Conferences, speaking engagements, and projects - oh my!
Life has been busy at Envision Lighting Design. I'm going to try to get back into the habit of sharing it all with you here on the blog. There have been many recent inspirations, but I'm going to start with bringing you up to speed on one of my favorite bonus activities - the IES.

This year I am the chairperson of the IES EP Event. This is a day-long workshop designed for students and emerging professionals interested in the lighting field. During the event we provide tons of interaction between seasoned and emerging professionals in lighting. It is truly one of the most energizing and dynamic groups of people I know. This year's EP Event is being held in conjunction with the IES Annual Conference in Pittsburgh on November. 1 The Event will extend beyond our Saturday workshop with ongoing activities and interaction planned throughout the Conference, which will end on Tuesday November 4. If you have any questions about this event, contact me. I absolutely love to talk about it.

As chair of the EP Event, I'm also a part of the IES Annual Conference steering committee. We are busy selecting speakers and planning events for the conference to get just the right balance of education, networking, and entertainment. If you haven't been to an IES Conference in a few years, you should plan to get to this one. The talent we are bringing in this year will blow your mind! This is not your daddy's IES Conference.

Mark your calendars!

Next post: I'll fill you in on our latest St. Louis IES section meetings, and more!

The City of St. Louis turns 250 years old this year! In fact, it's such a monumental birthday that we are celebrating all year long! There will be a ton of fun activities happening in and around the city this year, including Cakeway to the West, a regional art project featuring 250 fiberglass birthday cakes. But considering the historic nature of this milestone, it is no surprise that one of the biggest participants is the Missouri History Museum. Envision Lighting Design is proud to be a part of the Missouri History Museum celebration as the lighting designer for the upcoming exhibit 250 in 250.
This must-see exhibit is going to be a real treat! It features 50 People, 50 Places, 50 Images, 50 Moments, and 50 Objects of significance over the past 250 years of St. Louis history. Can you guess what some of them might be? Check it out; There are sure to be a few surprises in there. No excuses - the free exhibit will be open for a whole year, from February 14, 2014 until February 15, 2015. 

Are you attending the LED Specifier Summit in Chicago? This one-day, seminar-packed event is a great way to pack in some continuing education credits before the end of the year. The speaker lineup is great, too. (Biased, maybe?)
Be there!

I am looking forward to two upcoming speaking engagements! I will be presenting technical luncheons for two IES sections this month - in Montreal and Toronto. I love visiting Canada and speaking about lighting. Two of my favorite things! It should be a great trip.

At last night's Illumination Awards event in St. Louis I found myself smiling until my cheeks hurt. Thank you, St. Louis lighting community for being energetic, creative, and fun!
I am so grateful for each of you. There are bunches of unique and special individuals in this group, and as a whole we are spectacular!
In the upcoming days we will be posting pictures from the photo booth and quotes from the time capsule on the IES Facebook page and Twitter to stretch out the fun just a little longer...
In the meantime, I'll be working outside on the deck surrounded by my favorite things and enjoying the sparkles of the disco ball!

I would like to take the time to thank Envision Lighting Design for my internship experience this past summer. I have developed valuable leadership skills, the value of teamwork, and real world experience. It has been such a welcoming and positive environment to work in.

 Working for Envision Lighting Design has allowed me to apply my knowledge from my previous internship as well as my schooling so far. I have made connections with people that I never would have had the opportunity to meet if it wasn’t for Lisa. With this experience I feel one step closer to being confident in starting my career after just one short year left of college.

Thank you!!    

Courtney and I have had some fun this summer sprucing up the office a little bit! Here are a few photos of our projects.

Next, we gave the furniture a facelift. It was a nice little one-day project that turned into three...or four...

But with the office update, we are ready to tackle what's shaping up to be a busy fall.

When the announcement about the City of Detroit bankruptcy hit the news last week, one of the main points about how tough things had become in the city was that nearly half of the city's street lights don't work. Naturally, this caught my attention! How long has it been this way? Why? Are there sections of the city that have been deliberately switched off, or are they just eliminating lighting maintenance, leaving lights out all over town as they fail? Is this actually a bad thing? Or have they found that the lights were unnecessary and that living without them is fine?

Here's what I learned:
Detroit is deliberately reducing its street lighting load. It is not, however, the only city turning off lights to save money! Other municipalities who have opted to save energy and money by reducing street lighting include Colorado Springs, CO, Santa Rosa, CA, Rockford, IL, and Upper Dublin Township in Montgomery County, PA to name just a few.

Not everyone thinks turning off the street lights is a bad idea. In fact, there are some who say that turning off street lights is plain old fashioned smart. Consider the positions of the International Dark Sky Association or the 2008 National Geographic article, Our Vanishing Night.


Even though academic research shows no significant evidence to link street lighting with reduced crime, the general public seems to associate street lighting with safety. There is also no doubt that lighting can improve pedestrian and bicyclist visibility and can reduce automobile crashes in accident-prone areas. 

I wonder if there is a better solution? Perhaps better car headlights? Or streetlights that come on only when people are present? How can we use technology to save people and the planet, too?

Envision Lighting Design, LLC welcomes our newest employee - summer intern Courtney Sheets! Courtney is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University studying Interior Design. St. Louis is her hometown.

ELD: Courtney, how did you discover lighting design?
Courtney: I became interested in lighting through my first internship at a lighting showroom (suggested by one of my professors.) I had never considered that aspect of design, but I quickly realized I had a passion for it.

ELD: What are you hoping to learn while you're with us here at ENvisionLD this summer?
Courtney: This summer I am excited to be experiencing hands on what it is like to be a lighting designer. I look forward to learning if this is what I want to do after I graduate.

ELD: I sure hope you love it as much as we do, Courtney! Besides lighting, what are your other interests?
Courtney: I like golf, shopping, traveling, and the Cardinals. I also have two dogs, Cody and Coco.

ELD: How do you ENvision your future?
Courtney: I want to travel the world, establish my career, and because my family is a source of inspiration to me, I hope to someday start a family of my own.

Join us in welcoming Courtney to the Envision Lighting Design team and to lighting design as a career!