The Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) held its inaugural Michigan Leadership Conference on August 6-7 at the Waldenwoods Conference Center in Hartland, Michigan. PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, and Public Affairs Director Anne Stone joined the conference to speak on strategic foresight in the promotional products industry—looking to the future and spotting emerging trends to be in the best possible position to take advantage of them or prepare for the disruptions they may bring.

Thirty industry professionals from Michigan and around the country attended the conference to learn more about the challenges faced by the promotional products industry; to discover how to turn these challenges into opportunities; and to develop actionable plans to begin implementing immediately. Bellantone and Stone’s session, in which they delivered the Association’s new Strategic Foresight presentation and Playbook, opened the two-day event. Paul Kiewiet, MAS+, MiPPA executive director, says, “The Strategic Foresight Playbook presentation provided our leaders with a framework for discussing, analyzing and preemptively planning for the change and disruption accelerating through our industry.”

Additional presentations by Joseph Scott, Scott and Associates; Roger Burnett, Branded Logistics; and Kiewiet; round table discussions and panels that included Cliff Quicksell, MAS+, Quicksell and Associates; Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS+, Competitive Edge; Rick Cesere, Edwards Garment Company; and Steven Meyer, RiteLine examined issues that are changing the world and the industry at a rapidly expanding pace, and left attendees feeling energized, empowered and optimistic.

Bellantone and Stone will deliver the Association’s Strategic Foresight presentation to Proforma on August 27 at its 2018 Convention & Family Reunion event, and on August 28 at the Arizona Promotional Products Association’s (AzPPA) AzPPA Expo. They will also be speaking on the same subject at The PPAI Expo 2019 on January 14. More information on strategic foresight is available here, and the Strategic Foresight Playbook is available here. Regional associations or members who want to learn more about the presentations can contact Anne Stone at AnneS@ppai.org.