Skip to registration
The WALI Investigative Tradecraft Conference · Seattle
Everything they left out of the manual.
Registration open
October 23–25, 2026 · Crowne Plaza Seattle Downtown
- Rooms $149 · through Oct 9
Watch · 25 seconds each
Why this one
Knowledge is in the manual. Tradecraft is how you apply it.
Every hour is built to be worked, not watched. One talk all weekend, and even that one ends at the table.
Drills on the street: a live foot surveillance exercise downtown, run with people working at your level.
Workshops in the chair: you ask the questions and get told what you got wrong.
Table work after every session: what would you have done, what did you do, what happened. The speaker stays for all three.
Roundtables with the speakers at your table: small groups, rotating, the question you did not want to ask in front of the room.
Surveillance, the money, the board, the open source. All the angles. One table.
The three days
Friday · The Intake
October 23 · Registration 4:00, reception 5:00
A reception with one rule: arrive with an open question, leave with three people working it. Then a fifteen-minute walk to Pike Place for The Night Shift.
Saturday · Open File
October 24 · 8:00 am to late
Eight sessions, one exercise on downtown streets, a panel on the business, rotating tables with drinks, and three city outings to choose from.
Sunday · The Debrief
October 25 · 9:00 am to 1:30 pm
When the case crosses the border: tribal land, stolen goods moving around the world, a cross-border roundtable. Then brunch and five affinity groups.
Received · Oct 23 2026
- 4:00 pmRegistration opens
- 5:00 pmThe Intake. One rule: arrive with an open question, leave with three people working it.Hands-on
- 7:30 pmA fifteen-minute walk to Pike Place for The Night Shift, the Market’s free after-hours arts night. Optional.
- 8:00 amRegistration and coffee
- 9:00 amKeynote · Undercover, on the insideBob Guilfoyle, Humane World for Animals
- 10:05 amPrompt engineering for investigatorsSpeaker to be announced
- 10:50 amFollowing the moneyGreg Tweed, The Preston Matthews Group
- 11:35 amCounterintelligence for better OPSECDan Phillips, Wilson Investigations
- 12:20 pmLunch
- 1:20 pmChoose one: live foot surveillance downtown, or the interview workshop with Mark O’RiordanHands-on
- 3:10 pmServed: how the hard ones get doneJosh Ritts, Clearview Investigative Services
- 4:00 pmFinding the story in your factsSpeaker to be announced
- 5:00 pmTurning investigations into a career and a productPanel
- 5:45 pmRotating tables: drinks, and your questionsRoundtable
- EveningThree city outings to choose from
A live surveillance exercise on downtown Seattle streets.
In traffic, run with people working at your level. Slots are limited; choose it at registration. Or take Mark O’Riordan’s interview workshop instead: a former Secret Service polygraph examiner, and you will be in the chair.
- 9:00 amFinding people on and off tribal landKeith Grube, OWAKPAMNI
- 10:05 amFollowing stolen goods and animals around the worldNaia Okami, Cascadia Risk Management
- 10:55 amCross-border investigationsRoundtable
- 11:45 amBrunch
- 12:30 pmAffinity groupsRoundtable
- 1:30 pmClose
Bring the jurisdiction problem you are stuck on; the 10:55 roundtable works it. Affinity groups: surveillance and field operations; fraud, financial and corporate; OSINT and digital; criminal defense and post-conviction; interviews and human sources.
Who is teaching
People who learned it the hard way.
Chapter 3 · Undercover work
3.3 SUSTAINING THE COVER FOR ELEVEN MONTHS, INSIDE
Keynote. Saturday, 9:00 am.
Bob Guilfoyle · Humane World for Animals. An international horse abduction ring. French bulldogs out of a mill, beagles out of a lab. Months inside factory farms with a camera.
Chapter 9 · Asset tracing
9.2 WHEN THE PAPER STOPS AT THE WATER'S EDGE
Following the money. Saturday, 10:50 am.
Greg Tweed · The Preston Matthews Group
Chapter 12 · Service of process
12.4 GUARDED ADDRESSES AND EVASIVE REGISTERED AGENTS
Served: how the hard ones get done.
Josh Ritts · Clearview Investigative Services · Saturday, 3:10 pm
Chapter 4 · Interviewing
4.4 WHEN THE ANSWER IS “I DON’T REMEMBER”
Getting people to talk. Saturday, 1:20 pm.
Mark O’Riordan · New Mountain Investigations · former Secret Service polygraph examiner, now training law enforcement in threat assessment and ICAC work
Also teaching: Dan Phillips of Wilson Investigations on counterintelligence, Keith Grube of OWAKPAMNI and Naia Okami of Cascadia Risk Management on Sunday’s cross-border cases, and two speakers still to be announced. Saturday closes with a panel, Turning investigations into a career and a product: Linda Montgomery, Josh Ritts, Lael Henterly and a special guest, then rotating tables, drinks in hand.
FR 13 · 14:21
FR 14 · 14:23
FR 16 · 14:27FR 17 · 14:29A live tail. Real traffic. People who’ve done it, watching.
The Saturday surveillance exercise runs on downtown streets at 1:20. Slots are limited; choose it at registration.
The guarantee
No one asked for a refund.
Last year we offered every attendee a full refund if they left feeling shortchanged. Nobody asked. The offer stands for 2026.
Refunds issued: 0
Register
Three days. One table.
Full weekend · regular rate through October 12
Registration closes Wednesday, October 14. We give the hotel a final headcount that week and cannot add seats after.
Where to stay
Crowne Plaza Seattle Downtown
1113 Sixth Avenue, walking distance to the courthouse, Pike Place and the waterfront. WALI holds rooms at $149 a night, plus tax, until October 9, three nights either side. Free Wi-Fi, no resort fee, valet parking 25% off.
Book your room or call 1-800-227-6963 and ask for the WALI block.