|

IES Ottawa: The 7 Things That Need to Be Fixed in the Lighting Industry – Like, Now!

October 3, 2023

IES Ottawa Presents…

Tom Butters will explore 7 areas where the lighting industry needs to either up their game, change their focus, or blow it up and start anew.

Event Details

Date: Thursday, October 19th

Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm

Location: KS on the Keys – 1029 Daze St, Ottawa

Included: Lunch, non-alcoholic drinks, networking, presentation

About the Presentation

The 7 Things That Need to be Fixed in the Lighting Industry. Like Now!

With apologies to George Carlin. Industry veteran, Tom Butters, will explore 7 areas where the lighting industry needs to either up their game, change their focus, or blow it up and start anew.

Coming out of the hibernation from COVID-19, the North American Lighting industry is experiencing seismic challenges mostly from within our own ranks.

In this sometimes tongue in cheek, expletive laden, often self-serving diatribe, Butters will explore some of the issues concerning the North American lighting industry in 2023 with the goal to open a dialogue where all industry stakeholders can share best practices and move us forward. The industry is NOT better off than pre-COVID, but it can be.

Subjects that will be brought up may include: our siloed industry, the ludicrous fight over circadian lighting, the time to bury CRI was in 1964 not 2024, Lightfair, the dumbing down of lighting education, global supply chain issues, and the apparent total lack of empathy in the lighting industry.

As with any of Tom’s presentations, he will seek to educate while entertaining.

The views expressed in this presentation, are those exclusively of the presenter and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the IES, IES Ottawa Section, Lightfair, CRI, or any other person.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completed viewing of the IES Ottawa presentation, you will:

  • have a better understanding of the landscape of the North American lighting industry with an eye to ask the important, and sometimes hard, questions to grow our industry.
  • have a firm understanding of what CRI is, and why it needs to be replaced, now.
  • be aware of the extreme need for in-person lighting education.
  • have a better understanding of what Lightfair is, what it means to the industry and how important it is to support it.

About the Speaker

Tom Butters LC, – Founder and Executive Director of The Lighting Agora

Tom Butters, LC, is the creative mind and developer behind some of the most well received educational tools and events of the global lighting industry. Since 1986, Tom has worked in or served the entire array of the lighting industry. He uses this diverse background and empathy to understand the needs of the individual or organization to deliver high quality lighting education to suit the precise needs of the user. Tom is a proud board member of the Nuckolls’ Fund for Lighting Education and an Emeritus Member of the IES.

Tom was the co-developer, along with F.X. Morin, of the globally successful free lighting app “IES Ready Reference”. He is the creator of “Light for Life – a Global Collaboration 2020” which involved 17 webinars from 15 lighting organizations from around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom was the director of the IES’ free 4-hour live webinar “Germicidal Disinfection in the Days of COVID-19” which had over 3600 live attendees from 56 countries and has been viewed by thousands more as a free offering on the IES website.

He is renowned for bringing people together for the betterment of the lighting industry and the general population.

More information available here

Related Event

IES District 6+ Fundamentals of Lighting Course- Fall 2023 (Online)

This virtual (online) course, held over the course of five weeks, provides participants with an introduction to the fundamentals of illumination. It gives a comprehensive overview of basic lighting principles, lamp and luminaire types, lighting calculations, and controls, as well as functional and aesthetic applications best practices. This course is ideal for architects, engineers, designers, contractors, sales reps, customer service reps, manufacturers, distributors, and students. Find full descriptions for each module below.

Related Articles


Changing Scene

  • July 10, 2025 - Mac’s II Agencies Announce Addition to Project & Specification Sales Team

    Mac’s II Agencies Announces Addition to Project & Specification Sales Team

    Mac’s II Agencies is pleased to announce that Drazen Jerkovic will be joining their Project & Specification Sales team in the Lighting Division later this fall. With over 25 years of experience in the lighting and electrical industry, Drazen is a highly respected consultant known for his technical knowledge and deep understanding of project delivery. His recent role… Read More…

  • Noramco-Announces-Samantha-Boernsen-as-New-Regional-Sales-Manager-Winnipeg

    Noramco Announces Samantha Boernsen as New Regional Sales Manager, Winnipeg

    Please join Noramco in welcoming Samantha Boernsen as Regional Sales Manager, Winnipeg! Samantha brings a wealth of experience in the electrical industry, with a strong focus on lighting, marketing strategy, and customer engagement. She has built her career on connecting technical expertise with real-world application, making her a trusted partner to clients and colleagues alike.… Read More…


Design


New Products

  • Cooper Lighting Solutions: Metalux CZL Cruze Linear Bay

    Cooper Lighting Solutions: Metalux CZL Cruze Linear Bay

    The CZL Cruze is a Linear Bay LED Lighting System that comes in various lumen packages and configurations, offering customer-focused features and benefits such as integrated controls, uplight, several lensing options, louvers and adjustable mounting. The high performance, lighting distribution and linear design allows the CZL to fit a broad range of open-ceiling or suspended… Read More…

  • ABB Emergi-Lite: ELFT Series – Fast Transfer Emergency Lighting Inverter System 1.5KVA –16.7KVA

    ABB Emergi-Lite: ELFT Series – Fast Transfer Emergency Lighting Inverter System 1.5KVA –16.7KVA

    The ELFT Series is easy to install and maintain with a single point for testing and servicing. Specialized for emergency lighting it uses a solid-state pulse width modulation inverter to provide pure sinusoidal output waveform. With its user-friendly LCD display, programmable monthly and annual self-testing, and an automatic test, event, and alarm log help keep… Read More…