PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE (center right) and Business Development Manager Ellen Tucker (second from right) met with Proforma President Greg Muzzillo (center), along with (from left) Proforma Chief Sales Officer Tom Rizzi, Director of Strategic Partner Developments Michele Cardello and Chief Marketing Officer Deanna Costello.
On a recent trip to Florida, PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, and Business Development Manager Ellen Tucker met with Greg Muzzillo, president of Proforma, and Joe Loch, president of Fully Promoted, to discuss how the two companies can take best advantage of The PPAI Expo and how PPAI can assist them in reaching their goals throughout the year.
In 2018, Proforma is planning to transition its regional meetings to a series of roundtable events for its owners and sales associates—smaller events for owners with more than $400,000 in sales and one large event for owners and associates with sales under $400,000 a year. Proforma’s inaugural large roundtable event will be held in conjunction with The PPAI Expo 2018 in Las Vegas.
“We had a great visit together,” says Muzzillo. “Our conversation was primarily in regards to partnering with PPAI on our revised winter meeting format. We have developed an exciting plan around holding the inaugural large-group roundtable event at Expo. We’re looking forward to the partnership and hosting this new meeting concept in Las Vegas.”
Joe Loch, president of Fully Promoted, gives PPAI Business Development Manager Ellen Tucker a tour of the company’s West Palm Beach offices.
In January, distributor EmbroidMe rebranded as Fully Promoted to reflect an expansion of the services the company offered. The news was announced to its franchisees at its annual convention, held in Las Vegas in conjunction with Expo 2017. Next year, Fully Promoted’s annual convention returns to Las Vegas during Expo.
“It was great spending time with Paul and Ellen,” says Loch. “We consider them members of our support team and look forward to being part of the PPAI 2018 Expo this coming January in Vegas. It was good to share ideas and insights on our show objectives. Our annual convention theme is ‘Fully Engaged.’ It is good to know that we are partnering with an organization that is fully engaged in supporting the promotional products market.”
Tucker adds, “With Greg in Tampa and Joe in West Palm Beach, we covered a lot of ground in Florida, connecting with some of the industry’s largest distributor organizations. Meetings with the Association’s members is an important channel for PPAI to understand their needs and how we can work with them to further their goals. I look forward to what we can build on our time in Florida.”
