NCRA State Leadership Summit

Who should attend

For state association leaders at every stage.

Each affiliated state association may send up to three leaders and is encouraged to send at least two.

Friday, October 23

• 5:00–11:00 p.m.

  State Leaders Arrival

• 6:00–11:00 p.m.

  Dinner on Your Own

Saturday, October 24

• 7:30–8:00 a.m.

  Registration & Continental Breakfast

• 8:00–8:15 a.m.

  Welcome and Introductions

  Cathy Penniston, M.A., RPR, CRI — NCRA President
  Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC — NCRA Executive Director

• 8:15–9:15 a.m.

  Nuts and Bolts of Association Work

  Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC

  Drawing on his 30 years of experience as an association executive, NCRA's Washington Counsel will discuss the top skills or knowledge you wished you'd had before becoming association president. (0.1 CEU)

• 9:15–10:15 a.m.

  What is Your Plan for Your State Association

  Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC
  Carol Naughton, RDR — NCRA President-Elect

  An association without a strategic plan can quickly drift into reaction mode, wasting time and resources while losing focus on its mission. A clear plan gives leaders direction, helps them make better decisions, and keeps members aligned around shared goals. For a one-hour seminar, the message is simple: strategy is what keeps an association from floundering and helps it stay relevant, accountable, and effective.   (0.1 CEU)

• 10:15–10:30 a.m.

  Break

• 10:30–11:30 a.m.

  The Color of Money: Your State's Finances

  Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC
  Cindy Isaacsen, RPR — NCRA Immediate Past President

  Any association must have solid control of its finances to ensure its sustainability. Understanding budgets, expenses and forecasting is smart money management. This seminar will help get you through the basics and help you plan for a sound financial future. (0.1 CEU)

• 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

  Utilizing Your NCRA Rep at Your Convention

  Cathy Penniston — NCRA President
  Carol Naughton — NCRA President-Elect

  NCRA's commitment to the state associations has long been a standard in the industry but as a state leader are you making the most of that service. Cathy and Carol will discuss the various seminars states can request and how to make the most out of the NCRA Rep's visit. (0.1 CEU)

• 12:30–1:30 p.m.

  Lunch

• 1:30–2:30 p.m.

  Best Social Media Practices for a State Association

  Dave Wenhold
  Colin Brehm

  Social media can help your state association expand its reach, engage members, and showcase the impact of your advocacy and programs. In this seminar, we'll cover simple, high-impact practices—like choosing the right platforms, staying consistent, and using visuals—that work even for small volunteer-led teams. You'll learn how to turn posts into real engagement by inviting conversation, highlighting member stories, and promoting events and calls to action. You'll leave with a practical checklist and content ideas you can immediately plug into your association's social media calendar.  (0.1 CEU)

• 2:30–3:30 p.m.

  The Room is Too Hot, No it's Too Cold: Effective Meeting Planning for a Successful and Profitable Conference

  Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC
  Cindy Isaacsen, RPR

  Chances are that your annual conference is one of the biggest revenue generators for your association. This seminar will help you identify hurdles and opportunities for your state association to put on memorable conferences. We will look at site selection, contracts, programming with appeal, and marketing.  (0.1 CEU)

• 3:30–3:45 p.m.

  Break

• 3:45–4:45 p.m.

  Running an Effective Board Meeting

  Panel of NCRA Personnel

  One of the most important roles you will play as a state leader will be the main conductor of your Board meetings. To be effective, you will need the basic understanding of parliamentary procedures (Robert's Rules), use of items like a consent agenda, how to create strategic discussions, and time management. You might have the best board and strategic plan in the world but if you can't have an effective Board meeting you won't get out of the starting gate. (0.1 CEU)

• 4:45–5:45 p.m.

  State of the States Report

  Colin Brehm — NCRA Government Relations Dept.

  This seminar will look at what is going on, both positively and negatively, with state affiliates and the challenges faced by all of us. This seminar will allow you to forecast what might be coming your way and through the sharing of information and contacts. Knowledge plus action is power and this seminar will give you the information you need to make decisions that will affect the members in your state. (0.1 CEU)

• 5:45 p.m.

  Adjournment for the day

• 6:00 p.m.

  Dinner on your own

Sunday, October 25

• 8:30–9:00 a.m.

  Registration & Continental Breakfast

• 9:00–10:00 a.m.

  How to Make the Most Out of Your Leadership Role

  Cathy Penniston
  Carol Naughton
  Cindy Isaacsen

  These NCRA leaders have spent time in the trenches of both the national and state associations. They will share some of the challenges and lessons they learned with their decades of service in the industry. This interactive seminar will give the attendees the opportunity to share their experiences and allow for the entire group to develop strategies to deal with their unique situations back in your home state. (0.1 CEU)

• 10:00–10:15 a.m.

  Break

• 10:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

  Membership: The Lifeblood of Every Association

  Dave Wenhold
  Cindy Isaacsen

  The final session of the Leadership Conference will be interactive and have you, the state leader, work with your assigned group to create new membership strategies and tactics that you can take back to your states for implementation. (0.2 CEU)

• 12:15 p.m.

  Wrap Up and Adjournment

Frequently asked questions