Cory Schneider, LC, who is CEO at Lighting Unlimited, Inc. in Scottsdale Arizona, has been named president of the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD), the organization announced today.
“This is a truly exciting time for NAILD,” Schneider said. “The board and I are exploring many different initiatives for the organization this year, including certifying our Lighting Specialist educational programs, expanding our educational offerings, creating ‘train the trainer’ programs and discussing partnerships with other lighting organizations.”
Last year, under immediate past president Robin Watt’s leadership, NAILD tripled the number of educational sessions at NAILD Innovation, the organization’s annual conference, and partnered with Get a Grip Podcasts to introduce Get a Grip on Lighting, the official podcast of NAILD.
Joining Schneider on the NAILD board are president-elect Spencer Miles of Pacific Lamp & Supply, Seattle, Treasurer Matt Thesing of One Source Lighting, Grand Junction, Colorado, immediate past president Robin Watt of C.N. Robinson Lighting Supply, Baltimore, Josh Brown of Keystone Lighting of North Wales, Pennsylvania and Kevin Wolff of Jesco Lighting of Port Washington, New York.
NAILD extends its thanks and recognizes the outstanding contributions of departing board members
Tom Ciurzak of BLC International, Inc., Garden Grove, California, Gerard Darville of Lutron Electronics, Inc, Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, Jim Goodwin of Wattsaver Lighting Products, East Hartford, Connecticut and Brian Huff of Adventure Lighting, Des Moines, Iowa.
More Cutting-Edge Educational Opportunities
In recent years, NAILD has committed to becoming the industry leader in education, amid an ever-changing marketplace. Industry professionals who want to boost company sales and profit margins can register at https://naild.org/training/.
Lighting Specialist-I (LS-I) certificate training helps employers cut the learning curve for employees who strive to become lighting experts. It educates lighting sales employees to better understand how and when customers should retrofit their facilities from incandescent and compact fluorescent light technologies to solid-state lighting.
Lighting Specialist-II (LS-II) training shifts the focus from products to customer sales techniques and analyzing customer buying motivations, as well as a focus on applied lighting sales in retail, industrial, office and educational facilities. It helps elevate staff from the role of “product provider” to the role of “solution provider.” The latter portion of training allows participants to choose one or more market specialty—retail, industrial, office and educational facilities.
Both programs combine expert technical instruction and hands-on field experience delivered through a user-friendly, self-paced, online approach. LS-II participants also work with a mentor in the field.
As part of its growing portfolio of knowledge, NAILD also offers a brand-neutral Lighting Specialist-Controls (LS-C) certificate training program. Registrants must have already completed the LS-I training.
LS-C is a brand-agnostic and technology-neutral training program covering the basics of lighting control that allows distributors to speak to customers and suppliers with competence and confidence. The on-demand, online training program is supported by workbook exercises, hands-on activities, online quizzes, in-house coaching and a final exam. Those who successfully complete the course will become LS-C certified.
The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that one-third of all LED energy savings by 2030 will come from the use of lighting controls. Lighting distributors who can knowledgably pair controls with LED upgrades will increase sales and be more competitive. More so than lamps and luminaires, controls are highly sensitive to the application. Effective distributors will know how to select the right control strategy, develop a controls narrative and apply products to applications.
LS-C training includes four modules:
• Introduction to Lighting Control: An overview of the fundamentals and goals of lighting control, popular control strategies defined by different inputs and outputs, control zoning and the elements of an effective lighting control solution.
• Controlling Light Sources: A discussion of common control effects of switching and dimming and their effect of the behavior on incandescent/halogen, compact and linear florescent, induction, HD, LED and light-emitting plasma sources.
• Lighting Control Equipment: An extensive discussion of popular types of lighting control equipment including occupancy sensors, control panels, light sensors, dimming controls, intelligent control and device communication and protocols.
• Design and Application: A step-by-step presentation of the process of delivering lighting control strategies to spaces, covering owner requirements, control narrative, design development and commissioning.
For more information on all of NAILD’s training programs, visit www.naild.org/training.
About The National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD)
Founded in 1977, the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) is a nonprofit trade association that helps its members grow their businesses with cutting-edge education, conferences, awards and sharing of best practices. Its timely Lighting Specialist educational & certificate programs serve as a pillar in the lighting industry, while its annual conference unites lighting professionals in an evolving industry. For more information, visit www.naild.org.