CinequipWhite Inc. celebrated 10 years of its annual trade show, February Freeze at the new William F. White Centre on February 8, 2012.

This pre-NAB event, known for bringing together production professionals with the very latest innovations and technologies, is a great opportunity for any film, television, digital media, or audio professional to take advantage of this networking opportunity and technology showcase. Continue reading →

The team at Dartmouth, NS’ Tour Tech East has begun its transition into its new facility at 180 Thornhill Dr., just next door to its previous (and now secondary) facility at 170. The building boasts 225,000 sq. ft. on a single level, covering 7.3 acres on an 8 acre plot.

I took a tour with President Peter Hendrickson during the company’s recent All-Access trade show, and it’s absolutely massive. The building will help the company enhance its service department and shipping processes, and also allow them to introduce a new “express counter” for smaller rentals by DJs, bands, etc. This space will also act as a showroom, which has the company’s suppliers quite excited.

Congratulations to the TTE team for the giant step forward.

Just got word of an intresting event coming up in Toronto: the Digital Media Summit, happening at the Fairmont Royal York from March 21-22, 2012. Featuring presentations from industry leaders including Arianna Huffington (The Huffington Post), top digital experts from Google, Facebook, the CBC, Bell Media, and more, the conference will connect you with media and brand specialists that can help fine-tune your digital media strategies.

Find out more at www.digitalmediasummit.ca. There’s a current promotion in place to save 40 per cent on registration…

We’re only a few short weeks away from one of the biggest televised spectacles of the year, the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show. This year’s performer is the beautiful (circa 1990) Madonna, and I’m wondering if this year’s production might be a bit more “explosive” to make up for the fact that the 30,000 half-drunk, predominantly male audience may need the extra eye candy to get through the performance from the woman that wrote “Take A Bow.”

In any case, it should be quite the show, and we’ll undoubtedly have some news post-event about the different players involved and their contributions, so do stay tuned. It’ll be San Fran or New York vs. Baltimore or New England – any predictions as to who faces who and, if you dare, who’s taking the hardware?

We’ve lined up a cool feature on a pretty extensive install at a downtown Toronto location of Boston Pizza for our first issue of 2012. While we started down this path a couple of years back, we’re looking to incorporate more and more applications that expand beyond concert/theatrical lighting and related projects. From convention centres to restaurants to theme part attractions, the further we can expand into the bread-and-butter type jobs for many sound and lighting companies, the better.

With that, I’d like to extend an open invitation (and the invitation is always on the table for any section of the magazine at any time) for feature ideas on cool applications that use entertainment or architectural lighting or video systems in ways outside of theatres and performance venues (though fear not – there’ll still be plenty of coverage on such spaces going forward.)

Anyone within driving distance of Halifax should be considering a visit to the annual All Access Trade Show, presented by Tour Tech East. The event is taking place January 26th and 27th, and all of the info is available at www.allaccessshow.com. I’ve attended the last three years, and it’s always been a very high-calibre event, both in the sense of the exhibitors and gear on display, and the conference programming, which is always top-shelf.

Check out this year’s session schedule by clicking here.

The networking opportunities are always plentiful as well, for while TTE’s HQ is never shoulder-to-shoulder busy, the folks making the rounds are all in the industry and all open to sharing experiences and ideas.

Here’s to a great time in Halifax…

Here’s a story from the Ottawa Citizen. ProjectX, the company that supplied the lighting for the Ottawa Bluesfest this past summer where the main stage collapsed had commissioned 30 rings made from the aluminium stage roof. Continue reading →