More Time. More Connection. A New NEXPO Experience in Kansas City

September 30, 2026

Kristin Bennani

Two full days, nearly 40 exhibitors, main-stage NEXPO Talks, meet-ups, book signings, receptions, and more, all at the center of the 2026 SEGD Conference Experience, October 22-24.

At this year’s 2026 SEGD Conference Experience Kansas City, NEXPO is expanding significantly.

For two full days, Thursday and Friday, NEXPO and the Conference come together in one shared space at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. Instead of moving between a conference ballroom and a separate expo hall, attendees will find the people, products, ideas, and conversations shaping experiential design all under one roof.

With nearly 40 exhibitors, NEXPO brings together fabricators, manufacturers, technology partners, signage and wayfinding specialists, digital experience companies, materials experts and other collaborators from across the experiential design ecosystem.

Two Full Days at the Center of the Conference

Throughout Thursday and Friday, Conference sessions and NEXPO share the same ballroom. During sessions, NEXPO goes quiet as everyone turns their attention to the stage. Breaks, meals, and dedicated networking time open up the floor for attendees to explore, connect with exhibitors, attend book signings, and continue conversations sparked by the program.

NEXPO opens Thursday morning alongside Conference registration with coffee and a New Member Meet-up. At lunch, attendees are encouraged to bring their meal into NEXPO before afternoon tours depart. Those staying onsite can spend the afternoon exploring the show floor and joining roundtable networking workshops.

Throughout NEXPO, attendees can also contribute to “What Needs Bridging?,” an analog installation asking what design needs to bridge in our practices, cities and communities. Responses will build throughout the Conference, creating a living snapshot of the challenges, tensions and opportunities our community sees ahead.

Thursday evening brings the President’s Reception & Auction for Excellence, one of SEGD’s annual traditions and a celebration supporting SEGD’s educational initiatives as a 501(c)(3). This year’s auction will feature one-of-a-kind collections from Lance Wyman and other SEGD Fellows.

Friday brings another full day of activity, beginning with breakfast, PPG (Professional Practice Group) meet-ups, and a special EXP (Emerging Experiential Professionals) meet-up and NEXPO tour. Book signings and exhibitor connections continue during breaks, and after lunch, NEXPO Talks take the main stage throughout the afternoon, before the two-day NEXPO experience closes with a reception from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

NEXPO Talks Take the Main Stage

NEXPO Talks are getting an upgrade this year, moving from a separate expo-floor stage to the main Conference stage with a full-size screen and seating for the entire audience.

What the Data Tells Us: Inside the 2026 SEGD Employment + Salary Report

Cybelle Jones, SEGD + Kelly Kolar, Kolar Design

What is the latest data telling us about where the experiential design profession stands today, and where it may be heading?

SEGD CEO Cybelle Jones sits down with Kelly Kolar of Kolar Design for a high-level conversation around key trends from the newly released 2026 SEGD Employment + Salary Report. Together, they’ll explore how the findings are reflected in Kolar’s work, research, and leadership, followed by an open Q&A.

Designing for Change: Creating Human Experiences That Can Evolve Without Losing Their Intent

Maris Ensing, Mad Systems

The people change. Technology changes. Content changes. Buildings change. Yet we often expect the experiences we install to remain largely as they were on opening day. Maris Ensing explores a shift from designing fixed outputs toward designing for intent and outcomes, asking how experiences can preserve human and curatorial intent while allowing language, accessibility, content, technology, and delivery to evolve.

AI is part of that conversation, but it isn’t the destination. The larger question is how we design experiences that can adapt over time without losing what made them meaningful in the first place.

Signs of Things to Come: Experiments at the Edge of Wayfinding

Lauren Kelly, Wayfindit, presented by Modulex

What could the next decade of wayfinding look like?

Lauren Kelly explores how emerging technologies could reshape the way we plan, design, translate and maintain signage programs, and where new tools can add real value to an evolving wayfinding practice.

More Than an Expo

The expanded NEXPO reflects something fundamental about how experiential design actually happens. The ideas explored on stage don’t exist independently from materials, fabrication, technology, signage, lighting, media, and implementation. They come to life through cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Bringing NEXPO and the Conference together creates more space for those connections without asking attendees to choose between the educational program and the expo experience.

Listen together during sessions. Then use the breaks, meals, and networking time to explore a new technology, meet a future collaborator, attend a book signing, or continue a conversation sparked by something you just heard on stage.

For Thursday and Friday in Kansas City, NEXPO isn’t somewhere you go between Conference sessions. It’s part of the Conference Experience itself.

Thank You to Our NEXPO Event Sponsors

Thank you to the partners supporting the gatherings, meals, and moments of connection happening throughout NEXPO:

INCISEON — Thursday Coffee Break
AVI-SPL (XTG) — President’s Reception & Auction for Excellence
Vestaboard — Friday Coffee Break
SNA Displays — Friday Lunch
Gable — Friday NEXPO Reception