Five years ago, I signed a contract with the Hilton Anatole in Dallas to host a conference that didn’t exist yet. There was no track record, no ticket sales, no guarantee that anyone would show up. What I had was a conviction, built over four decades in the custom integration channel, that lighting was about to become the next major category for progressive integrators, and that someone needed to create the place where that transformation could happen.
What made it possible was the HTSA board of directors having the vision to support it and, critically, to open it to the entire industry, not just HTSA members, but every integrator serious about lighting. And it came from a small group of manufacturers who committed early, before there was any proof this would work. Seventeen exhibitors signed on for that first year. They took a chance on us, and I will never forget that.
Lightapalooza launched in January 2022 with 243 attendees. It was intentionally small. Intimate. We wanted to get it right before we tried to get it big.
By 2023, we had 694 attendees and 35 exhibitors. By 2024, over 1200 attendees, 53 exhibitors, and more than 6000 individual seats of education registered, over 9000 seat-hours consumed. By 2025, we crossed 1400 attendees and 59 exhibitors. This year, our fifth, we welcomed over 1500 attendees with 110 educational sessions delivering more than 8000 seat-hours of learning.
Those numbers matter. But what matters more is what happened inside those rooms.
The Feedback That Shaped It
From the beginning, every stakeholder in this event — from the integrators who attend, the manufacturers who exhibit, the independent reps who support them, and the educators who teach — has given feedback that I could tell was sincere and constructive. Not because they were being polite, but because they cared that this succeeded. They saw what I saw: That this channel needs a gathering place built specifically for the people doing this work.
That feedback is what has driven every decision over five years. It’s why we’ve raised the bar on education every single year. It’s why Lightapalooza became the home of the SHINE certification program, the only certification in the custom integration industry that addresses lighting fundamentals, lighting control protocols, power systems, and natural light control. It’s why we welcomed the smart power exhibitors who participate in this space to come together and create a vendor-agnostic Smart Power Education Series, because power is the next frontier, and progressive integrators need to be ready.
And it’s why we pursued academia.
When I reached out to Dr. Mariana Figueiro at the Icahn School of Medicine Light and Health Research Center, Dr. Craig Bernecker at the Parsons School of Design, and Dr. Kevin Houser at Oregon State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, I wasn’t sure what the response would be. These are world-class researchers and educators. What I found was that they were as excited about what integrators are doing as we were about what they could teach us. They came. They experienced the engagement of the audience. And they confirmed they wanted to return. That validation, from the academic world told me we were building something real.
Curated by Design
I’ve been intentional about one thing above all else: keeping the show floor curated.
This year, we turned away interested exhibitors. Not because we ran out of space, but because I didn’t believe they fit, or that they were prepared, or that they were serious about serving the custom integration channel — a channel I’ve been a champion of for over four decades.
Even at 71 exhibitors this year, our largest floor to date, the show floor remains deliberately curated. We’re not building a trade show. We’re building a conference where every exhibitor is a performance specification fixture manufacturer who understands the difference between working with custom integrators and working through traditional distribution. The manufacturers on our floor have adapted to how we work by providing direct access, responsive technical support, and the kind of education that integrators consume and then put to work on every project. They’ve learned that this channel doesn’t work like their traditional verticals, and they’ve chosen to invest in it anyway. That investment has been mutual, and it has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve witnessed over these five years.
The People
I need to acknowledge the people who have been on this journey from the start.
Jon Robbins and the HTSA team believed in this before there was anything to believe in. Their support gave Lightapalooza its foundation and its credibility. In our second year, ProSource stepped in to support the conference as well, further validating the vision and broadening our reach across the channel. The founding exhibitors, the manufacturers who have been on our floor every year since 2022, took a bet on an unproven conference and came back year after year, because they saw the value in this channel. We honored them this year with a reception that was long overdue.
David Warfel stood on our keynote stage this year and gave voice to something important. He talked about what could happen when you gather the leading integrators and the leading manufacturers in one place. He challenged the room by asking the question, “What if the vendors here came together and agreed on a platform, a protocol, a way to make their products work together seamlessly?” He pointed to the theatrical lighting industry, which did exactly that 35 years ago with DMX. Every console, every fixture, every dimmer, speaking the same language, no matter who made it. He looked at this room and said: “You can do that, too.”
That message resonated deeply, because I’ve seen this moment before. This conference has brought the integration channel to an inflection point. It reminds me of the early to mid-1990s during the rise of CEDIA, when the category of custom installation became real. We watched the industry transition from specialty audio/video retailers being the leaders to the custom integration channel being the leaders. That transition made it clear to the manufacturers to recognize that’s where the growth was. That’s what’s happening now with lighting. The progressive integrators who have taken this category seriously are gathering in numbers with real power, and what they want is interoperability. Open standards. The flexibility to design the best solution for the client, the project, the application, using products from multiple manufacturers that all work together.
That is the next chapter.
The Next Chapter
I started Lightapalooza because I believed the custom integration channel deserved better lighting. Not just better products — better knowledge, better relationships, better business models, and the confidence to claim lighting as their own.
Five years later, I can say this: Tthe integrators who attend this conference are transforming the way residential lighting is delivered. They’re displacing the old model — where homeowners made lighting decisions through their builder or electrician and ended up with contractor-grade fixtures. They’re bringing specification-grade performance to luxury homes that deserve it. They’re earning design fees. They’re sitting at the table with architects and interior designers as peers.
And we’re just getting started.
Lightapalooza is about what’s next. It always has been. This industry has evolved from stereo systems to home theater, from automation to lighting control, from networks to motorized shades, from lighting to intelligent power. Two years ago, people asked whether Lightapalooza would become just another broad trade show. Our commitment remains to serve the most progressive integrators and the best-of-breed manufacturers who partner with them. To identify what’s next and provide the education, the relationships, and the certification to lead it. To keep the bar high and the floor curated.
To everyone who has been part of this journey — the integrators, the manufacturers, the reps, the educators, the HTSA team, and the founding exhibitors who believed before there was reason to — thank you. What you’ve helped build is something I’m deeply proud of.
Here’s to the next five.
Now Available: Residential Lighting Best Practices Guide 2026
