The Lighting Exchange® (LEX), a lighting industry-exclusive communications platform, now features a dedicated virtual event space called LEX Events, which offers lighting agencies and manufacturers an exciting virtual venue to host customized events that will educate and inform their target markets, while creating opportunities for the personal interactions that are a key piece of relationship-building but typically missing from the virtual experience.

“This new normal has certainly had its challenges,” explained Jonathan Ayala, Co-Founder and Principal of Your Lighting Brand, “but it has also exposed some opportunities to be more efficient with thoughtful technology solutions that are well- deployed. We created LEX Events to provide a virtual space where the lighting community could share information clearly and efficiently and have an experience rich in the personal interactions that are a cornerstone of the specifier-agent-manufacturer relationship.”

Over the last few months, in lieu of conventional gatherings, lighting agencies, manufacturers, and members of the design and specification community have begun meeting on virtual platforms—Zoom, GoToMeeting, and others—to present digital lunch-and-learns, conduct rep sales trainings, LIVE stream broadcasts, and even try to replicate the nuanced interaction that occurs during an industry-hosted tradeshow.

Unfortunately, these virtual experiences often fall flat for several reasons. The registration process can be cumbersome. Once inside the show, attendees can be overwhelmed by the amount of content in front of them, while struggling to find the exhibitors they’d like to see. Connecting with people is often challenging with long delays between messages and poor visibility in terms of the communications that are being sent and received. In short, people are often inundated with information and, simultaneously, adrift, finding it difficult to actually contact another human being in the virtual space.

LEX Events was designed with the user experience in mind and a focus on creating a virtual platform that embodies
the best things about technology—connecting with people faster and more efficiently, putting a wealth of pertinent information at the ready, expert support that is easy to contact, and the ability to move through the virtual space with a trusted lighting agent as their guide. From complete customer concierge to the event networking rooms and even the swag bag that rewards attendee engagement, an event hosted on LEX Events will leave both sponsors and participants feeling better informed, better connected, and virtually invigorated.

Although LEX Events is newly launched, lighting agencies and manufactures alike are already booking their first virtual events through the Summer and Fall seasons, and well into Spring 2022. SeaTac Lighting & Controls will be one of the first official event hosts. Their upcoming event in June will feature 25 manufacturers, provide numerous CEU courses and expects to see 350 specifiers. “We know that our sales strategy must evolve to include both virtual and in-person events. LEX Events is the platform that enables us to create next level virtual experiences to connect with our customers, the design community, and our manufacturing partners and scale our efforts to maximize efficiency and effect,” said Natasha Kloss, Marketing Director, SeaTac Lighting & Controls.

“What we’ve learned over the past year is that you don’t have to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder to be face-to-face. LEX Events delivers an omni-channel sales opportunity that supports this unique indirect industry virtually, while emphasizing interpersonal connection,” said Ayala.

LEX Events joins The Lighting Exchange’s larger communications platform that centralizes the information shared between lighting manufacturers, sales agents, and specifiers to create a more efficient and effective sales and marketing workflow. Today, over 75% of the lighting agencies in North America, over 1700 manufacturers, and thousands of specifiers participate in The Lighting Exchange ecosystem, which has expanded to become a powerful portal for education, news, and other lighting-related sales & marketing activities.

For more information about hosting an event on LEX Events, please email the LEX Events team at events@lighting.exchange.