The official newsletter of the National Communication Association: September 2026

Email from National Communication Association

September 2026

NCA Convention Central

Hotel rooms are selling out fast!

With more than 1,000 sessions, workshops and networking events, the NCA Convention is the premier place to share groundbreaking research, exchange insights and advance your career.

This year, the convention is steps away from New Orleans’ French Quarter and its world-famous dining, shopping and attractions.

Staying at an official convention hotel is the most convenient way to attend sessions, join networking events and connect with colleagues.

The deadline to secure your room at the group rate is Oct. 11. Rooms are selling out quickly with only a few rooms left at the New Orleans Marriott.

Book Your Hotel Room Before It’s Taken

Stay informed on key dates:

Oct. 11: Hotel reservation deadline
Nov. 18: Pre-conference and Day of Service
Nov. 19 to 22: 112th Annual Convention
Nov. 19 to 21: Camp NCA (childcare)

Special Programming Spotlight

The NCA Convention offers specials sessions that give you a deeper dive into pressing topics and professional development.

Separate registration is required ($55 for students; $105 for all other attendees) to join a pre-conference session or short course.

Pre-Conference Sessions

Go deeper before the convention begins. Held Wednesday as full-day or half-day programs, pre-conferences bring together scholars around a shared topic for extended conversation, collaboration and networking.

1) Against Fluency: Move/ments Toward A Neurodiversity-Affirming Public Speaking Classroom

2) Creating Realistic Avatars: Motion Capture for Animation, Games, and Extended Reality

3) Movements in Communication: Research, Mentorship, and Collective Futures in Health Communication

4) Moving Communication Scholarship Forward: The 2026 NCA Organizational Communication Division Preconference on External Funding

5) Solos in Solidarity: Movements of Care

6) The Twelfth Annual International Summit of U.S. and Chinese Communication Scholars: Fostering Intellectual and Institutional Exchange Across Borders to Fuel Collaboration and Move/ment of Communication Scholarship

7) Urban Communication Foundation Preconference: Urban Movements and Mobilities

Short Courses

Build new skills in a focused, hands-on workshop. Offered Thursday through Saturday, each 2.5-hour short course is led by experts in the field and provides practical instruction on teaching, research methods and professional development topics you can apply immediately.

1) Moving Toward Effective Persuasive Message Design in Research, Theory, and Practice

2) The Syllabus as a Site of Movement: Rewriting for Motivation, Equity, and Care

3) Empowering Move/ment within Communication Anxiety & Apprehension: Research, Pedagogy & Practice to Support our Students

4) Crafting Effective One-Pagers: Communicating Your Research Vision to Funders

5) Moving CMM to the Center of Your Teaching: Tools and Practices for Transforming Communication Courses

7) GenAI Instructor Movements in the Basic Course: Creating Instructional Materials Using TPACK for Effective Prompt Engineering

8) Leading, Not Just Lasting, in Academic Middle Management

9) Move/ment(s) in STEM: Public Speaking, Power Skills, and Career Readiness

10) The Five Notecard Method: A Scaffolded Approach to Teaching Introduction to Public Speaking

11) Movement From Student to Career: Teaching Interviewing, Career-Readiness, or Capstone Courses

12) Free Expression in Practice: Teaching and Leading Through Disagreement

13) Making Methodological Move/Ments: Embracing Arts-Based Research (ABR) in Communication

14) Moving to Understand Anti-Jewish Hate: From Rhetoric to Violence

15) Moving Undergraduate Scholarship Forward by Teaching Students to use AI as a “Research Assistant”

Need childcare during the convention?

Camp NCA offers professional, on-site care for children ages 6 months to 12 years, providing a safe, engaging environment while you attend sessions and events.

Space is limited, and advance registration is required by Oct. 15.

Join the NCA Career Fair on Friday, Nov. 20

The NCA Career Fair offers academic departments an efficient way to recruit top talent, recent graduates and experienced professionals for open positions.

The event is free and open to all registered convention attendees. Prospective job seekers can explore open faculty and staff roles, connect directly with hiring committees and meet with on-site career consultants for CV reviews.

Reserve a Department Table by Oct. 15

NCA Strategic Plan Task Force

Task force begins process of shaping NCA’s future

NCA President Tina M. Harris announced that the NCA Strategic Plan Task Force has begun developing the association’s next strategic plan.

The member-driven initiative will gather input through a variety of touchpoints and events. Feedback will guide the final plan, which heads to the Legislative Assembly for approval in November 2027.

Read the Full Letter

Take the strategic plan survey

The task force invites all members to help shape NCA’s future by completing an anonymous 10-minute survey. Your insights will greatly inform the association’s future direction.

As a token of appreciation for your time, at the end of the survey you have the option to enter a $50 raffle.

Take Survey by Oct. 16

Join the strategic plan listening session on Thursday, Oct. 15

Share your experiences, perspectives, and ideas as we work together to shape the future of NCA through a member-driven strategic planning process.

During this interactive session, you will discuss strengths and improvements, opportunities for growth, changes in the discipline and membership value.

NCA Updates

NCA unveils new publication, ‘Amplified,’ with article on emergency alert text messages

We are happy to share that the first edition of NCA Amplified has been published. NCA Amplified will highlight one recently published article every month from one of NCA’s 12 journals.

For National Preparedness Month, we’re highlighting research on how the public responds to Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Read the Inaugural Article

NCA recognizes more than 230 scholars as 2026 award winners

Congratulations to the communication scholars recognized this year for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship and service.

Join us in celebrating our honorees at the NCA Convention in New Orleans.

See the Award Winners

NCA launches new community-focused communication platform

NCA Communities, a new online platform for collaborating and networking within Interest Groups, is now live.

NCA will sunset the legacy Interest Group email listservs on Nov. 1. Community administrators will share specific transition timelines with their members ahead of the switch.