Page 10 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - August 2017

enLIGHTenment | Editor’snote

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ACE H. ROSENSTEIN
Help Wanted
Group Publisher

LINDA LONGO
G
oogle the words “ceiling fan fails” and you will have sev-
Editorial Director
linda@bravobusinessmedia.com
eral hours’ worth of viewing time on YouTube® watching
people accidentally (or intentionally) ge ing harmed by
MARK OKUN
Business Contributor
whirling ceiling fan blades. Far less hilarious is the very real prob-
mark@bravobusinessmedia.com
lem of improper ceiling fan installation.
KELLY PEROTTI
We see bad ceiling fan installations everywhere — from the
Sta Editor
series of wobbly ceiling fans in a restaurant to the squeaks ema-
kelly@bravobusinessmedia.com
nating from a ceiling fan at a church or at a friend’s house. While
Contributing Writers
observing badly installed fans may make us cringe, there didn’t seem to be much the indus-
Cindy Foster Warthen, Mike Brannon,
Marilyn Nason, Stef Schwalb
try could do to curb the pervasive problem of faulty installation.
Worst of all, lighting retailers have been beleaguered by ceiling fan returns from custom-

SIMONE TIEBER
ers claiming the products either didn’t work or were “broken.” In the spring, I spoke with
Creative Director
Susan Irie of Kilohana Lighting in Hawaii, who has become increasingly frustrated with this

simone@bravobusinessmedia.com
dilemma in her showroom. “Roughly 90 percent of the time, there is nothing wrong with
JASON LOWSY
the fan,” she told me. “Once it is returned to the store as ‘defective,’ I can’t sell that ceiling
Production Manager
fan again, even though there’s nothing wrong with it.” Instead, it’s either sent back to the
jason@bravobusinessmedia.com
manufacturer to dispose of or it goes to the local land ll.
ANDREA CARROZ
Tired of the waste, Irie teamed up with Nathan Frampton of Fanimation® and John
Designer
Moody at Kichler® plus a few other passionate lighting veterans, to address the problem.
LILLIAN ANDERSON
Publication Coordinator
In collaboration with the ALA, they have formed a Ceiling Fan Education Task Force to
lillian@bravobusinessmedia.com
develop an educational curriculum for a certi ed ceiling fan installation program. They’ve

now been working together for roughly one year writing a comprehensive manual and
planning courses designed to educate the lighting showroom sales force as well as electri-
EDWIN KOEHLER
Advertising Sales Director
cians and contractors about installation, energy e ciency, the latest in electronics and
ekoehler@bravobusinessmedia.com
motors, plus “smart” controls.
JEFF DOCTOROW
“Regarding our Fan Education & Certi cation Commi ee, we had a great meeting at
Advertising Sales
June Lightovation,” Irie reports. “We will be meeting again at the ALA Conference in Van-
je @bravobusinessmedia.com
couver and plan to have dra s of all of the material, which will then be edited and revised
DEBBIE SCHWARTZ
by Lightovation in January.”
Advertising Sales
debbie@bravobusinessmedia.com
What this hard-working crew really needs, however, is more participation from distribu-
tors, installers, and reps. In order to bene t all categories in our industry, there needs to
MARY VALLE
Advertising Sales
be greater input from those who will be utilizing the program. If this ceiling fan education
mary@bravobusinessmedia.com
series for showroom associates or certi ed installation program for the contractors/elec-

ALLISON SANKA
tricians you work with will help you in any way, please consider providing input to this ALA
Sales/Marketing Operations
commi ee. They want to tailor the program to t the industry’s needs and the best way for
allison@bravobusinessmedia.com
them to do that is to hear from you.

EDWARD FREBOWITZ
Digital Editor

ed@bravobusinessmedia.com
AMY CHAPLIN

Web Designer
amy@bravobusinessmedia.com

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8 enLIGHTenment Magazine | august 2017