The PLASA Awards for Innovation
The PLASA Show is one of the major international launch-pads for new products and its prestigious awards programme, The PLASA Awards for Innovation, highlights and rewards the products which our expert judges believe have a special claim to the word 'Innovation'.
Our judging team is made up of independent, respected industry experts, specialising in all areas of audio, AV, video, lighting, technical production, rigging and staging. They have eight Awards for Innovation at their disposal, with the added option of making one or more of these a 'Gold' Award - for products which stand out above the rest.
The judges are asked to look for product which a) demonstrates a new style of thinking, b) improves technical practice, c) introduces new technology, new materials or new techniques, d) includes patents or unique intellectual property, or e) improves safety.
The PLASA Award for Sustainability
In addition to eight Awards for Innovation, the judges can also choose to give the PLASA Award for Sustainability. This award is to recognise products which can claim a) significant reduction of power usage for its product type/application, b) effective use of renewable energy sources, or c) significant reduction of environmental impact of product lifecycle.
How does it Work?
All entries to the PLASA Awards for Innovation are vetted by the chairman of judges: this year, that role will be filled by LSi's technical editor, Richard Cadena. Once he is satisfied they have a claim to 'innovation' according to the stated criteria, they are allowed through to the long-list of nominees.
Before the show, the judges have access to preliminary information about the product, including the nominee's answers to a series of questions designed to discover the details of the product's innovative qualities.
On Day One of the PLASA Show, each nominee will make a 5-minute presentation to one of the judges' teams. This presentation is recorded by a film crew and will be made available online after the show.
On Day Two of the PLASA Show, the judges decide amongst themselves which of the products they have seen have the strongest claim to innovation, according to the stated criteria. The winners are announced and the Awards presented at 6pm on the show floor.
Exhibitors interested in entering the awards, read on...
Benefits of Participating
- Your product will receive an awards–related profile in the pre–show issues of Lighting&Sound International and Lighting&Sound America magazines, as well as online at the LSi and LSA websites, and on the PLASA 2012 website.
- All approved products are displayed at the Innovation Gallery, a major show feature at the entrance to Earls Court 2. This dramatically raises your profile at the show itself, and the Gallery is heavily featured in show photography, on YouTube, Facebook and other social media during and after the event.
Benefits of Winning
- The winners are announced on stage at the Awards Ceremony, which takes place on the evening of Monday 10 September during the show. Winners are photographed receiving the award on stage and photographs will be made available to the international trade press the following day.
- Following the Awards Ceremony, a press release detailing the winners of the PLASA Awards for Innovation will be issued by PLASA to their press contacts worldwide. Winners are announced online on the morning of Tuesday 11 September, with coverage in the trade press, on the PLASA 2012 website and PLASA publications, dramatically increasing the attention on your product in the remaining two days of the show.
- Copies of the photographs from the Awards Ceremony will be made available to you immediately following the show.
- Your winning product will be highlighted by both Lighting&Sound International and Lighting&Sound America in their post-show editions.
- Winners will receive 'Winner of the PLASA Awards for Innovation' artwork to help promote the industry's recognition of your product in your post–show marketing. You will also be provided with professional images of your Awards Trophy, along with official graphics.
How to enter
To enter the 2012 PLASA Awards for Innovation, please complete this simple form below. We will then contact you to complete your nomination.
For more information, please view our Rules of Entry.
Entry Fees
The cost of entering the PLASA Awards for Innovation is £400 per product. Of this, £200 will go to charity*, while the remainder is used to cover judges' expenses and the cost of the film crews**.
A 13A mains supply is available on the Innovation Gallery for products requiring power. There is an additional £50 fee for power.
*To date, PLASA has donated around £140,000 to charities from money raised by the Awards for Innovation.
**Please remember, PLASA does not profit from the Awards for Innovation: the cost of the Innovation Gallery alone far outweighs any revenue from Awards entries.
Dates
To be considered for the 2012 PLASA Awards for Innovation & the PLASA 2012 Sustainability Award, you must complete your full entry, with all information requested, by Friday 31 August 2012 at the latest.
Please note that if you want to benefit from inclusion in the PLASA Show Preview issues of LSi and LSA magazines, your entry must be completed by Friday 3 August 2012 at the latest.
Testimonials
"When the masses shout that their product is revolutionary, ground-breaking or innovative you can trust the PLASA Awards for Innovation to highlight true innovation and give credibility to manufacturer claims. There are few mechanisms which sufficiently acknowledge the immense amount of research and development efforts made by companies creating products that are real innovative solutions to real issues. With a respected judging panel and comprehensive judging process, winning a Gold Award raises awareness of exceptional products to industry peers and veterans alike. It is also a proud achievement, valued by everyone involved in the company."
Peter James, Managing Director Shure Distribution UK
"The tag 'PLASA Award Winner' is arguably the most important accolade in our industry. Every time we nominate a product we are hopeful, but also we wholeheartedly expect to win! We wouldn't enter if we thought otherwise. We were of course thrilled to have won for the MAC Aura last year. We were already having a good show with a lot of interest in it, but when we won the award it seemed to boost its profile even further, indeed the whole atmosphere of our stand was raised to a new level. A party broke out! And the Aura really hasn't looked back. We have now sold over 11000 units in a short five months since the show and certainly the tag of 'PLASA award winner' has been a benefit."
Larry Beck, Martin Professional
"Everyone knows the PLASA Awards for Innovation and to be a recipient is an honour. The added bonus is that it puts us on the map within the industry and acknowledges us as a recognised industry force producing quality products that our clients want. Internally, it is an encouragement to our engineers to see their work recognised and a great boost to the team."
Lionel Garraud of Chromlech
"Yes, we definitely had more attendance thanks to the Innovation Gallery. A lot of visitors started the conversation with 'I've seen your product at the Innovation Gallery'. After we won the award, they said: 'We wanted to see the award-winning product'. Generally all the team, including the distributor network, has been extra motivated by this Award."
Silvio Cibien of ELC
