Call for Proposals

We hope you are as eager as we are to share your work and learn from colleagues during our upcoming in-person 2026 NACDEP Conference in Wichita, Kansas. The conference theme is “The Middle of Everywhere.”

Please consider submitting a proposal for a presentation, workshop, or poster. The subject areas of Community Development that the conference will focus on include community engagement, economic development/tourism, leadership, community planning/assessment, local government, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Selected proposals are peer-reviewed by other NACDEP members, ensuring they are of high quality.

Notes about submitting this year:

  • Again this year, there is a FIRM deadline for submissions: Monday, January 19, 2026, at 11:59 pm CST. The board and conference committee have agreed to hold fast to this deadline and not offer any extension. This will allow us to stay on schedule for timely reviews, acceptance, session planning, and registration. All proposals must be submitted and completed by January 19. Be sure to block off ample time between now and then to prepare your proposal submission(s).
  • We will send periodic reminders and notifications of the number of proposals received to date in the weeks preceding the deadline.
  • We are using Whova this year to manage submissions and reviews. Submissions can be entered at: https://tinyurl.com/9rnrpsza
  • You will need to create a login with Whova if you do not have one yet. (Note: If you choose to log in using Google or LinkedIn, any notifications about your submissions will go to the email address affiliated with those accounts.) We recommend that you log in with your institutional email address so your submission will match your NACDEP conference registration and membership email.
  • You may save partial submissions and edit complete or incomplete proposals up until the deadline.
  • Please be sure to add all authors that you would like to be included in the program since there will be no later date to add them.
  • Format Options:
    • 30-minute presentation (25-minute presentation; 5-minute Q&A)
    • 90-minute workshop
    • Poster
    • 3-5 hours pre-conference workshop (Monday, June 16th, 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm)
    • 3-5 hours post-conference workshop (Thursday, June 18th, 12:15 pm - 3:00 pm)
  • This year’s conference will be fully in-person.
  • The committee hopes to have acceptances to presenters by early March. (Also, if your presentation submission is not accepted, you will be given the option to having a poster).
  • Check out the video on submitting a successful proposal!

More info about the conference can be found on our NACDEP website.