Affordable, cutting-edge design
Los Angeles, California-based Elation Professional was founded 21 years ago by brothers and partners Chuck and Scott Davies. Early on in their careers of supplying lighting equipment to bands, the duo was struck by the lack of affordable-or good quality-lighting. This realization was the impetus behind an all-consuming passion to merge high quality with low cost in technical lighting. Their vision has led to the production of fixtures that populate, among other venues, church sanctuaries of every size.
Elation's product applications are certainly not limited to value-conscious venues. The 120-employee-strong company designs cutting-edge fixtures which also attract the likes of music headliners such as Toby Keith. Incidentally, it's Elation's lights that focus a beam heavenward from the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas-the only light visible from space.
Chuck Davies surmises the Elation philosophy: "Elation [wasn't] built on creating products that only five customers can use. We make products that perform well in a wide variety of applications."
CPM visited with Elation Professional's Sales Director, Eric Loader. Ironically, Loader started his own career just out of college working with the Davies brothers. He shares his insights into Elation Professional-a company that will undoubtedly continue to be a valuable lighting resource to the house of worship (HOW) market for years to come.
CPM: What separates Elation from other companies?
Loader: What separates Elation Professional from our competitors is our wide range of products that we offer. With Elation, a church can get essentially everything they need from one manufacturer and with our 'total support' commitment. With a two-year warranty, we are here for the long term.
CPM: Can you explain your "total support" commitment?
Loader: We sell and support our dealer network directly; however, anyone can call our customer support department or go online and get their questions answered. We stand 100% behind all the products we sell, not only from a technical training standpoint but from a long-term product support aspect. We want our customers to know we are fully committed to their satisfaction.
CPM: What are some examples of Elation technology that are specified more towards church applications?
Loader: Automated lighting technology is nothing new to the mega churches, but Elation has brought world-class technology to the masses by offering high-quality, affordable technology. Some of our top performers in the HOW market are the Design Spot 250 and 575, as well as our top-of-the-line product-the Power Spot 700. The Power Spot 700 is an extremely powerful unit and can have a great impact on a church, large or small. It offers extreme brightness and precision optics. The 700 is our flagship product.
The Design Spot 250 and 575 are what we call 'hybrid' fixtures because they can provide both a spot and wash effect. The Design Spot series has the most features of any fixture in its class and because the fixtures come optionally in a white exterior finish, they are ideal for a lot of HOW installations.
CPM: How is Elation addressing the growing House of Worship market?
Loader: We are getting closer to the HOW market by attending more trade exhibitions dedicated to the market as well as expanding our understanding of their needs by joining the industry's associations. Recently, we joined the [National Association of Church Design Builders] (NACDB) and we have launched our Elation Educational Experience (E3) program reaching out to the youth by challenging aspiring lighting designers [in] the HOW market.
CPM: Can you tell us about Elation's involvement with Worship Facilities Expo (WFX)? Also, can you explain the E3 program?
Loader: Elation views the WFX show as the most important show currently for the HOW market. We had a very good response from the show last year in Dallas and have increased our booth size for the Expo in Atlanta. as we'll bring more products to show this year.
The E3 program began as a sponsorship of young lighting students from both the educational and HOW markets. One year later, the E3 has evolved into a full-scale educational experience involving a contest for student lighting designers. Participants are asked to create a design based on a house of worship lighting challenge. Four winners chosen for their design solutions will be selected from the HOW market to attend and be Elation's guest at the 2007 WFX show. Already, we have nearly 100 applicants this year. Elation is very excited about expanding this program even more; so look for us to do so and announce further activities associated with our E3 program.
CPM: How does Elation address challenges inherent in the HOW market?
Loader: One way Elation is addressing specific needs of churches is by offering standard white fixtures. For many churches, the exterior aesthetics of the fixture is just as important as the performance of the fixture. Normally this feature is available only as a special order situation from manufacturers. For Elation, though, this feature is standard with only a minimal up-charge.
CPM: What are some specific pieces of equipment that the church market is gravitating towards?
Loader: Of course, automated lighting fixtures are in great demand. As they become more affordable, intelligent lights just make sense as you can use fewer fixtures and get more out of your system. Lamp life and reliability are very important in a HOW environment. Elation lamps [deliver an] added benefit for churches because our fixtures are designed with long-life lamps. In addition to automated lighting, we are seeing increased interest and use of LED fixtures. With the advancement of LED technology making LEDs brighter and more affordable, it just makes a lot of sense for churches to consider LED fixtures now and in the future. There are so many positives to LED, and the negatives are slowly disappearing as technology advances.
CPM: What advantage does a church have in purchasing Elation over another brand?
Loader: Elation prides itself as being a leader in value-to-performance ratios. A ministry is always faced with budgetary limitations. With Elation, they will get the best value and the best performance out of their products and leave some budget for other important activities.
CPM: What do you see as current and future trends with the HOW market?
Loader: Video technology is nothing new in the HOW market, but as lighting and video continue to merge technologies, I think churches will find ways to adapt this convergence of technology. I also think they will benefit by having fewer operators of churches' systems and getting more out of their systems with less pre-production time.
We are adopting this convergence with our new SD3D media generator software which will allow a church to control their video 'visual' content from their lighting desk. Technical staff can synchronize presentations easily and quickly and create new content without pre-/post-production costs or time. The Elation SD3D can do all that and at a fraction of the cost of most video control systems. At the same time, it can be programmed by our lighting operator via your normal lighting desk. Think of SD3D like a dynamic lighting fixture with an unlimited amount of colors, gobos, and effects. Also, you can use your existing video projection systems for playback.
CPM: Are there any new products on the horizon that would be especially appealing to the church market?
Loader: We have some really powerful LED fixtures out now that can project up to 50 to 60 degrees, with more coming. Now shipping is our new Design Spot 575. Again, we think this is the most advanced, powerful, and affordable moving light on the market today. With this in mind, a church shouldn't purchase moving lights until they take a look at this fixture and see what it can do for their church's performance and budget.
Quick Links
COMPANY: Elation Professional
PHONE: (866) 245-6726
URL: www.elationlighting.com
