Hi Everyone!

Just before the Turkey Day holiday, we returned from LDI 2014 in Las Vegas.  It was a solid few days meeting with industry friends, customers, and manufacturers.  We visited a crazy number of booths to check out the latest product offerings and to see what is coming in 2015!  Over a couple of blog posts, we'll highlight some of the gear that caught our eye and may be of interest to you, our customer.

Let's get started!

ETC ColorSource PAR

ETC has developed a number of feature-rich LED products since acquiring Selador. Those advanced features came at a bit higher price point than many users starting out with LEDs could afford. With the ColorSource PAR, ETC brings you a high-quality, made-in-the-USA product with a baseline feature set that gets the job done at a cost-effective price point. Features PowerCon in/thru, 5-pin DMX in/thru, thermal droop compensation, standalone operation, RDM capability, low-noise fan cooling, homogenized optics, and more.  ColorSource PAR offers an easy-to-use RGB control mode that automatically uses special lime and extra red LED emitters in the array to achieve an expansive color palette beyond traditional RGB fixtures.  Expect these to ship in early January!  Coming soon to the BMI webstore. Here is the ColorSource PAR page on ETC's website.

 Chauvet Professional ED-190WW LED Profile

Chauvet Professional demonstrated new LED fixtures in the Ovation line that can run off constant power w/DMX signal (typical for LEDs) OR run off a standard dimmed circuit (not typical for LEDs!).  This "hybrid" approach allows you to use the fixture as a direct swap for a traditional incandescent fixture position without running dedicated power or re-configuring dimmer/relay racks. The auto-sensing electronics take care of figuring out what power is supplied to the unit and adjusts accordingly. The ED-190WW LED Profile features 190 watts of warm white LED punch that compares favorably to 575W tungsten units. Crisp dimming, gobo slot, shutters, and all the other typical profile features. Available in 19°, 26°, 36°, and 50° flavors.  Chauvet Professional also showed the "hybrid" dimming version of their fresnel, the FD-165WW.  Be sure to check that one out as well. Both units should be shipping in early 2015.  Here is the Stage and Studio product page on the Chauvet Professional website.

James Thomas Truss & Tomcat

In case you had not heard, James Thomas is now under new ownership alongside the Tomcat brand. We had a chance to chat with the combined staffs on the show floor. Rest assured, all your traditional James Thomas truss items are still being made in earnest and are readily available! The biggest change to note is that all truss will now have a polished finish. The matte/mill finish typical of James Thomas products will no longer be offered.

Blizzard Lighting Switchblade Micro

Blizzard introduced a handful of new items at the show, but the intriguing item that caught our eye (which has been out for a little while) is the Switchblade Micro.  In short, it looks like the moving light equivalent of a "birdie" or "inkie" fixture! It features a 15-watt RGBW 4-in-1 CREE LED that packs a punch for its size. Fast pan and tilt, 8° beam angle, quad beam effects, DMX in/thru, and more. A lot of fun for $299.99. Coming soon to the BMI webstore. Here is the product page on the Blizzard website.






That's it for now!  More to come in the next post...

Have a great week!

We get a lot of comments about how fast orders arrive.  Part of the formula is a dedicated effort to process orders as soon as they come-in, but we cannot take all of the credit.  Our shipping partners, including UPS and FedEx, have made major improvements in shipping times over the past 5 to 10 years.

Here are just some of the major cities that are only one (1) day away from BMI Supply's warehouse using Ground level service:

• New York City
• Philadelphia, PA
• Washington, DC
• Boston, MA
• Portland, ME
• Baltimore, MD
• Buffalo, NY

We do our best each business day to ship out all in-stock orders that hit our desks by 3:00pm eastern (sometimes even later, just ask!).  That means next day Ground shipping for lots of you in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cities (and 'burbs, of course).  In just two (2) days, we hit Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Charlotte, and many other locations.

Here is a current UPS Ground shipping map from our zip code.  FedEx is similar and covers a couple of the locations mentioned above.



What's on our shelf?  A little bit of most everything.  Make that a lot of most everything.  Rosco/GAM/LEE gel sheets, Off-Broadway and SuperSat paint, gaff tape, spike tape, lamps, Source 4s, rigging hardware, aircraft cable, stage hardware, and plenty more.

Questions about timing to your venue?  Just give us a shout or hit the "Live Chat" link at the top right of any webpage during business hours.

We had a great time exhibiting last week at the 2014 USITT Conference & Stage Expo!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello and checked out the latest product offerings. BMI Supply welcomed a record number of visitors to the booth. The 2014 edition of our USITT pint glass swag was also a hit!

Here are a few of the product lines we showed in the booth:

LogiCue
Griplock
Blizzard Lighting
Spanset Harnesses
...plus lots more!

We have a variety of items on sale through the end of April in celebration of the USITT show, including lighting fixtures, rigging hardware, tools, lamps, and more. Be sure to check them out!

Again, it was great seeing everyone in Fort Worth.  All of us enjoy the opportunity to meet customers face-to-face, share stories, and talk about this fun industry of ours. We look forward to another great show next year in Cincinnati! 

If you haven't been to USITT or would like to learn more about the organization, please visit www.usitt.org for more information.

Happy Holidays to All!

To aid in your production planning, here is an outline of our schedule over the next couple weeks.  Please make special note of our shipping schedule next week!  Be sure to get your orders in by early afternoon on Friday December 27th.

Monday December 23rd - Open standard hours 8am - 6pm EST.  Regular shipping pickup.  For deliveries needed December 24th, we recommend UPS 1-day shipping.

Tuesday December 24th - Closed for Christmas Eve Holiday.

Wednesday December 25th - Closed for Christmas Holiday.

Thursday December 26th - Open standard hours 8am - 6pm.  Regular shipping pickups resume.

Friday December 27th - Open 8am - 6pm. Regular shipping pickup.  Last day for shipments until after the New Year (see next week below).

Weekend Note - Web orders placed Friday evening 12/27 and over the weekend of 12/28 - 12/29 will ship on Thursday January 2nd.

Monday December 30th - Open, but no regular outbound shipments as we prep for physical inventory.  Emergency shipments possible, please call.

Tuesday December 31st - Closed for inventory.

Wednesday January 1st - Closed for New Year's Holiday.

Thursday January 2nd - Open standard hours 8am - 6pm EST.  Regular shipping resumes.

Friday January 3rd - Open standard hours 8am - 6pm EST.  Regular shipping pickup.

A team from BMI is heading out to Las Vegas this week for the 2013 iteration of LDI!  This annual tradeshow features a diverse lineup of lighting, rigging, staging, video, and other assorted manufacturers.  We traverse the show floor in search of new, interesting, and useful products for our customers.  We also use this time to connect "face-to-face" with our manufacturer contacts.

This year, like the past few years, we expect to see additional advancements in LED fixtures.  Undoubtedly, we'll track down a few other emerging products outside the LED sphere of influence (although that gets harder each year it seems!)

Here are just a few items and/or companies we'll be checking out:

• Altman Phoenix LED Ellipsoidal
• Canto USA Followspots & Fixtures
• ETC CYC attachment for LED engine, Desire D22 LED
• RUSH series from Martin
• City Theatrical LED Tape
• ...and much more!

You can check out the full lineup of events and exhibitors at www.ldishow.com.

If you see us walking the floor in our BMI shirts, be sure to say hello!

New to wireless DMX?  Earlier this year, City Theatrical issued a brief 4-page white paper outlining the basic principles behind wireless DMX and how it can benefit a variety of production applications.  It is a quick yet informative read.  Check it out below!

City Theatrical - "What You Need To Know About Wireless DMX"

Every year at USITT, Behind The Scenes (a wonderful charity that helps entertainment technicians in need of assistance) conducts a fund-raising raffle featuring a wide range of prizes, giveaways, a kazoo parade, and more.  As in year's past, BMI Supply donated a raffle prize, this year a "Stage Technician's Kit" consisting of tools, testers, and more.  Scott Garey, from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, was the first winner chosen and he selected the BMI prize!  Congrats Scott!

To learn more about this great charity, visit the Behind The Scenes website.



From left:  Steve Roudebush, BMI Supply; Scott Garey, UNCSA

You may have noticed this logo & link hanging out at the top of our website the past couple weeks:









What is it all about?  On April 2nd, 2013, home, restaurants, museums, and many other buildings will be lit in blue for World Autism Awareness Day. Rosco teamed up with Autism Speaks to identify Roscolux 68 and Roscolux 80 as the appropriate blue gels to use on a wide range of lighting fixtures.  BMI Supply has partnered with Rosco as a national online source for supporters looking to "Light It Up Blue" on April 2nd.  We are also proud to be a financial supporter of the Autism Speaks organization!

Want to learn more?  You can visit the following website for a wealth of information about the "Light It Up Blue" event:

Light It Up Blue Home Page

You can learn more about the use of Roscolux #68 and Roscolux #80 here:

Rosco Light It Up Blue Information Page

And if you click the logo above, you'll hit our page for the gel sheets, gel rolls, and the official Autism Speaks gobo.

Light It Up Blue on April 2nd!

Hi All,

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season thus far!  Holiday shows are in full swing and many production staff are taking a chance to catch their breath before the next round of productions in the New Year.

For your planning purposes, here is our holiday schedule:

12/24 - Closed for Christmas Eve
12/25 - Closed for Christmas Day

12/26 thru 12/28 - Regular Hours (8am - 6pm eastern)
(no shipments on 12/28 in advance of inventory)

12/31 - Closed for Inventory
1/1 - Closed for New Year Holiday

1/2 - Regular hours resume (8am - 6pm eastern)

Thanks for an excellent 2012!  We're ready to continue as part of your production efforts in 2013.

Happy early Spring everyone!  Welcome to the new BMI Supply website.  We are proud to present an expanded e-commerce site with easier navigation, full ordering capabilities, and numerous account tools for our customers.  We are launching this site at USITT 2012 in Long Beach, CA.  We welcome your feedback about products you'd like to see included, site features, and anything else that comes to mind.