SDSU Extension faculty and staff are invited to attend Fall Conference on September 21, 22, and 23, 2026. This annual professional development event is an opportunity to celebrate our successes, connect with colleagues and plan future innovations. All SDSU Extension staff and faculty are eligible to attend. The deadline to register is August 14, 2026.
Conference Details
All times are CDT.
Monday, September 21
- 2:00 p.m. Registration Check-In Table Opens
- 3:00 p.m. Director Welcome and Keynote
- Association Night Out
Professional associations will share location and time details with members.
Tuesday, September 22
- 8:00 a.m. Light Breakfast Refreshments (Main Hall)
Use this time to meet with colleagues, subgroups, host informal discussions - 9:00 a.m. Breakout Sessions
- 11:50 a.m. Plenary Luncheon – Keynote & Awards Presentation (Part 1)
- 2:30 p.m. Tour or workshop
Select one tour or workshop during registration. Descriptions below - 6 p.m. Evening Social
Wednesday, September 23
- 7:30 a.m. Light breakfast refreshments
- 8:30 a.m. - Noon Capstone/Department Meetings - Information specific to each capstone will come directly from Program Leadership
- Gold Rush Room – 4-H
- Ringneck + James River Room – ANR
- Missouri + Rushmore Room – FFW
- Holiday Inn Express Meeting Room – Community Vitality (in hotel adjacent)
- SDSU Extension Aberdeen Regional Center off-site – Senior Secretaries
- Noon - 3 p.m. Plenary Luncheon – Closing Keynote & Awards (Part 2)
Select one tour or workshop to participate in on September 22. Depending upon selection, some participants will ride a bus from the conference center to tour locations. Please provide advance notice of special accommodation/accessibility requests. We are happy to assist you!
Back Forty Beef Adventure Farm & Corn Maze Educational Experience Tour (30 minute bus ride each way)
Visit the Back Forty Beef Adventure Farm & Corn Maze for a hands-on, behind-the-scenes educational experience. This visit offers a unique opportunity to explore today's agriculture, ag tourism, and on-farm entrepreneurship all in one setting.
Guests will have full access to our 12-acre corn maze and seasonal activities, including interactive farm attractions, livestock viewing, and our farm store featuring homegrown beef and local products. As you walk the maze, you’ll also learn how it’s designed, from concept to GPS precision planting, and how we integrate both technology and creativity into the process.
Glacial Lakes Ethanol Tour (Approximately 20 minute bus ride each way)
An educational, behind-the-scenes tour of Glacial Lakes Energy’s (GLE) industrial ethanol production facility in Mina, SD. GLE is a farmer-owned cooperative, and the tour showcases how millions of bushels of locally sourced corn are processed into renewable ethanol, distillers grains, and corn oil. All locations combined, Glacial Lakes Energy:
- Purchases 127+ million bushels of corn per year
- Produces 370+ million gallons of renewable ethanol per year
- Produces 1.1 million tons of feed products/distillers grains per year
- Produces 69,000 tons of corn oil
Tools for Effective Facilitation Workshop (Takes place on site at Dakota Event Center)
Have you ever sat through a meeting that felt like a painful waste of time? Or worse, have you ever led a session where you were met with a sea of blank stares and awkward silence? Great facilitation doesn't happen by accident—it’s a masterable skill.
Tools for Effective Facilitation is a dynamic workshop designed to transform you from a passive meeting leader into a strong facilitator. Through a blend of self-reflection and real-world scenarios, you will master the core pillars of transformative facilitation. Topics include: Connection and audience engagement; Ground rules and psychological safety; Active listening skills for facilitation; Self reflection and practice; Empathy and hearing more voices; Meeting logistics. Walk away with a guided notes packet and resources too!
Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED Workshop (Takes place on site at Dakota Event Center)
The American Heart Assocation’s Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED course trains participants to provide first aid, CPR, and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) in a safe, timely, and effective manner. The course reflects the latest science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC). Students who successfully complete this course will receive a First Aid/CPR/AED card valid for two years. In compliance with current University policies, this certification is only intended for use with adult-related emergencies. *If you took this training at conference within the last two years, you are not eligible to repeat it this year.
Room blocks have been made at several Aberdeen hotels due to high demand on hotel rooms in that location currently. Room blocks are reserved under the name “SDSU Extension Fall Conference” and include two nights (arriving 9/21 and departing 9/23). Reserve early! All rooms must be reserved before August 14, 2026 and are extremely difficult and expensive to secure outside of the block. Please secure as soon as possible. Each room is set up for individual pay. Please speak with your supervisor if you require another method of payment.
Locations listed below are offering rooms at the state rate of $110/night. As room blocks fill at each hotel, we will update the web page as quickly as we can.
My Place
Address: 410 S Harvard St. Aberdeen, SD 57401
Call: (605) 262-4600
Quality Inn Aberdeen
Address: 2923 6th Ave SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401
Call (605) 226-0097
TownePlace Suites by Marriott Aberdeen
Address: 402 Norwood St S, Aberdeen, SD 57401
Call only: (605) 725-3500
We’re continuing the tradition of recognizing the outstanding achievements of SDSU Extension colleagues during this year’s Fall Conference. All SDSU Extension faculty and staff are invited to submit nominations.
You may submit multiple nominations, but each must be submitted separately.
Nominations are due by August 27, 2026.
Award descriptions, criteria and scoring rubrics are available in the Policies and Procedures Awards folder.
Award Categories
- Creativity in Service to all South Dakotans: Recognize creative extension programming efforts that educate South Dakota’s diverse population using a cooperative, interdisciplinary approach. Programming should be derived from a minimum of two capstones.
- Excellence in Partnership: Recognize the collaborative work of SDSU Extension done in partnership with public and private entities within the state of South Dakota.
- Excellence in Programming Innovation and Creativity: Recognize original, innovative extension programming that has been developed specifically within the organization and was not derived from another source.
- Excellence in Research-Based Programming Award: Recognize extension educational programming efforts that derive knowledge/content from research and achieve behavior or condition change in clientele. Land-grant-based research is preferred as the source upon which the nominated program was developed. The design and implementation of the program should be unique to efforts on the part of the individual or team nominated.
Spirit of Extension: Recognize an employee who creates and contributes to a work environment that is positive, supportive, collegial and inspirational to others throughout SDSU Extension.
Registration
Online registration is required for this event and is preferred by August 14. Please register using the blue register button above.
- Choose your tickets and select Checkout
- Enter your information
- Choose a payment method – credit card (Authorize.net), check or invoice. If you select invoice, provide the campus index and fund number that will be used to pay the registration fee.
- Select Place Order
Frequently Asked Questions
- Conference logistics and accommodations: Aimee Ladonski
- Expectations for conference participation: your program director
- Travel billing and reimbursement: your capstone/department finance support or SDSU Extension Finance
- Registration: Heidi Berndt
Business casual attire is expected during daytime conference sessions. Professional dress is typical attire for the awards banquet on September 23. Remember to wear comfortable shoes if you are participating in a tour. Closed-toe shoes are required for the Glacial Lakes Ethanol Tour.
To quote a recent first-time attendee: “It’s a great time to get to know people that aren’t in your office. During some sessions, you won’t understand everything that’s said, and that’s okay. There’s no expectation to go out of your way and have some amazing thing set up - you’re just there to learn as much as you can.” Anonymous
Read through the agenda - if you don’t understand what something is, ask your program director or a colleague.
- Local Favorites
- Bars & Breweries
- Casual Dining
- Coffee Shops & Bakeries
- Maverick Steak & Cocktail
- Lots of space and side rooms for group gatherings; adjacent to Dakota Event Center
- Roma Ristorante Italiano
- Private room available
- Yes!
- We keep the portrait process simple - no need to sign up, just stop by the photo area as time allows. The portrait should take less than five minutes; overall wait time will depend on how long the line is.
- Official portraits are used for web profiles, news releases, social media, presentations, and other professional purposes.
- Who should take a portrait? Anyone who does not currently have an official photo or whose existing portrait is outdated.