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What You Missed in San Antonio!
Event Recap
Thank you to everyone who joined us in San Antonio for the 2026 SPESA Executive Conference! We tried out a lot of new things this year, and we’re extremely grateful for our attendees’ support and enthusiasm. Not only did we have a great time in San Antonio, we came away with some interesting ideas for future events. As always, you are all a big part of our success, and we look forward to hosting you again soon!
For those of you who weren't able to attend in person, check out the links and recaps below to see what you missed!
2026 Executive Conference Info
Sponsors
This event would not be possible without the support of our incredible 2026 SPESA Executive Conference sponsors! Learn more about them at the links below.
What Was Special About 2026?
Attendee/Member Recognition
Every SPESA event is in a different location and we always make it a point to celebrate what makes our host city unique (its food, its culture, its cowboy hats…). At this year’s event, we also celebrated what makes our attendees unique. In addition to honoring two industry rising stars (read more here), we recognized the attendee who has been in the industry the longest (50+ years!), the attendee who is newest to the industry (less than 1 year), the attendee who traveled the farthest to be with us (all the way from Germany!), the attendee who posed the best question during the conference, and so many more individuals who reflect the depth and diversity of our industry.
Choose Your Own Adventure
On Thursday afternoon, attendees were given the option to pick the session that best fit their business. Roundtable discussions for suppliers and manufacturers gave attendees time to dig into issues specific to their sector of the industry. In addition, focused breakouts exploring strategies for process improvement as well as association resources provided even more opportunities for attendees to be part of the conversation rather than just listening from the audience.
Women Take the Lead
The SPESA team took two major swings at this event. First, we brought in a ringer. Fashion stylist, GQ Insider, and tv personality Michelle Washington served as emcee for the 2026 conference, giving Michael a break for once. Michelle’s energy kept the audience excited and engaged throughout the conference. (Read more here.)
Second, we kicked off the day on Thursday with a breakfast session designed specifically for the women in attendance. While the session was open to all attendees — and several men did choose to listen in — we wanted to provide this extra networking opportunity for attendees to connect in a comfortable setting and ensure their voices were both heard and amplified during the event. However, during the discussion, we realized we made a mistake. Yes, a women’s networking event is absolutely a benefit and we’ll look into adapting the idea for future events. But talking about leadership challenges in a room full of women, while inspiring, was a bit like preaching to the choir. The next time we broach the topic, we’ll make sure the men are in the room to hear it too!
Factory Tours
We rounded out the conference Friday with tours of two local sewn product facilities. At the exclusive industry-focused tour of the San Antonio Shoemakers factory, SPESA attendees walked through the entire shoe-making process from cutting out the leather to tying up the laces for both the company’s commercial and military lines. At Jon Hart Design, attendees got an inside look at the intimate handmade process that creates products that last generations, plus a wander through the storeroom of dreams.
Networking Our Hats Off
We hope that all of our attendees leave our conferences with new knowledge and ideas that will help their business grow (and according to our post-event survey for 2026, they did!). But, really, networking is the name of the game. We know that the opportunity to connect with new and old industry colleagues is just as if not more important than what you learn from our speakers. With that in mind, we packed in more networking than ever before: a beautiful, outdoor reception on the San Antonio Riverwalk; a women’s networking breakfast; three networking breaks on Thursday; a chaotic round of musical chairs-style speed networking in the afternoon that didn’t go quite as we planned but worked better than we expected; and a networking dinner that featured one bar for cocktails and another for custom cowboy hats! There was also an after-party at a dueling piano bar, but we never spill on the after-parties…
Conference Recaps
Educational Sessions
While the networking started the night before, the educational part of the 2026 SPESA Executive Conference officially kicked off on Thursday, October 29th, with a series of presentations, fireside chats, and panel discussions on topics relevant to both suppliers and manufacturers.
Thank you to Devin Steele for providing live updates during the conference. Please be sure to follow his personal accounts (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook) as well as eTextileCommunications (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook) for insights on other industry events and activities.
AI Workshop
On Friday, October 30th, SPESA President Michael McDonald led attendees in an “AI in Action” workshop. Attendees discussed the AI tools they are currently using in their day-to-day activities, as well as their key challenges and goals related to implementing new tools.
Presentations
Here are the slides that were shared during the conference.
Presentation by Bert Feinberg, Frontier Distributors/Phillocraft
Presentation by Rick Horwitch, Bureau Veritas
Presentation by Ned Steiner, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
Please note: The information in the slides was accurate at the time of presentation: October 29, 2027. Given the quickly changing environment, the information cannot be guaranteed beyond the date or presentation.
Speakers: Jeff Pacuska, Stephen Sharp, Gregg Woodcock, Michael McDonald
Photos
Thank you again to Devin Steele for capturing our event! His photos are available here (as well as on his social media accounts).
You can also check out event photos on SPESA's Facebook and Instagram. We will continue to add to these as we collect more photos from attendees. If you have any good ones, please send them to Marie@spesa.org.
SPESA Business
Thursday's educational sessions were topped off with the SPESA Business Meeting. This annual meeting provides SPESA members an opportunity to receive updates about the association and the industry from SPESA’s staff and leadership; recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our members; and elect SPESA's Board of Directors. During the 2026 meeting, Michael Rabin officially took the helm as the new Chairman of SPESA.
A press release covering the Board election results and highlights from the meeting is available here.
The minutes from the SPESA Business Meeting will be sent out to members via email.
Y’all Come Back Now, Ya Hear!
Our next event will be Texprocess Americas, May 11-13, 2027, in Atlanta.
We look forward to seeing you there!
As for the 2027 SPESA conferences, we’re going to be trying out a few new ideas (we like to do that!), so stay tuned for more info.
