Lightfair Daily – Thursday May 7

Today is a short day at LIGHTFAIR as all events, including the trade show floor, wrap up at 3:00 pm. It’s been a jam-packed 3-day immersion into the burgeoning LED marketplace during the trade show.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT TODAY: Thursday, May 7

As previously mentioned, it is a short day today and both the US DOE and LED University in the Cyber Café will be running another day of great training sessions and hands on demonstrations respectively, but get there early as they are both a offering a shorter schedule. Both new features to LIGHTFAIR have attracted hundreds of attendees into their great educational offerings on the show floor. The DOE has done a great job in bringing their valuable programs to life in the heart of the industry.

The show also opens an hour earlier at 9:00 am to give you that last look at the advancements in the industry.

On the education ‘beat’, today’s seminar offerings include “The Skinny on Retail Lighting Design’ at 8:30 am. and ‘Outlaw Incandescent Lamps?” at 10:30 am.

REFLECTIONS AND REFRACTIONS: Wednesday, May 6

The morning began with a great meeting with Warner Philips (yes, not a coincidence, a real Philips descendant), of Lemnis Lighting and Steven Nia of Digital Light, who treated me a view of Pharox 3, the A19 bulb that may just “hit the spot” and be L-Prize material! I think that a number of people may have a Pharox in their stocking for Christmas, as the company has very aggressive roll-out plans over the next year. Back in Toronto, where I wear my LED City Toronto program “hat” (or actually an LED City shirt), we look forward to working with them on a project involving Mesopix, their outdoor light product. I am sure that other municipalities will be “green” with envy.

Over the last 2 days, I had the opportunity to tour the conference and trade show with Margaret Newman, Chief of Staff of the New York Department of Transportation and Dash Rettew, Partnership Manager, Government Relations of The Climate Group in New York. Both Margaret’s department and Dasha’s organization are engaged in outdoor lighting and the development of exciting projects, fostering LED technology in leadership roles. Kudos to Margaret, Dasha, the City of New York and The Climate Group in creating a GATEWAY for LED in New York!

In the 20th year anniversary Master series, David DiLaura gave a compelling and inspiring presentation entitled “20 Years of Light and Lighting: A Look at the Recent Past with Lessons for the Future.” Also, Dean Brockob and Steven Peterson gave a most humorous and entertaining look at lighting design and projects in a presentation entitled “The Not-So-Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Review of Product Failures, Botched Jobs, and Curious Applications.”

I had an opportunity to visit with Arrow Electronics, the global distribution channel for both Cree and Avago, as well as a number of electronics components and solutions familiar to luminaire developers and manufacturers. Dan Gatza of Arrow said that he is seeing greater interest in LED design and engineering. "Attendees want to hear about advancements in driver technology for the LED market but, more importantly, want to know how to get those innovations out there quicker," he commented.

At show close, LEDs Magazine was invited to attend a Canadian Standards Association (CSA) presentation and reception, where CSA representatives highlighted CSA standards development and the testing services offered by CSA and OnSpex. Being a member of 3 different CSA standards sub-committees, it was great to see CSA continuing to reach out to the LED and lighting communities.

While on the topic of Canada, it is rewarding to see the number of Canadian companies represented on the trade floor at LIGHTFAIR. Canada is truly becoming a centre for green economic development, especially SSL-focused. When it comes to performance testing, I have written in past about plans to position an accredited testing lab at the University of Toronto, capable of testing to CALiPER and ENERGY STAR lab criteria as well fostering the development of an SSL network in Canada.

INTO THE LIGHT TOMORROW: Friday, May 8

I will be en route back to the regular routine and the task of digesting, cataloguing and reviewing all of collected collateral and information from LIGHTFAIR. I will give you one more final picture of today’s activities in a ‘post-game’ instalment and a refection on LIGHTFAIR 2009.

LIGHTS OUT:

Like a last minute Christmas present shopper just starting on Christmas Eve day, I am off to the show floor to see what hasn’t yet been seen … Where do I go first?, What do I look for in these last few hours?

Lights Out from LIGHTFAIR!