NOISE-CON 2025- The Nature of Noise Control

Each year, we’ve chosen a venue for our annual noise control conference in a city. After all, cities are close to airports, tend to have larger hotels, and offer a wide variety of offsite dining. But cities tend to be loud, busy, and not necessarily where you would go to unwind a bit. But what if, instead, we hosted NOISE-CON at a resort? We would have natural quiet, more opportunities for people to get together, and a chance to enjoy what nature has to offer.

The venue

That was the impetus beyond NOISE-CON 2025, held at the Lodge at Spruce Peak resort, in Stowe, Vermont. Spruce Peak provided the best of both worlds. It was only an hour from the international airport in Burlington Vermont and provided 56,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting and event space. However, once you step out of the hotel, you immediately notice the difference from a city venue. As you look up, you see Mount Mansfield, the tallest mountain in Vermont, and you hear the sounds of birds and the swift currents of the Little River. The surroundings provided a break from the usual conference room setting, offering attendees a chance to refresh mentally and physically — leading to greater creativity, bonding, and energy.  One attendee reflected, “The event provided an exceptional blend of educative technical sessions and a naturally serene environment.”

Given the venue, we made full use of the outdoors. On the second morning of the conference, attendees got to choose between several events – a golf lesson at the resort’s golf course, a 5k fun run through the woods around the resort, a dawn soundscape walk to several waterfalls, and ultimate frisbee. 

The pre-conference

Before the conference started, we had a full Sunday of activities. 24 people signed up short courses in Acoustical Enclosures, Active Noise Control, and Fundamentals of Acoustics. During the afternoon, we hosted a first-time event – the Sunday Student Symposium.  Paul Donovan, Jessica Dlements, and Stephen Hambric gave excellent presentations on vehicle and roadway noise, acoustical consulting, and the fundamentals of vibro-acoustics. This was followed by a networking session with the students and representatives of the eight consulting company sponsors.

After a long Sunday, it was time for movie night! Filmed in Stowe, Vermont, The Quietest Year explores how noise’s unpredictability, permanence, and ability to disrupt affects individuals, communities, public health, and the environment. We were fortunate to have the filmmaker, Karen Akins, agree to appear and answer audience questions after the screening.

The conference

NOISE-CON 2025 attracted 424 participants from a dozen countries and 41 of the 50 United States. Of these, 49 were students and 103 were either sponsors or exhibitors. The conference was co-sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, which attracted a bevy of transportation noise papers and presentations.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address by Peter Newman, the Dean of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. U.S. national parks and related areas grapple with the perpetual challenge of balancing high numbers of visitors while simultaneously protecting the ecological and experiential values of a place. Dr. Newman’s presentation focused on one such impact of visitor use, the ecological and experiential effects of anthropogenic noise and the protection of natural soundscape. It was a dynamic and inspiring presentation. One person commented afterwards that the talk reinvigorated their commitment to noise control.

With that, the technical sessions of the conference began. We had a full technical program with 33 technical sessions, 123 technical papers, 14 vendor presentations, 2 workshops, 5 classic paper presentations, and 5 “young professional” presentations. These are the subject of Dana Lodico’s article in this same issue of NNI.

The exhibition

The exhibition attracted 43 booths, including four new exhibitors. The venue for the exhibition was an octagonal room, full of natural light, which is used as ski lodge in the winter. We held several events in the exhibition hall to drive traffic there, including Monday and Tuesday lunches, and evening opening reception, sponsored by Mason Industries, and coffee breaks. These events were wildly popular, and vendors were overall very pleased with the attendance in the exhibit hall. One exhibitor commented, “I don’t believe the event could have gone any smoother. Very nicely done! Beautiful facility!”

In addition, 14 vendors took advantage of the opportunity to present their wares in the session rooms prior to the technical presentations. While we were initially worried about mixing commercial and technical content too closely, we had positive feedback on the new format.

The exhibition also included a giveaway of the technical library of George Maling. Students and engineers were able to pick from among the best publications in noise control engineering over the past 80 years.

Social events

A conference would be uninspiring without the chance to get together will colleagues and friends to chat about the latest client problem or even about the deck you’re building. In addition to the Tuesday morning activities and meals mentioned above, we hosted a Board Certification informational breakfast, Women in Noise Control Engineering lunch (sponsored by PAC International LLC), and the Student Career Mentoring lunch (sponsored by NCAC).. The highlight social event was the Tuesday evening social titled “Let’s make some noise!”, sponsored by VMC Group and RMP Global. We took a well-earned break from technical sessions and business to relax with friends, family, peers, and colleagues.  This family-friendly event included numerous outdoor games like corn hole, Connect4, and a giant Jenga.  We had an excellent dinner, accompanied by a local band, the Christine Malcolm Trio. The meal was topped off by a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cart.

A highlight of the Tuesday social included an auction of three rare books from George Maling’s library, including a signed first edition of Leo Beranek’s Noise Control. After some lively bidding, the auction raised over $1,000 for the INCE Foundation.

Technical Tour

One of the most interesting events of the conference was the technical tour of Beta Technologies, an electric plan manufacturer based on the grounds of the Patrick Leahy International Airport in Burlington, Vermont. The tour provided a behind-the-scenes look at the company’s electric aircraft development and manufacturing. We were learned about the systems and operations that support Beta Technologies’ efforts to develop an electric transportation system and the company’s sustainable manufacturing processes through a tour the fossil fuel-free facility. We also experienced a test flight of one of their aircraft to experience how quiet they are compared to conventional aircraft. In fact, before the tour started, an F35 fighter from the Vermont Air National Guard took off from the airport. The bone-chattering rumble from the F35 was in stark contrast to the almost inaudible sounds from Beta’s aircraft.

Lessons learned for a resort conference

If you are going to plan a conference at a resort, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you need to get people to it, so if public transportation is not available, you’ll need to provide buses.

Second, because resorts tend to be more isolated, you’ll need plenty of onsite dining or catering to feed participants who would otherwise go to local restaurants.

And third, you’ll need to consider the size of the venue. Space is needed for both the technical program and exhibition. In addition, you’ll need plenty of hotel rooms or nearby backup hotels. In our case, our main venue block filled up quickly, but we were able to find another room block at the nearby Stoweflake Resort. A shuttle bus between the two resorts was provided.

Conclusion

To be honest, we were nervous about whether people would leave the comfort zone of a big city conference and venture out into the country. But, as the saying goes, “if you build it, they will come”! We had great feedback on the event – scoring 4.7 out of 5.0 on the post event survey for overall in-person conference experience, making NOISE-CON 2025 one of the most successful conferences.

If this was a trial in whether a resort conference venue can work, I say, “Let’s do it again!”

Say hello to your organizing committee.

From Left to Right: Courtney Schoedel (Public Relations), Les Blomberg (Keynote Speakers), Adam Alexander (TRB Liaison), Ahmed El-Aassar (Technical Chair), Ken Kaliski (Conference Chair), Dana Lodico (Technical Chair), Jeanette Hesedahl (Vice-General Chair), Michael Bahtiarian (Vice-General Chair). Not shown: Sunit Girdhar (Student Coordinator), Patricia Davies Technical Advisor), and Ethan Bourdeau (Accompanying Persons))