Inside the 2025 SISO Leadership Conference: The Largest Edition YetInside the 2025 SISO Leadership Conference: The Largest Edition Yet

The Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) hosted its annual 2025 SISO Leadership Conference Aug. 19-21 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, drawing leading senior execs and business owners from across the events industry.

It was the event’s Indy debut—a decision driven by recent successes SISO members experienced in the city, according to CEO Vincent Polito.

While SISO typically does not release official attendance figures, Polito shared with CEN that approximately 250 professionals participated the event, which he described as “a gathering of ‘next-generation CEOs’" alongside the organization’s usual executive attendees.

“It was the largest summer leadership conference since I’ve been CEO (in 2022),” Polito noted, highlighting an 8% increase in attendance over the 2024 event in Philadelphia.

SISO CEO Vincent Polito (Photo: Courtesy of SISO)

The conference was backed by 55 sponsoring organizations, which Polito said are attracted by “the quality of the attendees and the fact that the vast majority of them control budgets, make vendor decisions.” Collectively, for reference, SISO's 195 members produce more than 3,500 events annually, generating a $122 billion impact on the global economy.

Despite serving an industry that’s largely defined by long-term planning, the SISO Leadership Conference takes a more agile approach. “We benefit by being able to program the conference in the short term which allows us to capitalize on current trends,” Polito said.

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That flexibility was reflected in the dominant themes of the 2025 conference, which included:

Programming at the Leadership Conference included “more of a dialogue versus a series of planned presentations,” Polito said—a result of feedback from prior iterations of the event.

A standout moment, per Polito, was the return of Angel Scalpello, owner of The Scalpello Group, to lead the Women’s Leadership Forum, a program within the larger Leadership Conference focused on empowering women in leadership roles.

Angel Scalpello, owner of The Scalpello Group (Photo: Courtesy of SISO)

Another particularly moving session featured Warwick Davies, principal at The Annabelle Project, who participated in a heartfelt fireside chat about the origins of the mentorship initiative.

But ask eight attendees about their favorite session, and you’ll get eight different answers, Polito noted—a testament to the program’s range and relevance.

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The speaker lineup included more notable names such as Ken Holsinger, senior vice president at Freeman; executives from Clarion; and Questex CEO Paul Miller, among approximately 84 speakers in total. According to Polito, 60% of them appeared on the SISO stage for the first time.

“I am a big proponent of white space around events,” he added.

Reflecting that philosophy, the 2025 agenda featured 60-minute “Lunch & Learn” sessions and 30-minute networking breaks catered by Sodexo Live. Evening events elevated the experiential aspect while creating additional opportunities for meaningful connections. The festivities began with a “Sip & See” tour of Indianapolis’ monuments, murals, and microbreweries—fitting for a city that ranks second only to Washington, D.C., in the number of monuments.

Other evening events embraced the same motif, encouraging guests to dress casually for receptions at two iconic venues: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and, the following night, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.

Ultimately, Polito said the Leadership Conference is about feeling “positive about the short- and long-term futures of the industry and opportunities for constant professional and personal development.”

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