Day 2
We spent LightFair’s second day catching up with people and participating in the education.
One of the AIA accredited sessions held today was hosted by Women in Lighting + Design (WILD). The theme was “Voices of WILD: Rising for Social Justice.” Each of the 7 speakers talked passionately about her subject, all pointing to WILD’s mission of fostering equality. Hours later, people were still talking about the presentations. Clearly, WILD inspired many people, and this is good for the lighting industry.
Some designers that we spoke with stated that the hybrid model is working for them. A few days at home and a few days in the office and a few rep visits and some vendor visits, but we hear they don’t plan on going back to the old days. One rep explained that he could see lighting designers, that are his best friends, maybe twice per month and that was before covid—and he represents 70 lines. He envisions a hybrid model from the reps, where they have digital presentations or clips, and then following up in person if the designer is super interested.
Sam Koerbel of Lytei spoke Connecting with the next generation of lighting professionals. It’s impossible to capture and write about his ideas, but below are a few ideas that stuck with me:
- Stay consistent with one voice
- invest in telling a story
- graphic design
- recognize it’s quick
- Always have a call to action
The secret sauce is to listen!
Jim Benya Spoke about Spectral Wars. Our magazine, designing lighting (dl)sponsored the content.
- How well do we really understand light and health?
- Is it safe to use light sources that could do physical harm
- Are we racing to make and capitalize on products without fully addressing their efficacy and the science behind them?
- Are we damaging the environment with light?