Call for the Annual Meeting
President Doug Shima, through Secretary Claudia Jenks, and pursuant to the provisions of Article V, Section 5 of the Bylaws, hereby issues the call for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Sunday, August 3 through Thursday, August 7, 2025, at the Albuquerque Marriott.
Respectfully submitted,
Claudia Jenks
52nd Annual Conference Meeting of the NCACC
Albuquerque, New Mexico
By Liz Garcia and Colette Bruggman, NCACC Co-Hosts
Colette has the official hashtag–you guessed it–#2025 NCACC Best Conference Ever! With the 52nd annual conference in Albuquerque just a few months away, the Program Committee, chaired by Casey Forbes (WV), has been meeting to organize an incredibly informative and engaging week of educational content. See 2025 NCACC Program Docket Article.
This article outlines some of the day-by-day activities that you and your guests might want to enjoy in the Land of Enchantment when you are not sitting in a conference room. Check out Albuquerque’s guide for fun things to do in your free time during the conference.
Friday August 1. Liz, Colette, and Gary Chambon (MI), Chair of the Convention Assistance Committee, will be in Albuquerque to meet with hotel staff and to welcome some of the Executive Committee members and other early birds. That evening, you have your choice of several activities. From 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., you can go to dinner at Church Street Café and take a ghost tour of Old Town. Or, you can purchase tickets for an interactive dinner detective murder mystery dinner show at our conference hotel, where you can tackle a challenging crime while you feast on a fantastic dinner. Let Liz know if you are interested in the dinner/tour of Old Town so she can make reservations.
Saturday August 2. Albuquerque prides itself on the number and quality of its local producers of food, drinks, and crafts. Near our conference hotel, Winrock Park will be having a free, family friendly event, with local artisans, food trucks, and entertainment, from 8:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. Downtown Grower’s Market runs from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Albuquerque Isotopes will be playing the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday, August 2nd at 6:35 PM. The Isotopes will be wearing Dukes Retro Night jerseys, and there will be a pre-game induction ceremony into the Albuquerque Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. There will also be post-game fireworks. Let Liz know if you are interested in the Isotopes game to make a group reservation.
Sunday August 3. The NCACC conference officially begins in the afternoon! The Albuquerque Museum has free admission that morning and has a wonderful collection of Albuquerque arts and cultural exhibits. The Railyards is also a cool event every Sunday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., which is a non-profit run growers’ market, originally established in 2014 by volunteers and neighborhood residents, celebrating all things local and at the heart of New Mexican culture. The NCACC opening welcome reception from 5:30-7:30 will be at the hotel with great local cuisine and mariachis! During the reception, we will have the NCACC Education Fund Auction (there will be wonderful auction items to benefit the Education Fund) along with the Morgan Thomas Slideshow. And don’t forget to brush up on your karaoke skills for the Hospitality Room.
Monday August 4 and Tuesday August 5. Members will be in educational sessions or vendor demonstrations throughout each day, but the evenings will allow us to enjoy Albuquerque’s amazing scenery. We will cap off our day on Monday with an intriguing, scientific and fun social event at the National Nuclear Museum, sponsored by Thomson-Reuters, with tours of the museum and local food trucks, just a ten-minute bus ride away from our hotel. On Tuesday, we will be attending an authentic and unforgettable social event sponsored by Lexis-Nexis at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the gateway to the 19 pueblos of New Mexico, which will be a sit-down dinner with incredible entertainment. For Monday’s hospitality room, the theme will be Alien Invaders (wear your best Roswell alien outfit) and Tuesday’s hospitality theme will be Hawaiian Luau.
Wednesday August 7. Educational sessions will run all morning, but the afternoon is yours to catch up on email, return phone calls, play in the Joe Lane Memorial Golf Tournament (thanks to Brian Cotta (CA) for organizing), or explore Albuquerque and the surrounding area. We will be doing our awards luncheon on Wednesday to celebrate the award recipients of the 2025 NCACC J.O. Sentell Award and the Morgan Thomas Award. We will be doing our first ever inaugural game night for the NCACC, so get ready for trivia (Great idea President Doug Shima (KS))! If you plan to explore the surrounding area, consider renting a car to explore the beautiful Land of Enchantment– around Albuquerque(i.e. Tram, Albuquerque Bio Park, New Mexico Museum of Natural History, etc.) or Santa Fe, the City Different, an hour’s drive from Albuquerque, or taking the New Mexico Railrunner train to Santa Fe. This year’s conference will feature a conference YAPP, (shout out to Scott Mitchell (AL) for this great app), with lots of local resources for your event planning. Wednesday’s Hospitality theme will be Sports Team Gear. (Go UNM Lobos!)
Thursday August 8. Join us for the early morning fun run/walk at the UNM North Golf Course, which will be followed by additional educational sessions and part II of the business meeting. You won’t want to miss the educational programming, especially the popular What’s Bugging You, so consider sticking around through Thursday evening to hit some of the sights that your packed schedule did not previously allow. The critique session will be beneficial to Deana Williamson (TX) for event planning for the 2026 NCACC Conference in Austin.
The conference page on the website has been updated with the hotel booking link, the online registration, and other information. In the meantime, if you have questions about logistics or activities, please contact Liz (supeag@nmcourts.gov) or Colette (colette.bruggman@jud.ca.gov). We look forward to seeing you in Albuquerque!
Information about adjusting to the higher altitudes can be found here: https://albuquerque.com/adjusting-to-the-albuquerque-elevation/