event to which distributors can invite their clients for education and strategies to make the most of the distributor relationship and maximize the impact of their product campaigns. The first event is slated for late spring as a preview of what will become an annual event in September or October to help clients plan for holiday gifting and their promo budgeting in the following year. The virtual platform is intended to be customizable, so that the program feels like it’s the distributor’s own event under the umbrella of Promotional Products Work. The events are being designed with full intention not to disrupt the usual buyerdistributer-supplier order channel. “From a distributor’s perspective, you have all kinds of representation on the board, from large firms and mid-sized firms, and then also there is representation from independent distributors,” said Dawn Olds, MAS, PPAI board chair and senior vice president of operations at distributor HALO. “We’re going to make sure that line isn’t crossed over. Please be assured that we’re not looking to introduce anything that would break that channel. We all recognize how valuable that is. That’s really what our purpose is, to further the community. Violating that would be the complete opposite of our mission.” PPAI also introduced the development of an open standard through its service providers, primarily SAGE, to simplify communication between distributors and suppliers so that every member has ease of access to data and information. Dubbed The Industry Standards, this initiative is designed to help ensure suppliers can communicate inventory, order status and more to customers in real time. PPAI President and CEO Dale Denham, MAS+, says the impact of The Industry Standards will be to ease friction points felt across the marketplace. “It looks like this: When you are about to place an order, you know if the supplier has inventory without ever having to place a phone call,” Denham says. “When the order is placed, if you need to give your client an update, you’ll know when it’s going to ship, or if it’s shipped and the tracking number.” More on Promotional Products Work Expo and The Industry Standards will be released in upcoming issues of PPB and PPB Newslink. NewDirector Of Digital Transformation Joins PPAI Edwin Gonzalez has joined PPAI as the Association’s new director of digital transformation. In the newly created role, he will oversee efforts to lead innovation through internal and member-facing systems, websites and digital services. Most recently, Gonzalez worked as a technology consultant. He previously spent over six years as director of business solutions (IT) at Informa Markets, a company that hosts and facilitates more than 450 live and virtual trade shows and exhibitions for international B2B brands. Prior to that, he was the director of technology for over seven years at real estate media firm Hanley Wood, for which he worked more than 20 years overall beginning in 1994. In 2000, the company launched a trade-show business, which brought him to Dallas, Texas, from Chicago, Illinois. “This is when I discovered a new passion for data and developed a new skill set in database development and design among others,” says Gonzalez, who started at PPAI on December 14. Gonzalez says he has been familiar with the promotional products industry for years, namely through The PPAI Expo, thanks to having worked in the trade-show space. During his time at Hanley Wood, he crossed paths with Alan Peterson, now PPAI’s vice president of business development. “He gave me some insight of the culture and the team which was valuable info to me moving forward,” Gonzalez says. “I had an introduction call with Dale [Denham, president and CEO of PPAI], and he was a straight shooter with a solid vison, and we immediately connected. After meeting the rest of the leadership team, I knew this was the place where I wanted to be and, fortunately, they felt the same about me.” Since starting, Gonzalez has immersed himself in the promo industry. Initial goals, he says, are “to learn from and listen to our members, customers and staff on what’s working and what needs to be worked on.” Through his role, Gonzalez will help develop an internal digital and business transformation strategy that is transparent and can be shared with the industry as it adapts to change just like the Association itself. Gonzalez has three adult children, “and I still have a hard time admitting that,” he says. He enjoys travel and searching for new restaurants to try, as well as cooking. He owns four guitars and two bass guitars, but says, “I still can’t get them to sound like anything I try to learn.” Edwin Gonzalez | MARCH 2022 | 89 CONNECT
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