PLASA Show Returns to Olympia with a Buzz The 41st edition of PLASA Show -- the worldwide event for live entertainment technologies (September 16 - 18) -- opened the doors of London Olympia yesterday morning along with platinum sponsor Robe, silver sponsor Infinity, and Hawthorn as technical sponsor. The atmosphere is tangible as exhibitors and visitors waste no time in browsing new products and discussing industry trends. 200+ brands are present representing each sector across the live events and entertainment spectrum, and the seminar program is brimming with expert sessions and enlivening talks. Plus, the all new Hands-on Rigging Area and Rigging Theatre are welcoming both aspirational and seasoned riggers. "After months of hard work, the team and I are excited to see PLASA Show 2018 in action", says PLASA managing director Peter Heath. "Many of our industry's leading brands are here with their iconic products and fresh launches, and our program, delivered by hand-picked professionals, will enthral a wider audience than ever before. Whatever you're into, you'll find it at PLASA Show 2018." The show has already seen several UK debuts and revealed brand new products, including the hotly anticipated Super Spikie from Robe -- the bigger, brighter, bolder version of Spikie. This versatile product, ideal for stage, set, or studio, is dazzling visitors with its rich color, powerful zoom, and additional rotating gobo feature. Following on from last year's popular "mirror man" performance, Robe's 2018 stand offers an exclusive viewing platform, creating a unique way to experience their products. L-Acoustics make their return to PLASA Show and London for the first time in many years, armed with their innovative L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology which offers a new way to mix and process audio for extremely natural results. Audiophiles have also been checking out the highly regarded SL-Series from d&b audiotechnik which is a complete package for large scale applications in significantly sized arenas. Furthermore, the Holoplot Orion loudspeaker is achieving extraordinary intelligibility in challenging environments. All of these technologies are in the running for a coveted PLASA Award for Innovation. Chauvet Professional has brought along two new lighting fixtures, both of which are also PLASA Award nominees: the Maverick Storm 1 IP65 rated RGBW Osram LED moving head, and the powerful COLORado Solo Batten. Other PLASA Award nominated lighting products include the Prolights Panorama IP WBX LED moving wash light and Elation Professional's Smarty Hybrid lighting fixture which uses the latest seven-color multi-chip LED technology. Highlight is introducing the newest member to the Odin line array family -- the S-218A Subwoofer which features two 18" Celestion woofers, a 5" voicecoil and 4KW Class D amplifier. Elsewhere, RCF Spa is enjoying a UK debut for the TT 10-A which boasts a high SPL and small footprint. Crowds have been gathering around the popular MA Lighting grandMA3 lighting console which was originally seen in the UK at PLASA Focus Leeds in May. Also, ChamSys have been busy demonstrating their QuickQ console range which offer affordability and ease of control, and Zero 88 is celebrating the runaway success of their FLX S console range. Green Hippo has released their new Hippotizer 4.4 software and are already demonstrating its creative potential and host of new features on the A.C. Entertainment stand. Also, Epson is impressing visitors with their powerful EB-1755U laser projector. The seminar program has back-to-back sessions across five theatres. In the Audio & AV Theatre, Holoplot explore wave field synthesis and Dante are gearing up to present modules from the new Level 3 online training course. Today, audio professionals will be treated to four seminars from Britannia Row. Highlights from the Lighting & Industry Initiatives Theatre include Brilliant Stages' seminar on creating the largest and most complicated video facades in the world; insights from a panel of festival veterans who don't shy away from telling it how it is; and last year's Gottelier Award winner, Wayne Howell who is primed to deliver the latest in lighting controls. The brand-new Rigging, Productions & Structures Theatre is fully loaded with talks from eminent riggers. Ilan Bahar from Eilon Engineering explained Load Monitoring to a focused room of professionals, Scotty Stewart is presenting both Simple Rigging Calculations and Aerial Forces, and Uwe Runtemund is ready to unpack the requirements of the German entertainment industry. The Fast-Track Theatre is welcoming bite-sized sessions including the popular ABTT Technical Standards and Compliance Surgery and Accelerating the Transition to a Circular Economy presented by Unusual Rigging director Tom Harper. In addition to all of the above, the Infinity stand (S60) will feature continuous training on The Chimp 100 and 300 light controllers with product specialists Harald Wolf and Angelo van der Weerden. For more information about the show and to register for days two and three please visit the URL below. 
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