An odd one this, at least in so far as its timing, which sees the show at its bustling best just as this very page you are reading makes its way through the printing machine. Less than ideal from a reporter’s point of view, but then the benefit of hindsight in this case would surely confirm what we all expect: a winner.

The formula speaks for itself really – an already highly successful trade show, acquired by the organiser of what is by far the largest and most attended lighting and sound event in the UK.

AC Lighting sold its eight year-old trade show to PLASA back in September 2007, having established it as the premier north British event of its kind. This suited both companies well – it allowed PLASA to initiate the first of a planned series of regional events and AC to focus on its growing business activities. Both rightly agreed that the entertainment, event and production industries in the north should have a single industry-led event and, well, once PLASA had its sights set on a northern show…

AC North 2008 was the last trade show organised under that name, as PLASA got to work creating a successive event that would ‘take the look and feel of the latter as its basis and see an expansion and development in many areas, including exhibitor space and seminar sessions, alongside partnerships with regional organisations’.

By December last year, PLASA was reporting that over 75 per cent of AC Lighting North exhibitors had already committed to the new event, and there had been ‘numerous expressions of interest from manufacturers and distributors who had not previously been in a position to take advantage’ of the show.

Then, by February this year, almost 95 per cent of exhibitor floor space was sold, even after the event had grown to fill two halls at the Royal Armouries in Leeds and pre-registration figures had broken all previous records. Exhibitors include the likes of Martin Audio, Shure, EAW, Neutrik, Yamaha, Sennhesier, A&H and Alcons, backed up by a comprehensive two-day educational seminar programme.

For audio pros, the highlight of the inaugural schedule is sure to be Surrounded by Sound, in which Steve Brown from the Royal Exchange Theatre gives an overview of the demands on sound design and the need for a conceptual, rather than technical approach to the discipline. How can the role of the sound designer be developed away from a purely technical pursuit? And what are organisations such as OISTAT and the Royal Exchange Theatre Company doing to promote a more creative approach to sound design?
plasafocus.com