Agenda

Book dedicated time with Awardco specialists before the full event kicks off. Whether you want to dig into recognition strategy, explore platform functionality, or get a demo from a Solutions Engineer, these focused 1:1 sessions are designed to give you personalized answers before the main programming begins.

Have a challenge you're working through? A win worth sharing? Braindates are peer-to-peer conversation sessions designed to get the right people talking to each other. Sign up to host or join a discussion on any recognition topic you're navigating—from program design to executive buy-in to frontline engagement. Some of the best insights at Summit don't come from the stage.

Get focused time with a member of Awardco's Center of Excellence. Bring your real questions—about program design, recognition strategy, maturity, or wherever you're feeling stuck—and walk away with practical guidance tailored to your organization. These sessions fill up fast; book early.

Want to see what's possible before the main event kicks off? Sit down with an Awardco Solutions Engineer for a personalized walkthrough of the platform—whether you want to explore a specific feature, see how other organizations have configured their programs, or just make sure you're getting everything you could be out of Awardco.

Get a head start on Summit. Pick up your badge and materials early, skip the morning rush, and start building the connections that will carry you through the next three days.

Start Summit on your terms. Join us for an optional pre-reception wellness experience designed to help you arrive refreshed, present, and ready to connect. Details to come.

Kick off RCGNZ Summit 2026 in style. Join fellow HR and business leaders for an elevated evening of food, drinks, and conversation as we set the tone for three days of bold ideas and meaningful connections. Theme and details to come.

Fuel up and get oriented. Pick up your badge if you haven't already, grab breakfast, and explore the Product Expo and sponsor booths before the morning program begins. It's the best 90 minutes of the conference to make connections before the room gets moving.

Awardco CEO Steve Sonnenberg and Paige Bennett Carr officially open Summit 2026. Get the lay of the land, hear what's ahead, and settle into three days built around one idea: Recognize What's Next.

In this future-of-work keynote, Heather shows that organizations can change at breakneck speed when they tap into humans’ capacity to adapt. Using vivid stories (like a mop, a burrito, and a hermit crab), she reframes “resistance to change” as an untapped asset—curiosity and collaboration—that can be directed toward what’s next. Leaders learn to move from reacting to disruption to using it as a strategic advantage.

Attendees will learn to:

- Frame better questions that surface problems worth solving

- Adapt faster to new realities with clear mental models for change

- Spot hidden opportunities by mapping patterns from past to future

What does the data actually say about what drives people right now? Awardco's Center of Excellence returns to the mainstage to unveil new original research on employee motivation, recognition effectiveness, and what HR leaders need to know heading into the next era of work. Expect honest findings, practical implications, and a framework you can take back to your team.

Get a first look at where Awardco is taking recognition next. The Awardco product team takes the stage to spotlight major releases, share innovation on the horizon, and show—through real client stories—how the platform is evolving to meet the complexity of modern workforce needs. If you want to know what's possible, this is the session to be in.

Scaling recognition across countries, cultures, and time zones is one of the hardest problems in HR. In this featured client story, hear how a global organization tackled the complexity of multinational rollout—and what it actually took to make recognition feel meaningful at every level of a distributed workforce.

Recharge and keep the conversations going. Grab lunch and spend time in the Product and Sponsor Expo—connect with Awardco product leaders, explore partner solutions, and get inspired by what's possible for your recognition program.

The workplace is changing faster than most HR strategies can keep up. In this provocative mainstage conversation, a leading HR voice challenges conventional thinking on culture, leadership, and the real pressure points facing people teams today. Expect an honest, unfiltered take on where the profession is headed—and what it means for the way you recognize, retain, and lead.

Building a recognition program that works at enterprise scale requires more than a platform—it requires strategy, change management, and executive alignment. In this featured client conversation, hear how one organization evolved their approach, navigated complexity, and made recognition a true business lever across a large, distributed workforce.

Engagement doesn't happen by accident—it's designed. Hear from HR leaders who have built recognition-centered engagement strategies that don't just spark initial participation, but sustain momentum over time. From launch to long-term adoption, they'll share the decisions that made the difference.

What does it actually take to make recognition land across regions, cultures, and languages? Hear from global organizations who've navigated the complexity of multinational rollout—and learn how to build a program that feels both consistent and culturally relevant, no matter where your people are.

Nominations are one of the most powerful—and most underutilized—tools in a recognition program. When done well, they create moments of visibility that reinforce values, spotlight contributions that might otherwise go unnoticed, and drive participation across the entire organization. In this session, COE leaders and client practitioners share how to design a nominations program that actually works: from setting the right criteria and building a submission process people will use, to operationalizing nominations at scale and using them to tell the story of your culture. Includes a look at how leading organizations are using Awardco's nominations functionality to launch new recognition moments and increase program momentum.

Frontline and offline employees are often the hardest to reach—and the most likely to feel invisible. In this session, COE leaders and client practitioners share practical frameworks for activating recognition across deskless, dispersed, and field-based teams. Expect real strategies from real industries: manufacturing, healthcare, retail, hospitality, and more.

What separates a good recognition program from a great one? This panel spotlights creative, high-impact approaches from Awardco clients across industries who are pushing the boundaries of what recognition can do—and the results they've earned because of it.

Traditional milestone programs were built for a workforce that no longer exists. Explore a fresh framework for redesigning service anniversary recognition around the employee experience—shorter tenures, global teams, and higher expectations included. Includes a spotlight on a leading organization's complete rethink of their milestone strategy.

Recognition is a business strategy—but proving it requires more than instinct. In this practical, case-study-driven session, COE leaders walk through how to build an executive-ready ROI story, uncover hidden budget, and make the case for investment at every level of leadership. Back by popular demand.

Benefits are table stakes. Culture is the differentiator. HR leaders from organizations known for standout employee experience share the blueprint behind recognition strategies that actually build culture, align with organizational goals, and drive the kind of engagement that no perks package can replicate.

Keep the energy going before the evening begins. Visit the Product and Sponsor Expo, drop into COE Office Hours for a strategy conversation, or find a peer you've been meaning to talk to all day. This is the unscheduled time that somehow becomes the most valuable hour of Summit.

The highlight of Summit. Close out Day 2 with an evening of celebration, community, and well-earned recognition. The Recognize Awards Ceremony spotlights this year's honorees, and the night wraps with entertainment, connection, and the kind of energy that only comes from being in a room full of people who genuinely care about their people.

Ease into the final day with breakfast and one more pass through the Expo. Connect with sponsors, revisit a product conversation, or simply catch up with peers over coffee before the morning program begins.

Steve Sonnenberg and Paige Bennett Carr open Day 3, recap the energy from yesterday, and set the stage for a morning of powerful keynotes and actionable sessions.

The old tools of success got us here. They won’t take us where we need to go next.

Today’s most effective leaders—especially those responsible for culture, recognition, and engagement—are grappling with a hidden paradox: the very excellence that built their credibility is quietly working against them.

In organizations navigating constant change—new technologies, new workforce expectations, hybrid realities, global teams, and always-on pressure—doing what’s always worked is no longer enough. In fact, it can become the fastest path to burnout, stagnation, or being unintentionally sidelined.

In this provocative and energizing keynote, Henna Pryor, CSP, Workplace Performance Expert and 2x TEDx speaker, flips the script on what modern excellence really looks like. Through powerful storytelling, behavioral science, and deeply practical tools, Henna shows leaders how to train the mental and social muscles required to thrive in a world that refuses to slow down.

This session is especially resonant for leaders who are often the emotional backbone of their organizations—designing recognition strategies, stewarding culture, and guiding others through uncertainty, while rarely being recognized themselves.

Together, we explore:

- Identifying our personal Mindset Monkey Wrenches, the invisible habits that quietly cap performance

- Why toxic positivity fails in real leadership moments (and what works instead)

- The #1 tool leaders need when everything feels urgent and unclear: Neutral Thinking

- Your multi-step action plan for resetting and moving through any change that come your way

With strategies that stick and stories audiences will still be thinking about weeks later, this keynote equips leaders to operate with clarity, confidence, and agency—especially when the pressure is on.

Healthcare organizations face some of the most demanding recognition challenges in any industry. In this featured mainstage case study, hear directly from healthcare leaders about how recognition has become a tool for reducing burnout, retaining clinical staff, and building the kind of culture that supports both their people and their patients.

AI in HR is everywhere—but what does it actually change for recognition practitioners? In this session, COE leaders and client voices cut through the noise and focus on what's working: AI-assisted recognition writing, nomination quality, sentiment analysis, and the guardrails your program needs to keep recognition feeling human.

Recognition isn't just about performance—it's about people feeling safe, seen, and supported. This session explores the deeper connection between recognition, belonging, and psychological safety, and what it actually looks like to build programs that go beyond milestones to reinforce a culture where people can bring their whole selves to work. COE leaders and client voices share frameworks, stories, and honest lessons about designing recognition that strengthens wellbeing, reduces isolation, and builds the kind of trust that makes teams resilient. Whether you're navigating burnout, building inclusion into your program, or simply asking whether your recognition culture is truly human—this is the room to be in.

Recognition data is only as powerful as what you do with it. In this session, learn how to use engagement surveys, feedback loops, and platform data to continuously improve your recognition program—and how to bring employee sentiment into the strategic conversations that shape your culture.

Your recognition program is already delivering value—here's how to prove it. In this workshop-style session, COE leaders walk through the three dimensions of Return on Recognition and give you the tools to measure, communicate, and defend your program's impact to stakeholders at every level.

Switching vendors or relaunching a stalled program is one of the highest-stakes moments in a recognition leader's career. Get a practical change management roadmap that de-risks your transition, helps you design for adoption from day one, and shows you how to use the moment of change as a catalyst for building something better.

Recognition has real business value—but building the case for investment and then proving that investment paid off are two different challenges. This combined workshop tackles both. In the first half, apply a proven change model to reimagine recognition at critical milestones and build a business case that earns genuine leadership buy-in. In the second half, explore the three dimensions of Return on Recognition—administrative efficiency, cultural outcomes, and business performance—and learn how to measure and communicate each one in ways that stick. Walk away with templates, frameworks, and a plan you can put to work immediately.

Where is your recognition program right now—and where does it need to go? This hands-on workshop helps you honestly assess your program's maturity, identify the gaps between where you are and where you want to be, and build a concrete roadmap for getting there. Whether you're strengthening manager enablement, building champion networks, or evolving from a basic launch to a strategic program, you'll leave with a clear picture of your next move and the tools to make it happen.

Most organizations use a fraction of what their recognition platform can do. In this session, Awardco product experts and TAMs walk through the features, configurations, and strategies that separate a basic implementation from a fully optimized program. If you've ever wondered what you're missing, this is the room to be in.

A final chance to connect with peers, visit remaining expo booths, and gather your thoughts before the closing mainstage sessions.

We're saving this one. All we can say right now is that the closing day of RCGNZ Summit 2026 includes a special guest you won't see coming—and won't forget. The kind of voice that makes a room go quiet and leave buzzing. Stay tuned for the announcement, and trust us: you'll want to be in that seat.

You’ve got people sitting on gold—but it’s buried under fear, permission-seeking, or “not yet.”

And it’s costing you—innovation, opportunities, engagement, even customers.

But this isn’t a development issue. It’s an ownership issue.

You already have the talent. You already have the resources. What you’re missing is activation. That’s exactly what FlyGirl does.

Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour brings real-world urgency, unshakable presence, and a message your people can’t un-hear. She cuts through performance posturing, dismantles limiting beliefs, and replaces ‘safe leadership’ with self-led power.

OWN YOUR LEADERSHIP™ isn’t a motivational moment. It’s a leadership shift—one your people will feel, live, and act on long after the applause ends.ers to operate with clarity, confidence, and agency—especially when the pressure is on.

Steve Sonnenberg and the Paige Bennett Carr close out Summit 2026. A moment to reflect on what you've heard, who you've met, and what you're taking back. Recognition is how we make the future feel worth building—and this is where we send you out to do exactly that.