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A group shot of the winners of the PLASA 2019 Innovation Awards
The PLASA Awards for Innovation took place at the PLASA Show 2019. The Awards recognize and reward pioneering product designs and the people behind them and are widely respected as they are independently judged by a team of industry experts with a variety of specialist backgrounds.
This year saw 36 entries for the Awards, with the judges selecting seven winners and one Gold Award winner.
The winners, along with the judges’ comments, are:
Nexo for the P12 Point-source loudspeaker
“This is the ‘loudspeaker version of a source 4’ having interchangeable horns with tool-less interchangeability.”
Robe for Esprite
“This advances technical practice by increasing the potential lifespan of LED fixtures, hopefully setting the model for other manufacturers to follow.”
Theatrixx for its 8-bay Reversible Rackmount Converter
“A simple solution to the wired mess that media conversion can entail which is robust and effective.”
SSE for The Azimuth
“This will really help audio companies bring accurate panning to the angle of the dangle in immersive audio applications – it’s simple, effective and well-engineered.”
ETC for Augment3d
“This will change the way lighting design and operation works by increasing speed in the lighting workflow and making the process of design to conception easier to manage.”
Shure for TwinPlex Subminature Lavalier and Headset Microphones
“Two heads are better than one when you’re getting sweaty! This product has a selection of innovative features that will make it popular in many theatres.”
Elation Professional for Artiste Monet
“Applying wireless charging technology from phone chargers to enable continuous shutter movement will prove to be a useful tool for lighting designers, though it is a shame it doesn’t charge your phone as well!”
GOLD AWARD
Artistic Licence for sunDial quad
“This solves innumerable dimming problems in one box with multiple programmable dimming curves being the icing on the cake – it is as versatile as an egg and we can say goodbye to load lamps.”
Special Commendations
The judges also commended three products: City Theatrical’s Multiverse Transmitter 2.4GHz for advancing the dark art of WiFi in lighting control; TMB’s ProPlex GBS Network Selector for being a neat tool to solve networking problems on large festival shows; and Vectorworks (GDTF Group) for the GDTF v.10 which advances interoperability design, visualization and consoles.
The judging team this year, chaired by electrical systems consultant James Eade, were: Martin Locket, production industry commercial consultant and investor; Vic Pyne, head of lighting and AV at Glyndebourne productions Ltd; Stuart Graham, head of technical operations for Ambassador Theatre Group; Katrin Padel, lighting designer; Natalie Smith, freelance production electrician; Nick Jones, lighting designer for theme parks and attractions; Ian Peniston, head of projects for Power Logistics; Jack Champion, head of production and technical for Battersea Arts Centre; Ed Manwaring, lighting designer; Nicole Smith, head of lighting for London Theatre Company; Grant Barden, technical operations manager for Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; and Richard Northwood, audio consultant.
Gottelier Award
The Awards presentation culminated with the announcement of the prestigious Gottelier Award. This was won by Dr Christian Heil of L-Acoustics who founded the company in 1984, introduced the V-DOSC line array in the mid-1990s and today’s L-ISA which delivers immersive audio to live performance venues.
