Seth Godin And PPAI’s Paul Bellantone Headline Advertising Week Program

Marketer and blog master Seth Godin spent an hour with PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, in a Q&A-style session during Advertising Week in New York City this September. Hear more from Godin during his keynote speaker at The PPAI Expo 2016 in Las Vegas, at 8:30 am on Tuesday, January 12 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Advertising Week web2 The comfortable and often humorous banter with the edgy commentator covered topics ranging from becoming indispensable and horizontal marketing to Godin’s intentionally mismatched socks (he buys them that way—six to a pack).

 

AIA Staff And Affiliate Owner Run The Fox Valley Marathon

AIA staff and Bob Wilson, owner of Tennessee’s AIA/Legacy Promotional Group, participated in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley Marathon on September 20, as part of the Neenah, Wisconsin, distributor’s wellness initiative. The Fox Valley Marathon acts as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, which Wilson says he will be running for the ninth time this year.

Fox Cities Pic1 web AIA/Legacy Promotional Group Owner Bob Wilson takes a break with AIA’s Michelle Dalton and Marie Miller after running the Fox Valley Marathon.

 

PPEF Executive Committee Visits PPAI For 2016 Planning Meeting

PPAI hosted a visit from the Promotional Products Education Foundation’s (PPEF) executive committee. They were at the Association’s Irving, Texas, headquarters to develop plans for 2016 as well as longer-term strategic planning on the future direction of PPEF.

PPEF Board 9.23.15 web2 From left: PPAI Executive Vice President Bob McLean, PPEF Foundation Manager Sara Besly and PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE (far right), met with the PPEF executive committee—Lori Bauer, vice president of national accounts, BIC Graphic North America; Pat Dugan, MAS, vice president of sales/marketing, Budgetcard, Inc.; Kippie Helzel, MAS, vice president of sales, CPS/Keystone; Carol de Ville, MAS, president of The Branding Company; and David Tate, president of Signet, Inc.—for their annual planning meeting at PPAI headquarters in September.

 

AIA Connects With Younger Generation At Inaugural GenNext Summit

AIA Corporation (UPIC: advinadv) hosted its first GenNext Summit for distributor affiliates in September, providing the opportunity for them to become more familiar with AIA’s National Support Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, and for AIA to understand their needs and visions for the future. Field Sales Director Greg Armstrong created the event to proactively engage the next generation of affiliates with the AIA community.

IMG_3669 web2 AIA brought in 11 members from its affiliate community—most were the children of long-time AIA distributors—along with three representatives from sponsoring supplier companies: Marc Held with Bodek and Rhodes, Aaron Gunderson of The Magnet Group and Brittany David with Snugz USA—to discuss the changing market and to share sales techniques.

 

Pro Towels And Kanata Blanket USA Donate Blankets To Aid Flood Victims

Pro Towels (UPIC: PROTOWEL) and Kanata Blanket USA (UPIC: BLANKET) have donated more than 1,500 of its blankets to help victims of the recent flooding disaster in South Carolina. Pro Towels, which operates its primary manufacturing facility in Abbeville, South Carolina, teamed up with local Wright Middle School to move quickly after disaster struck.

IMG_0687 web2 Pro Towels and Kanata Blanket employees, and Wright Middle School students load a truck with supplies for a flood-ravaged school the middle school had adopted in the capital city of Columbia, a city particularly hard-hit by the flood.

IMG_0684 web2 Approximately 50 families from the adopted school in Columbia lost everything, with more than 800 children from the school affected in some way by the flood. In addition to blankets, the tractor-trailer was filled with school supplies, socks, shoes, clothes, bottled water and other supplies.