SEATTLE — The Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) brought its annual Leadership Conference to the Seattle Convention Center in 2026 under the theme of “Design. Activate. Thrive.”
The event once again saw attendance growth as a greater number of companies sent representatives to Seattle for the program.
“We were excited to welcome a strong group of attendees, 30% of which were first-timers for this year’s event,” said SISO CEO Vinnie Polito. “The conference programming centered around three distinct and important areas this year: the industry landscape and strategic vision for leaders to help generate growth in their businesses; practical applications around costs and safety; and how AI is being utilized across a variety of disciplines to amplify, accelerate and differentiate.”
Trade Show Executive was on the ground in Seattle to compile key insights from this year’s programming.
TSE Takeaways
- Four ways to generate organic growth are to listen obsessively to your customers, find adjacencies connected to your core audience, test and pilot ideas on a small scale, and leverage partnerships. (Organic Growth: The Best Launches Don’t Start with Brainstorms and Post-It Notes)
- As exhibitor expectations increase around ROI due to the increasing influence of CMOs, event organizers need to work to bridge the gap between their own KPIs and what their customers are looking at to measure success. (The Value Exchange: What Brands Expect. What Organizers Deliver. What Comes Next)
- While most of the SISO Leadership Conference audience said the non-attendee problem is owned by marketing, according to live polling, sometimes changes need to be made upstream before marketing can be tailored to a specific value proposition. (The Non-Attendee Problem: What Research Says and What Leadership Has to Decide)
- To help with cost containment, organizers should engage in zero-basing the budget and classify spend each year into the categories of protect, optimize and eliminate based on event outcomes. Instead of asking to get things for cheaper, use the approach of asking partners how they can help you solve things differently to engage in more creative savings strategies. (Cost Containment Strategies)
- As the threat landscape for large-scale events continues to evolve, it is essential to create emergency plans that are developed and understood by entire teams, not created in silos and owned by operations teams. (Leading Through the Unexpected: Preparing Events for a Rapidly Changing Risk Landscape)
- Using data enrichment tools to combine first-party insights from organizers with intent data supplied by vendors can create a powerful combination that can help grow registration and enhance the pipeline for exhibitors and sponsors for an event. (Scaling Event Pipelines with First-Party Data and Intent Signals)
- Business event-goers are just as passionate about their work as consumers are about their interests; creating an event that can be something people do together year after year can increase group potential and show brand loyalty. (Consumer Trends: Why They Matter for B2B)
- Events collect a lot of data on their attendees, but in order to get the most value from that data, it needs to be in a format that is usable across an organization for year-round engagement. Organizers can leverage their event data to generate audience profiles that can be used for targeted marketing and sales. (From Badge Scans to Business Outcomes: How Media Leaders are Using Event Data to Drive ROI)
- Adding emotional experiences can help attendees to be more engaged and loyal to events. Using the fundamentals of “Vibe Eventing,” organizers can focus on creating emotional arcs and energy shifts; surprise and dopamine drops; and experiences that create memories and connection to facilitate peak moments. (Vibe Eventing: Designing Peak Moments that People Actually Remember)
- Inbound international travel to the U.S. is still down, and perception and costs are real barriers for travelers, both for leisure and business. Organizers need to highlight their event’s value proposition clearly to get people to come to U.S.-based events. (MythBusters: The Real State of the Industry)
- As inbound international travel to the U.S. and tariff policy remain in flux, organizers who make business as easy to do as possible will be better positioned to attract international exhibitor participation. (International Perspectives and Scorecards)
- Media brands have been expanding into the events space to help increase their relevance and revenue. On the flipside, event brands can leverage a media company’s built-in audience to help bring higher value to sponsors through year-round exposure. (What’s Next for Media and Events)
- To continue seeing innovation in the events industry, entrepreneurial spirit should be encouraged within established organizations, and can be supported by leadership that actively supports risk taking and celebrates failures. (Let’s Look Ahead)
- Large-scale citywide events for the public take unparalleled levels of collaboration between private and public entities to be successful and safe. Keynoter, Emily Kang Cantrell, President and CEO of Seafair, shared how her organization works with the city and other partners far in advance to ensure community buy-in and public safety to execute memorable events. (It Takes a City)
AI Stays Center Stage
The usage of AI in the trade show industry space is still a hot topic, with sessions covering how leaders are utilizing the technology now. Some use cases that were explored in this year’s programming included:
- Using AI to automate routine tasks (People and Culture: How AI is Reshaping Our Work)
- Leveraging AI to help audit and enhance event websites, with a focus on building for AI search visibility (If AI Can’t Find Your Event, Does it Exist?)
- Deploying AI agents to conduct intelligent matchmaking and provide personalized outreach after in-person engagements (Deepening Buyer-Seller Engagement with AI Agents)
- Employing AI to source speakers through the existing attendee list (“If Anyone Else Can Say That, It’s Wrong”: Architecting un-Googleable Insights for Events and Media)
The programming also explored how shows can stay differentiated in a time when everyone is using AI. The answer: Focus on creating an exclusive experience and giving people what they want in-person.
Women’s Leadership Forum
The Women’s Leadership Forum at this year’s event focused on building a culture of psychological safety to ensure that teams can show up as their best selves and do their best work.
Samantha Edu, LPC, NBC-HWC, Founder of Brown Heart Wellness, led the forum through a “psych safety” framework to help attendees understand how identity and lived experiences impact how leaders show up, and learn the background of their teams and how to start building brave cultures for them to thrive in.
Attendees worked with their tables through the four layers of identity, and shared candid insights into their leadership styles and how they can work to better show up for their teams.
In a session featuring Liz Irving, CEO of Clarion Events North America, and Liz Plizga, President of Diversified, the two shared how they’re building a psychologically safe culture through transparency, setting expectations for employees and approaching their roles in intentional ways. The session was led by Rachel Wimberly, Senior Vice President, M&A and Business Development, U.S. for Easyfairs, who also organizes the Women’s Leadership Forum.
Inspiring Spaces for Networking
This year’s SISO Leadership Conference also brought attendees to various locations for networking receptions. Kicking off the event, the opening reception took place on the Garden Terrace of the convention center’s Summit building. Attendees could reflect on the day’s Women’s Leadership Forum and opening keynote while taking in the Seattle skyline.
Another night’s activities took attendees to the Space Needle, an iconic landmark of the city, for panoramic views of Seattle and the surrounding waterfront. Then, visitors got to stroll through the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum at the closing reception, capping off the event in an indoor-outdoor setting surrounded by beautiful glass art that the city and artist are known for.
The Venue: Seattle Convention Center
The SISO Leadership Conference took place in the Summit building of the Seattle Convention Center. The building, which opened in 2023, is located just under two blocks from the existing Arch building.
According to data in TSE’s World’s Top Convention Centers directory, the entire convention center campus comprises 454,333 square feet of prime exhibit space, along with 282,608 square feet of meeting space and 42,026 square feet of flex space. The campus also offers 139 breakout rooms.
Summit is also LEED Platinum certified, and its dedication to sustainability can be seen through the building’s use of recycled materials and natural light. A 58,000-square-foot ballroom features nearly 4,000 recycled log raft planks, while much of the wood detailing throughout the building is recycled.
Check out TSE’s coverage of the Summit building’s construction here.
Next Up: Detroit
The 2027 SISO Leadership Conference will take place in Detroit, Michigan, next summer, while the SISO CEO Summit will take place April 5-8, 2027, at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island in Florida.
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