NADL Vision 21 | January 15-17, 2026
SPEAKER SHOWCASE
Get ready to design your future at the 2026 NADL Vision 21 Meeting! This event will focus on building a strong foundation for growth, leadership, and innovation. Through carefully curated sessions, forward-thinking strategies, and hands-on insights, attendees will gain the tools to create their personalized blueprint for long-term success in an ever-evolving industry. Don’t miss this chance to connect with top experts, explore breakthrough ideas, and lay the groundwork for your most successful year yet. Register now and be part of the 2026 NADL Vision 21 Meeting, where your Blueprint for Success begins!
MEGAN NAKANISHI – NAKANISHI DENTAL LABORATORY, INC., CDL & BENNETT NAPIER, CAE – NADL
State of the Industry
Megan Nakanishi is the owner of Nakanishi Dental Laboratory, Inc., CDL in Bellevue, Wash., along with her sister Kaila. Megan joined Nakanishi Dental Laboratory in 2010 after graduating from Seattle University with a degree in business and economics. As third-generation owners, Megan and Kaila are proud to bring the latest expertise in dental technology, customer experience, and manufacturing practices to their family's legacy business. Megan joined the NADL Board of Directors in 2019 and is also a past president of the Washington State Dental Laboratory Association.
Bennett Napier, CAE is a Certified Association Executive and has worked with non-profit associations in the dental industry since 1994. Napier has completed Graduate Certificate work in Public Policy at Florida State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the institute of World Politics. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Applied American Politics and Policy from Florida State University. He has been named one of “Florida’s Top 500 Most Influential Business Leaders” for seven years in a row by Florida Trend Magazine.
DAVID AVRIN, CSP, GSF – THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ADVANTAGE
Keynote: Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With! Responding to a New Generation of Customer Wants, Needs and Expectations
One of the most in-demand and charismatic Customer Experience speakers and consultants in the world today, David Avrin, CSP, GSF, has shared his content-rich, very entertaining and actionable presentations with enthusiastic audiences and organizations across North America and in 28 countries around the world. Recent presentations include Singapore, Bangkok, Melbourne, Brisbane, Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Mumbai, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi, Manila, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, London, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg, and Dubai. David helps organizations better understand and serve their changing customers and clients to help future-proof their businesses by becoming ridiculously easy to do business with.
David's business insights have been featured on thousands of media outlets around the world. He is also the author of five books published in multiple languages including the acclaimed: It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You!, Why Customers Leave (and How to Win Them Back), and his newest book: Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With: A practical guide to giving customers what they want—when and how they want it.
ROB GITMAN – NDX THAYER DENTAL LAB INC., CDL
Business Intelligence: Waste Not, Want Not
Rob Gitman is the General Manager of NDX Thayer, a full service, Certified Dental Laboratory, specializing in anterior esthetics and implant restorations. He has been active in the dental industry for over 45 years and during his career, Rob has consulted with dentists, manufacturers, distributors, publications, trade organizations, and laboratories throughout North America and in Western Europe.
As a published author, he has written articles and lectured internationally to groups on dental laboratory licensure, practical marketing, laboratory profitability, and strategies for buying and selling laboratories. Additionally, he has “ghost written” motivational speeches as well as manuscripts on the subjects of leadership, management, accounting, advertising, marketing, direct sales, fund raising and health care issues.
As an ideal team player, he has served on many non-profit boards. But Rob is especially proud of his service to NADL as a lecturer at NADL University, a contributing author to JDT, a member of the NADL Publications Committee, a past member of the Board of Directors and past president of the NADL.
RICH FRIGON - ONE ON ONE, INC.
Growing and Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders
Rich Frigon's passion are people and teams; developing leaders and teams is his experience. Since 1993, Frigon has been developing his client’s human capital, leaders, and teams. His expertise comes from years of experience in coaching and training, from front-line supervisors to the Board Room and everyone in between. His clients range from domestic companies as small as 10 people to international, global companies with as many as 60,000 employees worldwide.
His unique ability to impact visible and sustainable leadership and team growth comes from years of experience working with a personality and behavioral assessment process to coach individual and team performance. Frigon's consulting strength lies in his coaching skills and his ability to improve individual and team performance with a sincere, intuitive, and practical approach that gets results. Whether he is coaching an up- and-comer, dealing with the most difficult team conflict, poor performers, or personality conflicts, his direct, nurturing, and facilitative approach is intuitive and experience-based. His extensive and diverse business experience and ability to understand personality and behavior have fostered his reputation as an effective leadership coach. Leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners know Frigon for providing pragmatic, effective business advice as it relates to solving people problems, team, and performance issues. Frigon is known for having very strong, sincere, and long-term relationships with his clients, with a passion for customer service and a great customer experience.
CARRIE LING - LIFELIKE DENTAL STUDIO, CDL & JAMIE STOVER, CDT - CARBON, INC.
Beyond AI, New Technologies for your Business
Carrie Ling has owned and operated Lifelike Dental Studio, CDL, Inc. alongside her husband, Chris in their hometown of Temple Texas. Ling is a wife, mother of four and a lab owner. She and her husband started Lifelike Dental Studio in 2005. Over the past 19 years, she has learned how to juggle the many different roles she has played, both in the lab and at home. She says the hardest part of her journey was “learning to have a work/life balance…it is hard to do when you are married to each other and you spend 24/7 together”. Ling is excited about the growth of digital dentistry and looks forward to the opportunities it brings!
Jamie Stover, CDT, is the Senior Manager of Application Strategy and Integration, Oral Health at Carbon. Stover has been a dental laboratory technician for over 25 years and in his current role oversees application support globally for dental materials. He is a consultant for labs and clinicians on streamlining production with the digital workflow, implementing strategies for business growth and development, and utilization of new applications. Stover is a respected educator with dozens of dental technology articles published domestically and internationally, and hundreds of lectures both live and web-based.
Stover is a member of The Dental Technician Alliance of the American College of Prosthodontists, a member of the NADL Business Management Committee, is Chair of the National Board for Certification in Dental Lab Technology, and was awarded the 2021 NADL Merit Award for Outstanding Achievement.
