ATD HOUSTON 2026 TALENT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE AND EXPO

Mark your calendars for the upcoming ATD Houston Talent Development Conference, a key event for professionals in the talent development field. Scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2026, the conference will be held at the West Houston Institute, located at 2811 Hayes Rd., Houston, TX 77082.  

You are invited to send in your proposal to present at the ATD Houston 2025 Talent Development Conference and Expo, Houston’s premier talent development event to be held on 9/17/26. This request provides you the information to submit your proposal and share your knowledge and experience with the talent development influencers in Houston and the surrounding region. 

Submission Timeline

• Jul 6, 2026 (11:59pm): Proposals are due.
• Proposals must be uploaded by that time.https://tdhouston.wufoo.com/forms/2026-td-conference-speaker-application/
• July 21, 2026: Those submitting proposals will be notified of the final decisions.
• Sep 14, 2026: Final date for selected presenters to provide the presentation and participant materials to the ATD Houston Conference Committee. (More info about this submission process will be provided if you are selected to present.)

Reasons to Submit Your Proposal

• Receive a complimentary event registration if selected to present (one per presentation).
• Earn Speaker points towards your APTD or CPTD.
• Make your gifts and talent visible to your peers.
• Promote your personal theories and ideas that have resulted in success.
• Give back to the community that has helped you grow.

Tips for Being Selected

• Make sure your presentation, activities and Q&A fits within the 60-minutes you’ll be given.
• Clearly demonstrate how you’ll enhance attendee capabilities in one of the conference tracks.
• In your submission, describe how you will engage the attendees to participate in the discussion and learn in real time.
• Convince the reviewers that attendees will be able to apply something nearly immediately as a result of that learning from you.

Conference Tracks

Below are descriptions of the four tracks for the ATD Houston 2026 conference. The track descriptions are broad categories, but they all focus on the conference theme, Undisrupted: Building a Talent Pipeline that Never Runs Dry

Organizations cannot build future-ready talent without understanding where they are today and where the business is headed next. This track focuses on identifying capability gaps, forecasting future skill requirements, aligning learning priorities to business strategy, and creating a roadmap for workforce readiness.

We're looking for sessions about:

• Skills-based organizations and workforce planning
• Future skills identification and forecasting
• Talent intelligence and analytics
• Capability assessments and gap analyses
• Learning needs analysis
• Aligning learning strategy to business priorities
• Internal mobility and career pathing
• Succession planning and talent pipelines

Ideal outcomes for attendees:

• Better understand emerging workforce needs
• Prioritize development investments
• Identify organizational skill gaps
• Align learning initiatives to business outcomes
• Create a workforce readiness strategy

Sample session titles:

• Building a Skills Strategy Before Your Competitors Do
• Workforce Planning in the Age of AI
• From Talent Data to Talent Decisions
• Identifying the Capabilities Your Business Will Need Next

When business conditions change, learning teams must move quickly without sacrificing quality. This track focuses on designing, developing, deploying, and enabling learning solutions that drive performance at speed.

We're looking for sessions about:

• Instructional design and modern learning experiences
• AI-powered content development
• Rapid content creation and deployment
• Learning technology and innovation
• Performance support tools
• Onboarding and upskilling programs
• Sales enablement and technical training
• Learning in the flow of work
• Change enablement and adoption strategies

Ideal outcomes for attendees:

• Reduce time-to-deployment
• Improve learner engagement
• Leverage technology and AI effectively
• Scale learning solutions efficiently
• Accelerate workforce capability development

Sample session titles:

• Building Learning at the Speed of Business
• AI-Powered Content Creation Without Losing Quality
• From Idea to Launch in 30 Days
• Designing Learning That Drives Immediate Performance

We're looking for sessions about:

• Learning measurement and business impact
• Learning operations (LearningOps)
• Data-driven decision making
• Governance and scalability
• Knowledge management
• Learning leadership accountability
• Adoption, reinforcement, and sustainment strategies
• Budget optimization and resource management

Ideal outcomes for attendees:

• Demonstrate business value
• Scale learning programs effectively
• Improve operational efficiency
• Sustain behavior and performance change
• Build long-term workforce resilience

Sample session titles:

• Proving Learning's Impact on Business Results
• Building a Learning Function That Scales
• Beyond Completion Rates: Measuring What Matters
• Sustaining Skills in a Constantly Changing Environment

The ATD Capability Model

We emphasize use of the ATD Capability Model. Reviewers will reference that model when evaluating your submissions.

Several ATD Houston members made their first conference presentations with less than five years’ experience. All you need is something worthy to share and a great way to share it. That said, here’s an offer to those of you who have never presented.

Those with questions related to this RFP may also email speakerconferencechair@tdhouston.org for answers to those questions.

Remember That Due Date

• July 6, 2026  (11:59pm): Proposals are due.
• Proposals must be uploaded to by that time. https://tdhouston.wufoo.com/forms/2026-td-conference-speaker-application/