The spring trade show season has been very busy indeed. Previous issues of Lighting Dimensions have reported from SIB in Rimini, Italy, and NAB in Las Vegas, but several other shows followed quickly upon them. Here's a brief look at three of them.
Lightfair International 2000, held at New York's Jacob Javits Center May 8-11, announced record-breaking numbers all around, with 18,600 registered attendees, and more than 400 exhibitors in over 1,000 booths. All the usual suspects were there, along with an ever-growing number of companies more traditionally associated with entertainment lighting, further proof of the power of the convergence economy in the entertainment and architecture industries.
At Lightfair, several product awards were handed out. Best New Product of the Year went to the Style F5305, by Elliptipar. The Design Excellence Award was given to the Aria(TM) by Zumtobel Staff Lighting. Winner of the Technical Innovation Award was the SuperDim(TM) Digital with Address Pro(TM), by Energy Savings. The same company also won the Energy Award, with the Selective Switching Tree + Four Lamp T8 Ballast. The Judges' Citation Award was handed out to the AE 565 Architectural Daylighting Course by Penn State University, and the Roeder Award went to the MiniMAC by Martin Professional (See "Martin shorts," page 29).
Meanwhile, down in Miami Beach, ExpoLatina offered another lineup of performance and production technology for the Latin American market. The show was sponsored by a number of Intertec publications, including Lighting Dimensions, Entertainment Design, Mix, S&VC, as well as the industry organization ESTA, with additional support from NSCA, Lume, and TV & Video LatinoAmerica magazines. Although smaller than last year, ExpoLatina still featured a number of interesting events, including a session of Martin University, the NSCA's workshop Technical Fundamentals of Audio, and a location-based entertainment design charrette. Sound sessions included Multi-Channel Loudspeaker Systems for Theatrical Applications, Practical Applications for Microphones, and Riding the Current: Getting the Best Live Mix. On the lighting side, sessions included Industry-Wide Standards, Lighting Technology Overview, Moving Lights for Television, Themed Entertainment Overview, Meeting the Technical Challenge, plus New Gobos, New Colors, and New Lighting Techniques for Stage and Television. Look for ExpoLatina to be incorporated into LDI2001 in Orlando, with Spanish-language sessions and a networking event.
At press time, the last and farthest-flung of the exhibitions our exclusive web coverage will focus on, PLASA Shanghai, was in full swing at the Intex Centre. The third edition of the show, held June 7-9, brings together Chinese and international manufacturers of lighting and sound equipment. Among the familiar companies scheduled to be on display were Avolites, Robert Juliat, LCI, DHA, Light Processor, Martin Professional, and Dynalite.
Read more about these trade shows at www.etecnyc.net.