Late last month, the International Mass Timber Conference returned to the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The eighth iteration of the annual event attracted 3,000 professionals from 39 countries, representing such industries as forestry, wood products manufacturing, real estate development, and design and construction. Preceded by a day of workshops, hard-hat tours, fabrication-shop visits, and a forestry excursion to Santiam Canyon southeast of Portland, the conference, held on March 27 and 28, delved into recent mass-timber advancements as well as the challenges facing this still-fledgling, but steadily growing, material and construction methodology. In the United States and Canada, 279 mass-timber projects were constructed in 2023, compared to 215 in 2022, and 183 in 2021, according to the International Mass Timber Report 2024, published by the conference organizers and released shortly before the event. The increase in activity mirrors growth in the conference itself, which drew just 500 attendees in 2016, the first year it was held.