Education Program at The Inspired Home Show 2026 Designed to Help Participants Gain a Competitive Edge
Sessions to focus on market opportunities, business strategies and latest consumer insights
Participants at The Inspired Home Show® 2026 – to be held March 10-12 at Chicago’s McCormick Place – will have the opportunity to take advantage of education programming including four keynotes and two days of targeted sessions in the Inspiration Theater. These sessions will feature market opportunities, business strategies and the latest consumer insights that will help suppliers and retailers gain a competitive edge.
“In addition to incredible opportunities involving product discovery, trend-spotting and face-to-face connections, The Inspired Home Show offers a dynamic line-up of educational programming,” said Derek Miller, President and CEO of the International Housewares Association (IHA), which hosts the Show. “Whether you’re a manufacturer, brand, retailer, buyer or other industry professional, you’ll find new strategies, best practices and data-driven insights that may challenge conventional wisdom.”
A variety of market analysts, trend forecasters and subject matter experts will appear on both the Keynote and Inspiration Theater stages. Sessions are available to all Show participants at no charge.
Keynote Sessions
Four keynote sessions – to be held Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11 – will feature big-picture strategies and thought leadership focused on growth opportunities, the impact of AI, the latest consumer insights and color trends. They are:
The Future of AI: Your Business Depends On It Today
Tuesday, March 10 – 10 a.m.
Aaron Conant, Co-Founder & Chief Digital Strategist, BWG Connect
Udayan Bose, Co-Founder & CEO, NetElixir
Aaron Conant of commerce technology networking platform BWG Connect, will lead a fireside chat with Udayan Bose of global e-commerce solutions provider NetElixir on how AI is shaping business and e-commerce. The in-depth discussion will examine what companies need to know to optimize AI investment and prepare for a future of GenAI development and agentic commerce that has already arrived.
Growth Through Change: Inspiring Consumers with Proactive Disruption
Tuesday, March 10 – 1 p.m.
Joe Derochowski – Vice President & Home Industry Advisor, Circana
2026 will require changes in the ways the home products industry thinks about growth and how companies interact with consumers who have become most focused on cost concerns and basic needs. Since consumers are not lending as loud a voice to trends right now, Derochowski will discuss how marketers should take the reins and lead the consumer through inspiration and innovation. Topics will include eating behavior and the influence of GLP-1s, social shopping and the use of AI.
Top Trends — Survive or Thrive? Collaborative Insights to Sharpen Your Senses and Challenge Your Perceptions of the Modern Marketplace
Wednesday, March 11 – 10 a.m.
Tom Mirabile – Principal, Springboard Futures
The best defense against the unexpected is a fluid awareness of purchaser attitudes, expectations and behaviors. Mirabile, who also serves as a trend strategist expert resource to IHA, will share essential new data revealing what consumers want, how they live and why they buy. Key findings will include what’s driving positive feedback, shaping customer experiences and even causing consumer exasperation.
Sense-Abilities — The Most Directional Color and Design Trends
Wednesday, March 11 – 1 p.m.
Leatrice Eiseman – Executive Director, Pantone® Color Institute
To renowned color expert Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, success in today’s discerning marketplace is all about interpreting the lifestyles and emotional “tugs” that will lead consumers to purchase products, goods or services. Eiseman will lead a highly visual session featuring the most influential color and design directions for the upcoming year, in addition to revealing the palettes in the Pantone View Home + Interiors 2027 forecast.
Keynote sessions will take place in the South Building, Room S102.
Inspiration Theater Sessions
Education sessions in the Inspiration Theater will feature analysis and how-to information on specific issues affecting consumers, suppliers, retailers and the housewares community as a whole.
Topics will include:
- Tips for operating a TikTok Shop
- How to leverage the connection between earned media coverage and commerce editorial
- Growth opportunities through licensing
- The rising influence of global food and flavors
- Best practices from award-winning retailers
Additional sessions will provide updates on tariffs, PFAS legislation and the latest consumer lifestyle influences.
Inspiration Theater sessions will take place throughout Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11 in the South Building, Room S101A.
More information on keynotes can be found at theinspiredhomeshow.com/education. Details on Inspiration Theater sessions and times will be posted soon.
While not open to the public, The Inspired Home Show brings together more than 2,000 unique brands and hundreds of thousands of products with both global and domestic buyers for networking, trendspotting and product discovery.
The Show includes four expos (Clean + Contain, Dine + Décor, Wired + Well, and International Sourcing), in addition to attractions such as the Debut incubator, Global Design Points pavilions, Inventors Corner, SPLiCE Licensing Hub, Pet Products Pavilion, Candle Pavilion, Pantone® ColorWatch Display, New Product Showcases, and galleries featuring finalists and winners of IHA’s Global Innovation Awards (gia) in Product, Retail and Student Design.
Education programming and product discovery are presented alongside networking events and award ceremonies. For more information about the 2026 Show and to register, please visit TheInspiredHomeShow.com.