This year’s Prolight + Sound Guangzhou (PLSG) concluded its largest edition with a record breaking increase in visitors and exhibitors. Held from 16 – 19 May in Areas A & B of the China Import and Export Fair Complex, 82,740 visitors and industry peers were happy to once again gather at the physical fair to make face-to-face business connections and discover the latest products and innovations in 15 thematic halls and three newly introduced “Immersive Experience Zones”.
Both exhibitors and buyers benefitted from the newly launched “PLSG21: Live and Online” digital platform which ran in tandem with the physical fair to create business opportunities both online and at the fairground in Guangzhou. As part of the initiative, the organisers cooperated with renowned industry media HC360.com and Mega Stage to provide live coverage of the exhibition including seminars, onsite activities and interviews with company representatives.
The PLSG Annual Training Course continued its successful run and this year’s fringe programme had something in store for visitors from all corners of the industry. With seminar and training themes aligned and located according to the hall arrangements, visitors could source, create business connections and learn about the latest technical trends with ease.
Many new topics and applications were covered this year, including AVoIP, conferencing systems, Dante networking technology, Depence² application, lighting control, lighting design, live event planning and live sound systems, just to name a few.
Unfortunately this year our international network could not be present at the show with its team, as we did in the last years, but on day three LightSoundJournal.com had the chance to make two online interviews, in order to get a personal feedback on PLSG2021.
The first with Ms Judy Cheung, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt HK Ltd:
LSJ.com: How is the physical part of the fair going?
Judy Cheung: Today is day three here, and we see so many happy faces, happy people, exhibitors and visitors. The fairground is packed and everything is really well set and going. We have a record high number of 1386 exhibitors standing over 150.000 square meters. Both of them are record high numbers.
LSJ.com: That means that everything is fine in the Ghoungzou area regarding the pandemic?
Judy Cheung: We have done many different things here. Before entering into the fairground we have a temperature checkpoint, during the registration part you have to keep one meter distance between people and we have also set up many sanitizing spots with equipment to clean your hands and everything that’s needed to keep the risk as low as possible.
LSJ.com: Everyone has to wear masks…
Judy Cheung: Yes for sure, and if you don’t have one there will be people pointing at you! I think people are starting to get used to it wearing a mask. Also we have a lot of people that are already vaccinated with two shots.
LSJ.com: That means the asian market responded well? What are the prospects for the restart?
Judy Cheung: I think the industry is well prepared for the recovery. People are so eager to go out and having a normal life again, maybe just to go out and have a beer and all that. Over a year people have been working from home and now they are used to products for live streaming, conference systems, media systems. So we have a very good prospect here in Asia and I believe this is going to be a trend. People learned to do business from home and this is one positive thing when speaking about the pandemic.
LSJ.com: Talking about the fair, is there an increase in the world of integrated systems compared to the pure entertainment sector?
Judy Cheung: Yes. We have a good rise of the number of integration products here. Of course there are all the others audio products, but there is a notable sign of an increase for all integrated systems products. We actually introduced the digitalization idea since 2018, so we are are really happy about what we have achieved this year. We have brands like Hikvision and Logitech exhibiting here for the first time.
LSJ.com: What about the presence of occidental brands?
Judy Cheung: We have companies like Alcons, Allen&Heath, Coda Audio, Avid, EAW, QSC, RCF, IP Technology, Shure, d&b audiotechnik, Sennheiser and many more…so they are all here.
LSJ.com: Could you speak about the PLSG Annual Training courses?
Judy Cheung: Under the theme “Next Level for Audio and Visual” we have one very interesting course that is “Immersive Audio Explained”, held by Mr Xiang Ji, Senior Director of Marketing, EZPro. Other conference topics are “Application of Distributed Structure in Command Centre and Conference System”, and others that speaks about emerging technologies ad digital innovations that are driving the entertainment and AV industries. I would say that immersive audio with interactive elements is a big trend.
LSJ.com: Can you give us first impressions regarding the online business matching and appointment making service?
Judy Cheung: We have these implements live and online programmed into the show. The offering is a combination of live show and online platform. The exhibitors who are present can have an online showroom, where visitors can see the products before coming to the fairground. We have broadcast interviews with exhibitors and we offer interpretation for them. So this will help the people to comunicate with each other.
LSJ.com: What do you see in the future?
Judy Cheung: We are already working for the next edition. Next year is our 20thanniversary, so please try your best to join us! With the experience and technology we could improve this year we sure have ideas how to make next year’s edition even better.
We also could speak with a representative of Golden Sea (Guangzhou Haoyang Electronic Co Ltd), a company that focuses on the professional stage, television, theatre and architectural lighting markets, combining R&D, manufacturing, sales, service, creative and systems integration competencies.
LSJ.com: What are you presenting this year in the entertainment, architectural and sanitation fields?
Golden Sea (Guangzhou Haoyang Electronic Co Ltd): As for entertainment area in TERBLY brand, we explored the new light engine product with Laser and LED source. At this show we launch our GLZ300IP which is an IP66 moving beam applying new laser 260W , with this engine and our unique optical design it can create sharp and penetrating beam effect and light engine life is similar to LEDs, it can be suitable for ourdoor fix installation and touring events.
For GS ARC brand, we show the 5 families , REC, DOT, POT, VIC, PIX, including the LED flood, graze,pixel and inground wash IP rated from IP65 to IP68;
As for the Sanitation fields, in Goldensea UV brand, we bring with the UV air Purifier UVAIR216 and UVAIR300-F, which is based on the UVC technology and proven by CE ETL and Germany authoritative laboratory.They can protect users from virus and bacterias, especially during the pandemic and post-pandemic times.
LSJ.com: How did you face the crisis in the entertainment sector?
Golden Sea: During the crisis, the major impact to entertainment business is limitation of gathering, so rental business was the first to be affected. With its strong R&D team, Golden Sea introduce s SMART series with its focus shift to outdoor tourism and fix installation market area.
LSJ.com: Are you veering into new markets and applications?
Golden Sea: Instead of saying” veering” that, we are expanding market in city lighting, cultural tourism activities and sanitation fields.
LSJ.com: How is the distribution of your products structured in the West?
Golden Sea: We mainly co-operate with our strategic partners and distributors in the West.
LSJ.com: Speaking about entertainment, what are the strengths of your products from a qualitative and economic point of view?
Golden Sea: Our entertainment lights feature in high reliability with high standards of performance but they significantly save after-sale cost as our all-in-house design and complete set of service. Have considered a whole application system, so it is quite reasonable and economic with high value for customers who pursue long-term benefits.
You can find more infos about this year’s show and other feedbacks from participants HERE.
Info:
www.prolightsound-guangzhou.com
www.messefrankfurt.com