 He coached many successful dancers including Allan Tornsberg, Vibeke Toft, Espen Salberg, Jukka Haapalainen, Sirpa Suutari, Donnie Burns & Ian Waite.Peter Maxwell & Lynn Harman were amongst his first major champions and a couple on which much of his ultimate technique was developed.Laird was a Fellow and Examiner of the IDTA, and until 2000, he was Secretary (and later President) of the Ballroom Dancers' Federation.