Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Apr. 3, 2020. We have our April issue posted for you in HTML format at this point. Of course, subscribers have had seamless access to the issue and to archives via our digital magazine platform. But HTML versions are easily found via search.
A couple of months ago, I was pleading for our audience to participate in a State of the Industry survey. Thanks to all who did. One of the feature articles in the April issue is the piece I wrote about the survey results. The results were very optimistic. Alas, the magnitude of the impact of the coronavirus was unknown when most participants completed the survey. Still, perhaps we can look forward to a bright future for connected lighting and for niches such as lighting for health and wellbeing once we conquer the pandemic.
Back to our digital subscriber platform for a moment. I mentioned in our Focus On LEDs in Lighting newsletter last week that we would be pushing our readers to complete a new reader qualification card. We have simplified that card. And having current subscriber data is critical to our ability to do business and bring you the magazine, website, newsletters and more. Please help us out and take a few minutes to complete a new circulation card when asked.
Our news for today is mostly tied to the coronavirus pandemic — and please read on to the end of this column, because I have something to ask of you regarding such coverage. We can all read about the recovery from coronavirus ongoing in China. Glad to hear some good news. Our Mark Halper has reported on Signify and Schréder each reopening manufacturing in China and shipping products globally.
In that same story, Halper wrote a heartwarming story about a US company that has gone to extraordinary lengths to help in the fight against COVID-19. A.L.P. Lighting has converted one of its injection molding lines at a Wisconsin factory to manufacture plastic face shields used by healthcare workers. The company is supplying hospitals with no profit markup.
We also have stories focused on other impacts of COVID-19 on our LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) industry sectors. LightFair International will not be held this year. Organizers will look next to the 2021 event slated for New York. Signify, meanwhile, is asking workers for wage concessions. And on a positive note, members of the National Lighting Bureau will supply lights to tents being deployed for coronavirus testing.
Now to the discussion I’d like to have with you the readers. We have been trying to balance our coverage of coronavirus with the technology and business items that are more typical for us in a normal time. We are certainly trying not to sensationalize coverage of the pandemic, and in a perfect world I’d sometimes like to ignore it completely. Unfortunately, the pandemic has impacted everything and is almost impossible to ignore.
What I ask of you is to help keep us honest and on our toes. If we publish something you think was inappropriate, email me. Let me know if we are getting the balance right. Meanwhile, in lieu of commentary on today's blog, we've posted a short poll to find out how the global health crisis has impacted you professionally. We'll report on the results at a later date.
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]