Lighting Panel Discussion - Shifting from Free to Paid Services

Join us for a panel discussion about the value of lighting design and the role of Application Specialists vs. Architects and Engineers in the industry.

Shifting from Free to Paid Services
Defining the Role of Application Specialists vs. Architects and Engineers in the Lighting Design Industry

In today’s competitive market, manufacturers, and their agents are under increasing pressure to make sales, often feeling compelled to provide free design services to attract and retain customers.

However, this practice can undermine the value of lighting design as a paid profession, creating tension between free services offered by application specialists and the expertise of architects, engineers, and lighting designers who charge for their work.

The risk for manufacturers is that without offering these complimentary services, they may lose customers to competitors willing to provide free designs, perpetuating a cycle that devalues professional design work.

This panel will explore the complexities of this issue, focusing on the need to transition from a model of free design services to one that legitimizes and fairly compensates lighting professionals.

We will discuss the risks of commoditizing design work, the importance of professional expertise in achieving quality outcomes, and how both manufacturers and design professionals can work together to ensure that the industry shifts toward a sustainable and equitable future.

Key topics will include strategies for manufacturers and agents to balance the need for sales with the long-term health of the industry, and ways to elevate lighting design to a respected, paid profession. Through this discussion, we aim to foster greater collaboration across the industry, ensuring that the value of lighting design is fully recognized and appropriately compensated.

Date: Thursday, November 28th
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: KS on the Keys - 1029 Daze St, Ottawa
Included: Networking, 3-course lunch, panel discussion

More panelists to be announced shortly

Allan Demmings - Jp2g Consultants

Allan has 31 years of experience in the design, installation, field review, and evaluation of electrical systems for municipal, commercial, institutional, and industrial facilities. He has experience in all facets of electrical engineering planning and design including site lighting, utilities, communications, primary power, building automation systems, fire alarms, emergency power and lighting, and general building systems.

Andrew Mackinnon - Gabriel Mackinnon Lighting Design

Andrew Mackinnon is the owner and design Principal at Gabriel Mackinnon Lighting Design, having worked in the lighting industry for over twenty five years. His experience covers the range of architectural design: city master plans & urban design, institutional, commercial, and residential spaces and a large portfolio of custom fixture designs. He is active as both a speaker and committee member for the IES and the International Association of Lighting Designers.

Bob Bridges - Graybar Canada

With a career spanning over four decades, Bob is well known for his technical lighting knowledge as a teacher of lighting and as someone familiar with how things were done in the old days.

Since he entered the electrical industry in 1983, he soon became interested in lighting as a specialty. In addition to working for a prominent electrical contractor, he has worked for three major distributors in project coordination and quotations roles, in technical sales as a lighting specialist, and eventually as lighting manager, sales manager and branch Manager. He currently works at Graybar Canada as an Account Manager.

Bob is a member emeritus of the IES, and maintains his LC credential, a designation held since 2003. He has served the IES as the Ottawa Section president for two separate two-year terms. He presently serves in the role of District Chair, providing oversight and support to all the IES Sections in Eastern Canada.

Bob has volunteered on several IES Society level committees including Leadership, Membership, and Society member awards committees. He has received a Section Meritorious Service Award for his work with our Ottawa Section, and has been recognized at the Society level with a Distinguished Service Award.

Emerson Joekumar - Flux Lighting (Moderator)

Emerson is President of the IES Ottawa section and brings extensive experience working with Engineers, Architects, Interior Designers, and end users to provide lighting and controls solutions.

Arrival & Networking: 12:00 pm
Order Food: 12:15 pm
Panel Begins: 12:45 pm
Audience Questions: 1:45 pm

Get your tickets in advance to confirm your spot.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

KS on the Keys Restaurant, 1029 Dazé Street, Ottawa, Canada