Spikie Makes UK Debut

	Robe's Spikie makes it debut at a UK sales conference event.

Robe's new Spikie fixtures -- small, super-fast LED WashBeams -- made their UK debut on a lighting rig designed by Paul Griffiths of Firebird Events for a UK sales conference staged in the Champagne Suite at the Novotel West London.

Twenty-four Spikies were installed by Firebird, the three-day event's technical solutions provider in the suite which served as the main plenary area.

The lighting brief for the dress jewelry and accessories company was to keep it up-beat with plenty of drama, accents, and big moments to match the tone and style of the presentation. This included lots of audience interaction as this season's new products were introduced to the enthusiastic and highly-motivated sales force. A series of awards were also handed out to the last year's highest achievers and top sellers.

The stage was built at one end of the room which is a challenging space to light as the celling is quite low. There was a central projection screen upstage so it was important that lighting was kept away from this, and the client brief also included creating a signature lighting look for the room.

Griffiths was extremely keen to get his hands on the Spikies as there's been much excitement following the launch at Prolight+ Sound in Frankfurt earlier in the year.

On the rig above the stage were six of Robe's 600E Spots, with another six around the perimeter of the room on plinths so they could fill the room with color and effects.

Six of the twenty-four Spikies were on the stage deck at the back and the other 18 distributed on four overhead trusses -- two of which were over the stage and two in the middle of the room above the audience.

This enabled the audience to be immersed and drawn into the action by specific lighting looks and scenes.

The over-stage Spikies were used in wash mode for the corporate look. For the accents, awards stings, and beauty looks, they were snapped into beam mode to match the crescendos of excitement sweeping around the room. They were also used for highlighting set branding and 3D lettering.

"They were a real workhorse," says Griffiths. "They were bright and punchy and the warm color temperature is great for front truss work and highlighting set elements. The barrel effect looked superb -- really versatile." He used both the 2,700K and 3,200K warm white settings.

In fact, he utilized them for just about all the lighting scenarios needed for the event -- with the prisms, for flower effects, and for general beam-work. "They really were 'multi-purpose' .... and they looked great," he stated.

Firebird's head of production Josh Williams commented: "The Spikies are small, lightweight, and run on very little power, so were perfect for this job as well as coming neatly packaged in boxes of eight!"

Firebird Events is based in Farnborough, Hampshire and designs and supplies technical production and expertise to over 1,700 events a year throughout the UK and internationally.