The 2026 National Conference will take place at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel in Columbus, OH (50 N 3rd St, Columbus, OH 43215). Holy Mass will be celebrated at nearby St. Joseph Cathedral (212 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215).

The nearest airport to the conference venue is the John Glenn Columbus International Airport, which is located 15 minutes by car from the conference hotel. Note that the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel does not offer shuttle service to and from the airport. Rental cars and rideshare options such as Uber and Lyft are available.

Please view a Google Map of the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel and the surrounding area.

Please plan your travel to allow you to check in, pick up your seminar selection, and visit our vendor hall between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14. The opening plenary session begins at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Wednesday evening, July 15, after a day of conference activities, is intentionally left free for you to explore Columbus.

Don’t miss the closing Mass and final banquet dinner (with a speaker) on Thursday evening, July 16.

The conference concludes on Friday, July 17, after 9 a.m. Holy Mass, allowing conference attendees the opportunity to conveniently travel home.

We will share the full conference schedule as it becomes available.

For the convenience of our conference guests, we are happy to offer the use of our conference app, provided by Whova. Face-to-face interactions – incarnational interactions – are central to ICLE’s very mission, so we hope that the app will enable you to participate and interact actively, building important and lasting connections. We envision the conference app as an additional avenue for our guests to view the conference program (with real-time updates), add sessions to your personal calendar, build connections with other conference participants before, during, and after the conference, network with our premier partners in the vendor hall, and more!

Please note that use of the conference app is completely optional; ICLE will always ensure that conference participants without the app have access to everything they need to make the most of their conference experience.

Holy Mass will be celebrated each day of the conference at St. Joseph Cathedral. Adoration and confession will also be available.

Please join us for Morning Prayer each morning of the conference

Please note that your conference registration does not include overnight lodging. We have reserved a convenient block of rooms for Tuesday, July 14 through Friday, July 15, at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, our conference hotel. (Rooms are limited at the hotel on Monday, July 13. Please contact Megan Fassero, Director of Events and Partnerships, at MFassero@CatholicLiberalEducation.org with questions.)

Please use this link by Monday, June 22, 2026, to reserve your hotel room for the nights of the conference. The special conference rate is $179 / night (plus tax) for a standard king or double queen room. Up to 4 people may stay in the room at no additional cost. The hotel offers a pool, a fitness center, Starbucks location, an on-site restaurant, and more; view the hotel’s amenities here.

Please note the following details about your reservation:

• A credit card is required to guarantee the reservation.
• The reservation is fully cancellable up to 48 hours prior to your arrival. After that time, one night’s room and tax will be charged.
• Parking is not included in the room rate. Valet parking is available for $45 per night or $23 daily, based on availability.
• Hotel check-in time is 4 p.m.; early check-in is not available.

Several parking garages are available in the area surrounding the hotel. View this map for details. The Renaissance suggests the following options:

• Ohio Statehouse Underground Parking Garage
• Gay & 3rd Street Lot
• Long & 3rd Street Lot
• Pearl & Elm Street Garage
• 4th & Elm Parking Garage

Valet parking is available at the hotel for $45 per night or $23 daily, based on availability.

Commuters may wish to consider carpooling to reduce the per person parking cost.

Do you have an announcement, such as an informal meet-up or a job posting, that you’d like to make at this year’s National Conference? Share your announcement with us via this form, and we’ll feature it on our video boards located throughout the event venue.

Wednesday, July 15, all conference participants are given a free evening to explore and enjoy the local area.

Here are some helpful resources to help you plan your evening out:

• Experience Columbus
• Downtown Columbus
• Diocese of Columbus

The Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel is ADA accessible and elevators are available when needed for access to upper floors.

Holy Mass will be celebrated each day of the conference at nearby St. Joseph Cathedral (212 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215), located a 6-minute walk from the hotel.

Overflow seminar sessions on Thursday will take place at:

• Catholic Diocese of Columbus (197 E Gay St, Columbus, OH 43215), a 4-minute walk from the hotel
• Athletic Club of Columbus (136 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215), a 3-minute walk from the hotel

The terrain in this area of Columbus is very flat.

Please contact Director of Events and Partnerships Fassero with any questions or concerns at mfassero@CatholicLiberalEducation.org.

In this time of great educational renewal, we are edified and blessed to know and partner with many organizations and apostolates who are each playing a unique role in expanding the return to truth, goodness, and beauty.

Our conference vendors represent a variety of apostolates working together to serve the vast landscape of school and communities seeking to capture the fullness of the Church’s rich offerings.

We are thankful for their presence here at our National Conference, and we encourage you to get to know them by visiting their tables. Please take advantage of specific vendor time on the schedule, as well as other opportunities to interact with our vendors throughout the conference.

If you would like us to be aware of your dietary needs and restrictions, please take a moment to complete our Conference Attendee Form by June 1. This will assist us greatly with planning food and beverage service for the National Conference. Dietary needs received after July 7 are not able to be accommodated.

Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) are granted for participation in ICLE workshops, programs, and events. You may request a certificate of attendance for full, in-person attendance at a previous event HERE.

Heads of school can request certificates for teachers who have completed the livestream training HERE. The head of the school will need to confirm that the teacher participated in the full event and sign the certificate.

If you find yourself with time to explore Columbus and the surrounding areas, these sites may be helpful to you:

• Experience Columbus
• Downtown Columbus
• Diocese of Columbus
• Visit Ohio

A nursing lounge is available for nursing mothers and babies. Please see the the ICLE tables for access to the room.

Free conference guest wi-fi is available in the conference event spaces and in the hotel public spaces. Hotel guests are encouraged to sign up for free to become Marriott Bonvoy members in advance of the conference in order to receive complimentary in-room internet access.

• Luggage storage will be available at the hotel front desk on the first and last days of the conference.
• The dress code for the conference is business casual.
• The average high temperature in Columbus in July is 84°F and the average low is 66°F.

Every year, our seminars are a much-loved highlight of the National Conference! Every conference participant selects in advance a seminar to attend. A link to the seminar readings, as well as instructions from the session leader, will be provided.