October 22-24, 2026
mandalay bay convention center | Las Vegas, Nevada
International educator, author, and lifelong learner, Carol Woodard is an American Board-Certified Neuro-Linguistic Master Practitioner and proud member of the International NLP Guild. Featured in O, The Oprah Magazine as an education expert, Carol brings fresh perspective and contagious enthusiasm to every stage she steps on.
She’s the author of four game-changing books—The Educator’s Diet: Teaching With 21st Century Recipes, Going Woodard, Woodard 2.0 and Forward with Purpose—all designed to inspire and empower others to reach their goals with confidence, creativity, and heart.
When she’s not writing or speaking, you’ll find Carol sparking aha! moments, building connections across cultures, and proving that learning can be as exciting as it is life changing.
The AACS Annual Conference brings together beauty, barber, and wellness education leaders from across the country for three days of learning, collaboration, and celebration. Attendees participate in dynamic workshops, interactive breakout sessions, and engaging roundtable discussions that encourage peer-to-peer learning and shared problem-solving across all areas of school operations—from compliance and admissions to student success and culture.
The Exhibit Hall showcases top industry partners and innovative solutions designed to help schools thrive, while networking events and evening socials offer opportunities to connect, exchange ideas, and build lasting relationships. The AACS Annual Business Meeting brings members together to vote on new Board members and proposed Bylaws amendments.
AACS Annual Conference also includes two major industry award presentations: The N.F. Cimaglia Award (co-sponsored with Milady), and the Golden School Awards, honoring exemplify excellence, leadership, and innovation in beauty, barber, and wellness education.
AACS Members: $699 per person
Volume discount: send 2+ attendees and receive $50 off each registration!
Non-Members: $1,099 per person
One-Day Registration: $399 (choose to attend either Thursday, Oct. 22; Friday, Oct. 23; or Saturday, Oct. 24)
| 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Registration Open |
| 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Government Relations Committee Meeting |
| 1:00 - 3:30 PM | Title IX Training |
| 3:45 - 5:00 PM | NACCAS Update |
| 6:00 - 7:00 PM | Welcome Reception & Exhibit Hall Sneak Peek |
| 7:00 - 8:30 PM | Owners After Hours (School Owners Only) |
| 8:00 - 9:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 8:30 - 9:00 AM | Opening Welcome Session |
| 9:00 - 9:15 AM | Cimaglia Award |
| 9:15 - 10:15 AM | Keynote: Carol Woodard |
| 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM | GR & Legal Update |
| 12:00 - 1:30 PM | Exhibit Hall & Lunch |
| 1:30 - 2:50 PM | Roundtable Sessions |
| 3:00 - 3:50 PM | Concurrent Breakout Sessions 1 |
| The Zero-Click Era: Winning Enrollment When Google Stops Sending Clicks Michael Tominaga, Get Found First | |
| From Classroom to Career: Aligning Schools, Students & Salons Steve Reiss, Pivot Point | |
| Using Data to Improve Outcomes Frank Migali, AZ Barbering & Cosmetology Board | |
| Students Want to Be Influencers: Why Your Education Needs to Evolve Jenn Lyles, BSMG ET Hague, Vogue Colleges of Cosmetology | |
| From Certification to Culture: How One Beauty School Transformed Student Success Through Sensory Safe Education Kate Owens Heins, The Sensory Safe Solution & Tanya Webb, Prestige SIS/Benes Career Academy | |
| COMTA-Endorsed Curriculum: Recognition Beyond Accreditation Dawn Hogue, COMTA | |
| 4:00 - 4:50 PM | Concurrent Breakout Sessions 2 |
| iQ Insider: A Data Preview of What's Really Happening in Professional Beauty Erin Kuhn Bhansali, Qnity | |
| From Classroom to Career: Building a Future-Ready School Daniel Dunworth, Pivot Point | |
| Behind the Curtain at NACCAS: Separating Fact from Fiction Frank Trieu, Evergreen Beauty College & Brenda Scharman, Cameo College of Essential Beauty | |
| Growing Your Next Director: Building Leaders So Your School Doesn’t Depend on You JC Rivas & Christina Quattro, Moler Barber & Cosmetology Colleges | |
| The Clinic Floor is Still a Classroom! Thomas James, Mr. State Board | |
| 5:00 - 6:30 PM | Happy Hour & Exhibit Hall |
| 8:00 - 9:30 AM | Breakfast & Exhibit Hall |
| 9:30 - 11:00 AM | AACS Annual Business Meeting & Installation of Officers/Directors |
| 11:15 AM - 12:05 PM | Concurrent Breakout Sessions 3 |
| Winning the High School Market: What School Counselors Want Beauty Schools to Know Penny Burns, Beauty Cast Network | |
| The Tech-First Hire: Helping Your Students Land Not Just a Job, But the RIGHT Job Gavin Smith, Beautista | |
| Opportunity or Chaos Sally Samuels, FAME | |
| Changes in School Ownership Panel Brandon Sherman, Saul Ewing LLP; Anthony Civitano, SPEC & Chris DeLuca, Rouse Frets White, P.C. | |
| Who Owns the Clinic Floor? Instructor Accountability, Work-Based Learning & the Client Experience Natalie Parkin, Skinworks & Ashley Jensen, BlushGrading | |
| 12:15 - 1:45 PM | Golden School Awards Luncheon |
| 1:45 - 3:30 PM | Exhibit Hall |
| 3:30 - 4:20 PM | Concurrent Breakout Sessions 4 |
| The Good, The Bad, and The Automated: An AI Session for Service and Admissions in Schools Rob Thatcher, x2u/SalesComm | |
| Mastering the Mentorship: Coaching for Clinical Confidence Olivia Tarin & Kenzie Savage, Borboleta Beauty | |
| The Story Your Financial Statements Are Telling and the Composite Score That Grades That Story Desarie Anderson, Anderson Accounting & Tax | |
| The School Students Will Choose Jessica George, Milady | |
| From Classroom to Clinic Floor to Salon: Modernizing Nail Education Tammy Taylor, Tammy Taylor Nails | |
| 6:00 - 8:00 PM | Evening Event: Swingers Las Vegas - The Crazy Golf Club |
| 9:00 - 11:00 AM | Breakfast & Exhibit Hall |
| 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM | Concurrent Breakout Sessions 5 |
| Cut the AI Slop: Authenticity Matters in Your School’s Website + Brand Becky Banks & Erika Ross, Oozle Media | |
| Everything Gap Payments: Using the Right People, Protocols, and Plan Heather Johnson, CompuWerx | |
| Make Wellness Part of Your Culture & Your Retention Elizabeth Faye, The Vitality Project | |
| Whole Student Success: Making the Clinic Floor Count Stacy Hanes, Bio-Therapeutic | |
| 12:10 - 1:00 PM | Closing Roundtables Session & Conference Takeaways |
Salon Professional Education Company
BlushGrading
Saul Ewing LLP
Cameo College of Essential Beauty
Moler Barber and Cosmetology Colleges
Rouse Frets White, P.C.
Pivot Point International
COMTA (Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation)
Anderson Accounting and Tax, LLC
The Vitality Project
Qnity for Schools
Vogue College of Cosmetology
Arizona Barbering & Cosmetology Board
Evergreen Beauty College
CompuWerx
Moler Barber and Cosmetology Colleges
Beauty Schools Marketing Group
Milady
The Sensory Safe Solution
Prestige SIS/ Benes Career Academy
Get Found First
Skinworks School of Advanced Skincare
Beauty Cast Network
x2u/SalesComm
Fame
Bio-Therapeutic
Pivot Point International
Tammy Taylor Nails
Mr. State Board
Beautista
NACCAS
Explore what’s changing in student recruitment, from AI and the evolving digital search landscape to high school outreach, financial education, and authentic school branding. Discover new ways to reach prospective students, strengthen enrollment, and compete for the attention of today’s learners.
Navigate the complex issues affecting today’s schools, including accreditation, data and outcomes, financial health, and gap payments. These sessions offer practical insights to help school leaders better understand requirements, manage risk, and prepare their institutions for what’s ahead.
Strengthen the path from education to employment with strategies focused on career readiness, employer alignment, technology, and mentorship. Learn how to build stronger connections between your school, students, and industry while preparing graduates to find the right opportunities and thrive after graduation.
Take a closer look at the leadership and operational decisions that shape a successful school. Sessions explore developing future leaders, evolving with student expectations, navigating ownership changes, strengthening school culture, supporting wellness and retention, and positioning your institution for the future.
Make the clinic floor an even stronger extension of the classroom. Explore approaches to instructor accountability, work-based learning, client experience, inclusive education, modern curriculum, and clinical confidence, designed to help students get more value from hands-on learning and enter the industry career-ready.
No employees. No partners. No AACS staff. Just school owners.
This is your opportunity to connect candidly with fellow owners from across the country in a relaxed, peer-to-peer environment. Compare notes, share best practices, talk through challenges, exchange ideas, and build relationships with people who understand what it means to be in your seat.
There’s no formal presentation and no set agenda; just meaningful conversation and the opportunity to learn from one another before Annual Conference officially gets underway.
Consider this your owners-only space to connect, share, and talk shop.
Space is limited exclusively to registered Annual Conference attendees who are school owners.
Enjoy an evening of mini golf, games, networking, food & drink, and more at the “coolest craziest golf joint in town.”
Tucked within the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, be transported to a 1920’s English country estate with gorgeous grounds packed with cocktail bars, a Carnival and crazy golf courses. It’s quite possibly the world’s best house party!
Whether you’re in it to win it as you take on your colleagues at mini golf, or you’re relaxing and networking over delicious bites and drinks, we promise it’ll be a crazy fun time!
The regulatory landscape is changing rapidly—and staying informed is critical to your school’s success. Receive timely updates on accreditation, federal and state legislation, compliance requirements, and policy changes that impact beauty, barber, and wellness schools. Hear directly from experts and industry leaders so you can confidently prepare your institution for what’s ahead.
Gain practical strategies to improve every aspect of your school: from enrollment, retention, and financial performance to leadership, operations, marketing, and student success. Through educational sessions, peer discussions, and real-world case studies, you’ll leave with actionable ideas that can help your school grow, adapt, and thrive.
Surround yourself with the people shaping the future of career education. Network with fellow school owners, operators, directors, accrediting representatives, policymakers, industry experts, and AACS Premier Partners. These conversations provide valuable insights, fresh perspectives, and lasting relationships that continue to benefit your school well beyond the conference.
NOTE: Beware of housting pirates (hotel scammers claiming to offer the best deals).
Please only book via the link shared by AACS, or directly through the hotel.
W Las Vegas channels bold energy and a fresh perspective into the city of limitless possibilities. With a dynamic social scene and access to BATHHOUSE Spa, WET Deck and Mandalay Bay venues, W Las Vegas offers an experience as unique as the city itself. Step into an all-suite destination where modern style meets effortless comfort, many offering sweeping views of the iconic Las Vegas skyline.
AACS has negotiated an average reduced room rate of $261.34 (rates vary per night), plus taxes and fees. This rate is available through October 6, or until all rooms in the block have been reserved.
There’s no place like it in the world. Las Vegas, a city of half a million people carved out of unforgiving desert landscape and fueled by hedonism, may seem to exist for one purpose: entertainment.
And while Vegas delivers diversions in abundance, it’s also home to a thriving arts community, a solid college scene and a smattering of industry, from interior design to energy. Still, most people come to Las Vegas to let loose, whether that takes place at a casino or one of the city’s many theaters, upscale restaurants, spas or luxury hotels.
We’ve partnered with Disneyland Resort to provide CEA attendees with specially priced tickets! Whether you have a few hours to spare or extra days to explore, there’s a theme park ticket just for you.
Registered CEA attendees will receive their special ticket link in the confirmation email after registering.
Note that there are three airports in proximity to our event venue at the Hyatt Regency Orange County. We recommend flying into John Wayne Airport (SNA) for proximity and ease of travel – traffic between LAX and Anaheim is often backed up.
Karmel is offering 10% off airport tranfers for guests staying at the Hyatt Regency Orange County! Karmel Connect serves LAX, SNA & LGB Airports, with reservations.
Registered attendees will receive a link and promo code in their registration confirmation.
