No! You have to consider that people are in business to make money! I don’t need to make people rich! I haven’t attended and never plan on attending! I hope this helps!
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$500 for toner? What kind of a printer do you have? I thought my Xerox at $133 was high. $500 I’d be out of business.
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Wondered the same thing.
$500 for toner is extreme. What toner is it that it’s SO pricey??
I go through about 3 a month so in a month I pay what - $400. I just order one when I replace the cartridge and that way I don’t run out. Maybe that’s in a month.
I’ll share I attended the NNA for the first time this past June and had an exceptional experience. Please be mindful that this is solely based on my experience and whichever decision you make, should be based on your needs to invest in yourself for continuing education and networking.
I purchased the early bird ticket last year and instead of paying all the money upfront, to better help my cashflow I paid over time. The NNA offers a 0% - fee free - payment plan if you choose to do the early bird special. So I essentially picked up one more signing to cover that payment for the month.The early bird full conference pass does include breakfast buffets for both days, dinner gala on the last day, snacks in between sessions and there are private networking dinner events that are often paid for by the vendor who invites you.
I chose to stay on the property to ensure I was on time and for the specific property that we stayed on in Vegas, they offered a discount when booking with NNA. I compared booking direct with the hotel, Hotel Tonight, Hotels. com and ultimately the best rate was to book with the NNA discount. The hotel was very comfortable and even when I had to switch rooms they provided me a $75 dining credit. The hotel was the largest expense for this trip.
Some suggestions for cutting down the cost of the hotel if you decide to stay on site:
- You could split the room cost with another attendee if you are comfortable doing so.
- You could see if an attendee has to cancel their plans and is looking for someone to take over their room (there were quite a few people doing this)
- You could stay at a nearby hotel or Air BnB
- Check your preferred Airline’s travel site to see if they offer additional discounts and awards depending on your status.
- You could break up payments by using a credit card that has 0% APR (be sure this is still within your monthly budget.)
I got a great deal on my flight through American round trip so that is who I use for my flight. Depending on where you live, it might be cheaper to drive, take a train or greyhound.
Now the most important part - what did I gain from this investment?
- #1 Networking with notaries across the country to build relationships and connections to help improve my business. I personally earned three new revenue generating relationships from the connections I made over the networking. If you want to talk to industry leaders and Vendors (Jot, AC360, Notary Assist, Amber Gist, Mark Wills, even the CEO of the NNA, etc.) this is the perfect place to be.
- #2 Implementation of new systems to help improve my business. You get to hear from what works for other businesses and you get to decide what you need. There were things that I took away from others and others took away from me.
- #3 Building my brand - Of the 500 attendees - I was the only notary from my state that attended. You better believe I was handing my card out and following up with people that I met after the conference.
- #4 Rewarding myself for my hard work and having fun. The location for NNA this year was perfect because I got to see my family and friends who live in Vegas after the conference was done.
If you’ve never attended NNA before and are considering it, there are definitely ways to keep budget in line. If you feel the $750 is still too much, they do offer a workshops pass for $600. Currently I plan on attending NNA and who knows, maybe I’ll see you there 
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I have been thinking about attending the convention for the NNA in 2026. After reading these comments, I almost decided to not attend. After reading yours which was very informative, I may attend the conference. I am still in the building stage of my business so attending this benefit may help me. THANK YOU.
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That’s a hard pass! I’m getting bombarded with companies peddling this and that to help me grow my business and make a gazillion dollars. Problem is, don’t have a gazillion dollars for their gadgets! I gasp at $40 for a ream of paper! Takes penny pinching to another level! 
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Absolutely! And you know, if you are looking to attend a Notary conference but want to maybe attend something less expensive, there are other options out there. The NNA is not the end all be all. I took some updated headshots there which were complimentary and you could take as many as you want. I will also share that there were vendors there, but I didn’t need to buy anything at that time from the vendors so I didn’t. You also get a swag bag full of goodies and vendors are also handing out promotional items.
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$40 a ream of paper? Yikes! Where are you buying paper? That’s expensive!
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Hard pass the NNA is over priced. Furthermore the information they give out is crazy work. They told a notary that a client that was abroad who needed their “passport notarized” that they can get an apostille. For AR the notary has to make or witness the copy that is being made for it to be notarized so that can’t even be facilitated with them abroad. I forgot the other example I had where they gave out miss information. And the fact that their acknowledgments etc aren’t even state specific is even crazier! So all the NNA got from me is that $99 to get “certified” only because I wanted to sign up with jot.
There are other networking events out there that cost far less. Coach Ty is having an event for under $100 with breakfast and lunch served.
My opinion is my time and money would be better spent on my state’s annual notary convention. The education opportunities are specific to my state’s laws. I also believe any networking opportunities would be far more beneficial on a local level.
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Thanks for your response. Like I said, I’m sure they always have an angle on something, but again for me, it would be the experience so I know what to do going forward.
That’s interesting…hmmm…wonder if Maryland has a state conference? Doubt it, but I will inquire.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Yes, as I understand that is what these forums are for, sharing information! Glad you’re able to make informed decisions based on the subject matter.
WOW, that sure is quite a bit for your dollar. I do enjoy the training, continued education, as well as the networking pieces of these types of events that’s why I wanted to engage you guys with the question. While some do believe it is a waste of time, energy, and most of all hard earned dollars, I still look at it like the glass half full as you stated, depending on where the event is, you can pull off other things to do as well and not just do the conference. I’m still considering and will have a definite answer by the time I come back from a cruise at the end of October. Thanks again for your input!
I wish our state had an annual notary convention - this is awesome!
Absolutely! I would say to gain insight from those who have attended to share their experience. It’s hard to learn about an event from those who never actually attended. Enjoy your cruise!
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Actually, those used to be fun when we were all making money, but now it’s a hiring company fest.
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Lexmark 2685 and they don’t sell for less then 15000 pages and it costs let say 485 plus delivery. I tried for less pages, but dealers send me something which doesn’t fit and this is bad because they don’t take it back. Now I can fit the wrong toner with recycled Lexmark also for $500. Cage 22. It is a bad situation and I really placed on hold my notary activities. Todays days nothing goes normal for me and sometimes I want to scream.
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@johnsonps306 The toner for my Brother printer costs $279, and it is designed to print approximately 18,000 pages. The ink for my car printer Epson which is a combo pack, is priced at $120. Additionally, I participate in a recycling program and receive $2.00 for each returned cartridge at Staples.
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