Light Minds Think Alike

The ETC product catalog is dead.

Or is it? We hear a lot of conflicting opinions on how our product catalog is used - if it's used at all - from our dealers.

We hear the catalog referred to as a "gift" that sales people feel compelled to leave behind when they visit a customer.

We hear the catalog is the first place someone goes when they want to know about an ETC product.

We hear the catalog is the last place someone goes when they want to know about an ETC product.

But we're feeling like we need to get some opinions from the people who are buying and using lighting products every day. We don't want to do a survey, we just want to have a little dialogue.

So here's the deal: post a comment (or multiple) that addresses one of the following questions. On September 10, I'll pick five random commenters to receive some ETC SWAG (a t-shirt and something extra). Your comments need not be "positive" or "pro-ETC" to be eligible for SWAG, but they should be on-topic.

Q: If you've seen an ETC product catalog over the last few years, how did you use it?

Q: If you've found the ETC product catalog to serve a particular purpose for you, what is that purpose?

Q: What is it about the ETC product catalog that makes it useful, or useless, to you?

Q: If you could change one thing about the ETC product catalog, what would it be?

Get on board with the Pecha Kucha craze!

ETC Architectural Market Manager Joe Bokelman explains what a Pecha Kucha is:

A what? What is a Pecha Kucha, you ask? An easy answer might be to refer you to pecha-kucha.org, and leave it at that. But, if you haven’t already clicked away, allow me to make an analogy: if Karaoke is a way for drunken businesspeople to embarrass themselves after work, Pecha Kucha is a similar pastime while you might actually be working. It is like ‘open mic night’ for creative people.

The words mean ‘chit-chat’ in Japanese; more specifically, our dealer in Japan said it means ‘five women gossiping, at the same time.’ In 2004, two architects in Tokyo created an event style to help rejuvenate the gallery/bar/performance space they owned. They felt that creative types (architects, artists, etc.) had no outlet to explain and showcase their work to peers, but they also felt that ‘giving the mic’ to those same creative types was dangerous; they might never shut up! So, the pair devised a format to contain the presentation of a creative work (or idea) – one that also forced the presenter to really narrow their focus.

The Pecha Kucha format is very specific – 20 slides presented at a pace of 20 seconds per slide. In practice, the slides should automatically advance, making the entire presentation six minutes and 40 seconds long, exactly. This concept isn’t hard to understand, but just try it once for yourself; you will be forced to consider exactly what you are going to say, and you will have to work hard to avoid all of those little ‘filler words’ and verbal tangents we all have! In addition, you will have to find the right subject to present – you may find it very hard to express a broad concept at 20 seconds per slide.

Why do it? Because the format benefits the viewer. In a traditional format, the audience would have to sit the entire time listening to one person drone on about this project or that concept. If they don’t like the topic, or the presenter, that’s a good deal of time wasted. In a typical ‘Pecha Kucha Night’ or PKN, there may be 10-20 presenters, or about one to two hours of presentations. Some have said the best part about Pecha Kucha is that each topic (or presenter) is only up for 00:06:40. If you don’t like it, it will be over soon enough! Also, there is always some time in-between presenters, usually enough time to get a fresh drink from the bar (remember, the inventors owned a performance space/bar!) and the event usually gets more and more raucous as the night goes on!

Now six years later, the Pecha Kucha craze has grown worldwide: there are more than 335 cities with sanctioned Pecha Kucha nights, and more than 1000 presentations online on their main site. Thousands of people have experienced Pecha Kucha – and if you were at our Workshop this summer, you did too! The format has been used to present topics of all kinds (one of my favorites was given by a zoologist on a rare species of very large, flightless birds!).

Words don’t do the format justice. You have to check one out for yourself, either online, or better yet – go to a PKN near you!

ETC Live!

ETC lights venues all around the world – theaters, museums, tradeshows, amusement parks, concerts and more. One of the main reasons our equipment is so popular is because we understand what lighting professionals need for their varied applications, since we’ve been in their shoes. Employees have come to ETC from all kinds of backgrounds and have their own experience in those industries. And every year, we get the opportunity to showcase our skills at an annual company picnic, art exhibit and talent show – called ETC Live! – held at our factory.

This year’s event, with a ‘Fire and Ice’ theme, took place on Saturday, August 7^th. The deluge of rain that Wisconsin’s gotten this year took a day off, so we lucked out with beautiful – albeit humid – weather. Nearly 1,000 people – ETC employees, our families and guests – joined a swarm of Wisconsin state birds (read: mosquitoes) to enjoy the food and fun. ETC CEO Fred Foster provided some relief from the humidity, peddling around the event on his ice cream cart and handing out frozen treats. And kids got to experience a fantasy land, with a bounce house, massive inflatable slide, magic show, games and crafts.

ETC’s Town Square was turned into an art gallery for the event. Artists and photographers throughout the company displayed their beautiful paintings, photography, sculptures and woodworking in the pseudo shop-windows. And the parking lot was temporarily turned into a car show, as ETC gearheads showed off their classic and restored cars.

Then the ETC Live! show started. ETC’s outdoor amphitheater was bathed in deep blues and reds, thanks to the Selador® Series LED fixtures in the lighting rig. Manufacturing’s Dan Woodson kicked off the entertainment with a rendition of “Sweet Caroline.” He was followed up by ‘Madtown Ballroom,’ a local Latin-dance troupe made up of ETC R&D’s Matt Garrison and friends, dancing Salsa Rueda. Alternative-rock group ‘Crew Member Mike’ – all teenagers, including a son of R&D’s Dennis Varian – performed song covers and an original tune. Next up was musical-comedy group ‘Ironsides.’ John Ironside from ETC’s IT department, along with his wife and others, took on hits by the Carpenters, interspersed with witty observations on the neurotic nature of the famed lyrics. Rob Raff from the Sales department of ETC’s Southeast office – fresh off his smashing opening act at ETC’s Rep and Dealer Workshop – serenaded the crowd with smooth coffee-house covers of favorite rock and pop ballads. He was backed up by Scott Aumann from ETC Repairs, and Curt Schreiner and Rob Bloch from Shipping.

The main event of ETC Live! opened with teenage band ‘The Last Minute,’ which included sons of ETC’s John Masino (Manufacturing Engineering) and Lisa Patzka (Administration). The group handled clean covers of hits by Jane’s Addiction and Stone Temple Pilots and performed an original piece. ‘The John Masino Band’ took the stage to close out the show. Fronted by vocalist and guitar-wizard Masino – who was backed up by Aumann and Schreiner among others – the group wowed the crowd with incredible music, including classics by Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, David Bowie, The Foo Fighters and AC/DC, as well as the band’s own original hits.

At the end of the night, everyone packed up their lawnchairs and picnic blankets to head home. On Monday, we came back to the office to display our other talents – making award-winning products and providing outstanding customer service.