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MARCH 2017
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FEATURE
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Best Of Expo
staggering $18.4 million by the Las Vegas
Convention and Visitors Authority.
But this show is about so much more
than numbers, because it’s so much more
than a trade show. “It’s the industry’s
convention. It’s the glue that bonds our
industry,” said Paul Bellantone, CAE, PPAI
president and CEO, in his remarks during
the Opening Session on Education Day.
For decades, The PPAI Expo has served
as the official kickoff for the promotional
products industry, and it sets the tone for
the business year ahead. The Expo, which
ran January 8-12, is where business gets
done. It showcased thousands of new
and exciting products, featured relevant
and powerful professional development
sessions and was the backdrop for
dozens of committee, board and
business meetings for PPAI and member
companies across the industry. The Sneak
Peek,
brand.
and product pavilions,
the rolling show opening, the Expo
Live
stage, and the streamlined end-to-end,
360-degree show merchandising floor
design highlighted exhibitor merchandise
and encouraged attendees to experience
the entire show.
To further enhance distributor-supplier
engagement, this year PPAI adopted
EventBit
TM
technology to customize show
engagement and create unique and
personalized attendee experiences as part
of its plan to elevate Expo from great to
extraordinary. In addition, through SAGE
Mobile, attendees could view complete
event schedules, create walk lists, navigate
the show floor using an interactive floor
plan, keep up with show news and take
notes, pictures, videos and voice memos,
all from their handheld mobile devices.
Outgoing PPAI Board Chair TomGoos,
MAS, president of distributor Image
Source, Inc., was delighted with the show.
“The 2017 Expo had a great buzz to it,”
he says. “There were crowded halls and
engaged suppliers and distributors. I know
when I have a hard time working through
the crowds that it is going to be a successful
show. I stopped by dozens of booths to
check in on how Expo was going for them
and I heard nothing but positive reactions.
The PPAI Expo is the event all industry
professionals attend and the conversations
that are shared are invaluable.”
Incoming PPAI Board Chair Mary Jo
Tomasini, MAS, founder of distributor
Competitive Edge, LLC, agreed, calling it
the best show ever. “I was proud to walk
the show floor and hear ‘great show’
from literally everyone I spoke to,” she
says. “Exhibitors were thrilled at the level
of engagement they had with distributors,
and distributors were pleased with
Outgoing PPAI Board Chair Tom Goos, MAS,
presented the gavel to incoming Board Chair
Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS, during the Volunteer
Recognition Luncheon.
The PPAI Board of Directors was one of several groups of volunteers that received cheers of appreciation
on stage during the Volunteer Recognition Luncheon.