Gary Fails, Guest Blogger

Here's Gary Fails from City Theatrical on his experience at the BLMC:

City Theatrical

has participated in every BLMC since the beginning. In my opinion, this was one of the best ever, largely due to the venue. The NYU area, adjacent to Washington Square Park, is lovely and convenient. BLMC is something that everyone, no matter what area of lighting they participate in, whether designer, electrician, TD, touring, regional theatre, etc., etc., should attend, at least once. Why? Well, from personal experience, I always am inspired by the speakers. They are professionals, and they sometimes seem to take the coolness of what they do for granted, but they are pros at the top of the lighting food chain and even other pros will find it interesting to hear them. Jules Fisher is an interesting person besides being a well known designer, and his interest in art, optics, magic, and loads of other areas make his presentation one that I try to watch every year.

Besides the classes, New York is a great place to visit in May. The weather was superb for the BLMC, and I always envy the attendees who get to make full use of the city while we lowly manufacturers are hustling back and forth from work to the classes and showcases. BTW, the manufacturers‘ showcases (CTI showed all of its WDS gear and LED power supplies) were vastly improved this year since they served food during the showcases. Good strategy!

Overall, I would say the biggest benefit of attending is the chance to meet and shake hands with some of our most interesting designers. The chance to meet and speak with Jules, Peggy Eisenhauer, Brian MacDevitt, Clifton Taylor, Bev Emmons, Chris Akerlind, Howell Binkley, and Philip Rosenberg, as well as meeting many of the top manufacturers in the industry and playing with the new gear in the span of three days is pretty unique.

BLMC is really one of our industry‘s best events.