Snapshots (13)

MiPPA’s Promotions That Roar! Show Hits New High

The Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) brought industry distributors and suppliers together September 28 at its Promotions That Roar! Show. The annual members-only, end-buyer fall booth show was held at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, in downtown Detroit. The show featured a trade show with 112 booths and a record 1,200 attendees, education opportunities, and visitors including Detroit Lions cheerleaders, the team’s mascot, ROARY, and former Detroit Lions players Scott Conover and George Jamison.

MiPPA’s current and incoming board members were recognized during the show, including (from left, back row) MiPPA President-Elect Paul Zafarana; Jim McCollough, Edwards Garment; Sue Kinch, Kitchen Happy; RAC Delegate Valerie Hayman Sklar, Corporate Specialties; Immediate Past President Dave DeWitt, Advanced Marketing Partners; Patrick Kelleher, Headfirst Printing; MiPPA Executive Director Paul Kiewiet, MAS+ (from left, front row) Lisa Bascom, Amerifoam; Board Secretary Sarah Merrill, Mercury Promotions and Fulfillment; and Marci Schwartz Taran, The Bradley Company.

Cody Miller and Stefanie Poe from SAGE get a photo with Detroit Lions’ cheerleaders and the team’s mascot, ROARY.

PPEF Executive Committee Visits PPAI For 2017 Planning Meeting

In October, PPAI hosted a visit from the Promotional Products Education Foundation’s (PPEF) executive committee. Members of both PPEF’s 2016 and newly-elected 2017 executive committees met at the Association’s Irving, Texas, headquarters to develop plans and budgets for 2017 as well as conduct longer-term strategic planning on the future direction of PPEF. The final plans from the two-day session will go to the PPEF Board of Trustees for approval.

PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, (second from left) PPEF Foundation Manager Sara Besly (third from left) and the Association’s staff hosted members of PPEF’s 2016 and newly-elected 2017 executive committees in October at its offices in Irving, Texas. Visitors included (from left) Immediate Past Chair Pat Dugan, MAS; 2016 Vice Chair–Scholarship Carol de Ville, MAS; 2016 Immediate Past Chair Kippie Helzel, MAS; Vice Chair–Strategic Planning & Budget Drew Davis, MAS; Chair Lori Bauer; Vice Chair–Scholarships Brian Porter; Vice Chair–Fundraising Paula Shulman, CAS; 2016 Vice Chair–Strategic Planning/Budget David Tate; and Vice Chair–Marketing & Recognition Stephanie Preston.

PPAI’s Carol Gauger Connects With PPAM And Industry Companies In Kansas

PPAI Director of Member Engagement and Regional Relations Carol Gauger, MAS, was on the road this fall, meeting with the Promotional Products Association of The Midwest (PPAM) and industry companies in the region. She joined PPAM’s Fall Showcase in St. Louis, Missouri, and Lenexa, Kansas, where she met with the regional association’s board for a member recruitment and retainment strategy session. While in the area, Gauger attended a Rotary/Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the offices of TradeNet Publishing (UPIC: TRADENET), where Tom Mertz, CEO and president of TradeNet, was honored for 30 years of business and community service in Gardner, Kansas, and she visited industry service provider DistributorCentral, headquartered in Gardner, and its president, Jason Nokes.

Tom Mertz, CEO and president of TradeNet (right), leads a tour of the supplier’s factory.

PPAI Director of Member Engagement and Regional Relations Carol Gauger, MAS, visits with DistributorCentral President Jason Nokes during a trip to the service provider’s offices.

SAAGNY Educates New Jersey’s Legislators At Its Fall Showcase

At its September 20 Fall Showcase in Teaneck, New Jersey, the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) hosted visitors from the offices of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Scott Garrett. Mike Schenker, MAS, principal at Newton, New Jersey’s Mike Schenker Consulting (UPIC: SCHENKER), escorted Dinesh Suryawanshi, a projects specialist for Sen. Booker, and Rob Pettet, a district director for Rep. Garrett, around the show, and introduced them to a number of the show’s exhibitors and attendees to learn about their respective businesses.

Schenker says, “In each case, our guests ‘got it.’ They certainly understood promotional products in the most general sense, but they never imagined an industry of $22 billion. At the risk of putting words in their mouths, I believe they left with a better understanding about our industry as a whole and, more importantly, the people behind it.”

Mike Schenker, MAS, (right) introduces Michele Jennrich, MAS, to (from left) Rob Pettet, district director for Rep. Scott Garrett, and Dinesh Suryawanshi, a projects specialist for Sen. Cory Booker, on the SAAGNY Fall Showcase show floor.

Imagine Promotional Group Raises Funds To Fight Alzheimer’s

On October 15, a team of 25 from Imagine Promotional Group, Inc. participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Petaluma, California. They raised more than $4,000 to increase awareness and fund research to fight Alzheimer’s disease. Part of the distributor’s fundraising efforts included raffling off a "Big Bad Beer Lovers Basket" containing craft beer tours, craft beer, gift certificates and promotional items donated by key suppliers including PCNA, PicnicTime, Peerless Umbrella, ETS Express and AdNArt.

Distributor Imagine Promotional Group’s team joined the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and raised $4,000 to fight the disease.