Open to PLASA Show exhibitors with a new product at the Show, entry into the awards brings immediate benefits with nominated products showcased in an Innovation Gallery inside the entrance to the show. Products are then judged on the show floor by a panel of experienced industry practitioners, with the eight winners announced at an Awards Ceremony at 6pm in the Central Bar on the Show's second day - Monday 11 September.
The PLASA Awards for Innovation have a justly deserved reputation for identifying high quality, innovative new products early in their life. Previous winners, many now firmly established in their fields, include MA Lighting's grandMA lighting console, now in use on countless productions around the world; Wireless Solution's W-DMX wireless data transceiver, recently used on the Nobel Prize Awards; Element Labs VersaTile, for which recent projects have included the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and concerts for Maximo Park; Stage Technologies' Visual Creator system for creating 3D flight paths using multiple hoists, currently in use on Cirque du Soleil's KA in Las Vegas and Mary Poppins in London; the DiGiCo D5 digital mixing console, firmly established as a leader in the digital console market; High End's Catalyst, which started the trend for digital media servers controlled from lighting consoles; Martin's incredibly popular MAC2000 moving spotlight, and Total Fabrication's safety-led T2 trussing system.
Proof that it is not always the 'big budget' products that win prizes comes in the awards presented to Doughty for the Overlocker clamp, and to Le Mark for the simple but useful Blacktak adhesive masking product.
Manufacturers who have received PLASA Awards for Innovation speak openly of their value. According to Ralph-Jörg Wezorke, managing director of MA Lighting International: "The difference between the PLASA Awards and other awards is that the PLASA jury looks more to the technical value of new solutions and their future outlook. We were just beginning with our grandMA console when we received the PLASA award; it provided enormous motivation to continue. Now we can pay back the trust we received from the PLASA jury in 1999."
Wayne Howell, managing director of Artistic Licence, notes that the awards are: "good for staff morale - a confirmation that all their hard work is valued outside of the company. They are also valuable to the prestige and credibility of the company; I believe a customer is more likely to choose a product from a company that has won PLASA Awards."
"The PLASA Awards for Innovation reward excellence in new products," comments PLASA's CEO, Matthew Griffiths. "We also intend them to reflect the increasing trend towards environmentally friendly developments, recognising those who divert an element of their R&D budget into benefiting the environment with the award for Environmental Impact re-introduced last year."
PLASA show director Madeleine Marston says: "The PLASA Awards' past record at successfully spotting innovative new products speaks for itself; we look forward to seeing what exciting new developments this year's Awards will unearth."
Manufacturers wishing to nominate up to three products for the 2006 PLASA Awards for Innovation may do so from now until the deadline for entries Friday 11 August 2006. Th
