Chairing the 2025 Lumen West Awards
This year marked my third time serving on the Lumen West Awards Gala committee—and my first time chairing the event. With a background in event coordination before joining Oculus, stepping into this role felt like a natural fit. Surprisingly though, the biggest challenge was finding a venue in Los Angeles. We needed a location that could accommodate 400 guests and offer three separate spaces for cocktails, the awards ceremony, and dinner. You’d think that would be easy in a city like LA—but it definitely wasn’t.
After a couple of months of scouting, calling, emailing, and probably spending more time on venue websites than anyone should, I narrowed it down to three places that fit the budget. We ended up choosing the Skirball Cultural Center—and it was perfect.
Once the venue was set, the real planning began. I made it my mission to keep our group calls on track and respect everyone’s time—because let’s be honest, event planning can get a little chaotic if you let it. I also wasn’t shy about reaching out to every manufacturer who came through our doors to secure sponsorships—and I’m so grateful to those who stepped up to support the event.
The night was a huge success! We received amazing feedback about the venue and overall experience—and to top it off, Oculus took home three awards: two Awards of Merit and one Award of Excellence. It was a true celebration of the talent, hard work, and creativity across our SoCal lighting design community.
A huge thank you to the entire committee—this event truly couldn’t have happened without their dedication and support (in no particular order): Adam Levine, Derick Sheehan, Mindy Cooper, Sabra White, Fitz Fitzgerald, Rochelle Vaughn, Jim Levy, David Martin, Colleen Peach, and Sam Clark. I’m also incredibly grateful to our sponsors: Performance Lighting Systems (Award Show Sponsor), iGuzzini and Above All Lighting (Wine Sponsors), Tivoli and Wiedenbach Brown (Student Design Winner Hosting Sponsors), and all of our table and half-table sponsors.
It was such a rewarding experience, and I’m already looking forward to doing it all again next year (yes, I’m that person).
