Example of topics: DMX/E.131, FPP, wireframe, coroplast, static displays and just general discussion related to the Christmas holiday — midsouthlights.com
This, friends, is holiday-display speak. And not just Christmas lights, says Justin Duncan of the group Midsouth Lights. Holiday displays and lights can extend to Easter, even Valentine’s Day, though the biggies he says are the Fourth of July, Halloween, and, of course, Christmas.
Duncan is a relative newcomer in this relatively new group. Midsouth Lights is an offshoot of Mississippi Mini, a collection of holiday display enthusiasts based around the Jackson area. Since forming about a year ago, Midsouth Lights, with some 40 members, has outgrown Mississippi Mini.
The members meet once a month to trade tips, share techniques. Sometimes they warn folks just what they are getting into. (Duncan says it can become an addiction.)
The “Lights” of Midsouth Lights, Duncan points to the website, stands for:
Learn — Learn as individuals
Innovate — Innovate on how we use technology
Grow — Grow in our knowledge
Help — Help our fellow enthusiasts
Teach — Teach those willing to learn
Share — Share our love for displays with the community
Duncan works in IT and says the nerdiness of the hobby appeals to him. And, lingering way back is the memory of the prize he won for a holiday display he put up when he was in fifth grade.
He just put up his Halloween display and says he starts storyboarding his Christmas display in July.
According to Duncan, display-ers are a diverse group. You’ve got your devotees to the molded figures and those who make art out of static lights. More ambitious sorts may opt for the pixel approach, a technology that allows for control down to the individual bulb. Kits are purchased, props built from scratch, music sourced, neighbors appeased …
Duncan says that, across the board, the thing that bonds all holiday display enthusiasts is that sense of satisfaction they receive from doing something cool for the community.
“Regionally, nationally, all the guys enjoy sharing the Christmas spirit, to see the reaction from kids and adults,” he says. “It’s sharing a little bit of happiness.”
