It goes without saying that I am a big fan of PPAI. I get excited to come to work each day and I fully embrace my role at the industry’s international nonprofit trade association. Each day, the PPAI staff works hard to grow the viability, visibility, credibility and community of the promotional products industry, our member companies and hundreds of thousands of industry practitioners.
The fact that PPAI owns and produces The PPAI Expo – our industry’s largest, longest running and most successful tradeshow – is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it, along with revenue generated through membership dues and media sales, provides the funding to do all the non-revenue generating activities the association must provide. Activities such as awards, public affairs, government relations, product safety, research, professional development, regional support, strategic partnerships and buyer outreach - while all integral to building the viability, visibility, credibility and community of our industry - are not in themselves self-sustaining.
It is a curse, only in a matter of speaking, because The PPAI Expo is so dominant, some industry practitioners think it’s all we do. But, it is truly the sum of the parts that sustain us and produce the growth we’ve enjoyed over the past 109 years.
I am pleased to share the attached “love letter” with you. It speaks specifically to PPAI’s value to the industry and why we’re so much more than a tradeshow.
