Conference Chair

The National Conference Chair is responsible for facilitating the planning and production of COCA’s annual conference.  The Conference Chair will be supported by the COCA Board, the Executive Director and the Conference Committees.  The roles and responsibilities are diverse and below is a general outline of what the role of Conference Chair entails. 

Role Responsibilities

• Proposing a National Conference Budget to the Board
• Coordinating the National Conference Committees with the assistance of the Committee Coordinators. The Committees will be tasked with some of the responsibilities listed below but the ultimate delivery is the responsibility of the Conference Chair.

Awards Committee

• Ensuring that the Awards process is executed and reviewed as needed
• Designing and ordering of all needed awards
• Facilitating the recruitment of presenters
• Selecting an Awards Host
• Creation of any needed presentation components
• Ensuring all awardees receive their awards
• Producing the Awards Program

Marketing Committee

• Creating the Design Guide for the conference
• Producing any promotional materials as needed
• Facilitation of all needed digital design materials
• Creating a marketing and communications plan
• Implementing the required marketing for the conference both digitally and in print

Education Committee

• Brainstorm the Education Stream topics
• Facilitate and coordinate the Peer-to-peer Education Sessions
• Provide speaker suggestions

Showcase Selection Committee

• Create and distribute the Showcase Application call-out
• Complete the Showcase selection process
• Produce the Showcases (with support of a PM and SM)
• Production of the Awards Banquet

• Liaise with the approved Hotel to:
  • Assist in coordination of Rooming Lists
  • Arranging all required AV within the hotel
  • Creating the Food & Beverage orders
  • Monitoring the Block Bookings

• Booking required venues not within the hotel
• Source and secure off-site venues needed for showcases
• Select and book Keynote speakers
• Arranging and booking the required transportation for the conference
• Selecting and facilitating any optional Pre and Post Conference Activities
• Creating the Conference Block Schedule
• Design and production of the Biz Hall
• Solicit and secure targeted Sponsorship
• Design and print the conference manual

The time commitment varies but the rough minimum requirement to coordinate the National conference is as follows:

2024
November – December: 2-3 Hours per Month (Board Meetings)

2025
January – May: 6-8 Hours per Month
June 2025: Conference Week, Pre-Conference Meetings
July – December: 8-12 Hours per Month (2-3 half days per month)

2026
January – May: 30+ Hours per Month (7-8 half days per month)
June 2026: Conference Week, Pre-Conference Meetings
July 2026: Conference Wrap-up

 Link to Application 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the COCA Board Chair or Executive Director.