Jared Smith
CBCL
RECENTLY, I had the pleasure of meeting with Members of the IES Middle East/North Africa (MENA) Section, our latest addition to the Society’s expanding global network. What struck me immediately was that this group wasn’t forming to see whether a section might work. Momentum was already on their side—organizing, establishing processes, and elevating the conversation within their region long before coming under the IES umbrella. There was no need to convince them of the importance of lighting quality. They needed what only a professional society can provide: connection to a broader body of knowledge, a framework for strengthening regional practice, and a seat at the table where standards are shaped.
“I’m asking each of you to bring just one new person into the IES orbit.”
That visit left me thinking about momentum, both theirs and the Society’s. What I saw there wasn’t a top‑down initiative; it was the natural outcome of committed professionals recognizing that the complexity and impact of lighting demand a stronger institutional foundation. That is what sustainable growth looks like.
Across our field, lighting is extending into new territories such as smart infrastructure, circadian science, environmental justice, and applications few of us imagined a decade ago. Our technical committees are fielding increasingly complex questions, and with each new area of inquiry, the gap widens between what any one individual can know and what the profession collectively requires. That gap is precisely where the IES has lived for more than a century, and why it matters that we continue to grow our reach and our relevance.
Our institutional knowledge is our greatest asset, but it only expands when the range of people contributing to it broadens as well. Right now, one of our most urgent responsibilities is ensuring that the practitioners who need the IES, and those whom the IES needs, are truly engaged. In the coming months, I’m asking each of you to bring just one new person into the IES orbit. This isn’t necessarily about signing up a new dues‑paying member—though we welcome that. It’s about inviting participation: bringing a colleague to a section meeting, encouraging an emerging professional to explore a technical committee, involving a manufacturer or distributor in a webinar, or forwarding an article that sparks curiosity.
Engagement is the hinge point. Membership sustains the Society—funding our publications, supporting our staff, and enabling the committees that allow us to function as more than a collection of well‑meaning individuals. The cost is real, but so is the return: credible technical guidance, a multidisciplinary global network, and the opportunity to shape the documents that define lighting quality. People don’t join institutions they’ve never experienced. They join because someone they respect thinks they belong there.
When I say we need more members, it is not for the sake of numbers. Every unchallenged perspective, every unrepresented discipline, and every absent geography limits the strength of our standards and the reliability of our guidance. The IES excels because it brings together complexity and produces clarity. Designers, engineers, researchers, and manufacturers see the world differently—and that is our advantage. A section in Colombia confronts challenges a section in St. Louis never will, and vice versa. When all those voices contribute, our recommended practices become stronger, our blind spots shrink, and our profession becomes more credible to those who rely on our expertise, from facility managers to policymakers.
The IES MENA Section reminded me that growth doesn’t begin at headquarters. It begins with professionals deciding their work deserves a stronger foundation. Our role as members is to extend that invitation wherever we have influence.
So, engage with someone who should be part of this community. For them, for the profession, and for the future we’re building together. The strength of our field has always depended on shared knowledge. The IES is how we build it, protect it, and pass it forward.
One person. One conversation. One invitation. That’s how momentum grows—and right now is the moment to sustain it.
