The Association Blog

Jim Tedford can’t wait to welcome you to his home state of Tennessee for this year’s Annual Conference. He’s got even more reasons why you should attend

Registration for The Association’s 2026 Annual Conference is OPEN!  Sign up now to take advantage of low early bird rates and secure your spot at the “don’t miss” event of the year. Chattanooga is one of the South’s most well-kept secrets. The downtown and riverfront area has been reimagined and offers amazing museums, fine dining, a lively nightlife, and natural beauty everywhere. Join 700 of your closest friends for networking, learning and fun.

I am extra-excited about this year’s Conference.  Not only will we be welcoming you to my HOME state of Tennessee, but our lineup of speakers and presentations is stellar. Your Conference Committee and the Association team have done a remarkable job selecting topics and presenters whose messages will resonate with animal welfare professionals. You will gain valuable insights to take home and put into action in your own communities.

And, at this year’s Conference we are integrating new techniques to encourage valuable interactive learning. For example, we’ve added 90-minute deep-dive workshops to give attendees at all levels of leadership the opportunity to tackle real challenges and leave with practical action plans that can be implemented immediately.

Animal welfare is like a big family, and like all families we don’t always agree on everything. Our timely and relevant keynote from Justin Jones-Fosu will emphasize the value of disagreeing respectfully and using productive dialogue across our differences as a leadership skill. 

And if you still have disagreements to settle, I invite you to take them to the offsite event hosted by our friends at Hill’s Pet Nutrition. There will be plenty of games of skill and “athletic” prowess to help you settle your differences over cocktails and laughs. Of course, I’ll be returning as host of Furmily Feud, ready to test your knowledge of all things animal welfare.

Our strength is in our network…in each of you, and in your willingness to share with and support one another. The Network Live, our pre-conference, day-long experience, is designed to give animal welfare professionals some face-to-face time to address and work through the challenges and opportunities facing our profession. This year we’ll explore community-centered animal welfare through the People and Animals in Community Together (PACT) framework.  As our communities evolve, so must animal welfare organizations.  Let’s talk about a wholistic approach to building communities that emphasize quality of life for animals and people alike. 

I can’t wait to see you all this Fall in beautiful downtown Chattanooga. And, if you have a little extra time, there are lots of places to explore in East Tennessee. From Chattanooga to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just a couple hours north and lots of places in between, take advantage of the natural beauty of Tennessee

See you soon,

Jim