Inaugural bpma Show Draws Crowds, Praise

The British Promotional Merchandise Association (bpma) held the inaugural bpma Show in September at the UK’s Silverstone race track featuring a day of education as well as a trade show and networking opportunities.

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Sanders Badges was one of 90 exhibitors at the bpma Show. Almost 400 distributors came through the doors for the trade show, and for the first time they were able to invite their clients to attend with them.

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More than 140 industry professionals attended bpma’s education day on September 13. Among the speakers were authors, subject matter experts and industry leaders from the UK and the U.S. including Marty Lott, owner and president of apparel supplier SanMar (UPIC: SNMR), PPAI Chair Tom Goos, MAS, and PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, who rounded out the day with a keynote presentation on creating success in an era of transformation.

 


PPAI’s Seth Barnett’s Northwest U.S. Outreach Includes Universities And NWPMA

PPAI Diversity Development and Engagement Manager Seth Barnett was on the road in the Northwest in September speaking to industry companies and organizations in the region, and lecturing at area universities.

Seth Barnett speaks to an audience in the NWPMA 2016 Fall Showcase.

At the Northwest Promotional Marketing Association’s (NWPMA) 2016 Fall Showcase in Everett, Washington, Barnett spoke as part of its professional development program identifying and recruiting Millennial talent and how to sell into the market.


PPAI Welcomes The Partnering Group’s Fall Meeting

The Partnering Group, LLC, an exclusive industry organization comprised of 18 distributors, held its fall meeting of company principals at PPAI’s Irving, Texas, headquarters in September.

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The Partnering Group used its time at PPAI’s headquarters to learn more about the Association and its products, services and programs through presentations from every PPAI department.

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After business was done, PPAI treated the group to a private tour of AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, where they got to see one of the largest and most expensive sports venues ever built—from the press box, to the luxury suites, to the player locker rooms—before wrapping up the day with dinner and conversation.


The 2016 SAAC Show Delivers Education, Show Floor Opportunities And A New Direction

On August 10-11, the Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC) brought the promotional products industry to Long Beach for the 2016 SAAC Show. Alongside its trade show and networking opportunities, education at the SAAC Show featured a series of sessions that covered a range of topics, including building a successful business, personal branding, marketing tactics, SAGE Mobile and incorporating premium incentive merchandise into distributors’ businesses, and a keynote presentation from PPAI Board Chair Tom Goos, MAS and President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, on growing member value and the industry.

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(From left) Lori Bolton-Herman, SAAC president; Rhett Todd, SAAC Show Committee chair; and Jacob Dobsch, SAAC vice president, cut the ribbon to open the 2016 SAAC Show.

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The 2016 SAAC Show drew more than 1,800 attendees and 300 exhibitors with a two-day schedule that featured extensive education, networking and trade-show opportunities.