SISO
SISO’s special interest in
small business strategies
Philip McKay explains the work of SISO’s Small Business Members Special Interest Group
SISO (Society of Independent Show
Organisers) has been the meeting
place for CEOs and leaders in the
for-profit sector of tradeshow
organisers for the past 29 years. The
majority of these leaders are from
companies with under US$10m in
annual revenue. While many in our
industry look to the larger companies
for direction and opportunities for
growth, SISO’s board has appreciated
the necessity for small business
leaders to have their own forum. The
SISO Small Business Roundtable (SBR)
was created to meet this need.
Now in its fifth year, the SBR
forum continues to be the essential
opportunity for small business
leaders to have the opportunity for
open discussions, sharing innovative
ideas, successes and failures as it
relates to their experience in the
event industry. The event commences
immediately before the opening of the
SISO CEO Summit.
The format of this forum is very
different from the typical conference.
There are no speakers, no PowerPoint
presentation or sponsors. The meeting
space is set up in a boardroom style
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
setting, so there is a clear view of each
member and all voices are equal. This
is reminiscent of the format of SISO’s
meetings in the beginning, providing
an atmosphere of collaboration and
support to address navigating the
minefields in the event world.
This year’s discussions at the CEO
Summit focused on some major issues
that plague all small businesses:
• HR, top issues for talent and teams;
• What new models and technologies
enable growth and reach into our
communities;
• What challenges 2019 brings to a
small business owner;
• How do we compete with the giants
of our industry;
• When is the best time to look at
exiting.
Each of these topics could have
easily taken up an entire day. The
discussions were lively and quite
candid. Sharing of actual strategies
used in sales, marketing, operations,
managing personnel-particularly
sales staff were relevant and
impactful. Each of the 50 executives in
attendance provided input on one or
more discussion points.
“I was
impressed
with the
openness
of the
entire
group in
sharing
their
successes
and their
failures,
with no
hesitation.”
Philip McKay is CEO, nGage Events
LLC, and chairs the SISO Small
Business Special Interest Group.
The overall impression was that
the group wants more of these types
of discussions. SISO’s board added
another SBR at the Summer SISO
Leadership Conference in Detroit,
13-15 August. This, too, was a very
popular session for executives who
either own or run event companies
under $10m. There were lively
discussions around technology, the
economy, motivating employees and
much more. All of the discussion
points were submitted by the
participants of the SBR.
All participants agreed that the
SBR forum is one of the highlights
of the both SISO CEO Summit and
Leadership Conference for the small
business leader.
We focus on real time issues and
we promote helping each other
to find solutions. I was impressed
with the openness of the entire
group in sharing their successes and
their failures, with no hesitation. I
look forward to our continuing the
conversations through our 24/7/365
chat rooms that are currently being
developed.
Issue 5 2019
61