Looking for basic information about IAF’s North American conferences?
Where are IAFNA Conferences held?
When does the IAFNA Conference take place?
How much does it cost to attend an IAFNA Conference?
Who attends IAFNA Conferences?
What does an IAFNA Conference Schedule look like?
What can I expect to get from going to an IAFNA Conference?
Can I become a CPF at an IAFNA Conference?
Who puts together the IAFNA Conference events?
Are IAFNA Conference Session Leaders paid?
Whom should I contact to learn more about IAFNA Conferences?
Conference Location
IAF North America conferences are held in cities throughout Canada and the US. We try to select cities that have an international airport served by multiple carriers for both affordable airfare and convenient access by our foreign delegates.
We also strive to select cities with an active facilitator community to help raise interest locally while feeling a sense of pride in hosting their North American and global counterparts.
Recent past conferences have been in Atlanta, Portland (OR), Baltimore, Tampa, Scottsdale, and Ottawa. 2009 will be in Vancouver, British Columbia. And it's rumoured that 2010 may find us back in the USA! Stay tuned.
Conference Timing
IAFNA is generally held in April, May or June. To keep registration and hotel room rates as low as possible, IAFNA is somewhat at the mercy of seasonal price swings so, depending on the conference city, the organization remains somewhat flexible regarding dates.
Conference Investment
Rule of thumb is the earlier the better. Pricing is higher in the last month or so to encourage registration early enough to have accurate counts for speaker handouts and meals IAF is required to guarantee. Last minute registrants make it a challenge for us to serve you well.
Main conference pricing generally runs USD $675-750 for members depending on how early one registers. Non-members pay $850-925 also predicated on when they register. This covers all regular conference sessions, activities, materials and specified meals
Single-day registrations are available from $425-475/day.
Pre-conference registration (1 or 2 days) is a per-day cost of USD $400 for members and the non-member price is usually $500/day.
Special package pricing (called "combo") is available when bundling main conference registration with pre-conference sessions. This combo pricing is reserved only for IAF members.
On-site hotel rooms tend to run an average of USD $150-185/night. For more information on 2009 hotel facilities, see our Hotel and Travel page.
Extra events/costs might include dinner, off-site activities, transportation, gratuities, etc.
IAFNA Attendees
The IAF North American conference attracts a huge variety of delegates. You will find people of all ages, from early 20s to late 70s and up. And from all walks of life. We have corporate employees, educators, those who work in charitable, governmental (local and national), and community organizations, and many self-employed consultants who either faciliatate full-time or as part of their broader service offerings.
Don't be surprised to find yourself seated with an engineer, an employee of the federal government, a nun, a self-employed facilitator, a retired professor, a business owner, and someone who facilitates community leaders to improve living conditions in a far off country.
This group doesn't just celebrate diversity, IAF IS diversity.
This conference attracts from 400-600 attendees on average, though we've had up to 1200 some years.
IAFNA Conference Schedule
See Program-At-A-Glance for a sampling of the most recent conference agenda in Atlanta. Vancouver's agenda won't be up until approximately mid-summer.
IAFNA Conference Take-Aways
Conference attendees find enrichment in a variety of ways. Though educational quality is a priority of conference organizers, most agree that the relationship element (networking and fellowship) of IAFNA is invaluable in and of itself.
Certification at IAFNA Conferences
Each North American conference in recent history has been preceeded by a certification event. It's the perfect opportunity to add this important credential to your portolio while continuing your education as a facilitator.
In addition to certification at conference time, IAF offers certification events throughout the year, all over the world. See this event calendar for full details.
To learn what it takes to become a CPF, see the Certifed Professional Facilitator page in IAF Global's website.
Applying to be an IAF CPF candidate is a process separate and apart from the IAFNA conference. The assessment events and conference events coincide primarily for purposes of convenience and cost-effectiveness for travelers.
IAFNA Conference organizers
IAF North American conferences are volunteer driven with a formal Steering Committee and several sub-committees. Due to the event size, IAFNA also relies on a professional conference management company to help us pull all the details together and to keep us on time and on track in planning.
The Steering Committee includes the Canadian and US Regional Representatives (who also serve on the board of directors of IAF Global) and the chairs or co-chairs of each conference sub-committee--groups that we call "Virtual Action Teams" or VATs.
At present, there are three VATs: Program VAT, Local Support VAT, and the Marketing VAT.
Meet your 2009 Conference Organizers.
Compensation for IAF North America Session Leaders
It is IAF tradition that all conference session leaders join the conference as paying participants. Session leaders are some of the many volunteers who give back to the conference. Session leaders are offered a low conference rate equivalent this year to the Early Bird pricing when they register.
There is a revenue-sharing plan for session leaders who run pre-conference sessions, both one and two day. Pre-conference net revenues (total revenue less hotel, A/V, food, and any other expenses) are shared 40% and 60% between session leader(s) and the IAF NA conference, respectively.
Contact us to learn more about IAFNA Conferences
There are many reasons to contact us surrounding the conference. Here are a variety of contact persons. If you don’t find the situation you’re seeking below, please feel free to contact the US or Canadian Regional Representatives. Either will be happy to help you.
Exhibit/Sponsorship Questions – e-mail conference managers
Registration Assistance – e-mail conference managers
Speaker Proposal Questions – e-mail Program Team
Host City Information, contact a Local – e-mail Local Support Team
Canada Regional Rep (John Butcher) – e-mail Canadian Rep
US Regional Rep (David Spann) – e-mail US Rep
