Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Good lighting is a main ingredient of a prosperous trade-show booth. Just the right lighting theory can help an artist generate the atmosPh Meter. Total: .00

Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

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Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

· 2 little level Connectors by Portfolio, Item #120716, for joining two of the track sections end to end. The idea is to have only one cord to Plug in from a row of four lights. Total: .92.

· 2 Cord and Plug Sets, briefcase brand, Item #120827, to power track from a approved Ac wall outlet. I associated these to the end of the two of the track sections by unscrewing the outside on one side of the track. Total: .06

· Various Multi-Purpose Ties (cable ties), by Catamount, for attaching tracks to booth pipes. Total: .00

· 2 heavy-duty extension cord/power strips – 14-gauge, 15-feet, with three outlets each, Woods brand, from Lowe’s, Item #170224, model 82965. Total: .00

Grand total: 3.86

The Gimbal lights I chose only accept a 50-watt, Par 20 bulb, which made it easy to pick out the bulbs. So in this case, the fixture drove the choice of bulb, not the other way around.

According to the Bulb Ph Meter when it reaches 10 feet away. It offers about 12 foot-candles worth of light at 10 feet away from the bulb (a foot-candle is the level of illumination on a outside one foot away from a approved candle.)

For the sake of comparison, a Par 30 beam offers a diaMeter of more than 8’ at 10 feet away, and you still get about 14 foot-candles at that distance. What happens if you notch it up to a 75-watt bulb? You get a lot more foot-candles (38) at 10 feet away. This suggests that larger trade-show booths might want to take advantage of higher Par and higher watt bulbs.

All together, the track lighting theory I chose uses 400 watts of electricity. This left me other 100 watts to add specialty or accent lighting to my booth, while still remaining at the 500-watt limit.

Cords, Plugs and Hanging Lights

The Las Vegas practice center has very precise rules for cords, Plugs, and hanging lights.

The two-pronged, 18-gauge cords that the builder has attached to your lights are approved (leave the Ul tags and labels intact). These lighting cords cannot be plugged into the practice center outlet, however. Instead, you must plug them into a three-pronged, heavy duty, 14-gauge extension cord – or a breaker strip with a 14-gauge cord. You can then plug that 14-gauge extension cord into the practice center outlet.

A 14-gauge extension cord is capable of handling 1,825 watts. It’s helpful to read the brief extension-cord sizing and safety information on the web pages of the Underwriters Laboratories (www.ul.com/consumers/cords.html) and the University of Florida Cooperative extension assistance ([http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/Fy800]) before purchasing a cord.

Bruce Baker suggests the cord be 20 feet with six outlets, and that it contain a cord reel. I couldn’t find this type of cord at Lowe’s, so I decided on two 15-foot, heavy-duty, 14-gauge extension cord/power strips, each offering three outlets. If you have a larger booth, you can find a 25-foot cord with three outlets at Lowe’s.

There are so many distinct approaches to hanging lights, and so many variables to consider, that it could be a topic for other article. In general, you can hang or clip lights onto a cross bar or onto the “hard walls” of your display if you have them. Depending on the rules of a single trade show and the size your lighting system, you may be permitted to attach the lights to the booth’s existing pipe and drape.

Since my booth found does not contain my own walls, my lights will attach whether to the existing pipe or to a cross bar. Cable ties (commonly called “zip ties”) apPear to be tool of choice for attaching tracks to the pipes or bars, and even for attaching added cross bars to existing pipe and drape. One artist I know uses Velcro strips, followed by cable ties to collect the attachments. There are a few enTire websites for cable ties. One of them is http://www.cabletiesplus.com .

I purchased Multi-Purpose Ties from Home Depot. They can bundle 4 inches in diaMeter, withstand temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and hold up to 50 lbs.

Accent Lighting: Leds

There are many ideas for accent lighting – although a fAir rehabilitation of the topic is beyond the scope of this article. Light-emitting diode (Led) lighting is one technology that is experiencing breakthroughs and growing fast. It takes many Leds to equal the light yield of a 50-watt bulb, and Leds are fAirly expensive, so Leds aren’t ready for prime time when it comes to lighting a whole booth.

There are several close-up applications for Leds, however, that are worth looking into now. An example is the in-counter light bar sold by Mk Digital Direct at Digitaldirect.com">http://www.mkDigitaldirect.com (at a whopping 5 per foot). The more affordable Mk Sparkle Light Pocket () is a transported expedient that has extra long-life of over 100,000 continuous hours and promises to give jewelry “maximum sparkle and scintillation.”

The Nexus One of the color choices, and at it’s a bit expensive. Still, a few of these lights combined with room lighting could draw viewers into your booth and toward your most dramatic displays.

Leds also contain tube lights, flexible lights, linear lights, and bulbs. Superbright Leds (www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html ) has a collection of 120-volt screw-in Led bulbs for accent and other low-lighting applications, as well as a host of other sharp products such as “plant up-light fixtures.”

At this writing, the hunt was still on for accent lighting to give my booth an extra extra glow. Stay tuned for a hereafter record on the results.

Online Resources

The following list is not an endorsement, but rather a beginning point for explore on lighting systems, cable ties, and accent lighting.

http://www.ccl-light.com - cheap and many choices, has “Bulb Photometrics” page to help decide how much light and what kind you want from a bulb

http://www.direct-lighting.com - stem-mounted and track lights

http://www.usalight.com - large choice of lighting and bulbs

http://www.bulbs.com - quick optical comparison of Par bulbs (in halogen section)

http://www.cabletiesplus.com - Cable (zip) ties for securing track lights to pipe

Digitaldirect.com">http://www.mkDigitaldirect.com - Led lights for jewelry cases

http://www.american-image.com/products/lights/lights.html - a nice choice and optical layout of stem-mounted and other lighting (but not cheap)

http://www.brightmandesign.com/products/wash-super.html - good technical information and images of lights set-ups for trade shows; several stem-mounted clip-on designs

http://www.superbrightleds.com - Led accent lighting, together with screw-in bulbs and light bars

Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

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