Sunday, August 23^rd, 2026

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM REGISTRATION & BADGE PICKUP

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM SPONSOR & EXHIBITOR SETUP

5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Opening Reception hosted by the TTRC Board of Directors

6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Riverboat Cruse / Evening Networking Event

Monday, August 24^th, 2026

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM REGISTRATION & BADGE PICKUP

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM BREAKFAST & NETWORKING WITH OUR SPONSORS

8:00 AM - 8:15 AM OPENING COMMENTS

8:15 AM - 9:15 AM OPENING KEYNOTE SESSION - Doing More with Less: Maximizing Reward and Payroll Impact Within Constrained Budgets

Many organizations face limited reward budgets while needing to deliver pay-for-performance, manage pay compression, and advance pay equity. This session explores practical strategies to prioritize funding, giving you actionable insights to maximize payroll and reward impact, maintain fairness, and preserve employee trust even under budget constraints.

SPEAKER: Sean Luitjens, Vice President of Product Strategy, Salary.com

9:15 AM - 9:25 AM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

9:25 AM - 10:15 AM GENERAL SESSION 1 – Navigating Human Culture in an AI-Driven World: Why the Future of Work Is Still Human 

Artificial intelligence is transforming how organizations recruit, compensate, develop talent, and make decisions. Yet despite unprecedented technological advancement, the greatest competitive advantage remains profoundly human. This keynote explores how HR and Total Rewards leaders can become architects of cultures where technology accelerates performance, but people create meaning, trust, innovation, and commitment. Rather than asking what AI can replace, leaders will leave knowing what only humans can create. Drawing on leadership science, organizational psychology, and proven frameworks, including the Culture Framework Model™, Transformational Agility Model™, and the Follower Effect, this session challenges attendees to rethink how they design employee experiences, develop adaptive leaders, and build cultures that thrive amid continuous change.

SPEAKER: Dr. Tony Bridwell, CEO, The Encompass Group

10:15 AM - 10:45 AM GENERAL SESSION 2 – Total Rewards Leadership Panel

Facilitated leadership discussion around compensation, organizational strategy, communication, market uncertainty, and the future of Total Rewards.

MODERATOR: Rebecca Krauland, Vice President HR Solutions, Lockton 

PANELISTS: Adrian Solomonides, Chief Human Resources Officer, Ace Relocation Systems
Howie Mintzer, Director, Human Resources, Health Advocate 

10:45 AM - 11:15 AM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

11:15 AM - 12:05 PM GENERAL SESSION 3 - Topic TBA

Description: TBA

SPEAKER: TBA, CompPort

12:05 PM - 12:45 PM LUNCH, NETWORKING & ROUNDTABLES

ROUNDTABLE 1: Topic TBA

Host: TBA, Four Oaks Medicare Planning

Description: TBA

ROUNDTABLE 2: Topic TBA

Host: TBA, BetterComp

Description: TBA

12:45 PM - 1:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 1 (TRACK 1) – 7 Sales Job Factors That Affect Sales Compensation

Understand 7 sales job factors that may require you to update your sales compensation plans.  See how growth rate, revenue segment planning, sales process, role objective, sales methods, sales channels and AI affect the effectiveness of your pay plans. Before looking at market data and formula design, learn how to ask the right questions of sales leadership when assessing the alignment of the sales compensation plans. These 7 job factors will help you start the right conversation.

SPEAKER: David Cichelli, Revenue Growth Advisor, adivsors2sales LLC

12:45 PM - 1:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 1 (TRACK 2) – From Personalization to Anticipation – Rethinking Total Rewards Strategy

Rising benefits costs, financial stress, and growing scrutiny around HR technology investments are forcing Total Rewards leaders to rethink how success is measured. This session explores the shift from reactive personalization to anticipatory strategy, examining how early signals of employee confusion, financial strain, and health risk emerge long before they appear in traditional metrics. Attendees will leave with practical insights to reduce downstream friction, improve employee decision-making, and redefining success through stronger workforce outcomes.

SPEAKER: Christopher Baldwin, Senior Consultant, Businessolver

12:45 PM - 1:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 1 (TRACK 3) - Sponsored Case Study Topic TBA

Sponsored breakout/case-study/demo session tied to product and platform applications.

SPEAKER: TBA, Candor

1:35 PM - 1:45 PM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

1:45 PM - 2:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 2 (TRACK 1) – Compensation Leadership Panel

Facilitated panel discussion focused on compensation strategy, market uncertainty, communication, incentives, and organizational alignment.

MODERATOR: TBA

PANELISTS: Bob Cartwright, President / CEO, Intelligent Compensation, LLC

DW Mann, Vice President, Total Rewards, Ensign-Bickford Industries, Inc.

Chris Bordovsky, Senior Learning Performance Consultant/Facilitator, USAA

1:45 PM - 2:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 2 (TRACK 2) - Turning Claims Data into Action: A Roadmap for Cost Transparency & Population Health Strategy

Discover how self-insured employers are turning complex health claims data into meaningful insights that improve population health and lower costs. Leaders from Benefitfocus and Voya Financial Services will share practical strategies for unlocking transparency and insights to guide population health initiatives.

SPEAKERS: Traci McGinnis, Practice Leader for Health Insights, Benefitfocus
Deltra Hayes, Vice President - Benefits, Voya Financial Services

1:45 PM - 2:35 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 2 (TRACK 3) - Sponsored Case Study Topic TBA

Sponsored breakout/case-study/demo session tied to product and platform applications.

SPEAKER: TBA, CompPort

2:35 PM - 3:00 PM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

3:00 PM - 3:50 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 3 (TRACK 1) – Topic TBA (HRCI Ethics Session)

Proposed HRCI Ethics credit session. Topic and speaker still pending confirmation.

PANELISTS: TBA

3:00 PM - 3:50 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 3 (TRACK 2) - Why Your Job Architecture Won’t Survive the Next Three Years

Your job architecture is already obsolete; you just haven't felt it yet. AI is accelerating the velocity of work change faster than annual update cycles can keep pace, turning the frameworks organizations rely on for workforce planning, compensation equity, and mobility into a growing liability. The organizations that act now will transform job architecture from a static “set it and forget it” reference into a living system: faster, smarter, and built to move at the speed of work.

SPEAKER: TBA, Deloitte

3:00 PM - 3:50 PM BREAKOUT SESSION 3 (TRACK 3) - Sponsored Case Study Topic TBA

Sponsored breakout/case-study/demo session tied to product and platform applications.

SPEAKER: TBA, Nutrium

3:50 PM - 4:10 PM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

4:10 PM - 5:00 PM GENERAL SESSION 4 – From Spreadsheets to Strategy: The Evolution of AI in Total Rewards

Description: TBA

SPEAKER: Chuck Leu, Obsidian

5:00 PM - 5:10 PM DAY ONE CLOSING

5:10 PM - 6:00 PM MONDAY RECEPTION WITH OUR SPONSORS

Tuesday, August 25^th, 2026

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM BREAKFAST & NETWORKING WITH OUR SPONSORS

8:00 AM - 8:50 AM GENERAL SESSION 5 – Topic TBA

Description: TBA

SPEAKER: TBA, Candor

8:50 AM - 9:10 AM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

9:10 AM - 10:00 AM GENERAL SESSION 6 - Stop Fixing Total Rewards After the Fact. Designing the Organization Right First Time

Total Rewards teams are often asked to solve problems they did not create. Rising benefit costs, pay and eligibility inequities, and post-merger complexity are often the result of upstream organizational design decisions. This session explores how job structure, spans, and leveling shape cost, eligibility, and equity outcomes, giving you a data-driven approach to identify issues earlier and reduce reactive redesign.

SPEAKERS: Stephanie Beach, ASA, MAAA, SVP, Benefits Consultant, Alliant
Mike Chalmers, SVP, Alliant Human Capital Practice Leader, Alliant

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM GENERAL SESSION 7 – Solving the human-machine equation

As automation, AI, and analytics reshape work, total rewards leaders must balance technology’s power with human needs. This session explores how organizations can design programs that amplify human potential while leveraging machines for scale, speed, and insight. We’ll ground the conversation in Mercer's Global Talent Trends and Inside Employees’ Minds findings — translating data-driven insights into practical total rewards strategies for attraction, retention, performance, and wellbeing.

SPEAKER: Bob Simpson, Partner, Career, Mercer

10:50 AM - 11:10 AM BREAK WITH OUR SPONSORS

11:10 AM - 12:00 PM GENERAL SESSION 8 – The Hidden Cost of Workforce Stress: Connecting Benefits, Pay, and Productivity

Organizations often measure healthcare costs, turnover, and engagement separately. Employees experience them as one interconnected reality. This session explores emerging data linking financial wellbeing, mental health, caregiving responsibilities, and workforce productivity. Learn how leading employers are integrating compensation, benefits, leave programs, and wellbeing strategies to reduce workforce friction, improve performance, and create measurable business outcomes.

SPEAKER: Nicole Stec, Vice President, Lockton

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM BOX LUNCHES & CLOSING KEYNOTE SESSION – Bringing Great Work to Life!

Description: TBA

SPEAKER: Dr. Scott Cawood, CEO, World at Work

1:30 PM ADJOURNMENT