PLASA Events has confirmed over 40 exhibitors new to this year’s event, as pre-registrations look set to match 2008 levels and two major new features join the PLASA09 line up, heralding another bumper year for new product launches. Pre-registration is still open with a 50% discount for online bookings.
New or returning to the show are Adam Hall, A.T. Industries, All Access Staging & Productions, Ambient Lighting, Amex, Artistic Licence, Avid Technology, Bestlight, Bison Produkter, Coemar S.p.A, Entertainment Equipment Supplies, Flying by Foy, Gerriets, Glux Tech (Shenzhen), Indu-Electric Gerber, Klotz Audio Interface Systems, Laserworld (Switzerland), LumenRadio, MediaLas Laserproducts, NEDIT, NEXO, Picturall, Prism Media Products, PROMOBERG, PSI, Pyrotechnology, R K Sound Engineering, Shenzhen Sinolight Optoelectronics, ShowCAD Control Systems, SkyHigh FX, Squarehead Technology, TecnoVISION, Ten 47 Limited, Trace Lighting, Triple E, VER-Video Equipment Rentals London, Visual Act, Visual Productions, Walter Logan & Co and XL Video.
Some of these companies will be based in the new Small Business Pavilion, prominently located in Earls Court 2, an area which focuses on the smaller innovative businesses in the industry.
Also new to Earls Court 2 (where pre-registered visitors can enjoy fast-track entry to the show) is the PLASA Lounge, where visitors can learn more about a range of industry-wide initiatives including qualifications, technical developments and sustainability. Nearby will be a suite of dedicated seminar rooms which will play host to an expanded Education & Learning Programme running throughout the show’s four days. Visitors can also take advantage of the free wi-fi zone and central PLASA Bar and Business Lounge in Earls Court 1 (open on the first three days until 8pm) as areas to talk, do business and socialise, with the PLASA Awards for Innovation ceremony taking place at the centre of the show at 6pm on Monday 14 September.
“Research has shown us how much visitors and exhibitors value opportunities to sit and discuss business,” says show director Nicky Rowland. “We see this as an important way to maximise the value of PLASA09 in the current economic climate and to bring the industry together as a business community.”
Another initiative, unveiled recently, is PLASA Connect, a new focus on developing business opportunities for the industry’s service providers and consultants. An idea developed in conjunction with RH Consulting and sponsored by L&SI magazine, PLASA Connect will provide service-based operators – including consultants, installers and rental companies – with an opportunity to find new potential clients from a wide range of vertical markets.
People involved in large projects in many different walks of life often have very little idea of who to go to for the supply of sound and lighting equipment. The idea behind PLASA Connect is to help those people gain information and make an informed choice. The result will be a targeted business development opportunity which will bring genuine business benefits to all concerned.
Utilising the powerful research and database resources of RH Consulting, PLASA Events can invite potential clients to arrange meetings with relevant service providers and consultancies via a scheduling website (www.plasashow.com/connect) in the weeks running up to PLASA09, matching requirements to solutions before the show even opens.
For the service providers who buy into the scheme, the website will provide both a shop window for their services and an opportunity to assess each potential client’s application prior to agreeing to a meeting in the PLASA Connect Lounge area – an exclusive new feature at the heart of PLASA09.
Among the market areas being targeted are hotel groups, building services companies, houses of worship, council chambers, theatres and arts centres, performing arts schools, IT service companies and environmental health officers.
A packed PLASA09 Education & Learning Programme is headed by two Masterclasses – a presentation by John Stadius of Soundtracs/DiGiCo on the ideas and technologies behind mixing console design, and a debate for DJs hosted by Funktion One’s Tony Andrews on the importance of audio quality.
The programme, which is broader in scope than ever before is supported by The Theatres Trust, ISCE, IOA, InfoComm, and Technologies for Worship, also features sessions on sound solutions for education; the merger of video and lighting; Wireless DMX; speech intelligibility; Art-Net; digital consoles; line array optimisation; BS 8901; designing sound systems; tallescopes; video projection; and the new Display Energy Certificates, White Light, UVA, Artistic Licence, Prism Sound, SEG, Renkus Heinz, The Event Safety Group, ABTT, Creative & Cultural Skills, Peter Mapp Associates, Installation Europe, AV Magazine. The majority of seminars are free to registered visitors.
In addition, InfoComm will be running its renowned EVS212 Staging and Event Management three-day course across Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The course teaches how to manage technical departments, the client and the venue, ensuring the client sees a return on the investment, while you maintain budgets, weigh profitability and explore opportunities to provide additional services and products.
Nicky Rowland adds: “The biggest draw for visitors, as always, will be the PLASA Show’s promise of hundreds of new products, and PLASA09 won’t disappoint. Added to the expanded Education & Learning Programme and more new business-focused facilities there are more compelling reasons than ever to make full use of your four-day ticket.”
Register online now at www.plasashow.com/register
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