Why NCBA Connect 2026 Matters for Legal Collections Professionals

Katalina Dawson (00:00)
Hello everybody, Katalina Dawson here. Welcome back to the Why We Go series. Today we are going to be talking about NCBA Connect 2026, which will be happening this upcoming October 12th - 15th. And it is excitingly in Orlando, Florida, which just seems to be the place to be this year. A lot of events are happening in Orlando, Florida, or just Florida overall.

Specifically, this one is happening at the Renaissance Orlando SeaWorld Hotel. So I'm pretty excited about that. And we also have a great guest here today to discuss it with us, Curtis Robertson, who is the Director of Audit and Compliance at Weber & Olcese. Curtis, thank you so much for joining me today. We're excited to have you on.

Curtis Robertson (00:44)
Thank you, Katalina. It's a pleasure to be here with you and talk about this wonderful event that we've got coming up here in a little bit over a month.

Katalina Dawson (00:52)
Yeah, well, as I said, Orlando just seems like the place to be this year. Everybody's having their events in Orlando or in Florida. I even have an event back-to-back with NCBA in Florida itself. So clearly, great location. Can you tell us a little bit more about where it's happening this year?

Curtis Robertson (01:09)
Well, as you said, it's in the Renaissance Orlando SeaWorld, beautiful, sunny Florida. You said many events are going down there. I think that, of course, everyone is hoping that the Sunshine State lives up to its name while we're there. And I've got the utmost confidence that'll happen. Obviously not a meteorologist, but don't write anything in a book about that. But either way, it's gonna be a great location. I know that NCBA puts a lot of thought into these locations where they're gonna choose to have Connect.

And the great thing about Orlando is I can't think of too many places that you can't fly direct into Orlando. So it's very convenient for everyone to get to. A lot of attendees I know bookend this trip around Connect, either in the front or the back, because hey, there's a lot to do in Orlando if you're a Disneyphile or you want to go to Universal or something like that, or if you just want to golf. There are dozens and dozens of places right around the event itself.

Or if you're a beachgoer, go off to the Gulf Coast on the west side or go to the Atlantic. So you've got so much to do outside of Connect, but of course Connect is the most important thing.

Katalina Dawson (02:15)
Absolutely. The options are endless. You can just tag on there. And while most people think theme parks and Disney or family vacations, we're thinking client meetings, CLE, legal compliance when we go there. So let's talk a little bit about that, the education that we're gonna see this year.

Curtis Robertson (02:31)
NCBA again has a great lineup of education sessions for Connect this year. And as you mentioned, Katalina, just about every attorney who's going needs CLE credits. So this is the place to come and get those credits. What's great about the sessions that are offered at NCBA is that they are tailored to our industry and presented by industry experts and members of the NCBA.

A lot of the time, I know people are cramming to get their CLEs in, and they want to try to use some sort of program or something that gives them a lot of various educational sessions, but they're not really tailored to our day-to-day industry and what all the attorneys do in our industries. So this is absolutely tailored to that. I know there are some great sessions there with vendor management, audit-related stuff, bankruptcy, non-lawyer representation, AI is gonna be a big topic of discussion, and various defense bar topics brought to you by our defense bar colleagues.

Katalina Dawson (03:35)
Obviously, CLE credits are a huge draw, but for anybody else who is considering attending, who might benefit from attendance?

Curtis Robertson (03:42)
Well, there's no limit to who would benefit from attendance. When we talk about that, we have members that are a part of larger law firms, and there are those who are maybe single practitioners who are in our industry. And I think the NCBA Connect has something to offer for both of those individuals or firms.

When you're in a larger firm. You're probably gonna be looking at meeting a lot of your clients there because a lot of clients are going to be coming there, a lot of the original creditors and you'll probably have meetings there but then you want to start thinking about who on the staff could benefit not just attorneys because it doesn't have to be just attorneys it can be part of your ops team your audit compliance team all those people would benefit from the CLE credits or just mingling with other industry colleagues to just get to talking about what's going on in the industry, any challenges, any perspectives.

It's great to exchange all that information. And then again, as we talked about regarding smaller firms, you might not have those clients who might not be attending, but it's still great to go again to see; potentially, maybe you will find a new client there.

Or maybe you'll learn something new about the industry with those client meetings and CLE credits. And then again you might just meet somebody at the bar there and kick up a good friendship. So it could be one of many different things that could bring you to attend NCBA, but it's something that you definitely want to consider, not just for yourself but for your firm and your organization as a whole, to see who might benefit by coming there.

I know my first NCBA was, I believe, in 2009. Well, I was in NARCA back then. So it was 2009 in Boston. And ever since then I've been involved in various committees with the association, and I've been on the board now for a number of years. So it's a great springboard, and I thank my firm for bringing me along that first time. And now here we are almost. Twenty or I should say seventeen-odd years later, and still going.

Katalina Dawson (05:48)
And one of the benefits I heard that they might be adding this year- I heard a couple of whispers that there might even be a mentorship reception or little program that they've got going on. So keep an eye out for that because that sounds really intriguing. In addition to that, I know you talked about meeting people at the bar. What other cool networking opportunities and social moments might we be looking forward to?

Curtis Robertson (06:10)
Well, again, the staff at the NCBA puts on a great presentation, and that's not just for the CLE credits, but that's all the events. There are numerous social events and receptions. And that's outside of just hanging around the bar or the multiple bars; depending on the site that you'll be at, you'll see everybody congregating there.

But these receptions, they're tailored to bring everybody together to talk about various things within the industry, to meet colleagues that you might never have met before. And it's just important to sort of build those relationships. And just like I said before, your practice might be in one part of the country, and another person might be, but you'll see the commonalities there and the issues that our industry faces and what we're doing to

Proactively meet those challenges, and you get to just bounce ideas off of each other and talk about how things are just going in life in general. So it's a great way to build camaraderie, and the reception and social events are always great. There's always something going on. There's bands playing. So maybe you don't want to talk, maybe you don't want to be social with anybody, just purely enjoy the entertainment.

Katalina Dawson (07:18)
Yes. And in addition to the receptions and after-party you mentioned, I know they are doing a golf scramble and pickleball leading into the conference. So, they got their priorities in the right order has become huge, and NCBA has been putting that on together and getting bigger and bigger. And of course, it's not a great place to play golf, but in Florida, so we're looking forward to that with TRAK sponsoring that event as well.

Katalina Dawson (07:45)
Absolutely. Well, as we wrap up, do you have any last-minute recommendations for first-time attendees?

Curtis Robertson (07:51)
First-time attendees, as you said, Katalina, there are mentorship opportunities there. You'll definitely want to partake in those social events and receptions. Get to know other people. Everybody has always been warm and welcoming. I remember my first time there. Well, the President of the association was Bob Markoff; I got to meet Bob. Bob was a great mentor himself, and I got to know his son Steve, who also became President.

So you have the opportunity to meet everybody, and it is what you make of it. So obviously encourage everybody to get there, and for first-timers, just try to do as much as you can, get involved as much as you can, and there's going to be all those opportunities for you to engage with others.

Katalina Dawson (08:36)
Awesome. Well, Curtis, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about such an incredible conference. Anyone who has any questions, feel free to reach out or comment below. Also, comment if you are planning on attending. We want to see who all is coming, and we look forward to seeing you all in sunny Orlando, Florida. See you soon.

Curtis Robertson (08:52)
Right. Thanks, Katalina.