Night sky over Rome: your SiGMA side events calendar

Ask anyone who’s done a few big shows and they’ll tell you the same thing: the expo floor is where you start conversations, and the evenings are where you finish them. There’s even a panel on this year’s programme, “Handshake Capital”, asking whether networking actually drives deals. We’d say yes if you choose your evenings well.

SiGMA World and the Affiliate Grand Slam run side by side from 2 to 5 November, and the side programme starts before the halls even open. Runs, rooftops, awards nights and dinners for 35 – here’s what’s on, day by day, and how to decide where to spend your energy.

Sunday, 1 November: the early arrivals

Digistore24 Dinner in Rome. 19:00, Santa Cocktail Club on the Pantheon Terrace. A rooftop dinner with a Champagne welcome for around 120 guests. Invite only – requests go through Partiful.

Monday, 2 November: arrival day

Monday is already full, so land on Sunday if you can.

AFF•FIT 5km Run. 07:00 at the Trevi Fountain, hosted by VerdeAds. The original affiliate run, capped at 100 runners. The only time of the week you’ll see Trevi without a crowd.

SiGMA Nexus Elite Golf Tour. 08:00-15:00 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Invitation only, for Platinum ticket holders.

Bloko Padel Tour, Rome edition. 10:00-19:00 at Caesar’s Club Padel, next to Fiera Roma. A doubles match is a surprisingly good icebreaker. The finals move to Hall 9 on Wednesday.

Welcome Reception and pre-registration. 10:00-22:00 at Lanterna di Fuksas, Via Tomacelli 157. Collect your badge early, skip the Tuesday queue, stay for the drinks and music. Open to all summit pass holders.

ABC Connect Meetup Rome. 16:00, by Affiliate Business Club. An afternoon meetup for affiliates, advertisers and networks across iGaming, crypto, nutra, ecom and finance, with 400+ people expected.

Conversion Club evenings. From 19:00. The Affiliate Drinks Meetup is free for affiliates and paid for companies, with details on registration. The same night, Conversion Club hosts its yearly C-Suite Dinner – about 35 seats, invite-focused.

IGLC Private Meetup. 19:00. A closed meetup for heads of affiliates, CMOs and partners, with registration on Luma.

SiGMA World Awards. 20:00 at Corsie Sistine – Santo Spirito in Sassia, a Renaissance complex near the Vatican. The gala includes a charity auction and the Hall of Game honours. Doors close at 21:00, so this is not the night to be fashionably late. Seats start at €550 and need to be booked in advance.

Tuesday, 3 November: the expo opens

During the day, former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella takes the stage for a Q&A – a good excuse to step away from back-to-back meetings. The evening is all rooftops.

Rooftop Rendezvous Rome. 17:00 at Zuma Rome, Via della Fontanella di Borghese 48, by DFO Performance. An open-bar networking evening for affiliates, advertisers, media buyers and agencies, for up to 500 guests. Free entry, with a limited VIP tier.

La Dolce Vita by Paybis. 18:00 at La Ménagère, Via Mario de’ Fiori, with INPUT Global Events. An Italian evening in the historic centre for the SiGMA and AIBC crowd – a good fit if payments and crypto are part of your stack.

iGathering Networking Cocktail. 19:00 at Lanterna di Fuksas, by ReferOn. A standing cocktail reception for Platinum guests, by invitation.

MINGLE AGS Rome Party. 22:30 at Room 26, Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 29. An invite-only after-hours party for performance marketers, for up to 500 guests. The late one – plan Wednesday morning accordingly.

Wednesday, 4 November: awards and the official party

The busiest evening of the week. During the day, the Bloko Padel Tour finals take over Hall 9.

Payments Unlocked: Vespa & Dinner. 17:45, by Yuno and ECOMMPAY. A Vespa ride through Rome, then dinner with iGaming and payments leaders. Limited places, details on RSVP.

ANS Rome 2026 (Affiliate Networking Series). 19:00 at Mama Shelter Roma in Prati, by WintEvents. A networking dinner with an auction at 21:30. Free for affiliates, with paid tiers at €300 and €450.

AGS Awards. 20:00 at Corsie Sistine – Santo Spirito in Sassia. The affiliate industry’s awards night, with dinner and a charity auction.

Sticky Sendoff: Rome. 20:00 at W Rome, Citrico Rooftop, by sticky.io. A rooftop happy hour for ecommerce, affiliate and tech people.

Official SiGMA Party Rome. 22:00. The official closing party after the awards, for Platinum pass holders. The venue is shared in the SiGMA app.

Thursday, 5 November: the last word

Flux26 Executive Lunch. 12:00 in the city centre, venue to be confirmed. A limited-seat lunch before the closing afternoon, €120.

Affiliate White Sensation Rome. 19:30 at La Ménagère, by AWSummit. A VIP dinner for affiliates and brands at 19:30, then a party from 22:00. Dress code: white. Pack accordingly.

SiGMA Italia Awards. 20:00 at Corsie Sistine – Santo Spirito in Sassia. The Italian market’s awards gala, with a charity focus. If Italy is on your GEO list, this is the room to be in.

Sightseeing with the SiGMA crowd

Premium and Platinum ticket holders can also join official activities: a Colosseum and Roman Forum tour, a mosaic workshop, a team challenge around the city, and a Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s tour. Spaces are limited and first-come.

These are an underrated format. Two hours walking through the Forum with the same small group does more for a relationship than five rushed coffees in a hall.

How to choose your evenings

Around 30 events in four nights, one body. A few rules that help:

• Pick by people, not by venue. Before you RSVP, ask who you actually want to meet there. If the answer is “nobody in particular”, skip it.
• Register early. Most of these are invite-only or capped at a few hundred guests. Invitations go to people who are already in conversation with the host.
• Two big nights, maximum. One awards gala plus one party is usually enough. The rest of the evenings work better as small dinners.
• Use daytime formats. The run, padel, golf and the tours give you hours with the same people, in daylight, with no background music.
• Follow up within 48 hours. A great conversation at 23:00 is worth very little if nobody remembers it on Monday.

The official programme gives you the venues. The conversations are up to you. Choose a few evenings, show up rested for the daytime formats, and follow up while the names are still fresh.

Enjoy Rome after dark.