KEY INFO
Where: Oklahoma City, OK at the Fordson Hotel
When: July 20-23, 2026
Theme: The Modern Frontier
Agenda: 2026 ACI Conference Agenda
Registration Cost:
Early bird= $475. Deadline: May 18, 2026
Standard= $490. Deadline: July 10, 2026
One-day registration= $150
Attendee guest registration= $150 (duration of conference)
Sponsorship:
Become a sponsor
Sponsor deck
SAVE THE DATES: JULY 20-23, 2026
The ACI Conference will take place in Oklahoma City, OK, July 20-23, 2026. Our friends from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation are excited to welcome you to OKC for a week of collaboration, networking and craft improvement.
Named one of the best places to visit by Atlas Obscura and Southern Living, Oklahoma City offers all of the culture, cuisine, attractions and amenities you’d expect in a modern metropolis. And with its rugged Western past, working stockyards and title as “Horse Show Capital of the World,” it’s rich in cowboy culture, as well. – VisitOKC.com
Schedule
ACI is “Where Outdoor Communicators Connect”, and the annual conference is a great event to come together to learn, network, share ideas and discuss the successes and challenges we share as conservation communicators. View the agenda below! (Keep in mind the agenda is a work in progress, but good progress, right!?)
Registration
Registration is open! REGISTER HERE
If you have any questions about registering for the conference, please contact Blake Podhajsky at blake.podhajsky@odwc.ok.gov
Conference Scholarships
To learn about conference scholarships, CLICK HERE
Call For Sponsors
The Association for Conservation Information conference is welcoming sponsors to join nearly 150 outdoor communicators from around the country. This is a great opportunity to interact with professionals from state and federal conservation agencies, NGO’s and supporting groups in the natural resources and conservation space who serve as communicators, educators, PIO’s, marketing and outreach specialists. We would love to have you join us! Simply email smokey.solis@odwc.ok.gov for more information on how you can be involved in supporting ACI and interacting with our members.
To view our sponsor deck, please CLICK HERE.
To sign up as a sponsor and submit your payment, please CLICK HERE.
Call For Speakers
We are always looking for engaging, informative and dynamic speakers and presentations for our event. Are you a subject matter expert that is excited to share your expertise with our attendees? Do you have a success story you would like to brag about to your colleagues? Or do you have a great presenter in mind that you would refer as a ‘must have’ speaker? If so, please email betsey.york@odwc.ok.gov.
Hotel
The Fordson Hotel, part of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt, is a tribute to Oklahoma City’s rich history, celebrating Fred Jones’ entrepreneurial spirit and the significant impact of the iconic Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant.
Our conference group rate for the Fordson's spacious, contemporary loft-style rooms is $179/night. To book a room under the ACI Conference group rate, simply click on this link: 2026 ACI Annual Conference. The deadline to guarantee a room within the ACI room block is Friday, June 26, 2026. The group rate will be honored past the deadline if rooms are available.
Or you can call the hotel directly at 405.982.6980 and mention booking code: G-ODWC in order to access ACI's special rate. If you need to book the room for extra days before or after the group rate block of July 20-24, please call the number directly and mention the booking code.
- All rooms are subject to an early departure charge equal to one night's room rate, plus applicable fees, taxes and assessments. Individual shall be liable for such fee.
- Individual guests will pay their own sleeping room rates (including any tax) and incidental charges (e.g. room service, gift shop charges and in-room entertainment fees). At the time of check-in, each guest will be required to present a major credit card whose brand is accepted by the hotel, on which the hotel may place a hold in accordance with the hotel's standard procedure or process a prepayment in the amount of the guest’s estimated charges, if prepayment has not already been made.
- Discounted event valet day parking at $10.00 per car or self-park in the garage for $5.00. Discounted overnight valet parking at $15.00 per car per night.
Travel – by air
Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) is a 13-minute drive from the Fordson Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. Named one of the Top 10 Domestic Airports in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure in 2025, Will Rogers offers both non-stop and connecting flights to most major cities in the U.S.
Travel – by car
- Wichita: 163 miles, 2 ½ hrs
- Dallas: 207 miles, 3 hrs
- Springfield: 287 miles, 4 hrs
- Little Rock: 337 miles, 4 ½ hrs
- Kansas City: 353 miles, 4 ½ hrs
- Austin: 390 miles, 6 hrs
- Jefferson City: 421 miles, 6 hrs
- St. Louis: 500 miles, 7 hrs
- Santa Fe: 534 miles, 7 ½ hrs
- Des Moines: 546 miles, 7 ½ hrs
- Baton Rouge: 615 miles, 9 hrs
- Denver: 661 miles, 9 ½ hrs
- Anchorage: 3,803 miles, 2 days, 12hrs
See you in Oklahoma City, July 2026!
On behalf of all of us at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, we are excited to have you in OKC for ACI CON 2026! Our conference theme of “The Modern Frontier” represents the evolving space where technology, culture, and human connection meet in our world as conservation and outdoor communicators. The ever-changing, fast-moving and unpredictable nature of this modern frontier requires authenticity, creativity, relatability and pioneering new ways to connect people to conservation and the outdoors. Make plans to join us in OKC, July 20-23, 2026 for what we hope to be the best ACI conference yet! – Blake Podhajsky, ODWC Conference Coordinator