July 7, 2026
Behind the Scenes: LEDucation Reorganizes Leadership
Veteran figures depart while the remaining leadership preserves continuity during expansion
LEDucation 2027 Leadership:
At a Glance
Confirmed (DLFNY, eff. July 1)
- Jennifer Mason: President
- Matt Seconi: VP
- Cynthia Turner: outgoing, stays on board
Expected, Not Yet Formal
- Randy Wilson: to succeed Burt Grant as LEDucation co-chair
- Shaun Fillion: to succeed Wendy Kaplan as seminar co-chair
Continuity
- Jamie Eck: LEDucation co-chair
- Craig Fox: seminar co-chair
- Burt Grant: advisory role
⚠ Ops Still Unsettled
Gridley/Conexsys split leaves 2027 event management in transition.
For an event built on precision, timing and knowing exactly where every crate needs to be, LEDucation 2027 heads into its planning cycle for the expanded show with an unusual amount of its own leadership in flux. Four changes, some finalized and some still pending, are reshaping who runs the organization behind North America's largest lighting trade show.
None of the moves alone would be remarkable. Together, they reach nearly every layer of leadership: the show's operational contact, two of its longest-serving volunteer co-chairs, and now the presidency of DLFNY, the trade association that owns and runs LEDucation. All of it arrives just as the show grows to a three-day format in 2027.
Event leadership confirms the transition is real, even as some pieces remain unsettled. Official announcements of additional appointments are expected following a July summer retreat, where the organization plans to finalize contracts and roles ahead of next year's show.
Why Operational Leadership Is Harder Than It Looks
LEDucation occupies multiple floors of the New York Hilton Midtown, which has meeting spaces designed for weddings, fundraisers and corporate meetings, not three levels of exhibitors hauling architectural site lighting through a hotel never engineered for a trade show of this scale.
Coordinating three floors of Hilton ballroom space means negotiating with hotel management and union labor, managing exhibitor move-in and move-out, tracking drayage, building floor plans and integrating registration systems, hundreds of details that go unnoticed by attendees until one of them fails.
That behind-the-scenes complexity is the backdrop for the most closely watched of the four changes.
The Operational Contact Change
For roughly a decade, independent contractor Jason Gridley served as LEDucation's operational lead through his association with Conexsys, the company that has long managed the show's registration process, including badges, data and on-site staffing.
Gridley and Conexsys have separated, and the organization has decided to continue working directly with Conexsys, who is expected to take on the operational event management responsibilities. DLFNY president Cynthia Turner told Inside Lighting that the organization does not anticipate the change affecting the 2027 show.
Above: LEDucation co-chair Jamie Eck speaks at the podium during LEDucation's 20th anniversary celebration dinner, April 13, 2026.
Jamie Eck, LEDucation's co-chair, offered a more measured account. He said proposals for managing next year's event have not been finalized and that Gridley submitted his own independent proposal after parting ways with Conexsys. Eck said the proposal remains under review but declined to confirm whether Gridley would return in an operational role. He added that the split required DLFNY to seek separate proposals for Conexsys' registration services and for event management, rather than the combined arrangement it had previously.
Taken together, the record suggests Gridley's continued involvement is unlikely, though some have stopped short of declaring that outcome official.
Inside Lighting spoke with Gridley on multiple occasions and at length for this story. Of the show he built much of his career around, he said simply: "This show is huge, complex and it means a lot to me."
A New President at DLFNY
Cynthia Turner's term as DLFNY president has ended. Jennifer Mason becomes president and Matt Seconi becomes vice president, effective July 1, with Turner remaining on the board in another capacity. Eck said the shift follows the organization's normal cycle as terms expire.
LEDucation Event Leadership Turns Over Too
Above: Burt Grant, who founded LEDucation with Robert Nadell and Peggy Meehan in 2006, reminisces about the show's humble beginnings; now the landmark lighting event in the U.S. — April 13, 2026.
Two longtime LEDucation leaders were recognized at this year's anniversary dinner for reasons that, in hindsight, doubled as farewells. Burt Grant, one of the show's original co-founders in 2006, is stepping away from his co-chair role after two decades and moving into an advisory position. Eck said Grant identified Randy Wilson of Randy Wilson Lighting Design as his expected successor years ago, though the appointment has not yet been formally confirmed. Eck remains co-chair going forward.
Wendy Kaplan is stepping down as seminar co-chair after helping evaluate and select hundreds of educational seminar submissions across her tenure. Craig Fox remains in his co-chair role, and Shaun Fillion, an educator at the New York School of Interior Design, is expected to join him.
What Comes Next
DLFNY and LEDucation leadership are planning a July retreat where final decisions on these roles are expected to be certified, with formal announcements to follow. Planning continues for the expanded three-day 2027 show.
With Eck, Fox and other committee members staying in place, institutional knowledge carries forward, but for many lighting people, the real measure of continuity will show up on 54th Street next spring, when 480 exhibitors want their crates back from New Jersey at exactly the same moment. Whoever holds that job will learn fast that the show's success has always lived in thousands of small details.
