PHILADELPHIA — The Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) held its annual Leadership Conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center August 13-15, bringing together for-profit show organizers and suppliers/vendors for timely education and opportunities to form relationships in “The City of Brotherly Love.”
“This year’s focus was around optimization, and essentially every level of producing events was unpacked and strategies for optimization were discussed — from planning through execution. These sessions ranged from operational to aspirational, and focused on professional, as well as personal, development,” SISO CEO Vinnie Polito said. “Overall attendance at the Leadership Conference continued to grow, with attendance growth of 19% from 2023. Attendee demographics represented the SISO membership with both the largest members bringing groups and the small business community also well represented. I personally made a list of 14 attendees that I expect will be newly minted CEOs in the coming years.”
Reflecting on Three Decades of Growth
During the opening remarks, Vinnie Polito gave a special call out to William (Bill) Sell, one of the founding members of the organization who was in attendance.
“Thirty-four years ago, a group of 20 for-profit show organizers got together in Connecticut and created SISO as a way to help develop our industry, but we could definitely not have expected that both SISO and our industry would have grown so significantly. As one of the founding board members, it’s great to see how far we’ve come,” Sell said.
Educational Highlights
Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes, President and Chief Marketing Strategist at mdg, and Ken Holsinger, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Freeman, explored macrotrends expected to impact the events industry and the communities it serves.
Some of those trends included that the workforce is evolving and becoming overtaken by Millennials and Gen Z, audience priorities are shifting, people in the U.S. are becoming less trusting of information sources, event technology has big potential but needs improvements, the next generation is traveling differently than previous generations and climate changes will cause more disruptions to events while the election result in November will impact businesses. Another key trend identified was that zero-party data is on the rise.
In another session, Jennifer Woods, Vice President, Life Sciences and Healthcare at Questex, discussed with Questex CEO Paul Miller how she successfully optimized her event portfolio by consolidating 75 brands down to 16. By finding synergies between existing events and brands, and preserving the feel of a “micro-event,” Woods was able to create high value for attendees at a smaller number of events that generate just as much, if not more, revenue for the company.
A panel, led by RX Group Vice President Marie Browne and focused on sharing insights from industry customers and employees on their considerations for attending events, gave a deeper look into the motivations of younger generation event-goers.
The panelists revealed that they think about if potential or current clients will be in attendance, networking opportunities, if programming aligns with their interests and values, and the ability to plan ahead when considering attending events. They stressed that they often would rather meet with a subject matter expert in a booth than a salesperson and that hard sells on the show floor are a turn off.
Then, Carrie Ferenac, Co-Founder and President at CNTV, led a discussion debunking myths about using videos for events. By exploring how organizers are using videos in their marketing strategy, the session laid out the value of video content, which includes higher information retention and engagement, serving as an attendance and revenue generator, and being a marketing channel where ROI is easy to track and analyze.
In a couple rapid-fire sessions, industry professionals explored the kind of culture that encourages entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship and innovation — one where innovation is celebrated, and failure is tolerated — how to optimize communications with internal teams to increase engagement, happiness and productivity among colleagues, and the latest approaches for talent acquisition, development and retention.
A panel of Presidents, featuring Clarion Events North America’s Liz Irving, SecureWorld’s Brad Graver and Taffy Event Strategies’ Jenn Heinold, discussed the evolving challenges that leaders in the industry are facing today. The three discussed the skillsets they’re looking for in team members, managing a flexible and/or remote workforce, caring for the mental and personal wellbeing of yourself and colleagues and leading during times of uncertainty.
Data was also a strong focal point at the event, with two sessions dedicated to utilizing data for both maximizing sales — through analysis of sales talent performance, driving efficiency and finding effective methods used by high-performing sales teams — and maximizing impact — by using data insights to find new opportunities and strategies to be more creative and impactful.
SISO Women’s Leadership Forum
Kicking off the first day of the event was the SISO Women’s Leadership Forum, led by Rachel Wimberly, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and M&A with Hyve Group in North America, and Lisa Hannant, CEO of Clarion Events.
“The Women’s Leadership Forum attendance exceeded the attendance numbers of the last few years and set a great tone for the entire conference,” Polito said.
The forum served as a place where both women and men joined together to discuss how to create awe-inspiring moments and engage in table talks covering work-life balance, managing remote team members, tech integration and data strategies. There was also an impactful panel focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).
“The SISO Women’s Leadership Forum left me feeling energized and once again grateful to be part of this industry. It was inspiring to spend time with the female leaders and allies who have paved paths and continue to give women like me platforms and opportunities to grow. As I reflect on the content, a focus on collaboration comes to mind — empowering and encouraging our teams to think bigger, work together to learn from our successes and failures and support one another from both a business and human aspect,” said Amanda Gochee, Group Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Clarion Events North America, and a 2023 TSE Women to Watch.
Philly on Display
SISO attendees were able to enjoy Philadelphia throughout the event, as networking and fun activities took place throughout the walkable city.
“Philadelphia — the Philadelphia CVB, Pennsylvania Convention Center and Aramark — were tremendous hosts,” Polito said.
The opening reception, which was hosted by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), was held at the Museum of the American Revolution, where visitors were delighted by actors and staff in revolution-era garb, and they could explore exhibits tracing the history of the U.S.’ fight for independence.
In a special exhibit showing, attendees were even able to view George Washington’s war-time tent, which has been preserved for hundreds of years and is on display at the museum.
The following night, event-goers made their way to a Barcade for an evening reception sponsored by the PHLCVB. With an 80s-reminiscint arcade vibe, attendees enjoyed a blast from the past, with classic games like Asteroids, Donkey Kong and a variety of pinball machines.
Reach Vinnie Polito at vincent@siso.org
Do you want more insights and strategies from the programming at the 2024 SISO Leadership Conference? Stay tuned for a deep dive into the sessions in the October 2024 edition of Trade Show Executive. Subscribe to get your print copy here; or receive the digital version via email.
