Every corporate tech convention follows a familiar, mind-numbing script. You listen to a panel of vendor-sponsored executives give generic advice that makes running an MSP look like a walk in the park.
But if you are out here doing the work, you know that real business growth isn't a clean and straight line. It's messy, chaotic, and usually involves a lot of trial by fire.
Enter RejectionCon.
Streamed live on Crowdcast from May 26–28 between 1:00PM and 4:00PM ET, this three-day anti-conference was built for the MSP community, intentionally designed for the gritty operational sessions that usually get passed over.
At Empath, we’re proud to back RejectionCon 2026 and become part of a pure community movement. Here's how the chaos, the mic-drops, and the record-breaking giving frenzy went down over the last three days.
RejectionCon is also a grassroots fundraising engine. Utilizing a registration model where people could buy a ticket or donate what they could, 100% of all proceeds went directly to the Rural Technology Fund (RTF).
The RTF’s mission is to deliver real technology into classrooms across underserved, rural areas that are completely left off the standard tech map.
This initiative directly translates to hands-on tools like robotics kits, 3D printers, microcontrollers, and computer repair devices. Students are given the opportunity to build, test, break, fix, and see a future in technology that previously felt entirely out of reach. These kids are gaining the early exposure that sparks a career, putting them on the path to becoming the next generation of techs, founders, security pros, and builders in our industry.
While last year's event set a baseline by raising over $50,000 and impacting 10,522 students, the goal for 2026 was to push that access even further with an aggressive target of $75,000. Thanks to an incredible, combined surge of sponsor backing, ticket sales, and direct donations, RejectionCon completely shattered that milestone, officially raising over $80,000 for the cause.
The energy across all three days was peer-to-peer, no-BS, and completely human. With a highly engaged crowd of owners and operators gathering to say the quiet parts out loud, the event officially brought together 1,000+ attendees who are actively changing the way we look at the channel.
Day One kicked off with an opening keynote panel featuring Empath Co-founders Wes Spencer, Alex Farling, Kyle Christensen, ImmyBot Chief Community & Ecosystems Officer Tara Rummer, IR Games founder Bob Miller, VOSA founder Erik Boles, and Empath Head of Sponsorships & Events Caitlyn Jopp, who immediately set a transparent, no-fluff tone for the entire event.
Our breakout speakers got straight into the weeds on documentation failures that quietly kill profit margins, real AI workflows, and data chaos. The tracks bypassed the usual high-level theory to focus entirely on the actual operational realities of running a business today.
Day Two kicked off with an opening keynote from Mailprotector CTO Ben Hathaway. This high-energy carried straight into the breakout sessions until the closing keynote from Pax8 Senior Director of Security and Compliance Matt Lee and CNWR, Inc. President Jason Slagle, who gave a brutally honest look into The State of Cybersecurity in the Channel.
Day Three was the closer, pulling zero punches across tracks covering PSA chaos, regulatory readiness, and the raw realities of marketing. The final day wrapped up with an incredible closing session by Progressive Computing, Inc. Co-founder Robert Cioffi, summarizing a long-overdue channel reality check.
We backed RejectionCon because you can't build meaningful learning pathways or master running an MSP by ignoring the messy parts of operations or blindly following a generic "best practices" checklist that a vendor sold you. Supporting an environment of radical honesty, lets us help operators build better businesses today, and funding the Rural Tech Fund lets us propel the next generation into having physical tools they need to build the businesses of tomorrow.
As Wes put it in the closing of the event, "One of the more powerful things about RejectionCon is sometimes you find more value in making a future better for someone else. Doing good in this world is one of the highest callings we have."
The strength of this community is found in our willingness to tell the truth, support one another, and give back.
This historic milestone simply doesn't happen without the collective power of this channel. A huge thank you goes out to every single attendee who bought a ticket and showed up to say the quiet parts out loud.
We also owe an immense debt of gratitude to the lineup of speakers who volunteered without a corporate script, the unsung volunteers working behind the scenes and keep the logistics moving smoothly, and the generous sponsors who stepped up to financially back the vision.
Together, you funded tangible equity for the next generation.
All RejectionCon 2026 session replays are officially available right now. You can go back and soak in the exact tactical insights your team needs.
👉 Watch the RejectionCon 2026 Replays Here
As Empath Marketing Coordinator and Virtual Events Producer Princess Lim perfectly put it, "The event ends today, but the mission doesn’t. I hope you continue supporting RejectionCon and the RTF."
If you want to see the real-world impact of those donations or make sure you're in the room for the next RejectionCon, get plugged into the source.
🌳 Follow RTF on LinkedIn to see how your donations are turning into 3D printers, robotics kits, and tech equity in rural classrooms.
🔗 Follow RejectionCon on LinkedIn to catch the first announcements for future events, community calls, and speaker applications.
🚀 Stay dialed into the Empath ecosystem