Speakers

Andrew Ward

Lecturer, SAE Institute, UAE

Andrew started making tea and soldering cables in 1994 at an analogue sixteen track recording and rehearsal studio. He progressed from assistant to mix engineer in some of the finest recording and mixing facilities in London. He has credits to his name on number one albums by Dido and Faithless. He has recorded with DJ Shadow, assisted with Carl Cox, Orbital and Underworld. Andrew has worked and dined with rock legend Lemmy from Motorhead, and was the mix engineer on Craig David's number one single 'Seven Days'. Currently residing in Dubai and preferring to guide his audio students, he teaches an audio production degree at an internationally recognised provider of higher education.

Andrew will be speaking about Education in the AV & Event Industry - How Dedicated Education Elevates the Value of AV & Events.

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Emad El-Saghir

Head of Applications, Holoplot GmbH, Germany

Emad has more than 20 years of experience in the industries of room-, electro-acoustics and sound reinforcement. He has been participating in numerous projects in the Middle East and Europe including landmark worship houses, stadia, universities, airports and museums. He spent 15 years working as an acoustic consultant with Dr. Wolfgang Ahnert. As an experienced user, he participated in testing different versions of the acoustical simulator EASE, and has been developing and instructing the EASE classes hosted by AFMG Technologies GmbH. Since 2018, Emad is heading the Applications Team of the German loudspeaker manufacturer Holoplot GmbH in Berlin.

Emad will be speaking about Multichannel Reproduction for Immersive Audio.

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Jonathan Tulip

Audio Visual Specialist, Venav Technology Consultants, UK

For the more than a quarter century Jonathan Tulip has been lucky enough to spend his waking hours working on a diverse range of projects including Museums, Stadiums, Arenas, Corporate AV, Hotels and Education. Having toured in his early days, and undertaken projects as Contractor, Consultant and Client’s Representative he has seen most if not all sides of the industry. He advocates questioning the status quo to drive the adoption of novel and alternative approaches to deliver excellent end user experience. Jonathan is a keen advocate of education and training and seeks to help fill the knowledge gap caused by the rapid expansion and rate of change faced in the industry.

Jonathan will be speaking about DEFINE – INTEGRATE – VERIFY: 3 Steps to Project Success and Breaking the Downward Price Spiral.

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Luc Peumans

CEO, Painting with Light, Belgium

Luc really started learning the tricks of the lighting design trade during his first job at Martin's music. Initially, he assisted the lighting designers, but quickly started to operate and design shows himself. In 1999, he founded Painting with Light. Through his passion for the entertainment industry and dedicated hard work, he has built Painting with Light into what it is today: a multidisciplinary design house known for its style, flair and creativity, with an international client base. Their designs and imagination stand out, originating from a quest for innovation that permeates the company and that Luc has had since the beginning of his career.

Luc will be speaking about REALITES, a home-made combination of existing productional technologies allowing video content to become responsive to real-life lighting sources.

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Randell Greenlee

Director of Commerce & International Relations, The German Entertainment Technology Association, Germany

Born in America, he first worked internationally as a set designer and lighting designer before becoming a designer and stagerier of international trade fair appearances, exhibitions and events through inquiries from agencies. After a period as a managing partner of a communications agency, he was self-employed in the field of events since 1996. Since 2001 he is a lecturer at the "DEAplus" in Hanover and Hamburg in the training courses "Master of Event Technology" and "Project Manager Fair and Event".

Randell will be speaking about Ecodesign Legislation - EU Commission Regulation.

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Ray Kawalec

Creative Director, TONSPIELZEUG, Germany

Ray will be speaking about Modern Performance Art & Technology in Marketing.

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Sujoy Cherian

CEO & Technologist, Option 1 Event Services, UAE

Truly inspired & backed by his visionary father who was a pioneer in the field of manufacturing audio solutions since 1985. Over the past two decades Sujoy has grown the companies he leads into globally renowned event technology, production & content development verticals with headquarters now based in Dubai and liaison offices worldwide; rebranded as Option 1 Events. Content. Technology. He has spearheaded several business verticals to compliment the content & technology integration services; catering to the corporate, retail, television & government sector across the Middle East, Asian & European markets.

Sujoy will be speaking about The Next Game Changer! Vision 2030: Events. Content. Technology.

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Tom Davis

Director, Theatre Projects Consultants, UK

Early on in his career, Tom decided to specialize in designing technical systems for performance venues. He took on his current role in 2004 from LSI Projects, where he was a Projects Manager responsible for sound, communications, and AV operations. A few of Tom’s completed projects include the Dubai Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat, Bahrain National Theatre, Qatar National Convention Centre, Jaber Al Ahmed Cultural Centre and King Abdul Aziz Centre for World Culture.

Tom will be speaking about Brief, Design and Construction: The Process of Getting Things Built.

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Andre Beekmans

Founder & Lighting Designer, The Art of Light, Netherlands

Born and raised in the Netherlands - a country that hosts thousands of high-quality music events each year, and where electronic music is celebrated by the young, old and even the Royal Family. Beekmans' creative and hands-on spirit led him to create a successful light designing and operating company based in Eindhoven (NL). The Art of Light designs, programs and performs next level light shows for artists, festivals & corporate events all over the world. In everything we do, we strive to create an ultimate experience the audience will never forget.

André Beekmans shared his vision on his most outstanding designs and prestigious projects all around the globe.

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Benjamin Bauwens

Operations Manager, Arkaos, Belgium

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Elie Khairallah

Technical Director, Venuetech, UAE

Experienced technical director with over 25 years of experience across a broad range of professional audio, stage lighting with demonstrated leadership skills and ability to create results. Proven ability in leading cross-functional teams in a wide variety of areas including: business development, products management, system design and sales, project management, product marketing and development and executive level leadership. The results have been achieved by leading people together with a common goal and founding an environment with a high degree of trust and mutual respect.

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Kate Tooby

Creative Concept Director, Tooby Creatives, UAE

Kate has spent 10 years in the UAE working on creative concepts for a variety of government, private sector and blue chip clients and events.  Kate believes that energising ideas are at the heart of memorable events. These ideas must start with the brand and tell a story to take guests on a journey. 

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Lars Toonen

Distribution Manager, Prolyte Group, Netherlands

Working in the entertainment industry for more than 8 years and for the last year’s as sales manager for the Middle East region, Lars brings a wealth of experience. Working together with local partners and organizing Prolyte’s well-known campuses, he strives to improve and create awareness on the importance of a safe working practice and high-quality products.

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Philipp Schlaechter

General Stage Manager, La Perle by Dragone, UAE

German-born Philipp Schlaechter has been working in the theatre since the age of 16. When he finished school, he studied Stage Management at Rose Bruford College, London, then returning to Germany, where he received a diploma in Stage Technology. Shows he’s worked on include: Lion King, Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice (European Tour and resident show Korea), We Will Rock You (Zurich, Vienna, Milan, Utrecht, Basel, Essen), The Rocky Horror Show, Aladdin and more! He also worked for various productions at the Ruhrtriennale and the Pocket Opera Company as well as for corporate events for international companies and festivals such as Rock AM Ring and Sonisphere. Philipp is the General Stage Manager, where he is responsible not only for the five Stage Managers, but coordinating and communicating with all the cast and crew on a nightly basis. 

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Ryan Penny

Senior Business Development Manager - Large Venues EMEA, Harman Professional, UK

A specialist in the production technology used for large events and the venues designed to host them. As the regional Business Development Lead for Large Venues, Ryan supports clients, consultants and integrators to deliver Harman solutions on some of the largest and most complex enterprise projects.

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Sebastian Hammond

Sound Designer & Head of Sound Operations, La Perle by Dragone, UAE

Australian-born Sebastian Hammond, grew up in the sound and entertainment business, having had his hands-on equipment from a very young age.  At 20 years old he moved to Macau for the creation of Cirque du Soleil’s resident show ‘Zaia', and from there his skills were developed over five Cirque du Soleil shows, as he made his way into the position of Head of Sound. After working on various shows with Cirque du Soleil, Sebastian had the chance to join ‘Dragone' for the creation of 'Han Show' in China and now 'La Perle' in Dubai.

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Stuee Kennedy

Singer, Presenter & Entertainer, UAE

Stuee has been in the land of sun for 9 years and during that time he has played large, medium and small crowds including theatres, stages large and small and intimate gatherings. He is an MC / Presenter / Interviewer / Singer / Actor / Director.

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Thomas Ovesen

Chief Programming Officer, Dubai Arena, UAE

Thomas Ovesen joined Dubai Arena in January 2018, and as Chief Programming Officer will focus on planning and securing a wide array of global talent to fill the venue’s event schedule ahead of the opening in 2019. A major player in the development of the live entertainment industry in the Middle East during the past 17 years, Thomas brings a wealth of experience to the multi-purpose venue. Prior to joining the Dubai Arena team Thomas set up the events promotion and venue operating outfit 117Live, and he and his team built and launched the new Autism Rocks Arena. He was also responsible for lining up an impressive events calendar for 2016-17 with events such as Nicki Minaj, Gabriel Iglesias, Bryan Adams, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Elton John, Guns ’N Roses as well as the sold out capacity Ed Sheeran concert in Nov 2017.

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