Families front and centre – Lichtschall stages congress for family businesses with Cameo

In mid-March, the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) hosted the 26th Congress for Family Businesses at Witten/Herdecke University. Presentations, workshops and networking formats were on the programme over two days. The highlight was the gala dinner with around 300 guests on the evening of the first day of the congress in the large foyer of the university building. As in previous years, Lichtschall GmbH once again took care of the event’s technical realisation – and relied entirely on Cameo fixtures for the lighting of tables, stages and more.

Cameo Light Installation with Lichtschall for the Kongress für Familienunternehmen (WIFU)

“The special thing about the Congress for Family Businesses is that both the daytime programme and the dinner event are organised every year by a team of students from the university,” explains Jason Miß, Managing Director of Lichtschall GmbH. “This results in new ideas and settings every year, including this year’s change from a large stage to a smaller one, which enables more direct dialogue and still offers the opportunity for a big show.”

Flexible lighting setup

For the hybrid event – lectures and panel discussions during the day, gala dinner in the evening – Lichtschall had to find a lighting setup that was not only flexible to use, but also met the structural challenges of the university building: “There are only limited mounting points in the foyer. In addition, bridges run through the centre of the building on several levels, which does not really simplify lighting from different positions. It takes a lot of creativity to get exactly where you want to go.”

In addition to the Cameo OPUS SP5 Profile moving heads as stage front lighting, Lichtschall used the S5 both as show lighting and for the targeted illumination of the playful architecture of the foyer. PIXBAR 650 C PRO COB LED bars were used for the indirect colour staging of the surrounding upper floors. From the outside, ZENIT W600 Outdoor LED Wash Lights illuminated the building with vibrant colours. Inside, the battery-operated ZENIT B60 and B200 models acted as flexible floor-mounted additions that were directed at columns and decorative scarves in various areas such as the lounge and coffee house.

“For me, the ZENIT B60 and ZENIT B200 are indispensable and powerful workhorses and I can no longer imagine our projects without them.”
Jason Miß, Lichtschall GmbH

The EVOS W3 LED Wash moving heads were also used as show lighting. “We were looking for a compact lamp for wash and beam effects including pixel mapping that weighs less than 10 kilograms,” explains Jason Miß. “As we were already on tour with the large EVOS W7, we quickly ended up with the EVOS W3.”

Original table lighting

The battery-operated DROP B1s play a special role in lighting design. The compact and elegant mini uplights were placed on the dinner tables and, in combination with the DROP B1 GALA SET attachment, not only served as ambient table lighting, but were also integrated into the show acts between the dinner courses via the W-DMX control system.

“The DROP B1 including Gala Hat is an excellent alternative to candles and provides elegant and versatile table lighting that also fulfils all fire safety requirements.”
Jason Miß, Lichtschall GmbH

The evening was rounded off with an after-show party with a DJ. Here, the FLAT PRO 7 G2 RGBWA LED fixtures provided colourful variety, while the new PIXBAR SMD IP G2 LED bars were used behind the DJ booth for creative lighting effects. “The PIXBAR SMD IP G2 immediately appealed to us with its range of functions and variability and had its first official practical use here at the congress.”