Interview: Colleen Harper On IES & AES Services Agreement

I had the pleasure of interviewing Collen Harper, the CEO and Executive Director of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES).

SHILLER: IES’s announcement, two weeks ago, that it would provide shared admin and management services to the Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a very clever and creative tactic to address the IES’s financial challenges. I imagine this announcement of providing contracted association services to AES is a small piece of a much larger strategy to improve the IES’s financial position. Can you share a description of the larger strategy that includes the AES announcement? 

HARPER: My primary goal since joining IES in 2022 has been to diversify our revenue streams. It’s no secret that LightFair used to provide about 40-50% of IES’s annual revenue which means our entire business model was based on that one event. It takes time and effort to generate new revenue streams in order to be a sustainable business. Over the years we have cut many significant expenses, including our office lease – but we have also been working to strengthen revenue streams already in place, such as the IES annual conference and the Street and Area Lighting Conference. Additionally, we’ve carefully considered new opportunities such as taking over the management of NCQLP in January 2023 and now taking over the management of AES starting in mid-December. The larger strategy is essentially revenue diversification as it can be matched/aligned with the IES mission and also with the resources (staff, financial, volunteers) that IES has at any given time.

SHILLER: Would you be willing to share some of the causes that led to IES’s financial challenges? The pandemic’s impact on LightFair must have been a big cause, correct? Recent IES membership trends? Other causes? 

HARPER: The absence of LightFair revenue combined with significant overhead expenses (such as a large staff and a pricey office space lease) were the two main causes of IES’s financial challenges. The overhead expenses “didn’t matter” when the LightFair revenue was reliably strong; as soon as that went away, the fixed monthly costs from salaries and rent became a serious threat to IES’s sustainability.

SHILLER: Once the shared staffing and services begin this December, AES and IES will have some “connection at the hip.” Can you share if there are any discussions about merging the two associations / societies formally? 

HARPER: There is definitely no plan or intention to merge the two societies. They each have their own unique identity and focus – and while there may be some future collaborations between the two, there is a strong desire to keep them completely separate, both in governance and finances (exactly like our management of NCQLP).

SHILLER: How will the AES shared services announcement impact how IES members experience the Society, and member services? Improving IES finances is one obvious impact, but will the staffing changes be felt by members in any other ways? 

HARPER: I will admit that this will be a work in progress as we adapt our days and time management to account for another organization. However, the expectation is that members should not feel the arrangement in any negative way – ideally only positive in the form of possible collaborations or reciprocal access to information (if the respective Boards of Directors believe that is a good idea at some stage).

SHILLER: Is there any interest to expand IES’s contracted services to any associations beyond AES? 

HARPER: Sure! I think the more we can pool resources to help like-minded organizations succeed, reduce overhead expense, and mitigate risk so that they can focus on serving their members and the industry, the better for everyone.

SHILLER: Are there any potential synergies in bringing the AES close to the IES? For example, are there AES capabilities and strengths that could be crossed over to IES? Are there any opportunities for cross-society engineering collaboration? There are some manufacturers that produce both lighting and audio products, such as high-end landscape lighting with an audio system, integrated together. I’ve also seen consumer portable lanterns with bluetooth speakers built in. Any potential for cross-society standard writing of any kind? Any shared policy advocacy opportunities? Any potential to develop any educational programs combining lighting and audio? Other opportunities? 

HARPER: These conversations are in the very early stages but an oversimplified answer is: yes. Especially in the intelligent building space, I think there could be ways to get audio involved in a way it hasn’t been before. We’ve been looking at it primarily from an educational perspective – webinars, a conference track, etc. I think cross-society standards are unlikely but not impossible – I’d have to leave that one to the standard-writing experts to decide. Essentially, we believe that everything positive for both societies is on the table for discussion, all in the interest of furthering their respective missions and serving the members as best we can.

SHILLER: Thank you, Colleen, for sharing more context on these developments, with LightNOW’s readers.

More information is available here.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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