2025 ACCCCS Conference FAQs

If this is your first in-person conference or you just want a refresher on how our in-person conferences go, this is for you!

Where will the conference be? This year’s conference will be held at the Chicago Hyatt Centric Magnificent Mile.  We have block of rooms reserved at the conference rate of $229 per night plus applicable feeds and taxes. You are welcome to stay at one of the many other hotels in the area but staying onsite maximizes opportunities for informal connection with other members. If there is no availability in the ACCCCS room block when you book, please contact us at [email protected] so we can see if it possible to expand our block.

What meals are included in my registration fee? Your registration fee includes breakfast on three mornings: Wednesday (May 7), Thursday (May 8), and Friday (May 9). It also includes dinner at the banquet on Thursday (May 8).  All other meals are on your own and are not covered by your registration fee.

Will there be an opportunity to arrange for affinity group meetings? Yes!  We will have a Google doc sign up to allow folks to create specific affinity group meals or meetings together. Please feel free to look at the conference schedule and organize times on the Google doc. Send  announcements to the membership via email if you arrange a group well in advance of the conference and via the app when the conference app has been opened for conference communication.

I hear there are fun outings planned for members on Wednesday afternoon.  What are the outings and when can I sign up? On Wednesday May 7, we have conference programming until about 3pm.  The rest of the afternoon is free for members to connect and explore the host city together.  We have made special arrangements for a couple of outings that members can choose from. It’s a great way to meet and connect with other members in an informal and fun setting, especially if you’re new to the organization or to our in-person conferences. We are working on getting the registration forms up on our website. Once available, you can sign up for an outing under the voluntary excursions tab on our website. We will send another announcement to the group once the links are ready. If you are interested in one of the outings, I encourage you to sign up early, as the spots are limited and have tended to go quickly in the past. Also, because the number of spots is limited, the outings are reserved for ACCCCS members only. If none of the outings speak to you, you can certainly explore the city on your own or gather a group together to see some other sights.

What should I wear to this conference?  Wear whatever makes you comfortable! One of the great things about this conference is that it allows us to step away from our roles in our centers and be ourselves among peers. Once here, you will quickly realize we are a relaxed bunch. You will rarely see suits, ties, or fancy formal clothing, but you may see lots of jeans, polos, t-shirts, sneakers, and sandals.  Some of our members might dress up a tiny bit (think business casual) when presenting and/or for the dinner banquet on Thursday May 8. We encourage you to bring a shirt with your school’s logo to wear on Wednesday morning as a way of connecting people to their institutions.

I have heard long time members talk about the “hospitality room.” What is that? The hospitality room is a space that we have reserved in the past for our members to gather and hangout with one another in the evenings after conference programming is finished.  It is a place to meet other clinical directors, connect, and unwind. We may have a space reserved where people can gather and use as more of a “home base”, but it would have been cost-prohibitive for us to have that room catered. My hope is that we will be able to use our conference app to coordinate gathering places in and around the property. There are sooooo many great places to gather that can accommodate your preferred social environment (loud with crowd, relax and chill, cozy nooks, quiet corners). Whatever your vibe is, you can find it!

When does the conference officially start and end? The conference kicks off with our new members welcome session at 10:00am on Tuesday May 6 followed by a welcome address by our president and our first program at 1:30 pm. There will also be a welcome reception for everyone that evening. Some folks travel on Tuesday morning to arrive by noon while others prefer to arrive the day before.  We end programming around 12 noon on Friday May 9.  Many of us fly out on Friday afternoon or evening so that we do not miss anything and some of us will stay Friday night to have more time to connect and consult! If you are an incoming Board member, please plan to attend Board meetings on Tuesday May 6th from 8am-11:30 and on Friday May 9th from 8am-9am.

Do you get CE’s for the conference sessions? ACCCCS is approved to offer CE’s through the American Psychological Association.  Depending on conference programming offerings, members can usually obtain up to 12-14 CE’s during the conference.  We recognize that some members may not be able to utilize APA credits, so please check with your state licensing board to see if our credits from APA are accepted.