23 Jan, 2017 | ETC
Every two years in Madison, Wisconsin, ETC hosts Workshop, an educational event used to train and share new information with industry dealers, reps, and distributors. This summer, for the first time, the event was opened internationally. The week-long event started July 12th, and brought 313 dealers, reps, and distributors from 34 countries to the ETC headquarters. “Workshop is ETC’s best opportunity to bring our sales family together. This was definitely ETC’s most successful Workshop ever,” says Patti Tuttrup, ETC marketing events specialist.
A day of international sales meetings and tours of ETC’s Wisconsin-based manufacturing facilities in Middleton and Mazomanie kicked off the event. For many of the international Workshop attendees, this was the first time they had seen the ETC factories in person. They were able to see where the products they sell come from and meet the people who make them.
On Wednesday, July 13th, Fred Foster, ETC CEO, took to the stage with his keynote address, Reflections on 40 Years of ETC. His stories began in 1975, with the birth of the company and the creation of the first ETC lighting console. He quickly moved through 40 years of ETC memories, touching on noteworthy installations and company milestones, always crediting the large family of ETC dealers, reps, distributors, and employees for the company’s continued success.
That evening, attendees were treated to a picnic at ETC’s headquarters that featured local food carts, Wisconsin beer, and some friendly competition as attendees took part in Tech Games that included assembling a Source Four® fixture, hanging and focusing a fixture, and laying out keycaps on an Ion® console.
Classes on rigging, consoles, lighting fixtures, architectural control, and more, as well as an additional keynote by Dr. Kevin Houser, professor of Architectural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, kept attendees busy for the remaining days.
To thank the Workshop attendees for their hard work, commitment, and support over ETC’s 40-year history, ETC hosted a banquet on the final evening at Madison’s Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, overlooking picturesque Lake Monona. “We’ve grown because of you,” says Fred Foster, ETC CEO, to the attendees. “You’ve embraced our products, our company, and our culture, and helped the world see the passion we share for the industry. I cannot thank you enough for that.”
The next Workshop for ETC’s reps, dealers, and distributors will be in 2018. Next summer, ETC will bring back its popular CUE professional-development conference, welcoming end users from around the world to Madison for a one-of-a-kind experience. Dates for CUE will be announced soon. Visit www.etcconnect.com for details.
22 Jan, 2017 | ETC
The National Arts Festival (NAF) in Grahamstown was the first festival in the world to call on ETC’s ColorSource consoles. In addition to this, NAF put to use an extensive line up of lighting gear from the manufacturer across 16 venues.
The 11-day festival which takes place at various venues across the city is described as the biggest celebration of the arts in Africa. Its main and fringe programmes comprise drama, dance, physical theatre, comedy, opera, music, jazz, visual art exhibitions, film, student theatre, street theatre, lectures, craft fairs, workshops, tours and a childrens arts festival.
‘NAF is a fantastic meeting of technicians from across the continent, it is an honour for ETC to support these talented people with consoles and LED fixtures that will enhance their art and give them a look at the latest equipment available for making theatre,’ said Jeremy Roberts from ETC.
Of the 16 venues to feature ETC equipment, 14 of them have opted for one of the manufacturer’s lighting desks. ColorSource, Element, Eos Ti, Gio and Ion consoles are all in use, with the Eos Ti covering the main theatre. Away from consoles, ETC ColorSource Spot and PAR fixtures have also been called into action.
‘Prosound and Electrosonic are on site to provide support,’ noted Mr Roberts. ‘ETC also provides local support for the larger venues. Benjamin du Plessis from the Fugard Theatre, who is an expert Eos programmer, is on site to support other programmers on the Eos Ti, Gio and Ion consoles.’
Also present were Jannie de Jager and Mac Makhobotloane from Prosound, supporting all the other consoles and LED fixtures that were provided to the relevant venues.
‘The National Arts Festival is a very important event and we are delighted to be part of it,’ said Ian Blair, GM for lighting and structures at Prosound. ‘The festival runs on good quality products that it can trust, so it is telling that there is so much equipment from ETC that has been put to use.’
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19 Jan, 2017 | ETC
Television in Botswana is a rapidly burgeoning industry and Botswana TV is making great use of its three studios, with lighting rigs set up by Prosound. Studio 3, a multi-purpose studio currently used for music shows and dramas, has a perfectly lit cyclorama, made possible with the ETC CYC attachment. 36 fixtures have been used to create this cyclorama with unique CYC lens adaptor allowing for changes to the backdrop in creating exactly the colour needed for the current production in the studio, with ETC’s multi-spectrum LED colour.
Using ETC in a cyclorama application has the added advantage of the LEDs having refresh rates so high that one can use the cyclorama in green as a chromakey with no flicker. ETC Desire D22 lustr+ LEDs and the revolutionary ETC Source Fours complete the cyclorama setup, with a combination of the existing tungsten fixtures. A 16 sectioned moving grid for light fixtures enables Studio 3 to have the ability to accommodate set changes by switching from a direct front light to steeper front lights depending on the setup.
The trussing with powered motors that allow the individual grid heights to change, allows for positioning of light throughout the studio space. An ETC Ion console tops off this dynamic configuration. Studio 1 is used for the Botswana TV news reporting, with the studio space being artfully separated into anchor desk and interview area.
ETC Source Four LEDS are once again used for specific focus on presenters, with De Sisti Softlight Series fixtures to lift the overall intensity of the set. ETC dimmer racks and sensor relays power this multi-faceted lighting system controlled by an economical ETC SmartFade console allowing for an adaptable application with an intuitive direct-access style of operation.
