Professional Member Retreat

JAN. 7–8, 2027 · LYNN UNIVERSITY · FLORIDA

Professional Member Retreat

Signals & Strategy

Built by members, for members. Welcome to a retreat planned around you! 51�Թ� Professional Members of all specialties are invited to join us January 7–8 at in Boca Raton, Florida, where we’ll dive into the forces reshaping admissions and independent educational consulting, and chart what’s next.

When you register, you’ll answer a few questions about what you’re experiencing in your practice right now: the shifts, opportunities, and pressures on your business. Your responses then become the topics and conversations at the heart of the program.

Over two days, you’ll work alongside fellow Professional members in small, facilitated groups to identify what’s changing, solve for problems of practice together, forecast what’s next, and help decide what 51�Թ� can do about it. Everything you contribute flows into the first 51�Թ� Field Forecast, a members-only report we’ll crowdsource together during the event.

Registration is now open!

About the Retreat

Retreat Agenda

Featured Speakers

Retreat Fee

Hotel & Travel Information

Cancellation Policy

Aerial View of Baca Raton Inlet Boca Raton Florida

About the Retreat

The Retreat Flow

Day 1 · Thursday, Jan. 7

Signals: What's Changing
Share what you’re seeing in your practice, solve for problems of practice together, hear from experts and seasoned colleagues, and begin to draft field predictions.

Day 2 · Friday, Jan. 8

Strategy: What We Do About It
Sharpen our crowdsourced forecast, decide together what matters most, and leave with strategies and renewed support from your professional community.

You Shape the Program

1 – You share

When you register, answer a few short questions about the changes, challenges, and opportunities you’re seeing in your practice.

2 – We build

51�Թ� uses member responses to design the schedule around the issues that matter most to you.

3 – Together, we dig in

At the retreat, you and fellow members explore those topics, test ideas, and turn them into a shared forecast.

Tangible Takeaways

Field Forecast worksheet

Signals, predictions, and strategies to utilize in your practice.

The 51�Թ� Field Forecast

The members-only report generated together, with attendees credited as contributors.

Retreat Agenda

Session times and speakers are subject to change.

Wednesday, Jan. 6 · Arrivals

Thursday, Jan. 7 · Day 1 · Signals: What’s Changing in Your Practice

8:00 a.m.	Bus departs hotel for Lynn University
8:15–9:00 a.m.	Breakfast
9:00–10:00 a.m.	Opening Keynote: Robert P. Watson, PhD, Lynn University Past Predicts Future: The best forecasters are often the best students of history. Acclaimed historian Dr. Robert Watson draws on the American Revolution, an era of upheaval and reinvention, to reveal how understanding the past sharpens our vision of the future.
10:15–11:30 a.m.	Trend Deep-Dive Breakouts In small, facilitator-led groups, explore the latest data impacting educational consulting and with what you’re seeing in your practice right now.
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	Networking Lunch
12:30–1:30 p.m.	Campus Tour of Lynn University A guided walking tour of the Lynn University campus focused on how they’re innovating and adapting to emerging workforce and higher education trends. Campus Tour of North Broward Preparatory School For K-12 school consultants, an alternate walking tour of this local day and boarding school.
1:30–3:30 p.m.	Solve-athon Fishbowls In small groups, we’ll tackle specific problems of practice identified through the registration survey, developing tangible solutions and helping reframe today’s challenges as opportunities for your practice.
3:30–4:00 p.m.	Networking Break
4:00–4:45 p.m.	Forecasting Workshop In small teams, turn the day’s evidence into one or two predictions about what’s ahead for your practice and the field of independent educational consulting.
4:45–5:30 p.m.	Share-Out: The Prediction Board Goes Live Each team shares a quick headline of its draft prediction and we’re ready for day 2!
5:30–7:00 p.m.	Reception Unwind and keep the conversation going with fellow members.
7:00 p.m.	Bus returns to hotel · Dinner on your own

Friday, Jan. 8 · Day 2 · Strategy: What We Do About It

7:45 a.m.	Bus departs hotel for Lynn University
8:00–8:45 a.m.	Breakfast
8:45–9:45 a.m.	Keynote: Bruce Himelstein Former Ritz-Carlton executive featured in the New York Times bestseller, The New Gold Standard, shares trends in global hospitality and how consultants can build a memorable brand through the experiences they create for students and families. With AI increasingly depleting personal moments, he’ll refocus on how relationships can turn clients into advocates.
10:00–11:00 a.m.	Refinement Sprints We’ll return to our teams to turn drafts into final Forecast entries with clear predictions, the evidence behind it, and the practical recommendatoins for IECs and for 51�Թ�.
11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	Breakout Workshops Attendees will choose from hands-on breakout workshop to turn the week’s big-picture strategy into practical tools you can use with real clients.
12:30–2:00 p.m.	Networking Lunch & Gallery Walk + Member Vote Read every team’s entry, then vote on the strongest predictions, and the ones most worth acting on.
2:00–3:00 p.m.	Commitments & Community See the ranked results and the forecast we created together. 51�Թ� leadership will share association-level actions tied to the top predictions.
3:00 p.m.	Retreat adjourns
3:00–5:00 p.m.	Optional tour of

Featured Speakers

Bruce Himelstein

Bruce Himelstein is an expert in the field of luxury branding. He began his 37-year career in the hospitality industry as a hotel bellman–now he’s known as “one of the top 25 most extraordinary minds in sales and marketing” by HSMAI. Himelstein served as the former Chief Sales & Marketing Officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and later as Chief Marketing Officer for Loews Hotels. He was the first Global Chairman of HSMAI, inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame, and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate degree by SUNY Geneseo.

Robert Watson, PhD

Robert Watson is a professor, author, historian, media commentator and community activist. He joined the faculty of Lynn University in 2007 after spending 15 years teaching at universities around the country. Dr. Watson now serves as Distinguished Professor of American History, Avron Fogelman Research Professor, and Assistant Director of the Center for Citizenship and Civility at Lynn. He has published more than 50 books and approximately 200 scholarly articles, essays and chapters on topics in history and politics.

Retreat Fee

Fee: $395

NOTE: Attendance is capped at 150 IECs. The event will be filled on a first registered, first served basis.

Hotel & Travel Information

Hotel Information

Participants are responsible for their own hotel reservations. Detailed information, including the link to book online, will be provided in the confirmation email sent to registrants immediately after registration. The 51�Թ� hotel rates of $170 and $190 (depending on room type) are valid until December 16, 2026, while rooms are available.

Travel Information

There are three airport options within one hour of Boca Raton. Uber/Lyft fees vary depending on time of day and traffic. A ride sharing sign up list will be included in the registration confirmation email.

Airport	Distance to hotel	Uber/Lyft fees (approximate)
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL)	26 miles / 36 min	$47
President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT)	27 miles / 32 min	$55
Miami International Airport (MIA)	47 miles / 52 min	$80

Parking at the hotel is complimentary.

Cancellation Policy

Retreat cancellations received by December 1, 2026, will receive a 50% refund. After December 1, 2026, there are no refunds for cancellations, nor can we apply a payment to a future event. Those who cancel after December 1, 2026, will forfeit their registration fee.

51�Թ�