Event manager Melanie Coomans proudly welcomes us to the Future Lighting expo floor. The event, which annually brings together lighting industry professionals, has grown considerably this year. "We welcomed twenty new exhibitors, including renowned names such as Fagerhult and Zumtobel. We are extremely pleased with that," says Coomans.
Despite the first snowfall of the year, attendance on the first morning was promising. "We notice that Future Lighting is becoming more and more alive among our exhibitors and partners. They share their involvement plenty on social media, which contributes to the event's visibility and positively affects attendance," Coomans said.
With more than 70 exhibitors, Future Lighting is well on its way to becoming a leading event within the industry. However, Coomans still sees plenty of opportunities for growth. "We are focusing on expanding in specific segments, such as architectural lighting. This year we have already taken a nice step, but we hope to attract even more exhibitors in this segment next year. We also see a lot of potential in the areas of outdoor lighting and building automation."
According to Coomans, the strength of the event lies in the combination of the exhibitor offerings and the lighting conference. "It's not a traditional trade show, it's a confex (conference & expo, ed.). We offer a platform where networking, innovation and knowledge sharing come together. The entire lighting chain is represented here, from facility managers and installers to manufacturers and architects."
A key pillar for Future Lighting is collaboration with industry associations and other initiatives. This year, for the first time, the event partnered with Women in Lighting, a global network dedicated to the visibility and support of women in the lighting industry. Carlijn Timmermans, Women in Lighting's Dutch ambassador, emphasizes the value of this collaboration: "Future Lighting brings together a broad spectrum of professionals and parties, including lesser-known players offering interesting insights and products. For us, this is a great opportunity to make diversity in the sector visible."
A highlight of this edition was the presentation of the first Future of Lighting Innovation Awards. Out of ten nominees, the expert jury chose the new luminaires of Internova's architectural brand ELYS as the winner. The jury praised these luminaires for their innovative design: a combination of exceptional color fidelity (CRI 97 Ra), glare control (UGR <13) and minimal light loss. This is achieved by a specially designed lens that projects light crosswise through an aperture of only 12 millimeters, with a beam width of up to 36 degrees.
Since taking over as event manager, Melanie Coomans has studied the lighting industry intensively. To further develop the event, she regularly consults with partners. Thus, a date in November was deliberately chosen. "It is a busy period for exhibitors, but especially now valuable collaborations can arise for the coming year." Coomans looks back on this edition with satisfaction: "The quality of the visitors is very high. It is great to see that they have long, qualitative conversations with our exhibitors and that the knowledge sessions are well attended. This confirms that we are on the right track."