The week that was…5-9th February 2018

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The week that was…5-9th February 2018

Perth
Weekend 10-11 February 2018

Winter Olympic Games
As I start writing my blog I am watching the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PeyongChang, South Korea. In a master move both South and North Korea will compete under one flag, the joy of the sport stars when they entered the stadium together spoke volumes…some world leaders (no names) should take a cue from that and stop their ego and power play! It is nice to see how sport can unite…Opening ceremonies are generally a showcase of the latest in lighting and lighting technologies…light is and remains magic! And just to show how connected our world already is, within the hour the most memorable pictures of the ceremony could already be found on the net (see below)! Watch also the unbelievable show by more than 1200 illuminated drones create magic here:

PLDC 2018 – Update
As one of the Steering Committee members of PLDC in Singapore I intent to update you weekly on the progress and developments in the lead up to the event. Past week was a big week in the PLDC preparations. The PLDC team of Joachim, Louise, Allison and Krsitina travelled to Singapore last weekend to sign the contract for the venue, review and select speakers from all the submitted papers and meet with government authorities, university representatives and the local lighting community to discuss the upcoming event and their potential involvement.

The Sunday was fully spent in reviewing all the papers that were submitted, assessed, rated and scored by an international panel of experienced lighting designers. Close to 100 papers were received out of which we needed to select the speakers for the two days. The Singapore format also only has two tracks, contrary to the 4 tracks you are used to in the previous European editions. Even though all papers had been pre-assessed and rated by the expert panel on content, relevance and suitability, it still took a full day to decide and allocate speakers to the related tracks. Tough task, not as easy and straight forward as you would think! But we got it done and 90% of the program is now decided.

On Monday the team went to inspect the venue, discuss the final arrangements and officially sign the contract! Marina Bay Sands is one of the most iconic and recognisable buildings in the world and having the event there is totally in line with the high end professional image and identity of PLDC. We are very excited…

After the official signing we went to the Nanyang Technical University to discuss potential opportunities for their involvement in an educator’s forum as well as meet with Kaoru Mende and his team to discuss potential visits and activities that could be organised as a part of the PLDC.

On the final day of their lightning visit to Singapore we first met a local publisher and editing company in regards to media opportunities followed by a lunch meeting with the local lighting community, a mix of manufacturers’ representatives and leading brand agencies to get their input and feedback for the event.
In the afternoon we met with several government authorities to discuss their possible involvement in PLDC through pre-convention meetings, key note speakers and other ideas we brainstormed. More about that when it gets’ s more shape and form! I am now further following up over the next couple of weeks and meet with other relevant bodies and representatives to determine feasibility and opportunities.

IES Perth
Midweek I flew to Perth for a long outstanding catch up with my office and some project clients. As it happened the IES chapter of Western Australia had organised a talk presented by Patrick van der Meulen, Xicato’s business development manager, about the exciting developments of Bluetooth low energy networks that are operable through their new generation LED modules. Great stuff. The presentation also allowed participants to collect some valuable CPD points, for their continued professional development.

Have a great week-end