ILP IS HERE TO HELP AND SUPPORT YOU, THE MEMBER’

By Peter Burbidge

At ILP London (London LDC) our focus for 2023 is really very simple: to get good CPD out regularly to the members. That’s going to be through a combination of in-person face-toface events but also online sessions that everyone can attend, wherever they are.

This is obviously building on the change that happened during Covid. But the reason for this mix is that we find, although of course we want to get people to the physical events and it is great to do so, often the logistics can be difficult. People are busy, it may be hard to get the time off (either work or personal); a lot of the junior members in particular can struggle to get approval to take the time out to go to a face-to-face event, however valuable.

Some businesses of course are very good at encouraging their more junior people to take the time to attend CPD events, but there are a lot who just want their staff in doing the work, which is also very understandable.

The Covid pandemic has of course been good in terms of pushing forward online content; we have all got very familiar and comfortable with attending CPD events online.

So our goal, our hope, for 2023 is to get at least one CPD event online every month for the London area whilst at the same time planning some good in-person ones where we all physically get together. We, for example, had a very well-attended online event in January on TM66. It is just about having that blended mix.

Our face-to-face events will tend to be a mix of technical and social – we recognise that getting to meet, catching up, having a chat, making new contacts is an important part of being an effective lighting professional. But, also, it is important to have a good and up-todate technical background, which is why attending technical events and keeping yourself up to speed on things is so important.

Everyone in their working lives needs a bit of time out of the office. So, I think these events give people a bit of breathing space and the time to learn something, to reflect, but also to speak to other people who are doing the same thing they’re doing; getting ideas and fresh perspectives.

We’re also lucky in that our face-to-face events will often be well-attended. We normally have 100+ who attend. So come along and join in!

If, during 2023, we can promote and enable these kinds of conversations and connections – make them the backdrop of having a CPD event – that will be all to the good.

Internally, like most of the LDCs we’re always on the hunt for new people willing to get involved. We would love to have a more diverse committee, for example, one that better reflects London itself. There are also a number of roles vacant on the committee that it would be great to be able to fill with new volunteers.

Ultimately, whether we’re talking the team at Rugby or your local LDC, the ILP is here to help and support you, the member. So please don’t be shy, engage with us! We’d love to hear from members, whether it’s events you’d like to see happening, questions around your job role or perhaps an issue you’re having with a client (and it can all be anonymised) we’re here to help.

Peter Burbidge is chair of LDC London as well as head of commercial at DW Windsor

To find out more about what’s going on at LDC London go to https://theilp.org. uk/branch/ilp-london/

You can also make sure you hear all about events organised by your local branch’s volunteers by logging into your ‘MyILP’ portal and setting your communication preferences.

WHO’S WHO

Darren Horrobin, secretary

Ian Cowham, membership

Simone Rossi, products

Stefan Stratta, contracting

Supporting members: David Long, Perry Hazell, Ken Seeley Government and policy and YLP representative positions are both vacant at the moment