It’s hard to believe that Lightfair International will kick off tomorrow morning. This afternoon, the trade show floor was a labyrinth of shipping containers as crews worked to assemble the 1,600 booths on display at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. We wanted to give our followers a quick sneak peak of what our booth will look like tomorrow. Take a look:
We will be offering our online viewers a more in-depth look at the booth throughout the week right here on the CreeLEDRevolution blog. Stay tuned!
The days are numbered for commercial fluorescent lighting. For those of you who are attending Lightfair this week, you’ll have a chance to see why at our booth #1925. For those of you who aren’t going or just can’t wait to see what the future of commercial lighting is, you’ll want to watch this LED lighting makeover video.
Cree’s new CR troffer series is designed to replace ugly, old fluorescent tubes. We’ll be showcasing the series at Lightfair International this week in Philadelphia. The series features three models and several performance options, the CR14, which is 1 ft x 4 ft; the CR 24, which is 2 ft x 4 ft; and the CR 22, which is 2 ft x 2 ft.
In this video, you’ll get to see us upgrade a computer lab in a North Carolina high school. We replaced outdated T12 fluorescent lights and ballasts with the Cree CR24. The results are beautiful and show just how much energy you can save with LED lighting.
The school reduced its energy consumption by 75 percent by replacing the school’s old T12 fluorescent lights and ballasts with the Cree CR24. The video has more details on exactly what they replaced. And, since the federal government has ordered a national phase out of energy-wasting T12 fluorescent tubes, the school would have had to replace its lights soon.
We calculated payback on what it would have cost the school to replace its T12 fluorescent lights with fluorescent lighting comparable to the CR24 LED troffers. By choosing the LED lights, the school would see payback in just over six months! After that, the school would continue to save on energy and maintenance costs.
Lightfair goers will get to see these lights in person at our booth. It’s one of the many products we’re excited to be showcasing at our booth. For more details on Cree’s CR troffer series go to CRSeries.CreeLEDLighting.com.
The world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference kicks off this weekend in Philadelphia. Lightfair International is a lighting geek’s dream. Here’s a quick rundown by the numbers:
20,000: Designers, lighting, architectural, engineering and energy professionals expected to pack the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia during the trade show and conference.
170,000: Net square feet of exhibit space at Pennsylvania Convention Center
1,600: Booths that will line the trade show floor.
475: Manufactures showcasing products at the trade show.
200: Hours of accredited courses provided during the conference
24: Total hours the trade show floor will be open over three days
1925: Cree’s booth number
Yep, that’s right, our booth number is 1925. For those of you in attendance, we hope to see you there.
For those of you who won’t be there, stick around here. We’ll be posting updates throughout the week right here! Stay tuned!
The tradeshow features more than 1,600 booths, and we’re pretty sure you’re going to see LED lighting pretty much everywhere you turn. I asked a couple of my coworkers who are Lightfair veterans to offer some tips for those who are going. Here’s what they came up with:
Wear comfortable shoes. There is no exception to this rule. You will be on your feet constantly and the Las Vegas Convention Center boasts more than one million square feet of exhibition space.
Decide what you want to get out of Lightfair before you leave. Just like it’s a good idea to determine how much money you’re willing to gamble when you’re in Vegas, it’s a good idea to determine your Lightfair goal before you enter the show floor. Are you going to learn more about LED lighting; to purchase lights for a specific project; to see the latest and greatest technologies; to find a job? Set your goals so that you don’t end up wasting time.
Bring along a list of questions for LED manufacturers. It won’t be hard to find booths displaying LED lighting for a variety of applications. But don’t come to Lightfair prepared to accept everything exhibitors tell you about LEDs. Come armed with some solid questions. Here’s a good place to start.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Now that you’re armed with some good questions to ask, speak up. Don’t take attitude from any exhibitors. If you don’t understand something, keep asking follow up questions until you do. But don’t be obnoxious either. No one wants to be that guy.
Let exhibitors scan your badge. Don’t shy away from being placed on a mailing list by exhibitors. Most of these lists are e-mail based, which means you can unsubscribe later with a click of a button. That said, if an exhibitor offers to scan your badge and you’re not interested, say so.
Avoid eating lunch at noon. The food vendors are swamped come noon. So plan on eating early or eating a little later. There’s no point in standing in a long line for a piece of pizza when you could be looking at more energy efficient LED lights!
Make time for the exhibits everyone is talking about. Obviously you’re going to see what the big companies are up to. But poke around a little to find out which smaller companies are boasting innovative products. You can even ask at the information desks who the ‘must see’ vendors are. You don’t have to be a big fish to boast a good lighting product. Besides, big fish often have mercury inside them, and that’s not good for anyone.
And, of course, you should stop by the Cree booth (#149) because that’s where I’ll be, and if you’re reading this, I want to meet you. And if you’re tweeting from Lightfair, be sure to use the hashtag #Lightfair.
If you have any tips of your own or want to let everyone know what’s worth seeing in your booth, leave us a comment below. See you at Lightfair!
