Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Jan. 20, 2021. I feel like I’ve awakened from some sort of time-travel journey fueled by a pandemic over which I have no control. And maybe I have. Maybe we all have.
But good news is in order. We are finally opening to accept nominations in the 2021 Sapphire Awards program. The program is shifted about six months. The nomination portal is open. The Early Bird deadline is Mar. 1 and the final entry deadline Mar. 31. We are still working on Gala planning, but it will hopefully take place at the rescheduled Strategies in Light 2021 in Santa Clara, CA on Aug. 23.
We continue to experience a very slow news flow in the New Year. I think companies are simply trying to get their bearings in what will become a return to a more normal pace of business in the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors shortly. It’s just going to have to happen without in-person meetings for a bit longer.
Our Mark Halper did write a story about Signify that reinforces some of my beliefs. The company is restoring full salaries to its broad workforce. The company said the savings initiatives were critical to its ability to traverse the pandemic. Executives continue at reduced pay for now. But investors will be glad to hear that dividends will return.
We have an SSL project story for you this week. It’s a minimalist renovation in a historic building in Memphis, TN. But it demonstrates the subtleties of good layered lighting design. Moreover, the result of the “good bones” project is a beautiful space.
Last week, I told you that I was to participate in a webcast panel discussion with some other trade press editors and Mark Lien of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). We did that panel last Thursday. I thought it went well and have heard mostly positive responses from contacts in the industry. Our Carrie Meadows covered some of the discussion in a recent blog post. I understand an archive of the webinar will be posted soon.
We are almost ready to announce two additional germicidal ultraviolet (UV) webcasts to our docket. Stay tuned for those. Also, tomorrow we will launch a monthly UV technology newsletter. We published a couple of trial issues last year. It will deploy late in each month on a Thursday for the remainder of 2021. Digital magazine and newsletter subscriptions are complementary.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. 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]