One Conference, Five Tracks, and an AI Showdown: Inside TMSA Elevate 2026, the Transportation Marketing and Sales Conference
TMSA Elevate 2026 is reworking the traditional transportation conference format with role-based tracks, hands-on workshops, and a live Tech & AI showdown built around real-world results instead of sales pitches.
This article breaks down what’s changing, why the event merged leadership and practitioner content into one experience, and what transportation marketing and sales teams can expect this June in Denver.
Virago Marketing CEO Jennie Malafarina recently sat down with Jen Karpus-Romain, Executive Director of TMSA, the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association, on the Freight Marketing Gurus podcast.
TMSA has been serving B2B sales and marketing professionals in transportation and logistics for more than 100 years, and this year’s annual conference is getting a serious rework. If you’re looking for a transportation marketing and sales conference that’s actually built around how you work, this is the conversation that might change your mind.
Here’s what’s coming June 7–9 in Denver, and why Jennie thinks it’s worth your calendar space.
At a glance: TMSA Elevate 2026 is the annual transportation marketing and sales conference hosted by TMSA. It runs June 7–9, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. This year every attendee picks a role-based track (marketing leader, marketing practitioner, sales leader, sales practitioner, or company leader), and the conference opens with a live Tech & AI Showdown keynote. Registration is open at tmsatoday.org. |
Two events became one, on purpose
For a few years, TMSA ran two shows: Elevate, the long-running annual conference, and an Executive Summit in the fall built for leadership. The Summit had a loyal following. People loved the small-group feel. But the surveys kept telling Jen something interesting. Leaders who skipped the Summit and came to Elevate to support their teams would then ask for more high-level content, which already existed at the event they didn’t attend.
At the same time, two other themes kept surfacing. People wanted to network with peers facing the same daily challenges. And the room was split between attendees who wanted big-picture trend content and attendees who wanted tactical, “hit the ground running tomorrow” sessions.
So instead of asking people to travel to two conferences in an already crowded industry calendar, TMSA folded the best of the Executive Summit into Elevate. One show. No either/or.
Who should attend TMSA Elevate 2026? Pick your track
This is the change I’m most excited about. When you register for Elevate, or join TMSA, you now pick a primary track: marketing leader, marketing practitioner, sales leader, sales practitioner, or company leader. You can also add an optional parallel track, which is perfect if you’re a practitioner with your eye on a leadership role, or one of those small-to-mid-size-company folks with “VP of Sales and Marketing” on the business card who never knew which room to walk into.
Each track gets its own facilitated networking time, its own breakout session, and its own hands-on workshop (no laptops, just a workbook and a facilitator) scheduled for the last day so you can apply everything you learned across the conference. And it’s not just an event feature: TMSA’s member portal is now searchable by track year-round.
Jen also made a point of encouraging practitioners to submit for the call for speakers. Standing on a main stage in front of CMOs and VPs is terrifying early in your career. Speaking to a room of your actual peers is a far more approachable way to use the conference as a professional development tool, which, as Jen put it, is one of the most underrated powers of TMSA.
The opening keynote is a Tech & AI Showdown
Forget the sleepy 8 a.m. keynote. This year opens with four competitors going head-to-head for the “Tech Mic Drop” award, complete with a WWE-style belt for the winner, and the audience votes live. The catch: every submission had to be a proven result, not a vendor pitch. Tell us what you actually did, and show us.
The lineup:
- Jeff Price, Marketing Director at Jacksonville Port Authority, on AI-powered sales intelligence for global trade
- Brian Osa, Cartographer Consulting, on rebuilding the CRM in HubSpot for operational clarity and less customer chaos
- Carly Gunby, VP of Revenue at Transfix, on AI-powered freight pricing
- Kameel Gaines, of Brick on Wheels and Atlas AI Growth, on engineering visibility for the AI search era
Each gets eight to ten minutes. There’s something in there for everyone, and honestly, hearing real people walk through what they built and what it produced is the kind of keynote I’d actually wake up for. From there, the main stage still delivers staples like the shippers panel and the economy panel before the tracks take over.
Networking that doesn’t make you hold your drink in a corner
One thing Jen and Jennie agreed on: walking into an opening reception where you know nobody is awkward. So Elevate front-loads thoughtful, low-pressure ways to connect. Sunday includes optional activities for early arrivals and first-timers, plus a Community Give Back where attendees build tie blankets for A Precious Child, alongside a hub of transportation nonprofits like Next Generation in Trucking and Truckers Against Trafficking. Building something with your hands is a much easier way to meet people than small talk.
There’s also a newcomers’ welcome with tables on how to maximize your ROI and membership, speed networking inside the opening reception, and, my personal favorite, a taco bar the first night that actually accommodates everyone’s dietary needs. By the time the cocktail reception rolls around, you already know people.
I’ll add one tip Jen gave for getting your money’s worth: come for all of it. The optional early sessions aren’t filler. They’re the thoughtful touchpoints that make the rest of the conference click.
Why it matters
TMSA is also investing in who comes next, through its Future Forward Volunteer Program with Next Generation in Trucking, which brings junior team members and recently graduated supply chain students into work the show, always paired with a member so they can learn directly from supply chain leaders.
That’s the throughline of this whole redesign: listen to what people are telling you, and build the experience around it. It’s good conference strategy, and frankly, it’s good marketing advice.
Frequently asked questions about TMSA Elevate 2026
When and where is TMSA Elevate 2026?
TMSA Elevate 2026 takes place June 7–9, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. It is the annual transportation marketing and sales conference hosted by TMSA, the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association, which has served the transportation and logistics industry for more than 100 years.
Who should attend TMSA Elevate 2026?
Elevate is built for sales and marketing professionals in transportation and logistics, from practitioners to company leaders. When you register, you choose a primary role-based track: marketing leader, marketing practitioner, sales leader, sales practitioner, or company leader. You can add an optional parallel track if your role spans more than one of those.
What is the format of TMSA Elevate 2026?
This year TMSA merged its fall Executive Summit into Elevate, so leadership and tactical content now live under one roof. The conference opens with a live Tech & AI Showdown keynote, followed by main-stage panels, then role-based breakout sessions, facilitated networking, and hands-on workshops on the final day.
How do I register for TMSA Elevate 2026?
Registration is open at tmsatoday.org, where you also choose your track. Jen recommends arriving early for the optional Sunday sessions, which are designed to help first-timers and newcomers connect before the main programming begins.
TMSA Elevate 2026 runs June 7–9 in Denver. If you do sales or marketing in transportation and logistics, this is the room to be in. Register for Elevate and choose your track at tmsatoday.org.
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