Looking Ahead Conference in Long Beach,” said President Joe Aldridge. Valdez may be best known for both writing and directing La Bamba in 1987 and Zoot Suit in 1981. He has extensive writing and directing credits, and was also the founding director and professor of the Institute for Teledramatic Arts and Technology at CSU – Monterey Bay. Stage Expo will open on Thursday, March 29 at 11:00 a.m. and run through 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 31. More than 100 exhibitors have already committed, and are making plans to introduce new products and services at the event. A new feature of the 2012 Annual Conference will be a special session bringing together recipients of USITT’s Distinguished Achievement Awards for a discussion of their work. Winners include Michael Devine, scene design; Howard Brandston, lighting; Dana Nye, makeup; Tom Hall, management; and Judy Adamson, education. Kevin Rigdon will moderate the Friday morning All-Conference session. Most activities for USITT’s 2012 Annual Conference will be held at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, which has the distinction of being readily accessible from three different airports. The recently refurbished Hyatt Long Beach will be headquarters hotel, and USITT has also negotiated special rates at the nearby Renaissance and Westin hotels. Prolight + Sound March 21 – 24, Frankfurt —With its general focus, complete market coverage, and its proximity to the concurrently held Musikmesse, Prolight + Sound is the most important date on the sector’s calendar. With 876 exhibitors and some 33,700 trade visitors, Prolight + Sound achieved an all-time record in 2011. As the leading international trade fair for technologies and services in the fi elds of events, installation, and production, Prolight + Sound covers product areas for audio, sound and PA systems, lighting and stage, media technology, and systems integration as well as production, broadcasting and recording, and offers a comprehensive overview of all products and services for the entertainment industry. At Prolight + Sound visitors will fi nd all the major innovations in products and services for the events sector. The trade fair is not just the sector’s shop window; it has now also come to highlight major aspects of the current year. Its importance as an international showcase for innovation is growing continuously, and this is underlined by the constantly increasing number of visitors from outside Germany. At last year’s event, the number of international visitors reached 49 percent. And a fi gure of 58 percent international participation amongst exhibitors in 2011 is a guarantee of a wide variety of insights and perspectives in a sector with a well-established tradition of innovation. The 2012 Prolight + Sound will take place in its existing form in Frankfurt am Main. The range of products and services will be complemented by a number of professional development opportunities, bringing to the fore a goodly number of innovations and trends. Prolight + Sound offers an international focus, near complete coverage of the entire market, with the synergies of Musikmesse, which will be being held at the same time. Be sure to make use of these advantages to present your products and services or, as a visitor, to get a comprehensive overview of the sector. FLY BY WIRE. FLYING AUTOMATION. F A ZFX PER PERFORMER ERF FORME ORMER FLYING SYSTEMS NOW UTILIZE STAGE STA T GE TECHNOLOGIES NOLOGIES AUTOMATION A TO A ACHIEVE CHIEV CHIE VE HIGH PER PERF PERFORMANCE. FORM ORMA ANCE NCE. InfoComm/LSA Staged Events Awards June 13 – 15, Las Vegas —Mark your calendars to attend InfoComm and the InfoComm/LSA Staged Events Awards, sponsored by Lighting&Sound America and PLASA at the InfoComm trade show. Next year’s 2012 InfoComm/LSA Staged Events Awards will recognize events produced through December 31, 2011. 2011 winners and honorable mention recipients for 2010 staged events included: AVW Telav for the Organization of Securities Commissions IOSCO Cocktail event; PSAV for the Transitions Optical 2010 Annual Convention; Scharff Weisberg for its work on the Robin Hood Foundation Gala; Riverview Systems Group for its work on the Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons 2010 Show; and Visualfarm for the “World’s Biggest Hug” project in Rio de Janeiro. This year’s honorable mentions went to Scharff Weisberg for STAGE TECHNOLOGIES FOR MORE INFO CALL 502.637.2500 F FALL 2011 12 FALL 2011