Rachel Slade, IDEA’s Director of Business Development, attended the recent NAED Women in Industry conference and shares her thoughts. The essence of her feedback mirrors those that Desiree Grace shared last week and their feedback, coupled with some calls I received, got me thinking about a few things (at the end).

Power You, Power the Future: A Recap of NAED’s 2026 Women in Industry Conference

Houston hosted nearly 1,100 electrical industry professionals for NAED’s 2026 Women in Industry Conference, held June 15 to 17 under the theme “Power You, Power the Future.” Three days blended leadership development, industry insight, and a fair amount of celebration. Here’s a look back at how the week unfolded.

Monday Night: Setting the Tone

The conference opened Monday evening with a welcome dinner and opening session, capped off by a set from The Second City, the legendary Chicago-based improv and sketch comedy troupe known for launching the careers of stars like Tina Fey and Steve Carell. An all-women cast brought the troupe’s signature sketch comedy to the stage, setting a lighthearted, high-energy tone for the days ahead.

Tuesday: Leadership Sets the Pace

The first of two full conference days opened with a keynote from Cassandra Worthy, who challenged attendees to treat change as an opportunity rather than a threat, built around what she calls Change Enthusiasm. From there, breakout sessions carried the day, covering the line between leadership and management, the discipline behind strategic planning, and the role communication plays in building trust with customers and teammates. Sessions on the trends shaping the industry’s next decade, including artificial intelligence, electrification, data centers, and workforce development, rounded things out. When the sessions wrapped, attendees chose their own evening: a Houston Astros game or a charity trivia night.

Wednesday: Honoring Trailblazers, Tackling Fear

The second full day opened with a welcome session and the Trailblazer Award celebration, honoring Terri Dumas of RAB Lighting for her contributions to the industry. Breakout sessions filled the rest of the day before the conference closed with a keynote from Michelle Poler, the entrepreneur behind Hello Fear. Her message: stop chasing fearless and start practicing brave, since fear isn’t something to eliminate, it’s something to act through.

Poler pointed out that we all carry the same three kinds of fear – universal, cultural, and personal – and challenged the room to stop comparing those fears to everyone else’s and start contrasting instead. One exercise had the room finish the sentence “I’m remarkable because” with answers like strong, loyal, resilient, and dependable. Poler closed with a reframe worth carrying forward: instead of asking what’s the worst that can happen, ask what’s the best that can happen.

Closing in Glam and Glow

The conference wrapped Wednesday night with the Women in Industry closing dinner at 713 Music Hall in downtown Houston. Under a glam and glow theme, attendees closed out the conference with dinner, music, and dancing, a fitting send-off for three days built around lifting each other up.

Giving Back

Fundraising ran as a steady thread through all three days, with attendees finding plenty of ways to support women across the industry. Options included shopping Kendra Scott jewelry, with a portion of each purchase going to a local charity, donating gently used purses, and joining Tuesday night’s charity trivia event, alongside several other activities throughout the week. Together, those efforts raised roughly $50,000.

Bringing It Home

The ideas worth carrying forward from Houston are simple to state and harder to practice:

• communicate the why before the how
• balance strategic thinking with disciplined follow-through
• lead with both warmth and competence, and
• treat fear as something to act through rather than around.

NAED’s Women in Industry Conference is, at its core, a reminder that this industry moves forward when women keep showing up for each other, whether that means taking a smart risk, sharing a hard-won lesson, or simply being generous with time and resources. I left Houston with a long list of ideas to put to work immediately, and an even deeper appreciation for an association that keeps investing in the women who make up this industry.”

Looking from a Distance

In thinking about the feedback from Rachel and Desiree, a couple of thoughts about “programming”.

1. I heard from a few people who asked, “why can this NAED conference have such a good agenda and speakers whereas the NAED regionals and national have deteriorated into essentially purchasing meetings?”
   • The regionals and nationals have changed over the years, to the point that the educational / informative content is an after-thought to attendees, and seemingly to NAED. The only thing I can think of is how the agenda, and speakers, are chosen. The Women in Industry conference appears to have a very engaged conference committee based upon LinkedIn postings. Years ago, NAED had regional councils to support regional meetings. Yes, they were too big, but they contributed content / speaker ideas. Perhaps the difference is “membership engagement in the process” or what manufacturers and distributors would consider (for their businesses) – “listening to their customers.”
2. I found Rachel’s comment of the conference delivering “leadership development, industry insight, and a fair amount of celebration.” Those who attend the regionals, and perhaps the nationals, should be jealous that they don’t get the opportunity for some of this … and that a “tradition of content excellence” hasn’t been established.
3. And they had some meals included? How can that be given the cost of the regionals (and getting only receptions)? Perhaps there are other ways of creating fellowship and driving relationships that involve all?

If your company sent someone, hopefully they had an experience similar to Desiree’s and Rachel’s. If you didn’t send someone, hopefully you’ll be inspired to send someone as, evidently, it is a positive experience that benefits the person, your company, and the industry.

Now, what’s the formula to get to a “tradition of conference excellence?” (and yes, it takes time, so attendees need to be patient.)

If you attend the NAED Regionals or Nationals, do you want the conference model to remain the same or would you like to see change?