ESTA Awards At LDI

ESTA (the Entertainment Services and Technology Association) presented several awards at LDI during its annual dinner on October 23 in Las Vegas. The 2008 Eva Swan Award was presented to Tim Hansen for his exceptional service to the association over many years. The award was presented by 2005 Swan recipient, Wally Blount, who had worked closely with Hansen in several areas, including the development of the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP). The 2008 Frank Stewart Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to two committees this year: the ESTA Membership Committee and the Behind the Scenes Application for Assistance Review Committee.

In addition, the first annual Rock Our World Awards were presented at the dinner, recognizing groundbreaking achievement by ESTA members in new products, product applications, or projects. The judges, previously not announced, were Rick Baxter, Ken Billington, Cory FitzGerald, Elaine J. McCarthy, Rocky Paulson, and Bruce Rodgers, who all served on a panel chaired by Mike Wood. The winners were:

Carallon Limited for the Pharos LPC X as used in the “Cloud” sculpture in Heathrow Terminal Five

Element Labs, Inc. for the Versa RAY Screen as used at the 15th Asian Games in Doha

Pyrotek Special Effects Inc. for the Aqua Visual FX Water Screen

The first annual Members' Choice Awards were presented on Saturday during LDI at the LDI and ESTA Awards Ceremony in three categories: Expendable, Widget, and Equipment. Voting on these awards was open to all employees of ESTA member companies who attended the LDI show. The 2008 winners were:

Expendable Category: BTH Lamp from OSRAM Sylvania

Widget Category (tie): Lex 3 Phase 3Fer from Lex Products and Gel Swatch Library for iPhone from Wybron, Inc.

Equipment Category: Firefly® Energy Series 5-Channel LED Illuminated Cable.