I had the honor of speaking at NSPECon 2023 which was held August 2^nd through August 5^th. For folks unfamiliar, NSPECon is the annual event hosted by the National Society of Professional Engineers and is the premier event for professional engineers and aspiring professional engineers. This was also the first time I was attending an NSPE annual conference. There are over 35,000 NSPE members across the globe, and this conference is an awesome opportunity for education, professional development, and networking! In this month’s blog post, we will cover preparing for leading a session at this conference, the associated costs to attend this conference, as well as tips if you are attending a professional society in the future.

In preparation to lead a session at NSPECon, I made sure to connect with all my fellow session speakers prior to the conference and send them a run of show to make sure that we are all on the same page. What I included in the run of show was the order of which speaker would be introduced first as well as a prepared question for each speaker (I worked with each speaker to personalize this question to their career journey so far). At the actual conference, I made sure to find them each prior to our session to introduce myself as I did not know these folks beforehand. This worked out nicely because our session was on the last full day of the conference.

Costs to Attend NSPECon

In terms of costs, there are three main costs to attend any conference: registration, lodging, and travel to and from the conference. In total, I spent about $1000 in total to attend NSPECon 2023. As a speaker, my full registration was comped (registration cost ranged from $550 to $949 depending on if you register by the Early Bird deadline and whether or not you are an NSPE member).

To save cost on lodging, I found a cheaper hotel to stay at that was still within walking distance of the hotel for less than $300 total. This hotel also included free breakfast which was helpful since this conference did not provide breakfast on any of the days. The flights from PHL to SDF were the most expensive part of this trip, primarily because I wanted my flight home to be mid-day on Sunday and direct flights each way. In terms of other travel costs, thankfully Louisville has buses that go to and from their airport through TARC (Transit Authority of River City), so I only spent $1.75 one way to take the bus from the airport to my hotel.

Day 1 – August 2nd

The first day of NSPECon was not a full day. Registration opened at noon local time and was open until 7 PM. From 1 – 2 PM, there was a tour of the Rowan Pump Station – one of the deepest submersible pump stations in the United States. This cost $45 to attend and the tour had a capacity of 25 people. I was not in Louisville at this time, so I did not attend this tour. After stopping by registration and picking up my name tag, I attended the First-Time Reception that evening. It was a great networking event where I got to chat with fellow first-time attendees as well as members of the NSPE Board. Immediately after this event was the Exhibtor Showcase and Opening Reception.

August 2nd was also the eighth annual Professional Engineers Day! NSPE celebrates this holiday annually to raise awareness about what it means to be a PE, recognize licensed PEs, and show appreciation for the work they do each and every day.

Day 2 – August 3rd

This was the first full day of NSPECon 2023! The opening keynote started at 8 AM local time and the last session for the day ended at 5:30 PM. The Opening Keynote Session was titled Trials and Tribulations of a Failed Aerospace Engineer and the speaker was Bill Samuels Jr, who is Chairman Emeritus of Maker’s Mark.

The last event of the day was the Order of the Engineer Ceremony. I had not attended an Order of the Engineer Ceremony since my senior year of college when was my Induction Ceremony where I received my Order of the Engineer ring. It was awesome to recite the Obligation of an Engineer again, this time as a licensed PE. This creed reminds us to practice integrity in all that we do as engineers. NSPE is one of the hundreds of links across the United States that is qualified to host Order of the Engineer Ceremonies.

After the ceremony, I got dinner with some of my fellow New Professionals (engineers in the first 10 years of their career). NSPE hosts an annual Emerging Leader Program for New Professionals. This five-month intensive program helps participants expand their skills and receive directed mentorship in small-group settings. While I didn’t apply this year, I look forward to applying for the program next year!

Day 3 – August 4th

Friday was the 2nd and last full day of NSPECon 2023. The opening keynote started again at 8 AM local time and the last session for the day ended at 4 PM.

Our session was part of the last concurrent sessions on this day. They did record the audio for our session, so I had to get to the room early to get my microphone set up and do a sound check.

_{^{Listening as my fellow speakers introduce themselves NSPECon 2023}}

Day 4 – August 5th

To close out an awesome NSPECon 2023, the last event scheduled for the conference was a Tour of Churchill Downs. It cost $60 to attend and the tour had a capacity of 45 people. If attendees wanted to head onto the active construction sites during the tour, attendees needed to bring boots, safety glasses, and a hard hat. I personally did not attend this tour, but I heard great things from those who did attend! I instead use the day to explore Louisville, including taking a tour of Maker’s Mark Distillery.

NSPECon was an awesome experience and it was great to spend my first Licensed Professional Engineers day as a PE surrounded by fellow professional engineers!

Any questions about NSPE Con or conferences in general? Please send us an email at danitheengineer.blog@gmail.com or leave a comment below.