PPAI

Steven Meyer, chair of the board for PPAI, spoke with me yesterday about the association's latest announcement and what it means for the promotional products industry.

Steven Meyer, MAS, vice president of sales for Molenaar and chair of the board for PPAI.

PPAI today announced board-adopted bylaws revision and board restructure. The new board leadership structure is based on an industry-inclusive leadership and accountability model guided by the emerging association governance best practices of smaller performance-based boards.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will no longer use promotional products to educate citizens about the city's planned rail transit project, according to CEO Dan Grabauskas. The project had been criticized by former Gov. Ben Cayetano in March, calling the promotional products "an abuse of taxpayer money."

Our industry seems to be struggling with the question of whether or not to commit time, effort and money to developing compliance programs. It's an oversimplification, but you can group our industry into five basic categories on this topic.

PPAI honored Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) as the 2012 PPAI Legislator Of The Year during its Legislative, Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.), March 7-8, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

Pens, pencils, markers and highlighters will soon have a higher value than the gross domestic product of nearly half the countries in the world, a new study shows. A report from research firm Global Industry Analysts shows that the global market for writing instruments is set to reach $21.6 billion by 2017.

The Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), the not-for-profit association for more than 10,000 member companies, continued its ongoing work to educate federal agencies through its Legislative, Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.), March 7 and 8, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

Today, The Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) and its five regional partners open registration for PROMOTIONS EAST 2012. With the announcement of open registration came the release of the education schedule, including 30+ sessions, 50+ hours of education and over 25 prominent speakers. 

On March 7 and 8, PPAI will host meetings between industry professionals and their representatives in Congress to emphasize the importance of promotional products as part of its Legislative Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.).