Johannesburg-based Solid Rock Event Technical has taken ownership of a new ArKaos Studio Server. The acquisition came about after Nick Britz from DWR Distribution introduced Solid Rock’s Keith MacIntyre and Rolley Maphosa to the ArKaos team at this year’s Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. “From what I understand, within half an hour of Rolley seeing the system for the first time, he was already mapping spheres and cubes with the product,” explained Andrew Temblett, Business Development Manager at Solid Rock. “So I think the marriage was made there, and when Keith came back to Johannesburg we started looking at the…
Author: Stewart Hume
‘Welcome to Tomorrow’ was the catch phrase used to introduce some of Gearhouse Group’s latest technology to 600 of the organisation’s top clients and suppliers. The launch was housed in the inaugural build of the Maxi Dome Lite Venue, a bespoke temporary structure designed and built in South Africa by Gearhouse In2Structures, the group’s specialist design and manufacturing company. Maxi Dome Lite is a mid-sized iteration of the In2Structures design range and was used for this launch in a three-bay configuration (27 metres wide by 40 metres long). The design uses 700Mpa steels throughout with easy rigging access and increased…
A new rental company offering lighting equipment has emerged in Johannesburg in the form of Event Lighting. A joint venture between Peter Rieck of Rieck’s Lighting and Henry Jenkins of Eventech, Event Lighting has already invested in 12 Robe Pointes, 24 Robe Spikies, 48 Longman F4 Up LED par cans, all supplied by DWR Distribution. “Rieck’s Lighting will operate as normal,” explained Rieck. “I am still a consultant, a Project Manager and have my own clients to look after, while Henry remains the owner of Eventech, a rental company which supplies sound, staging, backline, structures and power.” The collaboration came…
DWR Distribution has announced the addition of two new members to its team. JP de Vernon and Kevin Stannett have both worked together before, with the former coming on board as Sales Representative for Africa and the latter handling sales in theatres, schools, broadcast, television studios and casinos. De Vernon takes over the position previously occupied by Johnny Scholtz, who will now handle architectural sales at DWR, while Stannett’s appointment comes after DWR’s Dave Whitehouse relocated to the UK. The two new team members met four years ago when both worked at the Emperors Palace. Stannett, a freelance Lighting Designer,…
Professional audio product manufacturer Music has announced its Middle East expansion plans for customers, as it looks to boost availability of its brands in the region. The news sees Dubai-based audio experts Prolab become elected distributor for industry-leading Turbosound, Midas and Klark Teknik brands. “At Prolab, we aren’t the type to sit back and let the customer find us, we pursue those we truly believe we can support,” said Farid Dagher, Operations Manager at Prolab. “This makes us stand out from the crowd. Naturally we are the ideal partner for Music.” Music’s Senior Director of Touchpoint Europe, Simon Godfrey added,…
Marco Hinic and Benjamin Bauwens of ArKaos recently visited DWR Distribution in South Africa to visit clients in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and present training at DWR’s offices. “Although we have worked remotely with DWR for a few years now, it was our first physical contact with South Africa,” said ArKaos founder Hinic. “I had a feeling that we were in for a nice surprise and indeed we were overwhelmed by the warm welcome and hand of friendship from everyone. I was thrilled I could take a day at the end of the trip to explore the beauty of…
The first Robe Spikies to be purchased on the African continent have gone to Windhoek, Namibia-based rental company Mikel-Jes, who purchased eight units from Robe’s distributor DWR Distribution in Johannesburg, South Africa. Founder and co-owner of Mikel-Jes Michael Vermeulen already has around 80 Robe fixtures in hire stock and has been a steady investor in the brand since founding the company in 2008. Vermeulen chose the Spikie after seeing it in action at this year’s Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. Within two weeks of delivery, the fixtures had been deployed on eight shows. Projects on which the Mikel-Jes team have…
Ten years ago, Kevin Glover, owner of Johannesburg-based rental company Sound Stylists, visited Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt. Almost immediately after, he made his first DiGiCo purchase – a D5 Live. Since then, Glover has enjoyed an on-going journey with DiGiCo, who are now represented in South Africa by DWR Distribution. He first started looking for a new control desk in 2006. “I was introduced to the guys from DiGiCo at Frankfurt,” he said. “We already had digital mixing consoles, but were looking for something bigger, as many shows we were doing were over the 100 channel mark.” After looking at a number of…
American multinational GE has officially opened the GE Africa Innovation Centre in Johannesburg – one of 10 centres globally, and the first in Africa. The building features an exhibition and experience centre on the ground floor dominated by interactive displays and immersive digital technologies, installed and integrated by the Johannesburg branch of System Solutions, the South African AV systems Integrator. GE appointed System Solutions to install a mix of NEC and Samsung hardware, including a first in South Africa: an 84-inch NEC interactive touch display, and a 4K pixel space 110-inch Samsung video wall with a multi-touch overlay. Along with…
Protec, working with its client and creative production agency HQ Creative, helped to kick off the fourth annual Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament (NAS) in Dubai with a spectacular opening ceremony. For the very first time, the ceremony was hosted by NASO, a 40cm high, walking and talking robot. It entertained the crowd alongside a variety of acts, such as acrobats on hoverboards, a futsal game in the dark and an appearance from the Lords of Lightning. Protec deployed BlackTrax to track sixteen performers and a moving platform, where NASO performed his hosting duties. They were tracked using lighting effects…
The current Vice President of Operations at Flash Entertainment, Lee Charteris, is to step down from his position to pursue other projects. “The past eight years at Flash have been great,” said Charteris. “We have really built a brand for Abu Dhabi and the UAE to be proud of. I look forward to new challenges and to spend more time in my new role as President of ILEA – Middle East.“ Charteris has been head of Operations at the UAE based event company since its inception in 2008. www.thinkflash.ae
DWR Distribution is delighted to announce that it will be the South African distributor for DMXking. Designed and manufactured in New Zealand, DMXking supplies high quality DMX512 interfaces. “We were looking for an Artnet solution that would be cost effective and suitable for our market,” said Nick Britz of DWR Distribution. “When we first came across DMXking we decided to bring a couple of units to South Africa to have a proper look. They are awesome units, well made, easy to use and capable of both Artnet and sACN.” In essence this means that users can expand their existing console outputs. It’s capable of doing Artnet out…
