This lead-in to the Special Issue of Journal of Small Business Management based on the 25th International Society of Franchising's Annual Conference held at Boston in 2011, seeks to accomplish three goals. First, we provide a three-part historical account of the evolution of this society founded in 1986 as narrated by Jim Brown (for the 1980s decade), Bob Robicheaux (for the 1990-2000 decade), and Gérard Cliquet (for the 2001-2011 years). Second, we reminisce and recognize various notable award winners and leaders of the International Society of Franchising (ISoF) over the past 25 conferences. We must note at the very outset that ISoF has been shaped and molded by the intellectual contributions of hundreds of scholars over the past quarter century. Space limitations prohibit us from recognizing each and every member individually, but omissions should not be construed as lack of recognition of the importance of those contributions. Finally, we present short synopses of the five papers included in this Special Issue.