ALEXANDRIA, VA. – November 2, 2026_ The International Sign Association’s reimagined ISA Converge brought national sign companies together with leading suppliers and distributors last week in Nashville, Tennessee, creating an intimate environment built around purposeful conversations, valuable connections and stronger industry partnerships. The event’s intentionally limited, boutique format was designed to give participants the time and access to explore business needs, capabilities and potential partnerships in greater depth.
The return of ISA Converge marked a new chapter for the event, with an experience built around structured Supplier Showcases, strategic follow-up meetings and networking opportunities. National sign company leaders could efficiently learn about supplier capabilities and then choose where to continue the conversation based on their own sourcing needs and business priorities.
“Pausing ISA Converge last year gave us an opportunity to rethink what makes this event valuable and build the experience around that,” said Lori Anderson, ISA president and CEO. “What we saw in Nashville was exactly what we hoped for: people slowing down, asking better questions and having conversations that went beyond a typical introduction. There was tremendous energy around being together again, but even more importantly, people left with stronger relationships, new ideas and a better understanding of how they can work together.”
The approach reflected the philosophy behind the redesigned event: not more meetings, but more productive ones. For attendees, that created opportunities to learn not only from suppliers, but from other national sign companies facing similar challenges.
“When you get to step out of the office, slow down a little bit and go a little bit deeper into some of the processes with other nationals, you’re able to hear what they’re doing and take some of that back,” said Matthew Godwin, COO/CFO for National Branding, a national sign company. “The ability to connect with suppliers in a more intimate setting lets you go deeper into the things they are able to do. Every single one, I was able to pull something I didn’t know that they did.”
For suppliers and distributors, the redesigned format created more time to move beyond introductory conversations.
“The new format is phenomenal, being able to create new conversations and take a deeper dive into the work that we do,” said Jon Scheurer of Payler Wholesale Print Production. “We’ve been coming for years, and we will continue to come back.”
Boutique events like ISA Converge won’t replace major tradeshows like ISA International Sign Expo, of course. Registration for ISA Sign Expo 2027—held March 30-April 2 in Las Vegas—opens in December. Learn more at www.signexpo.org.
