SISO CEO Summit 2024 Conference Program

The SISO Small Business Roundtable is a “share-a-thon” where owners of smaller, for-profit event companies share best practices, discuss emerging industry challenges, and address problems specific to small businesses.

It is an open platform for honest, frank discussion, built on the idea that the rising tide lifts all boats.

For many small business owners, the SBR is like meeting with an informal board of advisors, and participation in it often launches relationships or builds networks that members turn to repeatedly, throughout the year.

While the program will include a discussion of specific, individual problems and needs, we will also focus on several broad topics, including:

• Benchmarking: Hear from your peers and colleagues about how they allocate resources and how their events perform as a result of those decisions.
•  Growth-hacking:  How inexpensive, off-the-shelf tech tools can improve workflow automations, lead generation, and profitability, as well as AI solutions in sales, marketing, and operations.
• Revenue Innovation: A structured look at steps to unlock opportunities to grow revenue that may be buried in current events.

And an Ask Us ‘ANYthing’ session to address your most pressing problem!

See you there. It will not be the same without you. Literally.

Lunch Included.

- Only for Attendees already registered for the CEO Summit
- Participants are from member companies with less than $10m in revenue
 

Networking Lunch exclusively for registrants to the Small Business Roundtable and the Executive Women's Forum, plus the SISO Board.

Audiences are demanding us to reimagine the way we approach experiences. By understanding the fundamentals around the brain through The Anatomy of Experience and the Experience Mindsets, anyone responsible for growth, community building, and innovation will be challenged to embrace the ways human connection leads to success by marrying art, data, and science.

Clarion’s Lisa Hannant, RX’s Fernando Fischer and JDC Events’ Jennifer Collins will have a discussion moderated by Hyve Group’s Rachel Wimberly on how they are working with their teams to create elevated attendee and exhibitor/sponsor experiences at their events.

Along with the rapid pace of change in our industry, HR teams are tasked with recruiting for new skill sets (AI, Data and more sponsorship-focused sales). How are they tackling this challenge? How are they also helping teams work on creating the ‘space’ for creative thinking to occur? These topics and more will be discussed by Diversified’s Janice Rogers, Northstar Media’s Janine Bavoso and Emerald’s Danielle Antes and moderated by TSNN’s Danica Tormohlen.

Attendees will break up into groups and discuss what kind of ‘innovator’ they are from their Innovation Assessments.

Other discussion topics will focus on challenges people are facing in evolving their own events. Ways that people are working with their teams to ‘be innovative’. Experiences at events that have ‘wowed’ them and left an impression.

For All Sponsors, First-Time Attendees, and their "Buddies"

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All sessions will be held in the Ritz-Carlton Ballroom unless otherwise noted.

In today’s disruptive world where economic and geopolitical forces are continually shifting, hear the latest views from our experts on how that may impact the operating backdrop for our industry.

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This year’s high-level briefing will cover how organizers are catering to the Next Generation Event Goer (NGEG), how those efforts are being perceived, as well as the evolving approach to exhibitor and sponsor relationships. For the first time ever, we’ll also examine event friction points and how to reduce or eliminate them as well as ways to translate underlying attendee motivations into engaging, inspirational experiences that contribute positively to an organizer’s bottom line.

Explore how leading organizers are reshaping their organization to exceed customer expectations, foster loyalty, and drive growth. Hear what’s changing, what’s working, what’s not working and consider what you should incorporate into your customer value proposition.

 Post-pandemic, consumers are turning to everyday activities less and special experiences more.  Joey Graziano, SVP of Global Event Strategy & Development at the NBA will share insights from the sports & entertainment industry on where consumer demand is turning next and how organizers can further amplify their special events.

Annual Report to the Members and the presentation of the Krakoff Award.

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Big brands, media brands and agencies are rushing into the event space.  Why?  What can we learn from new entrants to our industry on building value through community and experience?   What have they found and what do they focus on to build value and build critical audience.

Hear how fintech and event entrepreneur Jonathan Weiner has built a mission-driven event, digital platform, and community for the B2B health sector.   How has technology enabled his vision and how does he prioritize his time and investment? 

In today’s rapidly evolving digital age, AI has the potential to make a significant impact on our Industry.   How should we be thinking about productivity gains, enhanced customer service and experience, accelerated customer acquisition or new product development.   What are the risks and how do we manage? 

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Roundtable Breakout and Discussion Groups

Industry CTOs and experts will host a discussion, and question-and-answer session that will take a deep dive into all things AI.  What approaches are they taking and what are they prioritizing?   What governance is being implemented and how is this embedded across the business?

Exchange ideas and best practices and understand how you can make a start or build upon this within your own organization using a framework approach and live case study examples.
 

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Presentation
Mark Breslin, Chief AI Informa, Informa Tech
Yarrow Diamond, SVP, Technology Transformation, Informa Markets, North America Business

Workshop Contributors and Facilitators
Richard Harbridge, CEO, 2toLead
Felicia Hamerman, SVP, Marketing, North America, Informa Markets
Adam Ford, Chief Operating Officer, Clarion Events
Liz Irving, President, Clarion Events Inc.
Nicole O'Leary, Senior Vice President, Creative & Strategy, The Expo Group

Share insights on strategic approaches to attract, retain and nurture talent. Through a series of roundtable discussions, we’ll talk about: 

Developing career pathways in today’s hybrid work environment can be challenging.  What approaches should CEO’s take to tackle this across their organizations to be able to attract and retain talent?  How should they equip managers with the right skills to support career advancement opportunities across a dispersed team.

How Belonging and Employee Retention are Linked
Belonging in the workplace is vital to performance, innovation, and retention.  However, creating a culture of belonging in the workplace requires ongoing effort and attention from the top.  How should our industry tackle this and how should we measure progress?

Attracting talent to our Industry
How do we position our industry to attract tomorrow’s talent and create diversity of thought, innovation and growth?  What’s our value proposition and how can we join forces to be a catalyst for the long-term success of our industry.

 

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Informa’s long-term strategy is to accelerate growth by focusing on its portfolio depth and by digitizing its business.   With a number of new acquisitions in the past 12 months, how is digital and data being applied across the group to create value and drive innovation and what’s next? 

The evolution of the customer experience has put content front and center for many brands. Organizations utilizing strong content first strategies have elevated their customers’ experience and have driven broader value. Hear how two very different business models have succeeded in the live events space with a content and experience lead approach.  

With customer expectations changing rapidly, learn how you can create growth opportunities for your brands by focusing on your ESG strategy.  Understand how you can evaluate opportunities and hear practical examples of how they can be brought to life. 

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2023 has seen an uptick in M&A activity with both large scale and single show acquisitions being completed.  Hear from two PE backed organizations what’s going to be important to them in the year ahead in terms of geographical focus, scale and asset quality. 

M&A Transaction Case Study:  What was the thesis behind the deal and how did it pan out?

What’s next and where does our industry need support?   Hear from key players in the industry what is important to them in the year ahead:

 

Lunch for those not playing golf.

The SISO Golf Tournament will be held at The Golf Club of Amelia Island. Golfers will get boxed lunches at the golf club near the carts.
Collared shirts are required. 

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Networking poolside.

Join us on an exploration on this 2-hour boat outing along the shorelines of Amelia and Cumberland Islands as we glide along salt marshes, pristine beaches, and historic riverbanks, spotting dolphins, sea turtles, and more. 

This tour is a narrated history and wildlife sightseeing cruise. Keep your eyes peeled to spy playful dolphins and other sea life as the Coast Guard Certified Captains share the intriguing history of this little piece of Paradise.

Lunch will be served at the hotel and transportation will be provided.

The trip is limited in capacity and will fill quickly. The trip is designed for attendees although sponsorship is available.

Load Bus 1:30 pm at the Porte-cochère. Bus departs promptly at 1:45 pm.

Breakfast Buffet and To-Go Boxes