What2026actuallylookedlike.
First one. We learned a lot. Here's the honest version.
The numbers we're proud of.
Not big numbers. Real ones, from a first-year event nobody had heard of yet.
Across three days at POST HTX.
People doing the work, not selling it.
Who backed a first-year event with no track record.
Our home venue, and 2027's.
No one had run this format before.
The room, in photos.
Shot over three days at POST HTX, Houston.
What we changed for 2027.
Four things in 2026 didn't work as well as they should have. We're not going to pretend otherwise — here's what we did about each of them.
One main stage, not 35 competing sessions
In 2026 we ran so many parallel sessions that good talks played to half-empty rooms and everyone left having seen a different event. 2027 has one main stage. Everything else is hands-on.
70% hands-on
The highest-rated moments in 2026 were the working sessions, and we had too few of them. Most of 2027 is labs, workshops and clinics where you build something with your own hands.
Five experiences, named for what you walk out with
Six tracks named for topics told you what a room was about. Five experiences — EARN, GROW, CREATE, PROTECT, BUILD — tell you what you leave holding.
The Exchange moved to the center of the floor
The most valuable thing in 2026 happened in the hallway: people finding work and finding people. In 2027 that is a staffed, central part of the event, and it runs year-round after.
What people said.
Placeholder — a 2026 attendee on what they walked out able to do.
We'd rather leave this empty than put words in someone's mouth. Real, named quotes only.
Placeholder — a 2026 speaker on the room and the audience.
We'd rather leave this empty than put words in someone's mouth. Real, named quotes only.
Placeholder — a 2026 sponsor on what they got out of the floor.
We'd rather leave this empty than put words in someone's mouth. Real, named quotes only.
2027 is April 16–17. Passes from $39.
Same city, same building, a much better event. POST HTX, Houston, April 16–17, 2027.