Following The PPAI Expo 2024 – the largest and longest-running trade show in the promotional products industry – several regional associations have joined forces to present Promo Kick-Off 2024, a collaboration of regional shows throughout the Northeast.

From January 29 to February 1, District 1 Regional Show Week includes the:

 

 

 

With many of the exhibitors represented by multi-line or territory reps that cover a large part of the D1 Region, which stretches from the New England to the Washington, D.C. area, the initial motivation for these regional associations collaborating was to provide an efficient and productive showcase schedule for supplier reps, according to SAAGNY President Michael Reisbaum.

“By collaboratively scheduling our shows geographically, we’ve minimized travel between locations, creating efficiency in transit,” Reisbaum says. “That level of partnership has resulted in working closer together in more parts of our association’s business, such as leadership bouncing ideas off each other, relying on some shared best practices and generally working much closer together to provide a better experience for all our members.”

PAPPA President Christa Deeden adds, “We work well as a collaborative team with the common goal of making the show week an exceptional experience for everyone who attends.”

‘Boots On The Ground’

Regional collaboration is a major initiative this year for the Regional Relations Committee (RRC), which is intended to create a clear channel of communication and collaboration between the individual regional associations and PPAI. 

  • The RRC’s role is to strengthen the regional community, facilitate conversation and support regional associations through education and advocacy in an effort to advance the promotional marketplace. 

“Associations as a whole face many of the same challenges and can benefit from shared success, so it makes sense to work together to move the needle forward faster,” says Kara Keister, MAS, RRC delegate to the PPAI Board of Directors and co-owner of distributor Social Good Promotions.

“For PPAI, the regional associations are boots on the ground and have the closest relationships to their membership, as well as PPAI’s members in their individual regions. With major initiatives like the membership rollout ahead of the Association, working together with regionals to meet members where they are is going to be imperative to a smooth transition.”

“A great member experience is our goal for the PAPPA show this year,” says Patti Ward, executive director of PAPPA. “We’re offering members the opportunity to have professional headshots taken, attend a Supplier Speed Selling Education Session and also win great prizes such as an iPad, HP Chromebook and a Keurig K-Select.

“PAPPA members are also encouraged to bring unwanted samples or overruns to the show, so that they can be donated to the Mitzvah Circle Foundations, a local charity serving people in the Philadelphia area.”

Regional Associations Unite As PPAI Members

In 2023, PPAI invited regional associations to officially join PPAI as business service members.

As part of the membership, regional associations are encouraged, but not required, to advance the PPAI Strategic Plan and incorporate as many of the Association’s strategic pillars as possible.         

“Some regionals even set these first quarter shows up as a road show, traveling from one city to the next over the course of a week, allowing for members to walk the show floor, meet their local representatives and form relationships in their own backyard to further the success of their business,” Keister says.

“Suppliers are looking to connect and create working relationships for the upcoming year. Distributors can get up close and personal with new products, snag catalogs, request samples and connect with their local supplier or multi-line representative for each line of interest. It’s a long few weeks for our regionals fresh off the national shows, but well worth it to provide value to their membership.”