By Katharine Wheeler
I have been going to CEDIA Expo since 2005. That includes the years before the pandemic, the strange and gutting years when the show went virtual or did not happen at all, and every year since it came back. After two decades of showing up, I will admit I walked into Denver this year with measured expectations.
I left pleasantly surprised.
The show was smaller this year, and that is not a secret. But smaller did not mean lesser. The floor was focused, the conversations were real, and the energy from the people who showed up was genuine. No booths that made you wonder why they were there. No sessions padding out a schedule. Just the people, the products, and the conversations that matter to this industry right now.
What Was on the Floor
Over 65 brands were new to the show this year, and over 50 lighting exhibitors were represented. Lighting has quietly become a primary conversation in high-end residential projects, and the floor reflected that shift. It is no longer a specialty add-on. It is a foundational part of how these spaces get designed and sold.
DMF Lighting was among the standouts on the floor, showing up with intention and products worth the conversation not to mention their full sweep of awards! The residential market continues to be where some of the most interesting innovation in this industry is landing first.
The signal-to-noise ratio was good. You could have a real conversation at a booth without shouting over the crowd. That has value.
The Design-Build Conversation
Technology Designer’s Day of Discovery ran for two days, September 2 and 3, with a free pass for architects, designers, and builders. It brought a different audience onto the show floor and into the conversation, which is something this industry has been working toward for a while.
The integrators who are doing well right now tend to be the ones who are in the room with designers, builders and architects early, before the walls go up. The programming this year supported that direction, and it was good to see it represented.
WiCT. Every Year. Non-Negotiable.
The 18th Annual Women in Consumer Technology Luncheon took place on Thursday, September 3, celebrating seven Legacy Award honorees.
I will say what I always say: this is the best event at the show. The room is full of the women who built this industry and the women who are building what comes next. Carol Campbell has created something that this community genuinely needs, and the sponsors who support it year after year, including through what are honestly the best gift bags in the industry, deserve real recognition.
If you have never been, go. Put it on next year’s calendar now.
The After-Hours
The opening night party. The pub crawl. The dinners that ran later than anyone planned. And this year, pickleball, because of course there was pickleball.
This is a community that genuinely likes each other. The after-hours events are where a lot of the real conversations happen, and that was as true this year as any other. If you spent your evenings catching up on email, you missed something.
Looking Ahead
Our industry evolves the same way our technology does, gradually and then all at once. CEDIA Expo reflects that. The show looks different than it did ten years ago, and it will look different ten years from now, and that is exactly as it should be.
I do not know what the industry looks like at CEDIA Expo 2027 in Las Vegas, but I am looking forward to finding out.
If you want to talk about what we observed in Denver and what it means for your brand going into next year, we are happy to have that conversation.
Katharine Wheeler is Partner and Strategic Director at TIG Global PR.
