PLASA Awards for Innovation Update: The Winners React

Now that the PLASA Show in London is over, many of the winners of PLASA Awards for Innovation have offered comments about their products and the experience of being honored.

Elation Professional was cited for the Sniper, about which 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 sidesteps the issue of laser regulations by simulating laser effects without actually using a laser source. Its small size is an added bonus and it's priced affordably."

Eric Loader, Elation's sales director, commented, "This only adds to the anticipation and excitement we have had in the Sniper from the moment we turned on the first prototype. PLASA was a very positive show for us and has continued the momentum. The Sniper is a very unique product that lighting designers are discovering can offer something new and the PLASA award is really an endorsement of that."

Clay Paky debuted a trio of new products, using the headline "The projectors are here." Winning an award for innovation was Mythos, about which 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." The last line is a reference to Pasquale Quadri, "Paky" to the industry, who passed away in August.

On winning the award, Pio Nahum, Clay Paky's new CEO, said, "Clay Paky's mission is to inspire the world's most creative designers. We aim to enable them to produce their own evocative and dramatic lighting environments using our forward-looking lighting technology. We are therefore immensely proud that this prestigious award has recognized one of our latest fixtures as such a tool."

The DMXdim Series 3 four-channel dimmer, from RC4 Wireless, was also an award winner. The judges said, "The product uses clever technologies to pack a variety of useful features into 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!'"

James David Smith, president and chief product designer at RC4 Wireless, said, "What I did for several years was think -- about what people need now and will need in the future. I drew block diagrams and scribbled cryptic charts. Then, for the past two years, I routed every copper trace on every circuit board, wrote every line of code, tested every feature and function, and revisited and reworked almost all of it. Today it works, and it works well. Thank you, PLASA, for recognizing our efforts at RC4 to make things better, smaller, more versatile, and more useful."

Lots of functionality in a tiny package is the hallmark of LumenRadio's CRMXchip, about which the judges said, "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."

Niclas Norlen, CTO and co-founder of LumenRadio, commented, "This is an honor that nobody on the team expected. We pride ourselves on pushing technology further and we knew that CRMXchip was a leap forward -- to be recognized once again as innovators proves that it really is about innovation, not imitation! The only question we have now internally is -- how do we win again next year? I can tell you already we have a few ideas coming... watch this space!"

CRMXchip wasn't the only honor for LumenRadio on the night, which also received an honorable mention for CRMX TiMo. According to the judges, "TiMo is an implementation of the CRMXchip, both of which will have a profound impact on our industry. TiMo adds RDM and transmission capabilities to the CRMXchip, and it's pricing and small form factor make it standout in entertainment lighting."

Next year's PLASA Show will take place October 5-7 at the ExCeL Center in London.