QUICK BITS

We Ask Industry Insiders One Question

What most excites you about custom integrators embracing the lighting fixtures business?

We’ve been focusing on lighting design, fixture specification, and controls for over 15 years now. And so while we’re not new to the game, the opportunity has grown immensely, especially in the fixture market with such a wide variety of step-up performance and luxury products. Lighting makes or breaks your space, and you really only get one chance to get it right. Lighting and audio also go so well together. Our comprehensive design solutions for both architectural lighting and audio are simultaneously aesthetically pleasing, as well as functional, dynamic, and emotional. The two together create the perfect environment for working, playing, relaxing, or entertaining. —

Jason Barth, The Premier Group, Carmel, IN

Integrators are all about “the experience” and that relates to lighting 100%. We know more now about the human body and how light affects it than we’ve ever known in the history of mankind, and who better to deliver on that than integrators? They offer clients more and better choices, and with better lighting we know clients can feel better, enjoy their homes more, and live better lives. —

Patrick Laidlaw, WAC & AiSPiRE Lighting, Hersey, MI

I’m really excited about the lighting category’s ability to help our company become more engaged with the design community. While our industry offerings have always needed to be integrated into the design of a home, lighting seems to be one that really sparks exceptional interest within the design community. And the more we can engage the design community, the more smoothly the project will go, and we find ourselves getting involved at a much earlier stage of the project. — Eric

Joy, GHT Group, Marietta, GA

I think we are most excited to fill the void that exists in this category. Many of the great projects we get involved with have a need for a better lighting plan, but they are hesitant to go to a traditional lighting designer that may hold up the project and add significant expense. I think we can provide a solution that results in a much better end result for a reasonable expenditure. The silver lining is that it lets us get involved and add value earlier in a project. This allows us to build credibility early and makes it more likely that they will engage in the rest of our services as the project progresses. — Scott

Sullivan, SoundVision, Novato, CA

I would say what excites me the most about adding and growing lighting fixtures in our business is the additional opportunity to be creative in designing our clients’ spaces. When we get to work with low-voltage lighting in particular, there are so many ways that we can use it uniquely to completely change the mood of a space. We can add color or vibrancy and because of our skillset with control, we can help them “paint” with light in a way that no other trade can! — Amanda Wildman,

TruMedia, Ada, MI

What excites me the most is enabling our team to offer end-to end lighting solutions to our clients, from the fixture to the full control of their system. We are also excited about becoming better educated on fixtures, as a company, allowing us to guide our clients to decide the best lighting solutions for their homes. —

Patrick Hartman, Technology Design Associates, Carson City, NV

We’ve been working with fixtures for about three years now, and we feel that the opportunity is more significant than any other in the last 20 years for the CI channel. The ability to insert ourselves into a project further upstream is a significant benefit. Leading with lighting establishes us as more of a consultant than merely a subcontractor. Guaranteeing a result by helping suggest and/or specify fixtures that are knowingly going to dim properly within the lighting control system we provide is also a unique capability that our industry best facilitates.

— George Harrison, Harrison Home Systems, Lakewood, CO

Being able to control the lighting experience from the beginning to the end helps ensure fewer cooks in the kitchen and a finer product in the end. With fixtures becoming smarter, we have to know more — and control more — beyond the wallbox dimmer. — Jamie

Briesemeister,

Integration Controls, St. Louis, MO

From a rep perspective I would say that an integrator should be most excited about being more important to their clients. Being a trusted advisor for lighting fixtures makes the integrator a more important part of the job and the home. All of this allows a more meaningful conversation and a better result on all aspects of the job. It’s a win-win at a higher level. —

David Thomas, Momentum Group and Rio Grande Rep Company, Denver, CO