PLASA and ESTA will join forces following a vote by the organisations’ members. PLASA represents the live events, entertainment and communication industries worldwide and ESTA is a trade association representing entertainment industries in North America.
The announcement follows lengthy consultations with both sets of memberships, which concluded recently in a formal vote of members - PLASA via its annual AGM, which took place on June 2 in London, and ESTA via a month-long electronic ballot, which ran throughout May.
More than 90 per cent of members from each Association voted in support of the move, which will see ESTA and PLASA integrated to create a single international trade association operating under the PLASA name.
The organisation also includes members of PERA - the former Production Equipment Rental Association, which recently merged with ESTA.
Both teams plan to spend the next six months putting in place the infrastructure behind the merger, the first formal stage of which will be completed by December 2010, allowing the new organisation to go live on January 1, 2011.
In a joint statement, PLASA CEO, Matthew Griffiths and ESTA executive director, Lori Rubinstein said: "A united approach to the issues and challenges of our industry will provide major long-term benefits and greatly broaden the role of the PLASA."