Get A Grip On Lighting Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Is the LED boom over? Maybe so, but not in sports lighting. The energy savings and cost reductions with LED, and the advancements in controls now means you can get that NFL “look” for your local high school field. As Royce says, it can make participants feel like they are part of something bigger. Royce Banuelos is the marketing manager for SLG Lighting, an LED lighting manufacturer known for their high bays, commercial lighting, and turn key sports lighting solutions. He has an extensive 15+ years of experience in marketing and has been in lighting for 4 of those years, falling in love with the industry of making the world a brighter place. 

Yes, there is a market north of the border! The Toronto area is huge and deserves its own lighting show. Gaurav saw the opportunity and jumped on it all the way from India. With his company, MEX Exhibitions, he plans to “provide a platform for the lighting community to engage in meaningful dialogue and explore the future of smart lighting, LED technology, and design.” And he’s getting help from The Lighting Agora’s Tom Butters who is acting as the Knowledge Partner for the educational program. Spoiler alert - we’ll be there live streaming from the Get A Grip On Lighting booth! Bonus as a GAGOL listener: use the code NAILD40 to receive a discount on your registration fees. Gaurav Juneja, Director of MEX Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. and MEX International Inc., is a pioneering leader in the B2B exhibition industry specifically for lighting industry, apart from many other Industry Verticals. He has played a transformative role in the industry, most notably through his leadership in launching major trade shows that have become flagship events in each sector. Gaurav was instrumental in the launch of LED Expo India in 2009, a ground breaking platform that introduced the Indian market to advanced LED technologies and solutions, helping accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient lighting across the country. Following its success, Gaurav spearheaded the expansion of the brand into Southeast Asia by establishing LED Expo Thailand in 2013, making it one of the largest and most influential lighting shows in the ASEAN region. Tom Butters, LC, is the creative mind and developer behind some of the most well received educational tools and events of the global lighting industry. Since 1986, Tom has worked in or served the entire array of the lighting industry. He uses this diverse background and empathy to understand the needs of the individual or organization to deliver high quality lighting education to suit the precise needs of the user. Tom is a proud board member of the Nuckolls’ Fund for Lighting Education and an Emeritus Member of the IES. As the Senior Manager then Director of Canlyte/Philips Lighting Concept Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 2000 to 2016, Tom developed and delivered top level lighting education to thousands of attendees in all segments of the lighting industry. Tom was the co-developer, along with F.X. Morin, of the globally successful free lighting app “IES Ready Reference”. He is the creator of “Light for Life – a Global Collaboration 2020” which involved 17 webinars from 15 lighting organizations from around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom was the director of the IES’ free 4-hour live webinar “Germicidal Disinfection in the Days of COVID-19” which had over 3600 live attendees from 56 countries and has been viewed by thousands more as a free offering on the IES website. 

Special Release! It’s almost September and that means the Archlight Summit is almost upon us. Lea and Cindy update Michael on what to expect this year at The Dallas Market Centre in Dallas Texas. Educational and enjoyable. Catch up with friends and colleagues you haven’t seen for a while. September 17 and 18. Lea is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in Trade Show Sales, Attendee Development, and new business development, specializing for over 14 years in the commercial and architectural lighting industry. Lea joined the Dallas Market Center this past April and is focused on Attendee Development and Exhibit Sales for ArchLIGHT Summit. She is dedicated to driving exhibit hall growth by attracting high-profile exhibitors and key industry attendees, ensuring the show's success, and expanding its impact in the lighting industry. Cindy is an award-winning Independent Marketing Consultant who’s been working in the lighting industry for 20 years. She has an extensive background in Event Management and Marketing in various industries including professional sports, non-profit events, and industry trade shows. She got her start in the commercial and architectural lighting industry with Acuity Brands and continues to serve as a marketing specialist for a variety of clients in architectural lighting. Cindy was contracted by the Dallas Market Center four years ago to create and manage ArchLIGHT Summit to Central Texas. She serves as the Director of Event Strategy and is responsible for exhibitor growth, association involvement, board members and overall event marketing and management. Cindy serves as the National Marketing Chair on the Women in Lighting + Design Board of Directors. 

Chad Palmer from Energyficient Systems joins Michael and Greg to talk about selling, the heightened value of lighting distributors, and maintenance engineering. Chad specializes in electrical products made for those who work in and build barns. And you might have seen him in Season 11 of “Fireball Run.” Chad Palmer is the President, CEO at Energyficient Systems, Inc., a lighting distributor with a national footprint serving the ESCO market and Energyficient Products, LLC. a manufacturer of lighting and electrical products for the agricultural industry.

IoT. What’s that? Internet Of Things. This is an emerging market. Yeah, it’s not exactly lighting controls, but it’s all becoming interconnected. Lights, HVAC, emergency, WiFi, elevators… even refrigerators are becoming connected. If you’re in controls, you might want to put “knowledge upgrading” on your radar. You can start by listening to Mike Skurla in this episode. As Chief Product Officer at Radix IoT, LLC–Michael Skurla helps consolidate global Marketing & Product Viability, focusing on forthcoming product strategy and intellectual property for markets including unique R&D initiatives, cloud/managed services, merger & acquisitions targets. Previously, as CTO, Skurla set product strategy. He has over two decades of experience in control automation and IoT product design with Fortune 500 companies, focusing on the intersection of software and hardware, emphasizing data aggregation and analytics for mission-critical industries. 

If you need a certain color from an RGB LED light, you just mix the right combination of red, green and blue, right? Not so fast! What about dimming? Solveig explains the challenges with dimming steps, variances in dimming rates in chips, the intensity of each color, and what the human eye sees. That’s why Solveig and Schnick Schnack Systems are working on high-quality RGB lights. Even though her favorite color is pink, Solveig Busler loves all colors of the visible spectrum. As Member of the Executive Board at the German LED manufacturer Schnick-Schnack-Systems GmbH, she provides TV-Studios, rental and production companies, as well as architectural projects with LED modules and luminaires as well as control systems. 20 years in the lighting and entertainment industry have made her an experienced and knowledgeable partner for ideas and projects of all sizes. 

Are building owners and engineers still not seeing the benefits of lighting controls? Gary explains the reluctance to embrace the technology when the long term benefits are hard to weigh against the upfront costs. As Gary says, how do you compete against a 99 cent on/off switch? Education! (So spread the word on The Lighting Controls Podcast!) Gary Meshberg, LEED AP, LC, CLCP, IESNA is vice chair of the Lighting Controls Association and director of industry and market engagement for Digital Lumens/Encelium. A 32-year industry veteran, he previously served as director of marketing, VP of sales and specification business manager for major lighting manufacturers. He chairs the IES Lighting Commissioning Committee, previously served as past education chair for the Dallas IES Section and founded and served as chair of the Home Lighting Control Alliance 

If you’re not a member of IMARK, maybe you should think about it. As Steve tells Michael and Greg, current members love it. They love the rebates, but IMARK is more than just rebates. IMARK provides training portals, product sourcing support, group health insurance and a group 401(K) to name a few benefits. Steve Ruane is the VP, Marketing and Member Services for IMARK Electrical. In that role, he is responsible for the group’s s marketing programs and group meetings such as GainShare and Gateway to Growth, Leadership Conference), member education (IMARK University) , and corporate communications both print and electronic. 

We’re really geeking out on this one. Steve Terry from ETC is all about codes and standards. Name a code in emergency lighting and Steve probably had a hand in shaping it. He chats with Webster and Ron about the history of lighting control and the confusion that can result from the complexity of ever-evolving standards. Steve Terry is currently the Director of Standards & Industry relations at ETC. From 2001-2017 he held various executive positions at ETC, including VP of Research & Development, where he led the team responsible for global product development. 

Wind turbines are a zero emissions solution to energy needs. But with solutions, new problems always arise. We’ve all seen the giant wind turbines towering into the sky and with any tower, there is a risk for air traffic. And how do we solve that problem? With lights. Sometimes blinking. And that has been a problem for residents in Germany who live near them. Thomas Herrholz and Dark Sky GmbH from Germany is a company that has been developing techniques to activate obstacle lighting only when it is really needed for air traffic. Their solution enabled them to realize that the lights on some wind-turbines can be turned off up to 98% of the night time. So most of the time the obstacles are illuminated for nothing!