Community | Inside PPAI responsibility role and the transition of staff alignment as an effort to support the organization’s current strategic plan while leveraging staff skills where they are best applied. The current strategic plan was approved by the Board of Directors in October 2021. At its center is the Association’s mission to “Be the voice and force to advance the promotional marketplace for the benefit of our community.” PPAI is reorganizing committees to align with the strategic plan and best use volunteers’ time. This includes the creation of an umbrella committee overseeing corporate responsibility. Workgroups of the new umbrella committee will encompass diversity, equity and inclusion’, product responsibility; government relations; and sustainability. These committee changes are pending approval by the Board of Directors. Additionally, committees will be overseen by the staff leaders responsible for the area the committee serves rather than all funneling through the member engagement department. In a note to staff, Denham emphasized how these changes support PPAI’s strategic plan, which has already been the impetus behind numerous recognizable changes at the Association over the past two years, from a revamped PPAI Media to a new emphasis on buyer outreach, the launch of PDX and the recently released PPAI 100 ranking of industry leaders. PPAI Media Bolsters Staff With Promotion, New Addition THE EDITORIAL TEAM AT PPAI MEDIA has a refreshed look thanks to a promotion for its longest-tenured staffer and the addition of another experienced industry reporter, both award-winning journalists. James Khattak, CAS, who originally joined PPAI in the role of news editor in 2011 and later took on the title of senior digital editor, has been promoted to deputy editor, overseeing the day-to-day operations of PPAI Media’s publishing efforts. New team member John Corrigan has also joined the fold as a news editor, reporting the daily happenings of the industry and creating impactful, enterprising stories for PPAI Newslink and PPAI Magazine. James Khattak After studying at Texas A&M, Khattak worked as a writer for a research outlet for three years, then joined the nonprofit world with a five-year stint at the International News Media Association. He worked as a proposal writer briefly before joining PPAI, where his duties included reporting on the industry and preparing PPAI Newslink. Khattak is a former winner of the American Society of Association Executives’ Gold Circle Award for e-newsletters and communications. In his new role, he will oversee the editorial calendar and production of PPAI’s newsletters, manage the production of PPAI Magazine and direct the editorial staff’s reporting. Khattak is the manager for a team of four, including Corrigan, and reports to PPAI publisher and editor-in-chief Josh Ellis. An avid photographer for PPAI events and in his spare time, Khattak documents frequent road trips with his wife. The two have built a side business publishing coffee table-style travel books that feature rural Texas and the surrounding states. John Corrigan Corrigan brings a decade’s worth of experience in journalism, from broadcast radio to B2B and human resources coverage to launching (and eventually selling) his own website. A job offer two days before graduating from Temple University took him to Huntsville, Alabama, where he was a general assignment reporter. After returning to Pennsylvania, he made his introduction to the promo world, working for Advertising Specialty Institute for nearly six years. Corrigan departed ASI in November 2021 to join Key Media Business Information, helping launch HRD America, a news outlet for human resources professionals. Corrigan has won honors from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and twice been a finalist for Jesse H. Neal Awards in B2B media for best editorial use of data and best range of work by a single author. Outside of work, Corrigan has been an avid professional wrestling fan for most of his life. He launched the website The Wrestling Estate, a media outlet dedicated to coverage of the squared circle. Willing to go above and beyond to understand his audience, he even stepped inside of the ring where a bruising villain pummeled him before adding insult to injury and shaving his head. 88 • SEPTEMBER 2023 • PPAI
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