By Rick Goldstein
APCO 2026’s Food for Thought Lunch on Wednesday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center honored chapters for membership growth, recognized agencies for training accreditation, presented individual honors and looked to next year’s conference in Anaheim. A confidence coach and bestselling author closed with a pitch for why personal confidence pays off for you and those around you.
APCO CEO and Executive Director Mel Maier welcomed attendees to the final day of APCO 2026 and introduced chapter membership awards. The Mid-Eastern Chapter won chapter growth in number of members for adding 1,189 new members. The Pacific Chapter won chapter growth by percentage of new members. The Wyoming Chapter won the award for membership by population density.
APCO President Jack Varnado presented a special international member leadership award to John Anthony of British APCO. Anthony joined the London Fire Brigade at 18 in 1974 and rose to assistant commissioner. He was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire in 2014. He served as British APCO vice president, then president from 2017 to 2023, and continues as a director and trustee. Varnado said Anthony strengthened the partnership among British APCO, APCO Canada and APCO International.
Maier recognized agencies newly accredited under APCO’s Agency Training Program Accreditation standard. He said accreditation reflects an agency’s commitment to national training standards for its staff and community.
Varnado presented the APCO Presidential Award to Sheriff Jayson Richardson and Chief Phillip Daniels of the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. Varnado credited the two with arranging his meetings with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to advocate for public safety telecommunicator reclassification as a protective service occupation and for NG9-1-1 funding. He said the pair championed communications professionals as central to public safety.
San Antonio 2026 Conference Chair Kelle Hall thanked attendees and volunteers, while stressing the utility of the conference for APCO members, vendors and others. “Over the past several days, we’ve learned from one another, shared ideas, celebrated accomplishments and strengthened friendships. Those relationships are what make this conference so meaningful.”
Amanda Garcia of the California Highway Patrol in Los Angeles and Lawrence Lafferty of APCO’s Atlantic Chapter, co-chairs of APCO 2027, invited attendees to next year’s conference in Anaheim.
“From the magic of Disneyland Resort to world-class dining, shopping, entertainment, and beautiful Southern California weather, there’s something for everyone,” Lafferty said.
Comcast Vice President of Compliance Angel Arocha introduced keynote speaker Juan Bendana, whose book, “Confident by Choice,” has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and Rolling Stone.
Bendana listed the elements of confidence: generating energy instead of waiting for motivation, practicing courage by realizing that fear and courage go together, measuring progress against your own effort instead of others’ outcomes, and pursuing goals that exceed your sense of what’s possible.
Bendana said belief, not circumstance, determines whether people act on their goals. He described a high school English teacher, Miss H., who told him he lacked the talent to become a writer. Her words discouraged him for years from pursuing his dream.
When he finally developed a book proposal and submitted it to publishers, rejections were plentiful until he received a different response from Penguin Random House, which offered a deal. So Bendana wrote his former teacher an email telling her that her words were a turning point in his desire to become a writer. The teacher who discouraged him in his sophomore year in high school wound up with the first signed advanced author copy of his book when he visited her classroom and spoke to students.
Psychologists, Bendana said, estimate that 80 percent of a person’s thoughts focus on negativity. “Instead of worrying about problems, look for opportunities,” he said. “Let’s find out what happens when we try. … You can pursue your biggest goals and inspire others to pursue theirs.”
