Kate’s back from Europe!  After a long 11 days at Light and Build, we think someone was glad to be back in KC!

Our very own Kate Wimer and one of our dear Lighting Designers, Kathi Vandel, traveled a total of 12,000 miles over the span of a week and a half.  The trip started in Frankfurt and went to Villengen Germany, Zurich Switzerland.  Then the world travelers hopped on a eurail to Venice and then off to Rome. 

Then the news of the volcano emerged. Were Kate and Kathi going to get home??

Boston.com states “British civil aviation authorities ordered the country’s airspace closed as of noon, due to a cloud of ash drifting from the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The volcano has erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. The volcanic ash has forced the cancellation of many flights and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, stranding thousands of passengers. Collected here are photos of the most recent eruption, and of last month’s eruptions, which were from the same volcano, just several miles further east”

After being stranded in Rome and being at the mercy of Mother Nature and the airlines, finally a 10 hour flight sounded like a relief.

She told stories of pick pocketers, gypsies, and the darling Italians.  Not to mention the unending supply of pizza, “speggiti” and bruchetta.

However it was not a question that the trip was worth the few extra days.  Factories that displayed beautiful booths included Hess, Selux, Zumtobel, Energie, XAL, Wila, and Martini.  The Hess factory was a remarkable site to say the least.  Hess, located in Villengen was the true tale of German Engineering.

We’re glad to have you back!

Thank you all who attended Mercer’s LEDs Seminar!  Mercer Zimmerman hosted a LED Seminar at the Kansas City Public Library January 20th, 2010. It was a success with over a 200 person turnout! Topics discussed included The History and Technologies of LEDs, Integrating LEDs into Luminaires and Drivers and Dimming.  This was followed by a thought provoking comparison of current LED fixtures.  Thank you to Jovani Torres- Cree, Steve Walczak- Sternberg, Al Marble-Phillips-Advance for graciously presenting these topics. 

For those who were not able to attend, available below are the power point presentations and additional information from the seminar. Click to download.

History and Technology of LEDs-Jovani Torres  

Cree Presentation Part 1

Cree Presentation Part 2

Cree Presentation Part 3

Cree Presentation Part 4

*Note our apologies for the breakup of the Cree presentation, it was too large to upload at once.

Integrating LEDs into Luminaires-Steve Walczak

Drivers and Dimming-Al Marble

Human Eye Response to LED Light

LED Terms and Definitions

LED Checklist

Jeff Clark of Mercer-Zimmerman hosted Steve Vo, Bill Nance, Nick Moore, Zac Harris, and Leonard Ake of P.E.C. at the Chiefs game versus the Cowboys on October 11th. In addition to braving the cold weather, there were a few interesting adventures… Let’s just say that on the way to the Argosy Casino on Saturday evening the group managed to get a good look at an area of Kansas City that most people wouldn’t venture into during the day, much less late in the evening. There were a few humorous and rowdy Chiefs fans sitting nearby at the game and everyone had a good time. Frozen toes included.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to make our monthly luncheon series at Brio a success!  We’re taking a break during the month of August, but we’ll be back in September with what we think is an exciting new local manufacturer - Structura.

Their offices and manufacturing facilities are in Olathe, KS.  Check their website for more information:  www.structura.com.

Nick Wurzel and Heidi Bowers of ETC gave a two part presentation also gathering a full crowd.  Again, please contact Megan for more information or to inquire about future presentations. 

For another installment in the monthly luncheon series, Dual Lite had a full crowd in February and Julia Davis gave a great presentation!  For further information or to inquire about uncoming events please contact Megan (msmall@mzltg.com).

Last weekend Brad and Tim took a few specifiers out to Colorado for a nice spring break on the slopes!  The group had a good time and luckily, no broken bones!

MZ kicked the New Year off with our fourth monthly luncheon featuring Ken Esterly of Bruck Lighting Systems.  Ken is the National Sales Manager for Bruck.  In addition to showing some of our favorite fixtures, he also talked about their new LED products and the correct applications for both halogen and LED sources.  The newest Bruck innovation is a component of their pendant mounting jack that allows one track to power both halogen and LED fixtures.  This feature is only available from Bruck and was well received during the luncheon.

As Ken pointed out, some of Bruck’s beautiful glass pieces are hand-blown right here in Kansas City – just one more reason to specify Bruck fixtures on your projects.  If you have any questions feel free to contact your sales rep, or if you are interested in the new 2009 Bruck product catalog, e-mail Ryan at rfarmer@mzltg.com.

Next month’s luncheon topic is Dual-Lite inverters – when, how and why to use them.  We will be returning to Brio at the Country Club Plaza on Wednesday February 4^th.   Please contact Megan with questions or to RSVP at msmall@mzltg.com.

The third installment of the MZ Monthly Luncheon series, held on the Country Club Plaza,  was a hit.  The team brought in Erin Yarhaus of Focal Point, and after a positive response of initial announcements, had to do two presentations.  Each went very well as Erin displayed and previewed new products.  With great design and excellent quality, Focal Point holds true to their slogan: the art of light.