Plasa 07 was a very different show this year. I have been making the journey to Earls court for many years and over the last few years the show has had to change to evolve with the industry that funds it. DJ Equipment is one of a long list of sectors within the realms covered by plasa it is one tick box on your registration form which tries to benchmark and your buying intentions. The name PLASA comes from the Professional Lighting and Sound Association. The tagline of the body is that it serves members within the entertainment, event, communication and architectural industries. DJ Equipment fits into the entertainment tag but in terms of the installers only as a small part of this sector. The problem with DJ's and DJ equipment at a trade show is that it is not a trade product in the way that much of the technology at Plasa is. Plasa is increasinly attended by specifiers, consultants, integrators and over the last couple of years an increasing number of DJ's. You can imagine the chat at the coffee bar between a lighting specifer and a bedroom DJ and hence the networking side of a trade show falls to bits.
DJ Equipment it could be argued is a sub-sector of consumer electronics which is over whelmed with showing oppertunities the flagship being the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) show in Las Vegas. This is the one you see on the show each year with Bill gates and Larry Page sharing the stage with apple's latest gadget. The problem with us dj's is that we don't want to be seen as consumers we quite liked the way that we sneaked into a trade show. Consumer shows are full of geeks who like computers and gadgets not artists who like computers and gadgets.
The other Trade shows around the world have grown in strength over the last few years NAMM in the US and Musikmesse in Frankfurt both began to take the product lanches away from PLASA (Traditionally the show to be at). PLASA tried over the 04/05/06 shows to police the different requirements between the elder statesmen of the show and the out of control DJ stands who always played there music to loud and never closed the door. DJ Sunday was introduced quite informally at first and then it was encouraged. By the time DJ Sunday arrived at the 06 show many "Trade" showgoers were avoiding the Sunday and not attending until during the week so that they could get to speak to the people they needed to. The DJ's had competitions to go to seminars to see and a great deal of celebrities and girls goody-bags to fawn over. The problem for the manufacturers and the dj's is that the show was still a consumer show within a much bigger trade show. Trade shows cost lots of money for the exhibitors and Plasa a 4 day show in central London is no exception. For the DJ manufacturers a 4 day show with DJ's only there for one day (in any force) does not really make sense. For the DJ's aswell one mad day with everyone climbing over everyone else to try and get a look at the latest bit of kit cannot make much sense.
This year 's BPM show should give the manufacturers and DJ's more of what they are looking for. The wide scope of the show but focussed within the DJ Equipment industry will make the show much more of a event that DJ's can make an essential part of there diary in order to improve there business.
DJ Equipment will always be on show at PLASA as many of the manufacturers product ranges cover various sectors of the industry. The likes of Allen and Heath who have Installation Mixers, DJ Mixers and Pro Audio mIxers will always have new products to show at a hopefully reinvented PLASA Show. With my intergrator, specifyer hat on at the show I must say that lots of small things made this a nicer show and allowed us all to do a lot of good business at the show which is at the end of the day the point of a trade show. Hopefully the BPM show will be a sucess for the DJ Equipment sector and provide a real showcase for our small niche.
DJ Equipment it could be argued is a sub-sector of consumer electronics which is over whelmed with showing oppertunities the flagship being the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) show in Las Vegas. This is the one you see on the show each year with Bill gates and Larry Page sharing the stage with apple's latest gadget. The problem with us dj's is that we don't want to be seen as consumers we quite liked the way that we sneaked into a trade show. Consumer shows are full of geeks who like computers and gadgets not artists who like computers and gadgets.
The other Trade shows around the world have grown in strength over the last few years NAMM in the US and Musikmesse in Frankfurt both began to take the product lanches away from PLASA (Traditionally the show to be at). PLASA tried over the 04/05/06 shows to police the different requirements between the elder statesmen of the show and the out of control DJ stands who always played there music to loud and never closed the door. DJ Sunday was introduced quite informally at first and then it was encouraged. By the time DJ Sunday arrived at the 06 show many "Trade" showgoers were avoiding the Sunday and not attending until during the week so that they could get to speak to the people they needed to. The DJ's had competitions to go to seminars to see and a great deal of celebrities and girls goody-bags to fawn over. The problem for the manufacturers and the dj's is that the show was still a consumer show within a much bigger trade show. Trade shows cost lots of money for the exhibitors and Plasa a 4 day show in central London is no exception. For the DJ manufacturers a 4 day show with DJ's only there for one day (in any force) does not really make sense. For the DJ's aswell one mad day with everyone climbing over everyone else to try and get a look at the latest bit of kit cannot make much sense.
This year 's BPM show should give the manufacturers and DJ's more of what they are looking for. The wide scope of the show but focussed within the DJ Equipment industry will make the show much more of a event that DJ's can make an essential part of there diary in order to improve there business.
DJ Equipment will always be on show at PLASA as many of the manufacturers product ranges cover various sectors of the industry. The likes of Allen and Heath who have Installation Mixers, DJ Mixers and Pro Audio mIxers will always have new products to show at a hopefully reinvented PLASA Show. With my intergrator, specifyer hat on at the show I must say that lots of small things made this a nicer show and allowed us all to do a lot of good business at the show which is at the end of the day the point of a trade show. Hopefully the BPM show will be a sucess for the DJ Equipment sector and provide a real showcase for our small niche.
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