The African music sector has not had an easy ride of it in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic having a particularly devastating effect on the industry. However, there is still plenty of hope for the future of the sector, thanks to schemes such as Music in Africa Gender@Work. A training programme aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the industry, which culminates in the participants working on the annual ACCESS festival, the initiative provides a much-needed way into the industry for talented and driven women throughout the African continent. For its latest edition, the programme…
Author: Peter Iantorno
What position is the company in compared to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic? We’re back up to around 75% of the team we had before, but we’re matching our pre-COVID-19 levels of revenue. How? Because we’ve organised. We took the opportunity to look at how our technical structure was as a whole and we’re now working in a much more joined-up way – not just here in the Middle East but across the entire global network. Here in Dubai, we’ve still got the two sides of the business – venues and staging services – but we work in…
DWR Distribution hosted an AV Open Day on 23 March, held at the company’s offices in Johannesburg, where visitors experienced technical solutions for the AV and corporate markets from brands including tvONE, Magenta, Green Hippo, Visual Productions, Sharp/NEC, Absen, Audix, Magnimage and Quest. “The purpose of the AV Open Day was to raise awareness regarding DWR Distribution’s offerings when it comes to AV,” said Dylan Jones of DWR, who orchestrated the event. “We wanted to attract new and current clients to come to our offices and catch up, while also showing them our products in action across the board, from…
For many of the countries and companies represented at Dubai’s Expo 2020, the top priority was a pavilion that told a story, immersing visitors in a unique cultural experience. It’s no surprise, then, that the technology of visual storytelling technology company, disguise powers a multitude of these pavilions – including, but not limited to, the UK, Belgian, Hungarian, USA, DP World, ENOC, and Mastercard pavilions. A prime example of disguise’s technology in action comes from the Hungary pavilion. Inspired by the country’s natural thermal waters, two disguise vx 4 media servers together with disguise’s projector calibration system, OmniCal, powered 12…
While poor weather conditions including dust storms and high winds forced the cancellation of the grand opening ceremony and some of the planned aerobatic displays, some unique attractions generated high levels of interest at the recent World Defense Show (WDS) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Protec was entrusted by its client, WDS, with the full theatrical and stage management along with complete scenic, staging, and technical production of the opening ceremony and a ‘Command and Control Centre experience for this inaugural edition of the expo. “We ploughed through various challenges and had everything set up and ready, including four 12m…
Screenworks engaged Creative Technology (CT) to deliver more than 1,300 sq m of LED and a fully redundant E2 screen management system for WWE – Elimination Chamber, which took place at the world’s largest freestanding super dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The supply included the main entrance screen, structure legs around the ring, and the large screens situated above the centre of the ring. The impressive over-ring design consisted of four large LED screens that formed a 360° visual spectacle. LED was also used to wrap around the four truss tower legs. “We used a fully redundant E2 screen management system to ensure the event was seamless,”…
Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA) has made a significant investment to its audio department, offering its students the opportunity to get hands-on experience with a range of industry-leading equipment. The upgrade came on the recommendation of Lead Sound Tutor, John Parkhouse. “On joining SPAA, I embarked on a thorough analysis of existing stock and compiled a wish list of how it could be enhanced,” he explained. The primary request was the newly released DiGiCo Quantum 225 console with optics, plus DANTE and MADI DMI cards, as well as a DiGiCo SD Rack fully loaded with 32bit Stadius i/o cards and…
Ahead of his hosting duties at the TPMEA Awards 2022, taking place on 19 May at Dubai’s Hard Rock Café, MC, public speaker and communication coach, Flo Akinbiyi takes some time out to share his thoughts on the UAE’s events industry. What sparked your interest in live events? The answer to that goes right back to my childhood. I was born and raised in small town in Bavaria, Germany, and became a passionate snowboarder from the age of 15. After doing a ski season in Canada, I became a team rider at our local ski and snowboard fun park.…
The designers, directors, and visual artists at NorthHouse have collaborated with many incredible global names over the years, from Beyoncé to Bruno Mars, to Ferrari, BT, and even the Super Bowl. The collective are also long-time collaborators with Coldplay, first working with the band in 2015 for the A Head Full of Dreams Tour. “That campaign was an incredible experience and we have stayed in touch with the team ever since,” said NorthHouse’s Tom Bairstow, recalling the company’s history with the band and explaining how they came to work on Coldplay’s Expo 2020 performance. “We were in contact with the…
An ancient city full of natural wonders deep in the desert of northwest Saudi Arabia, AlUla is hardly the first place that springs to mind when it comes to hosting world-class concerts. However, since the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) announced its vision to responsibly develop the location as a world heritage destination centred around conservation and culture back in 2017, the area has played host to several high-profile productions and art installations. The latest show to grace the historical site was Symphony Under The Stars; a combination of classical and electronic music, lighting and special effects, performed by Italian…
Coca-Cola Arena continued its emergence from the post-pandemic haze with a busy 2021/2022 events season, which saw the multipurpose venue host numerous shows and events, from sports to comedy, conferences, and concerts. After a string of successful shows under the banner of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), the arena continued its resurgence with performances from British indie rockers, The Kooks, on 27 February, followed by legendary DJ, Tiësto, on 4 March. With such a packed and varied schedule, it made sense to bring in a festival package of equipment that would be capable of handling the various shows planned for the…
CTME’s journey with Expo 2020 started over three years ago when the company partnered with various world-class contractors to deliver AV system integrations solutions across multiple pavilions including DP World, USA, and Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) to name a few. The CTME team also provided AV support for live events at pavilions such as DP World, Lebanon, UK, and Emirates. Alongside this, the company provided full video control, media servers and playback solutions across two of the main stages at Expo 2020 – Dubai Millennium Arena and Jubilee Stage – which hosted some of the largest concerts with renowned…
