Milestones Reached at 2025 CONVERGE

By Mike , NADP Executive Director

Recently, in Indian Wells, California, NADP held its annual conference, CONVERGE—the principal meeting for the dental benefits industry.  More than 700 people attended three days of fast-paced general sessions, breakouts, “Discovery Zone” demonstrations, and workgroup and commission meetings. This year’s CONVERGE tied last year’s record attendance and also established several firsts for NADP, a few of which are discussed below.

“Can You Tell Me Where It Hurts?” – At this general session, CONVERGE attendees viewed the results of a survey highlighting the “pain points” experienced by dental office managers when working with dental insurance. A panel that included Penny Reed, heading the American Association of Dental Office Managers, then discussed the emerging partnership between NADP and AADOM – including establishing cross-association workgroups to examine ways to be better partners.

Provider Keynote – Continuing the theme of welcoming the provider perspective, CONVERGE’s keynote speaker was Dr. Simone Ellis, a dentist who frequently focuses on working with and coaching providers. In addition to reminding us of the importance of our oral health mission, Dr. Ellis, constructively challenged the industry to break down barriers and simplify workflows for our provider partners.

Exhibit Hall – In 2025, we expanded our exhibit hall to 42 booths and still had a waiting list of companies wishing to exhibit. I toured the exhibit hall three times, and it was buzzing each time. I also chatted with the large majority of exhibitors and received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the foot traffic, logistics, and overall experience. I thank our exhibitors for their enthusiasm and continued patronage. They are critical to the success of CONVERGE.

New Attendees and Ambassadors – CONVERGE 2025 included 93 first time attendees and 38 attendees from new member companies. 47 attendees were from companies that are not NADP members. Much as we try to seamlessly onboard our newbies, attending and maximizing your first CONVERGE is daunting. Again this year, NADP appointed 8 stellar veteran volunteers as “ambassadors” to serve as sherpas for the newbies. My special thanks is offered to these volunteers.

Simultaneous “DZ Demo” Stages – One of the coolest parts of CONVERGE are the Discovery Zone Demonstrations through which new industry solutions are presented in mini-sessions to intimate audiences of interested people. The popularity of the DZ Demos reached the point that, this year, CONVERGE offered concurrent, well-attended DZ Demos.

In-Person Consortium Session – NADP members can opt into a consortium that focuses on expert-facilitated problem-solving on a complex, member-selected industry concern. This year’s consortium, for the first time, included an in-person session at the conclusion of CONVERGE. Facilitated by HealthScape Advisors, the spirited session included a proctored debate about provider credentialing approaches and presented a tool-box of materials to the 59 plan-participants focused on provider network administration best practices.

Sold-out Hotel – The Grand Hyatt is a lovely hotel but CONVERGE 2025 was a size ten foot in a size nine shoe. We sold out the hotel and then sold out the back-up room block at the nearby Renaissance hotel. Late-registering attendees needed to stay at very nice, but less convenient properties. As CONVERGE continues to grow, we’ll make sure we work with larger hotels with ample lodging.

At a time when many association conferences are sagging in attendance, CONVERGE is reaching new heights. No doubt, this is primarily attributable to NADP’s enthusiastic and growing membership. I thank NADP’s members and the small but mighty NADP staff for making CONVERGE 2025 successful. See you in Indianapolis in 2026.