In case you’ve been living under a rock and missed the news, LightFair announced last week they are going biennial. We know everyone has their opinions on this. Here’s SLP’s….

David Koller

Steve Blake

• Moving the event to every other year might bring more people to the event? Time will tell.
• Is it a mistake to only have it in New York only through 2029? I think so.
• Many of the OEMs are exhibiting at LEDucation in New York. That is why I would like to see the LightFair event in other locations.
• The show was about half the size it used to be but I think the pandemic and the cost to exhibit is the main reason.
• With LEDs, it takes longer to develop new product so we are not seeing a lot of new designs.

Patrick Kuenz

In my opinion, having LightFair every other year is a great idea. I think every year was too much especially with all of the other regional shows that are popping up everywhere.

Craig Gravatte

As for Lightfair going biennial:

• I will really miss getting the industry together one time a year for a show.
• I question why this was done…because of the pandemic in which we cancelled LightFair 2020, LightFair 2021 was a disgrace and LightFair 2022 was only partially attended.  Shouldn’t this be the year that everything returns to normal?
• 2023 should be the year we return to normal. The world is in a recession. Is that why we’re going biennial; or, are the higher powers of LightFair putting pressure on LightFair management to make this change?
• Next, why are we in New York until 2029?! Guess the Central US and West Coast have to make a call on attending or not.
• Finally, we know that lack of LightFair hit IALD and IES pretty hard financially. With LightFair going biennial, one can only assume the fees for exhibitors will be much higher after the 2023 show.

Will Barron

I am excited that there should be a lot more product and new ideas since LightFair will be every other year but it is unfortunate that it will only be in NY. I really enjoyed having it on the East Coast one year and the West Coast the following year. I think we won’t have as many West Coast OEMs presenting because of this.

Rob Kloepple

Given this years turn out of low head count and minimal new products on display – moving LightFair biennial is a good idea as it provides more time for new products to be launched.

Charlie Oldani

Our booth for LightFair is essentially a giant erector set, which can be modified to change the appearance and layout depending on how we plan on showing product. So, having to pull the booth from storage each year to come up with a design can become tedious. That said, with proof of the recent halt of the trade show during the pandemic, trying to remember how the booth and kiosks go together can be an emotional roller coaster. Maybe in the future, you will see SLP with just a giant blow-up bouncy pit with a couple kegs holding it down, but until then expect the springs of 2023 and 2025 to be highly stressful for me.