SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026

# SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026: an exhibitor and attendee guide

What is SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026, and why does it matter now?

SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D is the Society for Human Resource Management's inclusion and diversity conference, the event formerly called SHRM INCLUSION. The 2026 edition runs November 15-18, 2026 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. SHRM frames it as BLUEPRINT for I&D: The Future of Strategic Transformation, three days with the people still building inclusive workplaces. It now sits inside All Things Work 2026, SHRM's combined workforce program.

Who should attend BLUEPRINT for I&D in Nashville?

BLUEPRINT for I&D is built for the people who own inclusion work inside an organization. SHRM points it at high-performing leaders, I&D specialists, and HR professionals, and its preconference is designed for HR professionals, CHROs, in-house counsel, and I&D leaders. The agenda reaches across disability and neurodiversity, religious accommodation, gender and women's advancement, caregivers, veterans, global inclusion, belonging, civility, AI and more, so most functions touching the workforce find a track.

When is BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026, and what are the marketplace hours?

SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026 runs November 15-18, 2026. The All Things Work Marketplace, the exhibit floor, is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the two full days. Registration opens earlier, running 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the Sunday. All times are in Central Time (CT). The busiest floor stretches are the midday hours when no plenary competes.

How can a team divide the four days at BLUEPRINT for I&D?

SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D spreads across four days. The All Things Work Marketplace is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the two middle days, a six-hour exhibit window each. Plenaries sit first, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and the final morning runs registration from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. Learning anchors the mornings; the floor owns the middle of each day. Plan the four days

Where is the conference held inside Gaylord Opryland?

BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026 will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN, a resort and convention complex that hosts the sessions and houses attendees on-site. Its street address is 2800 Opryland Dr, Nashville, TN 37214. Plenaries, breakouts and the shared marketplace all sit inside the Gaylord Opryland Resort campus, so moving between a session and a booth stays within one building.

How do attendees reach the Gaylord Opryland Resort?

The resort address is 2800 Opryland Dr, Nashville, TN 37214. The nearest airport is Nashville International Airport (BNA), about 8.3 miles away. Public transit is thinner: the closest rail stop, Hermitage Station, is approximately 13 miles out. On-site, parking is listed at $37.00 daily, with valet at $55.00 daily. Rideshare is the simplest airport transfer.

What does a BLUEPRINT for I&D pass cost?

A standard in-person all-access pass to BLUEPRINT for I&D is $1,995 for SHRM members and $2,395 for nonmembers, with the nonmember rate bundling a 1-year SHRM membership. After November 14 the member rate increases to $2,195 for onsite registration. Groups of five or more receive 10% off member rates.

What badge, age, and cancellation rules apply?

SHRM enforces a shared code of conduct. Anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to register or attend, conference badges must be worn at all times, and each individual badge needs to be picked up by the individual attendee. Confirmed registrants get a full refund minus a $250 cancellation fee for general attendees through August 15, 2026.

The attendee list may be shared with select sponsors for marketing purposes only, and accessibility support such as ASL interpretation must be requested at least 7 calendar days before the event.

Where should attendees stay for BLUEPRINT for I&D?

Attendees stay at the venue itself. BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026 will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN. SHRM runs an official hotel block on-site, so reserving a room in that block keeps attendees where the sessions happen. The SHRM BLUEPRINT for I&D 2026 Housing Deadline was October 28, 2026, which has already passed, so remaining rooms fall to standard resort availability rather than the discounted block.

What travel window protects the most useful hours?

Nashville International Airport (BNA) sits about 8.3 miles from the resort. Registration runs 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the Sunday, and the last morning keeps registration open 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. before the close. An arrival on Saturday or early Sunday, and a Wednesday afternoon flight home, covers the opening reception through the closing plenary without a clipped session. Map the travel window

Which exhibitors share the All Things Work marketplace?

BLUEPRINT for I&D is one of several events feeding one shared exhibitor marketplace serving attendees across multiple events. That floor spans BLUEPRINT for I&D, Linkage Leadership Institute, Skills Accelerator, so a single booth reaches HR leaders, decision-makers, and workplace innovators from all three. One exhibitor confirmed through editorial coverage is Public Knowledge at booth #625.

Can the published directory confirm who is exhibiting?

The BLUEPRINT for I&D directory and floor plan run on Map Your Show inside one shared exhibitor marketplace serving attendees across multiple events. One exhibitor, Public Knowledge at booth #625, is confirmed through editorial coverage. A listed-exhibitor count and a product-category count were not posted in the reviewed snapshots, so the full directory size and roster cannot be verified for this edition.

Which sessions and speakers anchor the program?

The BLUEPRINT for I&D main-stage keynote is The New Legal Era, delivered by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow of NYU. Another named voice is Dr. Stephanie Creary of the Wharton School. Sessions run across five content tracks: Strategic I&D, Employee Experience and Inclusive Cultures, I&D and Legal Compliance, AI Impacts and Opportunities for Inclusion, and Broadening the Workforce Funnel. SHRM-certified attendees can earn 24 PDCs toward recertification.

How much marketplace time is open for exhibitor meetings?

Across the two full days, the All Things Work Marketplace is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the main bookable window for exhibitor meetings. Plenaries run 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and the floor opens afterward, so early mornings are not meeting time. The Sunday opening reception, 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and structured networking like Brain Dates add less formal windows.

Who attends, and does the audience fit a revenue team?

The room skews to practitioners, not casual browsers. SHRM markets the shared floor to senior HR leaders and workplace decision-makers, and points the conference at high-performing leaders, I&D specialists, and HR professionals. The preconference specifically draws CHROs and in-house counsel alongside I&D leaders. For a team selling into HR, that senior, cross-functional mix reads as a strong fit, though no audited job-function split is published.

Can exhibitors identify named target accounts in advance?

Identifying named target accounts before BLUEPRINT for I&D is not possible from public data. SHRM markets the shared floor to decision-makers and workplace innovators across HR, inside one shared exhibitor marketplace serving attendees across multiple events, but publishes no registered-company or attending-account roster. Account selection stays a working hypothesis built from role and firmographic fit until a contact confirms they will attend.

What does the BLUEPRINT event app and attendee portal do?

BLUEPRINT for I&D runs on SHRM's event mobile app, attendee portal, and badge scanners. Attendees keep the mobile app and attendee portal for 30 days post-conference, which carries livestreamed sessions and materials past the closing day. SHRM also sells a Mobile App Sponsor package at $11,000 that places a brand on the app's splash screen for every user.

Where does the event app stop and lead capture begin?

The app and portal handle planning and networking; lead capture is a separate, exhibitor-side function. The event mobile app, attendee portal, and badge scanners let participants connect, while Participant Registration Data may be captured for exhibitors and sponsors if a participant chooses to share it. Session-level capture is a paid add-on: a sponsor can receive a badge scan list of session attendees provided after the event.

What does it cost to exhibit in the ATW marketplace?

Exhibit space sits in the shared All Things Work Marketplace. A 10x10 in-line booth is listed at $3,500, a 10x10 corner at $3,800, a 10x20 in-line at $6,800, and a 20x20 island with 4 corners at $14,500.

Each booth includes one complimentary full conference registration to BLUEPRINT for I&D. Sponsorships are priced separately, from a Plenary Session Sponsor at $22,000 down to smaller app and notebook packages.

How should exhibitors staff a booth across marketplace hours?

The All Things Work Marketplace is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on its two full days, six hours each or twelve floor hours, plus the Sunday reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the first chance to work the floor before Monday's opening plenary.

At B2Brain's benchmark of 31 scans per productive rep-day, two reps across the two days cover about 124 conversations, enough to work a 10x10 in-line booth listed at $3,500 without leaving the aisle unstaffed. Size the booth team

What official lead-retrieval tool is offered to exhibitors?

SHRM's 2026 materials do not name an official lead-retrieval tool or vendor for BLUEPRINT for I&D. The event policies reference SHRM's attendee portal, event mobile app and badge scanners, and a sponsorship package lists a badge scan list of all session attendees provided to the sponsor after the event for follow-up. No order form or service kit names the product behind that scan.

What can the event's badge capture, and what are its limits?

What a badge scan records at BLUEPRINT for I&D is not documented for 2026. SHRM states that Participant Registration Data may be captured for exhibitors and sponsors if a participant chooses to share it, and that a sponsor can receive a badge scan list of session attendees provided after the event. The fields, device counts, export formats and integrations behind that scan stay unpublished.

How does B2Brain fit alongside the event's capture options?

Whether B2Brain is an alternative to the official capture cannot be confirmed from 2026 sources, because no vendor is named. The event offers self-directed connection through its attendee portal, app and badge scanners, and Participant Registration Data reaches an exhibitor only when a participant chooses to share it. B2Brain organizes target accounts and conversation notes around the published program rather than replacing any SHRM tool.

How should a team decide between capture options?

Choosing between B2Brain, the event's own capture and a manual record is a judgment the 2026 sources leave open. SHRM publishes that a sponsor badge scan list of session attendees arrives after the event, and the same Participant Registration Data reaches sponsors only when a participant chooses to share it. Without a named vendor, a device price or an order deadline, the commercial terms a buyer would weigh are simply not public.

Which details make a BLUEPRINT conversation worth following up?

A useful BLUEPRINT for I&D capture record follows the agenda's own shape. With topics spanning disability and neurodiversity, religious accommodation, gender and women's advancement, caregivers, veterans, global inclusion, belonging, civility and AI, a rep can note which dimension a contact owns, their role among CHROs, in-house counsel and I&D leaders, and the agreed next step, then store it through the badge scanner, attendee portal or event app.

How can exhibitors keep lead quality high on a busy floor?

Lead quality on this floor is about pace, not raw volume. SHRM brands it as one centralized marketplace designed to maximize visibility, networking, and lead generation, aimed at senior HR leaders and workplace decision-makers. Inside a 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. exhibit window, a rep who qualifies on role and need keeps the follow-up list short and workable instead of scanning every passing badge.

What is the follow-up clock after the marketplace closes?

The marketplace's last full day is Tuesday, November 17, 2026, when the floor closes at 4:00 p.m. after running 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. The conference runs November 15-18, 2026 and ends the next morning. B2Brain's lead-decay reading puts most of a conversation's value within two hours and little after a week, so the practical follow-up window closes the following Tuesday, November 24. Time the follow-up

How can a team size the return on a BLUEPRINT booth?

A 10x10 in-line booth is listed at $3,500, and the marketplace is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on its two full days. Two reps scanning at B2Brain's benchmark of 31 per productive rep-day reach about 124 conversations across those two days.

At a 50% qualification rate and a 52% Leads-to-Meeting rate, meetings booked divided by qualified booth leads, that is about 32 booked meetings, or roughly $109 per booked meeting before any other cost. Run the return math