Speaker submissions information

We are reviewing all submissions thoroughly and we will notify all submitters of our final decisions via email by October 29.

The Best Friends National Conference is taking place February 20-22, 2025, in Palm Springs, California. This year’s objective is to provide attendees with actionable strategies and tools to take home and immediately start saving the lives of more dogs and cats in their communities.

Speakers will be selected based on their ability to demonstrate that their session will provide actionable, data-driven, decision-making, and/or goal-setting guidance for attendees to help their organization reach a 90% or higher save rate.

Speakers with a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences will be selected. 

Adhere to all deadlines provided in the speaker portal. If you miss the deadlines, your future submissions may be declined. 

Communicate with Best Friends staff via email as we review your session title, description, and biography for editing purposes. We will also review your presentation content to ensure it adheres to Best Friends’ guiding principles. 

Provide materials, handouts, and copies of your presentation electronically that attendees can download and share your contact information so they can request copies of your materials. 

Rehearse your presentation, especially if you have a co-presenter, to fully prepare for the event day.

Best Friends believes in being kind to all, both two- and four-legged beings. Compassion drives our work to save the lives of animals. As a matter of procedure, a standard internet search, including reviewing publicly available information, will be performed prior to final speaker selection to ensure all selected speakers share this philosophy. 

Best Friends encourages speakers’ employers or sponsors to fund travel expenses. If that is not possible, a travel stipend and/or lodging reservations are available as follows: 

• If you live within 300 miles of the conference venue, you can be reimbursed up to $300 for travel expenses. If you live 301 miles or more from the conference venue, you can be reimbursed up to $400 for travel expenses.  

• We will reserve and pay for your lodging at the conference venue from a February 19 check-in through a February 23 check-out date. Speakers may extend lodging at their own expense. 

Saving the ‘Unsavable’: Overcoming Obstacles to Adoption

Amy Kohlbecker and Jess Cieplinski, Best Friends Animal Society

One challenge we all face in animal welfare: the pet who seems unadoptable. Medium-sized mixed-breed dogs, pets with special needs, and those with medical problems often present obstacles to quick adoption. But there's good news! We can show you how to work with those problems to gain more traction with adopters and help those "unsavable" pets find homes even sooner.

Positive Leadership Through Lifesaving and Euthanasia Decisions

Meaghan Colville, Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society

Lifesaving and euthanasia decisions can divide an organization and jeopardize team spirit. Strong leadership is essential to navigate these decisions and gain buy-in from staff and volunteers. At Cincinnati Animal CARE, we have found a way to bring our team along and allow them to become part of the process from beginning to end. Through transparency, open lines of communication, clear action items, and an "everyone's welcome" attitude, we have developed a supportive and respectful culture that has resulted in a 95% live release rate in 2022, even as a municipal shelter that has more than 4,000 dogs arriving each year. The buy-in from staff, volunteers, and foster caregivers has resulted in more efficiency from a more united team. Our team is now focused on lifesaving rather than criticizing and fighting. This presentation will look at how we developed our culture even when decisions are difficult.

In-Shelter Handling of Dogs with Challenging Behaviors

Aimee Sadler, Dogs Playing for Life

Aggression, mouthy behavior, handling sensitivities — dogs who show these signs of shelter overwhelm often miss out on chances to spend time outside their kennels. And that’s the opposite of what they need! Why not train your personnel to know the principles of safe handling and how to read body language? People with these skills are invaluable in shelters, be they staff or volunteers. Not only can skilled handlers provide basic care and enhanced quality of life to a more diverse population of dogs, but they can also keep themselves safe when a situation escalates and becomes dangerous. Among the topics covered in this session will be reading a dog’s body language throughout an interaction, identifying dogs’ internal motivations, safe handling techniques for when situations escalate, and obtaining more accurate assessments. You’ll also learn how to build a robust behavior-tracking system to aid in communication among handlers. Come find out how to assemble and maintain an educated and skilled workforce capable of handling dogs with challenging behaviors with skill and compassion.

Optimizing Canine Lifesaving: Integrating Behavior and Medical Care in Animal Shelters

Dr. Kim Sanders, Anderson County PAWS

Optimal care, optimal dog: This presentation explores the intersection of canine behavior and medical care within animal shelters. It delves into medication, stress-reduction techniques, enrichment strategies, and behavior-modification approaches to enhance the overall well-being of dogs in shelters and increase lifesaving.

Storytelling for Everyone: Turn Ordinary Into Extraordinary With These 10 Tips

Kristen Peralta, Vintage Pet Rescue
Arin Greenwood, Austin Pets Alive!

In 2022, Kendall Jenner took the world by storm — by cutting a cucumber in an unusual manner. This Kardashian sister made such a viral splash that even a full year later, she was being asked about her cukes by none other than The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. Imagine that — over a year's worth of earned media and close public attention about something as everyday as the slicing of a vegetable. Believe it or not, there are important lessons here for animal shelters and rescue groups! These tips will include: developing the "characters" of your organization into famous personalities — the pets and the people whom the public will get interested in, attached to, and engaged with and who will keep them coming back for more; adding interest to the everyday with a time lapse, music, framing, context, celebrity comparisons, memes, and more; turning pill distribution, feeding time, playgroups, and even laundry into exciting content, a la a Kardashian cutting a cucumber; getting, identifying, and using the most powerful photos and videos to capture your moments and people's interest; working with the media to expand the reach of your storytelling; dealing with criticism and negative comments in ways that won't drag you or your organization down; seizing your viral moments — and knowing what to do next when a post or story spreads; not overthinking your posts and stories — simple can be best and most engaging; and finding your organization's authentic storytelling voice.

The Whole 'Kitten Caboodle': Saving More Kittens Through Community Support

Melissa Jenkins, Operation Catnip
Cameron Moore, Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge

Here in Florida, we dread each kitten season as much as hurricane season. No matter how robust your foster program is or how great your facility is, a shelter is no place for these vulnerable pets, and there are always more kittens than anyone can handle. We’ll offer practical strategies that you can start using today to support your kitten community, bypassing the shelter and getting them on a healthy path to adoption. We’ll show you how to build a full-circle approach employing community help that stops the negative cycle and gives your staff a break next season.