These comments give voice to a recurring theme of the Lighting Leadership XChange, an event to foster the exchange of information and ideas on outdoor lighting held September 24-25, 2013 at the University of Colorado. Sponsored by site furniture and lighting manufacturer Landscape Forms, the two-day event brought together leading lighting design professionals from the central-western US and students from the undergraduate lighting program at the University of Colorado Boulder campus to discuss challenges and best practices in lighting design for outdoor environments. The Lighting Leadership XChange was intended to provide lighting students with an experience that included presentations of cutting edge professional work and a moderated roundtable discussion with Q&A on key issues in outdoor lighting design.