NECA 2026 Las Vegas abounds with education opportunities. From convention and trade show education sessions to Ask an Expert hours in the Innovation Zone, you can learn just about anything an electrical contractor might need to know. Come learn in a classroom, in direct conversation with experienced contractors or on the show floor with your peers. You can view the full schedule HERE.

Ahead of the show, we asked education speakers and thought leaders to give us the lowdown on their upcoming sessions. Interviews have been lightly edited for space and clarity.

Session: Integration Essentials: Building the Foundation for Intelligent Electrical Services

Speakers:

• Jeff Beavers, executive director of network integration and services at NECA
• Dr. Anthony Sparkling, executive director of industry infrastructure education at NECA
• Bryan Larson, vice president of integrated services at Pro Electric, L.C.
• Joseph Weyel, director of limited energy systems at Big State Electric, Ltd.
• Joe Richard, Schneider Electric
• Chanakya Gupta, Schneider Electric
• Jason Shearer, Cisco Systems

Time and location: Sunday, Oct. 4; 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; MBCC, Breakers K 

What are you hoping convention attendees get out of this year’s education sessions?

Sparkling: I do think a big takeaway should be on the continued role A.I. will play in our electrical contractors’ workflows, looking beyond the data center market. What’s next?

Is there anything you’d like to note that I haven’t asked about?

Sparkling: The new phrase I introduced at NECA Emerge this year during the Service and Maintenance panel is for contractors to rephrase “recurring revenue” to providing “recurring value,” which is outward-facing rather than inward. By doing so, we can get companies to realize that they are truly electrical/energy service providers that bring value to clients no matter what their needs are, driving repeat business through service and maintenance, NFPA 70B, tapping into the growing smart buildings and building automation markets, and more.

Session: The 2026 NEC: Key Changes Every Electrical Contractor Should Know

Speakers:

• Kyle Krueger, executive director, regulatory and technical affairs at NECA
• Alan Manche, vice president of external affairs for Schneider Electric

Time and location: Wednesday, Oct. 7; 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.; MBCC, Lagoon J

Who’s your audience?

Krueger: It's anyone who has to apply the code on a real project. That includes contractors and owners, project managers, estimators, foremen, journeyman electricians and designers. It's also for inspectors and apprenticeship instructors. You don't have to be a code expert. If your work is affected when a state adopts a new edition of the NEC, this session is for you.

What would you say to anyone who’s debating whether or not to attend?

Krueger: Ask yourself whether you want to learn about the 2026 changes in a classroom or on a job site after a failed inspection or a change order. This edition has a lot in it. There are updates to protection requirements, grounding and system design, and much of Chapter 2 and Chapter 7 have been reorganized, so even familiar rules may not be where you expect them. In about an hour, I'll go through the changes that matter most and explain why they were made. You'll leave knowing how to apply them without costly mistakes.

Is there anything else you’d like to emphasize for your session?

Krueger: The code is written by people in our industry. NECA has helped develop the NEC since the 1905 edition, and our members still sit on the panels that decide these requirements. I want attendees to understand the reasoning behind the major changes, not just what changed. When you understand why, applying the rules becomes much easier.

Session: Leveraging Data to Preserve Customer Relationships

Speakers:

• Fred Sargent, president of Great Service Forums
• Ian Hoppe, founder and CEO of Condoit
• Dan Colvin, director of sales and marketing for Ferguson Electric

Time and location: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.; Show Floor, Booth 128

What’s your elevator pitch for leveraging data to preserve customer relationships?

Sargent, Hoppe, Colvin: Put aside everything that you’ve ever heard about creating “customers for life.” Today there’s a better way. It’s available to any electrical contractor, large or small. It creates an unbeatable competitive advantage. We’re talking about capturing and keeping the data that measures the condition of customers’ electrical equipment and systems.

What would you say to contractors who think data doesn’t have a place in that relationship?

Sargent, Hoppe, Colvin: Electrical contractors can secure their relationship with their customers—customers whose operations as never before will enjoy protection and cost-savings through data-driven maintenance. Without good data, maintenance is mostly guesswork.

Session: Partnering Over Competing

Speakers:

• Josh Bone, executive director of ELECTRI International
• Jim Medina, Columbia River Electric Maintenance
• Brian McCance, MCC Electric

Time and location: Monday, Oct. 5, 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.; MBCC, Lagoon H

What’s your elevator pitch for partnering over competing?

Bone: Your biggest growth opportunity might be the contractor down the road. Most of us were taught to see other shops as the competition, but the contractors on my panel are winning bigger, more complex work by teaming up with national contractors to grow their companies. They're leaning into their strengths, learning from larger companies and going after projects none of them could land alone. Come to Partnering Over Competing and leave with two or three concrete ways to grow your business.

Why does partnering over competing matter?

Medina: In a good partnership, each company plays to its strengths. As a smaller local contractor, we know the market and the local labor, and we can move quickly. We can often match or beat our partner's pricing while delivering quality work. Our partners bring scale and resources we don't have yet. That's how we support each other.

What advice do you have for contractors taking on a contractor partnership?

Medina: In my opinion, the best way to grow in any relationship is through healthy vulnerability: being honest about where you're strong and where you're weak, and having your partner do the same. You'll have to get uncomfortable to build a healthy relationship. Partner with people you trust based on experience and a clear plan and build that trust one opportunity at a time. It works.