Check out the Orlando Sentinal story here:

Products Brighten Up Show Venues

Alan Kibbe, national sales manager for Rosco, says that Keystroke, their new DMX/PC interface is sparking great interest at their booth (#602). “Keystroke was developed out of a project with Colorado State University students,” says Kibbe. The interface allows you to operate any PC software application via a DMX link. A good example of this is controlling power point presentations via a lighting console. Other new products at Rosco include the Delta hazer, an addition to the Delta family of fog machines, two new gel colors: Helmsley Blue and half-bastard amber. Sales of Helmsley Blue benefit the Gilbert Helmsley Internship Foundation (similarly Light Relief Yellow benefits the light relief program in the UK. Can “Behind the Scenes” purple be far behind?) Seen in the Rosco booth was Steve Terry of ETC chatting with company helmer Stan Miller, while Walt from Parlights chatting with Stan Schwartz. The rest of the booth was in a fog!

Chris Cobbs, a journalist from the Orlando Sentinel, Orlando’s daily newspaper, made a visit to LDI today to check out the new technology in the entertainment technology field and learn about applications for the real world. He spoke to Lori Rubinstein, executive director of ESTA, as well as ESTA prez Bill Groener. He then stopped by to meet representatives from various companies such as Color Kinetics where he was impressed with the wide array of LED options as he learned how LEDs are taking such a big role in the lighting industry, from exteriors and architecture to restaurants, malls, hotels, and other public venues. Check out the Orlando Sentinel and read Chris’s article as he explains LDI to the general public.

As most of you know, the annual LDI show is always a feast for the eyes and ears since there’s so much new technology to see at the many booths. However, prior to the show getting underway this morning, new technology came to me while I was at the Live Design booth. I spied a gentleman walking around with what looked like a bouquet of blue Christmas lights. It was Ian Phillips with Soundsculpture who was demonstrating the power of the company’s new product, the RC4Wireless.

The Soundsculpture booth is in the back of the massive Orlando County Convention Center while the spacious Live Design booth is at the front door. As any of you who have been to one of these shows knows, these convention centers are HUGE. But as far away as Ian was from the RC4’s home base, the blue LEDs were sparkling away, which I thought was really cool (why won’t my wireless print server work as well in the same room with my laptop at home?). “Technology is getting smarter as opposed to more powerful,” Ian told me, further explaining that the RC4 Wireless uses technology that spreads out the signal much wider than before.

Talking with Colin Waters from TMB, the results are in from the LDI WET Bass Fishing Tournament sponsored by Wybron, ETC, and TMB. Forty-five anglers met at 5 AM at the Peabody Hotel to fish at South Port Park on West Lake Toho. The results are as follows:

Winning teams are…

First place: Marshall Bissett (TMB) and Tom Pincu (Moodie Pincu Assoc.), 21.01 lbs.

Second place: Jacques Tanguay and Robert Belanger (Show Distribution, Monteal), 20.6 lbs.

Third place: Larry Lieberman (Vision Quest Lighting) and Steve Hoffman (GAM), 19.6 lbs.

Results of the Big Fish Pool…

First place ($1000): Marshall Bissett, 10.8 lbs.

Second place: Todd Reemtsa, 10.5 lbs.

Third place: Larry Lieberman, 7.2 lbs.

This is the second consecutive victory for Marshall, even after the loss of a five-pounder that jumped out of the boat and into the lake. “The fishing guide was devastated over the incident, ready to take up golf for a career!” said teammate Tom Pincu.. “I didn’t cheat,” says Marshall, “I just practice hard all year.”

Congrats to all the winners and participants.