PLASA 2014: Winners of the 2014 Innovation Awards Announced

The PLASA Awards for Innovation were presented on Tuesday, October 7, revealing the most ground-breaking products of PLASA London 2014Gottelier Award was awarded posthumously presented to Clay Paky founder, Pasquale 'Paky' Quadri, who recently passed away.

Clay Paky's chief operational officer, Pio Nahum, graciously accepted the Gottelier Award on behalf of his friend and colleague. The other nominees -- Richard Belliveau, David Cunningham, and Dr. Christian Heil -- withdrew from the running following the sad news. The lighting industry has lost a great character and a true pioneer.

Every year, PLASA recognizes products that demonstrate progress, through attributes like a new style of thinking, an improvement in technical practice, new technology, materials or techniques, or an improvement in safety. The entries were considered by an expert judging panel comprising Tim Atkinson, Scott Burges, Jonathan Burton, Richard Cadena, Jenni Harris, Tapio Ilomaki, Steve Moles, Nick Read, Ben Rogers, and Ed Manwaring.

The team of judges faced a real challenge in whittling down the contenders, eventually deciding on eight awards for innovation, and one award for sustainability. Due to the extremely competitive nature of the field this year, the judges took the extra step of making two additional commendations. They also awarded the Gold Award, which is an optional award that is reserved for industry-changing product innovation.

This year's winners of the 2014 PLASA Awards for Innovation include:

Clay Paky Mythos -- The judges said: "The Mythos hybrid automated light works as a hard-edge spot, a beam light, or a wash light with a range of effects. It has excellent colors, incredible brightness, terrific optics, and a small housing. It's also very energy efficient and it has a patented and innovative cooling system. In the Clay Paky tradition, it's a real winner. Paky would be proud."

Elation Sniper -- The judges said: "The Sniper beam light, scanner, and laser simulator adds a unique effect to the lighting toolbox. It fills a gap in the market for a huge number of venues that won't spend top dollar, euro, or pound but need great effects lighting. It also side steps the issue of laser regulations by simulating laser effects without actually using a laser source. Its small size is an added bonus and it is priced affordably."

Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot -- The judges said: "The VL4000 Spot is a great one-head solution to the age-old question of 'Which automated lights should I keep in inventory?' It solves a lot of problems for hire companies by providing a range of features and functionality. The judges were impressed by its color animation wheel, the 'intuitive timing' feature, the quietness of the studio mode, the multi-point connections that allow it to be hung at various angles to the truss, and its overall performance."

Philips Strand Lighting Emergency DMX Bypass Switch -- The judges said: "The judges feel that the Philips Strand Lighting Emergency DMX Bypass Switch addresses an important safety issue that have previously been overlooked. By providing fault-tolerant DMX for emergency lighting situation, it enhances the safety of venues and provides reassurance during emergency situations. It's a well-designed turnkey solution for using DMX in an emergency system."

GDS ArcLamp -- The judges said: "In 2011, GDS won a Sustainability Award for their ARCSystem of LED auditorium lighting fixtures. By following it up with the ArcLamp LED candle lamp, the judges feel they deserve another award for innovation in general service lighting. The handsome lamps can be retrofitted into existing fittings, are very reasonable priced, and they have an exceptional dimming curve with nice color rendering."

RC4 Wireless DMX4dim Series 3 -- The judges said: "The DMX4dim Series 3 four-channel dimmer uses clever technologies to pack a variety useful features in a tiny package. It maintains its price point from the previous system but adds more features. The lifetime warranty seals the deal. One judge said the only thing it doesn't do is zip up your pants."

Neutrik XIRIUM X -- The judges said: "The XIRIUM X wireless audio link solves a problem neatly and without compromising audio quality. It offers low latency with full spectrum audio, and it can take a line level signal or a mic with or without phantom power. With the recent auctioning of wireless bandwidth, it provides a viable solution by using a 5GHz carrier signal and taking advantage of a less crowded frequency range."

Robe BMFL The judges said: "BMFL raises the bar on automated lighting by increasing brightness, decreasing size and weight, and providing all of the effects you would expect in a top-of-the-line moving light. It has a very smooth dimming curve, great uniformity, and very fast speed of movement, and the Electronic Motion Stabilizer is a unique addition to its feature set."

The award for Sustainability goes to a product or product that the judges feel will have a positive impact on the environment. This year's winner was:

GDS ARCLamp The judges said: "If all the West End theatres alone switched to the ARCLamp system, it would translate to a significant reduction in carbon footprint, reduced heat load, lower maintenance costs, and the increased lamp life would result in less landfill. Multiply that by the number of theatres across the world and the potential impact of this product is tremendous."

The judges felt that the number of award contenders made it extremely difficult to narrow down the field. Although the following products did not win outright, they felt they should be commended.

This year's honourable mentions include:

Data Strategy Power-Check -- The judges noted "the Power-Check is not a sexy product but it's one which insures the safety of every product that is connected to mains power. Just like the crew who makes a show happen, it's easy to overlook the importance of these behind-the-scenes products. We at PLASA wish to recognize those who toil to insure the safety of our work force."

LumenRadio CRMX TiMo -- The judges said: "the TiMo is an implementation of the CRMX Chip, both of which will have a profound impact on our industry. The TiMo adds RDM and transmission capabilities to the CRMX chip, and it's pricing and small form factor make it standout in entertainment lighting."

The winner of the 2014 PLASA Awards for Innovation Gold Award was:

LumenRadio CRMX Chip -- The judges said: "If ever there was a game changer, this is it. The low price point and incredibly small dimensions mean that there is now no excuse for not making wireless DMX a standard feature of every lighting product that uses DMX. The only option now should be whether the application calls for copper or air, not whether a light has the in-built option. This could be the beginning of Skynet for lighting."

Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's director of events, said: "Due to the level of competition, the judging of this year's awards has been extremely difficult. The awards have again proven that the entertainment technology industry is abound with innovation and continues to break new ground year after year. I'd like to thank all those who entered and give my congratulations to the winners. After such a high level of innovation this year, we're really looking forward to seeing the entries for next year's awards."