A taste of the ETNZ Tradeshow that wasn’t

Many exhibitors were already en-route to the Entertainment Technology New Zealand (ETNZ) Conference to be held in Wellington this June, when organisers were forced to go virtual due to the extension of Lockdown.

To support tradeshow exhibitors, a tradeshow scavenger hunt replaced the normal tradeshow passport challenge, encouraging participants to visit company websites. CX Magazine also offered support with the opportunity for the suppliers to share what would have been their ‘star of the stand’.

But first, the stories from on the road. There’s Graeme and Diane from John Herber who were on the ferry from Christchurch when they found out the conference was moving online. They just managed to get a ferry back before all ferries were cancelled as Wellington did what it does best and whipped up a seven metre swell.

Rob Carpenter from Show Quip; “being an old fella I had to think of the risk” had pulled the plug on his own trip a few days before but his team were just about to board flights when they heard the news. “Our freight was already there so we just got it sent back and sucked it up. What do you do? Those are the times we are in!”

A sentiment shared by Garth Reynolds, ULA Group NZ, “I received the call on Sunday afternoon confirming that the conference had been cancelled. We were due to fly out on Monday morning and the truck with all our gear was already in Wellington. However, that is the reality of the world we live in today. So, we connected with our customers and produced a range of exciting online material showcasing our latest technology. We had some great responses.”

Here’s a rundown on the wares they would have shared.

Metro

James Killen – Technical Manager

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

The PROTOS load cell system. It is a wireless load reporting system that has long battery life, handheld readout, as well as a USB dongle to use the Protos load monitoring software. The great thing the system does is create transparency around the loads that are being placed upon venues by incoming productions. It is also a good accuracy check for those who do the calculations.

What makes it of particular interest to the ETNZ audience?

With health and safety guidelines in a state of continuous evolution, we believe that load cells for every rig as standard (if not legislated) is not far off. We at Metro very much believe that one day we’re going to look back at today and wonder why we ever allowed ourselves to load tonnes of equipment without having accurate reporting. We hope that ETNZ members are looking ahead and will try to spread the costs of having load cells between now and then, while slowly getting everyone on the same page about load monitoring.

Where is it in action?

It is regularly used in our roofing systems and has been used at the World of Wearable Art for critical components in
both scenic and human flying elements.

More information

www.metro.net.nz/currentspecials

ShowQuip

Rob Carpenter – BDM

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

ShowQuip’s focus at this year’s tradeshow was on the superb Global Pre-Rig Truss which has been a very well received product. ETNZ was an opportunity to actually see the product firsthand. And to get a peek at our SRS motor controllers.

Where are they in action?

Oceania Lighting and AC lighting have purchased considerable inventory here in New Zealand. This unique truss has been in use on the LAB concerts over the last few months, playing to record crowds. And we are proud to have supplied the new Christchurch Convention Centre Te Pae with an SRS AHD8-WLV-H6 hoist controller with wireless hand pendant. This product can now be found in virtually every major performance venue throughout New Zealand, such is the quality of this product.

More information

https://www.showquip.com/product/truss/

John Herber

Diane Philip – Director

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

Motorized Trac-Drive and control system which is a continuous loop track mounted motor with either two or three grooved pulleys (depending on curtain weight and speed). It is available with fixed or variable speed motors. The control system is a G-Frame variable speed application. The Motorized Trac-Drive and G-Frame control system is used on the Joker 95 and Trumpf 95 track systems.

What makes it of particular interest to the ETNZ audience?

Theatre technicians love this stuff – an opportunity to see what is available for the theatre industry.

More information

Photos and links to catalogues can be seen on our website www.johnherber.co.nz

LSC Control Systems

Jeff Morgan – AU & NZ Regional Sales Manager

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

APS power distribution. APS is our rack mount or wall mount power distribution that solves inrush currents, nuisance tripping and power protection.

The other item we were going to show was our UNITOUR Power/Dimming system. This is brand new and is just now going through its last testing before release. Its 48-channel modular system can be fitted with power switching modules for audio and video users or with dual-mode TruPower dim/switch modules for lighting operators.

What makes them of particular interest to the ETNZ audience?

The money invested in today’s audio visual systems is huge. The latest audio console, speaker array, LED wall, video projector and intelligent lights all amass to serious amounts of money. Yet, do we invest in the right equipment to power and protect this investment? The APS is a solution for the ever-increasing demand of power control for LED walls and LED fixtures that require reliable power.

And the UNITOUR Power/Dimming System means safety for both the operator and the attached equipment.

Where is it in action?

A good example is NIDA in Sydney where they have a mixture of both GENVI dimmers and APS units around their various venues. In NZ they have been sold through our dealers, so I don’t always know where they end up, but we supplied a lucky draw prize to ETNZ and the Meteor Theatre is now the happy owner of a Rackmount APS power distribution unit!

More information

www.lsccontrol.com.au/product/13/aps/
www.lsccontrol.com.au/product/22/unitour/

Show Technology

Nick Reeves – Technical Sales NZ

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

Martin Mac Ultra Performance

What makes it of particular interest to the ETNZ audience?

Martin’s new framing profile unit with a huge 46,500 lumen output. The MAC Ultra Performance has raised the bar for extremely bright moving lights. It features benchmark output across the zoom range, a true next generation framing system, higher definition optics and astoundingly low noise levels.

Built to support the biggest live events, this powerful workhorse is based on Martin’s all new 1150 W, 6000 K proprietary LED light engine and the fixture pushes an incredible 46,500 lumens in projection. The 50,000+ hour light engine also provides high resolution dimming, strobing and Martin’s unique Animotion effect.

A 1:7 zoom-range and precision focus-control is provided from the refined optical system. The extensive feature package includes uniform colour mixing, variable CTO, additional colour and spectral correction filters, Martin’s innovative Extended Framing system, two layers of rotating gobos, full function animation wheel, iris, frost and prism effects, and truly responsive and accurate pan and tilt. And these features are all packed into a compact, sturdy and legendary Martin design.

Where is it in action?

Brand new on the market but making waves overseas.

More information 

https://www.martin.com/en/products/mac-ultra-performance

ULA Group

The team at ULA Group NZ

What was going to be your ‘star of the stand’?

The ULA Group stand was to showcase plenty of exciting new lighting and visual technology, including the popular Astera wireless lighting range, VuePix Infiled digital displays, Elation’s professional theatrical fixtures, ChamSys lighting consoles, the atmospheric effects generators by MDG, NovaStar’s H series Video Wall Splicer, Acme and ADJ’s latest luminaires, and much more. It is hard to choose a ‘star’ so we’ll highlight three!

Firstly, the Astera PixelBrick, the new-generation multi-purpose light by Astera, featuring the Titan LED engine. This battery-powered uplight and spotlight with five different beam options offers great flexibility and meets the highest demands of film, TV & stage clients. Multiple PixelBricks can be connected to form clusters and shapes.

Then the PROTEUS LUCIUS – Elation Professional, a powerful yet compact IP65-rated LED profile fixture offering outstanding projection and beam qualities in any environment. With a fast zoom range from 5.5° to 50°, the PROTEUS LUCIUS has the power to cut through and make a statement on any stage.

Lastly, the NovaStar H series, their flagship all-in-one video processors, designed specifically for large LED display applications. The H Series greatly simplifies LED system integration, image processing and managing multiple inputs, offering the latest image processing technology in the industry.