PLASA London is delighted to have secured some of the most informative and interesting speakers it has ever had for this year's show. Particular highlights include Britannia Row's sessions, which take a close look at education and industry in this fast maturing sector and the keynote presentation from Pixar Director of Photography Danielle Feinberg and Adobe's Niels Stevens showing off the very latest developments in their Creative Cloud content creation tools and services.
"After hearing about PLASA for years, I am so thrilled to be taking part this year," says Danielle, who will be looking at the art of lighting and photographing movies and how this translates into animation. "It is a rare and wonderful thing to be in a room full of people that appreciate the immense power of great lighting."
"The traditional training grounds for young people entering the live audio industry are, in the main, a distant memory," explains Britannia Row's Mike Lowe. "Technology has advanced to such an extent that it can't be learned solely on the job. Audience expectations of audio quality are forever on the increase and budgets determine that there is usually only room for technicians and engineers who know what they are doing.
"The 'pioneer' generation of live engineers and technicians is reaching retirement age and the requirement for live audio continuing to increase, but most available live audio training or education comes either as a minor adjunct attached to studio engineering, music tech courses with content that is insufficient to turn out live sound professionals, or in the form of manufacturer's training which is not holistic and therefore doesn't join up the dots.
"Effective training of live audio and the creation and application of standards is the one of the next frontiers in the continuing development of our niche industry. We're coming to PLASA to spread the word, to listen to others and to engage on a subject that has always been close to our hearts, but is now one that we now see as essential."
PLASA is also working closely with a number of industry trade organisations including the ALD, BECTU, ABTT and SiPA. "The trade organisations' sessions include a look at technical standards for places of entertainment, the work of a lighting designer on a budget and tax essentials for freelancers," adds PLASA Events' content manager Sophie Atkinson. "These are all extremely useful topics and will be well worth taking time away from the tradeshow floor for."
(Lee Baldock)
