Featuring over 300 brands, with many showing new products and services, a major new initiative for this year sees PLASA Show adopting the successful 'Focus' model of a sector-specific, zoned layout, which will facilitate easier networking and make navigation around the show much easier than in previous years.
By the beginning of September, pre-registration data for PLASA Show 2015 was tracking at 10% up year on year over the past two shows, with 62% of those registered being either final decision makers or equipment specifiers. In addition visitors from 94 countries have pre-registered, against those from 74 countries who attended in 2014.
"When PLASA Show moved to ExCeL in 2013, we understood that there would be a couple of years of 'bedding in', as we fine-tuned the new layout to best suit the industry's needs and exhibitors and visitors accustomed themselves to the new venue and the many opportunities that ExCeL offers," says Christopher Toulmin, director of PLASA Events.
"Having acted on the extensive research undertaken after the 2013 and 2014 shows to find out exactly what our audience wants, we are very pleased that this year's pre-registrations have already shown a significant increase. The fact that we have pre-registered visitors from 20 more countries than last year also demonstrates that PLASA Show is reasserting its position as one of the most important global events for the live entertainment technology industry."
A key part of PLASA Show 2015 is the Professional Development Programme seminars, which offer an unrivalled educational resource and cover a huge variety of highly informative topics, addressing subjects for everyone from the most experienced practitioners through to those just starting in the industry.
Two more key seminars have recently been announced, which will be of particular interest of those involved in the visual art of production.
In a session titled What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Planning the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Eurovision 2016 technical director Ola Melzig and lighting designer Fredrik Jönsson will discuss the challenges of planning the production of the world's biggest televised music event, with a global audience of 200 million, and the way that the technical and creative processes drive each other forward.
In Making Music Look Good Gideon Berger and Stephen Gallagher of Block 9 will discuss their work creating radical stage sets, large-scale immersive artworks, installations and live events, using recent examples including the Dismaland Castle at Banksy's massively successful Dismaland theme park in Weston-super-Mare, Utopia at the Roundhouse, the Block9 area at Glastonbury festival and stage designs for Lana Del Rey and Skrillex.
Until 3 Octobe,r visitors to PLASA Show 2015 can pre-register for £10. On site entry will cost £25. For up-to-the-minute news visit www.plasashow.com, or follow the show on Twitter at @plasashow or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PlasaShow
(Jim Evans)
