NRECA's 2025 Connect Conference will take place May 13-15 in Kansas City, Missouri, attracting electric cooperative communicators, marketers and member services pros from around the country to share ideas and sharpen their skills.

The gathering features five pre-conference workshops, networking opportunities and over 25 breakout sessions. In addition, speakers will explore effective communications approaches, creative workplace solutions and other trending topics.

“This year's program covers technical needs while also providing more communications and member engagement strategy and everything in between," said Kristen Wheeler, NRECA manager of event education and programming.

The Connect Conference is a chance for collaboration among NRECA, Touchstone Energy® Cooperative and hundreds of co-op communicators, Touchstone Energy Executive Director Jana Adams said.

“The willingness to share ideas, lessons learned and best practices across the network is one of the many reasons the cooperative business model is so successful and leads the energy industry in member satisfaction," Adams said. “We can't wait to get to Kansas City and see so many friends and colleagues from across the country."

Programming Highlights

Pre-conference workshops kick off on Tuesday, May 13. Attendees can join Touchstone Energy's SHiNE team to strengthen their website management skills or the research team to learn more about the new Cooperative Advantage Report that will launch later in 2025. Other workshops will focus on broadband marketing and communications, creating print materials with Adobe InDesign and providing authentic feedback in the workplace.

Two days of breakout sessions begin May 14. Top technical sessions include “Getting More Out of Your Web Analytics" and “Using Co-Pilot With Word."

Several sessions will explore how to communicate with members on technology and business topics pertinent to co-ops, including battery energy storage systems and electricity rate structures.

Attendees can also learn about communications during crises and power outages, how to use Google Analytics 4 to measure web engagement, designing data-rich presentations and telling your co-op's story with Canva animation.

“We will also continue to offer spark sessions—those roundtable discussions giving you a chance to ask your co-op colleagues' advice on certain topics or offer your expertise," Wheeler said.

Speakers

Leadership trainer Marli Williams will discuss the productive power of play at the opening general session on May 13. Author Jeff Butler will talk May 14 about “being human in the age of change," which will examine member engagement as technology innovation progresses.

Two general session speeches are scheduled for the final day of the conference on May 15. Communications consultant Michael Maslansky will deliver a keynote on building more effective communications approaches in the energy space. And Andrew Davis, author of “Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships" and other books on marketing and a former producer for NBC's “Today Show," will look at how resource constraints in the workplace can drive better outcomes in less time.

Those interested in attending Connect can register on cooperative.com. Book your hotel rooms by April 18 to receive special rates through NRECA.