Be Part of the 2025 NLAE Conference in Ottawa!
The 2025 NLAE Conference is taking place May 5-7, 2025, in beautiful Ottawa City, Ontario Canada. This year’s event promises an incredible opportunity for learning, networking and idea sharing in the heart of Canada’s vibrant capital city.
Conference Highlights:
- Connect with peers and broaden your professional network
- Gain new insights and skills from expert speakers
- Discuss emerging trends and key challenges facing industry associations
- Exchange ideas and learn from industry colleagues and leaders
Workshop: Elevating New Member Engagement
Conference Schedule:
Day 1 - Monday, May 5
5:00 – 6:30 PM – Networking Reception
Dinner out on own
Day 2 - Tuesday, May 6
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM – Welcome
9:05 AM – 9:20 AM – Get to Know Your Peers - The Human Spectogram
Membership turnover is inevitable, and attracting new members is critical for associations to thrive. Our panelists will share success stories, challenges and explore solutions to help nurture and grow membership recruitment.
9:20 AM – 10:20 AM – Membership Campaign Show & Tell – Panel presentation and discussion
10:20 AM – 10:30 AM – BREAK
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM – How to Toot Your Horn: Telling Your Association’s Story
Sheri Singer, President, Singer Communications
According to psychologist Jerome Bruner, people are 22 times more likely to remember facts if they are part of a story. But maybe your association doesn’t have millions of dollars to spend on a storytelling campaign. And yet, you recognize the tremendous benefits of telling your association’s story. One of the best kept secrets is that it’s possible for any association--no matter what size or budget--to successfully tell its story without spending millions. Join Sheri Singer, president of Singer Communications, and an ASAE Gold Circle award-winner, as she discusses determining your target audience, drafting a storytelling plan, identifying what you must have (and what’s nice to have), and stretching your budget using no or low-cost tactics and tools. You’ll also learn how to engage volunteers to help you with the campaign, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to measure and report your successes to stakeholders. Participants will emerge from the session with practical tools and tips they can use to help tell their story to their stakeholders. A handout with will be provided to participants.
Learning Objectives
· Build a storytelling campaign from conception to reality
· Identify your audience and messaging that will resonate with your target audience
· Leverage volunteers to help implement the activities in the plan
· Measure and report successes to all stakeholders
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM - From Vision to Velocity: Driving Innovation to Accelerate Growth
Eric O’Connor, Chief Innovation Officer, American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
In today’s fast-paced world, disruption isn’t just a challenge, it’s an opportunity. In this session, we’ll explore how to build an innovation pipeline that fuels growth by embracing change and leveraging tools like data, technology, and bold thinking. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to spot new opportunities, improve member retention, and enhance customer experiences. Plus, we’ll dive into how to align your board with your vision and lead your organization confidently through constant transformation.
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM – TABLE TALK – Interactive Small Group Conversations
Each table will be assigned a topic. Choose one that aligns with your interests. A conversation facilitator will help guide the conversation as you share challenges, best practices and insights with your peers. At a designated time, you will be asked to switch tables to join a new group and talk about another subject. Facilitators will share highlights from their table at the end of this session. Whether you're seeking fresh ideas, troubleshooting industry challenges, or networking with like-minded professionals, Table Talk is a great way to gain actionable takeaways and build valuable connections.
2:30 PM – 2:45 PM – BREAK
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM – Strategic Planning in Action: Lessons from Landscape Ontario
Matthew Klar, Co-Founder, the greater
So, you need a Strategic Plan? What to learn from a leading Canadian Landscaping organization who overhauled their plan: the consulting firm that worked with Landscape Ontario will be sharing a case study and key learnings from their experience working with LO, its board and its members to chart its future roadmap. Any Landscape association that operates in a complex ecosystem of stakeholders will get actionable tips for their next strategic plan.
3:45 PM – 3:55 PM – BREAK
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM – Membership Meeting
5:30 PM – Depart for evening dinner & activity
Day 3 - Wednesday, May 7
8:15 AM – 9:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM – AI for Associations – Current Status and Where is it Going?
Dray McFarlane, Chief Technology Officer, Bettybot.ai
Explore the transformative potential of Generative AI for associations. This talk will include a brief background and relevant history on the technology. Learn about practical applications, including prompt engineering for enhanced member engagement, data analysis for optimized decision-making, and efficiency improvements across operations. You will see how these innovations can streamline workflows and reduce resource consumption and gain insights into emerging trends that will shape the future of AI in the association industry.
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM – Get to Know Your Neighbor
10:15 – 10:30AM – BREAK
10:30 – 11:30 AM – Legislative Case Study – Key Lessons from the City of Calgary Infrastructure Failure and Outdoor Ban on Water Usage During the Summer of 2024
Joel Beatson, Executive Director, Landscape Alberta
11:30 – 12:00PM – 30 Ideas in 30 minutes
Sandra Giarde, CAE, Executive Director, California Landscape Contractors Association and Chuck Bowen, VP Communications & Member Relations, Outdoor Power Equipment Institute
This will be a fun and fast-paced wrap up of YOUR ideas sparked during this conference. Instructions on how this will work will be shared on Tuesday morning.
Noon – Meeting concludes
Conference Program & Featured Guest Speakers
Matt Klar
Co-founder
the greater
Matt Klar, is a co-founder and partner in the greater - a strategy consulting firm and social enterprise based in Toronto. The firm works with socially conscious organizations to create winning strategies and reinvests 50% of net-profit back into the community. Matt brings 10+ years’ experience leading strategy teams and consulting with Boards, Management Teams and Marketing Leaders at across corporate and brand strategy. Prior to the greater, he was VP, Strategy at MKTG Canada where he oversaw the delivery of strategic planning and creative services to leading brands across Canada. Matt has been recognized by the 5 to Watch Awards which honors Business leaders under 40, teaches part-time in George Brown College's marketing post-grad program.
Dray McFarlane
Chief Technology Officer
Bettybot.ai
After nearly two decades providing associations with business and technology services, Dray has narrowed his focus to the latest in Artificial Intelligence. In his work at Betty, he constantly explores the ever-evolving technology to develop new products and solutions for associations and non-profits, then leveraging that experience to provide foundational AI education through speaking to these organizations and their audiences around the world.
Eric O’Connor
Chief Innovation Officer
American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
Eric O’Connor brings over 20 years of experience in strategic leadership, specializing in accelerating revenue growth through innovation and digital transformation. With a proven track record of starting and scaling businesses, Eric excels at crafting and executing strategies that drive transformative results while cultivating high-performance teams that prioritize creativity and data-driven decision-making. Combining visionary thinking with a rigorous focus on operational efficiency, Eric is adept at identifying new market opportunities, optimizing product and service offerings, and guiding organizations through change to achieve sustainable growth. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration in marketing from Drake University and a Master of Business Administration from the Quantic School of Business & Technology.
Sheri Singer
Founder
Singer Communications
For more than 15 years, Sheri has helped more than 100 associations solve their communications, public relations, and marketing challenges. Sheri is a leader in the association community chairing committees and counsels, founding and managing 14 volunteers to put on a monthly webinar series, and serving as a judge for awards and conference submissions.
Before starting her firm, Sheri was a senior executive for top public relations agencies (Ketchum PR) managing accounts for Fortune 500 firms (Cisco Systems), associations (National Medical Association) and NGOs (United Nations Development Programme). In this capacity, she managed a team and budget for various clients.
As the senior communications officer on staff with associations for 12 years, Sheri was responsible for managing all internal and external communications. She served as the managing editor of 16 publications and as the organizational spokesperson, created and implemented media training programs, chapter toolkits, established a national Ambassador program, and produced content including op-eds, Congressional testimony, releases, TV/radio pieces, videos, speeches, white papers, and news releases and advisories.
As chair (2024) and vice chair (2024) of the ASAE Research Foundation’s Development Committee, Sheri led 12 volunteers to ASAE’s two most successful Giving Tuesday campaigns--increasing donors from 80 to 250, and revenue from $17K to $35K. Sheri is the founder of Association Xchange, a monthly, national lunch and learn webinar program where she manages 14 volunteers to conduct a virtual, monthly, national, webinar association professionals. Sheri also was chair of ASAE’s Healthcare Advisory Committee, a member of ASAE’s Key Awards Committee, and on ASAE’s Communications Section Counsel.
In addition to her ASAE experience, Sheri is a founding member of the Independent Public Relations Alliance, a division of the Public Relations Society of America’s National Capital Chapter. She served on the IPRA board from 2004-2014 and was chair in 2009. She also revitalized PRSA-NCC’s Nonprofit/Association Committee. She travels around the country speaking on communications topics and writes blogs and articles. She has appeared on podcasts as a communications expert.
She is the recipient of an ASAE Gold Circle Award and has been honored with awards from the Art Directors Guild, and the Public Relations Society of America.
Registration Fees:
Conference registration is open to all current NLAE members. To renew your membership or join NLAE, do so here.
Conference Registration: $475 US per NLAE member
Registration fee includes conference participation and all group meals (reception, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner), and conference materials.
Guest Registration: $200 US per person
The guest registration is for a spouse, friend, significant other or family member to join the group for the reception on May 5, and the group dinner on May 6.
Each conference participant must register individually.
Have questions? Call: 614-487-1117.
Meeting Location & Hotel Accommodations
The 2025 NLAE conference is being held at:
Delta Hotels by Marriott Ottawa City Centre,
101 Lyon St. N, Ottawa, ON K1R 5T9, Canada
For your convenience, we’ve reserved a block of rooms at a special rate of $299 CAD (approximately $213 US) per night, plus fees.
Make your reservations no later than Tuesday April 15. Reservations made after this date, or when the block has filled, will be subject to prevailing rate and availability.
How To Get There
For those flying to Ottawa, the Ottawa International Airport is located 8.4 miles from the conference hotel.
Traveling from the United States? Don’t forget – make sure your passport is current!
Click here if you need to renew or obtain a U.S. Passport.
Planning to stay after the conference? Check out Ottawa Tourism to plan your visit.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
We appreciate the support of our sponsors who help make this conference possible.