Civic Christmas Lighting Part 2
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
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Our Approach and Method
Efficiency with infrastructure
We have established in recent articles, Christmas Lighting in many UK towns needs a new approach for the 21st century. As a result of this we are changing our model for providing town centre Christmas Lighting schemes.
The biggest change that we are adopting is changing the traditional model of using one Christmas Lighting contractor to provide both the design and installation of the lighting scheme. See previous article.
We are hoping that our articles on Christmas Lighting will prove to you that know a thing or two about providing lighting schemes and you will decide to employ us to work with you to upgrade and dramatically improve your town's Christmas lighting and ultimately save you money. Once this has been confirmed this is our approach.
1. Survey
The beginning is usually the best place to start.
1. Survey
Visit and report/schedule
2. Infrastructure
3. Design Period
4. Find a local contractor- vetting procedures
Keeps money and emergency local
5. Install, Take Down
6 Store at F.I. if required
3. No obligation (prefer it if you do) to buy products from us, but we can only offer storage/lease when you do
Our approach
Ask us to carry out a technical feasibility study of the proposed installation site. Whilst we charge for the study, fees are kept to a minimum.
The report will consider three main areas:
1) Mechanical and Electrical Infrastructure Improvements
2) Design suggestions to suit proposed budget
3) Proposed schedules of works and three year improvement plan for the next three years.
Once the feasibility study has been accepted we write the technical specification of the required works. We recommend the you use local contractors for these works. The benefits are obvious but expand.
The Christmas lighting design will be finalised and items purchased/leased.
A tender document will be written for the installation and take down of the Christmas Lighting. Again we would recommend that you use a local contract for the reasons outlined above.
We will liaise with the new contractor, arrange delivery of the lighting components.
We will attend the take down, note any damages and remove the Christmas lighting for storage.
Jessica's notes:
make page super slick and super convincing- not a blog.
pros: cheaper in the long run, keeps money local, looks better
at the end: we want to form a long lasting relationship with the towns and our local contractors to ensure christmas lighting remains excellent for years to come.
ONGOING CONVERSATION.
register your interest form- because i like to do research
Appraisal of Town Centre Christmas Lighting
Thursday, August 4, 2016
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The benefits of providing a fantastic Christmas lighting scheme are well known. To create one requires a willingness to partner with us over many years in order to develop ideas, new areas and to schedule infrastructure improvements.
Outside of the major UK cities, providing a quality design led Christmas scheme is becoming increasingly difficult due to a severe lack of infrastructure, a shortened installation period and an apathy to improve the traditional model of choosing a Christmas Lighting supplier by using the dreaded "Invitation to To Tender" document.
1. Infrastructure
To be blunt, many of the civic schemes we become involved with have a severe lack of infrastructure which wastes a large proportion of the budget, uses unnecessary installation time and results in an poor display.
We have experienced this at the lowest and depressing level, motifs and lights being placed in inappropriate locations because this is where the electrical power outlets are. The most obvious example are sockets provided on street lamp posts resulting in positioning motifs directly underneath a high powered sodium lamp. Christmas trees squashed in-between a bus stop and a war memorial. Enough said.
Although High Streets are a minefield in relation to property ownership, town councils must display a willingness to improve their electrical and mechanical infrastructure. Think about the costs involved in two engineers with two supporting ground crew and two access machines installing temporary electrical extension cables which also need to be taken down year on year.
If faults develop, tracing where the problem lies is a time consuming business as often no one in the town is certain where the original electrical outlet is isolated or indeed if there is adequate safety protection for the final circuit.
2. Installation Period
Commercial traders will switch on Christmas lighting in early November but many councils are reluctant to install Christmas Lighting before Remembrance Sunday but will demand that Christmas Lighting is ready for a switch on ceremony in the 3rd week of November.
This short installation window is a problem for the lighting contractor. In order to survive financially any lighting contractor will be looking to service at least five Christmas lighting contracts. To service five contracts within the same installation window, the contractor has two choices: employ large amounts of self employed electricians and engineers or sub contract the works to a third party company.
3. Invitation to Tender Document
Many of the tender documents we receive are essentially a self destruct button to provide anything other than perfunctory Christmas Lighting which will probably receive a luke warm reaction from the public. In the age of social media, one negative posting can become a story picked up by the national press resulting in unwelcome publicity for your town.
The majority of documents will dictate the quantity and positioning of lighting and motifs onto untested catenary wires.The lighting will be powered from existing untested power supplies and time clocks in inconvenient locations or in some cases the contractor is responsible for the sourcing of power supplies from local buildings.
The requirement to issue a tender is understood however in most cases the design element of the lighting scheme is left to the discretion of the lighting company. The equivalent of asking a builder to submit architectural designs for your project.
This is the point where the tender is hijacked and heavily manipulated images become the main focal point of the tender document.
In our experience, the company which submits the most manipulated visualisations usually is awarded the contract.
As you are probably reading this because you are not satisfied with your existing Christmas Lighting arrangements I don't have to list the pitfalls which you are likely to encounter during the installation period.
For a company like Fantastic Illuminations, our service is bespoke. We do not simply sell lighting but work around your budget and location to provide you with a scheme to suit your requirements. To provide dynamic and evolving lighting schemes requires participation from both parties which is in direct conflict with the tendering process.
The Solution
Our background is working on large scale public events. We have watched this grow over the last thirty years from a cottage style business develop into a global industry.
Many of the skills and approach to working methods that have been learned during this extraordinary expansion can and should be adopted by Christmas lighting providers (councils)
The event industry only became efficient when local venues provided reliable and tested infrastructure to allow the visiting company to quickly set up and take down the technical equipment.
In our opinion we believe that the Christmas lighting process should be split into two distinct areas. The first being in deciding the complexity and technical and lighting design of your scheme, the second being employing a local installation company to provide you technical installation services only.
For a detailed explanation of out proposal please read on next article......
Civic Christmas Lighting Part 1
Monday, April 29, 2013
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Civic Christmas Lighting
Our Approach and Method
Efficiency with infrastructure
As we have established in recent articles, Christmas Lighting in many UK towns needs a new approach for the 21st century.
Here at Fantastic Illuminations our background is rooted in the live entertainment industry. We have experienced first hand the growth from cottage style business into a global industry.
Events and concert touring in the early days was shambolic. Venues and facilities varied between one day and the next. Dependant on what facilities were provided would dictate the length of the working day. This would cause havoc with show times, travel and accommodation arrangements.
As the acts became more ambitious, touring became international and so efficiencies had to made in order to keep to schedules. Promoters realised that the way to do this was to make sure that venues provided the same infrastructure to allow the visiting company to quickly set up and take down the technical equipment to a schedule.
The once cocky and mildly fascistic venue managers had to improve their infrastructure. Those that didn't have the foresight or the inclination to improve were simply left out of the tour booking process as the liabilities were too large for the promoters to contemplate playing an under equipped venue.
Until recently, major Uk cities such as Liverpool and Bristol were omitted from major touring event suchedules as they were without a suitable venue. Our local city, Exeter has no touring venues capable of hosting a world class orchestra, opera or ballet company, international music artist or major art exhibition resulting in a cultural vacuum. Oh well, at least we have award wining sausages and clotted cream and oh yes, obesity.
I now see parallels with the above with conversations that I have with town centre managers who have the attitude of the early venue owners with a very much, this is what the job is, take or leave it, other companies can do it so why can't you approach. Hasta la pasta, baby.
Quite simply, at best it wastes time and money. At worst, it results in a poor display and treats tax payers with contempt as a huge proportion of the Christmas Lighting budget will be wasted in installing and taking down unnecessary infrastructure time and time again and not spent on improving the display to encourage more traffic to what is more likely than not a failing high street peppered with charity and betting shops.
It is also very likely that the Christmas Lighting contractor will be based many miles away resulting in no one locally benefitting from the Christmas Lighting budget. What part of this approach is working?
We have close connections with other Christmas Lighting companies and our grumbles do not appear to be unique to us.
It is time that the skills and methodical approach to working methods that have been learned by the entertainment industry over the last 30 years need to be adopted by civic Christmas lighting providers.
If you don't you will be left behind in a very gloomy high street.
Please see out next article which outlines our new approach for 2017.
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Monday, April 29, 2013
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Thursday, October 11, 2012
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