WORLD ASSOCIATION OF DETECTIVES ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Drake Hotel
Chicago, Illinois, USA • September 2 – 6, 2025
Registration
Register on or before June 1 $650 per member
Register after June 1 $695 per member
A la Carte pricing and registration will be available for select events, NCISS and pre-conference seminars.
Schedule
TUESDAY
SEPT 2
Pick one of the three pre-conference events below - registration required.
9:00AM – 5:00PM - Track 1 - NCISS Annual Meeting – Venetian Room
9:00AM - 5:00PM - Track 2 - Pre-Conference - Coming Soon
9:00AM - 5:00PM - Track 3 - Pre-Conference - Coming Soon
5:00PM – 7:00PM WAD Conference Registration
6:00PM – 8:00PM NCISS Cocktail Hour
(NCISS / WAD Registrants All Welcome)
WEDNESDAY
SEPT 3
9:00AM – 3:00PM WAD Board of Directors Meeting
5:00PM – 7:00PM Conference Registration, Grand Ballroom
5:00PM – 7:30PM Exhibitor Hall Open, Walton Room
5:00PM – 7:30PM WAD Welcome Reception, Grand Ballroom
THURSDAY
SEPT 4
All Day - Freedom Drivers Project Exhibit Open
A mobile exhibit raising awareness about human trafficking across North America
TAT’s Freedom Drivers Project (FDP) is a walk-through mobile exhibit that travels the U.S. and Canada educating audiences about the realities of human trafficking. The exhibit highlights how the transportation industry is helping to end human trafficking, and shares simple action steps anyone can take to make a difference. Learn more.
9:00AM - 3:30PM Exhibit Hall Open, Walton Room
9:00AM – 10:00AM Opening Ceremony, Grand Ballroom
9:00AM - 10:30AM WAD General Business Session, Grand Ballroom
Please join the President and Officers of the World Association of Detectives, Inc. for their general membership meeting and update. WAD will also use this special meeting to recognize our members, leaders, and supports.
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Chuck McLaughlin
CHAIRMAN
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Wes Bearden
PRESIDENT
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Philip Ryffel
1st VICE PRESIDENT
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Juan Giraldo
2nd VICE PRESIDENT
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Roger Bescoby
3rd VICE PRESIDENT
10:30AM - 10:50AM Networking Coffee Break
10:50AM - 12:00PM General Business Session
11:15AM – 12:00PM From Awareness to Action: Combating Human Trafficking with TAT guest address by Sara Sefried
Sara Sefried directs strategic partnerships for TAT, a non-profit organization that educates, equips, empowers, and mobilizes members of key industries and agencies to combat human trafficking. In her role, Sara builds public-private partnerships with leaders and organizations across the U.S. to educate them about the realities of human trafficking so they can be activated to make real change in their communities.
Human trafficking is happening in plain sight, and investigators and security professionals play a critical role in disrupting this crime. This session will provide an eye-opening look into the realities of human trafficking, equipping attendees with the knowledge to recognize the signs and take action. Learn how TAT (Truckers Against Trafficking) is mobilizing key industries to fight back and how you can leverage TAT’s resources and training to make a lasting impact. Walk away empowered to be a frontline defender in recognizing and responding to this crime.
Be sure to visit the TAT exhibit located outside the Drake Hotel.
12:00PM - 2:00PM - Lunch Break
2:15PM – 4:00PM General Business Session
7:00PM WAD Ambassadors Dinner, Location TBD - Registration Required
FRIDAY
SEPT 5
9:00AM – 3:30PM Exhibit Hall Open, Walton Room
9:00AM – 10:30AM General Business and Elections
Join us for the elections of the 101st President, Vice Presidents and Directors.
10:30AM - 10:50AM Networking Coffee Break
10:50AM – 12:00PM International Investigations Panel - Coming soon
Join us for an interactive panel on International Investigations moderated by Mike LaCorte of Conflict International.
12:00PM - 2:00PM - Lunch Break
2:00PM – 3:15PM Seminar Track A, Grand Ballroom - Peter Gallo
The UN in Gaza - An Open Source Expose into UNRWA and Hamas
Peter Gallo is qualified to practice law in three countries and spent 18 years in Asia as a corporate investigator and consultant specializing in anti-money-laundering/counter terrorist financing before joining the UN as an investigator in OIOS – the Office of Internal Oversight Services – which has been.
His “claim to fame” there is that OIOS management tried to question his competence and instructed him – officially and in writing – that as an investigator he must “never ask questions just to satisfy his curiosity…..”
More that ten years on – this is a story that still earns him free drinks.
At the time, however, the Organizations refusal to recognize there might be something slightly strange about such a directive sparked a chain of events that resulted in his leaving the Organization, and he has since been outspoken in his public criticism of the corruption in the Organization. He has been quoted extensively in the press, appeared in a number of television documentaries and testified in front of a congressional committee. He speaks publicly on the need for serious reform of the UN if the Organization is even to survive.
In January 2024, the UN announced that OIOS was going to investigate the information from the Israeli intelligence services that identified 12 UN staff members as terrorists who took part in the 7 October attacks on Israeli civilians. In an Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Peter predicted that that investigation would achieve nothing and simply be a cover-up; something that he was subsequently able to confirm, entirely from open source information.
2:00PM – 3:15PM Seminar Track B, Club International - Jimmie Mesis - PI Income Accelerator
Jimmie Mesis, BAI is recognized as one of America’s most successful private investigators. He has been a licensed PI for more than 40 years and has trained more than 15,000 professional investigators in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Jimmie is a PI marketing consultant and coach and has helped thousands of private investigators generate millions in revenue. He created the PI Income Accelerator System that when followed can easily double or triple PI agency income and clientele.
He is the creator and previous owner of PI Magazine, PI Gear.com, and the PI Directory.com. He is also the Founder and Director of USAbugsweeps.com, the largest TSCM electronic detection company in the United States.
Jimmie’s career as a professional investigator has resulted in numerous national and international PI awards including The WAD Hal Lipset Truth in Action Award. His media appearances include CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Associated Press, and many radio interviews and podcasts. He is often a featured speaker internationally at various conferences and seminars, and he continues to provide mentoring programs and private consulting.
Join him for his PI Income Accelerator Presentation where attendees will learn the specific steps required to significantly increase PI agency income and clientele. This 45 minute fast-paced presentation will be loaded with insider secrets and tips you don’t want your competition to know!
3:15PM - 3:30PM Networking Coffee Break
3:30PM – 4:30PM Seminar Track A, Grand Ballroom - Sara Merchant - Seeking Justice For My Mother; A Journey of Betrayal and Danger
Sara Merchant is a London-based solicitor and has been practising as a civil litigator for over 25 years. Her speciality is catastrophic injuries. Alongside her day job, she also writes as the Secret Solicitor.
Following the suspicious death of her mother in 2014, she began her own inquiry after being shunned by the UK police. She hired private investigators to assist her. This took Sara on a ten-year journey through betrayal and danger to uncover the truth. During the investigation, Sara journaled her experience, which led to her writing a book on the difficulties encountered by the family and the extraordinary challenges they faced.
Sara also provides support and guidance to victims of crime who face jurisdictional issues. Sara continues writing on issues that intertwine her work as a solicitor and other life challenges, alongside the suspicious deaths of other Britons in Pakistan. Born in London and of Pakistani heritage, she lives with her husband, their two children, and a cat.
3:30PM – 4:30PM Seminar Track B, Club International - Coming Soon
6:00PM – 7:00PM Cocktail Reception, Gold Coast Ballroom
7:00PM – 11:00PM Centennial Gala Celebration, Gold Coast Ballroom - Registration Required
The Board of Directors of the World Association of Detectives invites you to our 100th Centennial Gala in the historic Gold Coast Ballroom at the Drake Hotel. The gala will include remarks from both our outgoing and incoming Presidents and the swearing in of the 101st Board of Directors. During the Gala, we will recognize the recipients of The Norman J. Sloan Memorial Award, The Hal Lipset Truth in Action Award, The Neal Holmes Sr./J.D. Vinson, Jr. Security Professional of the Year Award, and The Investigator of the Year Award followed by some fantastic entertainment with Duluth Transit Authority.
SATURDAY
SEPT 6
9:00AM – 12:00PM Exhibit Hall Open, Coffee Service, Walton Room
10:00AM – 11:15AM Seminar, Grand Ballroom - Misty Gillis and Jay Rosenzweig - Investigating DNA
This presentation will focus on combining traditional investigative methods with DNA. We’ll explore how direct-to-consumer DNA testing can not only solve family mysteries, but criminal ones too. We’ll discuss key investigative techniques and how to combine them with the power of DNA testing.
Misty Gillis is a nationally recognized genetic genealogist specializing in adoptee, NPE and law enforcement cold cases. With 15+ years of genealogy experience, she has helped hundreds reconnect with biological relatives and assisted 20+ agencies in solving cases. Misty works at BirthParentFinder.com and Parabon NanoLabs and is a member of the Vidocq Society.
Jay Rosenzweig has been a licensed private investigator in California since 1988. He specializes in locating individuals, specifically birth relatives, connecting thousands with their birth families. Jay is the founder and CEO of BirthParentFinder.com. He is a past president of CALI and currently their Chairman of the Board. Jay was honored with the Distinguished Achievement Award from CALI in June of 2021.
11:30AM – 1:30PM Past President’s Luncheon with Dr. Jeffrey Simon, Grand Ballroom
Jeffrey D. Simon is an internationally recognized author, lecturer, and consultant on terrorism and political violence. He is president of Political Risk Assessment Company, Inc., and is a former RAND analyst who also taught at UCLA for twenty years. He is the author of several books on terrorism: America’s Forgotten Terrorists: The Rise and Fall of the Galleanists; The Alphabet Bomber: A Lone Wolf Terrorist Ahead of His Time; Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat; and The Terrorist Trap: America’s Experience with Terrorism.
His latest book, The Bulldog Detective: William J. Flynn and America’s First War Against the Mafia, Spies, and Terrorists was published in January 2024. His writings on terrorism, political violence, and political risk have appeared in many publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Foreign Policy, Jane’s Intelligence Review, and the New York Times. Dr. Simon has also lectured and given workshops on terrorism to university audiences, law enforcement and military personnel, the emergency services, and the medical community both in the United States and overseas. He earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in Political Science from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California. Many media outlets have interviewed him, including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.
2:00PM - 4:00PM New Board of Directors Meeting, Parkside Room
6:00PM – 9:00PM Farewell Cocktail Cruise on Lake Michigan
ALL ABOARD!! Please join us for farewell cocktails aboard the Spirit of Chicago on Lake Michigan to celebrate a successful conference. Buses will depart from the Drake Hotel.
This schedule is subject to change. Please check back for updates. All times listed are local US Central Time.