THE BIG INTERVIEW

“IN TERMS OF BUSINESS, WE ‘MAINTAINED’ THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC, BUT WE GREW IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS – AS A BRAND, AS PEOPLE, AS A TEAM, AN ORGANISATION AND ULTIMATELY AS A ‘FAMILY’.”

JOSEF VALCHAR

CEO, Robe

Josef Valchar, CEO, co-owner and very much a public face of Czech Republic-based lighting and LED manufacturer, Robe, is optimistic about the year ahead. He is looking forward to travelling again, to visiting live shows, events and music tours and festivals, to meeting people, driving business, being social and out there generally on the front line. Valchar enjoys many things about this industry, including engaging with people, listening to real-life feedback and experiences, and learning from what those at the industry’s sharp end are wanting, needing, and thinking about, to fuel their creative and technical goals. Robe was in a fortunate position going into the pandemic. With several successive years of sustained growth and being independently and privately owned and run, Valchar and three shareholders have expediently and efficiently steered the operation without accruing financial liabilities. The large, well-organised, contemporary factory located in the northeast of the Czech Republic is a significant source of regional employment, juxtaposed against the beautiful, undulating Wallachian hills landscape. This much-appreciated environment and clean air has been a welcome backdrop during the pandemic as well as a source of inspiration for planning a strategic response. Robe was one of the few manufacturers to maintain brand awareness and a strong marketing presence throughout the pandemic period – a textbook response to a crisis but not a route embraced by everyone. Valchar, integrally involved in all the new product development thanks to his engineering background, is also Robe’s head of marketing. “We always believed, even during those very dark and uncertain first months as the world realised it had an unprecedented existential public health problem and no plans to deal with it… that things would return to some sort of normal,” he commented. “We were also realistic. We knew almost immediately that it was massive and potentially disastrous for certain businesses worldwide – especially our own entertainment / leisure industry plus all the related areas of ‘hospitality’ and others that are inextricably linked, like travel, but we also knew it was important to continue. We didn’t think it was a doomsday scenario.” he recalled. Robe completely shifted its marketing and communication emphasis and output during this time. It was a complicated process to gauge, especially initially, as no-one had any experience of a pandemic, and no real idea of how long the situation might continue, but the communication evolved organically, together with the general pandemic response. “With no shows or events and no expos, locked in our countries and for some even in our regions – at one stage, without special permission people could not move locally or between towns in the Czech Republic, which had one of the most stringent lockdowns in Europe – we worked very hard both internally with our subsidiaries, and also in a wider context via our global distribution network,” elucidated Valchar. “Firstly, it was essential to keep the team together, keep everyone motivated and maintain morale,” he stated, referring to communication generally as well as producing marketing collateral and assets that could be used in a wider context across multiple platforms. “All our news from that time and most of the first year is focussed on people, highlighting some of the amazing characters in this business and their responses and ingenuity,” he continued. “It was important to empathise and to encourage everyone we could. Many people put their time and energy into volunteering and helping their national efforts in beating the pandemic in different ways. Others used creativity and resilience in getting through and

Above: Lighting and environment designer, Eran Klein put Robe MegaPointes at the core of Black Coffee’s recent show at Drumsheds, London.

Below: T1 Profiles were deployed at City Hall Auditorium of Aalter in Belgium, in Koen De Clerck’s design for the Cogétama ballet.

Photos: Lindsay Cave and Koen de Klerck – KODEC Photography.

“WHILE THINGS MIGHT NOT BE ‘NORMAL’ UNTIL NEXT YEAR, WE STILL HAVE A VERY EXCITING RANGE OF PRODUCTS LAUNCHING OVER THE COMING MONTHS.”

coming up with inventive ways of making ends meet and giving those in their immediate circles a sense of purpose. “For our industry, which is normally incredibly busy, full-on, high pressure, in demand, one of the biggest shocks was for those who suddenly found they didn’t have any work or even a job or a career at that stage. Once we realised it was going to drag on beyond the initial months that everyone had hoped, keeping people motivated, upbeat, thinking ahead and through to the other side really became vital.” Valchar and the Robe team found that there was generally a lot of support and collaboration for this bi-directional communication push from within their own ‘family’. “We all kept talking all the time,” he reflected. “In fact, I think that many of us have worked harder during this time than ever before.” As well as external and marketing, Robe’s internal communication continued at pace, as did the intense and relentless pace of R&D.

Rapid rise

Much of Robe’s rapid rise from a little-known ‘disco lighting’ manufacturer in eastern Europe to a professional show lighting market leader in two decades – the brand was officially launched in 2002 – has been due to having the right people in the right places, and with huge passion, energy, and commitment to move the brand forward. Like many businesses, 2019 was a boom year and 2020 was predicted to be even better, so, after recovering from the abruptness of the halt in business and the severity of the

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Previous page: Stavanger Concert Hall, Norway, recently upgraded its rig to include 66 Robe ESPRITE moving lights and 24 ParFect 150s.

Above: FORTE and CUETE fixtures are powered by Robe’s patented ‘transferrable energy’ (TE) technology.

Above right: Over 100 Robe moving lights supported Mikael Trochu’s design for the Monumental mapped projection show at Chateau de Pierrefonds, Oise, France.

Photos: Louise Stickland. hit to entertainment and hospitality, it has also provided a degree of breathing space and time for reflection. 2020 was not the time to officially launch any new technology or products as companies and people struggled to survive, but it was a great time to keep ears and eyes to the ground and focus on future developments and directions. The Robe factory remained fully functional throughout at some capacity. After the first three or four months of complete disbelief at the global situation, orders placed on hold then started reactivating and even that early on, some new business started coming in. “It’s hard to measure how we have ‘grown’ in this specific time,” Valchar mused. “In terms of business, we ‘maintained’ throughout the pandemic, but we grew in so many other ways – as a brand, as people, as a team, an organisation and ultimately as a ‘family’. After three months, selected projects and particularly long-term installations restarted cautiously. Then of course, film and TV bounced back due to the huge demand for new content while the world was in lockdown. Then artists started wanting to release new music and reach out to their fans and the whole livestreaming and digital gig / broadcast / AR / XR area kicked off and started developing, then everyone started trying to make their streams appear more ‘live’, gig-like and better than before – all of which stimulated some business activity around different parts of the world. Above everything else, I think this activity also highlighted how vital live events meetings and experiences are to us as human beings.” Valchar also mentioned Anolis, Robe’s sister architectural LED lighting brand, which has been developed out of the spotlight and steadily gained prominence in that parallel world. “The potential for this longer-term installation and specification market and for Anolis to develop has been highlighted during this time.” 2021 brought a new vibe, with mass vaccinations on the horizon and a lot more expectation of ‘the end’ being in sight, and critically, people were now willing to look beyond the pandemic. It was time to strategically introduce some new and appropriate products, and for Robe that started

“WE’VE LEARNED THAT TRADE SHOWS ARE NOT THE ONLY AVENUE FOR PROMOTION, BUT WE STILL FEEL THEY ARE AN IMPORTANT INPERSON MEETING POINT AND A FORUM FOR NETWORKING, DISCUSSION, TALKING BUSINESS AND BEING SOCIAL.”

with its new high-powered LED profile, the FORTE, featuring the company’s ‘transferrable engine’ (TE) technology. Quizzed on whether Robe is adopting a “build back better” policy post-pandemic, Valchar touched on some of the challenges being faced worldwide, including the supply chain squeeze and electronic component shortages. “Semiconductors are a problem right now,” he said with a wry smile. “That’s the situation – what more can I say? And it’s not just for us, but for all manufacturing sectors.” Valchar believes that while the car industry has a shortage of chips, so will the entertainment industry, as automotive has considerably more bargaining muscle and political influence. One of the many facts that the pandemic stripped bare was that for all its fabulousness, fantastic value and international revenue and GDP generating potential, the live entertainment industry had precious little real political lobbying power. On the chip shortage, he deliberated carefully. “When we were predicting this last year, we hoped by now it would have already improved, but realistically we now think it will be Q3 or Q4.” After a deep breath, his characteristic zen optimism began to shine through. “Patience – that’s what we need. Patience and the flexibility to be able to purchase chips from a variety of different sources. It will improve, and while things might not be ‘normal’ until next year, we still have a very exciting range of products launching over the coming months.” Valchar has voiced strong opinions about the influence of Chinese-manufactured products over the years, and when pushed on the subject, he stated: “It has been a constant driver in ensuring our own bars stay exceptionally high.

Ultimately, the only protection we have against derivative products is that we keep proactively pushing R&D and our own innovations together with longevity – and therefore enhanced ROI. Plus, naturally, excellent quality in the quest to set new standards.” Over the past 10 to 15 years, Robe has also concentrated on building its patent portfolio, which now includes over 100 issued or pending. An element of Chinese manufacturing that is related to the current component shortage is political initiatives to supply domestic markets ahead of export markets, which he and most in this position, find “irritating to say the least”. Pragmatically, in the next sentence he added: “Since Robe launched as an own brand, and before then, when we were an OEM manufacturer, the world has become a lot more global. Like most things, there are pros and cons.”

The complexities of climate change

Valchar and the Robe team has been committed to creating cleaner, greener and more sustainable lighting products and refining their production processes for many years. They are not just jumping on the green train now because it is trendy, high-profile and finally recognised as inevitable. Robe’s first LED wash light – the LEDWash 600 – was launched in 2010, which was both ground-breaking as a piece of technology and game-changing for the brand, but it was also part of a thought-process that had commenced way beforehand. Predating that, Robe’s architectural LED lighting brand Anolis was founded in 2005, offering innovative high-quality product lines for interior and exterior built environments – a move that came from seeing the potential for commerce and technical innovation in that sector as well as the longer-term recognition of and

Above: Lighting Designer, Rob Koenig selected Robe BMFLs for the recent Metallica 40 shows at Chase Center, San Francisco. Photo: Ralph Larmann.

Left: Robe T11 Profile.

commitment to sustainability. The company’s ‘Think of the Future – Consider Nature’ marketing initiative was also launched a decade ago, several years ahead of any legislation that would eventually start outlawing the light sources of the day. Aware of the multiple wider geopolitical and societal movements and the sense in making the company and its products as sustainable as possible, Valchar observed: “People have been having serious debates about the complexities of climate change and its consequences for so many years, but only recently has the science finally got more serious traction globally and the problem recognised as urgent.” All Robe’s entertainment lighting products have been LED-based for the past five years, and in spring this year, a major new eco plan will be announced that includes the factory complex becoming largely selfreliant in generating and running from its own green electricity. Recycling and other practical initiatives to reduce waste and materials were already implemented years back. Valchar doesn’t envision a burgeoning new market for battery-powered moving lights for live events and touring, which he sees as neither ecological nor practical. He also mentioned that deliberations about the extraction of raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel that are essential to these technologies – and frequently disastrous to land, water, wildlife and people – have yet to hit centre stage. “Like all intelligent and responsible people and manufacturers, we will take all the steps we can to ensure our products are produced as cleanly and efficiently as possible, both now and in the future. It is a situation that’s constantly under review.” Robe has become known for its strong presence and ever more ambitious and spectacular booth designs at industry trade shows in recent years, all helping to draw crowds and plenty of attention, and despite the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the trade show circuit, Valchar firmly supports expos as an important aspect of communicating the brand in different markets. “We will still be at the major international trade shows, and we will have a big presence there,” he confirmed. “I think we have all learned that trade shows are not the only avenue for promotion, but we still feel they are an important in-person meeting point and a forum for networking, discussion, talking business and being social.” He also alluded to Robe doing more regionally based events of its own that will target specific disciplines and areas of business. However, right now, it’s all eyes on Frankfurt and Prolight+Sound, with positive signs that the show will go ahead as planned. If it does, Robe intends to make maximum impact and reveal a few surprises both inside and outside the exhibition halls. “There’s plenty on the horizon to look forward to this year and beyond.” Looking after Robe’s core and wider teams and the mosaic of people and relationships involved on multiple levels has been a priority during the pandemic. While it has been an extremely tough period for the industry, Valchar is convinced that live shows and events will come back with a huge bang, offering an ocean of diversity, colour, vibrance and opportunities for business and work. “Everyone is done with being stuck indoors looking at screens,” he exclaimed. “While it’s been an incredible learning curve and an achievement in staying connected, there is a massive appetite from all age groups, in all regions and across every area of entertainment – from music shows and festivals of all types, to theatre productions, sporting events and more – to get out and enjoy the human experience and camaraderie of all being together again. This phenomenon and not being able to engage in it has seriously affected every part of the hospitality sector, but it’s also proved itself as such a fundamental part of our existence – that’s lucky for us.” Above: The BMFL WashBeam has been a Metallica ‘anchor’ fixture for many years. Photo: Ralph Larmann.