Clay Paky's innovative new scanner the Spheriscan won the LDI Best Debuting Product award "for making the scanner fixture relevant again and moving the state of the art in reflected beam fixtures by several orders of magnitude". Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky's sales manager for the Americas, and Ben Saltzman, president & CEO of ACT Lighting, accepted the award from Marian Sandberg, content director of Live Design and LDI.
Pio Nahum, Clay Paky's CEO, commented: "We are truly satisfied the market has appreciated the effort we have made to re-invent the scanner using the latest technology. A moving mirror can still be very useful owing to its quick response to changes in direction and its unparalleled speed. Moreover, the Spheriscan is very versatile because it is both an elegant piece of stage furnishing and can be used outdoors. It is a totally innovative concept, in keeping with our tradition."
The second prize Clay Paky received was the Parnelli Award for Indispensable Technology. It was assigned to the Mythos, which has now clocked up a total of four awards in its still brief history. The real newcomer, however, was the Scenius. It was presented for the first time to the American public and was much appreciated for its excellent lighting and optical features.
The Scenius Profile made its world première at LDI. It is a version of the Scenius with the addition of the renowned framing system, designed and patented by Clay Paky, which has already been much appreciated on the Alpha Profile 700, 800 and 1500. Both appliances have a CRI of greater than 95, which is an exceptional level for a discharge light.
LDI in Las Vegas was once again a showcase for launching new, innovative Clay Paky concept products, like the Spazial. This moving bar consists of the company's most advanced optical know-how applied to LED technology.
Lastly, the concept version of a promising new 700W wash-beam light was christened at the Palms Ghostbar in the Ivory Tower during the Clay Paky party.
Fred Foster, CEO of ETC, received the Paky Award, a prestigious lifetime recognition award for "exceptional contributions to the field of technology". The prize was inaugurated last year in memory of Pasquale Quadri 'Paky', the unforgettable founder of Clay Paky, who died in September 2014. Pio Nahum introduced the award by recalling - with moving words - what Paky did for the development and growth of our industry over nearly 40 years.
All these new products were presented through a series of demos, which took place every hour (including one a day in Spanish) at the large exhibition booth Clay Paky shared with ACT Lighting, the Clay Paky distributor for North America. A team of Clay Paky specialist technicians was also available to improvise hands-on demos. At the end of each scheduled demo, visitors were able to enjoy a pyrotechnic light show created by the lighting designer Mark Butts exclusively for Clay Paky.
(Jim Evans)
