Bandit Lites has recently added new equipment to their inventory. After examining the upcoming needs for 2008, Bandit worked with manufacturers to purchase a variety of new equipment including everything from LED products to media servers to spot and wash fixtures.
One thousand Element Labs Versa Tube HDs were purchased for World Wrestling Entertainment, Carrie Underwood plus additional units to fulfill future lighting obligations. Bandit also bought six Green Hippo Hipotizer Media Servers, 4 Grand MA Video Media Servers and all the associated equipment. Fifty Elation PZ720 Stage Panels were purchased to fulfill WWE lighting needs.
Other general purchases include an additional 72 VL 3000 Spots, 72 VL 3500 Washes, and 48 VL 2500 Spots, which have been added to the already significant Vari*Lite inventory. Several new Grand MA Consoles, Compulite Vector Consoles and Lycian M2 Spotlights were also added to the existing stock of these fine products. Bandit added several of the new Elation Impressions moving LED fixtures to their rental stock as well as the new Elation LED PAR.
Recently named Pollstar’s ‘Lighting Company of the Year,’ Bandit looks forward to the upcoming year and the addition of new equipment, which will help Bandit to provide even better service to a growing client base.
Note: This release was sent from Sandler Training. They are a member of the Knoxville Chamber.
Sandler Sales Institute announced today that it has adopted a new corporate name - Sandler Training - to reflect its broader capabilities and expansion plans.
Sandler, the leading provider of sales and management training and consulting programs for the past 40 years, has approximately 225 licensed franchises in the U.S. and internationally. One of those franchises is locally owned and operated by Steve Herzog of Herzog & Associates, Inc. Herzog has been providing a full range of sales and management training programs in Knoxville and surrounding areas for the past 12 years.
'It is a busy and exciting time to be a part of Sandler. The corporate leadership has mapped out ambitious expansion plans as part of its vision for Sandler's second 25 years,' said Herzog. 'The new plans will allow us to expand out training offerings and emphasize broader management and leadership guidance to targeted industries such as banking and insurance,' adds Herzog.
Herzog's firm has helped thousands of professionals and companies learn more effective non-traditional sales and management strategies for their businesses by offering powerful and unique methods in his training.
More recently, Herzog has been recognized in the top ten percent of Sandler's 225 franchises world wide. To learn more visit www.firstinsales.com.
NOTE: This release was sent by Bandit Lites, a Chamber member.
Bandit Lites recently lit the University of Tennessee 16th Annual Lead-off Banquet, which was held at the Knoxville Convention Center in front of a sold-out crowd.
UT honored former UT athlete, Todd Helton, by making him the first baseball player in school history to have his jersey number retired.
Recently making his first World Series appearance with the Rockies, Helton entertained a crowd of over 1,000 people with stories of his days at UT as well as some of his favorite big league experiences. Before the night was over, the former Knoxville resident was
inducted into the UT Baseball Hall of Fame.
The event also provided fans with the opportunity to meet the 2008 Vols along with first- year head coach, Todd Raleigh and staff.
Lighting Designer, Chris Lisle chose to use Martin MAC 600s, 500s and 300s and Color Kinetics iColor Accent 4ft tubes to light the event. Lighting was controlled by two High End Systems Whole Hog IIs.
"It was truly a pleasure to be involved with the UT Baseball Lead-Off Banquet,” commented Lisle. “One of the key purposes of this event was to honor Todd as they were retiring his UT jersey at this ceremony. I used Mac 500s with custom gobos to project onto the walls with both [Helton’s] UT and Colorado Rockies jersey numbers.” Lisle used Mac 600s to spread some general color throughout the room. There were also six towers with Color Kinetics tubes on them, used to fill in some gaps between video screens.
Note: Knoxville Chamber member Bandit Lites celebrates the following achievement with this release.
The entertainment industry has again named Bandit Lites as ‘Lighting Company of the Year.’ The awards ceremony took place on February 7, 2008 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Hosted by the world famous Smothers Brothers, the event also featured notable presenters such as Peter and Gordon, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Glen Frey, Timothy Schmidt (from the Eagles) and Andrew Dice Clay.
The awards ceremony closed out the 2008 CIC Convention. Held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, the annual 3-day event seeks to facilitate the exchange of ideas between key decision makers, enhance the flow of information among
professionals, and make a positive contribution toward enriching the concert industry's health.
Bandit General Manager, Dizzy Gosnell was there to accept this honor on behalf of Bandit Lites. Bandit has been named ‘Lighting Company of the Year’ 16 different times through the years.
“This was made possible by the tremendous global Bandit family. Please accept my most sincere thank you and offer my thanks and congratulations to all the staff worldwide,” commented Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland. “This is the perfect start to our 40th Anniversary.”
Kyle Touchstone recently joined the Knoxville Chamber as the Economic Development Project Manager.
In this capacity, he will work with the Director of Economic Development, Doug Lawyer, on recruiting businesses and industries to relocate, expand and remain in the East Tennessee area.
Touchstone was previously the Executive Director of the Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce in Pontotoc, Mississippi. In that capacity, he was in charge of maintaining membership in the chamber as well as recruiting businesses and other economic development activities.
“I am extremely pleased to be here. I enjoy working for an organization with such great resources and support,” Touchstone said. “It’s nice to focus on one area and have other people handle other tasks and have a collaborative effort.”
He said that his desire to accept the Knoxville Chamber position was to be in a larger market with a progressive economic development marketing strategy.
Touchstone is a native of McComb, Mississippi and attended both the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the later in political science and communications.
Knoxville business duo Cynthia Moxley and Alan Carmichael were featured recently in Fortune Small Business magazine in a series about couples who partner in business.
The two have done some adjusting in the decade of working together, but have managed to thrive in their co-owned public relations and marketing business.
From the article: "Business partners for almost 10 years, the two now share the title of co-president. But 'Cynthia is the founder,' he points out. She gets the corner office with a view of the Tennessee River. 'I was here first,' she pipes up amiably."
Moxley-Carmichael is a premier partner with the Knoxville Chamber.
NOTE: This is from a release from Bandit Lites, Inc., a Chamber member. They are celebrating a milestone anniversary with a trip down memory lane.
Bandit Lites is celebrating 40 Years of Excellence in 2008. To highlight this significant anniversary, Bandit is releasing a 6-Part Series featuring key milestones from the first 40 Years. The series will provide readers with a unique behind-the-scenes perspective as to how Bandit Lites started with a 12-year-old’s idea and grew into the world’s preeminent lighting company.
The first installment, The Early Years, describes how a kid with a vision and some borrowed equipment was able to start a successful business.
The story began 40 years ago, when a touring band stopped in Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland’s hometown of Kingsport, TN to perform a concert. In the late 60’s most acts were just beginning to use lighting of any type. However, having been involved in Community Theater since age 5, Michael knew that theatrical lighting existed and could be applied to the live music industry.
"After a Beach Boys concert I approached the promoter and asked him if he would like to use lighting for his next concert,” Michael explained. The promoter asked Michael to name his price, and he quoted a modest $25, which seemed like a huge amount of money to a 12-year-old in 1968. They agreed to the price, and the next month when another band came, he did the same thing.
“The next month we took all the lights from the school theater, hung them in the gymnasium around the stage, and lit Paul Revere and The Raiders. I didn't have any knowledge back then," he admits, "but neither did the people I was working for, so anything and everything I did was correct. The color I used was right. The mood I set was right. There was no wrong for these people, nor was there any wrong for me."
Word of Strickland’s success spread and soon other touring bands began requesting Bandit to light their concerts.
"We'd do a show one night for the Beach Boys, and they'd ask us to go the next night to another city. The first time they asked, I had to say no. I was twelve years old," he says. "I couldn't drive. I had no way of getting there. I was ready the next time. I hired a friend with a car and a U-Haul trailer. When they asked if we could do a show the next night in Asheville, I said sure. I did not think that after Asheville, he was going to say, 'Can you go to Charlotte?’ I had to go to school the next day, and had to pass on Charlotte. After that experience I hired 2 people, with 2 cars, so one could drive me home on Sunday night while the other stayed on the road.”
Juggling the demands of adolescence and a budding company proved to be a bit challenging at times, but determined to succeed, Strickland pressed on while in Junior High and High School while also playing football and basketball.
“We worked most of the major rock concerts within 300 miles of Kingsport in the early years. We did it mainly to see free concerts and meet girls. Making money was never really part of the equation at that point. Most of the shows took place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays so we were able to travel to them. At that time all the equipment we used was borrowed from the local schools and theaters, hence the name Bandit!”
From 1968 to 1971 Bandit had the pleasure of working with a large number of national acts, including The Monkees, The Grassroots, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Dennis Yost and the Classics Four, BJ Thomas, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, The Beach Boys, Kris Kristofferson plus many others. This was the beginning of a firm foundation for what would eventually become one of the world’s leading lighting companies.
Please stay tuned for the second installment of Bandit History: 40 Years of Excellence – The 70’s.
Bandit Lites is a global leader in the entertainment lighting marketplace. From touring productions to fixed installations, Bandit Lites has a full staff of highly trained professionals to deal with all types of lighting needs. With offices in Knoxville, Nashville, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Bandit’s global presence will insure seamless transitions no matter where your next show takes you.
Kevin Anton, President of Materials Management for Alcoa, Inc., described Alcoa's local mission and how it fits into the global market during a Premier Partner event at
the Knoxville Chamber. Premier Partners are the Knoxville area's leading businesses. These companies make a vital commitment to the economic development of the region through their enhanced investment in the Chamber. To learn more contact Michelle Kiely.
Tennessee has earned a top-five ranking in a recent study by the American Legislative Exchange Council for having low business and property taxes, minimum wages, and a right-to-work status.
See Tennessee's score card in various economic areas. See the report cards for other states and learn more about the study.
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