An Obsession With Service
Bruce Felber, MAS, explains what fuels his avid volunteerism
By Tina Berres Filipski
For many, the secret to a happy life comes from their service to others. Among those who would agree is this year’s PPAI Distinguished Service Award winner, Bruce Felber, MAS, corporate brand specialist for Holland, Ohio-based distributor The Image Group (UPIC: IMAGEGRP). Surprisingly, his 30-plus years as an industry volunteer started simply because someone asked him to help out.
“My brother, Robert, and I were at the 1984 PPAI Winter Show in Dallas and someone asked if we would stand by a door on Education Day and hand out forms and direct people,” he remembers. The satisfaction of feeling involved struck a chord and Felber decided to take the next step and get involved with his regional association, Specialty Advertising Association of Northern Ohio (now Ohio Promotional Professionals Association). One day, while suggesting a few improvements for the regional’s trade show to friend and fellow member Larry Wise, Felber was asked, “Would you serve as chair of the trade show?”
He took on that role and found satisfaction in helping to turn the show around. From there, he set his sights on running for the regional board—and was elected. One of his first goals was to change the name of the association to reflect a broader purpose, and over the next 17 years Felber served on the OPPA board, twice as president (in 1995 and 2001), and spent five years as chair of the education and the trade show committees. In 2008, he was honored with induction into the OPPA Hall of Fame.
Like many industry professionals, Felber discovered the industry by accident. His father owned a company that manufactured sample books for the textile industry and, in his teens and early 20s, Felber worked for the company on weekends and holidays. When his father passed away suddenly in 1982, Felber found himself running the business. “It was a bad time in the country,” he says. “We had 150 people working two shifts. We were getting squeezed on pricing. The family decided to sell the business.”
He woke up that next Monday morning and asked himself, “Now what?” He had graphic skills and knew how to sell so he worked a lead from a friend in the screen-printing business and sold 100 leather binders. At that point, he knew he was on to something.
Felber discovered promotional products suppliers in a copy of PPB magazine and over time built his book of business and opened a distributorship. His brother joined a few years later and Felber & Felber was formed. It was also at this point that he learned about PPAI, joined and took his volunteer service to a new level.
Ask Felber why he chose to get involved in PPAI leadership and the answer comes easily. “It was probably a selfish reason at first because I wanted to educate myself and meet other industry colleagues,” he says. “But then I found I really liked the Association and the staff.”
Like his interest in improving OPPA’s trade show, Felber was passionate about what he could do to enhance the industry’s reputation and PPAI’s brand image so, after serving on several PPAI committees, he volunteered for the Public Relations Committee and served as chair for two years. “I always wanted to get on the PR committee because I didn’t like the way our industry was perceived on the open market,” he says. “The Association has done a lot over the years to change that perception.”
During his long industry career, he has also provided leadership to PPAI as a member of the Distributors Committee and Technology, Terminology & Standards Committee, the PPB Editorial Advisory Council, Awards Advisory Council and the PR Advisory Council. For three years he served as board trustee for the Promotional Products Education Foundation and for four years as a member of the PPAI Board of Directors, which included terms on the Budget & Finance Committee, Nominating Committee and Executive Committee. He currently is a member of the PPAI Certification Committee and the Public Relations Advisory Group.
A lifelong learner and avid educator, Felber has been active as a webinar presenter and a speaker at The PPAI Expo and Expo East, presented on behalf of the Promotional Professionals Mentoring Network, conducted instructor training and contributed articles to PPB magazine, Print & Promo magazine and the former Corporate Logo magazine. He was also an early PPAI Ambassador speaking at colleges and universities about the value of promotional products.
Although committee work has its challenges (“Sometimes people don’t take their roles seriously or are on a committee for the wrong reasons,” Felber says), he admits he has seen many more victories than defeats through volunteering. Among the victories he counts the many friendships he’s made that have lasted through the years and brought about new opportunities, such as his partnership with fellow distributor Joe Scott, MAS, to teach classes for the Promotional Consultant Academy in 2011. Another victory he was involved in was developing OPPA as one of the top regional associations and helping to hire the person he calls “the best executive director,” LaDonna Belcher. “We reinvented the whole association,” Felber says proudly.
It was through his connection with PPAI that he was introduced to Jon Levine, president of The Image Group, through past PPAI Chair Bob Davis. In 2010, Felber joined the Image Group as director of marketing and sales support.
“This industry is a great place to meet people,” he says, adding that the old saying—you get out what you put in—is true. “People don’t take advantage of the network we have. My best advice is to get involved—you are going to learn by helping others and meeting people you won’t meet in any other environment. You’ll find distributors you can collaborate with and suppliers you can team up with.”
He’s also a passionate believer in the value of what one can learn from others. “People shouldn’t be going to Vegas just for the trade show,” he says. “It’s a meeting of the industry. If you miss the education and don’t attend the social sessions, you are missing what this industry is all about.”
“I want people to understand that volunteering is the lifeblood of society,” he adds. “It’s not always about you but what you can do to help other people.”
