Presented by Dylan Jones at DWR’s offices in Johannesburg, regular training days have been a way to meet up with people, learn new skills and keep mind’s active especially in a trying time within South Africa. The live events industry remains in Adjusted Alert Level 3 lockdown and gatherings are limited to 50 people for indoor events and a hundred people for outdoor events.

The Joburg Theatre had no sooner acquired their Green Hippo Media Server when the country first went into lockdown in March 2020. While Dineo Komape from the theatre has previously attended Hippotizer Training, she was glad to have an opportunity to refresh. “The course was great simply because it wasn’t the first time we were doing it and there were a few things I had forgotten, she says. “Personally, I loved it.”

Adds Enos Ramoroko, Technical Manager at the Joburg Theatre, “I would just like to thank DWR for giving the valuable lessons to our technicians at no cost to them. I really am grateful for the empowerment of my team.”

The two-day workshop, which was offered free of charge, was attended by five delegates, all well prepared and who took advantage of the opportunity given, Dylan Jones explained. Both SARA and The Joburg Theatre have Hippotizer Media servers that were brought to class, enabling a practical approach while covering subjects including Output Manager, Media Manager, Visualizer, Pinbridge, Multi-Controller, DMX Control, Timeline, Video Mapper, Pixelmapper and Shape.

“The training was amazing,” commented Sylvarno Brandon Sauls from SARA. “Thank you for giving me the chance to learn from Dylan, I truly appreciate it. DWR’s hard work does not go unnoticed. I found the course extremely beneficial and enlightening. I feel that I am in a far better position to tackle my career and I will be able to carry the lessons learnt going forward.”

Freddie Nyathela, president of South African Roadies Association concludes, “SARA is indebted to DWR for their commitment in providing young people an opportunity to enhance their technical knowledge and skills for the interest of the industry and the country.”