PPB December 2015

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80 • PPB • NOVEMBER 2015 CONNECT
October PPAI Board Meeting Highlights
The PPAI Board of Directors met in Grapevine, Texas in October
prior to the annual PPAI Leadership Development Workshop, with
board chair Rick Brenner, MAS+ presiding.
Among the board’s many agenda items were these highlights:
• Bob McLean, executive vice president, and AJ Hunter, director of
finance, presented a 2015 financial forecast and provided a general
timeline for the 2016 budget-setting process.
• Anne Stone, director of public affairs, provided an overview of
results on the 2015 board election noting that Brittany David,
SnugZUSA, will serve as the supplier board member and Perry
Wehrle, PAW Marketing Inc., will serve as the distributor board
member. She noted that in 2016, PPAI will reduce the election win-
dow from four to three weeks to enable new board members to
attend new director orientation in October and participate in LDW.
• Stone also reviewed the current state of PPAI’s legislative work on a
federal and state level as well as potential issues for consideration.
She said the board should expect to see continued work to build
strong coalition relationships with like-minded organizations to
advance our legislative and regulatory priorities.
• Keith Vincent, director of marketing, reviewed PPAI’s work with
ITR to produce a quarterly market outlook report.
• Rachel Robichaud, director of professional development, provided a
review of the department’s mission and vision for all professional
development offerings, highlighting that they serve a diverse audi-
ence. She also addressed each of the stand-alone education events,
reporting on attendance and opportunities for improved engagement.
• Tina Berres Filipski, editor, and Gary Slavonic, MAS, director of
business development, reviewed PPAI’s various print and digital
publications, and discussed the media strategy currently under way.
• Darel Cook, director of expositions, reported on the status of Expo
2016 and Expo East 2016 and briefed the board on projections and
expectations for the shows.
sell them is huge and continues to
evolve every day. We have to do a
better job of exposing people to this
unique industry and to attract the next
generation of marketers. We also need
to do a much better job of attracting
minorities to our industry.
PPB: Are there any industry challenges
or issues that you’d like to see renewed
focus on?
Cohen: Technology is changing how we
do just about everything. I would like to
see PPAI explore the impact technology
—analytics, digital, social—will have on
our industry and how end users market
their brands and purchase promotional
products.
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