Committee: Conference

Contact: Andrew Heger, Chair – [email protected]

2023 Mission: The mission of the Conference Committee is to provide leadership and direction to the Executive Director, who is responsible for managing the annual conference in October of each year. This committee exists to make sure the needs of the membership, as it pertains to the conference, are met. This committee interfaces with the Education Committee, the Marketing Committee and vendor representatives to ensure that a quality conference is offered at an affordable cost. Every effort is made to ensure exceptional educational offerings for all attendees.

2023 Report:
Welcome back to Duluth in 2023. This year’s conference format will be very similar to past years. The conference committee continues to take your feedback from the previous year’s conference and make adjustments to improve the overall attendee experience. The 2022 conference was successful, with 519 attendees and 114 vendors. We hope the conference offerings will continue to build on those attendance numbers to further the success of this event.

For those early arrivers to Duluth, the welcome reception event will be held in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center lobby. Take this opportunity to network with fellow attendees and pick up your registration materials before the Thursday morning conference kickoff. The kickoff will have an opening ceremony and symposium speaker. The entire afternoon and evening are set aside to spend time with our vendors. Our vendors are tremendous partners in making the conference such a successful event. Please take the opportunity to spend some time with them and learn more about their specific offerings. Thursday evening will conclude with the president’s reception and another opportunity to socialize with peers and vendors.

Friday’s offerings will focus on education and recognition. Friday morning and afternoon will be filled with ample educational opportunities. I am confident that a topic exists for everyone to enhance their skills. Following the educational tracts, our attention will shift to honoring the association's current and former members who have passed away over the past year at the memorial service. Friday evening concludes with the awards banquet, which will allow us to recognize some of the remarkable work of our association’s members. The annual business meeting will be held over the lunch hour on Friday. This year’s meeting carries significant importance as our election results will be certified. There will also be a bylaw change related to the makeup of the board of directors. It will be presented before the membership for consideration.

Concluding the conference on Saturday morning is another educational symposium session. This session will mark the end of our 2023 conference and the beginning of the 2024 conference planning process. Attendees will receive an electronic survey regarding their conference experience in the weeks following the conference. Please take a few moments to provide the conference committee with feedback on your overall experience so we can make improvements where necessary. Feedback is invaluable in helping us improve our future conference offerings. I will also pose a challenge to each conference attendee before the 2024 conference. Share positive conference experiences with other fire service partners who have not attended the conference. Sharing these positive experiences throughout our profession will help this event grow and be successful.

Thank you to all the attendees and sponsors who helped make this event successful. Without your participation, this conference would not be the success that it is. Again, on behalf of the conference committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Duluth in 2023. Please enjoy your visit.

2023 Conference Committee Members: