2026 Nebraska Planning Conference – The Aftermath

Nebraska can breathe easy, Kearney has once again survived the annual onslaught of planning nerds. By the time this post is published, I’ll hopefully make a full recovery. But I regularly take more steps during the Nebraska Planning Conference than the National APA Conference each year. Even though the National Planning Conference is always in a larger city with a more expansive conference center, I take fewer steps as I’m not involved in putting the event on.

As always, three days of sessions provided an excellent learning opportunity in the planning and zoning field.

Rural Planning at the Nebraska Planning Conference

As it was a planning conference in Nebraska, planning and zoning issues for small towns were at the forefront of much of the discussion. Some of these sessions were:

• Housing Solutions for Nebraska
• Reversing Donut Development: Land Banks and the Vacant Property Registry
• Managing Land Use Impacts Through Right-Sizing Your Zoning Code
• Emerging Issues between the Public Records Act and AI
• Heritage Tourism in Planning
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Building a Great Trail Network
• Pulaski, Iowa: Small Town America’s Changing Cultural Landscapes

Welcome Keynote Speaker: The Beautifully Bearded Planners

Each year the Nebraska Planning Conference (#NEPC26) has two different keynote speakers. A Welcome Keynote speaks on the first day of the event, and a Conference Keynote speaks the following morning. This year, the conference had the Beautifully Bearded Planners as the Welcome Keynote.

TJ Dlubac, AICP (LinkedIn) and Josh Olhava, AICP (LinkedIn) make up the Beautifully Bearded Planners. These jolly fellows are full of energy, putting on a good show for those attending. They were able to get a good message across while getting a few chuckles as well.

Conference Keynote: Clint! Runge

The following day, Clint! Runge (LinkedIn) spoke to those in attendance as the Conference Keynote. Clint! Runge is CEO & Founder of Archrival, a youth culture agency that reinvents how brands win the hearts and minds of young adults. At the conference, he provided an energetic, passionate speech about the difference in the generations and how it can affect community planning and placemaking.

Provided below is a TEDx video where Clint! discusses the impact of technology on marketing and discusses how we should disconnect occasionally to experience life a little more.

Annual Awards Banquet

Beyond the regular educational offerings, the Nebraska Planning Conference also holds an awards banquet where the organizations reward those who have done exemplary things in the planning field. The Nebraska Planning and Zoning Association (@NPZA) and the Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Association (@APA_Nebraska) hand out a few awards each year during this gala.

This year, the conference organizers provided a little ambiance during the social hour before the awards. The Kearney Jazz Society pulled out their musical instruments and set the mood for the gathering. It was a great touch to start things off. A few tears were shed afterwards though as NPZA celebrated its 60th anniversary with a slideshow with images through the years. We also celebrated long-term NPZA member Char Carpenter and wished her well in retirement.

Throwing Bags for Scholarships

One of the highlights of the conference was the Nebraska Planning Conference Cornhole Tournament! Twenty teams faced off in the tournament, with proceeds going to a scholarship fund for future planners at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Once again, this event was a big hit with proceeds going to a good cause.

Closing out the Nebraska Planning Conference

Once again, NEPC proved to be an affordable source of planning and zoning information for small-town city clerks, planning commissioners, and rural county zoning administrators.

 


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