PLASA Elections Follow Appointment of New Chair and Board Members

	Adam Blaxill, Stage Electrics

PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, announces changes to its elected board including the appointment of Adam Blaxill as the new chair.

Blaxill originally joined the PLASA board as the professional services representative in 2012 and was elected as vice chair in 2014. He has been voted as the new chair of PLASA through a simple majority vote.

As a director of Stage Electrics -- one of the UK's leading integrators and suppliers for entertainment technology -- Blaxill's far-reaching expertise includes hire, sales, events, and installation, as well as testing and servicing operations at regional and national levels.

Blaxill takes over from Ed Pagett who has served as chair for an extended seven years. During this time Pagett oversaw the demerger with ESTA with the support of an executive committee which included Blaxill as vice-chair and Martin Hawthorn as treasurer. This valuable work enabled the survival and growth of PLASA.

Pagett will continue to serve as a non-executive director, contributing his extensive knowledge and expertise to advise and support the association as it continues its work in the industry.

Peter Heath, managing director of PLASA, says, "We are very much looking forward to having Adam as our chair and have faith in his knowledge and guidance. I would like to extend my thanks to Ed, who has been an extremely valuable chair since 2011 -- we are delighted he will continue to work with us in his new role as non-executive director.

"PLASA has gone from strength to strength in recent years. We have made internal changes to ensure teams are all working from one location, as well as an incredibly successful 2017 for the PLASA Show, Focus shows, LSi and LSA magazines. The elected board continues to be a vital voice as the association moves forward."

Other changes to the board include Martin Hawthorn of Hawthorn who has now become vice-chair after serving as treasurer since 2010, and Mark Surtees of Outback Rigging moves to the role of treasurer after previously serving as the production services representative.

There are three positions available in the forthcoming elections on the PLASA membership governing body: production services representative, professional services representative, and rental company representative. Members are invited to put themselves forward for these roles which commence after the elections until December 2020. Interested parties should get in touch with membership@plasa.org.

The elected members of the PLASA board represent the interests of the members, advise on budgets and policies, monitor targets and resources, act as ambassadors for the organization, and safeguard the future developments of PLASA.