The P21WWUG CONNECT 2026 is one of the most anticipated user group events, especially for the North American Prophet 21 user community. As attendees and sponsors of multiple editions, we’re back with more key insights you should know as you prepare to head over to the conference
Dates: Sunday, August 16 through Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Venue: Hyatt Regency Orlando, 9801 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819
Key contact: cheryl@p21ww.org
Meet DCKAP: Gold Sponsors For P21WWUG CONNECT 2026
We’re excited to be back as Gold sponsors for Connect 2026! If you’re looking for an ERP-first integration built by the experts in syncing P21, come meet the team:
Anees M., Director of Implementation
Jayakanth R., Associate Product Director
Sonia Coleman, Public Relations
At Booth #609: DCKAP
Getting to the Venue
From the airport
Orlando International Airport (MCO) is about 12 to 13 miles from the hotel, roughly 15 to 20 minutes by car depending on traffic. The hotel does not run its own airport shuttle, so plan on one of these options:
- Rideshare (Uber or Lyft) or taxi, both available curbside at MCO
- A private car service if you prefer a pre-booked ride
- Lynx public bus service, which connects MCO to a stop near the hotel but takes closer to 40 minutes, best if you are traveling light
If driving or renting a car
Use 9801 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819 for GPS.
The hotel connects directly to the Orange County Convention Center, so build in extra time if there is convention traffic along International Drive. Self-parking at the hotel starts around $45 a night and valet starts around $56, though it is worth confirming current rates when you arrive since these can change.
What to Wear
Orlando in mid-August is hot and humid, with highs typically in the low 90s Fahrenheit. Plan for both the outdoor heat and the chill of the conference rooms. Business casual is your safest bet for sessions, so a collared shirt or blouse paired with khakis or slacks and comfortable closed-toe shoes will fit right in. It’s worth packing a light sweater or blazer too, since meeting rooms and the exhibit hall almost always run colder than you’d expect. Evening networking events call for a slightly more relaxed look, and smart casual works well there.
Outside the hotel, breathable fabrics will serve you far better than anything heavy. A compact umbrella or light rain jacket is a smart addition, given how often afternoon thunderstorms roll through in August. Comfortable walking shoes matter more than you might think, since the hotel is large and connects directly into the convention center, so you’ll be covering real ground each day.
What’s Included and Schedule Highlights
Your registration covers educational sessions, roundtable discussions, and a full slate of networking opportunities, along with breakfast and lunch Monday through Wednesday. The week opens with a welcome reception and cocktail hour on Sunday evening, a relaxed way to start meeting people before the sessions kick off, and Monday evening brings a dedicated networking event of its own.
If this is your first CONNECT, keep an eye out for the first-time attendee reception too. It’s a great way to get oriented early and put some faces to names before the busier parts of the week. This year also puts real focus on the future of the platform, with several Epicor-led sessions on cloud migration woven through the schedule. It starts with a roadmap preview Sunday evening and continues with sessions throughout the week on moving from on-premises Prophet 21 to Epicor Cloud, so those are worth prioritizing if that transition is on your radar.
Recommended Sessions
A few sessions from this year’s lineup are worth carving out time for in particular, based on the ground they cover and who’s presenting.
Work Orders, Production Orders & Assemblies (Building Controls and Solutions)
Jason Bail from Building Controls and Solutions is leading two sessions worth prioritizing if inventory and warehouse operations touch your role. Work Orders, Production Orders & Assemblies walks through production order management from creation to closing and shows how assemblies and light manufacturing connect to inventory and costing. Managing Multiple Warehouses in P21 covers setting up and running multiple warehouse locations, including how purchasing, receiving, transfers, and invoicing shift once you expand to offsite or regional facilities. Both sessions are pitched at an intermediate level, so come with some P21 familiarity already in hand.
Service Contracts and Preventive Maintenance Schedules (Flow Control Group)
Chad Bralley from Flow Control Group is presenting a beginner-friendly session on using service contracts and preventive maintenance schedules to improve your service business. It’s worth attending if your team relies on the Service & Maintenance module. The session covers how customer contracts can control pricing on covered service orders, how to automate billing for those contracts, and how preventive maintenance schedules can generate the orders, parts, and labor for your PM agreements automatically instead of keying each one by hand.
Business Rules Are Dead, Long Live the AI Agent (Belmont Equipment and Technologies)
Mike Cali from Belmont Equipment and Technologies has a strong lineup this year across three sessions. P21 Next Level introduces an independent reporting platform that connects directly to your Prophet 21 SQL Server database, with live dashboards covering cash conversion cycle, customer aging, sales trends, profit exceptions, and more, all without exports or middleware. Business Rules Are Dead: Long Live the AI Agent makes the case that traditional business rules engines are becoming a liability, and shows how AI coding agents are already stepping into that role, sending attendees home with one concrete experiment to try within 30 days. A Practical AI Discussion rounds things out with an honest, practitioner-level look at where AI actually fits into a distribution business today, across operations, sales, purchasing, and customer service.
Optimizing and Designing Scalable EDI Integrations (DCKAP)
DCKAP is presenting a session on optimizing and designing scalable EDI integrations for Epicor Prophet 21, aimed at anyone managing EDI as trading partner requirements and transaction volumes grow more complex. It covers key architectural concepts, best practices for managing multiple trading partners, and strategies for handling different EDI standards and partner-specific requirements using the DCKAP Integrator.
For exact days, times, and room assignments, check the Session Schedule linked on the conference agenda page, since those details aren’t included in the session description document itself.
Also Good to Know
Member registration runs $750 per person this year, including an added day of sessions and meals compared to past conferences, so the extra cost comes with real added value. If any questions come up before or during the event, Cheryl at Cheryl@p21ww.org is the best person to reach out to.
It’s worth packing plenty of business cards, since vendor showcases and networking sessions are such a central part of the agenda. Don’t forget a portable charger either. Between sessions, the exhibit hall, and evening events, conference days tend to run long, and you’ll want your phone ready the whole time.
See You There!
