We recently sat down with Greg Smith, an industry veteran and owner of Navigator Systems. He details how he got started in AV support for corporate events (by being in the right place at the right time — in his case, with a friend at a bar). He also talks about how Navigator Systems and HireTrack rose to prominence, and closes with a few general words of advice on how to succeed in the live event business, even if your focus is only on “a very miniscule part.” Add a comment

Peter Morse is one of the most sought-after lighting talents in the live event industry. He was named the Parnelli Lighting Designer of the Year in 2004, was nominated for an Emmy in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and won the Emmy in 1997 for Bette Midler’s Diva, Las Vegas HBO Special. His list of clients includes Madonna, Prince, Christina Aguilera, Andrea Bocelli, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand, Usher and many more. He’s had an enviable career and continues to do big things — but he paused recently to go on record with PLSN about his journey so far. Add a comment

Names like Tiësto, Deaudmau5, Steve Aoki and Calvin Harris bring gatherings like the Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra Music Festival and Coachella to mind, along with the Las Vegas nightclub scene — lots of late night revelers, partying to the beat to impressive, and sometimes blindingly bright, lighting and video displays. But what happens when you take the same big-name DJs and use them to draw partiers to the casino’s pool, in broad daylight? They can serve up the same throbbing basslines, but when the DJs are spinning in the sun, there’s no way a light show can deliver the same impact.

It’s a familiar story, told countless times all over America. A 1920s-era theater starts life as a magnet for movie-goers, shifts with the times to become a famed concert venue, but falls on tougher times as the economy and entertainment models continue to shift. After years of under-use, it becomes a banquet hall or civic gathering space.

Diamond Dolls, a gentlemen’s club based in Pompano Beach, FL, had Sound & Lighting Solutions of Fort Lauderdale strip the conventional lighting fixtures from the club’s entertainment lighting rig and replace them with close to 40 LED fixtures from Chauvet.

This month we take a look at media servers.  There are a whole host of options depending on your needs, from the software based titles to the full-fledged complete package with hardware. Finding the right media server starts with how many layers of output you need, and the hardware.

To download a PDF copy of the June 2013 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE.

Have you ever thought about cutting the DMX cord and going wireless? DMX wireless systems are more reliable and less costly than they were a few years ago, but they still require a considerable investment in time to figure out which is the best suited to your needs.

To  download a PDF of PLSN's Sept. 2012 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE.

This year, Christie announced the expansion of its 3-chip DLP platform with the introduction of the Christie D4K25 and new 14,000-lumen Christie M Series models. The new projectors target a variety of applications that require a combination of  brightness, performance and visual clarity. Add a comment

Swisson recently introduced the latest version of their hand-held, battery-operated DMX tester, the XMT-350. It might not give you the power to control everything in the universe, but it will give you the ability to control and test most everything in your rig — including an entire universe of DMX data. And it runs off a 9V battery. Add a comment

The way TV works has radically changed over the decades, from only three major networks and one screen per household to an explosion of options, not just with an expanded array of networks delivered via cable and satellite, but a whole new array of interactive media platforms as well. But one tradition that’s still holding steady, and keeping those on the live side of the entertainment industry busy, is the TV network “upfront” — elaborate corporate events designed to pique the interest of TV advertising buyers, the press and other VIPs in advance of the annual crop of new TV programming.