PPB March 2021

on PPAI’s Market Research Committee, Abels’s nominator, Moumita Das, PPAI’s former research manager, said, “I had the pleasure of working with Mark in 2018 when he served on the Research Committee (formerly Market Research Committee). As a veteran volunteer and former chair of the committee, Mark quickly demonstrated exceptional leadership, providing a lasting impact for the Association. He consistently went above and beyond and set the example in advancing the committee’s work and mission.” Lisa Beck, a former longtime staff member at PPAI who wrote a letter in support of Abels’s nomination, described him as “the epitome of a distinguished servant to the promotional products industry.” She added, “His servanthood is exhibited through years of thoughtful and passionate service in almost every PPAI volunteer capacity available. Mark has unselfishly led volunteers through productive discussions and developed opportunities for the Association to aid member companies while exuding trust and leadership with everyone he serves with. Anyone who sees Mark in action sees that the industry is always foremost in everything he does.” Among the positives Abels experienced from participating in volunteer positions with PPAI, he says, was the ability to learn from those more experienced in the industry. “I learned so much and really got exposed to something that I didn’t understand.” He recalls an experience volunteering on the Suppliers Committee that involved an open discussion with distributors. “When you get everybody into the room, and you’re open and you’re talking, and you’re not trying to sell anything, and they’re not trying to sell anything, and you’re trying to solve the industry’s problems, good things happen. You learn to understand each other better and you’re not guessing as much.” He adds, “There’s knowledge in the room and you can learn a lot from it. I think that’s probably where I started to figure it all out. You don’t have to be an expert to do any of this.” Like his time spent in the industry, volunteering and helping others seemed to come as part of the plan. Years before volunteering with PPAI, Abels spent many days during his childhood helping his grandfather with the family business, organizing and mailing jewelry catalogs, and assisting with other tasks around the office, where it all started. Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB. priced as low as $3.18 (B) Full-Color Printing Process ! " # $ % ! % & '( ) * + ,, -. +" / / + ,, -.0 +"% / h h h h h !" # # # $2.79 (C) BELOW EQP SALE! with Also available with | MARCH 2021 | 63