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Capturing The PPAI Expo In Pictures
By: Anne Pechuls
Issue: 2008apr
Trying to capture the energy and enthusiasm of the industry’s premier event—The PPAI Expo 2008—is no easy task. More than 14,000 promotional consultants from more than 5,000 distributor companies along with 1,605 supplier companies participated in the promotional products industry’s longest running and largest tradeshow held every January in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PPAI Expo 2008 featured more than 823 new products in the New Product Pavilion (NPP), more than 100 professional development sessions, various networking opportunities in addition to a lot of fun.
The week of January 14, 2008, was filled with PPAI committee meetings, professional development sessions, an early-morning fashion show, keynote speakers, recognition awards and a live concert—plus important business exchanges on the tradeshow floor. “The PPAI Expo is truly the industry’s centerpiece, bringing together all the top professionals in one location, at one time. It is their chance to see and touch new products, gather ideas from colleagues, hone their skills by participating in world-class education, and expand their networks through peer-to-peer interaction,” says PPAI President and CEO Steve Slagle, CAE.
Because this experience is hard to put into words, we tell the story with pictures.
In terms of sheer size, The PPAI Expo absorbed 390,600 net square feet of exhibit space at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and the average attendee walked between five and eight miles a day. Imprinted pedometers handed out to media and PPAI staff to measure daily steps, which were then calculated to determine average number of miles walked.
Aisle foot traffic is swift as distributor attendees try to visit many of the 3,900 booths on two levels at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
At the industry’s largest and longest-running tradeshow, exhibitors strive to demonstrate new products and talk with each attendee about client needs, while also scanning badges and handing out catalogs and samples.
Bags, the No.5 top selling category of promotional products, continued to be hot on The Expo show floor.
Doing business, networking and exchanging ideas is what it’s all about on The PPAI Expo show floor.
THE NEW PRODUCTS
New Product Pavilion Showcases 800+ New Products
The New Product Pavilion (NPP) hosted nearly 500 suppliers who introduced more than 823 new products, including several green items in keeping with PPAI’s theme of “Going Green In 2008.” This year’s NPP also saw a trend of small electronics, including several iPod-compatible technologies and a unique array of writing utensils, such as pens that double as USB connectors.
More than 11,000 promotional consultants visited the New Product Pavilion and viewed the enormous array of unique items spread over 16,000 square feet, the largest new product display in the industry.
Distributors visiting the New Product Pavilion help mark an all-time high attendance for this popular event. More than 11,000 distributors visited the Pavilion during the show to research products for clients, get new ideas for promotions and browse through the hundreds of new products on display.
More than 5,000 distributors attended the New Product Pavilion Sneak Peek on Tuesday night get an early look at more than 780 new product introductions—such as a flameless candle, a self-powered emergency device that can recharge cell phones and plenty of green items including a biodegradable plate made from sugarcane—from more than 460 exhibitor companies.
THE EDUCATION
Professional Development Jump Started The Expo Week
The PPAI professional development team offered more than 100 education sessions this year, covering a broad range of topics in the areas of business management, industry essentials, sales and service, advertising and marketing, strategic business issues, technology, and professional development.
In addition to the informational education sessions, four keynote speakers joined facilitator, Wayne L. Greenberg, MAS, in the “Marketing—RAW” session. James Gilmore, co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, Doug Hall, founder and CEO of the Eureka! Ranch, Kelly McDonald, founder and president of McDonald Marketing, and Stan Slap, president of slap, provided no-holds-barred views on industry trends, challenges, perceptions and future uncertainties.
As part of an increased environmental awareness initiative and growing conservation effort, PPAI went green at The PPAI Expo, making the professional development seminars paperless. All handouts were made available via CD-ROM, which could be obtained at either the PPAI Bookstore & Resource Center or online.
Four internationally known marketing gurus take to the stage for Thursday’s Opening General Session to discuss and debate the U.S. economy, product safety and other current topics. The animated panel features (from left) facilitator, PPAI Past Chairman of the Board Wayne Greenberg, MAS, JB of Florida, Inc. and panelists Doug Hall, Eureka! Ranch; Stan Slap, slap; Kelly McDonald, McDonald Marketing; and James Gilmore, Strategic Horizons LLP.
Marketing guru Doug Hall, Eureka! Ranch, teaches attendees how to think creatively at Thursday’s keynote luncheon, “How To Jump Start Your Brain.”
Stop! Don’t touch that bag! In Tuesday’s keynote luncheon titled, “Developing A Comic Vision,” speaker Tim Gard, CSP, CPAE, demonstrates one of the ways he uses humor to diffuse the many hassles associated with logging thousands of frequent flyer miles each year.
In “1, 2, 10!: The Seven Deadly Sins Of Strategic Implementation,” keynote luncheon speaker Stan Slap says that most companies subscribe to the strategic myth that strategy must be planned well to work. Successful strategies are well executed.
On Education Day, Greg Muzzillo gets the crowd pumped up at his session, “Three Easy Steps To Writing One Million In 12 Months.”
In “Problem Solving And Strategic Ideas For Presidents, Business Owners And Chief Executives,” participants gathered into groups to brainstorm and share ideas.
For the first time, The PPAI Expo initiated “Strategic Business Issues” sessions to update members regarding social responsibility, labor standards, environmental issues, ethical manufacturing and product quality.
THE FASHION
The Expo Opens with PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show
You don’t have to jet to London, Milan, New York and Paris to get a taste of swanky apparel and must-own accessories. One of the most highly anticipated events of The PPAI Expo 2008—the PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show—delivered a high-octane jolt Wednesday morning.
Thumping hip-hop and rock music, flashing lights and swirling smoke created an electric scene at the Event Center. Gyrating dancers on pedestals welcomed the crowd into a darkened arena, where the stage was alive with psychedelic colors and show-goers waved blinking light sticks to the beat.
Paul Kiewiet, MAS, was first to appear on the runway—although not to strut the newest styles, but to pump up the crowd about the golden age of promotional products. After his address, models brandishing blinking light sticks burst onto the stage to the song “We Will Rock You,” showing off BamBams’ new lineup of crowd-pleasers.
Altogether, 17 suppliers showcased the trendiest new apparel and accessories on the runway.
“This is my first time to attend the Fashion Show and I thought the presentation was excellent. It was interesting from start to finish,” says Lisa Burnham of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based distributor Lighthouse Promotions, LLC (UPIC: lghthse). “It was a great way to get the day started.”
2008 PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show Participants
Acadia Sportswear and Abel Safety (UPIC: acadia)
Air Cannons, Inc. (UPIC: Air)
Atchison By BIC (UPIC: ATCHISON)
BamBams (UPIC: bambams)
Board Towelz (UPIC: Towelz)
Bodek and Rhodes (UPIC: ULTRACLB)
Capital Mercury Apparel (UPIC: Capit107)
Charles River Apparel (UPIC: CRA)
Dunbrooke (UPIC: DUNBROOK)
Evans Manufacturing (UPIC: EVANS)
Fields Manufacturing (UPIC: FIELDS)
Gabrielle Rohde Royce (UPIC: GABRIELL)
Heritage Sportswear (UPIC: HERI0002)
Magna-Tel Line (UPIC: MAGNATEL)
PremiumWear, Inc. (UPIC: MUNS0001)
Regal Enterprises, LLC (UPIC: REGALP)
R.S. Owens & Co., Inc. (UPIC: RSOWENS)
A model sporting Board Towelz, a surfboard-shaped beach towel, shares the stage with models showing off fashionable sunglasses from Fields Manufacturing at the Fashion & Accessories Show on Wednesday morning.
The apparel slice of the promotional products pie continues to fit form with fashion as depicted by these outfits modeled during the Fashion & Accessories Show. There’s apparel fit for just about every profession from construction workers to office workers—with looks also available for weekend and casual wear, too.
While these dogs may look a bit shy about the runway, they paws-itively steal the show in scene two of the Fashion & Accessories Show, sponsored by Evans Manufacturing to showcase its line of pet accessories.
Supplier R.S. Owens, manufacturer of the Primetime Emmy Award, excites the crowd by sponsoring an appearance by Oprah Winfrey. Okay, so she’s just a look-alike but her offer is authentic: A chance to win tickets to the Emmy Awards program for distributors who visit the R.S. Owens booth during the show.
The right clothes make an even smarter statement when accompanied by the right accessories such as these lidded travel mugs from Regal Enterprises.
THE AWARDS
Gala Awards Event Attracts 950 Attendees
PPAI’s annual Awards Presentation & Dinner sold out with 950 seats reserved for the gala evening event, which honored the three inductees into the PPAI Hall of Fame—Richard G. Ebel, Robert B. Lederer, CAS, and Robert A. Waldorf, CAS. The ceremony also recognized Mary Ellen Pahlka-Hudicka, MAS, as the recipient of the PPAI Distinguished Service Award.
Other PPAI awards during the evening were presented to 26 winners of the PPAI Pyramid Awardsm, 20 PPAI Web Awardsm winners, 30 PPAI Supplier Star Awardsm and Awards of Merit winners, 56 winners of the PPAI Suppliers Achievement Awardsm, and three PPAI Regional Association Pyramid Awardsm winners.
For the PPAI Hall of Fame story, the PPAI Distinguished Service Award story and for the other PPAI award stories, see the January and February issues of PPB.
1. PPAI Hall of Fame recipients, Rick G. Ebel, Robert B. Lederer, CAS and Robert Alan Waldorf, CAS, lit up the stage at the Awards Presentation & Dinner with their memorable acceptance speeches and heartfelt thank yous.
LaDonna Pauls and Shawn Steele, Logo Envy, LLC, are the proud winners of a PPAI Silver Web Award in the category of Marketing/Branding.
Kelly Rezansoff (left), Triumph Calendars/Norwood Promotional Products, accepts a PPAI Gold Suppliers Achievement Award for Most Beneficial Sales & Marketing Aids from Carol Goebelt, MAS, outgoing chair of the PPAI Awards Committee.
PPAI Distinguished Service Award recipient Mary Ellen Pahlka-Hudicka, MAS, Bodek and Rhodes, basks in the limelight with son, Perry, and daughter, Savannah.
John Davis, Creative Counsel, accepts a Gold Pyramid Award in the category of Business-To-Business Programs $10 Or More Per Recipient from Noreen Prohaska, MAS, R.S. Owens, incoming chair of the PPAI Awards Committee.
Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) took home the PPAI Regional Association Pyramid Award for the best general membership campaign. President Bob Schwartz, CAS, accepts the honors from Carol Goebelt, MAS, outgoing chair of the PPAI Awards Committee.
Daryn Ross accepts the Supplier Star award for the S5 category dressed as his alter-ego, Megaman, the superhero of marketing for Excelsior Springs, Missouri based supplier Megafast
THE NETWORKING
PPMN Members Fill House Of Blues
It was a packed house at House of Blues as nearly 200 members of Promotional Professionals Mentoring Network (PPMN) and their guests turned out for the third annual PPMN Monday Night Mixer.
“The energy in the room was overwhelming. It was a great setting to catch up with old friends, say hello to new ones and kick off The PPAI Expo 2008 in a really memorable way,” says Allison Schaffer, CAS, outgoing PPMN president.
Thank you to the following sponsors for their generous financial support of the event:
Diamond Sponsors
3M Promotional Markets Dept. (UPIC: POST-IT)
Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF)
Webb Collection (UPIC: WEBBCO)
Sapphire Sponsors
CPS/The Keystone Line (Custom Plastic Specialties) (UPIC: keystone)
Halls & Company (UPIC: IDLINE)
Pioneer Balloon Company (UPIC: Pioneer)
Promo Marketing (UPIC: PROM0133)
Shepenco (UPIC: SHEPENCO)
The Vernon Company (UPIC: Vernon)
Warwick Publishing Co. (UPIC: WARWICK)
PPMN members, Sherri Lennarson, MAS, Bankers Advertising; and Stacie Livingston and Sue Tobias, MAS, Fields Manufacturing Inc., take a breather from networking while enjoying the PPMN Monday Night Mixer at House of Blues.
Cindy Scardino, Gill Studios, Inc.; Lauren Fox and Nicole Richard, Fresh Beginnings and Vicki Tirpack, PROMO Marketing, savor the music, refreshments and camaraderie at the PPMN Monday Night Mixer.
Jeffrey Franklin, Carrie Swope and BJ Vaughan of Blue Chip LLC, work the room to find another guest with a matching playing card as part of the networking game at the PPMN Monday Night Mixer.
Peer2Peer Luncheon Sells Out
The PPMN-sponsored Peer2Peer Luncheon held on Wednesday proved to be one of the most popular choices for those wanting to expand their knowledge and their contacts.
The luncheon sold out with 120 registrants and 12 roundtable topics. Tables were filled and conversation was exceptionally lively during the 90-minute event. During the last 20 minutes, a representative from each table stepped to the microphone and shared highlights from his or her table’s discussion. Topics ranged from “Forging Profitable Client Relationships” to “Managing the Time You Don’t Have.”
Attendees at Wednesday’s PPMN-sponsored Peer2Peer Roundtable Luncheon learn new ideas from each other and listen intently as representatives from each table step to the microphone to share highlights from their table’s discussion.
Table facilitator, Mark Shinn, MAS, Incentives West, talks about the importance of tracking e-mails used for marketing campaigns during the Peer2Peer Roundtable Luncheon.
Sharing ideas from her table at the Peer2Peer Roundtable Luncheon, new PPMN member, LaQuinta Donatto, Academy Advertising Specialties & Awards, connects with just about everybody in the room when she advises to focus on what helps the bottom line when looking for ways to better manage time.
THE PARTY
DAUGHTRY Headlines ONE
ONE, the annual closing party, was a huge success, as three-time American Music Award winner, Chris Daughtry and his band DAUGHTRY performed live at the Mandalay Bay Event Center to a sold-out crowd of more than 3,200 screaming fans. After a beneficial, yet tiring week of education sessions, business meetings and long hours on the show floor, Expo attendees were ready to end the week with a bang. And DAUGHTRY delivered, performing such hits as Over You, What I Want, Home and It’s Not Over. The event was sponsored by The Corporate Marketplace, Inc. (UPIC: tcmpi).
As the band, DAUGHTRY, performs the audience goes wild at ONE, PPAI’s Closing Night Party.
Show attendees ham it up while awaiting DAUGHTRY’s arrival on stage. More than 3,200 tickets were sold to hear the Grammy-winning band.
Lead singer, Chris Daughtry, of the band that bears his name gives his all during his mega hit, Home.
THE SPONSORS
Please join PPAI in extending a special thank you to the following sponsors:
PLATINUM LEVEL
Fields Manufacturing (UPIC: FIELDS)
Exclusive Education Program Sponsor
Exclusive Lanyard Sponsor
Journalbooks/Timeplanner Calendars (UPIC: journals)
Exclusive Education Notebook Sponsor
Exclusive New Product Pavilion Sneak Peek Sponsor
Exclusive Show Organizer Sponsor
Exclusive Time Management Notebook Sponsor
SAGE-Quick Technologies (UPIC: SAGE)
General Session Sponsor
The Corporate Marketplace, Inc. (UPIC: tcmpi)
ONE
GOLD
3M Promotional Markets Dept. (UPIC: POST-IT)
Exclusive Exhibitor Directory Cover Note
BAG MAKERS, Inc. (UPIC: BAGMKRS)
Awards Presentation Sponsor
BCH Unique, Inc. (UPIC: BCHUNIC)
Awards Presentation Sponsor
Calibre (UPIC: caliber)
Co-Sponsor Office Clip
Co-Sponsor Pedometer
Crystal D (UPIC: CRYSTALD)
Awards Presentation Sponsor
Exclusive Distributor Group Breakfast Sponsor
Dri Mark Products, Inc. (UPIC: DRIMARK)
Exclusive Package Mail Sponsor
Drummond Printing (UPIC: DRUMLINE)
Exclusive Notebook Product Sponsor
FedEx®
Exclusive Internet Café Sponsor
Freeman Decorators
General Show Sponsor
Golden Pacific (UPIC: GPACIFIC)
Exclusive Tote Bag Sponsor
In Your Face Apparel (UPIC: InYou682)
Exclusive Badge Holder Insert Sponsor
Leashables by Oralabs, Inc. (UPIC: oralabs)
Exclusive Lip Balm Sponsor
Noteworthy Company (UPIC: NWORTHY)
Exclusive Show Bag Sponsor
PPB Magazine
Education Day Sponsor
R.S. Owens & Co., Inc. (UPIC: RSOWENS)
Awards Presentation Sponsor
Senator USA (UPIC: SENATOR)
Exclusive Pen Sponsor
Snugz/USA (UPIC: SNUGZUSA)
General Session Sponsor
TradeNet Publishing Co. (UPIC: TRADENET)
Exclusive Magnet Sponsor
US South (UPIC: PROM0101)
Exclusive Exhibitor Directory Postcard
Visstun (UPIC: VISSTUN)
Exclusive Cup Sponsor
SILVER
Air Cannons, Inc. (UPIC: Air)
PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show
Atchison By BIC (UPIC: ATCHISON)
PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show
BamBams (UPIC: bambams)
PPAI Fashion & Accessories Show
Dard Products (UPIC: TagMastr)
Co-Sponsor PC Sports Bottle
Featherlite (UPIC: Feath180)
Lobby Music Sponsor
Sweda Company, LLC (UPIC: SWEDA)
Co-Sponsor Pedometer
Tripbuilder (UPIC: minimaps)
Co-Sponsor Map Product
Truebite Inc. (UPIC: fotofile)
Co-Sponsor Photo File
Visions Awards (UPIC: VISIONS)
Awards Presentation Sponsor
BRONZE
Ariel Premium Supply (UPIC: ARIEL)
General Show Sponsor
Frank Lee Imports Ltd. (UPIC: PACLINE)
General Show Sponsor
Heritage Sportswear (UPIC: HERI0002)
General Show Sponsor
Semo Toys, Inc. (UPIC: SemoT133)
General Show Sponsor
Star Polybag Industries (UPIC: POLY321)
General Show Sponsor
PPB
Anne Pechuls, a Trophy Club, Texas-based freelance writer, served 22 years in various editorial positions for PPB.
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