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Keynotes Don’t Work
Keynote Speaker: Andrew Geesbright

60 minutes of neuroscience-based leadership experience designed to strengthen self-leadership as the foundation for leading others. Through interactive discussion and practical application, participants gain insight into how attention, mindset, and behavior drive performance.

Leadership is a Series of Negotiations the Secret to Negotiating Anything Even When You Don't Know Everything
Speaker: Linda Swindling

More than ever, leaders must know how to effectively negotiate in order to be successful. When you think about it, much of a HR professional’s day is spent negotiating, hammering out the terms of a deal, controlling costs, and working with others in leadership, while ensuring that proper procedures and the law are followed. For some, negotiation can look like asking for additional headcount, mediating workplace drama, and negotiating change in the organization. For you, negotiation may mean influencing key decision makers and being recognized for the value you provide. Leadership is a constant negotiation, even when unanticipated issues occur and when facing the unknown.

In this presentation, Linda shows you how to become a better negotiator and leader through research-backed tactics and proven strategies that work in real life. From her experience in the courtroom and the boardroom, Linda inspires others to look at negotiations as a conversation rather than a confrontation. She equips high-performing leaders with the tools to embrace calculated risk-taking, to find confidence despite ambiguity, and to inspire others to commit even when changes are not fully defined.

Better People Decisions: The Leadership Decisions That Drive Employee Engagement
Speaker: Heath Hilliard

Employee engagement is one of the most important drivers of organizational performance, yet many organizations still struggle to improve it. Too often, engagement efforts focus on surveys, perks, and programs while overlooking the leadership decisions that shape the employee experience every day.

This session demonstrates how employee engagement is built through better people decisions, beginning with hiring and onboarding and continuing through manager effectiveness and ongoing leadership. Participants will explore how intentional onboarding establishes the foundation for engagement, why managers have the greatest influence on the employee experience, and which leadership practices consistently strengthen trust, commitment, and performance.

AI in HR: From Hype to Practical Impact
Panelist:
Mike Coffey - Panel Facilitator
Gary Tonniges - AI And Security
Thomas Hall - The tech side of AI

AI is rapidly transforming the workplace, and HR professionals must understand not only what the technology can do, but how to evaluate its value, manage its risks, and apply it responsibly. This interactive panel brings together HR, security, and technology perspectives to provide a practical, well-rounded look at AI and its growing impact on the workplace.

Panelists will explore how AI is changing HR today across recruiting, HR operations, employee self-service, and other areas, while examining where human judgment, critical thinking, and decision-making must remain at the center. Participants will gain insight into the evolution from traditional analytics to AI agents and consider how emerging technology can support business objectives, improve efficiency, and enhance the employee experience.

The panel will also address the security and ethical risks associated with AI, including protecting confidential employee and company information, understanding potential risks, and establishing appropriate boundaries for responsible use. A technical perspective will provide insight into what it takes to build and implement AI solutions within an organization, helping HR professionals better understand the technology, resources, and considerations involved in bringing AI into the workplace.

The Vendor Advantage: Elevating Outcomes Through Partnerships
Speaker: Justin Dorsey

HR teams rely on a growing ecosystem of vendors to deliver critical services but without the right strategy, those partnerships can create inconsistency, hidden costs, and operational risk. This session will provide a practical, modern framework for selecting, managing, and optimizing vendor relationships across the employee lifecycle. We will dive into how HR can shift from transactional oversight to strategic partnership management that drives measurable outcomes. Through realworld examples and actionable tools, HR professionals will leave with a clear roadmap for transforming vendor relationships into reliable, highvalue extensions of their HR function.

Discipline is the Fruit, Routine is the Seed
Speaker: CJ Cleveland

This session equips participants with a practical, real-world framework for building strategic consistency that drives business performance and organizational success. Rather than focusing on theory, this session delivers actionable strategies to align people, priorities, and processes with business objectives, enabling HR professionals to make data-informed decisions, improve organizational performance, increase their strategic influence, and accelerate sustainable growth. Attendees will leave with tools they can implement immediately to create measurable business impact and strengthen their role as trusted strategic partners.