Announcing that the 2023 IES Illumination Awards season opening is only about two months away! As IA Chair for Nashville IES, I invite and encourage all in the Middle Tennessee Lighting Design community to consider contributing a 2023 submission.
A well-executed presentation of even a simple project can easily earn Design Team, Owners, Agents, and Suppliers an IES Section Award certificate.
More complex or challenging projects often attain higher recognition for Award of Merit, Award of Excellence, or Special Citation during Onlin International Judging. These awards are unveiled at Light Fair and published in the IES Magazine, LD+A.
Consider the fact that whatever the level of recognition your project receives, all project participants are henceforth able to promote “Award Winning Lighting Design” among their services repertoire.
For the small entry fee of $250 ($200 early bird), an IES Illumination Award represents the least expensive highly impactful Lighting Services marketing dollar one can spend. After all, your award certificate is presented by the only entity known worldwide as The Lighting Authority.
The IES Illumination Awards is NOT a competition! Each project submission is judged solely against the criteria set forth in the Score Sheet for the project’s submission category. Projects do NOT “compete” against one another, and there is no set number of projects that can be recognized. You can’t be “beaten out” by any other submission.
Submission Categories
- Award for Interior Lighting Design sponsored by Edwin F. Guth
- Award for Outdoor Lighting Design sponsored by Cooper Lighting Solutions
- Control Innovation Award sponsored by the Lighting Controls Association (LCA)
- Energy and Environmental Design Award
Submission guidelines, rules, and other information needed by Submitters can be found at the IES website, ia.ies.org. As opening day nears, the information here becomes more complete and detailed.
As IA Chair of your local IES Section, I am a resource. I encourage (strongly suggest) that anyone considering their first submission contact me before preparing your presentation. Two decades of serving in this capacity have demonstrated the importance of doing this.
I always make the following four recommendations, and when you contact me I will elaborate upon why and the difference following them will make in your chance of receiving a certificate.
- Use all 10 available images and all allowable text associated with each image.
- Have the Score Sheet for the Submission Category in front of you when putting together your submission, and make your Project Description and Image Narrative Text illustrate how the project meets the criteria and objectives outlined in the Score Sheet.
- Include Good Quality Photography taken at the appropriate time of day in terms of ambient light. With today’s high quality phone cameras, this does not require expensive professional photography.
- Include the allowable video of the project.
Feel free to contact me for information and insight about submitting a project to the 2023 IES Illumination Awards.
And feel free to spread the word and encourage others to participate in the Illumination Awards.
We look forward to evaluating this season’s submissions and to handing out certificates!
Keith A. Patterson, LC, MIES
Nashville IES Section IA Chair & Vice President
[email protected]