September 27, 2022   

Attendance Grows by One Third at Second Annual ArchLIGHT Summit

September 15-16 commercial lighting event at Dallas Market Center drew participants from both coasts, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico

DALLAS – The second annual ArchLIGHT Summit attracted the architectural, specification and design communities to Dallas Market Center for a two-day lighting product expo and more than 20 CEU opportunities. Occurring September 15 and 16, the event saw a 22% increase in exhibitors and a 34% increase in attendees since its launch in 2021.

The 2022 ArchLIGHT Summit overlapped with Dallas Design Week, Total Home & Gift Market, and the WestEdge Design Fair, all occurring on the campus of Dallas Market Center. Attendees for ArchLIGHT Summit represented 36 U.S. states—including New York, California and even Hawaii—plus international attendees from Canada and Mexico.

Exhibitor companies included temporary resources showcased in more than 80 booths in the Trade Mart atrium as well as permanent lighting showrooms located on the 3^rd and 4^th floor of the Trade Mart building.

The National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) also held its first in-person Convention in three years preceding the ArchLIGHT Summit at Dallas Market Center. NAILD Convention attendees were also registered for ArchLIGHT Summit, with full access to all CEU programming. In addition, the NAILD Convention and ArchLIGHT Summit shared an exhibit floor on the first floor of the Dallas Trade Mart.

Nearly 400 lighting designers, architects, interior designers and other professionals attended ArchLIGHT Summit CEUs, which covered both lighting applications as well as topics focused on personal and professional development. The most popular sessions included:

• “Designing With TM-30,” an interactive session led by Tony Esposito of Lighting Research Solutions Inc. and Jason Livingston, IALD, IES, LC, of Studio T+L. This session was repeated four times and showcased DMC’s merchandising strengths with merchandise in an array of colors an textures from the 5 million square foot marketplace. Uniquely, this session also featured live models to demonstration lighting concepts on various skin tones.
• “Demystifying Dynamic Lighting” with Amy D. Lux of LoboLux, which explored the “architainment” space where architectural lighting and entertainment lighting collide, offering best practices for successful execution.
• A Networking Breakfast with Women in Lighting + Design (WILD) featuring former female football player Jan Spence as a keynote. WILD also hosted a welcome party at the top of the Dallas World Trade Center on the evening of September 14, offering spectacular views of the Dallas skyline at sunset.
• “Revit Lighting From 2D to BIM: A Lighting Designer’s Perspective” led by Jacob Gerber and Gabi Korac of Essential Light Design Studio.

Joining professional attendees across numerous allied disciplines were groups of students from Texas Christian University, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Oklahoma, most of whom participated in a special Student Day on September 16. Additionally, students from Parsons-The New School, the New York School for Interior Design and other institutions live streamed sessions in their classes on both days.

Also broadcasting live from the 2022 ArchLIGHT Summit was the “Get a Grip on Lighting” podcast. Hosts Michael Colligan and Greg Ehrich engaged in lively conversations with several ArchLIGHT Summit speakers and exhibitors for in-person and remote audiences.

A featured experience was Color Wheels, a light art installation designed by international lighting designers Alessandra Stratimirovic and Athanasssios Danilof. The Darc Award-winning project generates numerous unexpected chromatic effects that offer insights into the sensory and perceptive aspects of both light and color using Targetti’s DURATAPE RGBW strip product by DURALAMP.

Another attraction for the 2022 event was a Relaxation Station sponsored by Sonneman – A Way of Light. This lounge was conveniently located in Sonneman’s 8,000-square-foot permanent Dallas showroom in Trade Mart 4804, near all three seminar locations. Sonneman is one of 150 permanent lighting exhibitors encompassing the largest residential lighting show in North America, Lightovation, occurring each January and June at DMC, with the next edition taking place January 10-13, 2023.

The American Association of Independent Lighting Agents (AAILA) hosted ArchLIGHT Summit’s opening night Happy Hour, where participants enjoyed food, drink, photo opportunities with a hashtag printer and entertainment from a live DJ and a dancing, stiltwalking LED robot.

Exhibitor Registration is already open for next year’s ArchLIGHT Summit, which returns to its original Tuesday-Wednesday date pattern September 19-20, 2023. To reserve booth space, visit https://www.archlightsummit.com/exhibit/

The 2023 ArchLIGHT Summit Call for Speakers will open fall 2022, and Attendee Registration will open spring 2023. 

Other lighting events at Dallas Market Center include the twice-annual Lightovation, the largest trade event in North America for residential lighting. For more information and complimentary registration for the January 10-13, 2023, edition of Lightovation, visit https://dallasmarketcenter.com/markets/lightovation

About Dallas Market Center

Dallas Market Center is a global business-to-business trade center and the leading wholesale marketplace in North America connecting retailers and interior designers with top manufacturers in lighting, home décor, furniture, gifts, and fashion. Inside its dynamic, five million square foot campus, nearly 200,000 customers from all 50 states and 85 countries seek industry trends, business education and new products from exhibitors throughout the year via dominant trade events for gift, home décor, holiday and floral; the nation’s most comprehensive apparel and accessories markets featuring the latest styles from East Coast and West Coast designers; the largest residential lighting trade event in North America; and the largest and most successful open-daily design center. The marketplace is located in the strongest economic zone in the country. In addition, more than 80 percent of Dallas Market Center buyers report that they do not shop other market centers. To make plans for upcoming markets, visit the Dallas Market Center website and download the Dallas Market Center and Lightovation Apps. Also, keep up-to-date on all information by visiting Dallas Market Center on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the Dallas Market Center blog.