The first part of the day - the AGM - was opened by chairman Diane Grant, who welcomed members before handing over to vice-chairman Andrew Bishop to present the final accounts for 2003. He highlighted the Association's pre-tax profit of £45,249, despite difficult trading conditions, and covered some of the key investments of the preceding 12 months, including those in member services, training, technical resources and market research. He also addressed the issue of the Association's reserves, informing members of the committee's determination to ensure that there would be investment in projects of direct benefit to the membership.
As part of this, he noted the recent investment in the launch of Lighting&SoundAmerica, a sister title to Lighting&Sound International, designed to serve the US design, entertainment and presentation communities, and also to provide a profile for PLASA in the US market. He went on to outline a number of other initiatives being considered, including a training and meeting centre in London for the use of members and a major networking event for both members and PLASA Show exhibitors in September.
For chairman Diane Grant, the AGM was the ideal opportunity to continue the drive towards greater interaction and communication between the committee and membership. With the current strategic plan providing the framework, she outlined the ways in which PLASA intends to deliver a better service to its members and reminded them of the committee's willingness to evaluate any feedback and factor this into any decision-making. She also highlighted those areas where feedback was directly acted on, including an increase in the number of member visits, a revamping of the standards office to deliver a much broader service, a change in the focus of the training strategy and a major reinvestment in the 2003 PLASA Show. For international members, the message was equally positive - the Association recognizes that it needs to increase communication and is actively doing so.
Diane went on to outline some of the future ambitions of the Association, including extending PLASA's sphere of influence on a global footing, ensuring the brand is recognized worldwide as a quality marque, and building up the membership base to ensure the Association has a strong voice on matters directly affecting the industry.
Following the AGM, a new format was introduced, with an open Question & Answer session, allowing those present to get an insight into some of the ongoing initiatives and to raise any issues or points of concern. The interim findings of PLASA's latest round of Industry Research were presented by Trevor Wilkinson of Purple Market Research, before Diane Grant, Andy Bishop and PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths fielded members' questions, many relating to the PLASA Show, and in particular issues such as timing, the representation of the audio sector, copyright infringement, on-site costs and location. Members were reassured that these issues were constantly reviewed, members and exhibitors' opinions factored in and that the key elements would be discussed during a dedicated think-tank session in September. In the meantime, members would be directly asked for their thoughts on the timing, frequency and location of the Show.
Questions were also put forward on the launch of L&SAmerica, PLASA's push into Europe, how members comply with standards and the further development of training. In all cases, these relate to developing PLASA's role within the industry and members were advised that every effort is going into pushing the PLASA name forward on every level.
Following lunch, Mike Southon, famed for converting a
