Shawn LaFave, MAS, president of Alpharetta, Georgia-based distributor North Georgia Promotions, says his team’s goal when attending last year was to meet with specific suppliers to discuss the possibility of getting end quantity pricing, even though the firm isn’t in a buying group. Suppliers tend to offer several levels of pricing based on the quantity of the item being purchased, and EQP refers to the lowest published price of a promotional product. LaFave credits SAGE Mobile – the official show planning app of The PPAI Expo – for making the journey much easier. “The map feature was a huge time-saver, as we just left the app open when we walked the show and it told us the next booth number for the suppliers we had marked down,” LaFave says. “As a result, we were able to get EQP with three different suppliers, as well as some free self-promo items to kick off our new partnerships.” Welcome To America Gary Elphick and Chris Bailey started supplier Disrupt Sports 12 years ago as just two dudes making surfboards in Australia. As is often the case, they just so happened to fall into the promo world. After racking up awards from the Australasian Promotional Products Association, they decided to exhibit in the United States at The PPAI Expo. “PPAI was about 30 times bigger than we anticipated,” says Elphick, CEO of Disrupt Sports, which is now headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and has facilities in the United Kingdom and Australia. “We were blown away by distributors’ reactions, especially how they had never seen a range like this. They were amazed that we could make just one piece, but we didn’t know any better as we came from a place where people only wanted one surfboard, not 500.” As a result of the buzz from Expo, Elphick decided to move to the U.S. to open a new location. Since then, the event has served as the annual launching pad for Disrupt Sports’ new year, as employees from around the world come together to socialize, meet with distributor Shawn LaFave, MAS, president, North Georgia Promotions Gary Elphick and Chris Bailey co-owners, Disrupt Sports Must Read | Expo Success 62 • DECEMBER 2024 • PPAI
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