QUESTIONS?

Registration FAQ

Yes. Registration can be made onsite at the registration counter in the Main Concourse of the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Your treasurer needs to log in to your district roster page by logging in at www.ohioschoolboards.org, then click “My Account,” then hover over your district box and click “Edit Roster.” Visit the "OSBA Delegate Assembly" webpage for instructions on appointing a delegate.

OSBA Delegate Assembly
  • View a conference registration tutorial video.
  • View a tutorial video on the new process to indicate your district’s delegate and alternate.
  • View a tutorial video showing how to indicate accessibility needs, including food restrictions or handicap-accessible hotel rooms, during the registration process.
  • Learn how to modify conference registrations here.
  • Register for the housing webinar on Aug. 20 to go step-by-step through the process.

Your registration fee provides access to two general sessions, along with more than 150 learning sessions that will cover issues ranging from how to become a more effective board member to implementing a safer school environment for your students. In addition, you will have access to the conference trade show with more than 550 exhibitors and the opportunity to network with thousands of board members and school administrators in attendance.

Please note: meal function tickets must be purchased separately.

Inform your treasurer that you would like to attend the ticketed meal function (OSBA Black Caucus Dinner or Monday Conference Luncheon). Your treasurer can use the conference online registration system to add these additional items.

We’ll be sorry if you won’t be able to join us for this exceptional learning and networking opportunity. If you must cancel your conference registration, refunds will be made only if the registrations are canceled by noon on Friday, Oct. 25. Cancellations can be made online in your conference portal

OSBA encourages substitutions from within a district; contact registration@ohioschoolboards.org to make any changes to your registration. 

There are no refunds for no-shows. Refunds of fees paid will be issued to the district after the conference.

 For cancellation of a ticketed event (OSBA Black Caucus Dinner or Monday Conference Luncheon), you must notify OSBA by noon on Friday, Oct. 25, to receive a full refund or no charge to the district. Cancellations after Oct. 25 will be charged the full amount. There are no refunds for no-shows. Refunds of fees paid will be issued to the district after the conference.

Contact registration@ohioschoolboards.org with additional questions.

Housing FAQ

You must be registered for the conference or exhibiting in the Trade Show to request conference housing.

After you are registered for the conference, your district housing contact person will receive a confirmation email with housing codes and other information. Hotel reservations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis beginning on Sept. 17, at 9 a.m. EDT. To make reservations, use the link and unique housing code found in the district housing confirmation email.The housing link will not be available on OSBA’s website. Housing reservations can only be made with your unique housing code to guarantee conference rates and must be made by Thursday, Oct. 17.

Visit the Housing webpage to see the room blocks OSBA has secured at hotels in downtown Columbus. Please note: You must be registered for the conference or exhibiting in the Trade Show to request conference housing.

Yes. All major credit cards will be accepted.

Contact OSBA at housing@ohioschoolboards.org for assistance.

If you cancel a reservation at any time before 5 p.m. on Friday, 1, your credit card will be charged a cancellation fee of $100 for each room canceled.

Changes can be made via the conference housing site by modifying your reservation. Reservations may be modified — including changing hotels, the name on the reservation or the dates of the stay — at no charge until Friday, Nov. 1.

No. You should modify your existing reservation to avoid the cancellation fee. You can change hotels, change the name on the reservation or add or delete a day from your stay at no charge by modifying your reservation. If you delete your reservation, you will be charged the cancellation fee.

Public school districts in the state of Ohio are eligible for exemption from the state sales tax and the hotel/motel excise tax in the city of Columbus. To be eligible you must pay with school district funds or a school district credit card. You must also produce a copy of both your district’s Blanket Certificate of Exemption to cover the sales tax and your Hotel/Motel Excise Tax Exemption Certificate for the excise tax upon check-in. 

Note: Your district’s Blanket Certificate of Exemption is not sufficient to exclude payment of the hotel/motel excise tax.

OSBA is offering a free webinar to guide members through the housing process. Go step-by-step through the process with an OSBA staff member who can answer your questions on the process. The webinar will be recorded and available the following week.

OSBA has secured large blocks of rooms at nine downtown Columbus hotels. Four hotels have access directly to the convention center: the Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Drury and Sonesta Columbus Downtown, plus the AC Hotel Downtown Columbus and the Canopy are across the street without a connector. If one of these hotels is your top choice, we cannot guarantee that you will get a room there. All hotels in the housing block are within eight blocks of the convention center. OSBA provides free shuttles for attendees to use to travel to and from the hotels to the convention center during the conference.

Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee all 7,000 attendees their first choice of hotel rooms.

You can't use your points to reserve a room, but you will earn points for your stay. Please provide reward numbers at your check in.

To encourage attendees to only reserve the rooms they need and ensure rooms are available for other attendees

OSBA looks for hotels with close proximity to the convention center that have room rates under $240 per night. Hotel selections are also based on attendee satisfaction surveys

  1. Book only the rooms you need. If you have to cancel rooms, it will cost your district $100 per room.
  2. All hotel reservations require a credit card to guarantee your reservation. The credit card used to guarantee won’t be charged and you can choose at a later date to pay by cash, check or another credit card.
  3. Rooms need to be reserved by Oct. 17! After Oct. 17, group rates cannot be guaranteed.
  4. If you need to make a hotel reservation after Nov. 1, call the hotel to check for availability and room rate.
  5. Hotels are available to all registrants based on hotel availability.
  6. An acknowledgement email will be sent to the district housing contact person after each reservation booking, modification and/or change. If you don’t receive an acknowledgement email, check to see if it was blocked by your district’s spam filter.
  7. OSBA is offering a free webinar at noon on Aug. 20 to guide housing contacts through the housing process. Go step-by-step through the process with an OSBA staff member who can answer your questions. A recording of the webinar will be available following the live webinar.

Contact housing@ohioschoolboards.org with additional questions.

Attendee FAQ

Registration materials, including information on printing badges, are mailed in mid-October. The Conference Guide will be available on-site only; it will not be mailed before the event. Download the Capital Conference app in mid-October to create your schedule and log your credits for your certificate of attendance.

Please open the registration materials upon receiving then. Check the badge information to ensure they are correct and that you received all the necessary materials. Contact registration@ohioschoolboards.org ASAP if corrections need to be made. 

Details about the Annual Business Meeting of the OSBA Delegate Assembly, including instructions on appointing a delegate from your district, are available here. There you can download the Official Business, information on designating your district’s delegate and details on the Business Meeting Briefing on Nov. 13. 

Yes! Conference attendees had an opportunity to earn 5.0 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Yes! All school board members who have registered for the OSBA Capital Conference and Trade Show will automatically receive 25 points towards the Training Award, part of OSBA’s STAR Awards. A Certificate of Attendance will be sent to all attendees who mark attendance at conference sessions and events in the Conference App. To record your sessions in the app, log in to the app and select the “check in” button for the sessions you attend. You can print a certificate of attendance from the app. 

You also can print a 2024 Conference Attendance Certificate form and drop it in the marked boxes at the event or email it to mprice@ohioschoolboards.org.

Below are a list of specific areas of the conference and who to contact.

Event areaContact 
Registrationregistration@ohioschoolboards.org
Hotel or housinghousing@ohioschoolboards.org
Presenter questionsGwen Samet
Student Achievement FairAmanda Husmann
Trade ShowWanda Bloch
other questionsJeff Chambers