Chicago—Registration for NeoCon 2026 is now open. The event will take place June 8-10 at The Mart, with a Preview Day set for June 7. Organizers said the show will center on the theme “Where Design Connects,” bringing together people, products and ideas shaping commercial design. 
Three keynote speakers will headline the 57th edition. Each will open a day of the show with perspectives on innovation, foresight and creative resilience.
The speakers
Entrepreneur and inventor Jessica O. Matthews will present “Find Your Fight: The Power of Taking it Personally” on June 8. Futurist Nick Foster will deliver “Resetting How We Think About the Future” on June 9. Creative advisor David Shing will close the series June 10 with “Designing for an Evolving World.”
Matthews, founder and CEO of O. Labs, will explore how personal stakes drive meaningful innovation. She is known for inventing an energy-generating soccer ball and for her work in infrastructure and energy access.
“Innovation isn’t just a process—it’s a fight,” Matthews said. “Like in any fight, when the stakes are personal, the innovation is more powerful.”
Foster, a Royal Designer for Industry and former head of design at Google X, will challenge traditional ideas about progress. He plans to frame the future as an extension of the present, shaped by human choices and imagination.
“Our collective ability to conceptualize what’s next with depth and rigor remains underdeveloped,” Foster said. “I want to offer a moment of intentional pause to help the NeoCon community become better critics and creators.”
Shing, a former digital prophet at AOL, will examine how technology and culture are reshaping how people live and work. He will focus on keeping design systems relevant amid rapid change.
“Every era normalizes what once felt impossible,” Shing said. “This talk is about helping designers and leaders build the creative and cultural readiness to evolve with accelerating technology.”
What else to expect
Organizers also announced the debut of Illuminate at NeoCon, a new show-within-a-show focused on lighting. All seven exhibition floors at The Mart will be open.
Show registration is free. Keynotes will take place live on site and stream on NeoCon.com. Registration for CEUs, workshops and other programming opens April 1.