Drew Holmgreen’s first official day with PPAI was Friday. His first full week on the job is the most important of the year for the Association.
Following seven years at Meeting Professionals International, most recently as its chief experience officer, Holmgreen was announced as PPAI’s incoming president and CEO on Dec. 19. He met his new staff virtually for the first time late last month and arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday to get ahead of last week’s snowstorm that hit North Texas, home to PPAI headquarters.
He’s now toured the exhibit hall of Mandalay Bay Convention Center, met with staff leaders and the Board of Directors, and pitched in on final preparations for The PPAI Expo.
Beginning Monday, he’ll meet the industry at what is essentially the Super Bowl of promotional products. It’s a fast start, but Holmgreen says he’s eager to take everything in and learn from the experience. Along with meeting members while walking the aisles, he’ll take the general session stage for an introduction during Monday’s 8:30 a.m. welcome remarks and will also engage speaker Kristen Cavallo for a fireside chat near the end of her Tuesday morning keynote.
PPAI Media sat down with the Association’s new leader to find out what excites him most about this week in Las Vegas and beyond.
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PPAI Media: Drew, you’ve now had several weeks to get ready, but just a few days on the job before the biggest event of the year for the promo industry. What are you looking forward to at The PPAI Expo?
Holmgreen: Just in general, I’m looking forward to seeing how this community engages together and the way everyone collaborates. There’s a direct partnership between the distributors and suppliers, and I’m interested to see how they engage and interact.
I’m interested to see how the community puts some emphasis on the experience that team PPAI has built for them. You’ve heard me use the word joy a lot, and I’m going to keep using it a lot. I want to see how that’s expressed with this incredible experience.
PPAI Media: You’ll be meeting a lot of people – key PPAI members – for the first time. How do you approach trying to absorb it all at once?
Holmgreen: The great thing about associations is there are a lot of passionate people within them, and they will all want to meet and share their stories. And I want to hear their stories. So, I’m going to relate by understanding what this industry and this Association are giving to them, not just professionally but personally. And I’ll start to identify people in that way.
And I am going to need help with names! The stories help me get there; identifying what joy PPAI brings and how it’s been meaningful to our community will help me remember.
Drew Holmgreen
President & CEO, PPAI
PPAI Media: How do you view the show as a learning opportunity?
Holmgreen: I’m going to be consistent in some things that I say: Our job as an organization is to support and deliver the resources, tools and connections for this industry. So, I want to learn exactly how we’re delivering on those expectations – if there are gaps that exist – and see how that engagement takes place. The PPAI Expo is a great place to accelerate that learning.
And I plan to ask a lot of questions. Whether it’s of a member that I meet for the first time, our Board members I’m collaborating with, team PPAI or anybody who’s got an ancillary connection to the industry, I’m going to ask questions and do a lot of listening, so I can learn.
That’s part of what I anticipate experiencing this week at The PPAI Expo and definitely what I’ll be searching for over the course of the next six months.
PPAI Media: What are your initial thoughts on the growth opportunities available to the industry?
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 future-proof 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 non-profit 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 are 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: Beyond this week, what are your plans for hitting the road to meet members, even as you try to get up to speed with PPAI itself?
Holmgreen: I do plan to get out on the road and meet with those individuals who have a big voice and a lot to contribute.
When I met with the executive search committee, that was one of my key pillars in what I wanted to do. My pillars are to learn, connect and activate. And within those, connect is where I want to understand who some of the key players are, the influencers in our industry, those who have been involved in PPAI for a long time to really drive the industry forward.
Given my background, I believe strongly in the power of face-to-face. You can do a lot through a screen, but it comes off a lot better if you can shake a hand, look somebody directly in the eye and have conversations.
