Two Days in One Building
The ISBA/IAPSS Annual Conference runs 5 and 6 October 2026 at the Indiana Convention Center. The organiser publishes the event as the 77th Annual Fall Conference. The venue forecasts 1,000 attendees on its event page, names no hall and carries no event description, so the general-session room has to be sized from the venue's published capacity ladder and confirmed with the event coordinator.
Registration opens Sunday 4 October from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday runs registration from 7:30 a.m., a general session 8:45 to 10:45 a.m., clinic sessions 11:00 a.m. to noon, lunch from noon to 2:00 p.m., clinic sessions 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and clinic sessions 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday runs a general session 8:30 to 9:45 a.m., clinic sessions 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and clinic sessions 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Two general sessions total 3 hours 15 minutes. The clinic programme runs in five blocks of one hour each.
Sizing the General Session for Theatre Seating
The facility guide publishes theatre capacities for three ballrooms. The Sagamore Ballroom holds 3,400 for a general session across 33,335 square feet of column-free space, with banquet seating for 2,300. The 500 Ballroom holds 1,500 theatre style or 1,040 for a banquet in 13,536 square feet. The Wabash Ballroom holds 1,100 theatre style in 10,202 square feet, and the guide's function-room detail gives 1,099 for the same room. Against a 1,000 forecast, the Wabash fills to 90.9 percent of its published theatre capacity, the 500 Ballroom to 66.7 percent and the Sagamore to 29.4 percent.
The guide states that capacities exclude columns, exits, staging, audio-visual equipment and fire marshal limits, and that the City of Indianapolis Fire Department approves room capacities. Exhibit halls seat larger audiences, with Halls A-B-C at 13,150 theatre style, D-E at 8,500, F-G at 7,600, H at 6,992, I at 8,608 and J-K at 6,488, all under 35-foot ceilings.
Two-Way Audio in the Breakout Rooms
The guide answers the audio question with a prohibition. Client equipment broadcasting in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ranges is barred inside the facility. The prohibited list names wireless access points, wireless printers, wireless audio-visual senders, wireless speaker systems and two-way communication systems. Smart City holds the exclusive contract for wired and wireless service in the centre, and its published capability includes room-to-room networking, VLAN configuration and 10/100/1000 Mb service. Every connection to facility systems, sound and video included, must be made by ICCLOS personnel.
The in-house audio-visual inventory is limited. Three microphones come with the room set, wireless microphones excluded, and labour to install microphones carries a charge. Paging is restricted to emergencies, and a client may install a paging microphone for its own show. Sound and lighting sit with IATSE Local 30, and installation, rigging, operation and dismantling of sound equipment, theatrical and special lighting, projection screens, audio-visual equipment, scaffolding and travelling stages must be performed by that department or hired through it.
Power, Risers and the Room Set
Each meeting room carries an average of three 20-amp 120-volt single-phase service lines at 2,400 watts per line. Exhibit hall floor pockets carry three-phase 100-amp 208-volt service or six 20-amp 120-volt circuits, and every other floor pocket carries three-phase 100-amp 480-volt service. Heavy electrical, gas, water, drain and compressed air service exists inside the exhibit halls, which is the constraint a ballroom general session plans around. Electrical orders run through the utility department at 317 262-3467. An ICCLOS electrician approves any extension cord, and light-duty utility cords are not permitted.
Bleacher and riser units average 150 seats each and carry an additional charge. Facility equipment stays in the building. Travelling stages and barricades fall under IATSE Local 30.
The Date the Floor Plan Locks
The initial room set in classroom, theatre or banquet format is included in the room rental when specifications reach the event coordinator at least 25 days before the first move-in day. Specifications received inside the 30-day timeline may incur charges. Setup changes and room turnovers carry an additional labour charge, with a four-hour minimum. With a first move-in day of Sunday 4 October, the 25-day mark fell on 9 September.
Teamster Local 135 sets the rooms, normally one to three days before the first contracted date for that space, depending on prior occupancy. Major changes three to twelve days before the first contracted date may also carry charges, and major or substantial changes requested on the day of the event may not take place. The guide bars moving ICCLOS lobby furniture to accommodate exhibits and displays.
What the Organiser Does and Does Not Publish
The five clinic blocks carry no published session titles, no track names and no published room count, so a policy and finance split is not published for this conference. The Monday lunch from noon to 2:00 p.m. is the only meal function in the published grid, and no evening reception appears on either day. The organiser lists a keynote for each day, Gian Paul Gonzalez on day one and Jim Mahoney on day two.
The exhibit hall runs for one day, 5 October, and the organiser marks it sold out with a waitlist contact. Conference pricing is 375 dollars per person. Code 5AND1TEAM takes 90 dollars off a five-member board travelling with one superintendent, and code 7AND1TEAM takes 120 dollars off a seven-member board with one superintendent. Neither association publishes a lodging block, a rate or a cut-off date on the conference pages.