Most conference activities (unless otherwise noted) are covered in the full registration fee. PLEASE NOTE FOR 2025: While you can still attend the paper session days of our conference as a walk-in with a day price for each as well as our full-day workshop on Wednesday, for pre-planning necessities it is not possible to sign up for any other events at the conference itself. The Pre-conference Trip, Icebreaker, and Banquet can only be participated in with full pre-registration. Some activities may be limited to members.

Pre-Conference Trip, Wednesday, February 19

A Smoky Mountain Adventure

Please note: The cost of the trip is NOT covered in the full registration fees. See below for details of cost and maximum participant information.

Gear up for a special adventure featuring Pink Jeep Tours. During this exciting pre-conference trip, attendees will get to experience the beauty and wonder of the Great Smoky Mountains, the nation’s most visited National Park!  This tour will offer local, certified adventure guides that will bring the history and magic of the Smoky Mountains to life and show some hidden gems, all while enjoying 4×4 excitement.
Cost: $50 
Limited to 70 participants.

Full Day Workshop, Wednesday, February 19

Extraordinary Training Skill – How to Recognize it and How to Achieve it

Please note: The cost of this workshop is NOT covered in the full registration fee. All proceeds from this workshop go to our conservation fund. CEUs for certified trainers will be available from IATCB.
With no knowledge of the sport, a person experiencing their first basketball game ever might think the high school teams they are watching are as good as the sport gets. They don’t know there is college and professional levels where the game is played at a higher level of artistic expression. In similar ways, with no common knowledge of the science and application of animal training practice, when zoo directors, supervisors and even veterinarians view animal training at their facility they might think it is as good as it gets. Even most animal trainers in zoological facilities don’t know at what level of competency they perform when compared to others in the zoological field. This presentation will explore traits and behaviors of extraordinary trainers. Topics covered will include control as a primary reinforcer, misuse of timeouts, two-way communication, building trusting relationships with animals and staff members, giving animals a voice and a vote in how we interact with them, and much more. This Workshop is designed for all levels of animal training practitioners to learn the most current and artful application of scientific behavior-change principles. 
This six-hour workshop will be facilitated by Steve Martin, Natural Encounters, Inc.
Cost: $100 
Unlimited participants.

Icebreaker, Wednesday, February 19

Covered in the cost of the full registration fee.

Enjoy an evening of catching up with old friends and a chance to meet new ones. Our Icebreaker is always a great opportunity to make new contacts and meet fellow IAATE members and like-minded people. Kick off your conference experience with our Icebreaker on February 19th, featuring a competitive enrichment challenge inspired by the hit Netflix series Nailed It! Put your creativity and ingenuity to the test in teams as you compete for bragging rights and a swag bag from your AEF hosts. Our Icebreaker will also feature a cash bar.

Zoo Day, Friday February 21

Covered in the cost of the full registration fee.

American Eagle Foundation (AEF) will host Zoo Day 2025 at our brand-new headquarters in Kodak, Tennessee. Not only will we provide two sessions of IAATE workshops, allowing more members access to these invaluable learning opportunities, but there will also be plenty of opportunities to see all that AEF has to offer. You’ll be able to tour our 40,000 square feet of aviaries to see native Tennessee raptors, along with observing plenty of flight and enrichment demonstrations by our Avian Care Specialist team! Choose your own adventure and do all of the tour stations, or join us for half and enjoy the workshops! Food trucks will be available for lunch, and we’re also providing a little taste of Appalachia by hosting Smoky Mountain vendors from our community, including arts and crafts, photography, environmental awareness groups, and more! Not only do we want you to enjoy your time at American Eagle Foundation, but we also want you to take a piece of Tennessee home with you to remember IAATE 2025! 

Workshops, Friday, February 21

The following workshops have limited capacity. Reservations will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis. Space permitting, payment reserves your space. These workshops are NOT covered in the full registration fee. All proceeds from these workshops go to fund our Walt Crawford Memorial Scholarship. CEUs for certified trainers will be available from IATCB.

This conference will offer three different workshops each running in the AM and PM, and one additional workshop running PM only, at our host facility. Interested participants can choose to attend only one workshop from each session as they run concurrently.

Economical Enrichment Creations Workshop

Join us for an engaging, hands-on workshop where we’ll explore creative ways to use newspaper and other readily available materials to craft enrichment items like shreddables and foraging hides. This interactive workshop features various workstations where you’ll learn to create a variety of items, complete with instructions to take home.
This 2-hour workshop will be facilitated by Mary Ewer-Joyner, Lorain County Metro Parks

Limited to 30 participants.
Cost: $35

Flying Free

This workshop will focus on free flying birds, with a solid foundation in safety and welfare. Beginning with prerequisites and skills needed before you ever step foot outside, we will discuss the steps it takes to set birds up for success. There is much to consider when flying birds in an outdoor environment, from understanding what success looks like and how to measure it, evaluating the individual bird and the evaluation of trainer skill sets,  to safety, consistency and more. Add in a few more challenges when flying multiple birds outdoors at once! We will aim to cover as much as possible in this 2-hour workshop with a focus on the challenges of free flight and lessons learned over years of experience.
This 2-hour workshop will be facilitated by Arianna Bailey, Natural Encounters, Inc.
Limited to 30 participants.
Cost: $35

Talons on Trend: Social Media

No marketing background? No problem! We all learn as we go to help our organizations grow an online presence. Social media can be overwhelming with so many things going on. Join AEF’s avian care staff members as we share our experiences with educating on a global scale. We will explore a few different platforms, talk about getting our talons on those fast trends with our birds, and so much more!
This 2-hour workshop will be facilitated by Jessica Hall, American Eagle Foundation
Limited to 30 participants.
Cost: $35

Telemetry 101 – Tracking Tomfoolery (PM ONLY)

New to telemetry? Need a refresher? Join us onsite at AEF for a hands-on workshop designed to introduce attendees to the fundamentals of using radio-frequency telemetry to track your free-flighted birds. This workshop is designed to give beginners the essential skills required to use telemetry effectively– the basic equipment, how it works, and how to use it to keep your birds safe. Come, learn, have fun, and try your hand (and ear!) at tracking down transmitters across the AEF campus!
This 2-hour workshop will be facilitated by Amy Fennell, Natural Encounters, Inc.
Limited to 20 participants.
Cost: $35

Open Board Meeting, TBD

Join your organization’s Board to hear committee reports, financial updates, and general information about the business year in review as well as upcoming endeavors. This is your opportunity to stay updated on the business of your organization and ask any questions you may want to be answered. 

Roundtables, Friday, February 21

Covered in the cost of the full registration fee.

This conference will offer six different roundtable discussions during the evening of Friday, February 21 at our conference hotel. These roundtables will be one hour each in two sessions that run back-to-back. Each one-hour session will feature three different discussion topics that will run concurrently. Interested participants are free to go from one to another if they wish. This year’s topics for group discussion are:

Paper Session Days, Thursday, February 15 and Saturday, February 17

For a full list of speakers and featured speakers on our paper session days, please see the Speakers page. There you will also find a downloadable document including speaker bios and presentation abstracts.
Cost for each day if not registered for full conference: Member: $80; Non-member: $90; Student Member: $50   

Banquet, Saturday, February 22
Covered in the cost of the full registration fee.
The 2025 conference will wrap up in grand style at this year’s banquet. The banquet is a great time to recognize our fellow professionals through our High Flyer and Service Awards and celebrate a successful conference. Included at the banquet is our Photo Contest slide show and winners’ announcement. Our banquet features a full dinner and a cash bar. Great food and great times are assured.

Hospitality

This year’s hospitality suite will be hosted in the HeartSong Suite, perfect for mingling. The hospitality suite presents great opportunities to share information and unwind after a long day of intense learning experiences. This is one of the best ways to share ideas and become inspired by your peers.

Raffles

Help support IAATE! Money raised by our raffles goes to fund our Conservation and Education Grants. You will be able to purchase tickets for raffle drawings held throughout the conference. We will once again have our Conservation Raffle during the banquet. If you would like to donate items, please bring them to the conference or mail them ahead of time. 

If you are shipping packages, please ship to:

American Eagle Foundation

510 Kodak Rd,

Kodak, TN 37764

C/O Robyn Miller or Katelyn Jennings

Conference Grants and Contests

Don’t forget to submit your photos to our Photo Contest as well as your videos for our Behavior Showcase and or apply for a Conservation or Education Grant. Deadlines for grant and contest submissions vary. Please see below for deadlines. For the 2025 conference, grant submissions will not be accepted after the deadline. This is to allow the committees adequate time to consider each entry. Please adhere to the individual deadlines! Please see our Awards & Grants webpage to download application forms and for updated details on how to apply. You can’t win if you don’t apply!

Education Grant Submission Deadline: January 3, 2025

Conservation Grant Submission Deadline: January 3, 2025

Behavior Showcase Video Submission Deadline: January 15, 2025

Photo Contest Submission Deadline: January 15, 2025