PromoKitchen, the industry’s leading nonprofit with a mission of mentoring and educating new people in the industry, brought together industry members at its reception Monday night at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The theme of the night was “Dropping Knowledge Bombs” and attendees were encouraged to write down nuggets of wisdom on special cards that were then collected and thrown into the crowd. The cards could be turned in for the night’s featured signature drink, the Knowledge Bomb.

Speaking to the standing-room-only crowd, PromoKitchen Chef Robert Fiveash, co-owner and president of Brand Fuel, thanked the event’s sponsors including Custom Color, Lion Circle Corporation, SanMar, Goldstar Pens, PPAI, SnugZ USA, Gemline and Hit Promotional Products.

SanMar donated $500 to the Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF) at the event. PPEF Board Trustee Carol de Ville, MAS, owner of The Branding Company, accepted the donation telling the crowd, “Since 1989 we have contributed as an association more than $1.5 million toward education in our industry, so hats off to you guys. This is the fourth year that PromoKitchen has allowed us to be a part of the recipients who receive money from them. Thank you very much to everyone … we appreciate it.”

Marc Held, vice president of Hit Promotional Products, also presented PromoKitchen with a $16,000 check from the company to support the PromoKitchen’s mission of mentoring and educating industry newcomers.