British loudspeaker design pioneer Tony Andrews became the first recipient of the newly-created Gottelier Award, named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the leading designer, innovator, and industry commentator who died in 2006.
The Gottelier Award was inaugurated at PLASA this year to recognize an individual or team who, over the years, has made a significant and sustained contribution to the advancement of entertainment, presentation, or installation technology—whether in audio, lighting, staging, or another related field.
Following nominations from across all sectors, four industry pioneers were shortlisted: Tony Andrews (Funktion One), Richard Belliveau (High End Systems), Adam Bennette (ETC), and Wayne Howell (Artistic Licence). The winner was decided through an open online vote via the PLASA website.
Designed to further emphasize the PLASA Innovation Awards' focus on new ideas and technology, this first Award was given, said PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths, "In recognition of the pioneering work done by Tony Andrews over three decades, which has contributed significantly to advancing people's enjoyment of live music and added to the industry's deeper understanding of loudspeaker design."
Joining Griffiths on stage to present the Award was Tony Gottelier's son, Jonathan, who spoke about how pleased his father would have been to see individuals recognized for their contribution to product development and innovation.
On collecting the award, Andrews was equally eloquent, emphasizing the passion that drives him and adding that, for him, it had never been about "counting the beans," but instead about making life better for people.
The 2007 PLASA Awards for Innovation reflect the ever-more dynamic, diverse, and creative health of the global entertainment and installation technology industries.
The Awards attracted 65 products from 10 different countries this year, covering a broad range of lighting, audio, rigging & staging, AV, effects, software, and accessories and amply reflecting the industry's diversity and global nature.
"The energy, ideas, and innovation that feature at PLASA start from the imaginative minds that make up the industry," said Griffiths. "The talent in this business is formidable, and it's that talent that we're celebrating."
During the presentation ceremony, attended by special guests from across the industry, eight awards were presented. The recipients are as follows:
beyerdynamic (GB) Ltd - Headzone
Beyerdynamic's Headzone is the world's first professional, portable 5.1 surround sound headphone monitoring system and features ultrasonic Headtracking and Binaural Acoustic Modelling. The product will bring more flexibility to content producers, enabling them to create the perfect 5.1 studio.
ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) - Eos
Eos is ETC's most advanced lighting control system, designed to handle complex, multimedia-filled lighting rigs. It allows multiple programmers to work on the same show file, comes with either 8,000 or 4,000 outputs and will provide an excellent user interface for both programmers and designers.
Fuzion plc - Coemar Infinity Wash XL
Coemar's latest moving head is an extremely bright, automated washlight with a revolutionary color mixing system, radical zoom range, and an integrated effects wheel for stunning beams and projection. Its output can be varied from 800W to 1400W via DMX and the patented CMY-S color mixing system produces colors never seen before on a moving head.
Litec Srl - EXE-Lodestar 650C1 + Datalogge
The EXE-Lodestar electric chain hoists, conceived in association with Columbus McKinnon, have independent on-board intelligence that governs and controls operation and safety functions. Control via external console units is optional: EXE-Lodestar is self-sufficient. This is a product that will advance safety in a very neat package.
Marquee Audio - Revolabs Solo Executive
The Revolabs Solo Executive wireless microphone system is a boardroom-friendly, flexible, cost-effective solution to audio conferencing. Available with either four or eight channels, Solo Executive connects seamlessly to a telephone system and other AV conferencing equipment and can be easily managed.
Protonic Software Corp - easyjob 4.0
Easyjob rental and sales management software was developed by rental and staging professionals and is based on the latest Microsoft .NET technology. Its contemporary look and feel makes it easy to learn and navigate a wide variety of features, and there's built-in integration with office programs.
Unusual Rigging - The Revolution Winch
The Revolution winch fits standard 52cm x 52cm truss and travels in conventional flightcases. A comprehensive accessories and diverter kit enables it to be included within truss runs, mothergrids, and truss legs, with the wire leaving the unit at the required angle. The design allows for single or multiple use within truss runs at 3m per second with a 300kg safe working load.
Vertigo Rigging Ltd - Vertex
Billed as 'the only simple to operate, joystick-operated 3D flying system' Vertex is designed and engineered to fly people, cameras, and objects across large areas in realtime without complicated programming. This is a product that is easy to implement and features an intuitive user interface with simple drag-and-drop set-up.