Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Jan. 31, 2020. In our Wednesday newsletter this week, I mentioned a State of the Industry survey that we will field across our readership soon. It turns out you won’t see that until next week. But my mention of that survey and the fact that I as a subscriber got an email about a different survey not long after I wrote the prior newsletter intro column made me think I should further explain our survey strategy. We generally would not plan to ask the audience to participate in two such surveys so close together.
I’ll admit our survey calendar has been a bit busy in the past year. We had a couple of surveys that we had always done under our prior corporate owner PennWell. When we became part of Endeavor Business Media eleven months ago, we adopted many practices of our new parent, and some of that includes surveys.
In every instance of us fielding a survey, our goal is ultimately to serve you better. I know that is little consolation when we ask you to participate in two surveys within a week. And I also know that we send surveys to many of the same people on behalf of LEDs Magazine and other brands such as Strategies in Light. I promise we will work to space these out better in 2020. The good news is that you ultimately get access to data that is directly applicable to your job and industry in some cases. I hope the readership liked our article in December from our first ever salary survey.
The State of the Industry survey is another example of research that I think you who work in this industry will find very enlightening in terms of where the industry is headed. Be on the lookout for it next week.
Earlier this week, I also mentioned that there was more news coming about the ams acquisition of Osram. We had reported this week that ams won approval to issue new shares of the company to help finance the acquisition. At the time, the company said the new shares would not dilute the value of existing shares, but did not explain just how that might work. Now ams has said it will place existing company-owned shares known as treasury stock with institutional investors. Presumably, the plan protects outside shareholders as well.
We did have a news story break from the US Department of Energy (DOE). The agency released its biennial “Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications” report. Despite some recent regulator rollback in efficacy policy by the current US administration in Washington, DC, the DOE says the LED transition will save 569 TWh of energy in the US annually by 2035.
Again I’ll remind you not to miss Strategies in Light. The start is just over a week away. I will also again tout the value and fun that awaits attendees to our Sapphire Awards in 2020. Most of you that come to San Diego will probably not find much time for touristy-type activity. But here’s a chance to visit a top San Diego attraction and a museum ranked in the top ten in the US, while also getting a chance to celebrate our Sapphire winners. For $50 you can visit the historic aircraft carrier Midway. In addition to drinks and tapas, our guests will get to explore the museum and interactive attractions.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. Please note my relatively new email address below. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]