FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIFTH ANNUAL IALD CHASE THE DARK: THE SHAPE OF LIGHT

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15 NOVEMBER 2017 | Hundreds of people took to social media on 9 November to take part in the International Association of Lighting Designers’ (IALD) fifth annual Chase the Dark event; a one-night celebration of light that begins in and makes its way westward across the globe. The international lighting movement continued to gain momentum with more than 30 cities joining in on the fun.

This year’s edition of Chase the Dark, “The Shape of Light,” invited designers to play with the very versatile EL wire, a battery powered and multi-colored electroluminescent wire. Participants affixed it to street furniture, industrial objects, bicycles, and even themselves! Using #IALDChaseDark, designers made short videos, gifs, and photos, and shared them worldwide.

As the sun set westward across the globe from and , Australia, light enthusiasts watched as their wave of tweets, re-tweets, posts and comments brightened the globe one time zone at a time. By the time the sun had set on the West Coast of the United States and , the hashtag #IALDChaseDark had become a worldwide trending topic on many social media platforms, reaching more than 84,000 individual users and resulting in more than 2 million impressions on social media timelines across the globe.

Enormous participation came from the IALD Regions: chapters from Australia/New Zealand; Canada; Europe; Greater ; ; , ; Southeast Asia; the and the United States all joined in on the social media movement by organizing gatherings. View all of the photos from the Chase the Dark experience on our Storify at iald.me/chasedark_2017 or download some of our favorite photos at iald.me/dropbox_chasedark-2017. Or, relive the experience on Youtube at iald.me/chasedark17video.

This annual global event serves as a means of bringing the lighting community together and keeping us connected. Chase the Dark revels in our members’ cultural differences and distinct design approaches while engaging everyone in a compelling activity that celebrates the power of light. For more on Chase the Dark, email IALD UK Manager Emma Cogswell, Associate IALD, at [email protected].

BROWSE THIS YEAR’S COMPLETE PHOTO STORY: iald.me/chasedark_2017 DOWNLOAD OUR FAVORITE PHOTOS: iald.me/dropbox_chasedark-2017 WATCH THE VIDEO: iald.me/chasedark17video VISIT OUR FACEBOOK ALBUM: iald.me/facebook_chasedark17

*Image libraries are a collection of photos publicly shared under the #IALDChaseDark hashtag, a global initiative of IALD.

The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), established in 1969, is an international organization supporting a network of more than 1,400 lighting design professionals who satisfy its rigorous qualification process. Its members are distinguished by a unique blend of aesthetic and technical expertise, and operate at the highest level of integrity to create a better world through leadership and excellence in lighting design; to cultivate the universal acknowledgement and appreciation of the Power of Light in human life.