Once again, PLASA's high quality free to attend seminar programme was a key element of the show and featured extremely well attended presentations by Durham Marenghi on lighting the Olympic ceremonies in Rio as well as a Production Masterclass from Ola Melzig and Fredrik Jönsson on Eurovision 2016.
This year's content-rich show also featured the seventh edition of the Rigging Conference, hands-on console training opportunities, the Innovation Gallery, and an experiential maze curated and produced by Darryn De La Soul of Soulsound, which featured a number of interesting and challenging experiments created by manufacturers and leading educational establishments, culminating in an interactive art installation by Iris Musel that explored the notion of visual and sound perception in relation to dementia. This compelling feature was visited by over 1400 attendees.
"There was an amazing atmosphere in Olympia during the three days of the show," says PLASA's Christopher Toulmin - director of events. "The vibe was right, the quality of visitors was high and business was being done. The very definition of a great show.
"We were delighted to welcome new brands to the show floor including Adamson, DAS Audio, EM Acoustics, Audio Technica, SFL, Shermann Audio, Roland UK, plus XTA, d&b audiotechnik, SSL, Focusrite and Bel Digital who took part in our first one day Dante Training Workshop presented by Audinate. We also saw the return of Clay Paky, Chauvet, Elation, Leisuretec, GLP, ROBE, Area 4 Industries, Robert Juliat, SSE and we were especially pleased to welcome back Philips to the show floor."
"This year Philips brands Vari-Lite, Strand, Selecon and Showline have introduced a raft of connected lighting products and we were delighted to see them receive such a positive reception at PLASA," comments Grant Bales-Smith, general manager Entertainment EMEA. "We were also very pleased to be able to introduced our new business leader for Philips Lighting, Entertainment, Colin Kavanagh, who agrees that the new venue and show format worked in our favour. The atmosphere on the show floor was positive and our international dealers and distributors were there. Over all we were pleasantly surprised with the PLASA Show and we are looking to repeat the booking next year."
"We were constantly busy and had great interest from the theatre community and we were particularly pleased to see so many of the up and coming engineers involved," says EM Acoustics' Dave Kelland. "PLASA 2016 is one of the best trade shows we've ever done. In fact, it was so good I didn't want to leave."
"It seems like the PLASA Show has got its mojo back," says Jonathan Walters from AC-ET. "It was an excellent show for us. Very, very busy, a lot more international leads than expected, a lot of key players visiting and a real buzz throughout the hall."
¨I was very pleased with this year's edition of the PLASA show," adds Ola Melzig from M & M Production Management, who co-hosted the Eurovision 2016 seminar. "Moving it back to central London was a great decision and it feels like the heart and soul of the show is back. I'm already looking forward to 2017. Congratulations to the whole PLASA team for a job well done."
As we look forward to celebrating the 40th edition of the show, the PLASA team are already hard at work creating the perfect blend of networking and business opportunities, mixed with learning, training and thought provoking experiences. The show will once again be held in Olympia, from 17-19 September 2017.
(Jim Evans)
