The Entertainment Services and Technology Association's Technical Standards Program (TSP) announces the 2019 recipients of the annual Above & Beyond Awards! These awards are peer to peer, designed to allow Technical Standards Program volunteers to recognize other outstanding volunteers. The 2019 Above & Beyond Awards were presented to the following TSP members at The NAMM Show 2020:
 
Joseph Jeremy (Stage Machinery Working Group) as co-chair of the Stage Machinery Working Group, Joseph was cited for having been the principal author of the controls section of ANSI E1.42 - Entertainment Technology—Design, Installation, and Use of Orchestra Pit Lifts as well as significant contributions to a new standard currently in development - BSR E1.64 - Stage Machinery Motion Control
 
Chris Schmidt (Event Safety Working Group) was lauded for having kept the Event Safety Rigging Task Group on track through many challenging tasks. Event Safety Rigging is a complicated subject that needs to distill down numerous technical requirements to the widest variety of Event Safety standard readers. The subject is elusive to many event promoters and planners and it has been the daunting task of the group to find the precise wording in order to assure the reader's comprehension of this most important subject.
 
Peter Willis (Control Protocols Working Group) Peter has been an active member of the CPWG for almost 20 years and has contributed significantly to many of its control standards. Peter has also provided exceptional leadership in gathering various manufacturers equipment that use CPWG control standards to demonstrate the compatibility and usefulness of these protocols to the attendees of various conferences, tradeshows, and interoperability plugfests in the United States and Europe.
 
The awards celebrate those volunteers that have made a significant contribution or effort that advances the Technical Standards Program. The TSP exists because hundreds of individuals from across the industry volunteer their expertise and significant amounts of time throughout the year to write standards that increase safety, provide interoperability between different manufacturers, solve problems, and make life easier. These awards are particularly meaningful to the recipients because the nominations are made by their peers in the Technical Standards Program.
 
ESTA's Technical Standards Program is the only ANSI-accredited standards program dedicated to the needs of the entertainment technology industry. The standards created under the TSP are used daily by almost every manufacturer, dealer, installer, production company, and end user. The standards prevent accidents, protect lives and property, save time and money, solve problems, inform the industry, and enhance creativity. For more information about ESTA’s TSP, click here.