NGAT Conference Overview

TORNADO FAILS TO STOP THE 63RD ANNUAL NGAT CONFERENCE

The National Guard Association of Texas

(NGAT) was excited to be hosting an inperson conference March 24-27, 2022, at the Kalahari Resorts in Round Rock, Texas, after having to cancel the conference the past two years. But dealing with a pandemic was not enough this year. On the evening of Monday, March 21, 2022, the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions had tornado activity around their facility. This caused them to close their facility for 3 days to assess the damages and ensure the resort was safe for visitors.

In true National Guard fashion the NGAT Staff got to work on rescheduling hotels, events, contracts, food, and travel for those attending the NGAT Conference all while keeping the attendees informed of the constant changes with the hotel. In the end we lost two days of set up time, but you would have never known it with all the support we received from our attendees, corporate sponsors, and Board of Directors. In all, we had over 500 attendees and 66 exhibitors at the Conference, and “sold out” our room block. Our conference finally got underway when the Kalahari Resorts reopened on Friday, Mar 25, 2022, at 11:00 am. Even with changes in the schedule we had a good turnout for the popular License to Carry certification class, wine tasting and the NGAT Educational Foundation Golf Tournament.

Our Friday night welcome party had to be moved indoors due to tornado damages, but everyone had a great time in their animal prints dancing the night away to music by the Melinda Adams Band. There was plenty of BBQ and time to network with attendees.

The NGAT Business Session and General Session were well-attended and fostered very productive ideas and recommendations. The NGAT Board presented the Association’s financial status and discussed legislative initiative. The Army Breakout was conducted by CSM John Sampa and CSM Michelle Thompson.

We were honored to have so many exhibitors at this year’s conference, and to be able to hold the business meeting near the exhibit hall benefited everyone. We closed the evening with our Awards Banquet and dance with music by Carbonlily. Despite not having the ever-popular hospitality rooms during the conference this year, it was still a great conference and a lot was accomplished. We will be returning to the Kalahari Resort for our NGAT Conference in 2024. Hope you will join us then! H

(Photos by SFC (Ret) Chris Evans)