Hello HVAC,

HVACR industry professionals convened at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate the first annual HVACR Educators Day and the 18^th annual National HVACR Education conference. To get the conference off to an energetic and exciting start, Jeff Bledsoe, Manager of Contractor Development at Daikin Comfort Technologies officially welcomed all attendees and introduced the Taiko drummers, who performed an electrifying collection of percussive works. This was truly an exciting and impactful way to kick off this all-important industry event that has grown by leaps and bounds since its initial gathering in 2007. At this year’s conference, educators and those on the front lines of HVACR training met, and networked with, the 75 exhibitors, 90+ presenters, and nearly 1300 of their new best friends, colleagues and associates. By sponsoring the 2025 National Education Conference, Daikin has once again affirmed its commitment to the HVACR industry and its educators and trainers.

This year at the South Point Hotel, 25 members of the Daikin training team were on hand to cover, discuss and answer questions from attendees regarding a wide range of topics that included Karine Leblanc’s session on emotional intelligence for educators, Stephen McKennon’s session on the future of water-to-air heat pumps, James Branyon’s session on brazing Techniques, Mark McQuay’s session on optimizing VRV systems with cloud-based intelligence, and Matthew Stapp’s session on refrigerant flow in inverter systems.

As part of this event, Jeff Bledsoe conducted a session that revolved around Daikin’s Educational Partnership Program and how it is investing in the future of HVACR education. Attendees of this session learned how their schools and students can benefit from industry-leading resources, including access to Daikin’s HVAC Learning Campus and specialized ESCO certifications on Daikin equipment.

Although many participating organizations, associations and manufacturing companies identify as competitors in the HVACR marketplace, at this event they all pull on the same side of the rope as they rally together to help educators, trainers and teachers gain the skills, expertise, equipment, and resources they need to best serve their students as they seek employment in our ever-changing industry. As Jeff Bledsoe from Daikin stated, “We are excited to see so many equipment manufacturers here to support our schools and teachers. If you look around the exhibit floor, you’ll see representatives from Mitsubishi, LG, Midea, Fujitsu, Bosch, Inaba Denko, and other manufacturers of air conditioning and heating equipment. If our industry is to succeed and continue to advance and move forward, it is our job to work collectively as a unified force to help those who are tasked with building and strengthening our industry and those who work in it. There are no competitors at this conference; we are all allies who have common goals and aspirations for the industry we love.”

Although the 2025 HVAC Excellence National Education Conference is in our rearview mirrors, the 2026 conference is in our future. The 2026 event will be held March 22 – 25, at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information about this upcoming event, visit escogroup.org and click on the conference link.