PPB March 2015

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Danny Friedman

DAY IN THE LIFE

Amanda Corey, MAS

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committee and event-specific work group are responsible for the

event’s agenda. Jon Norris, vice president of operations at Starline

USA and current chair of the Technology Committee, spoke with

PPB

about the Summit and its mission within the promotional

products industry.

PPB:

Why was the Technology Summit devel-

oped, and what role does the Technology

Committee play in it?

Jon Norris:

The technologists in the indus-

try have long been the wizards behind the cur-

tain, each turning their own dials and buttons

to make things happen. Put all of those wiz-

ards in the same room and imagine the

amount of magic that would happen—poof,

the Summit! Sorcery aside, the Summit was

created to allow member of the IT community

a chance to collaborate and bond to drive this

industry forward.

The committee came up with the idea for the Summit and from

there we have just run with it. The committee’s role—and the role of a

newly developed working group—is to develop a thoughtful agenda

that delivers value for all attendees.

PPB:

What is the Summit’s objective this year—is it any different

from its first year? How will you judge its success?

Norris:

We have the same objective this year as last: Create oppor-

tunities for industry technologists and firms to collaborate and solve

industry issues. The Summit’s success will be judged by the number

of effective projects that attendees work on together during the

next year.

PPB:

Can you give readers a peek into any specific kinds of sessions at

this point?

Norris:

The final agenda is still being worked on, but the return of

the two most popular sessions from 2014 are the highlights. In Best

Practice, every attendee shares one thing they do well in their tech-

nical organization to allow others to learn from them. This session

created a lot of dialogue last year as well as a lot of learning. The

second-most popular session focused on industry-specific case stud-

ies, in which we discussed specific ways suppliers and distributors are

working together and shared the solutions they have developed for

others to adopt.

At The PPAI Expo 2015, the committee discussed a number of

potential topics for this summer’s Summit such as security, product

safety system implementation and agile software development.

PPB:

For what audience is the Technology Summit designed, and

who should plan to attend?

Norris:

The Summit is for industry IT leaders, whether they have a

traditional IT ‘title’ or not. The collaboration creates an environment

where anyone working on industry issues will benefit. Last year, we

had several business leaders attend as well and while most of it was

“Greek” to them, they found it very useful for their continuing dia-

logue with their IT staff. Having so many industry leaders on hand is

one of the reasons we are excited to be right after NALC in Nashville

this year.

PPB:

Are there other initiatives on which the the Technology

Committee is working this year to benefit the industry?

Norris:

Planning the Tech Summit is a key initiative and the com-

mittee is trying to develop a new award structure based around it.

Ideally, these awards will showcase the techie projects and initiatives

that many times go unnoticed!

We also plan on tackling an Industry Technology Survey. The pace

at which technology changes is phenomenal. We feel that business and

technology leaders on the committee can provide meaningful ques-

tions that businesses can use to drive decision making at all levels in

the industry. Also, last year the committee developed a Wiki page

(http://www.promowiki.org/)

as a resource of all industry services. We

are constantly visiting the site to ensure it remains current and rele-

vant.

Lastly, the committee is tossing around the idea of developing

industry tech webinars, to help companies of all sizes benefit from

other industry organizations and their tech best practices.

PPB:

Is there anything else I haven’t asked about?

Norris:

We are looking for people who have a passion for IT to get

involved in the committee, both as active members and as participants

in special interest groups like the Summit. The committee is now pri-

marily made up of people in IT that are also business leaders. This has

been a key to the success of the group and the summit.

SNAPSHOTS

102

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Jon Norris, chair

of the PPAI

Technology

Committee