PPAI Announces 2013 Distinguished Service Award Honorees

Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), the not-for-profit association for more than 432,000 industry professionals and 10,600 corporate members of the $17.7 billion promotional products industry, has named Sherri C. Lennarson, MAS, with Bankers Advertising, and Michael M. Woody, CAS, president of International Marketing Advantages, as its 2013 PPAI Distinguished Service Award honorees.

The award is presented annually to PPAI members who consistently contribute their skills and expertise to the betterment of the association. Through volunteer service or by offering their leadership to PPAI, these are members who generously give the benefit of their energy, time and enthusiasm to PPAI.

Sherri Lennarson has a distinguished history in the promotional products industry, having served as president of Bankers Advertising. She is also a long-time volunteer with PPAI and elsewhere in the industry. She was a member of the PPAI Board of Directors Class of 2011, including board chair in 2009, and served on a number of the association's committees, including Marketing Information and Research, Compensation and Benefits, Budget and Finance, and the Nominating Committee. She was also instrumental in the formation of the Government Relations Action Council.

"Sherri Lennarson is the consummate teacher and her classroom is wherever she is," her nominator said. "I have seen her at board and committee meetings lend her voice to issues and each time I am struck with how she explains and teaches others. In her own way she never stops educating fellow board and committee members or industry practitioners on new and better ways to do something, and encourages them to think outside of the box and 'stretch' their minds to include every possibility, especially something that hasn't been thought of or trying something they have never done. ... The fact is, when Sherri speaks, everyone listens. She is respected by anyone who has met her or read her words. She is an inspiration to everyone, and I can think of no single person more deserving of this honor."