NBAA’s 2018 Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference (SDC), which officially kicks off Wednesday morning at the Long Beach Convention Center in California with a theme of "Pursue Your Passion," is on track to exceed 3,000 attendees. The conference, which runs through Friday, will feature more than 30 education sessions and more than 500 exhibitors on the show floor.

Several factors have led to more diversity of attendees at SDC over the years, said conference committee chair Robyn Carpenter. One is the entry of more men into schedulers and dispatchers career fields—positions that were previously occupied primarily by women. And changing communication needs between flight departments and corporations have led to a “trend where it’s not only schedulers and dispatchers at the conference, but also other department personnel, whether maintenance, crewmembers and department leaders,” she said.

There are two opening sessions this year: on Wednesday, Ruben Gonzalez, four-time Olympian and author of best seller The Courage to Succeed, will discuss inspiration and successful goal setting; on Thursday, Shaesta Waiz of Dreams Soar will talk about the planning aspects of her solo trip around the world. Under the Pay It Forward Education Initiative, Waiz will also take a group of high school students to visit a Signature Flight Support location as part of her ongoing work to open industry doors and minds to a new generation.

Each year, NBAA’s mission is to support the show’s host communities during the conference. "Pay it Forward" charity initiatives include the Fit for Duty, a one- to three-mile walk/run, and a clothing drive, now in its eighth year, which distributes gently used business attire donated by the show’s attendees to local men’s and women’s charities to help disadvanaged locals prepare for employement opportunities. “This has always been a goal with the charities, especially with the Pay It Forward initiative," Carpenter told AIN. “They have treated us so well, coming into their community and 'crashing' their area for a week with 3,000 people walking around their streets. We want to give back to the local communities.”

Meanwhile, NBAA's Conference Training Initiative (CTI) and Certified Aviation Manager (CAM) programs will give attendees the chance to earn credit and become recognized through certification. Among the sessions is "Mission Control—Schedulers for Duty," which will analyze fatigue issues and the risk of disconnection in a 24/7/365 work environment. Another, "Decoding the Acronym: Understanding the Language of NextGen," takes the mystery out of avionics technology and looks at important components and deadlines facing operators in the coming years.

“We do find that with a lot of schedulers and dispatchers, our conference and the education that they receive is often the only education they are going to have throughout the year,” said Carpenter. “We make sure that attendees are going away with knowledge that they can use directly in their flight departments. That is our main goal for the conference. Everything else is icing on the cake.”