John Barnett has been named technical director for Zumanity (in residence at New York New York hotel in Las Vegas). Barnett comes to Cirque du Soleil from Actors Theatre of Louisville where he was the TD for four years of a challenging 26-show season in rep.
NEC Solutions (America), Inc., Visual Systems Division (VSD) announced that Maureen Schmidt has been promoted to senior director of North American sales. Previously, she was the director of sales for the distribution channel. (www.necsam.com)
MDG Fog Generators has been appointed the exclusive Canadian distributor for Belgian company ArKaos, makers of the video jockeying software ArKaos VJ, which integrates and synchronizes video, music, and live visual performances. (www.mdgfog.com; www.arkaos.net)
Show Distribution Group announced that TMB Associates is now an authorized service center and distributor on the West Coast for Chainmaster hoists. (www.showdistribution.com, www.tmb.com)
All formerly separate operations of ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) in Europe will all use the ETC name. Transtechnik Lichtsysteme in Germany and IES in the Netherlands join the company's current locations in London, Copenhagen, and Rome under the common banner name. The company now offers an extended portfolio, including Transtechnik™ lighting systems, Avab™ control desks, and IES™ sine wave dimming, and products are now manufactured and assembled in multiple locations — Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. (www.etcconnect.com)
John Fuller has left his position as vice president sales and marketing for Wybron and formed a new company, Performance Technology, Inc., based in Colorado Springs, CO, to provide product, marketing, and business strategy consulting to the entertainment lighting industry. ([email protected])
Permlight Products has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against GELcore, LLC in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, asserting that certain GELcore LED lighting systems infringe Permlight's patents, including US Patent No. 6,712,486, entitled “Mounting Arrangement for Light Emitting Diodes”, US Patent No. 6,578,986, entitled “Modular Mounting Arrangement and Method for Light Emitting Diodes”, and US Patent No. 6,846,093, also entitled “Modular Mounting Arrangement and Method for Light Emitting Diodes.” In addition, Permlight and ElectraLED, Inc. have reached a settlement in the patent infringement lawsuit filed on February 11 asserting infringement of Permlight's US Patent Nos. 6,712,486 and 6,846,093. ElectraLED received a license under Permlight's patented LED thermal management technology. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. (www.permlight.com; www.gelcore.com; www.electraled.com)
Digital Projection International (DPI) has retained Bill LeCompte to develop its staging and special project opportunities in the Pacific Northwest region. LeCompte will also work with manufacturer's representatives to further cultivate commercial AV and home cinema dealer channels. (www.digitalprojection.com)
Martin Professional A/S announced the hiring of Henrik Miller as the company's new R&D director. He comes to Martin with roots in project-oriented R&D and an extensive background in product engineering. (www.martin.com)