Welcome to the Big Easy Bulletin, your guide to all the networking and education opportunities that we're bringing to the 2025 NCPA Annual Convention in New Orleans, Oct. 18-21 — and how to spend your off-hours in the city. See you in the Big Easy!

Your passport to a well-rounded expo experience!

Jet around our expo floor this year with our returning Passport Game! On top of putting a fun spin on your experience by getting to know the different exhibitors at the expo, it’s also an opportunity to win free registration for our 2026 Multiple Locations Conference and our next Annual Convention.

It’s simple: You take the passport out of your registration tote and get it stamped by each participating booth on the expo floor. Once your passport is totally filled out, drop off your completed passport in the NCPA lounge to be entered to win!

We’ve got a wide variety of exhibitors signed up as passport stops, including Anda, the Association of Affiliated Pharmacies and Apothecaries, CPA, Liberty Software, McKesson, NCPDP, PCCA, Pfizer, Inc., Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, Pharmacy Providers of Oklahoma, PQS By Innovaccer, Redsail Technologies, RxTechExam, SureCost, VaxServe, and Yaral Pharma Inc.

Want to know more about who’s on the expo floor? Click here to see the up-to-date lineup!

Business education to keep you at the cutting edge of pharmacy practice

Whether you’re an early adopter or not, it’s important to keep an eye on the technologies changing independent pharmacy in real time. Several of the education sessions we’re holding will touch on the hottest topics in pharmacy technology today. Here are some of the options:

Harnessing AI for Pharmacy Success (Oct. 20, 8:15-9:15 a.m.) – Nick Dideriksen, vice president of operations and business technology at VGM Forbin, will highlight where AI is headed, how it can be applied in pharmacy practice, and what pharmacists need to consider when adopting it.
AI-Driven Pharmacy Growth: Tools, Strategies, and Industry Insights (Oct. 18, 4:30-5:15 p.m.) – Nicolette Mathey, CEO of Atrium24, will share AI tools that independent pharmacy owners and staff can leverage to grow their prescribing base, streamline operations, and improve profitability.
Securing Your Pharmacy: A Cyber-Savvy Approach to HIPAA Compliance (Oct. 19, 4:45-5:30 p.m.) – In this session, Trent Thiede, president of PAAS National, will explain how to build out your pharmacy’s security protections in a HIPAA-compliant way.
Firewall Rx: Cybersecurity Frameworks for the Modern Pharmacy (Oct. 20, 3:45-4:30 p.m.) – Chris and Scotty Sykes of Sykes & Company, P.A. will walk attendees through the best ways to protect their pharmacies and patients from breaches and confidently respond when threats arise.

Win free registration for our 2026 convention, MLC, and fly-in all at once

Pharmacists who register and book their housing for the Annual Convention before Sept. 23 won't just get better rates — they'll also be entered into a drawing for free registration to NCPA's three biggest meetings in 2026. That includes our Multiple Locations Conference in Clearwater, Fla.; Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In in Alexandria, Va.; and our Annual Convention in Kansas City, Mo. That's a $2,700 value!

It's a no-brainer. Guarantee yourself a seamless convention experience and a chance to save thousands of dollars by booking your housing today.

One week until poster symposium deadline

The deadline to apply for this year's Innovation in Community Practice Poster Symposium is next Tuesday, Sept. 9. Engage and support your colleagues working to advance community pharmacy practice through research and hear about lessons learned along the way from the experts behind innovative pilot programs, student business plans, and community pharmacy research. The symposium will occur Oct. 19 at the 2025 NCPA Annual Convention in New Orleans, Oct. 18-21.

Sign up for the symposium here; applicants will hear back by Sept. 16. For more information, contact Charlotte Nazar at [email protected].

Putting the “river” in riverside

Just a five-minute walk from the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, the Audubon Aquarium has over 10,000 animals of 530 different species from all over the Americas. It features water-dwelling animals ranging from crawfish to alligators to seahorses and has exhibits based on Caribbean reefs, the Mississippi River, and the Amazon. Plus, it’s kid-friendly.

For more information, check the aquarium’s website.

Thank you to our 2025 sponsors