LEDucation 2025, one of the industry’s premier events, is in the books. Thousands descended upon the New York Hilton Midtown for the packed two-day event.
The show floors were busy throughout, with exhibitors spread amongst the Grand Ballroom, Americas Halls 1 and 2, and the Rhinelander Gallery, which this year spilled over into the Gramercy Suite as well.
Just under ten thousand people registered and attended. Over 470 exhibitors took up residence among 683 table tops. The show has come a long way since 2007, when “the show had 31 exhibitor tables and about 350 attendees,” according to the LEDucation website.
EdisonReport stayed busy throughout the day as we hosted most of our C-Suite Series interviews. Look for conversations with Cooper Lighting Solutions, Construlita Lighting, US Pole Company, Tivoli, DALI Alliance, Targetti, WAC Group, LEDVANCE, USAI Lighting, HLB Lighting, and more to be released soon.
Best Booth
We scoured the show floors, looking for the best booth. With many worthy candidates, we opted to choose a best booth in each of the four exhibition areas. This year’s winners were:
- Pinnacle Architectural Lighting (Grand Ballroom)
- RBW (Rhinelander/Gramercy)
- Nova Flex LED (Americas Hall 1)
- Nightingale™ (Americas Hall 2)
Congratulations to these exhibitors.
What Were Exhibitors Talking About?
Controls and Integration. Several dozen exhibitors were controls-only companies or companies with extensive controls offerings.
Today’s lighting products are already incredibly efficient. What is the next frontier? Controlling those products. Modern lighting controls open the door to a world of possibilities, enabling full building system integration.
Along the same lines, smart lighting products are a piece of the ever-growing Internet of Things (IoT). Last year, industry expert Mark Lien presented an IES webinar entitled “The Future of Lighting is About the Convergence of Technologies & Services,” and we certainly saw evidence of that at the show.
Sustainability. A reduction in the carbon footprint relating to how much energy the products use during operation, but also the sourcing and manufacturing of lighting products, as well as their disposal. Industry leaders continue to prioritize green practices. The question is: Is the emphasis on sustainability industry-wide, or is it just a focus at shows like LEDucation?
Circadian Lighting. The health impacts of lighting, particularly in relation to circadian rhythms, took center stage. Multiple presentations focuses on innovations in spectrum differentiation, WELL Building standards, and lighting applications designed to enhance environments like end-of-life care facilities
One of my favorite booth visits was to Innerscene, whose “skylights” and “windows” provide circadian-effective lighting by mimicking natural daylight, changing throughout the course of the day. I was even able to look up and “see the sun” from the third floor of a 47-floor building.
Price Increases. It’s the Wild West. In past iterations of this cycle, we have seen several of the large companies announce price increases, and smaller companies subsequently following suit.
This time, it’s different. It’s the Wild West. Some companies are better positioned to absorb increased costs. Others are more exposed, based on where they source and manufacture their products. It seems to be a bit of a free-for-all.
Overall, the show was a huge success. Every exhibitor and attendee I talked to had nothing but positive things to say. This year’s show was just another example of why LEDucation has become the most popular annual lighting event in North America.