Kacie Brinner is information services project supervisor for SAGE and is part of the SPARK workgroup from 2020-2022. She is a Texas transplant, retaining Californian ultra-hippie status, and is a writing junkie. She hates winter and firmly believes in serendipity.

From Flight Paramedic to the King of Swag. Anthony Carpenter is the owner of The Branded Creation, a proforma franchise. Before this, he was a Sales Rep at two other companies. I hold a Bachelors's from the University of Houston. I hold a CAS from PPAI. BASI from ASI. I am also the Chief Flight Paramedic for an Air Ambulance Company, which allows me to galivant around the world on somebody else's dime. The best part... I am about to celebrate my 10th anniversary and have three kids 8,6,3. In his spare time, he gives all of his money to Disney.

David Geiger is general counsel for Geiger located in Lewiston, Maine, which is an industry top-10 distributor of promotional products and advertising specialty items. Geiger is a recent graduate of the University of Maine School of Law and represents the fifth generation of Geigers to work at the family-owned business. He joined the company in 2007, starting in manufacturing engineering services during school breaks from the University of Southern California, where he studied business administration, management, law and entrepreneurship. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he held the role of compliance manager until he left to pursue a degree in law. His role is to ensure Geiger’s compliance with global laws and regulations, handle corporate law-related matters, assist in drafting and negotiating complex agreements and participate in the strategic growth of the company as part of the mergers and acquisition team.  In addition to his responsibilities at Geiger, he is a board member for St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, a member of PPAI’s Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG) and is part of the SPARK workgroup from 2020-2022.

Charity Gibson is the National Account Coordinator for Peerless Umbrella, owner of Green Banana Social, a founding Chef and Executive Committee member of industry 501(c)3 PromoKitchen, and the host of the Badass Women of Promo Podcast.  She started her career on the distributor side of the industry and moved to the supplier side of things in 2015. She is most well known for her heavy engagement on social media, educational sessions and videos, mentorship, and creativity.

Ed Hamner, CAS is the owner of Howling Print and Promo, an independent distributor based outside of Cleveland, Ohio. He has been in the industry for approximately 10 years, however can trace his Print and Promo origin story back to the 5th grade.

As the owner of a certified LGBT business enterprise, Ed is a proponent of DEI initiatives in supply chains and corporate HR.

In his free time, you’ll probably catch him hiding away at the local coffee shop (pre-covid) with his ear pods in, book in hand.

My current role at HALO (formally Sunrise Identity Powered by HALO) is a Product Safety Analyst, where I’ve worked for about four years. In this position, I work closely with our Sales Teams to ensure we meet our clients’ various compliance requirements that often go above and beyond mandatory or regulatory requirements. My general day-to-day activities involve anything from product safety testing, to quality control inspections, to social audits.

Further, as a graduate from Seattle University in Environmental Studies, Urban Sustainability, I’ve recently been able to put my degree and passion to use by working on HALO’s new Sustainability Initiative and 2020 ESG Report. Pre-Covid, I had the opportunity to visit a supplier’s facilities in Honduras to learn more about the steps they are taking to achieve sustainable manufacturing practices. Here, they are reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and associated waste streams, while at the same time, investing in their employees as well as the culture and people of Honduras. This experience made clear as to why Social Responsibility is an integral component of sustainability—investing in people and the planet is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business. I look forward to talking more in depth about the importance of Social Responsibility and Workers’ Rights.

Noelle Leverentz is the Florida sales representative for Hit Promotional Products. She proudly joined the company in 2019 and started her career in the promotional products industry. In her time at Hit, she immediately recognized the importance of relationships and her role in connecting herself as a supplier to her distributors. She intends on continuing this lesson as she grows in her position for her company as well as where she can serve the industry.

A seven-year industry veteran with a deep passion for merchandising and strategic branding solutions. Born and raised in the Midwest but always bringing a trendy insight to daily tasks, Austin is a self-proclaimed ‘foodie’ who is always in the know about what's new around town. A man who wears many hats, Austin takes great pride in being a crazy dog dad and he may or may not also be an ordained minister. When Austin isn't rolling out the red carpet for his clients, he enjoys a day at the lake and watching Dateline on pizza night Friday.

Javier Melendez is a National Sales Executive for Walker-Clay Inc. His career started in a Vocational Technical High School, learning about printing and design, and his experience has grown in the 13+ years since then. He holds a MASI certification and is a sous-chef volunteer for 501(c)3 PromoKitchen. He is mainly known for his fun and unique social media, which heavily uses TikTok, which landed him #18 on the 2020 #online18 List of industry influencers.

To say that Brandon loves the promotional products industry would be an understatement. He has excelled in Promo by immersing himself in the industry, learning everything it has to offer, and has made the industry his passion for over 16 years. Brandon has moved all over the country working in Distributor, Supplier, and Service Provider roles.

Born in Denver, CO, Brandon began his career in the Promo Industry by running multi-head embroidery machines. Once his foot was in the door, he went to work for Tropico Imports where he gained experience in International shipping and learned the balance of work travel. In 2014, he moved to Austin, TX as the SW Region Manager for Jetline. During his time in Texas, he also served on the board of the Houston Promotional Product Association (HPPA) as their Membership Committee Chair. After 13 years within the Distributor and Supplier side of the industry, he made the transition to the service provider, PromoCorner, as their Digital Media Manager.

Leveraging video for business is a must and Brandon is one of the trending leaders in the medium for the Promo Industry. What started out as a passion project, “PromoErrday” has turned into a socially relevant way to highlight the far reaches of the industry. After the success of “PromoErrday”, how could Brandon not keep going? Serving as the creator, director, photographer, editor, and narrator, Brandon brought to life “How Promo Is Made” at PromoCorner.com. Additionally, he runs post-production for “A. Madl’s Closet” with Amelia Madl and several other Live shows on PromoCorner's and PromoShow's social media.

Come have a conversation with Brandon and Javi as they talk about their thoughts on where the industry is as it relates to prospecting!

Maddie is the Vice President of Operations at Payden & Company, a distributorship based out of East Greenwich, RI. She’s worked in the industry for four years, attended her first SPARK mixer at The PPAI Expo in January of 2018, and has attended as many SPARK events as she can since then. She loves getting to meet her promo peers at SPARK mixers and conferences and is looking forward to working with PPAI and the rest of the workgroup on delivering quality content to promo’s young professionals both online and (hopefully soon!) in-person.

As the director of business development and expositions, Ellen is responsible for driving the non-dues revenue for the association and leading the development, operations and execution of the association’s in-person and virtual tradeshows. Making up 50% of the association’s total revenue, non-dues revenue funds the association’s initiatives and includes revenue generated from tradeshows, publications, professional development events and other association products. The association’s tradeshows bring knowledge, community and a forum to do business to the promotional product industry. Ellen leads the interdepartmental collaboration that leads to, and manages the teams producing and selling, these industry-leading, award-winning events.