Showlight has always been highly regarded as one of the best networking events in the lighting calendar, with plenty of time given over to the social side of the event. Showlight 2009 continues in that tradition, with an afternoon of visits arranged for Glasgow and the surrounding area which offer a mix of strictly business and the not-so-serious.
One of the most popular will undoubtedly be the visit to the Philips factory in Hamilton, which offers the opportunity to see one of the last remaining lamp manufacturing processes in Western Europe. Philips makes the SOX range of lamps here, with much of the work still being carried out by hand, and also assemble other types of luminaires, many of them specifically for sports venues, such as all the fittings for the first night time Grand Prix at Singapore. This visit will undoubtedly be heavily booked, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Other ‘business' visits include a back stage tour of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which opened in 1990, when the city donned the mantle of European City of Culture. It is the main venue for Celtic Connections, the world's largest winter music festival, and is home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The tour will take in all aspects of this modern Concert Hall which is, without a doubt, Scotland's premier concert venue.
Students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama will be both attending and working at Showlight 09, and one of the tours will provide the opportunity to visit the theatre, studios and workshops of the Academy, Scotland's leading teaching college for the performing arts.
For those wishing to take a break from the business of the day, the House for an Art Lover may provide inspiration. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this house was not actually built until the 1990s and is a ‘must see' for anyone interested in the work of this great Glasgow architect.
No visit to Scotland would be complete without seeing a distillery and tasting the whisky: Showlight offers a choice of two! Again, these are sure to be popular, so early booking is recommended!
With such a choice of these and other visits, including The Burrell Collection, Clyde Built and the refurbished and acoustically acclaimed Glasgow City Hall, Showlight's Monday afternoon visits programme offers a choice of itineraries, which will be posted to the Showlight website soon. You must be a registered delegate of Showlight to book for the visits, which are included in the full delegate price of just £180.00 inc. VAT, which also covers the three day colloquium, dinner on two nights, and coffee, lunch and dinner on each day.
Showlight takes place from May 16 to 19, 2009, at BBC Scotland's new state of the art headquarters in Glasgow.
Don't put off til tomorrow what you can do today – book now for Showlight 09 at http://www.showlight.org
Editor's note: Showlight is a colloquium - a meeting for discussion – and papers of between 15 and 25 minutes duration are presented over the three days. The event is supported by an exhibition of some 40 companies, which is closed during presentation of the papers. Sponsored by Martin Professional, Showlight 2009 will be of interest to anyone involved in entertainment and architectural lighting design.