Bill Ellis is back with his wealth of knowledge. Bill gives us his perspective on what’s trending and shifting in the Lighting Controls industry. Digital controls, 0-10V Analog, POE, ethernet, the advantages of DC power, DMX, DALI, 2023 NEC class 4 power…Bill brings us up to date. Bill Ellis is an industry expert in lighting systems integration and is very proud of Candela Controls Inc.’s enduring history. He is a member of IESNA, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and sits on its Theatre, Television and Film Advisory Committee and Museum Lighting Committee. Bill is also a member of Control Protocols Workgroup for ESTA, the Entertainment Services and Technology Association. He is a Certified Low-Voltage Systems Specialty Contractor in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana and Rhode Island. 

Want to be a part of ESTA’s Control Protocols Working Group, at least temporarily? Then get you, your ideas, and your lighting controls down to the Dallas Fort Worth Marriott Solana from October 24-27 and “plug in.” While there, you can meet our guest, Milton Davis, and find out the latest on ANSI, TSP, the CPWG, DMX 512, and of course, ESTA. And while you are there you can see the area by taking a WALK. Milton Davis has been involved in the entertainment lighting industry for over 45 years. During that time, he has served as a lighting designer, stage electrician, field service engineer, product developer, software engineer, hardware engineer, and advocate for the DMX512 protocol. He was part of the ESTA task group which formalized the DMX512-A standard making it an ANSI national standard. Mr. Davis has been an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician and Recognized Trainer for over 15 years. During that time, he has led many classes and seminars addressing a wide variety of lighting professionals from all skill levels. Covered topics relate to all lighting control protocols and general practices related to theaters, theme parks, houses of worship, convention centers, and any other location where lighting control is critical to presentations and general operation. He is currently the co-chair for ESTA's Control Protocols Working Group and is a member of a number of that group's task groups working on new standards. Milton works for Doug Fleenor Design, Inc. where he designs products and provides technical support to customers. 

“Faster than a speeding bullet! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…!” Yes the people at Control Force are like Supermen or Wonder Women. After the sales rep has sold the equipment, and the installers have finished, and all those people have moved onto the next project, Control Force can sweep in, finish the startup, clean up the system, get it working as originally conceived and be there for the long term maintenance. Son of the founder of O’Shea Electric, Chris comes by this industry honestly. Finding his interest in theatrical lighting, he worked for, among others, Strand Lighting, Thea Enterprises representing Lutron, Chelsea Lighting, and most recently at PG Elite Lighting Service as Manager of Sales and Marketing. As Chris O'Shea Theatrical Lighting Design from 1996-2018, he has been a designer, stage tech, and board-operator for over 180 productions from the local church to Carnegie Hall. He is now the Head of Marketing and Business Development for Control Force. 

When Jose is not filming documentaries, he’s a “Solutions Engineer.” If you’re in the northeast, Jose can go into a space and audit ASHRAE levels 1, 2 and 3. He can help you comply with local energy saving ordinances by identifying fluorescents or halogens or opportunities for natural light. Then he’ll come back with a plan to give you the same level of light, using LED’s, controls and fenestration.

Jose is a 48 year old New York City Native (Dominican Republic descent) raised in Miami, FL. He is a filmmaker/documentarian by night and a solutions engineer and lighting expert by day. 

Get ready for an exciting deep dive with Ron and Webster as they tackle the confusing world of lighting controls definitions! In this episode, our hosts break down the inconsistencies in industry jargon, share their own takes, and explore how communication can go haywire when jumping between niches. But don’t worry, there may be a solution: The Lighting Controls Forum! Tune in to this guest-free episode and see if you’re on the same wavelength as Ron and Webster. 

Bruce “The Lighting Sherpa” Clark talks with Webster and Ron about CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association), dealers, buying groups, reps, and lighting designers. Bruce likes his analogies. He talks about “trunk slammers,” “The Golden Goose,” “Pacman” and “Zelda,” and of course “lights as paint brushes.” It’ll all make sense when you listen to this episode. Bruce brings his passion, personality and creativity to every encounter whether through clever design, consultation or education. His experience as a critical team member launching an innovative and successful lighting design firm provides Bruce with the background to help others do similar. For the last 5 years, Bruce has devoted his professional energy to the emerging Custom Integration residential and resimercial markets. He has developed curriculum and delivered training content to A/V Integrators that helped them take the next step into designing their own lighting projects and provided immediate capacity to their projects by acting as a liaison and trusted advisor. Bruce has worked with lighting manufacturers who recognize the value and future potential of this market segment to enhance opportunities for the Custom Integrator. Bruce recognizes that light is the most significant way that architectural spaces are experienced, and that the lighting industry is undergoing a seismic shift towards a more technologically advanced method of delivering both light and design. He is committed to assisting Custom Integrators around the world present the benefits of better lighting and helping their customers understand the aesthetic, economic, energy and health benefits. He respects the unique contributions all trade partners bring to a complex project and values collaboration to realize successful delivery. 

In this LCP Short, Webster and Ron talk about handling simple DMX512 and sACN presets that you don’t need to actively control and don’t want to buy a whole architectural processor for. They discuss the recent advent of small, inexpensive preset scene controllers, like the ETC Snapback. These devices not only reduce the cost of a lighting controls setup, but it also makes the control easier for the end user - otherwise known as the CUSTOMER! 

Getting connected is what mwConnect (formerly McWong) specializes in with their award winning Bluetooth Mesh. They’ve been around for 40 years, so you know they know what they’re doing. Margaret and Stephen give us a retrospective of the company from its beginnings manufacturing ballasts, and they tell us about their rebranding process. If you’re in competition with mwConnect, they welcome it as it drives manufacturers to create and produce better products and offer more affordable price points. Let’s work together and make the pie bigger! Margaret founded mwConnect as McWong International, Inc. in 1984. She brings over 25 years of lighting experience from manufacturing and procurement to technology development; including light sources, luminaires, LED drivers, sensors, wireless control systems, etc. For many years, Margaret has demonstrated the leadership and vision to both predict and actively drive profound changes enabled by LED semiconducting, IOT and smart lighting solutions. Her cross-border and financial investment experience has brought together many opportunities and deals between the US and Asia in the lighting industry and beyond. Stephen manages product development and business operations as well as strategic partner relationships. Prior to this role, he worked for the company in a number of roles, including project manager, product manager and sales manager. Zhou holds an MBA from the Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University and a B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. He is an IES member and is fluent in English and Chinese. 

Just one away from his 5 times guest jacket, Steve Mesh joins us to discuss… education, semantics, UL924, emergency controls, security, and in-rush. You already know Steve knows his stuff and he’ll always open your eyes to something. Listen to his interesting perspective on emergency vs life saving controls. Steve has been a lighting designer and educator for 43 years. He was the Senior Lighting Program Coordinator at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco from 2008-2011. Steve is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society and was the IES/Northeast Regional Vice President. He was also part of the development team for the California Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program. Steve has taught lighting for 38 years. He won an IALD award for the Palm House at Dowling College and an EPRI award for Brower Commons at Rutgers University. Since 1992, he has given several workshops at LightFair and has spoken at Lux Pacifica in New Delhi, India. He is also a private pilot.

Connect with Steve: www.linkedin.com/in/steven-mesh-lc-iesna-b156b83 lightingcontrolsassociation.org/?s=%22Steve+Mesh%22

Sponsor: mwConnect www.mwconnect.com

The listeners give feedback to hosts Ron and Webster to clarify some things that were unclear or confusing in episode 53 "It's Not a Protocol." In this short episode, past guests Mitch Hefter and Javid Butler discuss the definition of a protocol in our industry vs. the OSI definition of a protocol, what did and did not get revised regarding emergency lighting control, and what the basic requirements are for emergency lighting control. No need to listen to episode 53 to listen to this shorty! Mitch Hefter has been working in lighting controls for over 40 years. He has played a major role in setting entertainment technology standards, promoting electrical safety and developing certification for entertainment industry electricians, and is an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician and Recognized Trainer. He is a founding member of the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) Technical Standards Program (ANSI E1) and co‑chairs the Electrical Power Working Group. Mitch was instrumental in the development of USITT DMX512 in 1986 and chairs the ESTA E1.11 USITT DMX515‑A Task Group. Javid Butler is a lighting designer and energy engineer who holds LC, CEM, and CMVP certifications. He has contributed to the development of many lighting standards including RDM and sACN, and chaired the task group for E1.27 DMX512 cabling standards. He presently chairs the E1.68 DMX512 Compliance task group. In addition to lighting standards Javid enjoys teaching Fundamentals of Lighting. He also writes science fiction under the pen name David Pax. Links mentioned: - Spring 2024 Protocol articles: https://www.esta.org/ Click on the ‘Protocol’ pane | click on ‘Read Protocol Online’ or go to the ‘Read the Archive’ button. - Articles on DMX512 Update and E1.68 are pages 20 & 29 respectively. ESTA standards can be downloaded for free from the ‘Technical Standards Program’ pane. - National Electrical Code: https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/nfpa-70-standard-development/70 - Lighting Controls Association article: Egress and Emergency Lighting in a Controls World https://lightingcontrolsassociation.org/2023/05/24/egress-and-emergency-lighting-in-a-controls-world/