All information about the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD
SHOWTECH
PRODUCT AWARD 2023
Technology · Sustainability · Light/Sound/MEDIA
The SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD was presented on June 6, 2023 in the three categories TECHNOLOGY (stage technology), (Sustainability & Energy Efficiency) and LIGHT/SOUND/MEDIA (Light/Sound/Media). The winners were outstanding new products for the stage from exhibitors of SHOWTECH 2023. You can view all submissions here look at. The winners are:
- Technology category: “Liberty Switch” by Harlequin Germany
- Category Light/Sound/Media: “PANTHEA t5 Spectitular“ by Panthea
- Category Sustainability & Audience Award: “Sustainability Project: Recycling of Dance Floors and Projection Screens” by Gerriets
The independent, international jury made a preliminary selection in advance of the trade fair, from which the best products were ultimately chosen. In addition to the jury's choice, the trade audience also had the opportunity to rate the nominated products during the trade fair in Berlin. The product with the most ratings received the audience award. The winners received a certificate and the "Golden Theater Drill" as an award. Congratulations!
The jury
Ilka Licht
Technical Director of the Nationaltheatret Norway in Oslo
Mikko Pirinen
Head of the Live Performance Technology program at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki
Umberto Bellodi
Head of the Department of Performing Arts at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan
Chris van Goethem
Researcher and lecturer in theatre technology and history at the RITCS School of Arts in Brussels
Prof. Stephan Rolfes
Professor for Machine Elements and Design Exercises at the University of Applied Sciences for Technology and Economics in Berlin
Ilka Licht has been living and working in Norway for seven years: She was recruited by the National Theater in Oslo to head the workshops there and has now been the National Theater's technical director for five years. Before that, she was the main project manager for Studio Hamburg's theater, musical, opera and general stage projects and traveled all over the world in this position. Trained as a civil engineer, circus artist and master of event technology, she is always inquisitive, curious and open to innovations and changes to make our working world more exciting, better and safer.
Mikko Pirinen is head of the Live Performance Technology program at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki. He has been developing and coordinating higher education and vocational training programs in the field of technical theater and event technology for fifteen years. He started as a sound and lighting technician in the 1990s, graduated with a Master's degree in lighting design and has worked in a wide range of roles in the field of events and the performing arts.
Umberto Bellodi was born in 1977 and has been working in the cultural sector since 1996. He currently coordinates the Performing Arts Department of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan and advises the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels as an expert. He also works at regional and municipal level, managing cultural organizations in southern Lombardy.
Chris van Goethem is a researcher and lecturer in theatre technology and history at the Belgian Erasmus University RITCS School of Arts in Brussels. On the one hand, he works in the field of knowledge management, capacity building and organisation of university education programmes, and on the other hand, he researches the history of technical theatre. Van Goethem is the author of "belichtingstechniek voor podiumtechnici" (Lighting technology for stage technicians) and "Basic safety for the theatre and event industry" (ETTE). He is a long-standing member of OISTAT and active in committees for education and research. He is also a member of the board of STEPP, the Belgian professional association of stage technicians.
Stephan Rolfes is a professor for machine elements and design exercises at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Event Technology and Process Engineering. He is also a study advisor in the Department of Theater and Event Technology and Management. Rolfes also runs an engineering and expert office for theater and event technology, with the focus of the range of services being the safety inspection of systems in theaters and event venues.
The Golden Theater Drill
The “Golden Theatre Drill” was chosen as a trophy because this typical theatre utensil is both simple and ingenious. It resembles a corkscrew and is used in the theatre to fix decorative parts to wooden supports. It can be used flexibly and holds stage sets together securely. The Golden Theatre Drills awarded are produced exclusively for SHOWTECH from our exhibitor and long-standing DTHG member cast C.ADOLPH & RST DISTRIBUTION GmbH.
SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD 2023 – Regulations
In each category, the coordinating jury evaluates the applications with regard to the age of the product and the completeness of the documentation as well as compliance with the award guidelines and makes a shortlist of three nominations per category.
The submitted products will be reviewed by the jury in the initial evaluation and the final evaluation according to the following criteria:
a. General assessability based on the documents submitted
b. Originality and functionality of the product
c. Innovation value of the product: To what extent does the submitted product improve or revolutionise the primary user functions/technological functions – in terms of use of materials, construction, human-machine relationship, ergonomics?
d. Design: To what extent does the design create a harmonious unity or solution – through conception or details in the design?
e. Lifespan/life cycle costs
f. Recyclability: To what extent can the materials and raw materials used be reused?
g. Economic efficiency: cost/benefit ratio for acquisition and maintenance
h. On the market: The designs must have gone into production and be available on the open market
i. Sustainability: To what extent does the product (management) meet social, ethical or ecological sustainability aspects?
After the selection process has been completed, applications that are not nominated will be returned or the submitters will be notified of the non-nomination. The respective jury will select the winner from the nominations in each category during SHOWTECH 2023.
The jury is obliged to inspect each nominated product at the stands and to get an on-site impression of the submitted product.
The jury will provide a justification for its selection, explaining the final decision. The awards ceremony will take place during SHOWTECH 2023. All nominees undertake to attend the awards ceremony.
The products must be registered on your own initiative.
Only exhibitors at SHOWTECH 2023 may register for the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD. Non-exhibitors will not be admitted to the award. The products submitted must have been released after July 1, 2022 and have been available on the open market since then. They must belong to one of the specified categories. Each product may only be nominated in one category.
The application must contain at least the following points:
a. Images of the part or product to be registered that allow a clear assessment of the advertised product
b. A description and technical data of the product. The description should reflect the thoughts and considerations of the submitter in designing the
product, explain the innovations and possible uses of the product.
c. The list price
d. A fully completed registration form (attached to the award guidelines). Incompletely completed forms will not be accepted for registration.
The products themselves do not need to be submitted for judging. However, they must be on display at the applicant's stand throughout SHOWTECH 2023.
The registration forms and the documents to be submitted must be received by the competition organizer online via the form no later than April 14, 2023.
All products nominated by the jury for the final round must be presented on the exhibiting company's stands during SHOWTECH from June 5 to 7, 2023 in Berlin. The nominated products will be clearly marked by the organizers for the press and trade visitors. The organizers will have appropriate seals ready for this purpose, which will be made available to the nominees and ultimately also to the winners for their own advertising measures.
The organizers of the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARDS will carry out extensive promotional activities for the participants and winners of the competition through publications. By registering, the participants grant the organizers permission to distribute publications about the registered product without any further reservations or rights.
Transport and insurance costs are to be paid by the registrant. All related costs are to be borne by the registrant. Neither the trade fair organizer nor the organizers of the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD are liable for damage to the registered object. Submitted documents will not be returned.
All participants agree to comply with these award guidelines and to accept the jury’s verdict without reservation.
The organizers reserve the right to cancel the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD in individual categories or entirely if the minimum number of participants is not reached.
Review
There have been various award ceremonies in the history of SHOWTECH. For the first time, new and innovative products were awarded the Product Award at SHOWTECH 2003. This prize was subsequently awarded at irregular intervals. In 2011, the Wizard Award was also introduced for the creative implementation of an artistic idea. Since then, this award has gone to an entire team of a theater production. For legal reasons, from 2015 onwards the DTHG was no longer allowed to use the trade fair name SHOWTECH or the award title WIZARD AWARD. So the trade fair became Stage|Set|Scenery and the award became DER WELTENBAUER. The first laudation for the WELTENBAUER was given by Katharina Thalbach. Due to the cancellation of the Stage|Set|Scenery in 2021, the WELTENBAUER AWARD was postponed to the Stage Technology Conference 2022 and there, under the impression of the pandemic, it was awarded in the three categories of courage, creativity and innovation to those sponsored by the DTHG's NEUSTART KULTUR and LIVE KULTUR funding programs. At the beginning of 2022 the DTHG began planning for the trade fair to be held again in Berlin in 2023 under the working title STAGE EVENT TECH (SET//23). At the request of many exhibitors and visitors, the team decided at the end of 2022 to call the international trade fair in Berlin SHOWTECH again and applied for a patent for the name. This means that the SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD will be presented again in Berlin in 2023 - for the first time in a fourth category: the Audience Award.
SHOWTECH PRODUCT AWARD in the stage technology category for their HCWA winch.
