By Adrienne Meyer

The CSIA 2026 Conference is now in our rearview mirror, and wow, it was an incredible week!

A huge thank you to all the attendees, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and partners who helped make the conference an amazing success. Your engagement, collaboration, and willingness to share ideas are what make this community the special place that it is: a home for system integrators, by system integrators and the ecosystem that helps them thrive.

Thank you for Your Feedback!
Thank you also to the attendees who gave us feedback on the event. Following on from the story that Dan Heath told during his talk, the CSIA staff and leadership’s “Goal of the Goal” isn’t to check the box that we ran a survey, but to take your input, determine common themes, and continue to improve the event wherever possible, all while making sure our members are informed along the way. 

Here are your thoughts:

• Attendees would overwhelmingly recommend the conference to a friend or colleague with a “Net Promoter Score” (NPS) of 83. NPS is ranked out of 100, with 70 or higher being “world class.”  This means that we are hitting the right overall notes with what system integrators need, confirming we have a solid foundation for the event.
  
• The opening keynote speakers on Thursday and Friday gave actionable information that was appreciated by the attendees. About Dan Heath, attendees said “Great presentation. I liked Dan’s take on the value of studying the bright spots.”  About Alex Chausovsky, attendees said “One of my favorite sessions each year. Keep Alex coming back!”  We will continue to focus on main session speakers and presentations that help SIs think in new ways about how they run their businesses.
  
• Attendees continued to find value in the Idea Exchange Hour and the Industry Expo, with 86% and 93% (respectively) saying that they made valuable industry connections at the events. And overwhelmingly, attendees stated that networking – reinforcing old connections and making new ones – was the most tangible outcome for them of coming to the conference overall. Some comments verbatim include:
  • “Continuing the networking relationships and discussions within this ‎community”‎
  • “New connections to bounce things off”‎
  • “Networking! There’s nothing more rewarding in my career than this group ‎coming together and sharing.”‎
  • “I’ve lined up conversations to explore key partnering opportunities”‎
  • “I left with a plan to make my group function more efficiently and effectively.”‎
    
    
• Areas we will work on for 2027 include:
  • Ensuring that the speakers and panels align with the topic overall, continuing to drive as much preparation as possible.
  • Continuing to refine our AV, as there was one session room in particular that had some audio issues.
  • And – by far the most requested – making sure that the breakfasts are hearty. (We heard your requests for lots of protein at breakfast loud and clear!)
    
• Topics that attendees would like to see in 2027 include:
  • AI use cases & hands-on demos
  • Leadership & management principles
  • Best practices & member case studies

What’s Ahead: You Can Help!

As I write this, the CSIA 2027 Conference is only 324 days away! Interested in getting involved?  Here are our next steps!

• In July, I’ll be launching a Conference Planning Committee to give guidance on additional topics, keynotes, and overall plans.  If you’re a system integrator and want to participate, please contact me by June 29.  I anticipate we will meet 2-3 times in July and August to lay the groundwork.
• In August, CSIA will open a Call for Presenters, seeking abstracts for presentations from SIs who are willing to talk about practices that worked in their businesses, as well as from our partner ecosystem on how SIs can strengthen their businesses. CSIA will be reviewing and confirming presentations in October with the goal to launch registration in December. Are you interested in presenting? Send me a quick email so that I have your ideas on my radar (and then be sure to submit an abstract!).

Thanks once again to everyone who made #CSIA2026 a smashing success!  Dust off your cowboy hat and mark your calendars for April 26-30, 2027 to join us at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.