You’re not here to Stay the same—you’re here to explore.
At Uncharted 2026, conference programming is designed to move you forward. From hands-on Learning Labs to bold keynotes and dynamic breakout tracks, every session is a new path to discover. You’ll dive into real-world strategies, challenge the way you think, and uncover tools that sharpen how you lead, market, and connect.
Follow the Seeker. Blaze your own trail. Or shift directions as curiosity calls.
This is more than a schedule—it’s your map.
Chart your course. Discover what’s next.
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Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Pre Conference Learning Labs
Start your journey before the map even unfolds.
The Pre-Conference Learning Labs are your chance to roll up your sleeves and get into the work. These optional, hands-on sessions are built for doers—giving you focused time to sharpen your skills in Adobe InDesign and walk away with tools you’ll use immediately.
Whether you’re rebuilding your foundation or pushing your design further, these labs go beyond theory. You’ll explore smarter workflows, uncover hidden capabilities, and create with intention—side by side with experts who know the terrain.
Space is limited, and registration is separate—so choose your path early and come ready to dive in.
Learning Lab 1 | 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Alex Mielke / Marketing Manager / JP Cullen
Jessica Richards / Marketing Specialist / JP Cullen
This is a practical session focused on mastering the core tools and workflows that make Adobe InDesign faster, cleaner, and more intuitive to use. Attendees will revisit essential features—styles, layout fundamentals, file setup, and efficiency shortcuts—while learning time‑saving hacks that reduce friction and improve consistency. This session is ideal for designers who want to strengthen their foundation, work more efficiently, and get more out of the tools they already use every day.
Learning Lab 2 | 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Julie Shaffer, FSMPS, CPSM / Owner / Creative Director / Shaffer Creative
Most InDesign users think of styles as simple text formatting tools—but they can do so much more. This session reveals the powerful design features built into Paragraph, Character, Object, and Table Styles that can elevate your layouts from basic to visually striking. Learn how to use borders, shading, rules, and corner effects to create callouts, highlights, and branded elements directly within your styles. We’ll explore techniques like paragraph shading for instant emphasis, custom borders for unique treatments, object styles for image frames, and table styles that carry your brand through complex data. Walk away with smarter workflows, fewer manual edits, and more dynamic, polished designs.
Thursday, September 17 and Friday, September 18
Keynote Speakers
Big ideas start at the edge of uncertainty.
Our keynote speakers take you there—where change meets clarity and challenge becomes momentum. Through powerful storytelling and real-world insight, they’ll help you navigate what’s shifting, what’s possible, and what comes next.
From leading through uncertainty to rising above it, these sessions set the tone for your entire Uncharted journey. Come ready to rethink, reframe, and return with a clearer path forward.
Thursday Keynote Presentation | 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Skot Waldron / Communication Strategist / Author / Speaker / Podcast Host, GiANT
Change isn’t inherently good or bad—it simply is. Yet navigating it successfully is one of the defining challenges in the AEC industry. As this year’s theme, Uncharted, explores new technology, evolving workflows, and shifting mindsets, this keynote focuses on how to move through change with clarity and confidence. We’ll challenge the idea that change must be resisted or controlled and instead reframe it as something to navigate strategically. You’ll gain insight into the often-overlooked human cost of change and learn practical ways to reduce friction by preparing teams with resilience, alignment, and clear direction—turning uncertainty into forward momentum.
Friday Keynote Presentation | 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Stacy Stout / Founding Principal / BRANDiac Strategies
Dena Wyatt / President / Marketing Evolutions, Inc.
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, was an extraordinary adventure filled with challenge, uncertainty, and triumph. Along the way, we discovered that the very principles that carried us to the summit are the same ones that define exceptional leadership. In this keynote, Stacy Stout and Dena Wyatt share their journey to the “roof of Africa” and reveal how leaders can translate lessons from the mountain into lasting impact for their organizations. Through vivid storytelling and practical insights, audiences will walk away inspired and equipped to lead with greater resilience, clarity, and purpose.
Thursday, September 17 and Friday, September 18
Program Sessions
Two tracks. One mission: forward.
Our program sessions are built for how you explore best. Whether you’re searching for clarity or ready to put ideas into motion, each session is designed to meet you where you are—and move you forward.
- The Seeker Track explores the questions that shape strategy, growth, and leadership.
- The Trailblazer Track turns those ideas into real-world impact—through tools, stories, and action.
Choose your path. Or explore both.
Because in Uncharted, discovery doesn’t follow a single route—it’s yours to navigate.
For those who uncover what’s next.
Focus: Seekers explore the questions that shape direction, growth, and leadership. These sessions dig into how firms read the market, build trust, guide teams, and design systems that scale. This track is for growth professionals who want to find clarity in complexity and help their firms make smarter, more confident decisions.
For those who turn ideas into impact.
Focus: Trailblazers build the tools, stories, and systems that move firms forward. These sessions focus on how strategy shows up in proposals, interviews, campaigns, and digital experiences. This track is for growth professionals who want to raise the bar on quality, speed, and performance using modern workflows, technology, and bold storytelling.
Thursday | 9:40 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.
James Archer, Marketing Consultant and Fractional CMO, James Archer, LLC
You’ve built the presentation, written the proposal, and then it hits you—your firm sounds like everyone else. “Trusted partner.” “Collaborative approach.” “Committed to excellence.” This session tackles why that happens and how to fix it. Participants will learn a proven process for uncovering what truly differentiates their firm, even when leadership struggles to articulate it. We’ll break down why common “differentiators” fall flat and introduce a simple framework to turn real insights into clear, compelling messaging competitors can’t replicate. Walk away with practical tools to apply this thinking across proposals, presentations, and websites so selection committees have a genuine reason to choose your team.
Thursday | 10:50 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Cynthia ReMine, CPSM / Principal / Reaveley Engineers
Marketing drives growth. But if that impact cannot be explained in business terms, influence is limited. When marketing work is reported as activity instead of impact, leadership conversations move on without it. This session addresses that gap directly. Participants examine how marketing contributes to firm growth and work through a structured approach to identify what changed as a result of the work. Using real examples, attendees practice reframing one leadership update from reporting activity to explaining business impact. When marketing clearly connects its work to firm growth, influence strengthens, decision-making conversations shift, and leadership opportunities expand.
Thursday | 1:10 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
Melanie Meeks, CPSM / Partner / Meeks Marketing
Join veteran marketers Melanie Meeks, CPSM, and Allie Horne, CPSM to discover why effective business development is more than simply attending events. In this session Melanie and Allie will teach attendees how to execute effective business development planning. From creating a large-scale Business Development Plan to drafting a granular Networking Plan, refining your elevator pitch, and learning tips and tricks, this session will equip attendees to network confidently and thoughtfully.
Thursday | 2:30 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
Courtney Kearney, Owner/Founder, CKearney Consulting
Messy, disorganized, or incomplete data can limit the effectiveness of your marketing and business development efforts—but process mapping is the first step to fixing it. This session shows how to create a clear process map that brings structure to your workflows while building in checkpoints to protect data quality. Participants will explore how automation can reduce repetitive tasks and free up time for more strategic work, while also learning the fundamentals of data stewardship and the key roles that support it. Through real-world examples, attendees will identify inefficiencies, uncover gaps, and pinpoint where to add integrations, accountability, and improvements to create more reliable, actionable data.
Thursday | 3:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Janki DePalma gets vulnerable and shares her journey of moving from pack mule to unicorn. Pack mule mode was when she assumed that if she kept working hard with a big smile on her face, her managers would reward her hard work. This led to multiple periods of overwork, burnout and resentment until she finally realized that pack mules do not get promoted- unicorns do! Learn how you can move from being useful like a mule to being treasured like a unicorn. It starts with a combination of self-awareness, curiosity and strategy. Being a marketing professional doesn’t sentence you to being worn out, overworked, and resentful. Together let’s learn to identify and stop unhelpful patterns of thought, draw boundaries and find your horns.
Friday | 9:40 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.
Most A/E firms have talented teams across marketing, business development, and operations, but they’re often working from different playbooks, creating friction that stalls growth at the worst times. This hands-on workshop introduces the Revenue Engine Blueprint, a practical framework for aligning these core functions into a unified, scalable system. Participants will identify where misalignment exists within their own firms, map gaps between strategy, BD, and operations, and develop a prioritized action plan they can implement immediately. Designed for professionals who feel this disconnect daily, this session provides clear, actionable steps to create stronger alignment, improve momentum, and drive more consistent revenue growth.
Friday | 10:50 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
This session explores how stronger market intelligence leads to better decisions across A/E/C marketing, business development, and strategy. Drawing from her experience building BEX into a leading source for project data, trends, and early-stage opportunities, Rebekah will break down how data collection is evolving and where AI is reshaping market research. Attendees will learn practical ways to analyze and visualize project data, uncover actionable insights, and apply those findings to strategic planning. Walk away with tools and real-world examples to turn raw data into a competitive advantage.
Thursday | 9:40 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.
Kyla Stewart, Freedom Finder + Gracewriter, Graceworks, Inc.
Megan Cochran, Freedom Finder + Gracewriter, Graceworks, Inc.
In this new world being informed by AI, your presenters can so easily detach themselves from connecting humanly with the interview selection panel. Yet your interview is where connections happen, and decisions are made! What exactly makes the selection committee remember their experience with you? What makes them recognize their team, and say (either out loud — which we’ve heard) or internally, “THAT’S OUR TEAM”? In this high-energy, fun, interactive session, we’ll focus on three Experiential Memory-Makers that will turn your presenters’ need to build trust into bold storytelling with actionable, real-world tools!
Thursday | 10:50 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Tully Mahoney / Associate / Storytelling Content Coordinator / Stantec
Strong writing is one of the most important skills in AEC marketing. From proposals and project narratives to thought leadership and website content, marketers are constantly translating technical expertise into clear, persuasive messages. This session introduces a simple framework for approaching nearly any type of AEC writing, adapted from a structure many of us first learned in school. Participants will explore how effective writing often follows a familiar progression, with tone, length, and complexity adjusted for the medium and audience. When applied to professional marketing, this structure becomes a powerful tool for organizing ideas, strengthening arguments, and keeping the client’s needs at the center of the message.
Thursday | 1:10 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
Chris Fenning / Communication Skills Author / Alignment Group Ltd
AI tools are everywhere in marketing, business development, and professional communication, but many professionals are asking the wrong question. Instead of “Can AI write this for me?” this session reframes the focus to where human thinking is essential and where AI can improve a message. Led by communication expert and author Chris Fenning, this interactive session introduces a practical five-part model for creating and refining communication. Using realistic AEC scenarios, participants will learn to avoid common AI pitfalls, identify where AI adds value, and apply a repeatable approach that combines human insight with AI to produce clearer, more effective messages.
Thursday | 2:30 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
Jaime Clark / Founder / ArmourSash
In the A/E/C industry, visibility often shows up as isolated moments—an article, an award, a speaking opportunity—but when used strategically, those moments can become a powerful path to influence, trust, and opportunity. This session explores how marketers, business developers, and firm leaders can transform sporadic media exposure into sustained momentum by aligning it with brand strategy and business goals. Participants will learn how to amplify earned attention, convert visibility into business development impact, and use storytelling to build authentic authority. Through a practical framework, attendees will leave with a clear action plan to leverage the right platforms, strengthen credibility, and turn brief moments of visibility into lasting market influence.
Thursday | 3:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Prescott Perez-Fox / Director of Marketing & Strategy / SPS+ Architects
Data visualization is a powerful but underused tool in A/E/C communication. A well-built chart makes an argument faster and more memorably than prose, but only if it's the right form, built with intent and respecting the data within. This session demystifies data graphics to help teams build more compelling visuals that don't just share facts, but tell stories. We'll unpack the four fundamental chart types, clarify what each one is truly designed to communicate, apply tried-and-tested design principles that strengthen proposals, presentations, and reports. With a sharper eye and refined thinking, you’ll create high-impact charts and graphs that leave yesterday’s Excel files in the dust.
Friday | 9:40 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.
Rachelle Ray / Head of AEC Marketing Innovation / PIE Co-Founder / OpenAsset / Proposal Industry Experts
Jeff Visnic / Certified Fearless Living Coach / Reclamation Collaborative
Join Jeff Visnic and Rachelle Ray as they bring their podcast Burnout Banter to the stage for a live, interactive Q&A session. Together, they’ll tackle real-world challenges like crafting winning proposals, managing burnout in a high-pressure industry, and building stronger collaboration with technical staff and SMEs. Jeff offers an inside look at how engineers think, while Rachelle shares strategies for creating more effective partnerships. Expect candid conversation, practical advice, and a few laughs as they answer audience questions and help bridge the gap between marketing and technical teams.
Friday | 10:50 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Grace Takehara / Sr. Marketing Strategist / Middle of Six
Katy Byer / Sr. Marketing Strategist / Middle of Six
Social media is a strategic tool for AEC firms—but it takes the whole team to make an impact. This session shares how to empower staff to engage on LinkedIn, with real examples, tactical tips, and simple ways to boost visibility. Plus, get an inside look at how Middle of Six built a high-performing content strategy for itself and its clients. Attendees will gain a roadmap for building an inclusive, firmwide approach to social media engagement. They’ll learn to empower staff as ambassadors, align brand messaging, and support visibility goals without overwhelming internal resources.
