Countdown to ElevateAEC 2026: A History of What’s Next

ElevateAEC 2026 will be upon us in just a few short weeks, but before the doors open in Park City, we’re opening the doors to the archive. Conference agendas. Keynote memories. Photo booth strips. Celebrations captured just moments before the room erupted. On their own, they’re snapshots of conferences past. Together, they tell a much bigger story. 

Over the years, ElevateAEC has moved from city to city and moment to moment, following an industry that has been changing right alongside it. The conversations have evolved. New ideas have taken the stage. New leaders have emerged, but every year has added something to what comes next. 

Consider this our walk through the years at ElevateAEC. One year, one moment, and one step closer to 2026 at a time. 

2021: Denver, CO 

Hyatt Regency Denver | November 3-5, 2021 

2022 Conference Agenda 

Eighteen months after the world shut down, this agenda represented a return to something that had once seemed routine but under the circumstances felt remarkable. It represented a room full of AEC professionals gathered together in person. 

The AEC industry that arrived at ElevateAEC 2021 was different from the one that had gone home in early 2020. The economy had shifted. Offices were empty. The meaning of “workplace” itself was being rewritten. 

Mixed among discussions of the future of work were the things people had missed. Things like breakfast together, cocktails, conversations, and celebrations. 

From the Stage to the Street 

Richard Worsham, Co-Founder & Designer, Janus Motorcycles 

Some ideas are better experienced at full throttle. 

Attendees went on a journey inside the story of Janus Motorcycles, tracing a line through design, entrepreneurship, and building something from the ground up. 

Then, the journey continued outside. With Janus motorcycles waiting, attendees traded their seats for saddles. This was a fitting reminder that at ElevateAEC, the best ideas don’t always stay behind the podium. 

2021 Black-Tie Awards Gala 

Eighteen months of celebration waited behind those doors. 

When they opened, it came pouring out. Loud, raucous, and long overdue, the 2021 Black-Tie Awards Gala celebrated an AEC industry that had kept designing, building, growing, and moving forward through one of its most uncertain stretches. 

For one night, uncertainty gave way to applause. The industry had plenty to celebrate, and after eighteen months, it didn’t miss the opportunity to make some noise.

2022: Las Vegas, NV 

Green Valley Resort, September 14-16, 2022

Civil+Structural Engineer Magazine: ElevateAEC 2022 Conference Issue 

Before The Zweig List, there was C+S. 

The cover of the ElevateAEC 2022 Conference issue offers a nod to Zweig Group’s long history in industry media. The award-winning digital magazine told the stories behind the projects pushing the AEC industry forward, and the people and firms making them possible. 

It was the birthplace of the Rising Stars program, and carries forward of long history of celebrating our industry’s emerging leaders. 

Civil+Structural Engineer eventually evolved into The Zweig List, but this cover offers a snapshot of Zweig Group’s publishing roots and a mission that remains unchanged: celebrate the best of the built environment and the people and firms moving it forward. 

2022 Conference Agenda 

ElevateAEC 2022 opened with the ElevateHER symposium, where AEC professionals confronted one of the industry’s persistent challenges: recruiting and retaining a more diverse workforce. 

Teams took the stage with more than talking points. They presented actionable projects aimed at specific inequalities affecting recruitment and retention. This continued ElevateAEC’s legacy of providing a place to start building the path forward. 

2022 Black-Tie Awards Gala Photo Booth 

Each year, award winners and gala attendees step in front of the camera and find their own ways to celebrate their people, their personalities, and the cultures they’ve built together. 

These four frames capture something at the heart of ElevateAEC, which is the pride that comes when great work gets recognized. 

These artifacts capture just two stops in the story of ElevateAEC, but the progression is already visible: reconnecting, questioning, experimenting, celebrating, and continuing to push the AEC industry forward. 

The countdown to ElevateAEC 2026 continues. 

source https://zweiglist.com/countdown-to-elevateaec-2026-a-history-of-whats-next/