When the sun rose in London Monday morning there were 47 nominations all vying for eight spots in the PLASA 2012 New Product Innovation Awards. By the time the sun set, eight of those products were placed at the top of the list with an additional one being recognized for its contribution to sustainability, and four more were commended.
Fourteen judges and I had spent most of Sunday listening to a series of 15 minute presentations about why the presenter’s product should win an award. The criteria was that the product should advance the industry by demonstrating innovation or improving technical practice. Other considerations are given to products that promote sustainability or safety.
If you saw any of the 3,500 hours of the Olympic broadcasts, then you know that when world-class contenders compete, the winners are often decided by a matter of a thousandth of a second. That’s what it felt like trying to decide who should win the awards except we didn’t have the benefit of slow motion replay. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate and it’s far more accessible than it has ever been. So many products on the show floor take advantage of cutting-edge technology and it’s not hard to find innovation everywhere you look. It seems like much more of an even playing field. But there is a difference between taking advantage of existing technology and true innovation. Sometimes you have look under the hood (is that called raising the bonnet in the UK?) to find it.
Of the 47 product nominations, the judges fairly quickly whittled it down to a short list of 19 with only one that everyone felt was a clear-cut winner. Then we spent the next couple of hours debating the merits of each of the 19 products. We slowly carved out a list of six winners and agonized over the last two. We second-guessed ourselves, rearranged the list, and eventually arrived at our eight winners plus one award for sustainability, and four special commendations.
Then we asked the question, “Is any one of the winners deserving of a Gold Award?” A Gold Award is sometimes given to an exceptional product that is recognized as a “game changer.” It’s that widget that will redefine the industry or shake the pillars of the industry. If you were to take a snapshot of the live event production industry today, what you’re likely to see is the convergence of automation, networking, control systems, video, wireless, battery-power, and robotics. After much debate and deliberation, the judges decided to award one of the eight winners the Gold designation. It’s a product that is likely to lay the foundation for the future of these technologies.
Deciding these awards was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100 metres. These companies put in hours and hours of hard work and training to get to the starting line, and in a flash, it was over. In the end, they all crossed the finish line, most within a hair’s breadth of the leader.
PLASA New Product Innovations Award Winners 2012
Gold Award Winner:

What the judges said: “The level of integration with other tools and the potential for applications across the industry is incredible.”

What the judges said: “It’s very safe and saves a lot of time. It increases options for touring shows and lets more shows play more venues. It’s very well thought through and very well implemented.”

What the judges said: “Why hasn’t this been done before? It’s a game changer. It’s packaged really well, so they’re instantly useful.”

What the judges said: “It’s absolutely stunning. It’s the ultimate in audience participation.”

What the judges said: “It’s well thought through and well designed.”
video link: http://www.avolitesmedia.com/
Robe Robin DLF Wash — The Robe Robin DLF uses an RGBW LED source and includes a unique internal barndoor assembly and a 5.5 to 60 degree zoom. Each motorised barndoor is individually positionable to control the light edge, with the complete assembly rotating through 90 degrees. Multiple colour shadows associated with an LED source have been eliminated allowing both rich and pastel colours to be reproduced at high output levels. Pure whites are available at pre-selected 2700K, 3200K, 4200K, 5600K and 8000K. Tungsten emulation allows the fixture to be integrated seamlessly with existing traditional lanterns. It comes with a three-year/20,000 hour light source warranty.

JBL VTX V25 Line Array with D2 Dual-Diaphragm Driver Technology — The VTX V25 is a full size 3-way high-directivity line array element. It features two 2000W 15" Differential Drive® dual-voice-coil/dual-magnetic-gap woofers mounted in die cast aluminum baffles, with four 8" Differential Drive midrange transducers and three new D2 Dual-Diaphragm Dual-Voice-Coil Compression Drivers mounted on a third generation waveguide and patented RBI - Radiation Boundary Integrator® assembly. Patented rigging, Crown VRack DSP and amplification, and JBL HiQnet Performance ManagerT configuration and control software complete the system package.
What the judges said: “It addresses a lot of the traditional problems with loud speakers by addressing the problems at the driver engineering level.”

What the judges said: “It’s a new benchmark for automated lighting spots.”
Green Award

What the judges said: “It enables us to put professional quality stage lighting into naturally ventilated spaces. It has a highly efficient optical system and you can reuse existing lens stock.”
Commendable
d3 Designer — d3 Designer is a real-time 3D stage simulator, timeline based sequencer, video playback engine, and content mapper, all integrated into a single piece of software that runs on your own PC or Laptop. You can import stages from the CAD program of your choice, add screens, props, and content to get a true simulation of your production, well before you actually start your build, then easily transfer your show to a d3 Production system for show-time.
What the judges said: “It’s a fantastic pixel mapper and a fantastic visualisation tool that designers are going to love.”
Sennheiser Digital S9000: Digital S9000 is a UHF multi-channel digital wireless system that transmits audio in a compression-free high-definition mode, thus maintaining the full audio data. For environments with much interference, the system is fitted with a long-range mode that uses a proprietary codec for an exceptionally good audio quality. The system does not generate any intermodulation artifacts. Frequencies can be placed in an equidistant grid. Designed for high band efficiency and high channel counts even in crowded RF landscapes.
Shure ULX-D Digital Wireless — ULX-D provides 63 channels of wireless in 8MHz. The 20Hz-20KHz frequency range and flat response captures details with clarity, presence, accurate low end and precise transient response. It has >120dB dynamic range and the Shure Gain Ranging optimises thie dynamic range for any source, eliminating the need for transmitter gain adjustments. Minimised intermodulation allows simultaneous operation of significantly more transmitters, and AES256 encryption ensures secure transmission. Lithium-ion rechargeability provides extended battery life, metering in hours/minutes (accurate to 15min), and detailed tracking of battery health.
Highlights WENTEX Pipe and Drape System — The WENTEX system setup can be completed in half the time and with half the labor cost. Not only can a 20' high WENTEX pipe and drape kit be easily assembled by one person, it can be done without the risk or liability of anyone having to climb up a ladder. Additional features can be easily mounted to a WENTEX pipe and drape system such as speakers, lighting, cameras, emergency exits and track systems.
What the judges said: “It’s a one-flight-case solution and it ticks the health and safety box.”
About the Judges
Liz Berry, Lighting Designer (Belinda Carlisle, Madness, Bryan Ferry, etc.), London, UK
Richard Cadena, PLASA, Austin, Texas, USA
Jim Cousins, Audio Engineer, Sound Improvement Services, London, UK
Gerry Francke, Project Manager, Creative Technology, London, UK
Paul Franklin, Theatre Design Consultant, Charcoalblue, London, UK
Tapio Ilomäki, Designer at Akukon Consulting Engineers, Finland
Mats Karlsson, Development Manager at VER, Belgium
Marc Kocks, MD of sales division, Ampco Flashlight group, Utrecht, Netherlands
Ed Manwaring, EM Communications, Kent, UK
Steve Moles, Journalist, Lighting Designer/Tech (Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Tina Turner, etc.), Doncaster, UK
Ola Melzig, Technical Director Eurovision Song Contest, M & M Production Management, Stockholm, Sweden/Austin, Texas USA
Nick Read, entertainment and theatrical special effects & large scale lighting and electrical systems design, installation, testing and project management for stadium events, tours, shows and corporate events, Brighton, UK
Ben M Rogers, Lighting Designer/Video Designer, London/Cyprus
Cat West, Lighting Designer, Flash & Trash Productions, Los Angeles, USA
Thanks a lot!
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