With just six months to go before this quadrennial event opens in Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, manufacturers and distributors alike are looking to take advantage of three days during which they will meet and socialise with many of the world's leading lighting designers.
Showlight is unique in that speakers, delegates and exhibitors mingle throughout the three days of the event - during the paper presentations, at tea and coffee breaks, over meals and during the visits programme - allowing plenty of time for discussion and exchange of ideas.
Durham Marenghi, who is presenting a paper on this year's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, says, "No matter how much you think you know, there's always something to be learned from the varied papers. And being able to spend three days socialising with both presenters and exhibitors is time well spent. Showlight is not a time poor event, it's time rich."
Exhibitors Clay Paky and Martin Professional are also Gold Sponsors of the event, supporting the Welcome Evening and expenses of the speakers respectively, while Bronze Sponsors Oasis Enterprises LLC and MA Lighting are respectively sponsoring the wine served at lunch on the first day and tea and coffee on each of the three days. As usual, PLASA is sponsoring the Farewell Tea on the Tuesday.
A truly international event, among the exhibitors at Showlight 2013 are Elation Professional from the Netherlands, LSC from Australia, LDR from Italy, LumenRadio from Sweden, MacoStar from Hong Kong, Philips from the USA and the newest addition to the list, Leader Light from Slovakia. UK based exhibitors include Artistic Licence, GDS, Green Hippo, HSL, James Thomas Engineering and Rosco.
Showlight 2013 would not be possible without the huge support it is receiving from Robe, the main sponsor of events such as the Conference Dinner on Monday night and the projection equipment. Josef Valchar, CEO of Czech Republic-based Robe, says,"Robe very much believes in the Showlight mission of bringing together the lighting community from all over the world and providing an outstanding opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business. We were honoured to have the opportunity to welcome Showlight to our beautiful country and we hope it will become a source of inspiration for all participants for years to come."
Exhibition space is still available - visit http://www.showlight.org/exhibit/ for more information or contact Jane Cockburn at sales@showlight.org.
(Jim Evans)
