The first discussion at IES26, The Lighting Conference came not from a technical session, but from a joint gathering of the IES Emerging Professionals and Leadership Forum.

The two programs serve different audiences but share an important purpose. Emerging Professionals Day brings students and newer lighting professionals together to learn about the industry, meet IES leadership and develop relationships. The Leadership Forum focuses on helping IES volunteers become stronger leaders within their sections and the Society.

The joint introduction session brought those two groups together—essentially connecting the next generation of IES members with many of the people currently leading the organization.

From Emerging Professional to IES Leader

Itzel Ayvet Rivera began by asking how many people were attending The Lighting Conference for the first time. Many hands went up.

She then asked how many could identify a mentor, colleague or friend who had changed the direction of their career.

Again, hands went up around the room.

“None of us builds a career alone,” she told the audience.

Itzel knew that from personal experience. Her first Lighting Conference came through an IES Emerging Professional scholarship. She arrived excited about learning more about lighting but knew relatively few people.

She certainly learned about lighting. But she said she discovered something she hadn’t expected: people.

“People I could learn from, people who challenged my thinking, people who opened doors.”

Those relationships ultimately changed the trajectory of her involvement with IES. People she met through the organization became colleagues and mentors. Eventually, she found herself serving on the Membership Committee and helping others find their own place within IES.

It led to perhaps her most important observation of the morning: IES is more than a professional organization. It is a community.

Dan Salinas Looks at the Future of IES Membership

Dan Salinas followed with a discussion about the work underway within the IES Membership Committee.

He explained that the committee has spent the past several years examining membership categories and, more broadly, what membership should mean going forward.

Rather than simply preserving the traditional membership model, the committee is asking how IES can make membership stronger and more relevant.

“How do we grow it to be better or stronger than what it was before?” Dan asked.

One point stood out: IES membership cannot necessarily be approached the same way everywhere.

The needs of a section on the East Coast may differ from those on the West Coast. Canada and Mexico have their own dynamics, as do IES members and sections internationally.

Dan encouraged section presidents and membership chairs to look beyond their current membership rosters and examine the lighting industry within their own markets.

Who participates in IES locally? Just as importantly, who doesn’t?

Are sections reaching designers, engineers, manufacturers, representatives, distributors, educators and other parts of the lighting community in their region?

Dan pointed to the increasingly international nature of IES. At a recent gathering in Mexico City, he recalled participation from the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Spain.

Go Deeper: Top Sessions to Watch at IES 26, The Lighting Conference