The PPAI Expo 2016 Earned Its #BestExpoEver Hashtag
On January 10-14, the promotional products industry’s largest and longest-running trade show brought exhibitors and attendees together for extensive education sessions, networking opportunities and a world-class show experience.
The best Expo ever. That’s what was promised by PPAI and wow, did you ever deliver. The combination of having all the exhibits on one floor and having the SAGE mobile app activated made this show the most enjoyable and hassle-free show I’ve ever attended in 30 years of Expos. I could plot where I was going, set my goals for the day and see it all on the app, live in a great floor plan right in front of me.
The energy in the show hall and in the hotel itself was high with a tremendous positive anticipation for the year ahead. Thank you PPAI staff for all the hard work. It paid off. I won’t intentionally miss this show … ever. It’s all there. Always has been. But now it’s just gotten better. Best Expo ever. You did it. Thank you.
Wayne Greenberg, MAS
President
JB of Florida, Inc./Geiger
Tampa, Florida
The Ease And Value Of Attaining Product Aware Status
The PPAI Expo 2016 was also the first to require all exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers at the show to have attained Product Safety Aware status. This means that each company (regardless of membership category) has designated a roster employee who completed a minimum of four hours of product safety education in advance of the show and serves as the company’s Product Safety Ambassador.
PPAI’s Product Safety Awareness (PSA) program was originally announced during The PPAI Expo 2014 and went into effect at Expo East in March 2015. The program is designed to foster an industry-wide commitment and culture where companies are not only educated about product safety but engaged in the discussion.
I completed the three mandatory webinars and the one elective webinar for Stuffed Tees’ participation at The PPAI Expo. They were all very well presented and the information contained in each was keenly important to learn about. Am I an expert in any of those arenas? No, but I am much better educated and aware of things that prior to these webinars I was not.
Thank you for all of the work to make this happen. I cannot imagine how much time and effort has been devoted to these issues. My hat is off to you.
Bruce Crumbliss
General Manager
Custom Stuffed Tees
Chattanooga, Tennessee
UPIC: stuffedt
PPAI’s Industry Branding Initiative Leads The Way
In May, the PPAI Board of Directors approved the Association’s Industry Branding Initiative, a five-year plan to position promotional products as a top-of-mind and preferred advertising and marketing tool among professionals responsible for branding, advertising, media planning and media buying. PPAI developed the branding initiative aided by research on buyer purchasing habits and preferences, and in collaboration with industry leaders, PPAI’s Public Relations Advisory Group and the Chairman’s Roundtable Work Group.
Just as a digital device is now carried by almost everyone, 24/7/365, advertisers would be hard pressed to find anyone without one, if not multiple, logoed promotional products on their person at all times. If it’s for me, and free, the general public’s gotta have it!
Props to PPAI for promoting the cost-effective benefits of this long-time advertising medium. In a crowded market of media choices, even advertisers need reminding of what really works to promote their brands’ visibility and accessibility amidst targeted markets and buyers. PPAI continues its mission to articulate, educate, motivate and translate advertisers’ messages, again and again.
John Michael Hudicka, CAS
President
PromotionUltraSource.com
Ardmore, Pennsylvania
UPIC: PromotionUltraSource.com
