Phius Communications Manager Max Lapthorne discusses the start of ticket sales for PhiusCon 2026 and the organization's focus on the event.
Most things in life are cyclical.
Weeks turn over in an endless loop, spring precedes summer which turns to fall (or straight to winter if you’re a fellow Chicagoan), and busy and slow spurts in our professional and personal lives come and go. As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “you could not step twice into the same river.” Or in modern parlance, “change is the only constant.”
That is especially true for us at Phius. From a high-level perspective, we are constantly evolving alongside the high-performance building industry as passive building continues to proliferate, new strategies and technologies are introduced, and building policies shift. But on a more micro level, much of our organization oscillates between two “seasons” so to speak: PhiusCon season, and non-PhiusCon season.
As you may have guessed given the timing of this blog, we have just recently flipped the unofficial switch to start PhiusCon season, with tickets for our annual flagship event now on sale (save $100 on your ticket with our early bird sale! (Phius Alliance members can save even more by registering via the Phius Portal!)). For those of us behind the scenes, PhiusCon season began in earnest a few days before tickets went on sale when we hosted our annual meeting to review and discuss the PhiusCon abstract submissions, which we have affectionately dubbed the “PhiusCon Smackdown.”
The meeting’s name came about because staff members are often so passionate about the PhiusCon content that we joke they would be willing to go to the mat to defend a presentation they believe should be included in the programming. I’m happy to report there weren’t any fisticuffs thrown at this year’s Smackdown, and even happier to report that we settled on a diverse schedule of sessions that should inform and inspire (full agenda to be released in the coming weeks).
With the Smackdown in the rearview mirror, tickets on sale and the agenda release on the horizon, PhiusCon season is here — but what does that mean exactly? The actual conference isn’t taking place until mid-October, so what exactly will we be doing the next four months? The short answer is a lot!
On the marketing and communications side of things, where most of my duties reside, we’ll be spreading the word about registration opening and the early bird ticket sale, as well as the agenda release and announcement of keynote speakers. This is in addition to highlights of speakers, sessions, local travel guides and any other PhiusCon related nuggets that arise this summer.
From a broader, organization-wide perspective, PhiusCon season serves as a refocusing of our efforts and a reminder of our core purpose: to educate building professionals and provide our community the knowledge and tools necessary to deliver Phius passive buildings. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, but PhiusCon is a sort of guiding force that brings our community together to share knowledge and new ideas while galvanizing our organization in the months-long (years-long really) effort to host an event worthy of being considered the leading passive building conference in North America.
The idea to host PhiusCon 2026 in Phoenix was first brought up nearly two years ago and finalized about a year and a half ago. Plenty has changed since those decisions were made — we certainly won’t be stepping in the same river twice — but now that PhiusCon 2026 season is officially here, one thing that has remained the same is our mission: to support our passionate community in their efforts to create a healthier built environment for all.
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