National Convention General Information

2025 National Convention
Tampa, Florida - August 22 – 28, 2025

For general information including hotel maps, shuttle schedules, scooter rentals, RV resorts, exhibitor/sponsors information, etc., please visit The American Legion website at https://www.legion.org/get-involved/meetings/national-convention/national-convention-calendar-information

CALL TO THE CONVENTION

Please find enclosed the Call to the National Convention. Additional copies are available at Call to National Convention

PRE-CONVENTION COMMITTEE MEETINGS

As designated in the Standing Rules, Section II, Item 4b, the Pre-Convention Committee Meetings schedule is listed below.

Virtual Pre-Convention Committee Meetings

The following committees will meet virtually August 6-19 for their Pre-Convention Committee Meeting:

Each department shall designate one official representative to attend the Virtual Pre-Convention Committee Meetings. The official representative does not need to be a delegate or alternate; however, only those official representatives who are convention delegates/alternates will be allowed to vote in the virtual pre-convention committee meetings.

Departments shall designate their official representative via an online form provided by ALA National Headquarters.

Any member may attend the Virtual Pre-Convention Committee Meetings. Recordings will be posted for 90 after the meeting on the ALA website. Members should sign up using the online form above.

In-Person Pre-Convention Committee Meetings

The following committees will meet in person on Saturday, August 23:
Credentials Committee
Rules Committee
Resolutions Committee
Constitution & Bylaws

The Credentials, Rules, Resolutions, and Constitution & Bylaws Pre-Convention Committee Meetings will be the only pre-convention meetings held in person on Saturday, August 23, 2025, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Tampa Convention Center. The Credentials, Rules, and Resolutions committees will meet concurrently (at the same time), while the Constitution & Bylaws Committee will be held that afternoon.

Each department secretary will indicate representatives to the in-person Pre-Convention Committee Meetings during delegate and alternate registration which opens in August. These individuals must be delegates or alternates to the National Convention.

Roll Call and Voting Procedures:

Virtual Meetings

To ensure an accurate roll call of official representatives and to facilitate voting, the following procedure will be used for all Virtual Pre-Convention Committee Meetings:

• Attendance: Each official representative must indicate that they are the official representative when they log in by responding to the on-screen prompts. The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for checking attendance, indicating on a shared document any departments not represented.
• Voting: Official representatives will vote electronically using the Zoom poll feature. Only official representatives may vote; others present have voice, but no vote.

In-Person Meetings

To provide an accurate roll call and to facilitate voting, the following procedure will be used for the Pre-Convention Committee Meetings:

• In the front of each meeting room, 52 chairs will be reserved — one for the official representative (either a delegate or alternate) of each department. Cards bearing department names will be affixed to the chairs in alphabetical order. Other individuals present have voice but no vote.
• The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for checking vacant chairs and indicating on a list the departments not represented. The department secretary electronically submits to ALA National Headquarters the name of the representative assigned to the Pre-Convention Committee Meeting; therefore, each department has an assigned chair, and it is not necessary to call the roll or pass a roll list.
• Voting will take place via voice vote. Votes may also be confirmed by a standing vote, show of hands, or roll call.
• Only the members of the Pre-Convention Committee on Constitution & Bylaws and one representative assigned from each department are entitled to vote on the recommendation to be made to the convention body.

Constitution & Bylaws

The purpose of the Pre-Convention Committee Meeting on Constitution & Bylaws is to receive and consider all proposed amendments to the governing documents to be presented to the convention body, and to verify that amendments adopted by the convention body are correctly incorporated into the governing documents. It is also to clarify the meaning of the proposals. [ALA National Standing Rule II. National Convention, #4, (c)]

Each proposed amendment will be presented for explanation by a member of the Pre-Convention Committee on Constitution & Bylaws. Any delegate may ask questions only to clarify the intent or purpose of a proposed amendment. There will be no debate on the merits of the proposal. Upon conclusion of open discussion regarding clarification of each proposed amendment, the committee may discuss the merits of the proposal and may vote to either a) recommend to the convention body that a proposed amendment be adopted; b) recommend to the convention body that a proposed amendment not be adopted; or c) make no recommendation to the convention body regarding a proposed amendment.

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Pre-Convention NEC Meeting (2024-2025 National Executive Committee)
Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
Time: 8 a.m.
Location: 120-121, Tampa Convention Center

Post-Convention NEC Meeting (2025-2026 National Executive Committee)
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2025
Time: 8:45 a.m.
Location: 122-123, Tampa Convention Center

DRESS CODE FOR NATIONAL CONVENTION

The attire for attendees of all business meetings for the 2025 National Convention is business casual. Please: No jeans, shorts, or tank tops.

For those individuals appearing on stage during the general session or presiding at a meeting, the national president asks that you wear business attire (suit or a dress).

ALA NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OFFICES

American Legion Auxiliary National Headquarters office will be located: Thursday, August 21 – Thursday, August 28: 111-113, Tampa Convention Center

ONLINE SUBMISSION – NATIONAL CONVENTION INFORMATION, REGISTRATION, AND TICKETING

A website link will be provided to department secretaries in June for submission of the following:

• National Convention Department Pages
• States Dinner Ticket Purchases
• The American Legion Auxiliary Luncheon Ticket Purchases
• Packet Pickup and Delivery Information

Once the delegate strength has been determined by each department after July 26, 2025, instructions will be sent to register and certify delegates and alternates via the online system. Auxiliary departments will also be able to register guests utilizing the same online system. This system will enable departments to register guests and designate their delegates or alternates for pre-convention committee meeting representatives.