News & Notices
PLASA Election Results, Award Winners
PLASA recently announced the results of elections for its European and North American regional boards and central governing body as well as the winners of several awards.
Four positions were up for election on the North American Regional Board with Eddie Raymond of IATSE Local 16 elected for his second term as chair; Fred Mikeska of A.C Lighting Inc. and Brian Lawlor of IATSE taking the distributor and organizational representative positions respectively; and Dana Taylor joining the board as the individual representative.
On the European Regional Board, Adam Blaxill of Stage Electrics was elected vice-chair, and Duncan Bell of Autograph Sound Ltd, was elected secretary. Lee Dennison of Sound by Design Ltd is the new professional services representative, and Matt Lloyd of Global Design Solutions Ltd was voted in as the manufacturer representative.
Steve Terry of Electronic Theatre Controls, successfully retained his position for the single at-large position for the Governing Body.
All the candidates will begin three-year terms on January 1.
PLASA presented its highest honor, the Eva Swan Award, to Rocky Paulson November 21 at its annual Cocktails and Awards Reception. The Swan Award is presented to a member who has put forth exceptional efforts in time, expertise, and personal resources on behalf of PLASA; been instrumental in shaping and promoting the strategic direction of the association; made major contributions to the realization of the mission, goals, and objectives; and enhanced the value of membership for all.
Mr. Paulson was one of the first members of the Technical Standards Program as well as one of the early supporters of what has developed into the ETCP. He was one of the first members of the Rigging Working Group and authored the first draft of PLASA’s first American National Standard E1.1 for wire rope ladders. He remains a member of the Working Group where his continued participation in the development of rigging standards has been invaluable.
In 1999 Mr. Paulson’s became an original member of the ESTA Certification Program Committee and then the ETCP Certification Council. He was one of the original co-chairs of the Rigging Skills Working Group and co-chair of the original Rigging Subject Matter experts.
Paul Rabinovitz was honored for his work with the Business Peer Group Program, and the members of the Technical Standards Program’s E1.21 Task Group were presented PLASA’s 2013 Frank Stewart Volunteer of the Year Award November 23. The award was created to honor Mr. Stewart’s unrivalled service to ESTA during the 18 years he served as its treasurer.
The sixth annual Rock Our World Awards were presented at the PLASA Cocktails and Awards Reception November 21. These awards, which recognize ground-breaking achievement by PLASA members were created to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designer or integrator who applies the technology in a real world environment.
The winners were GBLOCK from Gallagher Staging and Productions, Inc.; Royal Opera House Muscat recognizing Theatre Projects Consultants; and The Olympics Opening Ceremonies.
This year, for the first time, the judges decided to award an honorable mention for the TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker from OutBoard.
