Today I would like to share a quick recap I wrote, along with several photos, of Lightfair International 2018 in Chicago this week.
20k lighting enthusiasts to gather!
I love this Dale Chihuly installation. Simply beautiful.
Lighting expert and software developer Joel Spahn talking to an attendee.
At the end of our presentation I gave away three of my Revit textbooks; Autodesk Revit Command Reference 2019.
Fun stuff!
For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter
The Venue
The conference was held at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. A perfect location for over...20k lighting enthusiasts to gather!
I love this Dale Chihuly installation. Simply beautiful.
On a somewhat related note, all state funded projects in Minnesota must have 1% of the project budget go towards art. I worked on a new library for the University of Minnesota - Duluth (UMD) and Chihuly was commissioned to create one of his amazing blown glass pieces - click here to see it. I have also been to the Chihuly Garden and Class exhibit in Seattle.
So, funny thing... I went in search of the art name plate. I was a little surprised to find the famous artists last name misspelled! I hope it has not been like this since 1997.
The Exhibit Hall
The exhibit hall at Lightfair can be described with one word... "Huge." Everyone who is anyone in lighting was there with very impressive "booths". If you have any interest in lighting at all, you should plan on attending this conference in the future. There is lots to be inspired by and experts to talk to about anything lighting. Below are a few photos I took around the exhibit hall.
Lumium Lighting had a pretty cool booth... as seen in the next two images.
A Chicago-style snack in the "New Exhibitors Pavilion". FYI: you can buy this at Chicago O-Hare if you are ever passing through that airport.
Lighting Analysts Booth
My friends, Lighting Analysts, Inc (LAI), who invited me to present with them, had an awesome booth as well. It was fun to hang out there for a while on Wednesday, not that I was even asked to, and hear what kind of questions people had and how the LAI folks answered those questions - that was very informative. Of course, they did not mind that I interjected in the conversations several times!
Lighting expert and software developer Joel Spahn talking to an attendee.
My new Brazilian friend Jose Luiz Pimenta Pinheiro who is an electrical engineer and Lighting Analysts representative and trainer in Brazil. We had previously talked a number of times via LinkedIn, but after spending the afternoon talking about all things lighting, BIM, IFC and then a three hour dinner talking about family, music and food... we are now good friends!
The Presentation
LAI's Matt Kincaid, also a lighting expert and software developer, and I presented a session called Revit Families Done Right. Of course, in the context of this conference, that meant lighting fixtures. There were a lot of Revit-users in the crowd, and lots of good questions.
At the end of our presentation I gave away three of my Revit textbooks; Autodesk Revit Command Reference 2019.
The Windy City
Chicago is a beautiful city... here are a few photos near the hotel I stayed at.
The People of Lighting Analysts
Dinner with the LAI crew... with Todd Saemisch, President (far left) and next to him, Dave Speer, Director of Sales and Marketing. Its a samll world as Todd's wife went to college in Duluth, at UMD. The guy on the far right, Daniel Cortes, is about to start working for EvolveLab soon. It was fun talking MEP and Dynamo with him. Great people!
Home
Flying back into Duluth, Minnesota on a lovely day! Minnesota on the left, Lake Superior in the middle and Wisconsin on the right. This is the world's most inland port:) Click here to read more about that.
Fun stuff!
For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter