2026 DIA Annual Conference - Nashville
Overview
Event: DIA (Dental Integrators Association) Annual Conference Dates: April 16-18, 2026 Venue: Margaritaville Hotel, Nashville, TN Room: Seagrass Room (main sessions) / Fins Up - Poolside (reception) / Porch of Indecision (meals) Timezone: Central (America/Chicago)
All session times below are local (Central). Saturday sessions are members-only.
Discord Events
Conference App (Nunify)
Scan the QR code above with your phone camera, or download the Nunify app from the App Store or Play Store, then:
- Open the app and use Appcode: DIA2026, click JOIN
- Enter your email address
- Authorize via OTP sent from DIA2026 (check junk/spam if not received)
- Complete your profile - required fields: Name, Company, Email
The app contains:
- Daily agenda with times, locations, presentation titles, and speaker bios
- Speaker listings with bios and contact info
- Sponsor section with company info and links
- People: Attendees, Speakers, Partners
- Gallery: Hotel info, agenda, candid photos, welcome letters
- Presentations: Speaker slide decks (where shared)
DIA Contact: michelle@dentalintegrators.org | 321-652-8513 | www.dentalintegrators.org
See the Conf App Directions.pdf attachment below for the original instructions and QR code.
Agenda
Thursday, April 16, 2026 (Seagrass Room)
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 pm - 1:10 pm | Opening Remarks | Dan DeSteno, DIA President |
| 1:10 pm - 1:30 pm | Welcome | Lee Rozeboom, Emcee (GreatAmerica) |
| 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm | Building the Leadership Bench: How MSPs Identify, Develop, and Retain Their Next Leaders (Live Feed on Discord) | Dave Cava, PeopleSharp |
| 2:30 pm - 2:50 pm | From Reactive to Responsible: What Dental MSPs Must Own in Security | Derek Kornbluth, Channel Account Executive (BlackPoint) |
| 2:50 pm - 3:10 pm | Break / Partner Networking | |
| 3:10 pm - 4:10 pm | Cyber Insurance and MSP Responsibility (Live Feed on Discord) | Patrick Jacobwith, Sunset Technologies |
| 4:15 pm | Daily Wrap Up | Lee Rozeboom |
| 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm | Welcome Reception (sponsored by GreatAmerica) - Fins Up Poolside | |
| 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Welcome Dinner - Fins Up Poolside |
Friday, April 17, 2026 (Seagrass Room)
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 am - 9:00 am | Breakfast with Partners (Porch of Indecision) | |
| 9:00 am - 9:15 am | Day 2 Opening Remarks | Lee Rozeboom |
| 9:15 am - 10:15 am | Designing an MSP That Can Run Without You for 30 Days (Live Feed on Discord) | Karl Palachuk, Author |
| 10:15 am - 10:45 am | Strategic Development Committee Update | Dan DeSteno, DIA President |
| 10:45 am - 11:00 am | Break / Partner Networking | |
| 11:00 am - 12:00 pm | Financial Optionality: What MSPs Should Fix Before They Are Ready to Exit (Live Feed on Discord) | Reed Warren, IT Valuations |
| 12:05 pm - 12:15 pm | Break / Partner Networking | |
| 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm | Lunch with Partners (Porch of Indecision) | |
| 1:30 pm - 1:50 pm | Think Like an Adversary: How MSPs Outplay Cybercriminals in 2026 | Natalie Suarez, Cybersecurity Advisor (Huntress) |
| 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Executive Synthesis: What Changes Monday and Who Are You Going to Be Accountable to? | Facilitated by Lee Rozeboom with Speakers |
| 3:00 pm | Closing Remarks |
Saturday, April 18, 2026 (Members Only - Seagrass Room)
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:30 am - 9:30 am | Breakfast (Porch of Indecision) |
| 9:30 am - 9:45 am | DIA Housekeeping |
| 9:45 am - 11:45 am | Executive Roundtable: Open discussion, peer problem-solving, and forward planning |
| 12:00 pm | Conference Closing |
Guest Speakers
Karl W. Palachuk - Author / Speaker / Coach
IT Consultant since 1995, pioneer of the managed services business model. Author of 25+ books on running IT consulting practices. Founded IT Service Provider University (2013), Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community (2018), and National Society of IT Service Providers (2021). Previously owned two successful MSPs in Sacramento, CA.
- Website: https://karlpalachuk.com
- Email: karl@karlpalachuk.com
Dave Cava - Owner, PeopleSharp
Owner of PeopleSharp, helping MSPs scale via outsourced recruiting. Previously co-owned Encore Strategic (MSP coaching/peer groups) and Proactive Technologies (NYC MSP, COO/CFO 2007 through 2019 acquisition, INC 5000 seven times). Co-author of The Pumpkin Plan for MSPs (Feb 2024).
- Email: Dave@peoplesharp.com
- Phone: (619) 919-0280
- Website: www.peoplesharp.com
Reed Warren - CEO and CVA, iT Valuations
30+ years in IT services. Completed 100+ M&A transactions, consulted with 400+ companies across 19 countries.
- Email: reed@itvaluations.com
- Phone: 651-235-3019
- Website: www.itvaluations.com
Partners / Sponsors
Emcee & Reception Sponsor
- GreatAmerica Financial Services - Lee Rozeboom. Channel financing partner for MSPs, VARs, and resellers.
Platinum
- BlackPoint - Greg Luebke & Derek Kornbluth. Unified security platform, MDR with 24/7 SOC, purpose-built for MSPs.
- Huntress - Natalie Suarez & Becky Teal. Enterprise-grade cybersecurity for SMB; endpoints, identities, data, employees. https://www.huntress.com/
Gold
- Equus Compute Solutions - Tim Devitt. White-box server and storage solutions integrator. www.equuscs.com
- Jazz Imaging - Aaraon DeCorte & Kienna Villaplana. Intra-oral sensors with lifetime warranty, founded by former DEXIS/Gendex engineers. www.jazzimaging.com
- TouchPoint Medical (formerly ICW) - Matthew Langdon & Kevin Galletto. Ergonomic mounting systems, workstations, carts, and medication management for dental practices.
2025-2026 DIA Board Members
- Dan DeSteno - President
- Christi Thissen
- Dan Edwards
- Sam Suglio
- Tom Goembel
Attachments
Original agenda PDF attached below.
Post-Event Wrap-Up
Conference wrapped Saturday, April 18. Post-event communication from DIA leadership highlighted the following:
What the Room Said
- Widely noted as the best group of speakers and content the DIA has had in a long time.
- High level of honesty and openness in the conversations.
- Members and partners showed up as contributors, not just attendees.
Leadership Notes
- Dan DeSteno completed his first year as DIA President. Three-year vision and plans have been communicated to the membership. DIA leadership publicly expressed support for the direction.
- Partners were recognized for engaging as contributors to the conversation, not just exhibitors.
2027 Planning
- Decision made to stay at Margaritaville Nashville for April 2027 and possibly further rather than rotate venues.
- Rationale: central location (easy travel for most members), strong service, and multi-year pricing that allows DIA to reinvest more intentionally back into the organization.
- Planning for 2027 Annual is already underway.
Next Event
- Mid-Year Meeting: Boston, October 6-8, 2026. See 2026 DIA Mid-Year - Boston.
DTC Takeaways
- Continue cultivating the peer relationships... this group was called out specifically as "second family" energy and that aligns with how DTC has historically engaged with DIA.
- The Blackpoint and Huntress platinum sponsorships are worth tracking as the DTC security stack evolves (CompassOne renewal, SaaS Alerts drop, etc.).
- Reed Warren / iT Valuations content on "financial optionality before exit" is relevant to any future DTC strategic work... worth keeping his contact (reed@itvaluations.com) accessible.
- Karl Palachuk's "MSP that can run without you for 30 days" framework fits DTC's current leadership-through-influence operating model... worth revisiting his material when building out DTC process maturity.