Kevin Shaeffer

The 2026 State Conference, hosted by the Athens Area Chapter, will be held November 5 - 8, 2026 at the UGA Center for Continuing Education and Hotel in Athens. Located on the UGA campus, the Center offers hotel accommodations, meeting rooms, dining, and convenient parking. Plus, we’ll only be a short distance from downtown Athens restaurants, shops, and night spots (if you’re so inclined). 

Registration is now open. Follow the links at the bottom of this page to Register To Attend, make Hotel Reservations, and view the Schedule Of Events. Athens Area Chapter President David Dupree gives an update on the Conference HERE.

We’re pleased to announce that our banquet speaker will be Kevin Shaeffer, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, survivor of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, staff member on the 9/11 Commission, and a member CIA’s “High Value Target 1” (HVT1) team that found Usama Bin Laden. Additional details of Kevin's career are in the PDF attached above right. Here’s a video of Kevin being interviewed on ABC News. Kevin was interviewed recently on PBS NewsHour. The interview can be seen HERE.

We are proud to have secured Ahn Nguyen as speaker for our Saturday, November 7 luncheon. Born and reared in Hue City, Vietnam, in a family of 10, Ahn immigrated to the United States in 1974, became a U.S. citizen in 1980, and was on his way to live The American Dream. He has much to share from an interesting perspective and will be an informative and entertaining speaker. Details of Ahn's inspiring story are in the PDF attached above left.

Athens Area Chapter member Fred Boyles has a video update on the Back to School Bus Tour HERE:  Please note you have to be on a device logged in to Facebook to access the video.

Several members of the Athens Area Chapter Conference Committee met recently with a Georgia Center rep to tour the facility and continue working on details. This looks to be a great conference. Photos of the tour can be seen on the Conference Facebook page HERE.