JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – DWR Distribution hosted the first Philips Vari-Lite technical training sessions in South Africa, a five-day course led by Vari-Lite technical trainer Todd Kessler from Dallas, Texas. "It's a requirement for all our distributors to have certified technicians to offer the correct levels of support, and that's the focus of our training," said Kessler.
DWR's Duncan Riley organized the workshops in response to increased demand from the gear from companies including Gearhouse South Africa and Supersport HD Studio at M-Net. Eleven people become certified Vari-Lite technicians.
The course spent one day on each of the Vari-Lite series fixtures, covering the 500, 1000, 2500, 3000/3500 and the VLX.
The warranty covers fixtures to their sub assembly, so attendees learned about troubleshooting and the electrical and mechanical components and their functionality to these levels.
Along with the DWR staff, others included representatives from Gearhouse Splitbeam; Marcel Zandberg from Slave Distribution in Cape Town, who has been working with Vari*Lites for some time; and freelance programmer Glenn Duncan, who has used Vari*Lites on large touring musicals including High School Musical and Beauty & The Beast.
It was Kessler's first visit to South Africa. "While most people on the course were not familiar with Vari-Lite, they were all well-experienced in dealing with moving lights, so the skills levels were well on par to anywhere else that I go to do training," said Kessler, crediting DWR as a "top notch distributor."
Attendees also had good things to say about the seminars. The certifications are valid for the next two years.
For more information, please visit www.dwrdistribution.co.za and www.vari-lite.com.
