ACCA 2026 mainstage: Keynotes, panels, and Toolshed LIVE
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Between the breakout sessions and the exhibit hall, ACCA 2026 brings everyone together for mainstage programming. This year’s speakers include a mentalist who will prove your thoughts aren’t as private as you think, a founder who sold his last company for $151 million, and the return of a cult-favorite contractor show that’s been off the air for four years. Register here for ACCA 2026, March 15-18 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Here’s what’s on the agenda:
Monday: We hope you find the edge of your seat comfortable
Keith Kong takes the stage Monday morning to mess with your head. The international mentalist has spent over a decade pulling thoughts out of people’s minds and predicting things before they happen, blending psychology and criminal profiling into performances that leave audiences questioning what just happened. He’s won awards for his work, stood out among the best in the business, and built a reputation for creating experiences that feel genuinely unexplainable. His opening keynote is interactive, shrouded in mystery, and designed to prove that your thoughts may not be as private as you think.
After Kong wraps, the conference brings back Toolshed LIVE for the first time in four years. Jerry Rollins, founder of BGDG Group, and Eddie McFarlane, Chief Learning and Development Officer at Sila Services and ACCA’s 2025-26 Board Chair, are reviving the unfiltered contractor conversations that made the original show popular before it went off the air. The session is unscripted and focused entirely on what contractors and technicians are facing right now. The equipment, the market, and the challenges have changed with them. ACCA Platinum Strategic Partner Midea is sponsoring this interactive session, with lunch included.
Tuesday: Getting your company’s courage back
Ryan Berman, founder of Courageous, delivers Tuesday’s opening keynote on a topic that doesn’t get enough attention in business: the disappearance of courage. His session, How Companies Can Get Your Courage Back, argues that most organizations have become paralyzed by risk aversion, settling for incremental growth instead of making bold moves. Berman has been credited with starting the corporate courage movement, and his keynote covers the findings from his book Return On Courage, offering a step-by-step approach to building calculated risk-taking into your company culture. He speaks globally on the topic, and his message is simple: change is hard, but the hardships of not changing are harder. If courage is a competitive advantage, most companies have given it up without realizing it.
Brandon Dawson, Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Managing Partner of Cardone Ventures (an ACCA Premium Partner), follows with a lunch session that challenges how most HVACR owners think about growth. His session on the four pillars — scaling, optimizing, acquiring, and selling — argues that adding trucks and hoping margins hold aren’t a strategy. Dawson sold his last business for $151 million at 77 times EBITDA, and he’s built Cardone Ventures into a company that went from startup to $225 million in revenue and 330 employees in less than five years. His framework shows how successful owners grow faster with less operational strain, when organic growth makes sense versus when acquisitions can shortcut years of effort, and why building with an exit in mind changes every decision you make today.
Tuesday evening shifts to ACCA’s Management Information Exchange (MIX Group®) program. The MIX Groups® Panel Discussion, sponsored by Align, features contractors who participate in these peer accountability groups. The session offers an honest look at what MIX Groups® deliver in practice — how open information sharing and contractor-to-contractor accountability have influenced their decisions and helped them improve operations, leadership, and strategy. After the panel, the MIX Groups® MIXer continues the conversation over appetizers and a hosted bar. Current participants are available to answer questions, and contractors interested in forming new groups can connect with peers exploring the same idea.
Wednesday: Putting your conference learnings into practice
Kelly Irons, founder of developUs, closes the conference on Wednesday morning with a session built around a simple reality: most people leave conferences with good ideas that never turn into actual changes. Change or Be Changed uses an interactive exercise to help attendees commit to specific actions before they head home. Irons is a published author, number-one rated keynote speaker, and certified coach with decades of experience in leadership and organizational development. Her session is designed to ensure your time at the conference doesn’t get forgotten the moment you’re back at your desk.
The mainstage sessions create natural moments for the entire conference to come together between breakouts, offering shifts in perspective that carry through the rest of the programming. ACCA 2026 runs March 15-18 at Caesars Palace. Register here to secure your spot.
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