qm_winter

irginia

apitol

onnections

, W

inter

2015

Lights, Camera, Action is typically how the saying goes. But a

Virginia Beach Company specializes over the holidays on darkness

so Christmas lights can shine. Intelligent Illuminations crossed the

Virginia border all the way to Ohio to ensure extra brightness for

a spectacular downtown Cleveland Holiday

Lighting show known as Winterfest. For the first

time, Cleveland Public Power used the Intelligent

Light Unit Monitoring System called ILUMS

to turn off streetlights near Winterfest. Crowds

of thousands were treated to an extravagantly

lit celebration without the interference or glare

from street lights. James A. Ferguson Chief of

the Cleveland Public Power Bureau of Street

Lighting says: “Winterfest was scheduled during

our off hours. The use of the ILUMS Smart

Photocell allowed us to participate and positively

impact the event by prescheduling the photo cell

to turn off and back on automatically using preset

times. The lights went out for the Christmas tree

lighting and fireworks and we scheduled lights

to turn on just after the fireworks were scheduled

to end. Typically this scope would have required

having crew involvement on off hours, which can

become costly.”

Intelligent Illuminations CEO LarryWilliams

and Virginia native says: “I’m excited to see our

technology used in such a specific niche market. It

makes my Christmas even brighter knowing that

providing darkness allows for better illumination

of a visual focal point!”

Cleveland Christmas

By Michelle Blalock

Everything from the stage lights, to the Christmas tree and nighttime

fireworks benefit from the use of ILUMS. At the end of the celebration

all street lights were restored to the proper setting so the crowd could

exit the area safely. “I thought it was a great opportunity to test the

available features offered by ILUMS. It allowed

the ceremonial lighting and fireworks to be enjoyed

much more. Folks were able to focus on the event

without overbearing ambient light,” Ferguson says.

Although a first for Cleveland, ILUMS has

been controlling street lights in the Virginia area

for the holidays since 2013. Norfolk Botanical

Garden (NBG) continues to use ILUMS to

enhance their Dominion Garden of Lights

celebration each year between Thanksgiving and

New Year’s. As you enter NBG, the street lights

that would typically interfere with the beauty of

the holiday lights remain off during the hours of

the show. This year NBG also used ILUMS to

control the street lights for runners going through

the garden for the 2015 Fun Run.

Cathy Fitzgerald Director of Donor Relations

for Norfolk Botanical Garden says: “For NBG to

be able to have control of the street lights gave

our runners a more enhanced experience for our

first fundraiser of the year.”

Hundreds of runners and their families

enjoyed the Dominion Garden of Lights annual

light show extravaganza while starting off the

New Year on the right foot—and the left with the

perfect amount of lights for safety!