“On short subjects, we'll do those via webinars, but some of the subject matter here has to do with the consistency of application, which has to be a hands-on issue where the examiners can talk to each other,” Marquis said. “The new examiners need to hear the opinions of the long-time examiners, and lessons learned are a part of it. We need to be able to talk freely about our successes, which we can't do in public or to the press because credit union exams are confidential, and match them up with instances where we could have done better.”

Deputy Director John Kutchey added that the agency has learned from prior training conferences that experienced-based courses are the quickest way to improve the skills of new examiners.

Both general and breakout sessions will primarily be taught by NCUA staffers who have completed “train the trainer” programs, Marquis said. Employees will also complete annual training sessions required by law on such issues as ethics, diversity and disability accommodation. Additionally, IT staff will perform security upgrades on examiner laptops.

The event will save NCUA $128 per person, per day, for a total of more than $200,000 as compared to having the event in Washington, thanks to lower hotel costs and per diems, Marquis said. That figure includes the cost to fly Washington-based staff to Orlando. The venue, the BuenaVista Palace Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, is providing free meeting room space in exchange for all the hotel room business, which the Executive Director said he didn't figure into the cost savings.

“We had to find a space with lots of classrooms we could keep the class sizes small,” he said.