The Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) is a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

headquartered in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Its membership is made up of companies involved with the events and entertainments technology sector.

History

PLASA was originally known as the British Association of Discothèque Equipment Manufacturers (BADEM), a name used between 1976 and 1983. In 2010 PLASA merged with the Entertainment Services and Technology Association. and demerged in 2015. John Simpson, the PLASA Governing Body Chair at the time, said "This has been a difficult period for PLASA but it is also an opportunity for us to refocus. PLASA has a chance to reassess its role in this industry, its relationships and communications with its members, and the future directions of its commercial activities." Also during this tim
PLASA Show
was relocated to Earls Court and CEO Matthew Griffiths left his post. Peter Heath took the role of CEO in April of 2016. In the same year PLASA Show move back to the West London venue London Olympia. Since then, PLASA Show has steadily regained popularity with the 2018 edition of the show being the “busiest and most vibrant show in recent history”.

Activities

PLASA's activities include

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, whic ...

, organising trade show events (including the

PLASA Show The PLASA Show is an annual trade show hosted at Olympia and organised by the Professional Lighting and Sound Association. The show was formerly held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre and between 2013 and 2015 at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre ...

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

both technical and industry news products (such as Lighting & Sound International and Lighting & Sound America), developing industry

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

and developing industry certification schemes. PLASA performed lobbying of

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

and other

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

entities in the late 2000s when users of radio microphones and similar devices complained that their equipment would be rendered unusable as a result of proposed plans to auction the

radio spectrum The radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies from 0 Hz to 3,000 GHz (3 THz). Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range, called radio waves, are widely used in modern technology, particul ...

utilised by many of such devices as part of the digital television switchover. After merging with ESTA, PLASA took on the role of maintaining the industry standards for

DMX512 DMX512 is a standard for digital communication networks that are commonly used to control lighting and effects. It was originally intended as a standardized method for controlling stage lighting dimmers, which, prior to DMX512, had employe ...

and RDM. PLASA have also been responsible for the development of a UK National Rigging Certificate, which launched in 2007 for individuals working in the entertainments rigging industry.{{cite web, title=The PLASA National Rigging Certificate (NRC), url=http://www.ukrigging.net/trainingplasa.php, work=UK Rigging Website, publisher=UK Rigging, access-date=16 May 2013, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121121004730/http://www.ukrigging.net/trainingplasa.php, archive-date=21 November 2012, url-status=dead Each year, PLASA hands out PLASA Awards for Innovation and Sustainability Award. The PLASA Awards for Innovation aim to emphasise this focus on true innovation. The procedure ensures that all nominated products are vetted to show that they offer something new to the industry. PLASA has been a part of the European Ecodesign Coalition which includes prominent industry bodies from across Europe. The purpose of the coalition has been to campaign against Ecodesign lighting regulations and propose exemptions for stage lighting. In 2018 PLASA collaborated with Hamish Dumbreck of JESE Ltd, Peter Willis of Howard Eaton Lighting and Wayne Howell of Artistic Licence to present Plugfest, a three-day residential event in Gatwick, UK for lighting technicians and developers to test the interoperability of their products. This event returns in 2019 taking place in Lille, France.

References

External links

plasa.org

esta.org

plasashow.com

estafoundation.org
1976 establishments in the United Kingdom Audio engineering Eastbourne Lighting Organisations based in East Sussex Organizations established in 1976 Trade associations based in the United Kingdom

History

Activities

See also

References

External links