and 13 February respectively. They are now published and are available for free at http://tsp.plasa.org/freestandards. The free download is made possible by the sponsorship of Prosight Specialty Insurance. They also may be purchased from ANSI's eStandards Store (http://webstore.ansi.org/) for $15.00 each.

ANSI E1.19 is intended to offer guidance in accordance with existing applicable standards on how to select, install, use and maintain ground fault protection devices in the entertainment industry to protect persons from shock and persons and pr

UK - Le Maitre Ltd is sponsoring fireman Scott Butler on his intrepid Journey To Elbrus challenge in what will hopefully gain him a place in the Guinness Book Of World Records.

In June this year Scott will be cycling 1800 miles across Europe then rowing solo 750 miles across the Black Sea. If that wasn't enough of a challenge he will then climb Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Europe. Scott will be raising money for three charities - Firefighters Charity, The MS Society and Facing Africa.

Scott, a firefighter with the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service has a history of challenging himself. He has run marathons and adventure races, cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End, driven the Nurburgring and also written a book. This will be his first ever attempt at a world record. Sponsorship details are available at www.journeytoelbrus.com.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - The show Illusion, with several Salamanders from Le Maitre entertained visitors at the Rainbow MagicLand in Valmontone close to Rome throughout the summer 2014.

The attraction combines music, fantasy and projection. With hundreds of lights installed on the fountains and special effects enhancing the show, Illusion had nine dancers interacting with the fountains and the projections.

One of the world's leading companies for aquatic shows and an internationally renowned video designer participated in the realisation of this show.

Mr. Bonsanti, technical representative at MagicLand, commented, "The show went on two to three times a night for a duration of 25-30 minutes and could accommodate 300 people. Thanks to a series of effects, the organisers were able to create true illusions with pirate and jungle themes.

"The stage on the water with the castle built o

UK - PLASA's Technical Resources Office would like to remind LSiOnline readers that the European RDM and sACN Developers Conference and Plugfest for 2015 will take place from 22-24 April, in the UK, at Gatwick Manor, London Road at Lowfield Heath, just south of Gatwick Airport.

The Developers Conference provides a European forum for manufacturers, designers, consultants and prospective users; and aims to ensure that the adoption of these new standards achieves desired levels of interoperability and reliability.

Conference sessions will cover the understanding, implementation and use of the published E1.20 and E1.37 RDM standards. Other projects in the current PLASA Technical Standards Program such as 'E1.33: RDMnet' and the various E1.37-X extensions will also feature.

The 'Plugfest' is a hands-on opportunity for product developers to try out their hardware and code implemen

Germany - In the installation and event technology sectors, one often has to cover long distances. Thanks to the Cardinal DVM-HDBT extender systems from Sommer Cable, customers don't need to accept any compromises regarding image and audio quality.

"With our flexible signal management and extender systems of the Cardinal DVM series customers will benefit from a stable HDMI signal transmission over max. distances of 100m. Uncompressed content can therefore be distributed using only a single cable. And this with just a regular network cable," says Peter Rieck, key account & distribution manager at Sommer Cable.

The newly launched latest generation of Cadinal DVM devices can handle a "HighSpeed HDMI with Ethernet" signal which supports the current 4Kx2K, 1080p, 3D, ARC, HDCP, 7.1CH, Home-Cinema-TrueHD as well as DTS-HD standards, thus safeguarding a long-term

UK - Mantracourt, the manufacturer of the BroadWeigh load monitoring system, has announced that it has developed and manufactured a dedicated in-house test and calibration machine to further ensure the accuracy and reliability of its acclaimed BroadWeigh wireless load monitoring system.

The BroadWeigh portable wireless system offers real-time, simple, effective and accurate load monitoring for rigging professionals, safety officials and site managers enabling them to monitor and log the precise loads on any given rigging point.

Central to the design of the BroadWeigh system are Crosby shackles equipped with a high accuracy, wireless load pin that reports data remotely to a computer or a handheld display. The system is able to monitor multiple load cells and can trigger an alarm should a load exceed a preset parameter.

"Each BroadWeigh shackle is now calibrated using our

Germany - Le Maitre's range of VS - virtually smokeless pyrotechnics is continuing to expand and receive excellent feedback from the market, followed up with increasing orders! At Prolight + Sound Frankfurt, Le Maitre will be launching several new effects to the range: VS Mines (15/25/35ft), VS Starbursts (Small/Medium/Large), VS Ice Waterfalls (8/15/20ft), VS Volcano Mines (Small/Large), VS Ice Gerbs (10/15/20ft) and VS Flashes.

In addition to much reduced smoke levels the VS range claims greater intensity and depth of colour compared to conventional pyrotechnics which although bright, tend to be less vivid. Le Maitre's VS products all have much deeper and more vibrant colours, particularly noticeable with the blue, purple and pink colours.

The VS range was originally conceived back in 2010 when Le Maitre's R&D team, based in Peterborough, UK were looking into improving the v

UK - Ahead of revised HSE guidelines for the new Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulations that come into force on 6 April and will affect all event sites, an industry group has collaborated to create a new guidance document. Contributors include Serious Stages, StageCo, Star Events, Acorn Event Structures, Arena Group, Capita, Momentum, Symphotech, The Event Safety Shop, The Production Services Association.

The Guidance for the Management & Use of Stages and related Temporary Event Structures brings clarity to working practices within the temporary structures and staging industry.

The comprehensive guidance is freely available from contributors' websites to help anyone who has duties under the revised CDM regulations to prepare in advance of their introduction on 6 April 2015. It builds on the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) draft guidance issued on its we

USA - The new TRUSST CT-Tent Clamp make it "safer, easier and quicker than ever to hang lighting fixtures, audio gear and decorative elements inside tents at outdoor events", the company says. The CT-Tent Clamp attaches firmly to the slots on clear span tent Keder beams, so items can be suspended from it securely without requiring extra trussing.

"We introduced the CT clamp because big outdoor tents are being used at more weddings, festivals, concerts and other events," said Kenny Miller, TRUSST product marketing manager. "Rigging large gear in these tents can often be a challenge. Our new CT product offers a safe and practical alternative to the multi-piece handmade clamps that people struggled with in the past when hanging items in a tent."

With a load capacity of 150 kg, the TRUSST CT-Tent Clamp can safely support a very wide range of audio and

USA - The new Versa Hinge from TRUSST can work as a corner connector for square or triangular conical truss as well as standard 12" bolt plate truss, making it one of the most versatile hinges in the industry.

This exclusive compatibility with multi styles of truss gives lighting/staging installers unprecedented speed and convenience in setting up their rigs, noted Kenny Miller, product manager for TRUSST. "The Versa Hinge is a real game changer in that it eliminates the hassle of having to carry around different hinges - or reaching for a hinge, only to find it's not compatible with the truss you're using.

With just this one versatile hinge in your arsenal, you can connect the corners of virtually any truss you're building your rig with -- which is why we call it the Versa Hinge," said Miller.

The Versa Hinge also lives up to its name in that it offers the fl

UK - J&C Joel, one of the world's leading manufacturers of flame retardant fabrics and flooring for the entertainment and event industries, is celebrating after being recognised as Yorkshire's best Small/Medium Exporter.

As well as picking up the award at this year's Yorkshire Business Masters awards, J&C Joel has also been 'Made in Britain' accredited, further showing its dedication to providing UK manufactured goods worldwide.

Celebrating the success and achievements of businesses operating across the region, the Yorkshire Business Masters award, organised by TheBusinessDesk.com and presented by the BBC's Damian Johnson at Queen's Hotel in Leeds, further reiterates J&C Joel's global business success.

J&C Joel has been providing bespoke theatre curtains, drapes, canvasses, backdrops and stage engineering services for stage shows, events and exhibitions for more than 35 year

UK - Fulcrum Projects is launching its unique cable management flooring system to the live events and exhibition sectors. The unique low profile system brings a new approach to cable management for expo environments and temporary events of all kinds, offering complete flexibility and access when it comes to underfloor cabling for power and data. Fulcrum's Infofloor complements company's existing extensive range of power distribution equipment and adds another element to Fulcrum's long standing status as a leading provider of technical services for live events.

At just 50mm high, Fulcrum's cable management floor is a unique grid system with channels to house the cables which can be accessed at any time; meaning different disciplines can work alongside each other during the build and break down and changes can be made in positioning of technical equipment and furniture.

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