2026 Conferences
Join a community of passionate volunteers and adventurers at the Philmont Training Center this year! Expand your skills, explore new ideas, and connect with like-minded leaders while experiencing the magic of Philmont.
With a wide range of courses offered, there is something for everyone!
While you participate in a conference there are programs available for your family members like Kids N Kin and our Silverado groups.
Fee: $160
Register Now: Click Here
Schedule:
PTC Housing and all meals included
Register – Click Here
This conference will provide a working understanding of the district and assistant district commissioner roles, responsibilities, available tools, and resources. You will walk away with strategies on how to develop and lead your team and how to help units thrive and grow while leveraging the vision for “unit service” in your council.
Commissioners play a vital role in helping units, districts, and councils effectively reach youth and families to share the message of Scouting. In this course, you will partner with councils from across the nation as you learn from key members of Scouting America on marketing, membership, and upcoming initiatives. We will dive deep into the issues facing Scouting America today and work together to identify effective methods to grow the Scouting movement.
This conference is appropriate for any commissioner and others interested in expanding Scouting’s impact; primary audience UC, ADC, DC
Connect with fellow commissioners to master Scouting data and corresponding technology designed to elevate unit service. You will learn to navigate key platforms, identify critical metrics, and analyze data specifically tailored to improve unit health and support.
Step into the Unit Service Lab, where strategy meets practice. This course blends big-picture thinking with hands-on skill-building to equip commissioners for real-world service. It is not a sit-and-listen conference — it is a training ground.
Participants will engage in scenario-based learning, immersive roleplay, and collaborative discussions that mirror the challenges units face — while gaining practical tools to apply immediately back home. Subject matter experts and national service leaders will share best practices, and participants will practice collaborating effectively with units, using connection guides to strengthen every program they serve.
This conference is appropriate for any commissioner and others interested in expanding Scouting’s impact. Primary audience: Unit Commissioner with a pre-req to complete online position-specific Unit Commissioner training.
LEARNING PATHWAYS COURSE CATALOG
Building Trust, Strengthening Relationships, and Inspiring Retention
Led by Rev. David Weyrick
Think back over your Scouting journey. Who made the greatest difference in your life? Chances are, it wasn’t a program, a policy, or an award. It was a person. Someone who listened, encouraged, believed in you, or simply made you feel that you mattered.
That’s the power of connections that count!
What if we could bring more of that power into every corner of Scouting? What if we could strengthen trust, turn difficult conversations into opportunities for understanding, recognize when someone is drifting away, and create relationships that inspire Scouts, families, and volunteers to stay?
Join us at Philmont for an engaging, interactive week exploring the human side of Scouting. Discover practical ways to build trust, become a better listener, communicate with greater understanding, navigate conflict, advocate for others, and strengthen the relationships that make Scouting a place people want to belong.
We’ll also explore how positive relationships influence membership retention and how we can reconnect former Scouts and leaders. Because a person’s active Scouting years may end, but their connection to Scouting doesn’t have to.
Through lively discussions, hands-on activities, real-world Scouting situations, and shared experiences, you’ll develop skills you can put to work immediately in your unit, district, council, or wherever you serve. You’ll return home better equipped to serve as a Scouting Relationships Advocate, someone who helps people feel heard, valued, supported, and connected.
This isn’t just another leadership conference. It’s an opportunity to rediscover what makes Scouting work at its very best: people connecting with people.
Come to Philmont. Strengthen your skills. Renew your enthusiasm. Build relationships that last.
Because programs bring people together. Relationships give them reasons to stay.
Links
This weeklong national training equips Scouting leaders with best practices to fully support Scouts with special needs and disabilities, as well as their families, units, districts, and councils. Participants will bridge theory and practice by working directly with families attending the Zia Family Experience and exploring Philmont’s dynamic program areas.
Key topics for this session include relationship-building strategies to grow district and council committees, and actionable methods to increase accessibility and welcome more individuals with special needs into the Scouting program.
Making Scouting Unforgettably FUN! is for all Scout leaders who want to experience surefire ways to add excitement and involvement to their unit’s program. The course is filled to the brim with comprehensive concepts and illustrations that contribute to making Scouting more engaging and rewarding. In addition to eye-opening classroom sessions, participants will take part in a variety of fun-filled patrol challenges featuring an array of outdoor skills.
This conference is facilitated by the author of Making Scouting Unforgettably FUN! and is designed to enliven the book. Registrants are in for a week of entertainment that is certain to inspire and motivate, in addition to enjoying the Philmont Training Center’s weekly festivities.
We look forward to seeing you during the first full week of July at Philmont Scout Ranch, the legendary destination for memorable Scouting fun.
Cost: $430
Cost: $530
Cost: $550
Register Now: Click Here
