Our industry has come a long way over the last few years, and it’s not just about LEDs! There have been great strides when it comes to safety and proper engineering of the equipment that goes into theatres. Here, we go into the weeds, er… up into the flies.

It’s become an all too familiar scenario… A school district is looking to save on energy and maintenance costs and hires an energy efficiency consultant. With all good intentions, the consultant sees three dozen or so 500-watt PAR lamps in the auditorium house lights and recommends they be replaced by 17-watt LED PARs. The district also expects huge savings in replacement lamp costs and increased safety since the custodians won’t need to climb out on planks over the plaster lath ceiling.

For some the topic of gender identity and proper accommodations is uncharted territory, but it’s clear that more discussion and understanding is needed. Two ASTC members participated in a panel at the 2016 North American Theatre and Engineering Conference, and this article is adapted from that presentation. READ MORE….