The ILP is supporting the launch of a new group for retired or close-to-retirement members to ensure their vast knowledge, expertise and experience is not lost to the industry.
Anyone who followed Simon Cornwell’s decade-by-decade history to mark the Institution’s centenary last year will recognise that one of the great strengths of the ILP is its longevity and institutional memory.
That memory and knowledge is a reflection of, and reflected in, the ILP’s individual membership, especially those longstanding members who have worked, engaged and volunteered with the Institution and the industry over many years.
One of the challenges any membership body faces is how to hold on to – or at the very least not lose – all that valuable experience and knowledge as members retire or leave the profession.
How, too, can members approaching retirement, or who are already retired, maintain those contacts, connections and often deep friendships that come with being part of the ILP ‘family’?
This is a challenge the ILP has been discussing over the summer and autumn, led by past presidents Nigel Parry, Paddy Craven, Alistair Scott, and Allan Howard, along with Immediate Past President Perry Hazell.
‘We’re all very aware how easy it is, if you’re not careful, for retired, or semi-retired, ILP members to lose contact regionally with the Institution,’ points out Nigel to Lighting Journal.
‘There are a lot of people who have stepped back from the industry yet have used the ILP over the years not only for CPD but as a social thing; for keeping in contact with people, networking and so on, all of which is immensely valuable,’ he adds.
NEW ALUMNI GROUP
To respond to this need, the aim therefore is, from this month, to launch a new group or community for retired, semi-retired or nearly-retired ILP members, provisionally named the ‘ILP Alumni’, although this is very much a working title and so may yet change.
‘We want it very much to be about social inclusion. We want it to be a group for those who are retired, have dropped their membership and otherwise lost contact with the ILP, but actually still have a lot to offer, to contribute, or have contacts in the industry that they want to catch up with. This will enable them to do that,’ Nigel continues.
Nigel, however, is at pains to make it clear that the intent is not to create a formal member ‘community’ such as the YLP and WLP but something much more fluid and informal – and as much based on social as professional connection.
The alumni could also have a valuable role in helping members successfully make the transition into retirement through members being able to share tips, advice or contacts, points out Perry Hazell.
‘When we’re looking at people who have retired from the industry or are thinking about retiring, actually, there isn’t much in place to assist help or guide individuals through. So, there is an opportunity here for a social piece and a networking piece around people who are retired or looking to retire,’ he tells Lighting Journal.
‘I see this very much as a group where the ILP will be to one side – yet underpinning all the good values we uphold as an Institution. The key being, we don’t want to lose access to that wealth of knowledge that these members have,’ Perry explains.
While much of the detail of how the group will function and operate day-to-day has still to be finalised, the thinking at the moment is that its primary role will be to organise and facilitate social gatherings and conversation (either online or in-person).
These could include informal meet-ups, special events, and even the possibility of an annual reunion around the annual conference.
MENTORING AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING
The alumni could have an important role, too, in facilitating mentoring opportunities for early and mid-career ILP members, enabling the sharing of experiences and insights.
It could contribute to ILP heritage and history initiatives; it could share relevant ILP and industry updates via the Institution’s online platforms and periodic newsletters.
‘We’re imagining that, initially, it may predominantly be an online group, perhaps a WhatsApp group or it could be, with the new “ReadyMembership” functionality that is now coming on-stream via the ILP website, an online forum where everyone can contribute, speak and discuss,’ Perry says.
The thinking at the moment – and, to emphasise, it is early days – is that the group will be open to all ILP members who are past retirement age or perhaps planning an early retirement.
Online membership will be free of charge for retired members, with access potentially being granted via their existing ILP member login.
However, given this will predominantly be a group for retired lighting professionals who may therefore technically no longer be ILP members, how this might actually work in practice does still need to be carefully worked through, he emphasises.
The alumni will be looking to have a member on each regional committee (perhaps only virtual), and on a national committee, to enable the planning of any activities during the year.
‘It is about fostering that sense of involvement and ongoing support. Ultimately, a lot of these people will have volunteered for the ILP for years and years and years. So, why can’t we create a forum to give them something back?’ Perry says.
‘This group will hopefully become a little chest of knowledge, both for the ILP to draw on but which, just as importantly, means that knowledge is not lost to the industry as people retire,’ agrees Nigel in conclusion.
‘Ten years down the line, younger people coming into the industry might not really know what a SON lamp was, for example. This group will be able to tell them as well as talk about the evolution of the industry and set the present day in context,’ he adds.
Anyone interested in finding out more can contact Nigel Parry at nigel.parry@orangetek.co.uk, and (after January) njp5@blueyonder.co.uk, Paddy Craven at paddycraven8@gmail. com, Allan Howard at Allan.Howard@wsp.com, or Alistair Scott at alistair@dfl-uk.com
This is an abridged version of the article that appears in the October edition of Lighting Journal. To read the full article, simply click on the page-turner to your right.
Image: past presidents at the Centenary Dinner at 2024’s ILP Centenary Lighting Summit in London
