The second edition of HogFactor, a lighting design and programming competition for young talent,
was the highlight of the High End Systems’ booth party on the evening of April 16th during Prolight +
Sound in Frankfurt.
The contest was organized and supported by LMP Lichttechnik, the official distributor for the HOG4 Series of
lighting desks for Germany, in partnership with AED Distribution, Master Distributor for High End Systems in Europe
and Africa.
Admitted to the contest were young professionals who are either in full-time education within the events industry in
Germany or an equivalent school education. A total of 6 teams subscribed to the contest, all coming from different
schools:
1. Team LSM, with Alexander Breuer and Sebastian Brock Meier
2. Team HAW Hamburg Media Technology, with Tina Trömmel and Tobias Konzok
3. Team Empire, with Julian Drees and Alexander Szag
4. Team Crystal Sound, with Jonas Goldschmidt and John Lipps
5. The runner-up, team Satis & Fy, with Christopher Lemke and Tom Ressing
6. The actual winners, team HAW Lichtschweine, with Marc Preschke and Nils Weinert
All teams participated in a Hog 4 Basic training at the LMP College, given by German HOG4 product specialist
Marcel Vranken, in preparation of the competition and to familiarize themselves with the HOG4 hardware and V3.0
software. Additionally, they received free access to Hog 4 PC Software and LightConverse visualization software, a
setup guide, a 3D plot of the rig with High End Systems fixtures and a piece of music to which they had to program
their light show.
The goal of the HogFactor was to combine the participants’ creativity with their learned programming skills;
successfully programming their own light show, and to ultimately demonstrate this live to a professional jury and
a few hundreds of guests. “We are very satisfied with the outcome of the event and the performance of each team. In
addition to the universities, we have also addressed trainees and are trying to map a cross-section of young professionals
of event technology across Germany", says Marc Petzold, Managing Director of LMP. "Our sincere thanks go to all
participants who have been heavily involved in this project. The jury was convinced of and excited about the concept from
the very beginning."
The professional HogFactor jury consisted of 4 industry experts. Lighting Designer JoJo Tillmann states: “Seeing
young talent handle a real light system during a live competition like the HogFactor has been a unique experience for
me. The participating teams showed varied lighting designs, different approaches to working with the light desk and
controlling their show. I found the HogFactor to be an inspiring event with many international visitors and a great team
on site in Frankfurt."
Matthias Allhoff of MO2 design, responsible for planning and projects, adds: "The HogFactor was a very interesting
competition with real potential, it was great to see with how much motivation the participants met the challenge in such
a short time. To learn a complex console as a HOG, to familiarize yourself with different types of moving heads and to
combine the items in one great show... that's impressive! Looking forward to next year’s HogFactor! "
Musician Nicholas Müller and High End Systems EU Product Specialist Frank Schotman were also impressed by what
the teams brought to the table. Nicholas assessed the artistic part from the musician's point of view, whereas Frank
paid attention to the programming on the HOG4 being a global HOG support among international shows such as
the Olympic Games in Turin.
In the end, it were the light shows from team “HAW Lichtschweine (Light pigs)” and team "Satis & Fy" who
competed in the Finals. Marc Preschke and Nils Weinert from "HAW Lichtschweine" were selected as the winner of
this HogFactor. Apart from winning a HedgeHog 4X console, this team will also automatically participate in the
European "HogFactor" Finale, taking place on December 10th at the AED Studios and during the 30-year celebration
of the AED group.
The HogFactor will continue to run at various international trade shows throughout the year. The winning team
of each regional episode - including team "Germany" – will meet each other on December 10th