ConExpo 2026: The Road to the Show Starts on Media Day
By Aaron Murray and Shu Zhang
CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of those rare shows where the scale is so big it changes how you plan, how you move, and how you tell stories. It is not just booths and badges. It is machines you can feel in your chest, technology you can watch evolve in real time, and thousands of people comparing notes on what is working and what is not.
This year, the official show runs March 3 to March 7, 2026 in Las Vegas. 
For Tech Comm News, our road to the show starts a day earlier with Media Day on Monday, March 2. Internally, our ConExpo run is planned March 2 through March 7 with our Tech Comm News goals tied directly to interviews and coverage. 
Why Media Day matters Media Day is where the show starts to reveal what it is really about: what companies are choosing to launch, what they are willing to demonstrate, and what problems they think they have solved. It is also when you can get clean stories before the crowds, before the noise, and before everyone is sprinting between meetings.
For technical communicators, trainers, safety teams, and product support leaders, this is the moment to look beyond specs and ask better questions:
• What changed for the operator, the tech, or the trainer?
• What got simpler, and what got more complex?
• What is the risk if someone uses this wrong, repairs it wrong, or interprets it wrong?
• What is the one thing that will cause a support call at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday?
If you are in tech comm, your value is not just capturing information. Your value is translating reality into something usable, safe, and repeatable.
The themes we are watching
Ahead of the show, we have been talking with industry leaders about what they expect to see on the floor. A recurring message is that the most important innovations are not always the flashiest. Often they are the ones that reduce friction across systems, teams, and mixed fleets.
One of the strongest threads we keep hearing is interoperability, because most companies are running equipment and technology from multiple brands, and that reality is not going away. 
Alongside that is the ongoi xperience**, including how technology integrates into real jobsite workflows. 
Another theme that refuses t ce problem: the growing gap in technicians and skilled trades, and the downstream impact that shortage has on training, documentation quality, and customer readiness. 
And of course, the thing on camera is the human side: the conversations between peers. That is where the real value shows up, because it is where people stop selling and start sharing what actually works. 
Who is behind the show, ONEXPO-CON/AGG is owned and produced by AEM (Association of Equipment Manufacturers). 
That matters because AEM anufacturers, standards, safety expectations, and the realities of how equipment is supported in the field. When you are building training and documentation strategies for modern machines, you are operating inside an ecosystem that AEM influences in very real ways.
Our plan: the road to ConExpo, in plain language
Our goal is simple: cover the show in a way that is useful to the people who have to support what gets sold.
That means we are not just looking for “new.” We are looking for “new and explainable.”
Here is what we are doing in the lead-up and on site:
1) Pre-show scouting
We are building a hit list of stories that matter to tech comm, training, and support: the ones that will change manuals, change onboarding, change service workflows, or change safety messaging.
2) Media Day capture (Monday, March 2)
We will be onsite for Media Day, and this is where we plan to grab the cleanest first-look interviews and demonstrations before the week turns into controlled chaos. 
**3) On-floor interviews a ter Media Day, we will spend our time doing interviews and capturing patterns. The goal is to connect product decisions back to what they mean for documentation and training. 
*4) Post-show wrap that i 
Anyone can recap “cool equipment.” We want to publish what tech comm and support teams can actually use: what changed, what to watch for, and what questions to ask internally when you get back home.
What we want from you at ConExpo
If you are attending CONEXPO-CON/AGG, here is the best way to help us tell the right stories:
• Introduce us to the person who owns training, documentation, safety content, or product support.
• Tell us what is breaking down for customers right now.
• Tell us what you wish marketing understood about user readiness.
• Tell us what support calls are really about, once you get past the first sentence.
We are especially interested in practical stories like:
• Reducing service errors through clearer parts identification
• Training technicians faster without cutting corners
• Bridging operator guidance and safety messaging across platforms
• Making “connected equipment” usable for humans, not just dashboards
See you on the road to the show
ConExpo runs March 3 to March 7, 2026 in Las Vegas, and we will be rolling in for Media Day on Monday, March 2 as the real starting line for Tech Comm News coverage.  
If you see us, stop us. If you have a story, put it in front of us. And if you are  technical communication, training, or safety better, we want to help you show why it matters.
Notes: Tech Comm News is always looking to feature innovative products, equipment, and the people shaping technical communications, safety, and training.
