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Main Stage

The CGA Conference & Expo Mainstage is the center of inspiration, insight, and connection — bringing together the brightest minds, boldest voices, and most influential leaders in the damage prevention industry.

Join us each day for powerful keynote presentations, thought-provoking panels, and special sessions that will energize your thinking and elevate your work. Whether it’s groundbreaking research, industry forecasts, or personal stories that spark change, the Mainstage is where big ideas take the spotlight.

CGA Welcome Lunch with Keynote Speaker Patrick Warren with the NTSB

Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Broadmoor Hall AB

Patrick Warren currently serves as the Director of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations. In this role, he manages nationwide investigations into significant pipeline, rail, transit and hazardous materials accidents including the natural gas fire and explosion of a candy factory in West Reading, PA and the natural gas explosion and fire of a bank in Youngstown, OH.

Throughout his career, Warren has been involved in addressing national pipeline, rail, transit, and aviation safety issues, as well as regulations, operations, and security involving these industries. Warren’s insights into investigation findings, safety recommendations and regulatory implications will provide attendees with an unparalleled understanding of how federal oversight intersects with industry damage prevention efforts.

CGA Keynote Breakfast with Motivational Speaker Garrison Wynn

Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026
8:30 – 9:45 a.m.
Broadmoor Hall AB

With talents that established him as both a Fortune 500 leader and a professional stand-up comedian, Garrison Wynn, CSP, fuses humor, research, and real-world experience to show how anyone can help create a culture of safety. Authentic and relatable, he’s a guy who’s been there—literally: a chemical plant explosion survivor and bestselling author featured in Forbes and Inc. magazines.

For over 25 years, Garrison has delivered keynote presentations to organizations such as Amazon, the National Safety Council, the Governor’s Occupational Safety & Health Conference (GOSH), Chevron, the NFL, and NASA. In his teens, he helped launch the world’s first home video game system (the Magnavox Odyssey). As a young man, he spent six years touring comedy clubs with some of the top names in the business before going on to design industrial safety products still sold in 30 countries today.

CGA Networking Lunch with Featured Speaker Ross Bernstein

“The Champion’s Code: Building Relationships Through Life Lessons of Integrity and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World”

Thursday, Apr. 30, 2026
12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
International Center

The best-selling author of nearly 50 sports books, Ross Bernstein is an award-winning peak performance hall of fame business speaker who’s keynoted conferences for Fortune 500 companies on all seven continents and has been featured on CNN, ESPN, Fox News and “CBS This Morning,” as well as in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today.

Ross’ program is all about the DNA of what makes champions in sports so unique and how that relates to business. It’s based on a series of books he wrote in which he was able to interview more than 1,000 professional athletes and coaches that all had one thing in common — they were all members of championship teams. In his research he concluded that the same metrics and characteristics that were common among champions in sports, were also common among peak performers in business.

There are reasons certain teams win consistently, whereas others don’t, and Ross explains why. It’s based largely on the “Good to Great” concept of how the best companies are able to separate themselves from the rest of the pack through servant leadership, by creating a culture of excellence, by developing deeper relationships, and by giving extraordinary customer service. Ross weaves sports stories, about the DNA of champions, along with stories of companies who he has worked with around the world — and shares best practice ideas on ways to overcome disruption, while ultimately building stronger relationships. At the core of his message is the simple fact that we like to do business with people who we trust, who we like, and who just “get it” — CHAMPIONS.