We opened the 2026 conference registration a month earlier than we did for this year's conference. This provides plenty of time at each price point to register when it best fits into their personal or work planning cycle. This is also the second year at the venue and a three year partnership allows predictability for logistics and pricing while building on the lessons learned from this year's event. Going forward, we will continue making decisions with cost, travel, logistics, and growth in mind for you and the ACA. We moved the date so that travel wasn't required on a weekend and to increase meal options for dinners during conference. As a reminder about why we chose this venue, I kept part of the paragraph from last year so you get a hint about the venue and why it was chosen; throughout this year's conference there was no smell of smoke, even in the casino.
Prairie Meadows is recently renovated; the conference center, hotel, and casino are all separated into different buildings; there are multiple restaurants and bars throughout and around the complex; and the air filtration system is excellent. In our opinion after working out our requirements and visiting the conference center, this is an excellent choice for the 2025 conference. NOTE: Please make your reservations ASAP, you can always cancel later. There are other big NCAA events in the area at the same time and rooms may become harder to find the longer you wait. Rooms are not covered under the registration fee and you are responsible for canceling your own reservation.
We are happy to announce that the ACA continues to grow in partnership, sponsorship, membership, Farm/Ranch Certified Specialist, and Website registration. We had two of our Advisory Team members retire and we thank them for their years of support. We are excited that Vallery Eisenmann, Sr. Field Training Consultant with American National, and Monica Clobes, Farm Bureau Financial Service, both agreed to fill the two vacancies and are excellent additions to the ACA team. Thank you both and we look forward to working together to grow and make the ACA better.
Our topic list is below and is a collaborative effort between leadership, the advisory team, sponsors, companies, and members. There are a few open spots so if you have an idea, need, or a topic you or your organization would like to present - feel free to reach out to us. As the topic list develops into an agenda, changes will be updated below.
We are both a Texas and Florida CE provider. We recently expanded our list to include Indiana and our application for Kentucky is pending. We may expand our list of states we provide CE for but it will depend on the state, cost, and number of attendees from that Designated Home State (DHS). My husband Doug will reach out once you register to determine your CE needs so we can consider expanding as required. Please understand, some states are far easier and cheaper to work with. For example, the first time we offer CE for Michigan, it will cost $500 so we would need a few extra needing the CE to justify the expenditure.
We thank our all our sponsors for their continued support for the ACA. The sponsors help so much with our events and other initiatives while providing valuable expertise, speakers, and support to the industry. We would not be where we are without our sponsors. We welcome Cornerstone Claims to the list and look forward working with you on your initiative in Texas.
We know you have a choice of several events hosted annually by different organizations around the industry, the ACA strives to provide world class education, training, and support that differentiates us from the others. We look forward to the conference, your support, and growing together; we hope to see you in Iowa.
Julie Overdeer
ACA Executive Director