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Building layer upon layer of
successful Expos every year—and
making each one better than the
last—is a challenging assignment,
but one that PPAI’s Expositions
team and the rest of the PPAI
staff are up for again and again.
This was the show’s 14th year in
Las Vegas, yet it was an opportu-
nity to create an entirely new
experience for show exhibitors
and attendees alike.
“The PPAI Expo had a
renewed energy like I have never
seen before,” says Tom Goos,
MAS, president of Image
Source, Inc. and PPAI chair of
the board. “Having all the sup-
pliers and distributors on the
same floor created a special buzz
throughout the show. I had a lot
more collisions with great sup-
pliers and distributor friends
than I have had in the past. The
2016 PPAI Expo was definitely
the best Expo I have ever
attended and this is my 18th
consecutive Expo.”
More than 11,000 distribu-
tors descended on the three-day
trade show, which opened
January 12, preceded by a day of
committee meetings and volun-
teer recognition, and a full day of
educational programming that
featured a twist on the traditional
keynote session. In the new
concept, three powerful speakers
shared snippets of their forth-
coming topics, and attendees
selected one for the second half
of the session.
The excitement continued to
build on day two as PPAI
opened the new section of the
show floor early, offering distrib-
utors an advance look at the
Product Pavilions followed by
early access to the
brand.
pavil-
ion with its premium products
and corporate gift ideas. For
those who came early for the
grand opening, there was live
music, refreshments and draw-
ings every few minutes for top-
dollar items like a Weber grill
and American Airlines tickets.
Thirty-two lucky winners won
door prizes during the grand
opening.
While the show floor was
humming downstairs, social
media master Seth Godin was
warming up the crowd in the
ballroom upstairs with personal
stories, fascinating statistics and
unforgettable images in his
keynote session, From Invisible
To Remarkable: Dancing On
The Edge Of A Revolution. In
his animated style, he kept lis-
teners in his sold-out session
T
HIS YEAR’S PPAI EXPO had a lot on the line. Not only
did the nearly one million-square-foot show floor seamlessly
relocate from two levels to a single level in sync with the
Mandalay Bay Convention Center’s $66 million expansion
late last year, but this was the first Expo to require all partici-
pating exhibitors, advertisers and sponsors to be Product
Safety Aware. That meant that every one of the 1,282 exhibiting companies
designated a roster employee who completed a minimum of four hours of
product safety education as the company’s Product Safety Ambassador
before the deadline. And that’s not all. From the very first marketing pieces,
this show was promoted as the best Expo ever. High standards? You bet!
But sometimes it works best to start with the end in mind.
26 •
PPB
• MARCH 2016
INNOVATE
ABOVE LEFT TO
RIGHT
More than
11,000 distributors
packed the Mandalay
Bay Convention
Center in Las Vegas in
January for the pro-
motional products
industry’s largest and
longest-running trade
show. •
The Product
Pavilions featured
hundreds of products
to view—and cap-
ture—in four cate-
gories: New Products,
Green Products,
Made In The USA and
Express Ship.