Archives Index Home The Laserist is a publication of the International Laser Display Association (ILDA). Learn more about ILDA and view a membership directory by visiting the ILDA Website.	Orlando '99: The ILDA Conference By David Lytle The ILDA Conference brought together lighting professionals from over 20 countries to see--and honor--the best and brightest in laser displays. The Awards Banquet, above, showcased outstanding displays with laser and video presentations. ILDA members went to Disney World for their 13th annual conference, but they did more than enjoy the attractions of one of the world’s best known theme parks. Conference attendees saw the latest laser display technologies first hand, were treated to a special tour of Disney World facilities, and were entertained with the most elaborate opening and closing ceremonies ever produced for an ILDA Awards Banquet. With beautiful weather and a wide range of activities to choose from, the conference hosted 143 ILDA delegates and an additional 54 attendees who traveled to Florida from 20 countries. The Disney Contemporary Resort served as the central site for all meetings, and offered the most spacious trade show hall yet. The 22 companies showing their products had ample room to meet ILDA delegates and display their wares. Although the conference officially opened November 21st with the Advanced Technology Workshop, many attendees arrived early to take advantage of the free admission ILDA members received to the LDI 99 trade show sponsored by Lighting Dimensions. Entering the LDI99 trade show, visitors were instantly greeted by a host of dazzling green laser beams crisscrossing above their heads, many of them provided by ILDA members who had booths on the floor. ILDA itself had a floor booth, and volunteers staffing it talked to hundreds of people about what the association does. A special laser workshop highlighting the work of ILDA members was also held for LDI attendees. The workshop saw the first formal demonstration of Lightspeed Design Group’s PrestiDigitize technology (see The Laserist, Winter 99) and the first presentation of the Omnistar laser balloon by AVI Imagineering with Lasers. Back at the Contemporary Resort, ILDA members and hotel guests were treated to an outdoor display each night consisting of red and green YAG lasers. The lasers projected logos and designs onto the outside wall of the hotel, basically advertising the ILDA conference. More laser displays were found inside, particularly during the Awards Banquet and the more informal Lase-Off, which boasted seven different types of laser controllers to handle virtually any show submitted by an ILDA member. Epcot Fireworks Feel the heat at Epcot's pyro/laser show. Meeting cosponsor Walt Disney World Company Co. treated conference-goers to a special viewing of Tapestry of Nations and IlumiNations 2000, a massive pyrotechnic and laser spectacle that takes place nightly at Epcot. After the show, members climbed stairs and crossed a rooftop to peek inside the high-tech control room responsible for controlling many of the multimedia effects at the park. Later that same evening, an ILDA-sponsored laser display at Disney’s Pleasure Island outdoor stage highlighted the work of ILDA artists for the public. Although it’s hard to do justice to the broad scope of the conference with just a few highlights, some of my personal favorites from the four days of activities in Orlando included: the opening and closing laser/multimedia pieces for the Awards Banquet; walking on to the trade show floor at LDI and seeing YAG beams everywhere; Lightspeed Design’s PrestiDigitize laser/video demo at ILDA’s LDI workshop; Pangolin Laser System’s raster-laser Linea demonstration piece by Doug McCoullough; the new video-to-laser piece called Striptease by MediaLas that was shown at the Lase-Off (see related story, Fenning Awards); the most spacious ILDA Trade Show hall ever; and the overwhelming pyrotechnics in Epcot’s IllumiNations 2000 show. ILDA’s special workshop at LDI was also noteworthy because it gave members the opportunity to present their work to the “non-laser” world of entertainment lighting. Dirk Baur of MediaLas staffs the ILDA booth on the LDI trade show floor. Greg Makhov of Lighting Systems Design Inc. (LSDI) started the workshop with a polished presentation on Epcot’s new show, and he was followed by a dozen additional ILDA speakers.The ILDA conference was co-hosted by Walt Disney World Co. and LSDI, both based in Orlando. Walt Disney World Co. employs in excess of 20,000 people in the Central Florida area. LSDI has three principals: Greg Makhov, Phyllis Monahan, and Melissa Chisholm. Chisholm produced most aspects of the conference, including the setup of the Trade Show, the running of the Lase-Off and the overall design and production of the Awards Banquet. LSDI also stayed busy contributing its own equipment to several events at the conference. Disney’s Tony Zmorenski, who serves on ILDA’s board of directors, acted as co-producer of the conference and marshaled many of Disney’s resources to aid ILDA events. Most of the production crew for the Awards Banquet and Lase-Off, for example, were from Epcot, as was nearly all of the non-laser equipment. Completing what was a major team effort, volunteers from Universal Studios and Sea World (two large Orlando theme parks) helped with many technical aspects of the events, as did a large group of volunteers not associated with any theme park.