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PPAI News: A Decade Later, LDW Still Motivates And Inspires Members
Issue: 2009jun
PPAI’s Leadership Conference and the 10th Annual Regional Association Council (RAC) Leadership Development Workshop held last week in Grapevine, Texas, brought nearly 200 volunteers and PPAI staff together for several days of education, training, discussions, and of course, social opportunities to forge strong business relationships.
The PPAI Leadership Conference, held just prior to the RAC LDW, brought the PPAI board and committee chairs together to discuss ways to improve the Association and the industry as a whole. PPAI Board Chair-elect Scott Siegel, MAS, says the Board presented its strategic goals to committee chairs and tasked them with updating their committee goals to help further the overall vision for PPAI.
Siegel, president of Chicago, Illinois-based supplier R.S. Owens & Co. (UPIC: RSOWENS), says a secondary focus of the conference was to look at PPAI committees in general. “We discussed committee effectiveness and alignment, and elicited ideas from the chairs on current issues with regard to the committee structure, and on solutions and changes,” he says.
He adds that the committee feedback was “extremely detailed and incredibly valuable. It was so positive that some outgoing chairs wanted to continue being chairs.”
The RAC LDW kicked off on Thursday with an opening keynote from John Paul, a partner with Association Works. Paul delivered a spirited presentation on what it takes to be the association and leader of choice and what barriers can get in the way.
He encouraged regional volunteers to be strategic and think about the big picture.
Attendees remained engaged throughout the presentation, texting responses to Paul’s queries, which were displayed on a screen at the front of the room. He concluded the session with a message to be mindful of how people want to be treated. “It all comes down to attitude—how you treat others,” he said.
During the RAC LDW, attendees expanded their business knowledge base and drew on leadership expertise in sessions such as “Times Are Tough: Your Decisions about Marketing Shouldn’t Be” with PPAI Marketing Director Keith Vincent and “Building Your Association’s Engine for Legislative Success!” led by Hope Tackaberry, PPAI’s regional relations manager.
In the marketing session, Vincent shared data from studies conducted during past recessions that reveal a pattern—marketing and advertising during a down economy can increase brand awareness and market share in the short and long term.
“We recognized that most folks would not be so bold as to increase marketing spend so we focused on how to maintain our marketing presence,” says Vincent. “We looked at more cost-effective tactics like going back to the phone, using more letters and testimonials, using more public relations efforts and combining marketing messages.”
Attendees also examined areas where they might trim budgets to allow for continued marketing efforts. Ideas included changing meals served at events, changing venues and cutting back on volunteer gifts. They also examined opportunites within social media outlets.
“The ‘aha’ moments generally came as the historical data were presented and when we discussed social media,” Vincent says. “Most were surprised by how clear the trend was for marketing during a recession, and most had not really looked at social media as an opportunity. If they had, they had done so without any real forethought, plan or strategy wrapped around it.”
Tackaberry took an interactive approach to helping her session audience better understand how they can present their cause to legislators. During the session, attendees selected one person to act as the ‘elected official,’ formed a legislative committee and then were tasked with lobbying their official.
“Everyone said, ‘I had no idea it was this easy.’ Several said they were charged up and ready to go afterward,” says Tackaberry. “I am pleased with the outcome; this was a launch for the exercise, and we will be taking this idea on the road.”
The Executive Directors Learning Forum, a program for regional association executive directors held concurrently, provided specially-focused sessions for regional executive directors. One session was "Talents and Teams" presented by Roni Wright, MAS, vice president of Del Ray Beach, Florida-based supplier The Book Company (UPIC: BOOKCO). Through interactive training and the application of team-building principles, EDs were tasked wih improving ways to foster partnerships and encouraging emerging leaders within their associations.
Michele Packard-Milam, CAE, director of member and regional relations at PPAI, kept the momentum going for executive directors with her presentation "Association Leaders: Building Powerful Partnerships."
Packard-Milam introduced ways to develop and execute productive meetings, resulting in better outcomes and a more-focused board that can benefit from individual strengths.
While new faces attend the Regional Association Council’s LDW each year, veterans of the workshop are still finding the offerings fresh and relevant. “Just when you think this program can’t get any better, it does,” says Bruce Perryman, CAS, of Tempe, Arizona-based supplier Embroidery Unlimited (UPIC: euinc) and PPAI board member. “Every aspect of this function improves year after year. While familiar faces abound, it’s great to see more Gen-X folks demonstrating leadership in the regional associations. The promotional profession is in good hands.”
The week brought back several volunteers, including Perryman, who had been attendees at the first LDW held in Big Sky, Montana in 2000. Eric Ekstrand, MAS, remembers his first foray into the workshop led him straight to the movers and shakers in the industry and was an experience that energized him and inspired him to want to be a member of this group of leaders.
“During the past 10 years, the people that I have networked with have become lifelong friends—people I can call on for help and guidance,” says Ekstrand, executive vice president of Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based distributor The Mort C. McClennan Co. (UPIC: MCMCC) and PPAI board member. “LDW has also educated me on what a group of committed volunteers can accomplish both on the regional and national level to keep our Association strong, vibrant and moving forward.”
LaDonna Belcher, executive director of Ohio Promotional Professionals Association (OPPA), says LDW is “like the canvas, and the people who attend and produce the event use the tools of the conference to create a masterpiece of ideas, problem solving and vision for the future of our industry.”
“No matter how many times you attend the PPAI Leadership Development Workshop, it is a new experience with new dynamics because all of us are continually changing and growing,” Belcher says. “Where else do we have the opportunity for all 28 regionals and PPAI to build such a strong relationship? RAC Leadership Development Workshop does it best.”
Garth Huettl, CAS, president of Regional Association Council (RAC) and sales professional with Lewiston, Maine-based distributor Geiger (UPIC: geiger), believes that the crown jewel of LDW is the people who attend. “They are the leaders and future leaders of the industry and they come to learn, share and grow in their roles,” he says.
Huettl adds, “This is one of the few industries where competitors come together to work as a team to improve the industry and the way we do things to help each member.”
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