In Conversation with Colleen Harper
September 2023
IESNYC President Shoshanna Segal initiates conversations with colleagues and leaders in allied organizations to discuss relationships between the organizations and respective roles in different building industry sectors. We’re raising awareness about lighting, building coalitions, and covering hot topics – all to advance the art and science of lighting to benefit society as a whole.
Colleen Harper, Executive Director of the Illuminating Engineering Society
IESNYC: It’s become clear to us recently that many IESNYC members don’t associate the Section with having an important relationship with the Society. I’m interested in how the Section fits in with the Society as part of a larger organization. And I know some IES members across the country don’t know what we’re doing here in NYC, how we are leading the industry.
HARPER: At the Society leadership level we are certainly aware of what the NYC Section is up to, and you have our support. You all are so active – I love that we have this opportunity for us to be better partners, in general. We’re not doing a lot of activities together right now, but the hope is that we can in the future.
Look to the future
IESNYC: I think New York has an outward-looking focus overall. That’s why we sponsor 20 EPs [emerging professionals] at the IES Annual Conference every year. Our view is that we need, first, a pipeline of talent. Plus we’re looking out for the industry as a whole. We have local schools that feed into the local industry. But there’s a lot of talent out there! IESNYC industry folks will attend all the EP events at the Annual Conference and make connections. Our benefit is that the EPs appreciate it and see that we think young talent is important – feeding the pipeline of talent into the industry in general, and into New York specifically.
HARPER: That EP focus comes up all the time with manufacturers. How do we better train and prepare the next generation? Especially as there aren’t a ton of lighting [college] programs nationwide. In general, how do we make sure that fresh graduates are getting good lighting training? If they don’t have a strong lighting background and go to work for a manufacturer, there’s this need that IES international can fill with the help of the sections. The larger sections have the strongest “knowledge building” programs, many using Society curricula and materials.
IESNYC: Yes, in New York we have the Next Gen program that is specifically geared toward both EPs and students. Also, the LC [which IES now manages] covers a lot of material, and it’s important to have a means of qualifying folks who are lighting professionals. It’s important for our corporate members, especially in training their applications people. As a specifier, I so appreciate when the various manufacturers have applications department people who are somewhat knowledgeable in what I do.
Making meaningful connections
HARPER: We have such a large number of members in New York, with dedicated and passionate leadership and succession planning in place... which is rare. It’s so important that sections are active at the local level.
In many parts of the world or country, some members will never be able to attend the Annual Conference or LightFair or any event that IES international is hosting. You need sections active at the local level. Because when you can attend a local event in person, you get energized and start to understand “these are my people” and you have a professional home. That keeps you connected to the larger organization. It’s hard for the Society to retain members without that intense connection. Even though we’re headquartered in New York, the IESNYC keeps the local lighting community (and beyond) extremely engaged.
Also, personally, I get a lot of inspiration from the NYC Section. IESNYC had such great ideas, energy, and strong outreach to make programs like Moonlighting successful. The ability to recognize a need in the community and be nimble enough to act on it immediately… that’s awesome. The fact is that the Section is serving the community’s needs proactively.
What’s next?
IESNYC: If someone asked me, what’s next for the Society in this time of… let’s say, fiscal transition, I think there needs to be a focus in addition to standards writing.
HARPER: Yes. Agreed.
IESNYC: It is good to serve on a technical committee, and I am vocal in encouraging people to serve on a technical committee, whatever your particular area of interest. EPs join and learn and make connections from across the country. But that has to not be the sum total of the Society's output.
Other organizations are connecting with people on a very personal level. Like WILD: they’re looking at what it means to be a parent in lighting, for instance. They’re also doing important work in sexual harassment, nationally. There are plenty of people in the lighting world who care about more than business and standards and science. The IESNYC is working to meet that need by supporting Equity in Lighting, among other efforts.
[IES Director of Education] Brienne [Musselman] is a passionate educator and promoter of knowledge sharing and storytelling. I would love to see her out there more, expanding the Society’s repertoire.
HARPER: Yes. It is hard to have a sustainable organization, right now, relying only on standards writing. While we provide that important service to the industry – and always will – lighting education is a priority. (Again, this can be done in part by the sections, and the IESNYC does a lot.) Last fall we had the Light + Justice Symposium, an extended online program; very well attended, really interesting presentations, excellent overall. I think we have not done enough of those kinds of topic-focused events, whether in person or virtually at the international level.
We have plenty of access to experts, and we should be doing this more. IES should be known for timely and accurate information and education for lighting professionals. Sure, anyone can put up a webinar. There’s tons of material on YouTube, but how do you know it’s good? Without a deep lighting background who can tell what’s accurate and vetted?
Young people are less likely to join an association like IES, because there’s so much information online. YouTube and Sub-Reddits – we didn’t have access to that. Brienne is an excellent curator, and she wants to expand our educational offerings. We want to serve lighting professionals on their path from graduation all the way to retirement. Standards alone aren’t going to do that.
Local and nimble
IESNYC: In fact, the IESNYC [along with a few other sections] supported that Light + Justice Symposium financially. Just like IESNYC started Lightfair back in the day as a volunteer effort, and brought IES to the table. LightFair was a boon to the Society for many years (though we don’t know what the future will bring). There’s sort of a false sense of competition between the Society and the sections. There are different opinions and different needs, but…
HARPER: The nonprofit partners in LightFair [IES and IALD] are trying to survive in a post-COVID world where Lightfair is not the major revenue stream it once was. IESNYC and other strong chapters are one of our greatest strengths. If all of our sections were like IES New York, IES international would be a very different place. Some of that is benefiting from circumstances: the Tri-State Area has a massive pool of industry professionals. But great ideas come out of this diverse pool that can be emulated elsewhere.
IESNYC: One of the things that’s happened is that we have a legitimate awards season across the lighting community. There’s Lumen West in LA and the Vision Awards in Vancouver… It wasn’t necessarily our intention, but this idea of a spring awards gala did start in New York. Other sections do it differently and use the IES Illumination Awards as a springboard. I think it’s lovely that other sections gather together to honor great work being done by local lighting designers, owners, and design and construction teams. Just like in IESNYC, section service awards nationwide go a long way towards honoring hardworking volunteers and important community outreach efforts.
HARPER: The Society maintains the Illumination Awards platform that allowed this great idea to spread. There are benefits to being a more nimble and more local group, and the Society needs to capitalize on that even more. [IES Senior Membership Manager] Michael Austerlitz works so hard to engage and communicate with the sections. They’re a terrific resource.
IESNYC: We have the advantage of a large communications budget and dedicated volunteers to steer contractors. Other sections don’t have those resources.
HARPER: There are engaged, passionate people nationwide. Outside of New York, I believe it’s all volunteer time. HQ wants to provide templates for communications (not technical communications) to help sections. Part of that is website hosting – IES hosts all of the section’s websites [except the IESNYC] including a common calendar.
Mutually beneficial
IESNYC: The Society maintains our membership rolls for us, and LD+A provides some value to members. And the Society propels research for the industry as a whole.
HARPER: In addition to LightFair and the Annual Conference, all members (including IESNYC) can access monthly educational webinars for free. These sessions, and the webinar library available 24/7, are accredited [for LC, AIA, and CLD] and allow access to global experts in different subject matters and businesses. In many cases, these are the same speakers appearing at in-person national events. They’re renowned mentors and inspirational and aspirational figures that are deeply invested in IES and IALD. They’re offering valuable insight on the state of the industry – and its future – especially for emerging professionals.
IESNYC: The fact that LightFair will continue to be in New York every few years – it adds a level of excitement and energy to the New York City lighting community that is hard to replicate. It brings EPs and far-flung colleagues and luminaries into town, which benefits the local members. That investment by the Society has benefited the local Section for all those years, and we’ve been compensated to some extent. Now we are looking to find other ways to partner with the Society in a way that will benefit everybody. We really believe that a rising tide lifts all boats.
HARPER: We know that the IESNYC is an inspirational group, and they do so much for member retention and engagement locally and beyond; you do reach well beyond the Metro Area. We’d like to replicate some of your communications and programming broadly, to the extent that Society support and local resources allow. In many ways, that helps us in international leadership feel like we have valued partners. We know the IESNYC is on top of what is happening in the industry and proactively providing ideas, resources, and programming.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
