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Meeting Policies 

Eligibility
APA conventions and conferences are open to association members only – those who are in good standing and up-to-date with their member dues obligations.  

  • All attendees to an APA conference or convention are required to be registered, including exhibitors in the Resource Room.
  •  Spouse and/or local guest registrations are available for non-industry individuals with no affiliation to the fireworks industry who may wish to attend social functions only. 

 Non-Member Company Attendance
 A non-member company representative is permitted to attend an APA meeting one time as a prospective member in order to gain a better understanding of the association’s activities, programming, and networking opportunities provided that: 

  • They are “sponsored” by a current APA member in good standing. Please note: the current member sponsor is not required to pay the prospective members registration fees.
  • The current member sponsor submits a written request to the Executive Director in advance at least 30 days prior to the start of the convention/conference. For the 2025 Winter Conference the deadline is Friday, January 17.   
  • The prospective member submits their registration online and pays associated fees before arriving at the convention. We cannot accommodate non-member attendance requests on-site. 

Members are encouraged to contact the APA staff ahead of time if they have a special circumstance so that we can work with you to find a solution.  

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate on-site registration for non-members, please assist us by avoiding an uncomfortable circumstance. 

Alumni Guest Attendance
Guests who are retired former owner(s) of a pyrotechnic company that is/was an APA member company, may attend the Annual Convention social events only which include the welcome reception, event breakfasts, and evening social functions.   

Alumni guests must pay the appropriate guest / spouse registration fees, and social event ticket fees.

Like non-member guests, Alumni guests must submit a written request to the Executive Director in advance at least 30 days prior to the start of the Convention.  No on-site registration will be permitted. For 2024, the deadline is Friday, August 23.

Nametags/Badges
All attendees are required to wear their nametag/badge at all events, both business and social. 

Nametag/Badge “sharing” or exchange with another person is not permitted.  

Event Tickets
For the Fall convention, event tickets are required to attend social events.  

Attendees are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets ahead of time to assist the APA in providing accurate event headcounts to the hotel, many of which require final counts 4 days in advance. 

On-site ticket sales may or may not be available, subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed. Any tickets sold on-site will carry a $15 surcharge. 

If an event is sold out due to room space and capacity limits, the membership will be notified before capacity is reached and given the opportunity to assess their possible ticket needs before the event is sold out. Refunds will be given for unused event tickets. 

Resource Room Eligibility
Exhibitors in the Resource Room must be APA members. Please note: Trade Association members are NOT eligible to exhibit in the Resource Room. Applications for new membership must be received no later than August 23, 2024, to be eligible to exhibit in the Resource Area. 

Cancellations
Registrations cancelled in writing on or before the stated cut-off deadline will be refunded in full less a $50 processing fee. Because of advanced head count commitments and other costs, the APA incurs, refunds for registrations cancelled after the stated cut-off deadline will be considered on a case-by-case basis and only with the approval of the Executive Director.