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I have been researching into different brands of lighting equipment brands and manufacturers, I have done this by attending the ABTT theatre show and meeting representatives of the companies and also by looking at the websites of some different brands. These are the some of most well known names in the lighting business:

JB Lighting http://www.jblighting.com - JB lighting specialise in moving lights, most of which are LED's, however they also make lighting desk's and gobo's.

Martin http://www.martin.com - Martin are one of the world's leading brands of lighting technology, they make many products including Hazers, desk's and projectors, but they are mostly known for their enormous range of moving lights.

ETC http://www.etcconnect.com - ETC are one of the biggest names in lighting, they make everything from the lanterns to the dimmers they are plugged into to the software that controls them. But what they are most recognised for is their "source four" range of profile lanterns and their huge range of desks. Their Eos family of desks in particular are the most commonly used lighting desks in the country these are the Eos Ti, the Gio, The Ion and the Element. Their desks are known for being very user friendly whilst still being just as capable as any other brand.

Today we went to the ABTT theatre show in London:

It is an annual event in which many business’s and companies show off their new ideas, equipment and software. There are also many stalls selling products, universities showing off their courses to potential students and crew hire and equipment hire/sale companies looking for new business opportunities.

As well as this there are also seminars held over the course of the two day event, on all sorts of theatre related subjects and departments.

This event is held every year by the Association of British Theatre Technicians.

Whilst there we spoke to many different people representing their companies / universities, including:

The ABTT, who were advertising training courses. Mountview academy of theatre arts, who were advertising their courses (where I am going next year) ETC, a lighting company who showed us new software updates for our ION desk that will be available on Monday. And who also had some mini source fours. Martin, a lighting company who demonstrated an enormous moving light and showed us it’s built in effects and gobos. And many more.

We also attended a seminar on apprenticeships in the tech theatre industry: