The PLASA Show 2012 – the 31st edition of the premier exhibition for audio, video, lighting and stage technology, was held from 9 to 12 September at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.
Organised by the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, the trade fair exposed attendees to a wide array of innovative technologies, industry trends, product launches and informative seminars.
A major talking point on the exhibition floor was the organiser’s decision to change the dateline and relocate the PLASA Show to ExCeL London for 2013. The move, which comes after having spent 21 years at Earls Court & Olympia, represents a major opportunity for the exhibition. The new venue is located in a thriving area of east London and offers excellent links to both Europe and the rest of the UK via London City Airport.
“The move to ExCeL for 2013 gives PLASA and our exhibitors a great opportunity to develop how we showcase the new products and technologies as well creating more space to demo product for our visitors,’ states PLASA CEO, Matthew Griffiths.
“We will have more room to expand and enhance our conference and seminar programmes which are getting great interest and crucially we will be able to co-locate other like-minded industry exhibitions and events which will complement each other. Also prove that London in the first weeks of October will be the place to be if you work within the creative industries generally and the entertainment technology industry specifically. We look forward to seeing everyone then.’
Although the show attracted fewer visitors than last year with overall visitor attendance at 11 500 (subject to ABC audit), event organisers were delighted to announce that their seminars, presentations and debates had been a resounding success with exhibitors and visitors alike. Registration for seminars showed more than 100% increase on last year. In all, more than one third of the attendees saw one or more of the sessions.
Education and conferences
In addition to the plethora of new product launches and innovations on show, the training sessions and seminars available in the Professional Development Programme proved to be a huge draw card for many of the visitors. As we stated in Pro-System Q3, this year’s programme explored 9 distinct categories, from future trends and emerging technologies, to the fundamentals of audio, business issues, lighting and video.
However, the most popular seminar was Olympics Uncovered session entitled “Behind The Scenes At The London 2012 Ceremonies’. Presented by Piers Shepperd, the technical director of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, the session gave attendees an overview of the mammoth staging, flying, audio, AV and special effects behind the London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies.
“The PLASA Seminar Programme was exceptional this year. It was crammed full of creative and production personnel that had provided the stunning shows and entertainment technology infrastructure around all the events happening in the UK this Summer, particularly the London 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This was augmented by themes on professional development, sustainability and business planning all giving visitors to PLASA so much more than just the exhibition,’ explains Griffiths.
Running alongside PLASA 2012 was the Rigging Conference where delegates gathered from all corners of the globe to listen to industry experts, share good practice and debate the future structure of rigging on an international level. The legendary “Disney Rigger’ – Roy Bickel, opened the Conference with a thoroughly engaging, entertaining and informative speech about his influence on the development of modern rigging over the past 50 years, which was enthusiastically received by the audience. The conference, a near sell-out event, was attended by 156 delegates.
Awarding innovation
Two important award categories were presented at PLASA 2012: The prestigious Gottelier Award and The PLASA Awards for Innovation.
This year’s Gottelier Award, which recognises significant product designers and developers in the entertainment technology industry, went to John Meyer of Meyer Sound in recognition of his contribution to the modern sound reinforcement industry.
With a total of eight Awards for Innovation to hand out, and with the option of bestowing a “Gold’ Award on one or more really outstanding entries, PLASA’s panel of independent adjudicators had a difficult task ahead of them. During the exhibition’s opening two days, the judges reviewed 47 product presentations “live’ in front of show visitors and a camera crew.
PLASA Awards for innovation
Award winners:
• Stageco – Arena Lift
• Digital & Future Technologies – Super Twofer
• Tait Technologies – Pixel Tablet
• Avolites – Sapphire Media Infinity Video Control System
• Robe – Robin DLF Wash
• Harman International – JBL VTX V25 Line Array
• Martin Professional – MAC Viper Profile
• Gold Award Status: Cast Group – BlackTrax
• Award for Sustainability: ETC Source – Four LED
Products that received special commendation:
• Sennheiser 9000 Series digital wireless radio microphone system
• Shure ULX-D digital wireless radio microphone system
• Wentex Pipe & Drape System from Highlite International
• d3 Technologies d3 Designer
Industry professionals’ perspectives on PLASA 2012
Robert Izzett – DWR Distribution
Overall impression: A lot of people complain about PLASA shrinking, which I guess is true. But PLASA has never been about products, it’s about the networking element and this year did not disappoint.
Products: Robe’s new MMX Wash Beam is brilliant. It’s a great wash light that turns into a beam light via DMX. I also really liked the Elidy from Chromlec – a fantastic lighting tool that makes the most incredible Effect wall.
Trends: The one trend that really has not caught on in SA much, which is huge in Europe, is moving trusses or sets etc. It’s not a new trend at all but something that has evolved over the years to a point where it is truly state of the art.
Seminars: I went to the Olympic Opening Ceremony Seminar – It was awesome to see how it was all done, especially the rigging and automation and moving sets.
Alison Taman – Audiosure
Overall impression: PLASA was a relatively small show, but it was certainly well executed and the overall presentation of the exhibitors was very professional. Over the years the lighting side of the show has grown and many of these exhibitors put on a very impressive display. Although attendance was said to be higher than previous years it did not feel that way to us or any of the exhibitors we spoke to. Despite the gradually more compact nature of the show we always enjoy PLASA as our vendors have more time to spend with us than at other shows and one can easily cover the entire floor.
Products: Martin Audio made a big impact with their stunning “Audio Lab’ demonstration. They also had two Nissan Jukes on display with a boot-load of powerful sound.
Seminars: I attended the Martin Audio “Audio Lab’ which showcased spectacularly good sound.
Justin Mamulis – iLed
Overall impression: : This was the first PLASA I have attended since 2006 and felt that it had changed considerably since my last visit. The show was far more locally orientated than I remember.
Products: I went to PLASA with the very specific purpose of meeting with my suppliers, and understanding what new products they had lined up for the next year. Apart Audio was certainly on the mark with the new product releases planned for 2013. I was also incredibly impressed with Traction Sound products.
New Agencies: We signed up Traction Sound. Traction Sound is a fairly new company out of Brighton that is made up of a fantastic group of guys, whose combined experience in the pro audio industry is impressive to say the least.
Matthew Griffiths – PLASA CEO
Overall impression: Clearly the run up to the exhibition in London was heavily influenced by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Apart from the logistic headaches a lot of the exhibitors and visitors to the exhibition were heavily involved in these events. However it was great to see everyone use the PLASA Show as a place to meet up, share their experiences and see the technology used close up. Against this regional challenge we also had the ongoing global economic challenge which we are all trying to trade out of. There was much more positive feedback about the future for our industry from exhibitors, which I found to be very encouraging.
Nick Matzukis – AVL Distribution
Overall impression: My overall impression of this year’s PLASA was that it was reasonable. I think that it is a good idea that the show is moving from Earls Court to ExCeL London for the 2013 edition.
Products: There were a number of new products that caught my including Gerriet’s new track systems, fabrics and screens.
Trends: In terms of notable trends that could be adopted by the South African industry in the near future – I see more theatre equipment in rental companies.
By Simba Nyamukachi
