The fourth annual SAGE Show returns to the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas, next week. Running August 31-September 1, the show is bringing in more than 200 exhibitors from around the country. Distributor attendees from across the region will have access to an extensive show floor, plus the same high-quality education that industry practitioners find at The PPAI Expo and Expo East.

As in previous years, SAGE has collaborated with PPAI on an extensive education lineup on Wednesday, August 31. The PPAI education programming brings together a number of industry experts to speak on growing, managing and succeeding in the promotional products business, while the SAGE track delivers best practices and deep dives into making the most of the tools and programs SAGE provides to industry practitioners.

Education day speakers include PPAI staff and experts from within and outside the promotional products industry.

  • PPAI Diversity Development and Engagement Manager Seth Barnett’s session on attracting, engaging and retaining Millennials explores how the Millennial generation operates within the modern market and how businesses can better prepare for these changing economics.

  • Speaker and author Steve Klein will host a pair of sessions during the SAGE Show’s education day, the first on mistakes salespeople make and how to avoid them, and the second on culture change among leaders and their organizations to compete in today’s marketplace.

  • Sales manager and author of Sell Like You Mean It! - Outselling Your Competitors by Understanding Your Customers, Troy Harrison is also delivering two sessions at the SAGE Show. Harrison is speaking on defining ideal customers and targeting them for selling, and how to hire the right salesperson.

  • Corporate trainer Claire Billingsley, with the Billingsley Consulting Group, will demonstrate how different leadership styles can be adapted to the demands of the situation, requirements of the people involved and/or the challenges faced by the organization in her session “Improve Communication And Leadership Through Improv.”

  • Sales trainer Danny Friedman draws from 18 years of experience in the promotional products business for his sessions on perfecting closing skills and capitalizing on today’s trends and tactics in email marketing.

  • PPAI Affinity Program Specialist Kari Banner will close out the SAGE Show education day with a look at using PANTONE in the promotional products industry.

On Thursday, September 1 at 9 am, SAGE CEO Eric Natinsky presents the keynote session “It's the End of the World as We Know It.” His session takes a look at the impact of the technology revolution that is changing our lives.

Find the full agenda and register now for the SAGE Show 2016.