Industry News: PPPC Convention Draws Strong Attendance


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Industry News: PPPC Convention Draws Strong Attendance

Issue: 2010feb

The 2010 Annual PPPC National Convention in Toronto, January 22-25, had an “excellent” turnout, according to Ed Ahad, PPPC’s new president and CEO.

“We had close to 600 brand new visitors to the show this year, and more than 1,300 end users on the third day,” says Ahad. “Sunday was a great day and the suppliers saw a lot of action.”

Mark Wingrove, CAS, the new PPPC chair and a regional sales manager in Canada and the northeast United States for BIC Graphic USA (UPIC: BIC) says the last day was “phenomenal.”

“The quality of the end users was really strong on the last day, a lot of Fortune 500 companies,” he says. “Also, a lot of major distributors had hospitality suites for their clients. Afterwards, they told me they were very happy with the response.”

The show floor reflected renewed energy from suppliers and distributors after 2009 proved to be a year of tough economic times for many in Canada, Ahad says. Canada housing wasn’t hit as hard as the U.S. last year, but the country unemployment was a problem, especially in the auto sector, Wingrove says.

“We certainly did feel the buzz of activity on the show floor,” Ahad says. “Suppliers were upbeat and hope was in the air.”

PPAI President Steve Slagle, CAE, along with PPAI Executive Vice President Paul Bellantone, CAE, and PPAI Chairman Scott Siegel, MAS, were the judges for PPPC's Best Booth awards and awarded the best overall booths to Les Bas de Julie, also known as Julie's Socks, a colorful sock supplier; and Prestige Glass for its Austin Powers-themed booth.

"The PPPC National Convention is the principal tradeshow event for the Canadian promotional products industry and as usual, the show was again very well produced and well attended," says Slagle. "Over the past several years that I have attended the PPPC show I have noted more and more U.S.-based suppliers exhibiting there as they realized the Canadian market can be very productive. Canada hasn't been as hard hit with the economic recession as the U.S., so we met several suppliers who aimed to establish their companies and product lines north of the border."

He adds, "PPPC has been a terrific partner and colleague for many years and we share much more than a border with their country and the association. PPPC has become a partner with our North American Leadership Conference and we jointly encourage our members to participate in one another's associations and tradeshows."

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