Lightpower Open Days Hailed as Major Meeting Place for the Lighting and Visualization Industry

Open DaysOver 1,000 guests from more than 30 countries flocked to the sixth triennial Lightpower Open Days. Held at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn, Germany, Lightpower Open Days served as a major meeting place and an unparalleled learning and exchange opportunity for professionals in the lighting and visualization industry.

Scores of renowned guests from theater, TV, concert touring and live events came to attend lectures by high-profile professionals like Patrick Woodroffe who reflected on working with Michael Jackson on his final tour, Rick Fisher who detailed the lighting design for the Broadway musical “Billy Elliot,” Manfred ‘Ollie' Olma who shared the process of lighting a TV-Show like “German Pop Idol” and Jürgen Schmidt-André who spoke about designing sets for top-class shows on TV and on stage. Attendees also participated in informative seminars and gained insight into the latest industry trends and equipment developments; multilingual headsets provided simultaneous translation for this truly international event.

Lightpower GmbH, a major distributor of professional stage lighting and show technology, launched the first Open Days in 1994. The latest gathering was “our best to date, truly groundbreaking,” notes Lightpower Managing Director Ralph-Jörg Wezorke. “The international press as well as the contributors and guests all agreed that Lightpower Open Days is a leading business forum. It offers a convergence of ideas from designers, technicians and manufacturers creating a unique chemistry not found anywhere else.”

Those attending Lightpower Open Days were also able to gain insight into the latest developments in the field of control, video, dimming, networking, moving lights, spot lights, follow spots, LED sources, trussing, clamps, custom products, power supplies, gel strings and numerous effects. All of Lightpower's major partners were there in force, including Barco, Clay Paky, Columbus McKinnon, De Sisti Lighting, DTS, Doughty, ETC, Eurotruss, GDS, MA Lighting, MAJOR, Prism Projection, Pulsar, Rainbow Colour Changers, Robert Juliat, Rosco, Safex, Slick International B.V., VARI*LITE, and Wireless Solution.

The entertainment program at Lightpower Open Days was also an attraction. Australia's 8 Ball Aitken performed hot blues rock on stage while Germany's Barpiano provided mellow soul and jazz to guests in a lively social scene.

Pio Nahum, sales and marketing director at Clay Paky, observes that “the event was organized with incomparable efficiency and has proven to be an irreplaceable opportunity for socializing with customers and industry colleagues.”

Award-winning, veteran lighting designer William Klages adds, “My German holiday was a joy, primarily as the attendees were not only mostly European, but were lighting people actually on the job. They were extremely enthusiastic and pleased to be together and quite welcoming to each of the Keynote speakers. The camaraderie was very apparent even in translation. I felt proud to be so well represented by Rick Fisher and Patrick Woodroffe. The forum was perfectly organized by our hosts. US companies should tale note.”

Bob Gordon, president and CEO of A.C.T Lighting, Inc., the exclusive distributor for MA Lighting in North America, says, “In a word, Open Days was brilliant!”

Jon Petts, European sales manager for Pulsar Light of Cambridge Ltd., concurs. “I would extend my congratulations to all of the Lightpower team for a fantastic meeting.”

“Lightpower Open Days cultivate a valuable exchange of information and provide inspiration and motivation that our guests can take home and utilize in their daily work,” notes Wezorke. “The Lightpower team created an atmosphere that everyone was happy to be part of and that emphasizes the fact that we love what we do.”