Deadline:  ̶M̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ ̶2̶0̶,̶ ̶2̶0̶2̶5̶  April 4, 2025 (Extended!)

Planning is now underway to identify topics and presenters for concurrent sessions at the 2025 UEDA Summit. Co-hosted by Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, the 2025 UEDA Summit will continue the tradition of gathering economic development professionals who to connect with innovation ecosystem builder partners to learn best practices, gain recognition for their work, and better communicate their organization’s vital impact in building an inclusive economic ecosystem for their community.

This year’s theme is: Launching Partnerships for Prosperity

Launching Communities – at the core of university-based economic development, our mission is to help our communities thrive.

The 2025 Summit will celebrate institutions’ impact in strengthening the workforce, building local ecosystems, learning to navigate and thrive in the new economy, and bettering the welfare of their communities. We are looking for sessions that demonstrate excellence in the implementation of economic development and inspire the audience to replicate presented efforts.

In the spirit of leaders reaching leaders, proposals that drive engagement and conversation within the conference sessions are encouraged.

Presentation Topics
Topics for the summit should address the main theme and subtopics which are the same as the Awards of Excellence categories and based on our Foundations doctrine, as well as the concept of innovation, talent, or place (or any combination of the three).

Summit Audience
All presentations should consider the positions of those attending the Summit:

• College and University Presidents
• Provosts, Deans & Outreach Officers
• EDA University Center Directors
• External & Government Affairs Administrators
• Vice Presidents for Research, Innovation, Commercialization
• Technology Transfer Directors
• Officials from Higher Education System Offices
• Economic Developers
• Economic Development Consultants
• Market Development Specialists
• Federal Agency Program Directors
• State and Federal Grant Administrators
• Manufacturing Extension Partnership Directors & Managers
• Workforce Development Directors
• University and College Faculty
• Graduate-level Student Economic Development Professionals
• University-Industry Liaisons

Types of Presentations:
UEDA is seeking a variety of presentation styles to fill concurrent session spots. Workshops, roundtables, interactive activities, etc. are all encouraged – the more engaging the better! Each session will be about one hour in length. We may choose to combine your presentation with other submissions or presenters to fill out the full session. Innovative, interactive, and creative sessions topics and styles are strongly encouraged. All Specialty needs (e.g. presentation audio/video, etc.) should be identified up front.

• Panel Discussion
  Typically, for panel discussion sessions there is a session moderator and 2-3 panelists.  This type of presentation should be permitted with elements of audience engagement beyond the Q&A period.
• Workshop
  Workshop sessions at the Summit should include an introductory portion for presenters to introduce their presentation, followed by a more interactive and intensive group discussion surrounding the topic presented.
• Experiential Learning
  Experiential learning is a process through which participants develop knowledge, skills, and values from direct experiences outside the traditional conference setting. While the Summit schedule is very tight, we welcome new ways to challenge the traditional conference environment.
  
• Lightning Round
  Lightning Round sessions provide best practices around a single broad topic in an expedited format. Each presenter will have five minutes to present their idea in a quick, engaging, and inspirational way while using limited presentation materials. Immediately following the presentations, a question and comment session with the audience will take amongst all presenters.

The themes of talent, innovation, and place encompass a variety of topics. The Lightning Round relies on each presenters’ interpretation of ideas tying back to the core themes. Presentations can highlight an existing program or initiative, a conceptual idea, or research around any of the individual or combination of the themes.

Review Criteria
UEDA’s Summit committee will review all proposals and will recommend submissions based on the following criteria:

• Content: clarity of purpose and appropriateness to the topic and audience
• Relevance: alignment of proposal to conference theme
• Balance: variety of topics against other proposals

The agenda committee may work with session leaders to refine topics and ideas or potentially combine similar session proposals.

Submission Form
This worksheet provides the information you will be asked to submit online. Please submit all conference proposal information via the Summit Application Portal button.