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“I remember people queuing for a demo at our stands at PLASA, SIB or SIEL. It was unbelievable. Everyone wanted to control their DMX lights with a simple computer”
BRUNO FALIP Vice President, Nicolaudie Tell me how you first became involved in the lighting industry. I guess this is something that’s very common for people in the industry, but I started my career as a DJ when I was a student. During that time, I was more interested in throwing parties where everybody could have fun, rather than being too focussed on the music itself. I was playing with some lights already, creating different moods and atmospheres for my parties, but I then had the opportunity to join an outdoor sound and lighting show as lighting programmer/designer. This is where I really started experimenting with lighting and really immersing myself in the industry. At that time, I was also studying computer science at school and was actively looking for a company for my internship. I decided to contact Bruno Nicolaudie to see if he had anything for me, and he did! That was how I got into the lighting industry in 2001.
What is your role at Nicolaudie? I started with software programming and my first project was to develop a 3D visualiser for Sunlite. I was very proud of what I achieved as when I was given this project, I had no 3D programming skills, I had to start entirely from scratch and the result was more than correct. After a couple of years, we decided that I was better in a customer-facing role, rather than programming, so I slowly moved to a sales position in the company. Today, as the Vice President of Nicolaudie, I manage the Nicolaudie France office as well as the marketing of the group.
How did Nicolaudie begin? Bruno Nicolaudie also started as a DJ before creating the first ‘computerised lighting controller’ in 2000. This was the very first USB to DMX interface. It was an absolutely huge step for Nicolaudie; I remember people queuing for a demo at our stands at PLASA, SIB or SIEL. It was unbelievable. Everyone wanted to control their DMX lights with a simple computer. There is, of course, a lot more competition today, but I guess we are still in a good position in the lighting control industry.
What makes Nicolaudie different to other companies? They are two key points that I want to focus on: innovation and support. Innovation is important because we must keep working on our products and always try to come up with something new and never seen before. Today, more than 50% of Nicolaudie employees work for our R&D departments and I believe that is one of the reasons for our success. The second point focusses on customer service. It’s so important to be able to come up with a solution for a problem and we have always worked closely with our customers; there is always someone on the phone or contactable by email to help you fix a problem. This is absolutely fundamental. Today, we have people ready to offer a high-level technical support all around the world: Europe, Asia, America – all territories are covered. www.mondodr.com
What has been your favourite product to date? The product I’m thinking about was launched three years ago: the Light Rider app! It was something really innovative, and never seen before. It allows DJs to play with their DMX lights without having to programme anything. It has been a huge success so far.
What products have Nicolaudie been working on recently? We are about to release a complete new range of USB to DMX interfaces for our software. Even though the software has changed a lot, we have been using the same interface for 10 years. Now is the right time to work on a new hardware solution with the arrival of the third generation of Sunlite Suite software. We are also working on a top-secret project! This is something we have been working on for a couple of years – it is something very new for Nicolaudie. I am sure it will become a top player in the lighting control industry. Tell us something we don’t know about Nicolaudie. Our R&D team (designers, developers, engineers...) are absolutely fantastic! They are shadow workers. They are passionate about what they do and do such an excellent job every day. It is very easy to sell a product when the product is good! I really love working with this team, because it is so exciting.