By Kat Wheeler

I went to my first CEDIA in 2005. I am still going.

That should tell you everything you need to know about what this show is. It is not just a trade show. It is a reunion, a classroom, a design showroom, and a very good reason to be in Denver in September all at once. The custom install and home technology world does not have another event like it, and after twenty-plus years of attending, I still look forward to it every single year.

That said, there are things you need to know before you land. Some of them are practical. Some of them are hard-won. All of them will make your show better.

Consider this your packing list.

10. Download the CEDIA App and Build Your Schedule Before You Land.

The CEDIA education program is one of the most valuable things about this show, and it fills up. Sessions on business growth, emerging tech, design-build collaboration, lighting, certifications. There is genuinely too much to see without a plan, and the people who wander in hoping to figure it out on the fly miss half of it.

Before you get on the plane, open the app, find the sessions that matter to your business, and block them. Know which manufacturer product trainings you want to hit. Know which booths are priorities. The show floor is not small and your time is not unlimited.

Plan the show you actually want to have, not the one that happens to you.

9. Your AI Voice Recorder.

Most of us have AI notetakers running on every virtual meeting. And then we walk into an in-person trade show and leave all of that behind, which makes no sense.

Bring a Plaud or a similar AI recorder and use it the same way. Record the sessions that matter to you. Record the conversations on the show floor. Record your own thoughts between booths while everything is still fresh. You will come home with full transcripts and enough detail to put together real, useful debriefs for the team members who could not make the trip.

CEDIA is dense with information. The recorder is how you actually keep it.

8. Water. More Water Than You Think.

Denver sits at 5,280 feet above sea level. The Mile High City is not a marketing slogan. It is a physiological reality that will catch you completely off guard if you have not been before, and will catch you off guard again if you have and you forgot.

Altitude dehydrates you faster than you expect. Headaches, fatigue, feeling off without knowing why. A lot of that is simply not drinking enough water. The fix is boring and it works: drink water constantly, start before you land, and do not wait until you feel bad to address it.

Bring a refillable bottle. Use it aggressively. Your body will thank you on day two.

7. A Portable Charger. A Good One.

Same as every trade show, same urgency. Your phone is your schedule, your map, your camera, and your lifeline. Denver is not the problem. Running out of battery at 2pm when you have three more hours of show left is the problem.

Get a charger that can power your phone at least twice. Keep it in your bag. Do not leave the hotel without it charged.

6. Comfortable Shoes.

The Colorado Convention Center is not small. Denver itself rewards walking. And unlike Las Vegas, the weather in early September is genuinely beautiful, which means you will want to get outside and explore the city on top of everything happening inside.

All of that is great news for your CEDIA experience and terrible news for the shoes you were thinking about packing. Leave the fashionable ones at home. Bring the ones that will get you through a full day on your feet and still have something left for dinner.

5. Business Cards and Your LinkedIn QR Code.

CEDIA is a community show in a way that not every trade show is. These are your people. Some of them you have known for years and only see here. Some of them you are about to meet for the first time. Either way, you want to be ready.

Print the cards. More than you think you need. And save a screenshot of your LinkedIn QR code to your camera roll before you leave home so you can pull it up in two seconds without fumbling through the app. On iPhone, tap the grid icon on your profile and screenshot it with the side button and volume up. On Android, find it under your profile photo and screenshot with power and volume down. One tap and you are connected.

Both covered. No excuses.

4. A Plan for the Design-Build Side of the Show.

CEDIA is not just for integrators anymore, and if you are not paying attention to the design-build programming you are leaving something valuable on the table.

Technology Designer’s Day of Discovery is this year expanding to two full days, September 2 and 3, and the pass is free for architects, designers, and builders. That means guided show floor tours, curated education sessions on the Design/Build track, and access to the Technology Designer Magazine luncheon. If your business touches designers, specifiers, or architects at all, this is worth knowing about and worth bringing up with the right people while you are there.

The show floor is also intentionally designed to bridge that world this year. Pay attention to it.

3. Dinner Reservations. Made Before You Leave Home.

Denver is a genuinely great food city, and CEDIA week is when every other person in the custom integration industry descends on it at the same time. The good restaurants book up.

My personal recommendation: Barolo Grill. It is a cab ride from LoDo, not a walk, and it is absolutely worth it. They send their entire staff to Italy every year to eat, drink, and learn. It shows in every single thing they put on the table. Make the reservation. Take the cab. You will not regret either.

Whatever you choose, book it now. Tonight. The window is closing.

2. Extra Time at DEN. Budget More Than You Think.

Denver International Airport is not a quick in-and-out situation. It is famously large, security lines are notoriously long, and the airport is a genuine haul from the city. Plan for at least 30 to 45 minutes just to get there from downtown, and give yourself more time than you think you need once you arrive.

And while you are out there, meet Blucifer. That is the unofficial name for the 32-foot blue mustang sculpture that greets you in front of the terminal, with glowing red eyes and an absolutely unhinged energy for public art. He is officially called Blue Mustang, but the city calls him Blucifer, and once you see him you will understand why. The story gets better: the sculptor, Luis Jimenez, was killed when a section of the statue fell on him during production. Denver installed it anyway. The horse has been staring down arriving travelers with those red eyes ever since.

He is a lot. He is also deeply on brand for a city that does things its own way.

Get to the airport early. Not “I think this is probably fine” early. Actually early. Blucifer will be there to see you off.

1. Advil. Pack Extra.

Here is the honest CEDIA equation. Altitude makes everything hit harder. The social scene at this show is genuinely wonderful. These are your people, and the after-hours events, the dinners, the gatherings are where some of the best conversations and relationships of the whole year happen. Nobody is telling you to skip any of it.

What we are telling you is that one drink in Denver at 5,280 feet is not the same as one drink at sea level. Your body is already working harder just existing up there. Add a late night to a full day on the show floor and an early morning session you blocked three months ago, and you will be very grateful for the Advil you packed.

Bring it. Take it preemptively. Be the person who offers it to the colleague who forgot theirs. That person will remember you forever.

See you in Denver.

CEDIA Expo/CIX 2026 runs September 1 to 4 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, with exhibits on the floor September 2 to 4. If you want to make sure your brand is showing up the right way, media appointments, pre-show strategy, booth messaging, post-show follow-up, that is exactly what TIG does.

Kat Wheeler is Partner and Strategic Director at TIG Global PR.