event news

MA Lighting Training Week for grandMA2 Series

MA Lighting recently held a training week for its worldwide distributors. With weeks flying by before the final launch of grandMA2, the objective of the training session at MA Lighting's headquarters in Paderborn was ‘Prepare 2 Launch'. Thirty-two partners participated and learnt more about the features of the new grandMA2 series.

Similar to the current grandMA series, grandMA2 controls all kinds of lighting genres and consequently takes the outstanding performance of grandMA to an even higher level. The application-oriented, intuitive accessible user interface ensures that every user, regardless of which segment he is working in, feels immediately familiar with every grandMA2 console. The fast and easy programming unit and a flexible and fast playback section help everybody to react as quickly as possible to any situation. Thanks to the new graphical ways of programming and the fully integrated system in terms of networking the programmer's job is becoming much more comfortable.

The Training attendees studied the whole system including its additional new system components like the MA Network Processing Unit (NPU), grandMA2 remote, the very much enhanced software versions of grandMA 3D and grandMA video plus the new network protocol MA-Net2.

"This training week was the next consequent step in bringing grandMA2 closer to the markets," commented Michael Althaus, managing director of MA Lighting International. "Our distributors are all well prepared and are going to demonstrate the console's comprehensive performance and innovative approach in their countries."

Accompanying the training week was the shipment of grandMA2 consoles to all MA Lighting distributors for demonstration purposes. This will offer lighting designers, programmers and operators as well as rental companies and event producers worldwide the chance to get hands-on with the new series and learn more about the significant enhancements offered by this new generation of consoles.

www.malighting.com

Bandit Lites Host Big Anniversary Bash at Nashville Location

Bandit Lites recently hosted a large bash at their Nashville, TN location to close out a year of anniversary festivities. Guests at the December 6 event included a variety of Bandit's closest friends and colleagues as well as clients and employees that have supported the company across the last 40 years.

Bandit was lucky enough to have general manager of Philips Lighting Controls Steve

Carson, vice president of Vari-Lite Bob Schacherl, George Masek and Julie Smith of Vari-Lite, founder of ETC Fred Foster, Gary Mass and Noel Duncan of ICD, Bill Morris and Sean Hoey of High-End Systems, Bob Gordon and Brian Dowd of ACT Lighting and Jimmy Page of Syncrolite attend the event. Doug Fleenor of Fleenor Designs and wife, Cindy, Apollo owner, Joel Nichols and wife, Marnie Styles of Le Maitre Special Effects Inc., Michael Garl of James Thomas Engineering, Scott Scovill of Moo TV, Scott Almond of Tyler Truss and Blaine Engle of PixelRange also attended.

World-renowned lighting designers, Allen Branton and wife Gretel, Mike Swinford, Dave Butzler and wife Debi, Steve Owens, Jeff Lavallee, Carter Fulghum, production manager Glenn Felton, tour manager Steve Gudis and David "Hud" Haney of Branam Rigging were in attendance. Bandit was also fortunate to have Live Nation vice president Michael Enoch, manager Bob Doyle, Frances Thompson of ESTA, David Barbour, editor of Lighting and Sound America and Mike Bannon, Jamie L. Stamey, Sarah D. Cates, and David Graham of Belmont University as guests at the party.

In addition to the anniversary party, 2008 was full of activities and announcements. In January, Bandit rolled out a six-part series featuring key milestones during their first 40 years. The January release covered Bandit in the late 60s-early 70s, February covered the late 70s-early 80s, and so on. The August release briefly recapped the entire history from 1968-2008. Bandit also released ‘40 Bandits in 40 Years' - a series in which they revealed interesting facts about 40 employees that have helped mold Bandit into what it is today.

To better guide the company in the upcoming years, Bandit also saw some management restructuring in 2008. Long-time Bandit employee, Peter Heffernan was announced as the new president (he continues to serve as C.O.O as well, a position he has held for the last 15 years). In his new role, Heffernan works with the staff and management overseeing the day-to-day operations in order to grow Bandit even further in the years to come.

In 2008, Bandit founder and owner, Michael T. Strickland was inducted into the East Tennessee Business Hall of Fame. He is now serving as Bandit Lites' Chairman of the Board.

In addition to the celebrations, this year brought Bandit two additional ‘Lighting Company of the Year' awards from the PLSN Parnelli Awards and from the Pollstar Awards. These awards mark the 16th and 17th ‘Lighting Company of the Year' awards that Bandit has received over the years.

Bandit chairman Michael T. Strickland summed it up best as the party began. "We are not looking back at 40, but forward at the next 40. We have just begun!" he said.

In picture: the party guests and Bandit chairman Michael T. Strickland with Mike Golden.

www.banditlites.com

Renkus-Heinz Announces Double Hit for NAMM

In a major affirmation of its new technologies Renkus-Heinz will use its first appearance at the Winter NAMM Convention in many years as a showcase of IC LIVE steerable arrays and the VerSys VLX3 large format line array.

Attendees will get their first chance to hear the revolutionary new ICONYX IC LIVE in action on the main live performance stage in the Anaheim Convention Center lobby - a pair of IC LIVE arrays with matching ICL215S dual 15-inch bandpass subwoofers form the main PA system.

Inside the hall, Renkus-Heinz will display its innovative loudspeaker technology at Booth 6526 in Hall A, featuring the company's latest ICONYX IC LIVE line for musicians, installations and portable AV rental.

On Saturday January 17th, the Hilton California Ballroom will be filled with the inimitable sound of Alice Cooper, thanks to Coffin Case and Renkus-Heinz. This party marks the live debut of the new VerSys VLX3 line array, launched at AES 2008. Renkus-Heinz's high-tech entry into the high-end touring sound market.

VerSys VLX3 premiered at the legendary Sturgis Rally in July where Toby Francis, FOH Engineer for Mars Volta, Velvet Revolver, ZZ Top and many more enthused: "The VerSys VLX3 is by far my favorite PA. I've used them all and this one sounds better, travels better, rigs better and does all this while still taking up less space than any other large format line array I have ever used."

Toby Keith's FOH engineer, Dirk Durham, agreed, saying: "The Renkus-Heinz line array is very compact yet provides all the output necessary for large venues. It is also a very ‘hi-fi' system. I enjoyed working with it a great deal."

Renkus-Heinz Marketing Manager Margie Ulm affirms the company is broadening its outreach by returning to Winter NAMM. "Because Winter NAMM is traditionally an MI show, it draws a great number of the people we work with all year long, including many audio rental firms, distributors, reps and, of course, musicians who are using our portable systems such as the CF/CFX line. It's a great opportunity to give them a chance to hear our high-end products, especially the IC LIVE and VLX3 - when it comes to loudspeaker technology, hearing is believing."

She adds: "We've been participating in after-hours showcase concerts for some time, and the combination of an IC LIVE system in the show lobby, and the VLX3 at the Saturday night party, will put our new technologies and solutions front and center in 2009."

As they prepare to celebrate 30 Years of Success this spring, January promises to be a busy month at the Renkus-Heinz factory in Foothill Ranch. On January 13th, just prior to Winter NAMM, the company will host its representatives and international distributors for meetings and new product training sessions.  Stay tuned for more from Renkus-Heinz.

Plan Ahead! Book Now for Showlight 2009 in Glasgow

Showlight has always been highly regarded as one of the best networking events in the international lighting calendar, with plenty of time given over to the social side of the event. Showlight 2009 continues in that tradition, with an afternoon of visits arranged for Glasgow and the surrounding area which offer a mix of strictly business and the not-so-serious.

One of the most popular will undoubtedly be the visit to the Philips factory in Hamilton, which offers the opportunity to see one of the last remaining lamp manufacturing processes in Western Europe. Philips makes the SOX range of lamps here, with much of the work still being carried out by hand, and also assemble other types of luminaires, many of them specifically for sports venues, such as all the fittings for the first night time Grand Prix at Singapore. This visit will undoubtedly be heavily booked, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Other ‘business' visits include a back stage tour of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which opened in 1990, when the city donned the mantle of European City of Culture. It is the main venue for Celtic Connections, the world's largest winter music festival, and is home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The tour will take in all aspects of this modern Concert Hall which is, without a doubt, Scotland's premier concert venue.

Students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama will be both attending and working at Showlight 09, and one of the tours will provide the opportunity to visit the theatre, studios and workshops of the Academy, Scotland's leading teaching college for the performing arts.

For those wishing to take a break from the business of the day, the House for an Art Lover may provide inspiration. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this house was not actually built until the 1990s and is a ‘must see' for anyone interested in the work of this great Glasgow architect.

No visit to Scotland would be complete without seeing a distillery and tasting the whisky: Showlight offers a choice of two! Again, these are sure to be popular, so early booking is recommended!

With such a choice of these and other visits, including The Burrell Collection, Clyde Built and the refurbished and acoustically acclaimed Glasgow City Hall, Showlight's Monday afternoon visits programme offers a choice of itineraries, which will be posted to the Showlight website soon. You must be a registered delegate of Showlight to book for the visits, which are included in the full delegate price of just £180.00 inc. VAT, which also covers the three day colloquium, dinner on two nights, and coffee, lunch and dinner on each day.

Showlight takes place from May 16 to 19, 2009, at BBC Scotland's new state of the art headquarters in Glasgow.

Don't put off til tomorrow what you can do today - book now for Showlight 09 at http://www.showlight.org

High Tech Green Lighting - that's Sustainable Entertainment

The Middle East's professional lighting sector is expected to follow the European lead in environmentally-responsible, sustainable solutions, according to industry experts.

"Companies are competing fiercely in the lighting sector to deliver power savings with a variety of new technologies, including micro-plasma lights, high-intensity discharge lighting ballast systems and organic light-emitting diodes, among others," said Alex Heuff, exhibition director for PALME Middle East.

PALME, organised by IIR Middle East, is the region's largest dedicated trade show for professional audio, lighting, music, entertainment, audio visual and systems integration and takes place from 26-28 April 2009 at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Now in its seventh year, PALME Middle East promises to host more exhibitors and visitors than ever next year. The 2009 show will consist of four key show segments: PALME, professional audio and lighting; Install, systems integration; Event 360, for event organisers and suppliers for the Middle East's event industry; Musac, professional DJ and musical instruments exhibition. In addition, there will also be two gala events - the Middle East Lighting Design Awards (MELDA) and the Middle East Event Industry Awards (MEEIA).

With 800 brands covering 20,000 square metres of exhibition space and more than 8,000 visitors, PALME Middle East provides a unique opportunity for key decision makers to get an update on the latest technologies.

"Visitors to PALME Middle East are involved in entertainment, events, shopping malls, commercial and residential developments, and leisure and hotel facilities.

They are now more environmentally conscious than ever and mindful not only of the impending green building standards, but their own corporate social responsibility," added Heuff.

To prove the point Barco this year unveiled the world's first environmentally friendly outdoor display with sustainable components using minimal power consumption. According to Wim De Geest, managing director, Barco-Middle East, they decided to launch at PALME Middle East in April this year, because "it's the largest gathering of industry professionals throughout the region and the Middle East is one the fastest growing markets in the world." As a result, they have even bigger things planned for 2009.

"Today, the region is probably one of few growth markets worldwide," stated Alex  Heuff.

Its focus on energy saving issues will be no better reflected than at the Middle East Lighting Design Awards (MELDA), which will recognise outstanding lighting achievement in the Gulf Co-operation Council countries.

The awards presentation gala dinner will take place on April 26 at the Westin Hotel, Dubai, when IIR expects over 250 of the world's leading lighting designers and architects to converge in Dubai for this unique celebration of innovation and design excellence.

Philips, who have done as much as any company to promote energy saving light sources and environmental sustainability, are the show's Platinum Sponsor and Mindstec are the Gold Sponsor. 

With a global lighting market worth around $75 billion, lighting consumes about a fifth of all power generated. Since its invention over 100 years ago, the incandescent light bulb has dominated lighting though it converts only about 15% of electricity into light. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient but their light is less pleasing to the eye and they contain mercury, a toxin that makes disposal and recycling problematic.

Around the world, the industry is turning to light-emitting diodes as an environmentally friendly alternative. This combines the pleasant quality of incandescent light with the energy efficiency of fluorescent LED technology - a technique already well developed for uses like billboards. But a recent study showed that its use for indoor lighting in the US would lead to power savings equal to the output from 27 x 1GW power plants.

Currently, LEDs are primarily made by lighting subsidiaries of companies like Philips but companies that make computer chips may enter lighting.

Even more efficient and environmentally friendly organic LED systems are also on the horizon, Alex Heuff added. "They can not only be used in television screens and computer displays but also as light sources for general space illumination and large-area light-emitting elements. A significant benefit of OLED displays is that they draw far less power and, when powered from a battery, can operate longer on the same charge."

A host of exciting LED-driven projects have been earmarked for the UAE such as property developer, Tamweer's 100-metre LED media facade. The podium's LED screen will consist of series of LED fixtures arranged on individual panels, which will be mounted section by section on to the varying contours of the building's facade. To achieve the highest visual quality, Dactronics will utilise concealed fasteners that will allow for a transparent effect, while the water-tight connectors resist corrosive water penetration.

There will be plenty for the industry to consider when the world's technologists descend on Dubai. These issues will be debated further during the PALME Middle East seminar programme, which will also focus on system integration solutions; acoustic engineering; sound reinforcement; live events and smart home applications - as well as green LED technologies.

Revealing details of exhibitors already signed up, Alex Heuff said the 2009 event is already more than 60% sold out. Exhibitors include major manufacturers and solution providers such as Philips, Mindstec, TMB, AMX, Extron, Audipack, BARCO, Sanyo, Pioneer, Prolyte/Doughty, Lifter Systems, Columbus McKinnon, LOBO, ProelGroup, EVI Audio, Dynacord, Robe, Clay Paky, Taiden, Lighthouse, Meyer Sound, SES Entertainment, DIS Danish, LED Factory, Laseronics, Projection Designs, Lagotek and Module Decor.

In picture: show director Alex Heuff

Selecon Wing Range wins Awards of Design Excellence

The Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand (IESANZ) recently recognised Selecon's new family range of performance Wing Wall Washer Floods with two 2008 Luminaire Design: Award of Excellence Awards (one from each side of the Tasman).

The Wing range showcases Selecon's deep understanding of the requirements and challenges of specialised display lighting with a choice of high performance wall wash floods that offer lighting designers and specifiers the opportunity of using less lights for more light with precision operational features in a single ‘low profile' design look which minimises intrusion into the architectural space.

Precision pan and tilt allen screw lock off adjustments with reference scales delivering the benefits of standardised set-up and reduced installation and labour times.

One solution, multiple choice! A wide range of light sources (linear tungsten halogen, Halolux, CDM metal halide and compact fluorescent) take advantage of the latest in lamp technologies offering a choice of colour rendering; dimming capability; life hours; energy consumption and cost to meet the varying requirements of different projects.

The single ‘low profile' look is achieved through the integration of necessary power supplies into the length of the luminaire rather than being mounted in ugly separate housings and is available in three colours: white, black and silver-grey with either track adapter or ceiling rose mounting options.

www.seleconlight.com/wing

Lighthouse Maps Out Future of LED screens at 2008 ISFE

Lighthouse Technologies Ltd. will attend the 2008 International Sports Facility Exhibition from November 17-18 in Beijing. Lighthouse will demonstrate two products and will also hold a special seminar dedicated to the future of the video display industry.

These two products are the R4 4mm pixel pitch panel as well as the new B10 perimeter system driven by Click Effects Blaze software.

The R4 offers ultra high resolution, fanless design, lightweight, making it ideal for indoor digital signage, instant replay or for providing useful information at any kind of sporting event. The B10 is a new banner panel specifically developed to address the ever-increasing demand for pitch side, advertising screens, which provide important additional revenue for sports clubs and venues. 

Lighthouse will also hold a seminar at this year's IFSE, to discuss the latest trends and concepts in video screen production and how they are being implemented at more and more world-class sporting events. Invited to speak at the seminar are two of the most highly regarded pioneers in the video display industry: Paul Kalil, President and CEO of BSN Productions, and Lighthouse Executive Mikio Matsubayashi. Between the two of them, Mr. Kalil and Mr. Matsubayashi have more than 50 years of experience in the video display production industry, both cutting their teeth in the early 80s at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the first large screen video display ever was installed before the MLB All-Star Game.

Because HD technology has become much more common and accessible in recent years, higher quality video screens driven by HD control rooms and production facilities have played a transformative role in video screen production at major sporting events around the world, increasing audience enthusiasm and excitement. Companies such as BSN have already found new ways to use the HD technology, including displaying player head shots, feature and fan interaction segments, integrated sponsorships and increasing brand or image awareness for organizations.

"A comprehensive solution is critical for meeting the multimedia requirements of today's sophisticated sports stadiums, and Lighthouse provides one of the top all-in-one solutions on the market," says Mr. Kalil.

Lighthouse displays have already had a tremendous impact at major sporting venues and events around the world. "The Macau Grand Prix, football stadiums in Denmark, Austria as well as the famous Lord's Cricket ground in London have all been excellent examples of how Lighthouse LED screens are creating dramatic impact at major sporting events around the world." says Matsubayashi.

Creative Technology Wins Gold for Beijing 2008

The Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games dominated the 2nd SportBusiness Sports Event Management Awards, presented at a glittering black tie gala dinner in London on the 12 November.

Creative Technology received a Gold Award for their essential contribution to the spectacular Opening Ceremony which became the hallmark of the unforgettable Games.

Working closely with the Beijing Organising Committee Ceremonies team, CT developed, designed and delivered the complex processing and switching requirements used on the dramatic video LED floor and scrolls, one of the pivotal elements during the 2008 opener. Drawing on both equipment and skills from within its international organisation and utilising the invaluable experience gained from numerous sporting and special events, CT once again delivered a result that continues to mark it as the leader in event technology.

Dave Crump, managing director, Creative Technology London, comments:  "Being recognised by industry peers is the highest compliment  - it also sends such a wonderful message to our dedicated team, who I know work tirelessly to deliver such complex projects."

In picture: Philip Henneman, CEO, Infostrada Sports and Dave Crump, Creative Technology.

ETC Paradigm System Wins LDI 2008 Product Award

At the annual tradeshow typically centred on entertainment technology, ETC's Paradigm took surprise top billing as a system that fully integrates the art and pragmatism of sophisticated building-wide lighting control. Paradigm took centre stage for the ingenious aesthetic and green-minded solutions it provides for all kinds of venues, including for entertainment venues such as theatre house and external lighting.

The awards jury found Paradigm an invaluable sign and tool of the times. On the podium, Live Design's Ellen Lampert-Greaux summed up the thoughts of the selection committee: "Lighting designers have long struggled with the fusion of energy management, entertainment technology and architectural control. ETC's Unison Paradigm System promises a scalable, innovative platform that is, in the opinion of the judges, long overdue."

Lighting control has made amazing advances in the past 30 years, and Paradigm is a significant indicator of that progress - offering both dramatic effects and efficiencies. Paradigm systems are already being specified in places as diverse as colleges, convention centres, theatres and theme parks.

Accepting the award for the Paradigm system, ETC's architectural market manager Joe Bokelman says: "We are so pleased that Paradigm is being recognised as the complete system that it is. We have worked hard to prove that great lighting control means dispensing with the distinction between "architectural" or "entertainment" functionality.  Paradigm is far more comprehensive and adaptable - going way beyond what former lighting control systems could do, and bringing that new power to any level of venue."

In picture: ETC's Unison Paradigm control system has been named Best Debuting Product at the LDI tradeshow 2008 in Las Vegas.

www.etcconnect.com

Robe Digital Success at LDI 2008

Robe lighting presented its exciting new Digital Series of products in America at LDI 2008. The DigitalSpot 7000 and 3000 DT moving heads and the REDWash 3•192, the first of Robe's powerful new moving head wash lights based on RED (Robe Emitted Diodes) technology all took centre stage on the booth. They were shown along with three other new RED technology products - the REDFlash 3•192, the REDStrobe 3•192 and REDMix 3•192. These, plus Robe's ‘workhorse' AT Series range of moving heads all helped create another spectacular booth, which was designed by Robe UK's Nathan Wan.

The sales force from Robe US was joined by Robe's international sales teams from Germany, the Czech Republic and the UK for the occasion, and the stand was packed with high quality visitors throughout the show. Plenty of positive feedback and enthusiasm for the Digital Series was forthcoming from individuals practicing in all areas of the industry.

Robe also ran hourly new product demos throughout all three days of the show. These were very busy, and full of visitors keen to witness powerful features like the 3D projection capabilities of the new DigitalSpot 3000DT, and see all the new products close up. They also engaged in a series of informative Q&A sessions with Robe's technical experts.

Equally as vital as the exhibition itself, Robe also enjoyed some great social interaction and fun times with its customers in Las Vegas. The aim of this was to encourage everyone to imbibe the "Robe Family" spirit and spend time creating yet more positive energies and looking forward to another busy and action-packed year to come in the world of Robe lighting.

In picture: the Robe team on stand at LDI.

www.robe.cz

Element Labs Wins LDI and ESTA Awards in Las Vegas

Element Labs won two major awards at last week's LDI Show in Las Vegas. One of the company's most recent product introductions, the Helix P1 - a flexible LED pixel string that can bend, wrap, drape, and fold to conform to even the most demanding designs - was named ‘Best Debuting Projection Product', while its Versa RAY Screen used to wow crowds at the 15th Asian Games, was awarded the ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association) ‘Rock Our World Award'.

Helix P1 is a flexible LED pixel string that allows users to quickly deploy video over large spaces in creative ways. It bends, wraps, drapes, and folds allowing maximum creativity in a wide range of venues. Coupled with flexible processing and the power of RasterMAPPER software, individual Helix P1 strings are merged into one seamless video display that can transform any surface or shape into a work of art. The snap-in diffuser accessory also allows one to mount the Helix P1 to signage, scenery, or even fabric. Durable and lightweight, Helix P1 ships as a roll and deploys rapidly.

The ESTA Rock Our World Awards were created to honor groundbreaking achievements. The Element Labs Versa RAY screen, the largest custom-made LED screen ever used for a live event, certainly lives up to this goal. With over 30 nominations, a screening panel narrowed the field to nine finalists, from which the Doha Asian Games project emerged as winner. The massive size of the Versa RAY screen covers over 4,500 square meters, or 45,000 square feet. In keeping with the circular structure of the Khalifa stadium in Doha, the screen was also specially designed to be curved. The entire screen is 165 meters wide along the curve, reaching 39 meters at its highest point. It is comprised of 20,000 individual Versa RAYs, which laid end to end would span 58 kilometers (over 36 miles). 762,000 individual LEDs were used, with a pixel pitch of 77 millimeters.

ESTA Announces 2008 Rock Our World Award Winners

The first annual Rock Our World Awards were presented at ESTA’s Annual Dinner on Thursday evening, October 23rd, the evening before the LDI show. These awards, which recognize groundbreaking achievement by ESTA Members in new products, product applications, or projects were created to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designer or integrator who applies the technology in a real world environment.

Over 30 nominations were received from across the industry and these were narrowed down to a shortlist of nine finalists for our distinguished panel of judges to ponder upon. The judges for this year’s awards were Rick Baxter, Ken Billington, Cory Fitzgerald, Elaine J. McCarthy, Rocky Paulson, and Bruce Rodgers.

The judges panel was chaired by Mike Wood, who said prior to announcing the winners: “We wanted to create an award series that had no rules except for excitement, no boundaries except for imagination and no restrictions other than the winners must have more magic than Harry Potter! The Rock Our World awards are intended to reflect the reasons we stay in this industry – that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when the lights dim down, the curtain goes up and you just know your disbelief is going to be suspended in a way it’s never been suspended before...”

The judges were given free reign to select as many or as few winners as rocked their world, and the winners were:

·          Carallon Limited for the Pharos LPC X as used in the 'Cloud' sculpture in Heathrow Terminal Five

·          Element Labs, Inc. for the Versa RAY Screen as used at the 15th Asian Games in Doha

·          Pyrotek Special Effects Inc. for the Aqua Visual FX Water Screen

Congratulations to all winners! Now it’s time to keep your eye out for what rocks your world in the coming year. Nominations will open next spring. What magic captures your imagination and reminds you why you’re in this industry?

To see videos of the winners online, visit http://www.esta.org/RockOurWorldAwards.

ESTA Announces Winners of 2008 Members' Choice Awards

ESTA has announced the winners of the first annual Members' Choice Awards presented on Saturday, October 25th at the LDI and ESTA Awards Ceremony. The awards recognize outstanding entertainment technology products in three categories: Expendable, Widget and Equipment. Voting on these awards was open to all employees of ESTA member companies who attended the LDI show. The 2008 winners were:

Expendable Category

BTH Lamp from OSRAM Sylvania

Filling a void in the low-wattage, high performance offerings for 6" and 8" Fresnels (and PC spots). Brighter and whiter than BTL lamps with increased color temperature of 3250K compared to BTL's 3000K. At 575W, 115V, this lamp gives a much higher light output of 15,000 lumens compared to BTL's 11,000 lumens.

Widget Category (a tie)

Lex 3 Phase 3Fer from Lex Products

Get single phase power for lights, equipment, laptops, etc. from a 3 phase 20 amp receptacle (L21-20) common in convention centers, outdoor events, and concert touring. Eliminates the extension cord and small distro box you used to use. Available with both Edison and stage pin connectors and is UL Listed.

Gel Swatch Library for iPhone from Wybron, Inc.

Gel Swatch Library lets users browse, compare, and search nearly 1,000 GAM, Lee, and Rosco gel colors, showing similar and complementary colors for each. The application displays each color's SED curve and CMY/RGB percentages, and the application's search feature makes it easy to find a specific gel by name.

Equipment Category

FIREFLY ENERGY Series 5 Channel LED Illuminated Cable Protector from Firefly, a division of Industry Advanced Technologies, Inc.

Designed to reduce accidents, and increase pedestrian awareness. High visibility, battery powered (500 hours). LED lighting in an all-weather design to meet the rigorous demands of the live event and broadcast industries, while offering maximum protection for electric, data and other cables. Additional innovative design features offer ease of use and durability.

DiGiCo SD8 Wins Awards at both LDI and SIEL-SATIS

One week in October saw UK digital mixing console manufacturer DiGiCo receive two awards for its new entry-level SD8 - Best Sound Product of the Year at the LDI Show in Las Vegas and Most Innovative Product in the Live Industry at SIEL- SATIS in Paris.

In Paris, RIk Hoerée and Laurent Laignel of DiGiCo's French distributor, Apex France, were on hand to collect the Most Innovative Product in the Live Industry trophy. "There are four categories in the awards - Live, Production, Post Production and Broadcast - and many manufacturers distributors entered products," explains Jeroen Sierjacobs, Apex's product marketing engineer. "In fact a total of 75 products were the subject of an intensive study by the jury, which consisted of experts from the professional audio-visual community."

Competition was stiff, with 29 products chosen as finalists. The jury deliberated behind closed doors, taking into account the opinion of visitors to the show who had voted via SIEL-SATIS website. "The winners were judged on several categories: solving problems, proposing new solutions and technologies and improving the productivity," continues Sierjacobs. "The SD8 clearly fulfilled the criteria and we were very proud to accept the award on DiGiCo's behalf."

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, DiGiCo's marketing director David Webster accepted the award for Best Sound Product of the Year at LDI. "The SD8 has been designed with a fixed architecture and employs a smaller Super FPGA than the SD7, but it still benefits from all the major features and versatility of the D Series, as well as the advances already made in the SD7," comments Webster.

"This gives a superlative performance to price ratio, which means we can offer an entry-level console, with remote pre amps, at a price point that has never been possible before. We feel this fulfils a real need within the market. The DiGiCo team is delighted to have this recognised with two such prestigious awards within such a short space of time."

DiGiCo's David Webster at the LDI Awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

www.digico.org

Allen & Heath Announces Distributor of the Year Award

Allen & Heath has announced its Distributor of the Year 2008, awarding the accolade to the company's Chinese distribution partner, Sanecore Audio Ltd. The award was presented to Sanecore's general manager, Jun Zhu, and Sanecore Shanghai sales manager, Wu Hao, at the recent Music China show. The award recognises the best overall performance by an international distributor during Allen & Heath's 2008 fiscal year.

Allen & Heath's area sales manager, Bardy Hayes, commented: "It gives us great pleasure to make this award to the Sanecore team, which has displayed great enthusiasm and dedication to the A&H brand. Allen & Heath has launched many innovative products in recent times, including the Xone:4D DJ controller, the ZED-R16 dedicated recording mixer, and developments in its iLive digital range, and with dynamic distributors such as Sanecore behind us, Allen & Heath will continue to grow at a pace."

Allen & Heath also acknowledged the achievements of other distributors, with Real Music from the Ukraine being awarded ‘Most Improved Distributor in Europe', Mexico's Distribuidora Gonher S.A. de C.V. receiving the award for the Americas, PT Santika Multi Jaya from Indonesia for Asia, and Tech Top from Israel for the Middle East & Africa.

In picture: Bardy Hayes and Alan Ho from Global Market Management, presenting Allen & Heath's ‘Distributor of the Year 2008' award to Jun Zhu (Sanecore general manager) and Wu Hao (Sanecore Shanghai sales manager).

LDI 2008 Awards

Wally Russell Awards:
Wally Russell Most Promising Newcomer: Ben Hagen
Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award: Richard Pilbrow

Booth Awards:
Best Product Presentation: Fisher Technical Services for a truly elegant way of presenting rigging technology.
Creative Use of Light: Vari-Lite, for subtle and cohesive use of their entire product line to create an immersive lighting environment.
Best Small Booth: PixelRange for a vibrant use of LEDs in a very small area: eye-catching from afar while maintaining a comfortable environment in the booth.
Best Large Booth: Coemar, for using light as shape and sculpture, with a great use of colour and a good presentation of their product in a very user-friendly booth.

Designers of the Year:
Production Designer of the Year: Jeremy Railton
Concert Lighting Designer of the Year Award: Bryan Hartley
sponsored by Epic Production Technologies
Theatre Lighting Designer of the Year: Rick Fisher
sponsored by Strand Lighting

Debuting Product Awards
Sound: DiGiCo SD8 console, which features a lot of horsepower in a compact footprint, making it affordable and powerful.
Special Effects: City Theatrical DMX Snow Machine developed in conjunction with White Light.
Rigging/Staging: Steeldeck's APACK retractable audience tiering system that can be curved.
Projection: Element Labs Helix P1, which offers amazing display-shaping opportunities. It is flexible, durable, and has user-specific pixel pitch.
Honorable mention: United Visual Artists for d3-a paradigm shift in control environments for media servers.
Lighting (two winners):
Nila, a revolutionary new lighting solution for the entertainment industry setting an unprecedented environmental standard for low-energy consumption, while delivering unmatched lighting performance and product versatility.
ETC Unison Paradigm system, which fully fuses architectural lighting control advances with entertainment lighting-control technology.
Honorable mention: Protester 19 Mobal by Global Design Solutions at TMB

 

Learning from and with grandMA at Republic Polytechnic

Just as the Republic Polytechnic in Singapore is committed to education, so is MA Lighting. Roughly one year after the completion of a full MA Lighting system installation, MA went back to the Republic Polytechnic to do a refresher course. Initially brought up as an idea whilst doing some maintenance, Jose de Castro from the School for the Arts quickly took the initiative to organise this training. In the end more than 20 lecturers and staff from the Republic Polytechnic (including The Republic Cultural Centre), participated to get an up-to-date knowledge of how to operate the system.

MA Lighting not only installed two grandMA ultra-light consoles, but also a grandMA video media server, an MA NSP and more than 216 dimmer channels from its dimMA compact dimmer range. The system is split up into two venues one of which is designed to be a virtual TV studio, plus another bigger TV studio including a complete rigging system. Both venues are used to teach the students essentials skills in lighting, lighting design and productions.

To enable the lecturers to get a better understanding of the system, MA Lighting brought in Low Wee Cheng as a freelancer with his practical background to give an introduction into programming the consoles and using the various functions of the grandMA 3D visualiser software, the grandMA video media server and of the dimMA compact. Particularly grandMA video raised quite a few eyebrows when people realised how easy it is to actually use. To give everybody a chance to operate the boards, two more consoles were brought in with a couple of grandMA onPC systems connected all via network.

The Polytechnic, on its new 20ha Woodlands campus was only opened 31st of July 2007 by the Prime Minister. It can cater to up to 13,000 students in various faculties. Republic Polytechnic is focused very much on industry relevance, not only on the curriculum but also of their equipment.

The MA Lighting system solution was offered and installed by MA Lighting's local partner Desisti Asia.

www.malighting.com

PALME India on Evolutionary Path

Exhibitors at the third PALME India trade show in Mumbai remained united in praising the quality of this year's event, with over 3,000 professionals from the professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration industries visiting the Bombay Exhibition Centre - and all eager to do business.

Over the course of the three days new distributors were appointed and major deals were struck, as further evidence of how quickly the sub-continent's infrastructure is maturing.

Two who noted this fact were Aashish Mutha, director, Uniword Telecom Ltd, and Avinash Dowlwani, who runs AVI Electronics in Dubai. "We had met our objectives by the second day of the show," said the latter, while Mr. Mutha said that the quality of visitor had improved greatly in 12 months.

Eric Metreand, international sales manager, Universal Effects was already counting no fewer than 200 sales leads at an early stage in the show. "It's been an excellent show - we definitely want to rebook for next year," he said.

Mohanesh Malik, business group head Special Lighting, Philips Lighting India and Hussam Al Haddad, general manager, Ateis Middle East, added their own testimonials. "Generally it's been a great show for Philips," said the former, while Al Haddad said the launch of Ateïs' complete automation range couldn't have been met with a more favourable reception.

Alain Cayrel, Europe & Middle East sales director, Jupiter reported that his company had picked up a lot of leads while George V. Varghese, managing director, White October, reported that it had been a "good show, with a good turnout."

Some companies were launching into the Indian market for the first time. Of the show debutantes, Simon Prosser, director Asian operations for Finnish company Fogscreen, said his company had achieved its objectives of creating awareness and generating business, while Adam Hall director, Harif Mohammed, confirmed that as a result of the show his company would be looking at setting up an office to capitalise on the potential.

Praise for the improved quality of visitor was borne out by the quantity of business transacted at the show. Customers included Mumbai-based audio solution providers Sound.com and SNL Pro, while ESCO also reported a sale of two Orion 84" seamless plasma PDP's to Techworx on the final day. And there was cause to celebrate for Mauricio Saint Martin and his team from Meyer Sound, who were able to announce a new national distributor.

Responding to burgeoning market potential in India, Meyer Sound has expanded its distribution network by elevating Bangalore-based Reynold's Sound & Lighting to this role, and by appointing two new dealers to ensure effective sales support for the entire country - Modern Stage Services in New Delhi for Northern and Eastern India, and Mumbai-based Groove Temple Entertainment for the Western Indian sales territory.

A Meyer Sound dealer and user since 2000, Reynold's will continue this role to serve customers in the southern region of India. In addition, the company assumes the responsibilities of a master distributor, providing technical support, product servicing, and coordination of educational programs for the Indian professional audio market.

 "I'm excited to be part of this milestone for Meyer Sound in India," said Felix Remedios, managing director of Reynold's Sound & Lighting, while Mauricio Saint Martin, director of Middle East sales for Meyer Sound, added:  "With these appointments, we have the right team, and we will work closely with them to take Meyer Sound to the next level."

Away from PALME India's shop floor the seminar sessions were packed; in particular, visitors were eager to learn from the show's keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert, whose company ADA developed the EASE industry standard modelling software back in 1990.

And in the sound proofed demo room, Coda Audio were having an incredible show.  Said the marketing director Nina Christoffer, "We were impressed that the name was so well-known in India although this was our first appearance at an Indian exhibition. "We received a great response from the high quality visitors who visited our demo room and we expect to receive good leads in the coming weeks. We also met some interesting companies with the potential to become our distributor for the Indian territory."

Also bringing the house down were Modern Stage Service's Bollywood dance showcase which again drew large audiences to their massive integrated technology ‘village' and captured the festive spirit of the city.  "We were very happy to support this event in such a big way," commented Davinder Wadhwa.

Yet by the end of this highly successful show, it became clear to trade fair organisers, IIR Exhibitions, that the expo may be ready to evolve into its next phase. After mounting a successful launch campaign in India's Bollywood capital there is now a groundswell of exhibitors asking IIR to repeat the formula in a different location in 2009.

The 2009 edition of PALME India is also likely to occupy a different date in the calendar - away from the Festival season.

Exhibition organiser James Raffoul, said: "We can look forward to the future as PALME India has become a permanent fixture in the Indian industry calendar."

In picture: PALME India exhibition director, Alex Heuff (left) and Exhibition Manager James Raffoul, cut the ribbon and Meyer Sound sign new distributorship with Davinder Wadhwa, Modern Stage Service; Mauricio Saint Martin, Meyer Sound; Kaveer Shahani, Groove Temple Entertainment; Felix Remedios, Reynold's Sound & Lighting.

Sound Light Visual Expo to Make Debut in Malaysia

Come July next year, a new trade Expo titled Sound Light Visual will be making its debut at the Genting International Convention Centre, which is an hour away from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Organised by UnUsUaL Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, an arm of UnUsUaL group of companies based in Singapore and supported by Genting International, Sound Light Visual will take place from the 29th to 31st of July 2009.

The exhibition targeted at the South-East Asian market will differentiate itself from other similar style exhibitions in the region by focusing on upgrading the knowledge base of the industry.

Mr Johnny Ong, managing director of UnUsUaL group of companies, comments: "We will be making extra special efforts in bringing in speakers to share their knowledge with the industry in the region. The industry can expect seminars and workshops that will help enhance their profession. For a long time we felt that the exhibitions in the region did not focus so much on knowledge upgrading. The Sound Light Visual exhibition will plug that gap."

UnUsUaL also aims to aggressively promote visitorship to the exhibition to various key vertical markets, specifically in the hospitality, event management and entertainment segments. "It is our aim to have a holistic approach to the exhibition. We want visitors to discover new technologies and products, upgrade their knowledge through the various seminars and workshops and also network to expand their contact points. From the exhibitors' point of view we hope to ensure that they achieve their aim of not only meeting the industry players but also the clients that keep the industry going," says Johnny.

Genting International Convention Centre is accessible by land or air and offers all the amenities an exhibition would require such as the latest audio-visual equipment, WI-FI access and other state-of-the-art features. There are also plenty of hotel rooms able to suit differing budgets and of course self-contained F&B and entertainment outlets. Transport to KL City centre is also easily available.

J. R. Clancy Promotes Safe Sets at LDI 2008

Safe Sets? That's the question that rigging designer and manufacturer J. R. Clancy, Inc., will ask this year at the LDI trade show and conference, October 20-26 in Las Vegas, NV.

Making scenery safe through operator training, regular maintenance and the use of top quality theatrical rigging is the hallmark of J. R. Clancy's worldwide business. That's why the company chose LDI, one of the largest conferences in the technical theatre trade, to remind entertainment professionals to take safety seriously.

To this end, LDI attendees can stop at Clancy's booth, #2504, at the Las Vegas Convention Center and choose from two free buttons. The bright green buttons are printed in white with the words ‘Promote Safe Sets', or ‘Got Safe Sets?'

"No matter what kind of rigging system a performance space may have - counterweights, automation, a combination of the two or a customized system - we can't emphasize enough that you're hanging heavy set pieces over people's heads," said Tom Young, J. R. Clancy's vice president of marketing.  "We're taking a light touch with our safety message, but we're very serious about the need to do annual maintenance, train rigging operators to spot problems, and keep everyone in the theatre safe from rigging accidents."

While visiting the booth, LDI attendees can see J. R. Clancy's PowerLift Automated Hoist with its outer cover removed to allow close examination of its dual-brake system and compact moving drum winch. Visitors can enjoy a video of a PowerLift system in action in a theatre setting, and see the sleek, touch screen-operated SceneControl 500 motion control system.

The Event Company Staging Connections voted Singapore's # 1 Event Agency for Three years running!

The Event Company Staging Connections (TECSC) has been voted Singapore's number one event agency - for the third year running!

TECSC received the award during Marketing Magazine's annual Agency of the Year gala awards. Over 40 trophies were handed out across 11 categories in front of more than 500 of Singapore's leading marketing and PR professionals.

The annual Agency of the Year awards are decided through extensive polling by clients in Singapore. The awards recognise excellence in agency performance across the full spectrum of the events, advertising and marketing discipline including creative, media, public relations, digital, direct marketing, branding and sports marketing.

TECSC was first started by Ronnie Lim 17 years ago and became part of the Staging Connections Group in 2006. Since its formation, the Company has delivered events in Singapore as well as in over 40 locations - from Australia, South East Asia, India to Alaska and Geneva.

Speaking of the first time they received the award in 2006, Ronnie said: "We were extremely surprised when we found out that we won the award back in 2006! Surprise quickly turned to elation - we never delivered our work with the intention of winning anything, we simply believed in just doing good work!"

"Clients are and will always remain very important to us, and it's heartening that they continue to view us as an agency of choice. This simply motivates us to continue to push the boundaries of experiential design and deliver high quality events."

Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conferences Announce Future Dates

The directors of the Theatre Engineering and Architecture (TEA) conference and the North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference (NATEAC) are pleased to announce the dates and locations of future conferences.  Continuing the cycle started by Richard Brett, the TEA director, and incorporating NATEAC into the schedule, the next TEA conference will take place in London in 2010 followed by NATEAC in New York City in 2012.

Richard Brett observed: "These specialist conferences have demonstrated a great desire for communication and the exchange of views between those involved in the planning, design, equipping and operation of performing arts buildings and we wish to continue that dialog."

The TEA conferences, which were held in London in 2002 and 2006, showed that not only was there a desire for such an event but also that it is possible to bring divergent interest groups together and hold a meaningful conversation on a myriad of topics.  Bill Sapsis, the NATEAC director commented: "I was extremely impressed with the willingness of the TEA delegates to share their experiences with each other. This theme carried over to NATEAC. Everywhere we looked there were groups of people talking about the issues raised in the panels and offering ideas and potential solutions.

"The world grows smaller every day and, as design professionals, we cannot limit our experiences to our own backyards," noted Bill. "The problems facing our colleagues in Europe are really not all that different from the ones we face here in the States.  Being able to meet and hear about solutions from other parts of the world is a wonderful opportunity."

"The response we have received from the industry has certainly been overwhelmingly supportive," added Richard. "The idea of these conferences being held on a biennial schedule has met with great enthusiasm.

"The conferences will remain under the overall management of their respective directors, but Bill and I are forming a strategic alliance to facilitate the administration of these events. The world community has told us that these conferences should continue and we want to ensure their success for many years to come."

For more information please contact:

Bill Sapsis: Bill@NATEAC.org

Richard Brett: director@theatre-event.com

J&C Joel Celebrates Two Firsts at PLASA

Exhibiting at PLASA for the first time, J&C Joel made it a double first with the launch of its first ever product catalogue.

Well known worldwide for its range of over 150 different fabrics, the company also offers an extensive range of other products for the theatrical and event industry, from consumables such as serge tape and paint to the more serious stuff such as electric pilewind winches and orchestra lifts. Instead of the more traditional product shots, J&C Joel's new 72 page catalogue includes photographs of some of the many international projects the company has undertaken, plus illustrations of various designs of curtains used in theatres and other venues. As well as designing and making up curtains of all styles, J&C Joel's custom sewing department offers specialist skills such as appliqué and other techniques and the information here, together with details about different styles of curtain headers and hems, makes the catalogue a useful and convenient resource.

J&C Joel also took the opportunity at PLASA to celebrate its 30^th year in the entertainment industry. Sales director James Wheelwright says: "We have in the past tended to hide our light under a bushel, but over the last 12 months we have made tremendous strides in marketing the business, with the launch of our fabric binder last year and now our brand new product catalogue. Taking a stand at PLASA underlines how serious we are - this is the industry's leading international exhibition and our presence this year sends a strong signal to both our customers and our competitors that we mean business."

Having recently extended their factory to 75,000  sq ft, J&C Joel boasts that most items are available from stock, and that they stock more items than shown in the catalogue. With an inventory that includes almost one million metres of fabric, plus products from companies such as Rosco, Triple E, Hall Stage and Maltbury, as well as their own, that's quite a statement!

In picture: James Wheelwright with the new J&C Joel catalogue.

www.jcjoel.com

PLASA08 Reports 11% Visitor Growth

PLASA08 bucked the general exhibition industry trend in spectacular style with an 11 per cent growth in visitor figures across the event's four days compared to 2007. The 13,000 plus attendance figure (subject to ABC audit) reflects an exceptional level of visitor pre-registration as well as a growth in new and returning exhibitors to an expanded show floor.

"The show's success was due to a combination of factors," said director of events Nicola Rowland, "in particular a targeted marketing campaign combined with special online registration offers; a growth in exhibitor numbers; even more new product launches than in 2007; a greatly expanded educational programme; and improved visitor and exhibitor facilities.

"Combined with the effort that so many exhibitors made to put on a great show, the overall event was compelling and visitors responded to that."

The show also marked the start of the run-up to London 2012 with the British capital now the official Olympics host city, and many of the companies involved in Beijing's remarkable opening and closing ceremonies were on hand at PLASA08.

Technology trends were in evidence across the show floor and in the Innovations Gallery, where the 2008 Awards for Innovation nominees were showcased. PLASA Show newcomer the Royal Shakespeare Company took the first ever Gold Award for their ingenious LightLock concept, while Soundtracs/DiGiCo's John Stadius received the prestigious Gottelier Award.

For the first time in three years, the independent panel of judges deemed a product worthy of an Environmental Award - the LCD Proteus Display - and in a similar vein, the following day saw the launch by the Mayor of London's Office of the Green Theatre: Taking Action on Climate Change initiative.

The show witnessed another audio 'world first' with the simultaneous international launches of four major new live sound consoles, from DiGiCo, Innovason, Midas and Soundcraft, while a host of new audio installation products reflected the huge growth of the integrated systems market. The lighting and video sectors were rewarded by yet more advances in LED and moving light technology, and stage automation continued to be a significant growth area.

The anticipation of these major new technologies led to a real build-up in excitement prior to the event and was reflected in visitor attendance over the four days - which was almost overwhelming on the Monday. This was more than equalled by record-breaking levels of interest in PLASA08's seminar programme which featured over 40 seminars, many of them full to capacity. In addition to a whole day of events covering environmental initiatives, focus was also given to the new BS8901 sustainable event management standard, which will have a marked influence on the events industry, not least in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics with London as host city.

PR Lighting Report Major Success At PLASA Show

Chinese manufacturer PR Lighting, made a massive advance on the world stage at this year's PLASA Show, reporting an excellent response to both their new range of automated moving lights and LED displays. This was backed up by some major orders from both installation and rental customers - including literally hundreds of PR Lighting's popular XL 250.

Cui-Lin, director of international marketing & sales, stated that the company had sold 100 of their XL 1500 projectors to Belarus distributor, FE Belimlight, whose Maxim Yugov confirmed that these will be used on a major project in Moscow. This versatile, feature-packed fixture utilises a powerful 1500W short arc discharge lamp, optimised by the use of a high quality and efficient optical system - making it one of the brightest projectors in the market.

Meanwhile, on the adjacent stand, PR Lighting's UK distributors MilTec, were also busy fielding inquiries. Sales director David Faulkes supplied Audiotek in Ireland with PR Lighting's brand new V-Led Spell pixelated wall tile display straight off the show stand. This comprised 12 of the new 1200mm x 600mm panels, with 37.5mms pixel pitch, giving Audiotek a potential for a 3.6m x 2.4m display.

This product can be used either outdoors or indoors, as a stage background lighting effect or as digital signage in an advertising display medium; it can display video both synchronously and asynchronously, with 16.7 million colours.

"We are delighted to be the first company in Europe to have this display," said Audiotek MD, Frank Murray. "Video has become a big growth area and this product is light-weight, IP-rated and reasonably priced."

Although its final destination will be a new venue in the south of Ireland - Murray is first planning a short-term install in Maurice Doolan and Vincent McDonald's popular nightclub, Bondi Beach in Dublin, enabling potential customers to get a first view of it.

"But in any case we already have customers queuing for this new product," says Murray. Once it has travelled to the south, the V-Led Spell will be used for showing promotional videos and messaging on the outside of the new venue, eventually relocating for indoor use. The display will be triggered from an ArKaos media server.

Another major customer of MilTec was Bournemouth-based Complete Production Solutions (CPS Group) who added 16 PR Lighting XL1200's - eight spots and eight washes - to their hire fleet, following a thorough evaluation at the PLASA Show. They will join the existing Pilot 250's from the same manufacturer.

Said CPS director, Richard Colegate: "We had reached a point where we needed to move above the 575 area into something brighter because the market is now demanding that.

"We talked in advance but [co-director] Chris Caton really needed to be satisfied with the product and wanted not only to see it in action on the stand but also to inspect the build quality and optics by looking inside the chassis.

"The fact that we were able to do this with PR Lighting's chief R&D engineer Steve Tulk, and see how easy it was to change the lamp, was the clincher."

Two elements stood out, reports Colegate: the lamp could be replaced swiftly with access via quarter-turn lock screws, while an internal battery allows prepping in the warehouse without the need to plug in. "This means you can set parameters - such as the DMX address - really quickly without having to find mains power."

Some XL1200's were pressed straight into service for a major conference at York Racecourse, and Richard Colegate is now expecting high demand.

Summing up, Cui-Lin said, "PLASA offered us the opportunity to not only sit down with most of our international distributors but also make a lot of new contacts. Interest was high - particularly in the new products, such as the XL 1500, XL 250, XS 300 - and of course the LED effects.

"We are also delighted to have made significant inroads in the rental market."

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