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PPB
• MARCH 2015
CONNECT
PPAI’s 2015 Initiatives Highlighted At January Board Meeting
THE PPAI BOARD of Directors met
on January 10 in Las Vegas prior to the
opening of The PPAI Expo 2015.
Following are a few highlights from the
meeting:
• Kippie Helzel, MAS, chair of the board
of trustees for Promotional Products
Education Foundation, provided an
update on the organization’s activities
and progress including the board’s
approval to award 30 renewal scholar-
ships and 77 new scholarships totaling
$150,000, a $25,000 increase over
2014. Since the foundation’s incep-
tion, $1.26 million in scholarships has
been awarded to deserving students.
Helzel also thanked the board for its
two-year commitment of in-kind sup-
port approved in January 2014.
• PPAI President and CEO Paul
Bellantone, CAE, presented a review
of 2014 accomplishments by depart-
ment and a number of major initiatives
planned for 2015. Among this year’s
initiatives are the implementation of
PPAI’s new Pioneer Award to be pre-
sented next January, strengthening
and building relationships with interna-
tional organizations, doubling the fre-
quency of
PPB Newslink
to twice a
week and transitioning the Product
Safety Summit to a stand-alone event
planned for September 28-30, 2015.
• Darel Cook, director of expositions,
provided a trade-show update includ-
ing a report on exhibitor sales, market
conditions and expectations for the
2015 Expo.
• Anne Lardner-Stone, director of public
affairs, reported on the outcome of
PPAI’s participation at this year’s PSI
Show in Düsseldorf, Germany, and her
meetings with international organiza-
tions that took place there. She also
updated the board on the progress of
PPAI’s Product Safety Aware program
and the education planned at Expo for
those companies still needing to
achieve the required four hours of
product safety education.
• The board heard an update and dis-
cussed PPAI’s branding research proj-
ect approved in September. Based on
the findings of the perception research
conducted by Tenant Partners, in con-
junction with other recent buyer and
end user research, staff will be devel-
oping a five-year industry branding
plan for board review at its May 2015
meeting.
• Chair Mark Jenkins, MAS+, conducted
the assumption of office protocol for
three incoming directors—Dale T.
Denham, MAS+, Norm Hullinger and
Scott Hareid. He also recognized three
outgoing directors for their years of
board service to the organization—
Cheryl Becker, MAS; Rod Brown, CAS,
and Gene Geiger, MAS. In addition,
outgoing Immediate Past Chair Marc
Simon was approved for lifetime mem-
bership in PPAI.
on the future of our industry and mem-
bership, strategic plans to be fleshed out
and voted upon, scholarships to be
awarded and money to be raised. There
was a golf tournament where I greeted
some of my long-time peers and friends
while raising much-needed funds for
PPEF. In some cases, I only see these
business colleagues in person once each
year, but while supporting a cause, I am
allowed some real fun and time to
reconnect with professional friendships.
I enjoyed a dinner with 10 CEOs,
founders and executives representing
more than $1 billion in distributor sales,
as we shared what happened last year
and what we see for the year to come.
Where else but at Expo would I get an
opportunity to break bread and share a
glass of wine with 10 such influential
leaders, all at once?
The next day I met with half a dozen
MadeToOrder staff members who are
all in their mid-20s and have joined us
in sales support roles over the past two
years. These employees had never
experienced an Expo. They had no idea
of the scope of the business. Immersing
them in this experience, just for a few
days, fired them up, and seeing the
size, the variety and number of people
making their careers in the field all
helped to stimulate their interest in a
long-term career working for our firm
and in the business. This is energizing
juice for me to serve up to these fresh,
new teammates.
Our sales force was on-site at Expo
working to see and share new products,
and to build relationships with each
other and with vendors. We bring sales-
people to the Expo from as far away as
Maryland and Montana, as well as from
San Francisco and San Diego.
On Thursday afternoon, the team
headed home and I had a moment to
breathe. I enjoyed a glass of champagne
before heading off for a date with the girl
who worked Expo 30 years ago and is
now my wife, Barbara. We put our feet up
and toasted to our good fortune and the
blessings we have enjoyed before taking
a cab over to catch “O” and enjoy a quiet
dinner with just the two of us. I’m thankful
that another Expo week has delivered
such great value and experiences.
So my message is this: The PPAI
Expo is the exclamation point on the
industry—it closes out one year and sets
the stage for the next. It is more than a
show—it is a conclave, a gathering of
the tribes; it is an exchange, an energy
and an opportunity. To not participate,
to not invest in the expense, the time
and the planning, is to surrender some-
thing of huge value to our industry, our
profession and each other.
Thank you, Rod, for sharing your PPAI
Expo experience. I suspect that if you
changed a few names and events during the
week, your experience wasn’t much different
from the other 20,000 or so professionals
who made The PPAI Expo 2015 such a pro-
ductive, worthwhile and exciting event.
Perspectives
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