UK - Hertfordshire based The Security Training School Ltd (TSTS), has developed its new Pit training course.

"The problem with Pit crews is that even within established companies every manager has a slightly different way of doing something, simply because that's the way they've done it for years," suggests Josh O'Riordan, media manager at TSTS.

Accredited as a level 2 award by NCFE it is the first of its kind in the UK. The Level 2 Spectator Events Pit Operator award, that The Security Training School has created, aims to instigate a new standard of practice into the even

UK - SKY TV recently requested Dirty Rigger's full fingered Leather Grip Gloves for their indoor and OB camera & film crews.

Dirty Rigger's product manager Steve Marshall says, "We've been talking to the team at SKY for some time. Working with their camera crews we sent over a few samples of our 'camera gloves' for them to test in the field. The Leather Grips really stood out in the testing and the camera guys were apparently really chuffed with the results. SKY are a huge corporation and one that rely on the durability and reliability of its kit, so we feel great pleasure in the

USA - ETCP has announced that Gravitec Systems and Production Resource Group (PRG) have joined the ranks of elite training opportunities by becoming ETCP Recognised Training Programmes. ETCP certified technicians who attend these courses will receive full renewal credits.

When it comes to protecting workers at height, Gravitec knows the value of education. Curriculum is designed to prepare workers and empower them to use available equipment and implement systems to protect themselves. Fall protection training provides riggers with the knowledge they need to perform their job safely. G

UK - Manchester based lighting and rigging rental specialist dbn supplied three giant truss crucifixes used as a dramatic and eye-catching backdrop for the BBC's live broadcast of The Preston Passion.

The event re-telling of the Crucifixion of Jesus was instigated by Preston Guild, directed by Mark Murphy and hosted by Fern Britton for the BBC on Good Friday at Preston Bus Station. The outdoor and live mass participation elements of the event were produced by innovative arts / performance company Walk The Plank,

Each crucifix was 9m tall with a 4m cross piece, and was constru

UK - At PLASA Focus in Leeds, WiSE (Women in Stage Entertainment) and Le Mark, specialists in self-adhesive tapes, printed tapes, road case labels and dance floors joined forces to raise funds for Breast Cancer Care.

Le Mark, maker of the Dirty Rigger collection, announced that 10% of proceeds from the sale of their Ladies XS range of gloves for the coming year would go towards the Breast Cancer Care Programme.

To maximize the reach of this initiative Le Mark has teamed up with WiSE (Women in Stage Entertainment), a not-for-profit networking group for women working in the industry.<

UK - Located on London's prestigious Park Lane and originally built in the 1920s, Grosvenor House Apartments by Jumeirah Living recently underwent a complete renovation and rebuild, creating a property which builds on the heritage of the building combined with a slick contemporary interior.

The property boasts a spectacular first-floor atrium area with a seven-storey high ceiling from which an illuminated pendant structure is suspended above diners. Prolyte Group's special projects division, Litestructures, was approached by building contractor John Sisk & Sons to manufacture, build a

UK - As part of the celebrations for the Bishop of London's The2012 service, St.Paul's Cathedral hosted an inspiring evening service with over 2000 followers. Music was provided by The Psalm Drummers and Twyford High School Gospel Choir of the Year, withspecial effects by MTFX.

During the choir's rendition of Spirit of the Living God the congregation were showered by thousands of white rose petals, scattered from the Whispering Gallery in the dome of the Cathedral.

Organisers of the service were delighted with the effect and the collective gasp of surprise from 2000 wo

USA / Europe - Flightcase and speaker cabinet solutions specialist Penn Elcom has developed a new software programme - CaseDesigner - instigating "a new fully-flexible era in the world of flightcase construction".

Penn Elcom has developed this software to offer its distributors, dealers and their clients the best and most efficient possible design, order and build service.

The fully visual graphical interface enables Penn Elcom customers to plan and visualise potential new case designs in both 2D and 3D, and view in full 360 degree rotation.

CaseDesigner enables P

South Africa - From 1 May onwards, DWR Distribution will represent Prolyte Group and its full range of products as distributor for South Africa.

DWR is not entirely new to the Prolyte network, over the last years they have gained much knowledge of both Prolyte products and the working philosophy of the Prolyte organisation, re-selling the products in South Africa.

"It's the people who make our industry happen and investing in long-term professional relations builds a fruitful business" states Paul-Erik Haseloop, director group sales for Prolyte Group. "Prolyte Group i

UAE - The Prolyte Group has announced that Unusual Rigging & Engineering is appointed the company's sales and service partner for the UAE with effect from 1 May 2012.

The new partnership was announced at PALME Middle East 2012, and Alan Thomson, managing partner for Unusual Rigging & Engineering, said, "I am delighted to add Prolyte products to our inventory. The high quality trussing systems will ensure that we continue to provide first class equipment alongside first class service."

Set up in 2008 under the management of Alan Thomson, Unusual Rigging & Engineering LLC is

UK - Backstage Academy enjoyed one of the busiest stands at the PLASA Focus exhibition in Leeds last week, where it led a well-attended debate on the future of training with a panel of industry experts and education professionals, and took over 100 enquiries for courses.

The Academy shared an exhibition space with specialist live events insurance broker Doodsons at The Royal Armouries Museum Centre, where the team spoke to students and those working in the entertainment industry about its roster of short courses in backstage skills and its Live Events Production Foundation Degree.

&

UK - The 3rd Annual PLASA Rigging Conference will take place on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 September 2012 at the Earls Court Conference Centre in London. This unique 2-day international event explores and debates all aspects of this specialist section of the industry. Running alongside PLASA 2012, the Rigging Conference has become a regular date in the diary for anyone involved in rigging and working at height for temporary installations.

As the only annual event of its size that is dedicated solely to the global rigging community, it attracts professionals from over 30 countries. Out o

UK - The Le Mark Group's range of Dirty Rigger gloves & accessories will be exhibited with more new products at the Safety & Health Expo 2012 at the NEC Birmingham from the 15-17 May (Stand E92).

Dirty Rigger products were designed for the diverse & arduous situations found within the rigging & outdoor event sectors of the international entertainment industry. Constant innovation and client requests have seen new gloves appear for exceptionally heavy duty industrial applications including mining, emergency services and mountain recovery. Dirty Rigger now has international distribution

Belgium - Stageco has developed Arena Lift, a new hydraulic lifting system that raises larger ground supports with grids into venues to increase rigging capacities. The innovative Arena Lift has been used for the first time this spring on a run of Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco shows, where a 20.4m high, 21.8m x 24m mother grid was installed into venues in Budapest, Rome and Casablanca.

Cirque du Soleil's senior production manager for arena shows Pierre Guillotte explains, "Conversations first started with Stageco in August 2011, with the system first being used mid-Februa

UK - HSL's mega busy spring and early summer season continues, supplying lighting, Kinesys automation system and crew to another high profile act - Il Divo.

The massively successful 'crossover' group who have just completed the first full production UK and European leg of their Wicked Game world tour.

It was HSL's first tour with the band, after being brought on-board by tour director and production manager Andy Proudfoot.

Lighting designer Matt Pitman started work with Il Divo for this tour following a one-off stadium show in Paraguay at the end of 2011 in front of 36,000

Qatar - During the recent Watch and Jewellery Exhibition in Doha, a gala dinner was held at the Sheraton Hotel, where the evening's entertainment included dramatic performances by aerial artists, dancers and musicians. Essential to the performance were two concentric rings, 8m and 10m in diameter, designed to look like cogs from a watch. Flown above the stage, the 'cogs' appeared to float in mid-air, moving and gyrating in time to the music.

With the original equipment delayed in transit, production manager Romain Rossel of MCI Geneva was put in touch with Unusual Rigging and Engineer

Russia Trussing and staging manufacturer Prolyte Group is exhibiting at the first edition of the P+S Moscow, held from 16-19 May. Together with the support from distributing partner MF Group, Prolyte Group kicks off her presence at this exhibition offering a mix of products, support and seminars.

At the exhibition Prolyte Group is showcasing a broad selection of its products, including new products like the H40R truss, PreRigTruss and the LiteConsole.

During the exhibition Prolyte Group will present two seminars. Marc Hendriks, technical director, will present a masterclass on the P

Australia - Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television talent show based on the Got Talent series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell. The Australian production is produced by Freemantle Media for the 7 network and has become one of the leading rating variety shows.

Showtech Australia is working on the sixth season of AGT which is filmed at the Dockland Studios in Melbourne.

For this season Showtech is providing the automation system for the entire series. This consists of differing winches and other equipment from the hire st

South Africa - DWR Distribution's first shipment as the official exclusive Prolyte distributor in South Africa was delivered to MGG Productions on 11 May 2012. It so happened that Prolyte's Paul-Erik Haseloop was visiting South Africa at the same time and could personally deliver, along with Robert Izzett, three H30V- 3m circle trusses.

The new circles, along with the supply of Robe moving lights and accessories will be used for a rental at the Joburg Theatre, where the spectacular Grand Cirque Adrenaline show will run from 23 May 23 to 17 June.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Northamptonshire based Unusual Rigging has added in excess of £1m worth of stock to its rental inventory, including chain hoists, truss and control.

Responsible for more than 40 theatrical productions - West End, regional and touring - plus upcoming corporate events and installations - plus an exceptionally busy summer - Unusual has added 500 Liftket chain hoists to its existing stock of over 1,500 units. The new stock comprises 50 x 2 ton, 350 x 1 ton and 100 x 500kg hoists, all of which are direct control and double braked.

Unusual's hire stock of truss has been increas

South Africa - Eurotruss has appointed Prosound as its exclusive dealer in South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa.

"Prosound has over 30 years of experience in the entertainment market and will be a great asset to our Worldwide Dealer Network," says Martin Kuyper from Eurotruss.

Eurotruss has a wide range of aluminium truss systems. Next to the lightweight truss system called FD, Eurotruss carries ground support towers and bigger truss systems like XD, ST, FT and the pre rig truss like XT and TT. Over the last few years Eurotruss has also supplied many roof systems - from 80sq

USA - Expendables and production equipment outfitters Wits End are the latest to join the Dirty Rigger retail & distribution team.

With 10,000sq.ft of distribution space spread across two NYC locations, Wits End offer an outstanding step forward in Dirty Rigger's expansion into the US market, says the company.

Wits End's CEO Keith Guliner says, "The products that we were finding here in the US for gloves and accessories were just not up to par. When we saw Dirty Rigger gloves, tool pouches and accessories for the first time....well...the products stood up and spoke on their own

UK - Stage Crew, the Belfast based crewing company, have been kept exceptionally busy recently with a whole host of Titanic related events in Northern Ireland.

The Titanic Festival kicked off in early April with a spectacular light and pyrotechnic show, using the Titanic Building to project onto and illuminate. StageCrew worked alongside Seeper, Whitelight and Culture Creative to create a truly awesome display.

The next week was packed with events, culminating in the MTV Titanic Sounds concert. Back in November 2011 Stage Crew had worked closely with MTV production teams as a prefer

UK - Prolyte Group has created a new website for its Litestructures brand as part of a new marketing initiative to increase awareness of the creative project work undertaken by the company.

In the two years since the merger with Prolyte Group, the Litestructures brand has evolved into a special projects division of the Group.

The website is focused on providing ways for new and existing clients to engage with the Litestructures brand and learn about the innovative solutions it offers. There is a facility to view and download case studies, and the opportunity to interact with the Lit

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