When 125 leading promotional marketing professionals assemble for education, engagement, and networking, an exchange of compelling ideas is certain to take place. Last week, PPAI held its seventh annual North American Leadership Conference (NALC) in Nashville, TN and it did not disappoint.
The proceedings kicked off in traditional fashion Sunday night with PPB’s annual Rising Stars awards honoring 10 young leaders from varied suppliers and distributors. During the ensuing dinner, the opportunity to create real change in the host city was presented to the attendees. In partnering with the Oasis Center (www.oasiscenter.org), a non-profit dedicated to providing services to vulnerable and disconnected youth in Nashville, NALC attendees donated over $6,000 in promotional products and marketing services. Additionally, over $14,000 in financial contributions was raised to help make a lasting impact on both the organization and community.
As education began in earnest on Monday at the Ford Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame, there was one very clear and overriding theme: disruption. Using the music industry as a relatable example of technology driving change, it was clear that not only has the supply chain been disrupted, but also how record companies are able to engage with an ever-evolving audience. 
To bring presentations to life, a graphic recording was made of all sessions. During each presentation, an artist illustrated key points to reinforce the message.
Other Monday sessions included a rapid-fire presentation on disrupting with digital technology, fostering company culture through community leadership, and leading with strategic foresight and certainty. The day closed with CEO and co-founder of Sideqik, Kurt Uhlir, who shared, “Find your real customers, identify what they’re required to be, and help them bridge that gap.” It was a powerful end to a full day.
The theme of disruption continued Tuesday with an opening keynote on disruptive innovation by the CEO of Narus Health, Michael Burcham. Working in the increasingly competitive healthcare industry, Burcham shared the need to disrupt internally how his company goes to market in order to create client loyalty.
Rounding out the morning was a session by Jim Chappelow, Managing Economist at ITR Economics about the outlook of promotional products in the coming years. According to research gleaned through a partnership with PPAI, Chappelow sees accelerating growth in early 2016 and suggests that now is the time to hire salespeople and leaders as well as investing in training and retention.
Before the networking lunch, there were spirited roundtable discussions featuring a wide range of topics including staff development and motivation, generations in the workplace, online direct sales competition, and technology. "The roundtables were really fantastic," said Brian Porter, vice president of sales, North America for Pro Towels. He continued, "I came away with many tactical ideas that I plan to implement immediately."
The final presentation of the conference focused on the link between employment culture and client relationships. Delivered by Stan Phelps, Experience Architect at 9 INCH marketing, he shared that, "You can't have happy, enthused customers without having happy, engaged employees. Do the little things for your employees to drive engagement and reinforce culture."
Plenty of time was also provided for networking at the event. From dine around events at local Nashville restaurants to the closing session featuring a private concert by country music star Glen Templeton, it gave all the attendees the ability to rekindle old relationships and forge new ones.
Overall, NALC was packed with thought provoking education and many actionable ideas for all attendees. Danny Rosin, co-owner and co-president of Brand Fuel stated, "As the leader of your business, it is critical to work ON the business and not IN the business. That said, your desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world. It’s not a good place to run your company from either."
The eighth annual PPAI North American Leadership Conference will be held in San Francisco August 14–16, 2016.
Bill Petrie has over 15 years working in executive leadership position at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive team outsourcing company solely focused on helping small promotional products companies responsibly grow their business. In 2015, he began a partnership with Proforma to assist their owners growing their individual distributorships. A former speaker at the PPAI Winter Expo and current member of the board of directors for the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), Bill has extensive real-world practice coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and delivering RFP responses, and successfully presenting promotional solutions to Fortune 500 clients.