NALC Brings Leaders Together For Industry And Individual Growth For PPAI, 2022 has marked a return to inperson events. Following the success of The PPAI Expo 2022 and Women’s Leadership Conference 2022, in August the PPAI North American Leadership Conference returned to its in-person format for the first time since 2019. Industry leaders came together at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on August 14-16 for educational sessions, keynote speakers and the opportunity to connect with each other face-to-face. “It’s so great to see everyone coming back together, talking live,” said Dawn Olds, MAS, senior vice president of industry relations and DEI at HALO and PPAI’s board chair. “It can feel nearly impossible to do over Zoom or by email. That creative energy, you can just feel it here. It’s palpable in the room. It’s great to have it back.” After an outdoor welcome reception Sunday evening taking in the Broadmoor’s famous scenery, the event officially kicked off Monday morning with a packed schedule of informative sessions capped off by the evening’s networking dinner at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museumwith a talk from Paralympic skier Tyler Carter. Monday’s sessions tended to focus on technological progress. Earlier in the day, Mike Pfeiffer of American Solutions for Business, who is also chair of PPAI’s Technology Committee, explained the ongoing challenges of cybersecurity. Tech expert Vala Afshar of SalesForce provided the room – full of high-level promo professionals – with a presentation on near- and short-term possibilities afford by technology, including AI, that should be top of mind for company leaders. Afshar also joined Dale Denham for a Q&A diving deeper on the subject of digital progress. “Every year it’s different, and the topics seem to shift in focus,” says Christopher Duffy, MAS, the CEO of Signature Group Consulting, who has now been to 10 NALCs. “Today seemed to be technology and people, and I find that good. I look for tidbits, and I got pages of tidbits today; things I can apply.” Sustainability, DEI, digital transformation, labor shortages and cyber security are all buzzwords within the promo business. And the industry leaders who got together for NALC claimed their companies were actively reckoning with all of these issues in various ways. “I think, for us, all the speakers mirror what our key priorities are for our organization,” Melissa Ralston, chief revenue officer at Koozie Group. In addition to Ralston, a PPAI board member, Koozie Group’s contingent attending NALC also included senior vice-president Pierre Montaubin and CEO David Klatt. The prevailing thought frommany attendees was that the issues facing each company bounce around in meetings, 98 | OCTOBER 2022 | CONNECT
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