Expo Inc

The PPAI board of directors announced it has selected four new members to be part of its Class of 2014. Two new members represent distributor companies and two represent supplier companies.

The annual Fall Ideas Expo of The Specialty Advertising Counselors of Delaware Valley (SACDV) was held Sept. 14, 2009. Nearly 1,000 distributors, suppliers and end-users converged on the Valley Forge, Pa. convention center to view new products and discuss fourth quarter promotional solutions.

Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Assocciation International (PPAI) announced its new Exhibitor Resource Center (ERC) is now available to update the Exhibitor Service Manual. In addition to updating an exhibitor directory listing online, companies will be able to constantly update all of their listings before, during and after The PPAI Expo 2010.

Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) announced it will launch DECORATE: A Promotional Equipment Show at The PPAI Expo 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, January 11 to 15.

The Georgia Association of Promotional Products Professionals (GAPPP), Atlanta, announced the date for GAPPP University/Expo/End-buyer Show that will be held at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

It’s easy to pigeonhole social responsibility into being about nothing more than driving a hybrid and saving old growth forests. The green movements power and celebrity, while valuable, can overshadow the other acts of human kindness that sustain societies as much as clean air, food and water.On both the supplier and distributor side of the…

Industry veterans Hugh and Mark Hobbs announced the launch of the new Los Angeles-based Pacific Coast Golf (PCG). The company, founded by the father and son team

[...] in a changing industry full of uncertainty—one begging for someone to take an ethical stand on how to conduct business, and facing a barrage of new product safety laws—where does the industry look for guidance, a solid knowledge base and products that offer peace of mind? Perhaps the Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), a nonprofit group founded by industry leaders, can provide that assurance. With a solid mission statement, “to raise the bar in providing consistently safe, high-quality, socially compliant and environmentally conscientious merchandise to clients and their constituents,” the organization is attempting to offer as much certainty as possible without a calculator and Schedule C or one foot in the grave. At the PPAI Expo in January, Promo Marketing sat down with three of the organization’s founding members, Jay Deutsch, CEO of Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA), Woodinville, Wash.; Trevor Gnesin, president of Logomark, Tustin, Calif.; and Andrea Engel, vice president of merchandising for BroderBros., Trevose, Pa., in order to learn more. The QCA is really a group of 14 founding members coming together and saying we are going to put together a quality program, a safety program, surrounding products and social compliance inside of the marketplace. The great thing about this organization is that you’ve got suppliers who are in different categories ... [and distributors who] really care about doing the right thing for the industry. There are so many laws, so many things that are procedures that really aren’t standardized, we thought it was important to do this as a service to our customer base, so they would feel comfortable knowing that no matter what product they bought from this group, they could be sure it met all the requirements, it was safe and there were no worries. First of all, we’ve been having conversations with our clients over the past five years. What we are really focused on is getting our founding members ... accredited. Consumers want safe product and that’s not too much to ask. [...] that should be the standard of this industry. ... [...] you have to [answer] prequalification questionnaires. Dee with third-party testing companies [goes] into your facilities, both here stateside—any domestic decorating, any overseas factories, and to a representation of your factories to ensure that your SOPs are alive and breathing. Product quality, product safety, social compliance, environmental stewardship and supply-chain safety. The overall basis of the self-assessment is [to ask the questions] “Do you have policies in place?” and “Do you have ways to enforce those policies?” It’s very intensive. If you have been in this business a long time and you have been doing the right amount of testing—you’ll find mistake opportunities in the manufacturing process. No one can test every single piece of every single consumer product sold or given away ... it’s impossible. In the olden days, one could start a business, you could bring in product and you could sell it. Hopefully, there is going to be a natural attraction for people who take product safety and social compliance seriously.

Key leaders in the promotional products industry today announced the formation of the Quality Certification Alliance, LLC (QCA), an independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to elevating the standard in providing consistently safe, high quality, socially compliant and environmentally conscientious merchandise to Fortune 500 companies and small businesses. Executives from the organization’s founding companies officially launched QCA today at the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) Expo in Las Vegas. The QCA certification process assures merchandise manufactured, imprinted and imported by member companies conforms to established domestic and international product laws, regulations and standards. QCA has garnered wide support from numerous suppliers and distributors, including Avaline; Barton

Neenah, Wisconsin-based Adventures in Advertising (AIA) unveiled its new proprietary sales and marketing program, SOAR—Segmentation, Organization, Auto-pilot marketing and Replenishment—which the company believes provides a systematic approach of integrated and informational marketing techniques and tools. SOAR components include: Account profiling/segmentation and programs to address all constituents New CRM program Enhanced multilevel and multichannel marketing offerings New prospecting, retention and referral programs Further, AIA believes the components within the SOAR program are applicable regardless of the economic environment and are especially effective in today’s challenging times. “While some companies are cutting back in this challenging economy, it is exciting that Adventures In Advertising is