January 22nd, 2010 eReflection Newsletter

The IALD is pleased to announce IALD Enlighten Americas 2010, the 10th Annual IALD Annual Meeting and Conference.

IALD ENLIGHTEN AMERICAS 2010
7-9 OCTOBER 2010
THE WESTIN WESTMINSTER

DENVER, COLORADO USA

Mark your calendar and plan to attend. More details coming soon. For more information about the IALD please go to www.iald.org.

Held in coordination with the ARC Show, the 2010 IALD Enlighten Europe Conference is approaching (3-4 February 2010) and will be a two-day inspirational conference that will focus on the art and design elements of architectural lighting design.

Join IALD President Kathy Abernathy, IALD, as she opens the conference and welcomes attendees to IALD Enlighten Europe. Attendees will enjoy two days of discussions on the relationship between "Art, Light and Architecture"(Wednesday, 3 February) and "Design, Light and Architecture" (Thursday, 4 February). With energy codes and standards becoming increasingly more restrictive, the goal of this conference is to bring the focus back to the importance of Art and Design in relation to architectural lighting design. Click here for more details on conference speakers.

WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY

Exploring the relationship between Art, Light & Architecture, we welcome speakers including:

Chris Bird

10:15-11:00

Martin Richman

11:00-11:45

"Light Urbanism and Space"

Peter Freeman

12:15-13:00

"Light Art"

Robert Shook, IALD

14:30-15:15

THURSDAY, 4 FEBRUARY

Exploring the relationship between Design, Light & Architecture, we welcome speakers including:

Charles G. Stone, IALD

11:00-11:45

"Seven Expressions of Light"

Kaoru Mende, IALD

11:45-12:30

"Lighting Design for Asian Resorts"

14:00-14:45

Closing off the conference, the "LED Super Panel" featuring Andy Davies of GE; Paul Hatherall of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors; and Eric Senders of Lumileds Europe, will address important lighting designer-related issues on LEDs.

A two-day pass is available for £150 and a one-day pass for £90.

Click here to register for the IALD Enlighten Europe Conference.

Click here to register now for FREE entry to The ARC Show.

BY PAMELA BECK DANNER, ESQ & PAULA E. HAEFNER, ESQ
DANNER & ASSOCIATES

IALD GENERAL COUNSEL

The past couple of years have not been easy for companies or their employees, but tough times require more creativity in finding ways to keep employees happy. Talented people are the first ones approached with a better opportunity.

In order to keep your current staff free from wanderlust, it is essential to keep them content. In a time when many firms are unable financially to offer increases in compensation through raises or bonuses, while at the same time requesting employees to take on a heavier work burden when staffing is cut, employee morale is likely to suffer.

Here are five ways to boost employee morale without breaking the bank. 

1. Foster an atmosphere which nurtures and promotes energy among your staff. People almost never leave jobs for better pay as the main reason. While employers may mistakenly make this assumption, they are frequently denying their own inability to create a positive work environment. This is true throughout all working environments, but especially true in creative firms. Paying more, but not involving employees in the process of the business, seldom engages staff. Creative people, more than most, do not simply "live for the weekend". 

2. A major motivator for people is the culture of the office.  Collegiality is supremely important. The right kinds of people are attracted by the right kind of environment. The office culture must be such that employees are not tentative about throwing out ideas for fear they will be laughed at. You should create an atmosphere of flexibility-a healthy team environment where each employee has the opportunity to be creative and have autonomy. This is particularly important in a small firm. Seek input from staff members on firm policies and procedures. 

3. Try to make the physical office a pleasant place to work. This does not necessarily mean spending a lot of money on expensive office furnishings. Indeed, presentation is about creativity. One way to make things, ideas included, flow more freely is to eliminate clutter. Clutter impedes energy flow, one of the principles of the Chinese art of feng shui and just plain common sense.

4. Give employees the opportunity to continue to learn and grow.  If you cannot offer structured education programs, you can still develop employees by assigning them special projects or committee leadership responsibilities, encouraging involvement in professional associations and giving them goals that challenge them to develop beyond their current skill sets.

5. Include nontraditional benefits in the benefits package. Offering less traditional benefits, in addition to the typical benefits package, can be a low or no-cost way to boost employee job satisfaction. Benefits which help firms attract and retain talented employees include flextime, telecommuting, cell phones and laptop computers. Attracting and retaining talented people means you have to be innovative in designing a benefits package. Allowing employees to telecommute can also save your firm money by reducing the amount of office space needed, either by eliminating certain offices completely or having employees share office space by coming into the office on alternate days.

Even though it may take time for the economy to recover, one need not wait for a full recovery to implement changes that may go a long way toward boosting your employees' morale. Although these changes may not be expensive to actualize, the rewards can be great.

For more information on this topic and legal topics, please contact Pamela Danner and Paula Haefner. Have a question for the experts? Email Mailena Vo and look for your answer in this section.

Attending LIGHTFAIR International 2010? Register now for a whirlwind day of golf in support of lighting design education at the first ever IALD Education Trust Golf-a-Thon on 11 May 2010 in Las Vegas, NV USA. This isn't your standard golf tournament - participants will zip across the course, playing as many as 90 holes in one day, all in support of the activities of the IALD Education Trust.

TEE TIMES LIMITED - SIGN UP TODAY!

Registered golfers must commit to raise a minimum of $3,000 USD in pledges prior to the event in support of their completing 36, 54, 72 or 90 holes, or pledge a donation in their own name. Participation is limited to the first 40 golfers who commit to raise the minimum donation. An awards ceremony will follow the event. Meals and prizes included.

Please contact Dawn Hollingsworth, IALD, at dawnh@visualterrain.net

to register to golf, to volunteer or for more information on sponsorship opportunities.

Proceeds from the Golf-A-Thon enable the IALD Education Trust to fund a variety of lighting design education initiatives. Visit /trust/index.asp for details. 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO GOLF

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Join your peers in celebrating excellence in lighting design as we honor the recipients of the 27th Annual IALD International Lighting Design Awards at the 2010 IALD Education Trust Benefit Dinner on Thursday, 13 May 2010 at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel. The dinner is a great way to demonstrate your dedication to the development of the architectural lighting design industry.

Proceeds from the Benefit Dinner enable the IALD Education Trust to fund a variety of lighting design education initiatives. Visit/trust/index.asp for details. 

Act now to further the growth and development of the architectural lighting design profession. Secure your table sponsorship today to get prime table placement! Individual tickets are also available. Please contact Kelly Ashmore for more details.

CLICK HERE TO SECURE YOUR TABLE SPONSORSHIP TODAY

PHOTO: ©Michael Stiller Design

The IALD and Lighting Industry Resource Council (LIRC) are pleased to announce the recent election and appointment of new members to the LIRC Steering Committee.

Jim Yorgey of Lutron Electronics was elected to serve as an LIRC representative on the committee for a three-year term. Ann Kustner Haser, IALD, of Ann Kustner Lighting Design in Evanston, IL USA, has been appointed by IALD President Kathy Abernathy, IALD, to serve as the IALD Co-Chair of the LIRC Steering Committee. Ms. Kustner will serve a two-year term.

IALD is pleased to announce a call for nominations for the IALD College of Fellows. Nominations will be accepted until 26 February 2010. Only voting IALD members of the association may submit nominations.

The IALD Fellow designation is awarded to a professional member of the IALD for valuable contributions to the art and science of lighting design and for their continued service to the IALD.

The nominee shall have the following qualifications:

• Be a professional member of the IALD for a minimum number of ten (10) years.
• Be a member in good standing with the IALD.
• Have made a valuable contribution to the profession of lighting design including, but not limited to:
  • Contributions to the IALD, which may include volunteer or committee service.
    
  • Achievements in the field of lighting design (body of work)
  • Published works
  • Awards
  • Research
  • Service to the profession in the field of education
  • Advancement of public awareness of the profession
  • Service to the community at large

Candidates must be nominated by at least two people, one of whom must be a current Fellow. Upon meeting nomination criteria the Executive Vice President of the IALD will contact the nominators and begin the formal review process.

Induction into the College of Fellows will take place at IALD Enlighten Americas during the Annual Business Luncheon on 9 October 2010.

Please send the name of the person you wish to nominate to the IALD office by email at renee@iald.org, by fax at +1 312 527 3680 or by mail at The Merchandise Mart, Suite 9-104, Chicago, IL 60654 USA, no later than 26 February 2010.

BY JAMES BRODRICK

US DEPT. OF ENERGY

Solid-state lighting (SSL) technology continued to evolve at a rapid pace in 2009, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) saw a definite acceleration in the market introduction of good LED general-illumination products. While there are still many that perform poorly, the DOE CALiPER testing program shows an increase in those that can truly compete with the conventional products they're intended to replace. There's still a large performance gap between the best and worst LED products tested, but the overall trend is noteworthy.

CALiPER evolves in response to the technology and market, and now that some solid-state lighting products are competitive with their CFL and incandescent counterparts in terms of light output, distribution and color, CALiPER will start to examine more nuanced characteristics such as reliability, dimability and color shift. These will be covered in a new series of Exploratory Studies that will be added to the existing library of CALiPER reports.

A key SSL development in 2009 was the first entry in DOE's L Prize^SM competition. We're already beginning to see an L Prize ripple effect that's based on the principle that "a rising tide lifts all boats." Merely knowing that their own products will be competing on retail shelves side-by-side with the L Prize winners serves to motivate manufacturers to improve the quality of their own LED replacement products. We're starting to see signs of this trend in the marketplace and hope to see more such signs in 2010.

DOE's Lighting Facts^CM pledge program has made a significant contribution to the rising tide that's lifting the quality of SSL products. Although it's only been in existence for slightly more than a year, already nearly 250 manufacturers have taken the pledge, agreeing to have their products tested to LM-79, to submit their test reports verifying the data and to use the Lighting Facts label to convey the performance results. And more than 300 SSL products bearing this label can be found listed on the Lighting Facts web site.

At the same time, more than 60 lighting design firms and utilities, as well as 60 retailers and distributors, have pledged to look for and use products that have the label, which helps them identify the best lighting options. These specifiers and buyers send a powerful message that they do their homework before selecting LED lighting products, and their numbers are growing all the time. Join them and add your voice.

As the number of products bearing the Lighting Facts label continues to mushroom, the DOE will begin a new quality assurance program this year to selectively monitor them and verify the accuracy of the performance claims. This step is intended to protect the integrity of the Lighting Facts label and is one more reason you can trust the information it contains.

In addition, DOE is planning to launch several new education initiatives this year, with the goal of expanding the awareness and understanding of SSL across the entire lighting industry chain. I'll provide more details about this later on. In the meantime, the DOE web site offers a number of SSL Technology Fact Sheets that are useful teaching tools.

The IALD Education Trust is pleased to accept applications for the 2010 IALD Education Trust Scholarship Program, the Thomas M. Lemons Scholarship and Trust Stipends to LFI 2010. All applications are due on 12 February 2010. Click here for more details.

DOWNLOAD THE TRUST SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION NOW

DOWNLOAD THE THOMAS M. LEMONS APPLICATION NOW

DOWNLOAD THE TRUST STIPEND TO LFI APPLICATION NOW

In 2009, the IALD Education Trust awarded over $26,000 USD in scholarships to students from across the globe. To see a list of past scholarship recipients click here.

Scholarships and stipends are made possible by the generosity of IALD Education Trust donors. To make a contribution today please click here.

For more information, please contact Kelly Ashmore at kelly@iald.org or at +1 312 527 3677.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE UPCOMING EVENTS

IALD BOSTON and the Designers Lighting Forum-New England (DLF-NE) are proud to present "Evolving Energy Codes and Standards...What You Need to Know!" on Wednesday, 27 January 2010 at Philips Color Kinetics on 3 Burlington Woods Dr, Burlington, MA, from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET. Join IALD Energy & Sustainability Chair Glenn Heinmiller, IALD, and Pamela Horner of Osram Sylvania as they present an overview of the current US federal energy and lamp/energy standards. Cost: Members - $25 USD; Non-members - $35 USD. This seminar is available for LC and AIA credits. Limited seating available, RSVP to Carrie Hawley at chawley@hlblighting.com. For more information on IALD Boston, please contact William Lewis, IALD.

IALD PHILADELPHIA will host a meeting on Wednesday 27 January from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Kling Stubbins. Please join your peers in meeting IALD President Katherine Abernathy, IALD. This informal event is free to all IALD members and professional colleagues interested in joining the IALD. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by 25 January to ialdphiladelphia@live.com. For more information on IALD Philadelphia, please contact David Rodstein, Associate IALD, and Gerry Power, IALD, at ialdphiladelphia@live.com.

IALD NEW YORK will host a meeting on Thursday, 28 January 2010 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. at Acuity Brands Lighting's Center for Light + Space in New York, NY USA. Please join IALD New York for a special luncheon meeting with IALD President Kathy Abernathy, IALD. Learn about priorities and goals for the IALD in 2010 and see how the general membership can help the IALD achieve them. This is a unique opportunity for local area members to share their thoughts directly with the IALD board president. Lunch and refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by 25 January 2010 to Carol Castillio, Design IALD, at carol@tillotsondesign.com. For more information please contact Suzan Tillotson, IALD.

IALD SAN FRANCISCO and IES San Francisco are proud to present the California Academy of Science Lighting Tour on 29 January 2010. Jason Edling, IALD, of Arup Lighting will be guiding three groups through the California Academy of Science at 1:00 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Admission is $25 USD per person. Tickets can only be purchased online at http://iesgg100127.eventbrite.com/. ONLY ONE TOUR LEFT. Length of tour is one hour. Meet at Robert Emmet statue across from the main entrance 10 minutes before tour start time. Maximum number of people per tour is 25. For more information on this event contact Claudio Ramos, IALD.

IALD SEATTLE, IES and AIA are pleased to present "Lighting Performance: Energy Efficiency, Quality and Design," presented by Marc Fonotoynont, Vice President of the French Lighting Association. The event will be held on Thursday, 4 February from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the Seattle Central Library. For more details and information on cost go to www.iespugetsound.org/event/31.php. Lunch will be provided to all attendees registered before 2 February. For more information contact Edward Bartholomew, IALD.

Click here for a complete list of regional events.