DB Systems Blog

Well……what a summer (sic).
No sooner had the Paris Airshow loaded out and we all looked forward to the annual DB Systems BBQ (and stock check), the rain came down…..and down….and down….in fact I think it’s only stopped raining for a week or two since mid June.

Tewkesbury was very badly hit by the floods, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6909162.stm although our HQ was unharmed, we had no water for the best part of a week and a number of us had their houses (and cars) deluged by flood water. It was great to see and hear in the local press how the town reacted to the crisis and their are numerous stories of good will and charity displayed by the people of Gloucestershire.
Our small offer of a man/van to the local council to help distribute drinking water pales into insignificance some of the good deeds that were carried out during that week in July. Radio Gloucestershire & Radio Humberside are jointly to broadcast a one hour programme on August 20th to compare their experience of the summers floods and share the lessons each learned from covering the story.

Although we are back ‘up-and-running’, spare a thought for the poor souls who are living in caravans by the side of the road or who have lost many of their possessions.

I don’t mean to sound gloomy but it did rain on St Swithins day (15th July) so we maybe in for more of the same until September…….

……..which brings me neatly on to the autumn season, which for us starts next week (indoors thankfully)……I don’t envy you festival techs this year at all…..

Boy oh boy is it busy in September this year, everyone I speak to has really interesting work lined up which is a great sign for the industry.

A number of the projects we have consulted on over the summer have been on the experimental marketing side and this is very encouraging to us in that new ideas and concepts are flowing through from this part of our industry - the Diesel fashion show (Italy) this June for me being the most spectacular, particularly as it is based on a technology we have used a number of times at Airshows over the last two years with great success…..

Anyway…….start as we mean to go on, this blog should be updated weekly….so to our in-house and freelance crews…..work safely & enjoy yourselves…..but remember, there is only 132 days left till Christmas……blink and you’ll miss it…..and then you really are in trouble!!

The Prime Minister’s Office has responded to the petition and you can view it here….
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page12531.asp

From time to time we get asked to be involved in local ‘events’ that are being organised by well meaning members of the local community.
It generally follows this pattern…
1/ Receive a call from a very energetic project leader
1/ Quote the entire technical production incl crew
2/ Get email back saying they have no budget and would we like to sponsor the event?

As a local company I feel we should be involved in local community work but most of the projects we see, from a purely commercial angle, do not stand up. This in itself is a problem, as most of the projects are designed to raise money.

Like most sensible companies we regularly donate to good causes of our own choosing, so should we take a firm stand on community projects and if so, at what point should we say, sorry but we can’t get involved in this project if we can’t charge a fee for it?

The other question to ask is if DBS accepts projects for massively reduced fees should we impose these on our very loyal FL staff and insist on them reducing their fees for the work? Maybe a database of community AV tech’s is on the way……

Well, if you’re Ofcom then the answer is yes!

Under plans by Ofcom announced in December it seems that users operating in the interleaved spectrum (which is all of us!!) may have to legally stop using them and revert back to the days of hardwire only systems, unless your one of the successful bidders in the auction. Considering that the mobile industry will be amongst the interested parties in the available spectrums, the rental market is unlikely to be the winners in this government auction.

So how will this actually play it’s self out in the real world. Not withstanding the UK’s theaters, rock concerts and sporting events – what about the exhibition & conference industry? We produced a conference last week where the plenary alone had 40+ UHF mics temporally installed for the week.

It does sound as if that the proposals have not been thought through but if this does go ahead without the appreciate debate, the outcome will effect everybody in the AV rental industry………
Read more at news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6378925.stm

We’ve run video over CAT5 many times using different products for years…..
Our first system was by Amulet Hotkey, the same system that was installed in the Millennium Dome. This worked very well but the units eventually became unusable due to the wear & tear of shows. We tried a number of other systems & then stumbled upon the Smart –E solution www.smart-e.co.uk

We were very impressed with the build quality (and the name) of the units & impressed by the quality of output during testing. We bought a 7 unit system (point to multi point) to use on the first outing, a messaging system at a trade show with 42” plasma screens as the display devices. The longest CAT 5 run was approx 80m so we were well within the ranges given by Smart E.

We’re yet to jump in the deep end & use the system in a conference environment but in theory it should be an excellent solution & may possibly save our backs from long term damage known as “video-multi”.

The units have certainly gained the respect of the crew & we now lay CAT5 as backup on most trade show stands.

January & February are awards months…….everybody seems to hand out gongs at the beginning of the year. For the production industry it means one thing……it’s busy. All the new toys come out and the best of the UK crew is in hot demand. But before the OSCARS, BAFTA’s & BRITS are collected by the great & the good of the A List set………the companies that stage & produce all these events get their night on the red carpet….the 9th TPi awards 2007 rocked last night.

I was a guest at the TPi awards last night held at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith. A great night was had by all; catching up with friends and lovers (sorry Sir George!) over a few drinks. We were treated to a solid performance by Suggs and nice too that conference chicken hasn’t changed much.

Congratulations to all who won.

We know the event industry is global. Today 05.02.07 we have productions either on route to, loading in, in show, or loading out from the following destinations; Abu Dhabi, Bangalore, Barcelona, London, & Paris.

Somebody should give each member of our crew a pedometer & establish if working in events is good for your health…….Stats next time…….