North America’s most influential architects in one place, ready to talk
November 20-23, 2025. 172 of North America’s most influential commercial architects downed tools and headed out to the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert, Arizona. 179 ambitious and nervously excited architectural sales specialists headed out to meet them.
In its 21 years of delivering benchmark event experiences for the architecture and design community, Arc US 2025 was BOND’s biggest ever event. Over three days and nights, attending manufacturers got unprecedented access to a record number of Principal-level architects from America’s top A&D firms.
In this event review, I’d like to give you a true picture of who was there, what happened and what the people said so you can make your own mind up about the potential of what’s on offer here. Let's start with the first two supplier testimonials that came in:
"BOND Events are the highest quality meetings in our industry with a proven and consistent ROI."
Herman Lopez, Siplast Building Enclosure, Business Development Manager.
"It is a good investment. The $ value of orders due to attending will greatly exceed the cost of attending."
Bruce Burgess, Mull-It-Over Products, President
Promising ROI? Check. More ROI proof here.
America’s busiest architects find trusted solutions experts here
Having read through the onsite survey that all attending architects and suppliers were asked to complete, I was struck by a number of things:
1. The architect attendee list was simply mind-blowing
172 Principals, Spec. Directors, Practice Leaders, Studio Directors from the big A&D firms. 172!
Arc US is the one time of the year when America’s busiest architects get away from the office to catch up with each other and to find reliable solutions experts who can help them with their project challenges and aspirations.
What sets BOND apart is the quality of architects you get to spend time with
One of the things that sets a BOND event apart from other architecture and design events is the guaranteed quality of architects that you get to spend time with. This is a fundamental gauge of the event’s long-term ROI potential.
Here are a few names from the confirmed attendee list:
- Matthew Houchin
Principal
Jacobs - Aimee Middleton
Principal
HKS - Tim Simons
Southwest Region Specifications Leader
Gensler - Sharon Clark
Specification Manager
Baskervill - Ryan Hollien
Senior Associate | Senior Designer
Perkins & Will - Gail Ann J Goldstead
Partner
HOK
Think about the time, effort, and expense you'd need to invest to even attempt to get yourself in front of just a dozen or so architects of this calibre and you’ll start to appreciate the quality of BOND’s proposition: a guaranteed minimum number of 1-on-1 meetings with the architects of your choice plus three whole days and nights to continue conversations and get into a whole lot more.
This is what I want this review to convey: BOND delivers the right people and creates the best environment on earth for you to get to know each other personally. In a business built on relationships, the potential long-term returns are clear.
But you need to do your homework first, which brings us to number 2:
2. Do your prep – it’s worth it
A month before the event, all confirmed attendees got a two-week window to make their meetings requests. This is where BOND gives you access to detailed profiles on all attending architects, including some current project details (many projects will, naturally, be withheld/confidential until they get to know you better).
This is where manufacturers who take the time to read up on who’s coming can make the most informed choices on who they want to meet. Furthermore, it gives you insight for a conversation starter and these time-pressured project leaders will appreciate you doing your homework and tailoring your approach accordingly.
Manufacturers determined to make the most of their time in this company will also have read this: 3 Precious Days – Make them Count
Time for point 3:
3. Relationships thrive here
The time you get to spend here with the architects who are usually too busy to take your call simply doesn’t happen anywhere else. And it starts before the event officially begins with the pre-event tour.
Pre-event tour
You just need to book your spot on the tour (included) and arrive at the hotel early enough to jump on the bus. There will already be a hum of conversation in the lobby as regulars and familiars re-acquaint (expect lots of hugs and smiles) and new faces tentatively introduce themselves or linger on the sidelines like the new kids at school.
Just take a seat next to someone on the bus and say hello. And don’t be at all intimidated if the first person you talk to just happens to be one of the most influential architects in North America – that happens a lot here.
Where better for America's hardest working architectural community to head than to the fabled laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert camp, Taliesin West. This where the legendary and prolific architect and his apprentices lived, pushing boundaries and encapsulating the enduring principles of Organic Architecture.
The tour is a great way to ‘arrive’ at the event and this one also set a contemplative tone around people, community and their stories which would become a theme throughout the event.
Back at the hotel, there’s time to freshen up, have a wander or see who’s at the bar before everyone heads to the Welcome Reception to grab a cold one (or two) as they ease themselves into the event.
Name badges help to signify who’s who and whose side they’re on, but it doesn’t take long for first-timers to realise they’re in the company of friendly, helpful human beings and conversation and introductions are soon in full flow.
Welcome to Arc US!
3050 1-on-1 meetings
The following two days saw a total of 3050 1-on-1 meetings (Yes! 3-0-5-0!) and 4 genuinely inspiring and insightful, AIA-accredited seminars, including one from an architect in Antartica, one on how to collaborate with AI (if you can't beat 'em), one on designing in readiness for climate risk and one, subtitled ‘your biggest project’ on how to design the type of creative leadership you love.
And, as if all that wasn’t enough, outside of the meetings and seminars, over coffee, at lunch, dinner, at the bar and well into the night, the people who make America’s headline commercial projects happen, got to know each other on a level that can only happen when everything is organised and in place so people can relax and find their flow. And, when that happens, serendipity and timing conspire to see the possibilities jump up a few levels.
And this brings us to point 4:
4. The whole vibe thing invites meaninful, memorable conversations
On night 2, for example, an evening honoring the Indigenous cultures of the Southwest, including storytelling by a Native American historian, created a special atmosphere in which the BONDing found its own way. Nights like this tend to elevate things far away from any shoehorning of sales pitches into conversation, allowing instead for some real ‘get to know you’ time as folks shared their own stories and anecdotes, which would be remembered long after the event.
What a difference a day makes
Going into your second business day feels very different to yesterday. It starts at breakfast where you notice many more familiar faces are around now and it only takes a couple of nods and smiles to remind you that you’re amongst friends. And you’ll likely find yourself in company as you grab another coffee and make your way to the seminar room to ease your brain into the day.
It’s another packed day of meetings, but you’ve already met half of them and your first one is with the person you were most nervous about about meeting, yet the ice was well and truly broken last night... Now you just need to carry on where you left off and firm up plans to reconnect after the event.
And yesterday has reminded you that people love to share their stories – so you’re looking forward to a day of inviting folks to do just that, and see where your opening comes.
If you want to know more about the lives, aspirations and challenges of the architects you’ll meet here and where you might fit into it all, you simply need to ask them.
Before you know it, the lady with the nice voice gives the signal to end your final meeting and it’s more warm handshakes, smiles and real eye contact as another door at a big A&D firm swings open.
It’s been a full-on couple of days but you’re satisfied to your bones, having had more meaningful and enjoyable conversations with your peers and top-level prospects than you managed to notch up all last year. Your sales pipeline does not know what hit it!
Bourbon tasting, poker tables and vintage photo booth antics are lined up for later. And, you may have already spotted the piano in the room which BOND’s founder, Oliver Needs (see BOND: Origins), who has resisted until now, has already started to play. Is that Elton John?You grab a well-earned cold beer from the tray and head over to join the gathering crowd and sense that a sing-along is not too far away for this crowd who love to play as hard as they work.
BOND sets the stage, you make the stories.
That’s the final point I’d like you to take from what lies in store for you at Arc US, or, indeed, at any one of BOND’s architecture and design events: BOND’s part of the deal is to deliver decision makers with bulging project portfolios and real influence over who gets specified and who doesn’t.
5. BOND sets the stage and fills the place with your dream audience in receptive mood. Then it's over to you...
What you achieve here is down to your preparation and the impression you make on people while you’re here. And those who do best and come back year after year turn up with faith in their products and with a genuine curiosity in who they’ll meet here. My advice is to get yourself here, get talking to as many folks as possible, be yourself and let natural rapport take care of the rest. Oh, and be diligent with your follow up!
Winning big projects is a long-game but Arc US can help you win friends in all the right places so you're front-of-mind when it matters most.
Here's what folks had to say about last year's event:
Arc US 2026 is happening November 19-22, 2026 at a luxury venue tbc. Over 170 of North America’s most notoriously difficult to meet commercial architects will be there. If you want to win hearts and minds amongst these major project influencers, get in touch today.
The following feedback is taken from the onsite survey and from comments made by attendees on LinkedIn around the event.
What stood out as the single biggest highlight of the event?
It was a privilege to attend the BOND Arc US 2025 Event, and I can honestly say it was one of the best corporate events I’ve ever been a part of! From the moment I walked in, it was clear that every detail had been carefully thought out to create a dynamic and engaging experience for all attendees...The quality of the meetings were outstanding! The ability to meet with top decision-makers from the top architecture firms for 30 minutes; no other venue on the market can deliver this value. Well done, BOND!
Lee Fuhrman, Hanover Architectural Products, National Sales Director
How well has your BOND experience aligned with that of a premium brand? 4.8/5
There is "class" permeating through the BOND event - all of it - the communication, the set-up / itinerary, the events, their pace, the networking / interactions with BOND staff and manufacturers, the travel and hotel arrangements. EVERYTHING is just classy. Well done!
Rayo P. Daroowalla, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CDT, LEED AP Senior Architect / Associate Principal LS3P Associates, Ltd.
