As a child and a wife I grew up lacking most importantly self-confidence and self-esteem. I am no longer a child or a wife, but I am a mother who strives for her children to have self-esteem and have confidence in everything they do. However, telling your children to be confident and as a parent not showing it, what example is that for a child?
There started my journey of me being more confident in my life. I used to live for what people would say or think about me, always wanted others feedback, never take risk, always remain stuck in the same place. The meanings of confidence: belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance. If you cannot believe in yourself and your abilities, no one else can or will.
I had to get myself in that mindset, determined to carry things through, and even though sometimes you feel that you cannot accomplish your goal, you still have to push through and believe in yourself that you can do whatever comes your way. Seek help; do not be afraid to say you need help. Go over the achievements you have accomplished in your life even with adversity. Set achievable goals, these are targets that you set for yourself, if you are not meeting your goals; go over what it is you might be doing wrong and restart your goal if you have to. Also learn positive thoughts, stray from negative thoughts that can destroy your confidence; create strong mental images of yourself. These are some of the strategies that are working for me, and for the year to come I am going to be more successful in getting myself there. Also with the help of God, my family, my friends and mentors in my life I will continue accomplish whatever comes my way..
“If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. ~Author Unknown”

~Ally Nelson

Credit & Collections Team Leader

With the holiday season at hand and the weather growing colder, it always serves as a the perfect reminder to be thankful for what you have in your life, and to pass that nice warm positive energy on to those around you. Countless studies show that gratitude can extend life span, increase happiness, immunity, optimism and make for a healthy heart all while depleting your stress levels! All it takes is a few minutes each day, just try and think or write about three things in your life that you are very grateful or lucky to have. What about family, friends, loved ones? Your home or your health? That delicious meal you had? That homemade apple pie mom made you? The beautiful sunset, sunrise, stars, waves crashing? It can be anything! Don’t stop there, pass off the kindness to those around you, hold the door for someone, let some one in your driving lane, pass on a smile, or tell some one you appreciate them. Help spread that warm spirit it can be contagious and extremely rewarding. I wish you and those close to you a happy holiday and a prosperous and healthy new year!


~Steve Pereira
Financial Accountant

A Family Away From Home

When I was told that employees from other departments could contribute to the company Blog. The first thing came to mind were my co-workers.
Isn’t it amazing how you get up in the morning, leave one family only to immediately connect with another family?

Some may not agree but first let me high light a few things.
We have breakfast together, we get coffee together, we chat about what we did
The night before. We plan all kinds of get togethers and birthday celebrations. We call dibs on what kind of birthday cake we want the following year or
What we want for our secret Santa gift (even though it should be a surprise) We cry together, we pray for each other and most importantly we support each other.

How many companies do you know where employees miss each other so much when they go on vacation and can’t wait to get back to work to see each other.

Now that’s what I call family.

I could go on and on with how we all are connected in some kind of way or another. Whether it be a marriage, the birth of a child, a death in the family
Sickness and health…. There is truly an unspoken bond amongst us in the WAC family.

~ Mitzi Boone

Accounts Payable

A Greener Holiday

Originally we were going to write our Blog this week surrounding Thanksgiving, but then we had a rather interesting conversation about “Going Green” for the holidays and we decided we needed to share with others how you too can have a Green Holiday Season!
So, how does one go about “Going Green” for the holidays? Or, better yet, adopt this as a way of life
- Stop buying and using wrapping paper! - According to Stanford University, if every US family wrapped three gifts in re-purposed material, the gift wrap saved would cover 45,000 football fields… That is 13,500,000 feet of wrapping paper!! Now imagine each of those families did away with the wrapping completely! There are so many greener options that can be used instead of paper!
o Go completely paper less – put presents out unwrapped, use bath towels, sheets or pillow cases to camouflage the gifts
o Re-Use Boxes – local stores end up throwing out TONS of cardboard boxes around the holidays, shoe boxes or even cigar boxes for smaller gifts
o Use Gift Bags – Most people will re-use the gift bags (or you can ensure you give gifts in gift bags who you know will!)

o Re-Use the old newspapers or comics! - Use the comics for the kids, and the news for the adults – perhaps even wrapping your sports loving friends in the Sports Section
o Paper Grocery Bags - can be cut up and used to wrap gifts (logo side down) you can even have the kids decorate their own wrapping paper!


- Instead of the normal Holiday greeting cards - send e-cards to all, or even give verbal cards!

- Re-Use your Holiday cards from the previous year as gift tags! – cut the covers off and punch a hole in the corners, with a little string or tape you have a new gift card tag!

- Give electronic gift cards instead of actual gift cards! – Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and many more – Check out link below for numerous e-gift cards! http://www.giftcertificates.com/shop/category.aspx?category_id=155&eGiftCards=1

- For those who celebrate the holidays with a tree, think about instead of purchasing a cut tree, buy a live tree in a pot (roots and all) Decorate that for the holidays! After the holidays are over, instead of throwing the dead tree away, you will be able to either re-plant this tree in your yard (or local park) and enjoy it for years to come!

- Instead of eating leftover until you are ready to be sick at the sight of turkey, think about giving your leftovers to those who do not have enough to eat! Your Best bet on this would be to Google local homeless shelters in your area and call to find out if they accept donations of prepared food (some may not because of food safety and sanitation concerns) but if they do, store your leftovers in your fridge at 40 degree or cooler and drive them over as soon as you can!

- Save Energy and use LED Light’s instead of standard holiday bulbs.

Here is a website with tons more information on how to celebrate your holidays a bit greener:
http//planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/green-holidays.html

Let’s all start making a difference today, break those old habits and make Mother Earth your best friend. Spread the news and forward this on to everyone you know….just don’t print it

Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a wonderful holiday weekend.
~Rebecca Procops & Tony D'Alessio

Save Money With Lights

Working in a lighting company for more than 5 years, I have learned a lot about lighting and now understand many different terms such as LED, Lumens, CFL, output/input...etc.

However, although I understood the ‘concept’ of them, I didn’t actually feel they mattered much to my real life, as my mom was the one who took care of purchasing our home supplies.

Then I started living by myself…and I quickly realized every penny counts, especially when it comes from my own pocket. :-)

The first thing that matters the most to me is the electric bill. So a few weeks after moving into my own place, I started looking for Compact Fluorescent lamps to replace all of the Halogen lamps (I do this apparently because I’m working in a lighting company ). Moreover, since I listen to the benefits of using LEDs every day, I ended up purchasing a $40 LED lamp with the equivalent to a 60W halogen lamp for my bathroom, because they don’t get hot and are ok for damp location!Although I spent that money, and the effort to change the lamps, it was worth every penny, because compared to the month I was using Halogens as my lamp source, my electricity bill reduced by around 7%.

Now, who wants some FREE 60W halogen lamps :-)

- KaShing Lin

E-marketing Specialist

Transforming Family Values into Responsible Lighting

With Thanksgiving approaching, our thoughts focus on our families and paying homage to the people that have helped us in our lives.
For the past two decades, I have worked closely with the Wang family who own WAC Lighting. I attended company meetings during the day, but my wife and I have spent many evenings watching Tai, Shelley, Tony and Thomas receive recognition for their outstanding work in the community. The Wangs support a holistic business approach and continuing education, transforming their family values into what we now call Responsible Lighting.
27 years ago, Tony and his wife Tai came to the States with a dream of working for themselves, with their one-year-old daughter Shelley, in-tow. With little savings, they purchased a supermarket and doubled the business within a year through hard work and solid values. They later sold the store and founded WAC. I remember Tai recounted how she unloaded their first 40-foot container, just a month after the birth of their son Thomas. Fiscally conservative and dedicated, they valued integrity and doing things right the first time.
Years later, Tony was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year, recognizing this gentleman for growing a small portable lamp company into a manufacturing leader of track and recessed lighting. Among her many achievements, Tai received Rotary’s Gift Of Life International Humanitarian Award for helping save many lives of Chinese children born with heart defects; the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for contributions to America while preserving her heritage, and the LaGuardia College’s Innovative Leadership Award. Tai has made dozens of expeditions for Alliance for Smiles, helping to provide necessary surgery for children born with cleft lips and palates.
Shelley Wald, WAC’s president, continues to astonish at such a young age. She already won the Residential lighting Industry Leadership Award, spearheads the ALA Young Executives Task Force, and delivers presentations on new lighting technologies. Shelley serves on the Board for the NY Asian Women Center to fight human trafficking and abuse, supports the H Foundation for cancer research, and along with her mother, was honored by Women Achievers Against the Odds. Also achieving success at a young age, Thomas Wang has grown into International Sales Manager based in Shanghai. Thomas attends scores of global events, often sharing his presence with international heads of state and commerce. Recently joining the family is Dirk Wald, Shelley’s husband and a lighting star who is working to expand the company’s endeavors and goodwill.
Under the Wangs’ leadership, WAC has become a true icon for Responsible Lighting, a global maker of energy efficient lighting. As we begin to enter the holiday season, the Wangs continue to inspire us to live with a strong sense of family, spirit, charity, altruism and joy.
~Chris Pica
Public Relations Consultant

In September of 2004 my friend of many years, Tom, and I were sitting in his living room while his parents were at work. Everything seemed perfectly fine until he looked over to me and said, "Uh-Oh", he then waived his hand in front of his face and began to have a seizure. Being alone and in a panic I managed to collect myself and grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911.
Shortly after EMS arrived and took Tom to the hospital. After 2 weeks of painful and stressful testing Tom was diagnosed with Brucellosis, a bacteria that enters the body through unpasteurized cheese, and causes legions to form on the brain. Tom had recently gotten home from a trip with his family to Portugal to visit his sister. Tom was prescribed bacteria fighting antibiotics and seizure preventative medications.

After 2 years of being on that medication Doctors realized that the legions were not only still present but had actually doubled in quantity and size.
Additional testing was done and it was eventually discovered that not only had Tom been misdiagnosed, he had also been wasting the last 2 years of his life taking medications he didn't need. Tom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and has been on medication for it since.

During Tom's time in the hospital getting tested I also learned that a cousin of mine who currently lives in Florida was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Since their diagnosis our families have become much closer and have participated in Walk MS every year.

Every year since his diagnosis Tom, his family, and his friends make a point to attend Walk MS. It would mean a lot, to not only me but Tom and his family, if WAC got involved in the 2012 Walk MS. His team name is Team Chubbs, which was his nickname when he was a little kid. We would both be honored and proud to have WAC be a sponsor for his team.

As the newest member to the WAC family I would love to have everyone here get involved and become educated on the effects of MS. It could serve as a great learning experience and possibly serve as a comfort zone for others to share their stories and experiences.

Information on Walk MS can be found here:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/walkmapregion.aspx

~George Feis - Graphic Design Temp

In my role as Lead Designer at WAC Lighting I am constantly trying to come up with new and exciting ads, graphics and displays. Sometimes it can be quite daunting trying to come up with new, fresh and engaging ideas. When I find myself in this situation I go to the internet to search a myriad of different design inspiration sites that I have bookmarked in a folder and constantly flip through while working. Design styles are always changing and these types of site are pivotal in helping me stay on top of new trends within the design community. Below are some of my favorite sites to go to when I get a little bit of "writers block". Not just for artists or designers, anyone can get some enjoyment out of viewing the wonderful artwork on these and many more sites.Enjoy!
http://abduzeedo.com/
http://www.behance.net/
http://alexvaranese.com/
http://dribbble.com/
http://cargocollective.com/stillontherun

~Nick Ponzo
Lead Graphic Designer

So, now that I am back East, many people have asked me what it was like living in California after having grown up in New Jersey and lived in New York. Ummm, should I really answer that? Are Californians reading this? Okay, okay, it wasn’t that bad, I’m exaggerating…um, a little. Yeeeees, it’s stunning there, and yeees, the weather is always nice, well, almost always… But, the hot Santa Ana winds there, in 85 degree weather, are definitely not fun, especially if you’re not under cover, and they did seem to last several months starting right around October. And occasionally, despite popular belief, it does actually get cold there, and I did get to wear my Polar worthy winter coat and tall boots, occasionally. ;-) Living there offered a lot, as I was in the gorgeous town of Newport Beach, thus I had the stunning coast of rolling hills and marvelous mansions, only one of which did I ever get to set foot in, by the way, as despite the OC Housewives’ trying to portray it, not everyone lives like that there. ;-) And I had the beach in the morning and the mountain snow in the afternoon, as the saying goes, as the mountains were only a few hours away from me, so I guess I could have surfed and skied in the same day – though who really does that?? Five years there and I can say I liked Cali, and I saw a lot of it (specifically San Francisco, which rocks, but then it is a whole lot like New York City, after all. ;-)). However, I just can not say I loved it, and here’s why. The people. Yes, the people. Don’t get me wrong, I made some really great friends while there, and hopefully they will let me be their friend for all the rest of my days (maybe not after they read this, though – Hi, Cali friends, love youuuuu!) ;-), BUT, ‘most’ Californians are just a bit strange. I’m sorry, it’s true. They are SOOOO different from east coasters. Not only do they talk slower, walk slower, drive slooooooower, but I think they are just a little too “chilled”, for me anyway. Some people reading this would think to be chilled is so totally cool, I mean, why would I criticize that? Don’t many believe that east coasters are all wound up and too nutty? Yeah, but I’ll take nutty or kooky any day of the week!!! In Cali, I think they thought I was on speed, or something. I was even asked once if I have an “off” switch. Okay, that one was actually really funny, but you know what I mean! Right?? On the east coast, and especially New York, you’re praised for your energy, complimented for your quick thinking and acting, and rewarded for your ability to do 500 things at once. In Cali, you show energy like that, and you are looked at like you’re an alien. There, east coasters are always told to slow down, take a breath….relaaaaaaax. But why? Why do I want to slow dooooown? Whyyyy? There’s so much to do!! Not enough hours in the day, ahhhhhhh! Besides, I can smell the roses as I am running by on my way to get everything done, right?! ;-) Well, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit again, but I think I’m painting the picture, right? The other thing about the people in Cali is that they are extremely non-committal. RSVPing for an event? What’s that? It’s a foreign concept to them. I threw a costume party one year, and I (almost literally) had to chase down people to get an answer, and then many who had said yes to the invite didn’t even show up (!), and many who had said no, well, they basically crashed the party!!!! Again, so different. I mean who does that? Right? Oh, and there’s more…. you could go months without hearing from a friend there, even if he or she is unemployed and sitting home eating bon-bons, as they just are “so chilled, dude”, that they wait for you to call/write/visit/announce that you’re even still alive. On the east coast, if you don’t text back in 3-point-2 minutes, they panic and assume you’ve been kidnapped. They contact all your other friends and family and coworkers to be sure you’re OK. And if you say no to a party, the host comes to your house and pulls you into the car and drives your butt to the party. Californians, or should I say ‘most’ Californians, just don’t care to get all riled up. “It’s cool”, they say, and they mean it. I mean, it is kind of enviable – in some ways, but I’m fairly certain that if I jumped off a bridge, most would say, “That’s cool…it’s what she wanted…it’s was her life”. Whereas on the east coast? Oh, totally different. Friends on the east would likely jump off before me, so totally loyal, even if I ended up changing my mind!!!!!!

See, that’s the thing. The heart and soul of east coasters is so truly deep and genuine. It’s loud like we are, and beats at a fast pace just like the speed of the cars on the streets of Manhattan. Oh, and don’t get me started on the work environment….. Yes, I made several great friends at work in Cali, I really did, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them, but you see, that’s also where I got the “off switch” comment made, and that’s also where the ability to juggle 500 things at once was seen as alien-like! Slooooow dooooown, they said…..relaaaaaax. Ahhhhhhhh. LOL. So, one day while at work, I logged on to a competitor’s website and said, “Wow, that company is really awesome”, only to get the response of “Oh, we can’t keep up with them! They come out with too much and too fast!!!” Hmmmm, “Really?”, I thought to myself, “isn’t that what we’re supposed to do in this ‘ever-changing-technology-advancing-in-a-nano-second’ environment?”. So you see, folks, in short, though I loved the soft sand of Newport Beach, the stunning rounded sky-touching mountains of Big Bear, the golden arches of San Francisco, and more….I can leave them behind as far as my ‘residence’, and actually that’s exactly what I did. This past June, after 5 years as a “slightly alien-like nutty blonde” with “no off switch” on the west coast, I traded in my flip flops and I happily came back home to New York, back to my nutty but lovable family, back to my kooky but soulful friends, back to the smell of Fall, the gorgeous colors of foliage, and soon, the falling snow on the city streets. And, with all that, I can still have my ‘beach’ in the summer.  Best of all worlds, right? So, rewind to my return home, and picture it: As I walked down the city streets of the Big Apple a few weeks ago, and as I stood with goose bumps on the anniversary of 9/11 right on Lexington Avenue praying for those that lost their lives that day to peacefully rest in heaven, I thanked God for my decision to come back, and for being “home”. Oh, and lucky me? Remember that ‘competing company’ I mentioned earlier? The one I envied? Guess where I work now? That’s riiiiiiiiiight, folks. Lucky me, working at W-A-C with like-minded nutty and kooky, lovable and loyal east coasters, none of whom ask me if I have an “off switch”……….. ;-)

~Tammy Impagliazzo
Sr. Marketing Manager

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Unless you live under a rock, you are well aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Whether you are at the supermarket, the mall and even the Bank you are surrounded by those who are wearing pink and working to help raise awareness and money for a cure! It is very easy to get involved and I came across a great website that can help you get started! It’s Susan G. Komen’s Passionately Pink for the Cure® website. (www.Passionatelypink.org) Not only is Passionately Pink for the Cure is a fun way to start a fundraiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® it is so simple (and FREE!) to get started and supplies you with tons of information and support materials at your fingertips.

Here is how you can get started:


1. Register as a Passionately Pink Team Captain. The registration process should take you less than 5 minutes and when you are done you will have access to your own customizable Passionately Pink fundraising page, where you can accept donations and track your progress!
2. A Passionately Pink Fundraising Kit containing promotional and educational material, collectible lapel pins and much more will come in the mail approximately 2 weeks after registration. (All promotional and educational materials are also available right online for download)
3. Roll Out the Pink Carpet and have fun going passionately Pink for the Cure! Whether you are having a Jeans Day, a bake sale, girls night out or something completely different, wear pink, have fun and join in the promise to find the cure for breast cancer!

Pink is not just a color...it is the strength, hope, faith and courage for all the women fighting to become a survivor! Be tough enough to Rock the Pink and show the world you care!

~Rebecca Procops Marketing Coordinator

We will miss you - Steve Jobs

It was a sad news when I heard Steve Jobs (one of my favorite idols) passed away last night .
I remembered the first computer I used in school, and now with all the “ i “products around my house (I believe in yours too), we cannot deny his creative inventions have greatly influenced the world and brought us to the “future”.



Here are my favorite inspirational quotes by Steve Jobs found on mashable.com ( http://mashable.com/2011/10/05/steve-jobs-quotes/):

- “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me”

- “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

- “When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “if you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself” If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

- “I want to put a ding in the universe.”


We will miss you Steve Jobs...

by KaShing E-marketing Specialist at WAC Lighting

Our New York office power is back!

To our valued customers:

We are pleased that our New York office power is back to normal and our lighting professionals are ready to assist you.
Thank you for your time and patience!

Important Message - August 29, 2011

To our valued customers:

Due to recent inclement weather, we are experiencing a temporary power outage in our NY office. We are still fully operational in our Los Angeles office and will continue to ship orders and field customer calls from that location. Should you need assistance, please call us at 800.526.2588 or email: waclightingny@yahoo.com

Sorry for any inconvenience,

WAC Lighting team

SoL™ - the first OLED pendant of it's kind

Check out the first OLED pendant in the universe - SoL™

A short instruction on how to calibrate and use Luxmeter pro 2 in iphone

LuxMeter Pro 2.0 App for the iPhone is a software in iphone that can identify the light level on a certain object. It uses the camera to collect the light from a light source or reflected from the object surface and then based on the amount of light determines the light level.

Unlike other professional photometric test devices, this software simply “grab” some light and it cannot tell how much light (lumens) it has collected. Therefore, all the values it gives is just relative light output and it has to be calibrated before using.

There are two ways of calibrations:
1. Use standard incandescent lamps and the benchmarked values on line:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/luxmeter-pro/id408369821?mt=8#

For example, if we use 40W incandescent lamp, the benchmarked lux is 490lx.

a. In the software panel, click on the “calib” button. Then the screen becomes a large window.

b. Move the camera properly until the incandescent lamp is shown in the window.

c. Tap on the lamp in the window so the camera will focus on it automatically. This means you selected this as a light source.

d. Manually change the scroll bar at the bottom and see the value at the right of the scroll bar. Adjust it until the value gets close to 490lx.

e. Then click “exit”


Now you have done the calibration and you can take the measurement.

2. Use an illuminance meter as a reference:

a. Use any light source to light a diffuse and high reflective surface. (A white wall is also OK)

b. Put the illuminance meter sensor close to the surface and measure the reflected light. (Note: the sensor is facing the surface not the light source)

Do not cover the shadow area.

c. Write down the value on the illuminance meter. Then use the iphone to focus on that surface and do the calibration in the same way as the method 1. Use the illuminance value as the reference.


This meter is only suitable to measure some light level on diffused surface, such as desk, carpet, brick, wall, ground, etc. To measure the lux from a light source is meaningless and not accurate. If the light is too strong, this meter may get saturated and it doesn’t show a data. In this case, you can try clicking on “Scale” button. Then the maximum value it can show is 10 times bigger. If in this case it is still saturated, then come to R&D department and ask for an illuminance meter.

WAC Lighting QP-501 Installation Instruction

Check out our new installation video on WAC Lighting QP-501 socket set!

WAC LIGHTING Introduces Cartier LEDme™ Track Luminaires

New development for lighting luxury spaces

GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK – Combining craftsmanship and old world styling with the flexibility and performance of modern track lighting, WAC Lighting introduces Cartier LED track luminaires. From the instrument-like engineering and hand finishes to the onyx crystal details, Cartier LEDme? track luminaires have been designed for upscale residential and commercial spaces. Utilizing state-of-the-art, multi-chip LED technology, this 12-watt luminaire projects a strong amount of light. With models offering a light output up to 625 lumens, Cartier exceeds Energy Star requirements and is a direct replacement for a 50-watt MR16.
Cartier was crafted and designed exclusively in the company's clean manufacturing campus with in-house UL testing labs and zero landfill status. WAC Lighting is a global manufacturer and designer of track, recessed, undercabinet, monorail and decorative lighting.
Dimmable with an Electronic Low Voltage (ELV) dimmer, Cartier can be used with WAC 120v track lighting systems. It operates with multi-chip replaceable LED modules that offer a 50,000-hour potential life.

Designed with a White interior to improve light reflection, mounting hardware is available in three designer finishes to coordinate with a variety of decors: Antique Bronze, Antique Nickel and Satin Brass.

Offered in 3000K warm white and 4000K cool white color temperatures, Cartier uses Cree multi-chip LEDs and may be ordered as a Spot or a Flood. Additional interchangeable optics are available.

Cartier is 9 1/16 inches tall, 5 1/2 inches wide, and 7 1/2 inches long.