PPB January 2016

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103
DATEBOOK
97 Chris Huebner
DAY IN THE LIFE
93 Brett Hersh
CLOSE UP 100
PEOPLE NEWS NEW MEMBERS
JANUARY 2016 • PPB • 89
SNAPSHOTS 107
111
CPSC Compliance Materials Now Available In Chinese,
Spanish And Vietnamese
PPAI has developed new web resources that provide
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) compliance
materials in Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese. The materials
are available to all PPAI members and their trading partners.
The open availability of information allows suppliers to train
their foreign manufacturing partners by easily sharing U.S.
product responsibility expectations and regulations in their
native language. Suppliers are encouraged to be aware of this
content and to watch for regular updates as they are received
from the CPSC.
PPAI’s international standards and regulations resources can
be found at
buyer outreach. You see their work in the
award-winning graphic design, branding, sig-
nage and marketing for PPAI and its pro-
grams everywhere. Keith says that a photo of
his department would resemble the United
Nations because of their diverse backgrounds
but that what really stands out is how well
they work together. And as you would expect
from committed and capable leaders, they
give back to the community. As just a few
examples, team member Gretchen Demke
founded a neighborhood alliance to provide
a voice for the community at her local city
hall and Marketing Manager Deetria Horne
serves as an Ambassador of Hope for the
Dallas Fort Worth chapter of the American
Cancer Society.
If you’ve been to one of PPAI’s Product
Safety Summits, attended its L.E.A.D.
event in Washington D.C., or participated
in a Product Safety Aware webinar, you’ve
seen firsthand the impactful work of Anne
Stone and her public affairs team. Together
with Seth Barnett, Tim Brown, MAS, and
Veronica Kelley, this team leads PPAI’s
highly successful product responsibility and
legislative affairs programs. They have earned
kudos from government regulators, legislators
and from you—our PPAI members. Their
work includes overseeing two of our most
effective volunteer groups: the Product
Responsibility Action Group (PRAG) and
the Government Relations Action Group
(GRAC). Highly experienced as a compliance
expert in the industry, Tim joined PPAI from
his vendor management position at PPAI dis-
tributor member Cintas Corporation. Seth
had a unique honor outside of work this year.
While taking a college course at a nearby uni-
versity, Seth was selected by the University of
Oxford to travel to London and participate in
an ongoing research program that studied the
effects of behavioral economics on the global
supply chain. Great people, great team, great
results.
Rachel Robichaud has worked in profes-
sional development since 2010 and was pro-
moted as the department’s director in October
2012. Together with her team—Julie Levay,
Jody Mello, William Poole and Stacy
Riddler—they are responsible for the educa-
tional programs at PPAI’s trade shows and
many of its webinars and live educational con-
ferences, including PPAI’s well-respected
North American Leadership Conference.
They also oversee PPAI’s highly successful
certification program. Julie has worked hard
this year on an update to the certification pro-
gram which the team plans to launch in 2016.
In addition to her role providing education to
PPAI members, Jody provides Red Cross first
aid training for Association staff members.
PPAI’s flagship event, the industry-lead-
ing PPAI Expo, is in the very capable hands
of trade-show expert Darel Cook and his able
team. This coming August, Darel will cele-
brate his 15th year at PPAI. Darel’s leadership
has maintained our PPAI Expo—originally
held in Dallas and now in Las Vegas—to rank
among the top 100 trade shows in the nation
every year. During my board term, the Expo
department took on an additional show when
it acquired Promotions East from the
Specialty Advertising Association of Greater
New York and rebranded it as Expo East.
Darel works with a high-performing team
that provides operational support for its trade
shows. Tol Kincaid, senior manager, who
started his career as a clapboard snapper for
the movie Necessary Roughness , filmed at his
alma mater, University of North Texas, has 19
years of trade-show experience. He heads up
PERSPECTIVES
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