ENTALKS – Presenters

The NW Group enTALKS National Programme

RISING STARS

Promoting career pathways for young people

KEYNOTE SESSION AT 1PM ALL CITIES

• How do you find work?
• What are the jobs?
• What do you need to succeed?

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KEYNOTE – Employment Pathways, Rising Stars!

The entertainment and installation tech biz is short of workers. Now is the best time to enter, but how? What are the jobs, what skillsets do you need? Where do you start? How do you start? Join CX and ENTECH founder Julius Grafton for a straight-shooting overview of a vibrant creative industry and leave equipped with a plan! Recommended for tertiary students, graduates, and career shifters. Not available for high school groups.

De-bunking Networking with NETGEAR AV

You need to be a card-carrying IT professional to even think about configuring an Ethernet switch for AV, right? Nope. Audio Brands Australia de-bunks this and a host of other myths that have likely been holding you back from truly enjoying the cost and complexity savings of modern AVoIP systems.

The Seven Key Questions You Need To Ask Before You Buy A Chain Motor

Join the discussion about why all Chain Motors are NOT created equal, and some key features that you need to look for in particular applications. There will be a short presentation, after which you will have the opportunity to control a multi axis synchronous chain motor system. If you are using chain motors or are looking to use some in your next event or venue, this is a not to be missed presentation from two of the experts in the industry.

Presenters

Peter Grisard – Manager, Venue Engineering. A long-term industry professional, Peter leads a team of skilled practitioners to deliver engineered solutions for a diverse range of clients.

Chris Dodds – Managing Director. Chris has led the development of The P.A. People for more than 25 years of its 50+ years of continuous trading. Now under one roof, The P.A. People has the proven capability to design, engineer, manufacture, integrate and service – theatre machinery, performance audio, lighting, and AV systems.

Wireless Audio – What’s Coming Next?

PRM’s Peter Twartz has been a radio frequency manager for many of the largest special events over the last 25 years.

Wireless Audio – it’s generational change time, what’s coming? We started with VHF then UHF, we went from Analog to Digital, we’ve got spread spectrum devices. We’ve heard about WMAS; it’s coming, but what is it? There are other really clever formats already here and we’ve got more coming, but will they work together? Does frequency coordination get any easier? Or does it get harder?

d&b audiotechnik Sound System Design

Hosted by Grammy Award winning Dave Jacques, or Anthony Murdoch, both of NAS.

NAS’s Sound System Design Seminar is an introduction to sound system design using d&b ArrayCalc, covering the basics of venue design, loudspeaker selection, d&b’s ArrayProcessing software, and designing subwoofer arrays.

Rational Acoustics Relative Phase Seminar

Studio? Live? Theatre? Cinema? What is the phase response telling you in your measurement and why is it important? Our job every single day is combining sources of sound – and if they do not match in phase response they can never combine effectively for their entire operating range.

We are going to demonstrate through DSP emulation (and with live SMAART measurements let you see and hear the result in a distributed IEM System) of what happens when sources of sound combine with differing phase response, just like in the real world. This could be two microphones, two loudspeakers, two coverage zones etc… Let us help explain some of the chaos in our daily lives and like all good measurements, provide a way of making better phase response decisions. Presented by Ben Clarke, Rational Acoustics SMAART Instructor.

Allen & Heath dLive – Monitor Mixing

With a focus on the monitoring demands of a modern church worship band, Andrew Crawford teaches you how to juggle the multiple mixes, outputs, listening styles, and personalities on-stage while keeping your cool and everyone happy!

Allen & Heath dLive for Theatre Mix Master Class

Andrew ‘MixWizard’ Crawford will unpack how he mixes a theatre show from beginning to end on dLive. Explore the new scene management features in dLive V2 that are designed with theatre engineers specifically in mind.

Allen & Heath dLive Mix Master Class

Join the MixWizard himself, Andrew Crawford, and special guests, for a deep dive into dLive. Andrew and FoH rock stars guide you through their, tips, tricks, and special mix sauces.

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TUESDAY 8 OCTOBER – BRISBANE

Who’s Really in Control? – Lighting Ecosystems of the Future

How have lighting controllers developed over the years? Does David have any chance of beating Goliath? Do the ‘smaller footprint’ controllers have the ability to compete against the bigger rivals? How does one navigate and stay competitive in the lighting control world? Presented by Koy Neminathan, Business Development Director, Obsidian.

Sean ‘Motley’ Hackett – Lighting KISS!

Motley has spent 40 years lighting Rock ‘n Roll bands, and 16 years as LD for the legendary KISS. In addition to KISS, Motley was LD for INXS, Savage Garden, and Noiseworks. We can’t even cover all the tours he worked as crew for Jands (1986-1999) and Bytecraft PRG (1999-2017). Motley will talk about how he lights KISS’s massive shows, and the journey from being a fan in the 1970s to their Lighting Director.

The differences between beam steering, wave shaping, and wave field synthesis

Three different approaches to shaping and directing sound, three different technologies. Presented by David Curtinsmith of EDC Acoustics. David has designed audio systems and conducted acoustic designs for over 1,000 venues around the world, ranging from small churches to large stadiums.

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THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER – SYDNEY

Strategies to Stream Your Event Successfully

Simon Byrne is the owner and operator of Streamout, a full-service webcast provider in Canberra. With over 15 years of experience in live event streaming, Simon specializes in delivering reliable, high-quality streaming solutions using advanced technologies such as bonded internet, remote production using SRT as well as fundamental techniques.

Discover the secrets to flawless live event streaming with expert insights on planning, production, and execution. In this session, you’ll learn practical strategies to ensure your stream runs smoothly, from choosing the right equipment to optimizing your network.

Bonded Internet Connectivity using Pepwave and multiple 5G Connections

Presented by Streamout’s Simon Byrne, this session will explore how combining multiple networks creates a seamless, high-bandwidth connection, perfect for live streaming in challenging environments.

Who’s Really in Control? – Lighting Ecosystems of the Future

How have lighting controllers developed over the years? Does David have any chance of beating Goliath? Do the ‘smaller footprint’ controllers have the ability to compete against the bigger rivals? How does one navigate and stay competitive in the lighting control world? Presented by Koy Neminathan, Business Development Director, Obsidian

Why is Julius Still Doing This?

In a no-holds and gloves-off interview Mark Taylor asks CX Magazine founder and ENTECH Road Show organiser Julius Grafton the big question: “Why is Julius still doing this?”

How to deal with a corporate client as an AV op

Mark Taylor delves into the machinations of dealing with corporate clients in the AV domain, with his eager assistant Marcus role- playing the typical corporate client.

Transporting the Tekno Train

Vivid 2024 featured the very first Tekno Train for Sydney Trains, an immersive dynamic experience that was sold out in days! But with a moving performance stage, no cabling between carriages, and some complex safety requirements, we had to build something fun and unique. This seminar takes a look behind the curtain at how we made the magic happen. Presented by Andrew Yager of Real World Technology Solutions.

Physical, Mental Health, and Fitness in Staging

Join industry all-rounder Emma Sputnik in a discussion about how to protect the most valuable tools in the work kit – yourself and others. With long days, late nights, planes, trains, and automobiles all in the average week of staging, learn some tactics on how to give your mind and body the best rest available. The presentation covers endurance tactics, how to recognise the signs of burnout, and recovery techniques that will keep you in top shape and show-ready for the rest of your life.

Arup – “So, you want to upgrade your venue… what next?”

Upgrading a piece of equipment is easy, but upgrading a whole venue is hard. Constructing, renovating and upgrading performance venues presents unique sets of challenges to owners, operators and designers alike. The Arup Venues consulting team will run you through some perils and pitfalls of upgrading (or creating) such spaces, from putting together a project team, regulatory pitfalls, estimating budgets, and more.

Presented by Tom Brickhill, a Senior Consultant in Arup’s Sydney office with a background in live theatre, TV and event production. With over 10 years of professional experience in the theatre and events industries, he has worked with numerous prestigious companies and producers throughout Australia and globally.

The differences between beam steering, wave shaping, and wave field synthesis

Three different approaches to shaping and directing sound, three different technologies. Presented by David Curtinsmith, founder and director of EDC Acoustics. David has designed audio systems and conducted acoustic designs for over 1,000 venues around the world, ranging from small churches to large stadiums.

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THURSDAY 17 OCTOBER – ADELAIDE

The Colour of Sound Theory

Cais Nitschke is an audiovisual technician with a focus on lighting and vision systems. Their background initially was in music, and they transitioned fully into the AV field in mid-2023. They have completed their Cert IV in Live Production at AC Arts and also have experience both on and off the stage, exploring the sensory and immersive theatre side of the entertainment industry. The Colour of Sound Theory looks at a correlation between colour and sound, and how the two match up. Through this, could we create a version of sound that can be seen?

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TUESDAY 15 OCTOBER – MELBOURNE

Arup – “So, you want to upgrade your venue… what next?”

Upgrading a piece of equipment is easy, but upgrading a whole venue is hard.

Constructing, renovating and upgrading performance venues presents unique sets of challenges to owners, operators and designers alike. The Arup Venues consulting team will run you through some perils and pitfalls of upgrading (or creating) such spaces, from putting together a project team, regulatory pitfalls, estimating budgets, and more.

Presented by Nick Liley, a Senior Consultant in Arup’s Melbourne office with a background in Technical Production, focused mainly on Theatre.

Matthew Peckham – Why I Still Do This?

Matthew Peckham is a freelance consultant providing expert advice on everything related to operating, building, maintaining, or renovating theatres and other places of entertainment.

Over the past forty-something years, he has worked on countless productions in many capacities, in theatres too numerous to name, gaining experience he is always willing to share. This talk is a mixture of advice and reminiscences covering the highs and lows of that theatrical rarity – a long career.

Gavan Swift and Robert Cudden – The Lighting Designer/ Programmer Relationship

An open and frank discussion about how a Lighting Designer works with a Programmer, and how a Programmer puts up with a Lighting Designer!

Gavan Swift is a multi award-winning lighting designer. His musical lighting designs include Mamma Mia!, Heathers the Musical, Mack & Mabel, The Mikado, The Pirates Of Penzance, Hot Shoe Shuffle, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Jolson, Buddy, Oh What A Night, Footloose, Hair, Xanadu, Chess, Carousel and Saturday Night Fever both in Australia and on London’s West End. Gavan was the lighting designer for Moby Dick at the San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, LA Opera, Dallas Opera and will remount this design at the Metropolitan Opera in New York next year.

Robert Cudden stands as a prominent Theatre practitioner, specialising in large-scale commercial productions, within the Asia Pacific region. He has garnered significant recognition for his expertise in lighting and projection. Throughout his career, Robert has been extensively involved in a wide array of distinguished projects, including major musicals, concerts, television shows, events, and other prominent productions, collaborating with some of the most esteemed designers and renowned companies worldwide.

The differences between beam steering, wave shaping, and wave field synthesis

Three different approaches to shaping and directing sound, three different technologies. Presented by David Curtinsmith, founder and director of EDC Acoustics. David has designed audio systems and conducted acoustic designs for over 1,000 venues around the world, ranging from small churches to large stadiums.

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TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER – PERTH

Lights, Network, Action: Shining A Light on Network Control Innovations

Join Perth native and Hollywood Lighting Programmer Chris ‘Chalky’ Chalk for a discussion about new lighting control network techniques and solutions. Chris will focus on his recent use of Netron data distribution products and their CLU Management software to create integrated lighting control networks. The discussion will include system design, workflow and troubleshooting techniques Chris has used in Hollywood and in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.