Community | Inside PPAI New PPAI CEO Drew Holmgreen Ready To Meet, Learn From Members Following seven years at Meeting Professionals International, most recently as its chief experience officer, Drew Holmgreen was announced as PPAI’s incoming president and CEO on Dec. 19. He met his new staff virtually for the first time at the end of 2024 and met the industry at The PPAI Expo 2025. PPAI Media sat down with the Association’s new leader to find out what excites him most about his new role. PPAI Media: What are your initial thoughts on the growth opportunities available to the industry? Drew Holmgreen: The biggest opportunity is for us to really elevate our seat at the table. I’ve been a believer in merch for a long time. I’ve seen the power of it through brand activations that I did for clients when I was on the agency side. I’ve seen the power of it when I was at MPI. We actually started to lean into merch quite a bit for our membership, so much so that at their signature event coming up in June, they’re going to have their own merch store. Promotional merch needs to be a part of every brand strategy, and there are some brands that do believe in it. But it’s not getting as much of the credit as it deserves, and that’s a big opportunity ahead of us that I want to explore and evaluate. PPAI Media: Can you explain your thoughts on the role of the Association? Holmgreen: Real simple: It’s about personal and professional development. Associations are exceptional about creating connections and advanced learning – future proofing yourself. And those connections and learnings both overlap in terms of how they futureproof you. Associations do that better than anybody else when they are deliberate, data-informed and smart about how they put together their models. And that development is paramount to validating somebody in what they do and informing them on how to do it. Associations are also critical to making certain the industry thrives. So that’s a little bit of a difference between a for-profit and a nonprofit association. For example, we make a lot of effort to be on Capitol Hill talking to legislators and advocating for causes that are right for the industry. PPAI Media: What is your first impression of working with the PPAI staff? Holmgreen: Again, I use that word joy a lot. Before my very first dinner with the team, the thing I noticed when we all met up is everybody came together and there were constant hugs. We organically created a circle to stand around so everybody could see each other. What that tells me, from my one year of being a psychology major, is there exists a genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for one another. This team is the embodiment and expression of joy. And that’s what we as an organization need to deliver. The way we deliver that is from the foundation, and that foundation is set. That’s a huge positive that I see already. PPAI Media: What are your plans for hitting the road to meet members, even as you try to get up to speed with PPAI itself? 88 • MARCH 2025 • PPAI
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