From the Archive: 120 Years of Gathering, Part Two
Over the past five decades, the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting has grown from a traditional business gathering into one of the community’s signature celebrations, welcoming nationally recognized speakers, entertainers and thousands of attendees.
By the 1970s, the Annual Meeting had established a reputation for attracting prominent guests. Radio commentator Paul Harvey appeared in 1974, followed by former President Gerald Ford in 1978 and South Dakota native Tom Brokaw in 1979. In the decades that followed, the guest list would grow to include influential figures from business, politics, journalism, sports and entertainment.
As audiences grew, the Annual Meeting found new places to gather.
In 1997, the Chamber held its 91st Annual Meeting at the newly opened Sioux Falls Convention Center. U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin addressed more than 1,200 attendees at the first large-scale event in the new facility.
Two years later, former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn addressed the Annual Meeting at the Washington Pavilion, just four months after the building opened.
The Chamber marked its 100th Annual Meeting in 2006 with U.S. Sen. John McCain as the featured speaker. The celebration, themed “Foundations of Progress,” attracted 2,051 attendees, the largest Annual Meeting crowd recorded at the Convention Center.
Another milestone came in 2014, when the rock band Chicago performed at the newly opened Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The 108th Annual Meeting, themed “The PREMIER Event of the Year,” drew a record 3,379 attendees.
A decade later, the Chamber again turned to a legendary rock band, welcoming REO Speedwagon to the PREMIER Center for the 118th Annual Meeting. The 2024 celebration, themed “Keep Pushin’ On,” continued the tradition of bringing major entertainment to the Annual Meeting.
Across 120 years, the audiences, venues and guest lists have changed dramatically. But the purpose of the Annual Meeting remains familiar: bringing the business community together to celebrate progress and look toward the future.
Notable Annual Meeting Guests
1974 | Paul Harvey, radio commentator
1978 | Gerald Ford, former U.S. president
1979, 1993, 2008 | Tom Brokaw, journalist and television news anchor
1986 | Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today
1987 | George H. W. Bush, U.S. vice president, and Charles Kuralt, CBS News correspondent
1994 | Pat O’Brien, CBS sportscaster
1999 | John Glenn, astronaut and former U.S. senator
2006 | John McCain, U.S. senator
2009 | Steve Forbes, chairman and CEO of Forbes Media
2011 | Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor
2013 | Pat Riley, Miami Heat president
2014 | Chicago, rock band
2024 | REO Speedwagon, rock band