May/June 2011 • Volume 41, No. 3
www.americanlightingassoc.com
Zia Eftekhar to Be
Inducted Into Hall
of Fame
Business Experts and Industry Leaders
to Speak at Conference
Zia Eftekhar, CEO of Philips Professional
Luminaires North
America in Burlington,
Mass., will be inducted
into the Lighting Hall
of Fame on Sept. 13 at the ALA Annual
Conference in Palm Beach, Fla.
Eftekhar was appointed chief executive officer of Philips Professional
Luminaires North America as of January
1, 2010. He is a highly respected 40-year
veteran of the lighting industry.
Eftekhar played a crucial role in the
integration of the Genlyte businesses
into Philips, and in his new role he will
lead the drive to further grow Philips’
leadership position in professional
lighting systems and solutions in North
America. Under his leadership, Philips
Lightolier has evolved to reflect the
needs of its customers.
He has served in multiple leadership
positions, including chair of the ALA
Board of Governors in 2003.
“Zia is a classy gentleman and very
bright,” says Stanley Johnston, chairman
of the ALA Awards Committee and
president of Johnston Lighting Associates.
“He is always looking for the best and
correct way to do things – as contrasted
by the expedient way. Zia served the ALA
from the days when it was AHLI, and he
has served in many roles but always as a
contributor and leader.”
Eftekhar’s ALA leadership roles include:
▶ 2010 Lamp Manufacturers Committee
▶ 2008-2009 Manufacturer Sales
Survey Committee
▶ 2008 Industry Open Forum
Committee Moderator
▶ 2007, 2010 Membership Campaign
Committee
▶ 2007 Efficient Lighting Initiative Task
Force
▶ 2001-2011 Finance Committee
▶ 2001-2004 Board of Governors (Chair,
2003)
▶ 1997-2000 BiNational Advertising
& PR Program Launch Committee
(Chair)
Business experts Robert Stevenson
and Jon Schallert will
be featured speakers at the 2011 ALA
Annual Conference
in Palm Beach, Fla.,
this September.
Additionally, industry
leaders Zia Eftekhar
and Rick Leaman will
make a keynote presentation at the event.
President of Seeking Excellence Inc.,
Stevenson is an internationally recognized speaker and author of the books
How to Soar Like an Eagle in a World
Full of Turkeys and 52 Essential Habits
for Success. The former All-American
athlete has owned several companies;
sold internationally in more than 20
countries; established and maintained
hundreds of accounts
worldwide; and managed a worldwide
sales force.
At the ALA
Annual Conference,
Stevenson will pres-
ent his latest keynote
topic, If You Don’t
Like Change, You
Are Going To Hate
Extinction, where
he will present case
studies from some of the top companies
and indentify tactics and strategies that
helped them succeed in today’s volatile
marketplace.
Attendees will learn how to understand
the process of stimulating ideas; recognize
the value and importance of change;
understand why resistance to an idea isn’t
Continued on Page 15
Light Watch
Mark your calendars now for
these upcoming lighting events.
May 19
ALA Live Webinar: Twenty Customer
Questions Every Showroom Needs to
Answer About Today’s New Light Sources
Sponsored by Bulbrite
June 16
ALA Live Webinar: The Increasing
Importance of Lighting Metrics
Sponsored by MaxLite
June 23-27
Dallas International Lighting Market
June 30
Internet Marketing Webinars begin
July 21
ALA Live Webinar: ENERGY STAR Update
2011: New Products That Are Part of the
ENERGY STAR Program
Sept. 11-13
2011 ALA Annual Conference
The Breakers, Palm Beach, Fla.
Paper or PDF?
ALA and Leading Expert Launch
Internet Marketing Webinars in June
The ALA is partnering with John Arnold – leading web marketing
expert and author – to offer a series
of web-marketing courses designed
for showrooms and offered at a discount to ALA members. The courses
begin on June 30. The ALA extends
a special thanks to this program’s two
major sponsors, Lutron and Juno.
The courses, which will be offered in
both live-webinar and recorded-webinar
formats, include the following:
1. Web Marketing Basics – How to
use the internet to get your business
in front of prospects and customers.
– Thursday, June 30 ( 11 a.m. and
2 p.m.)
2. Web Marketing Strategy – Reveals
several simple but powerful strategic
models to help you create a winning
marketing plan. – Thursday, July 14
( 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
3. Creating an Effective Website –
Shares the essential components of
All times noted are for Central Daylight Time.
creating an effective website and
shows how to assemble your site for
maximum results. – Thursday,
July 28 ( 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
4. E-mail Marketing – How to send
effective e-mail marketing messages
to prospects and customers.
– Thursday, August 11 ( 11 a.m.
and 2 p.m.)
5. Online Advertising and Pay Per
Click – How to advertise your business on thousands of websites and
the top search engines. – Thursday,
August 25 ( 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
6. Social Media Marketing – How to
market your products or services to
prospects and customers on social
media sites. – Thursday, September
8 ( 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
7. Search Engine Optimization –
How to make your business appear
in Google search results when prospects and customers search for your
products and services.
Continued on Page 8
If you would prefer not to receive
a paper copy of Lightrays, please
send your e-mail address to
bglenn@americanlightingassoc.com.
A link to the electronic PDF of
Lightrays will be e-mailed
to you for each new edition.
IN THIS ISSUE
2 Government Affairs
4 2011 ALA Annual Conference
7 Showroom Management
9 Technology/Energy Efficiency
10 Education/Training
12 Association News
13 Rep Success
14 June Market
The American Lighting Association
is a trade association representing
the lighting industry, serving
members and their customers, and
working to protect and advance
the industry while promoting the
sale and application of quality
lighting products.
