Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), Irving, Texas, concluded The PPAI Expo 2017 with near-record attendance and participation. The world’s largest promotional products trade show, held Jan. 8 to 12, attracted a total of 12,267 distributor personnel, the show’s largest attendance since 2008, from 4,065 companies together for the five-day event in Las Vegas.
The PPAI Expo featured more than 140 education and networking events, and 1,251 exhibiting supplier companies in 3,144 booths, including 157 first-time exhibitors, presenting hundreds of thousands of promotional products while occupying more than one million square feet of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
With more than 19,688 participants from the U.S. and 31 countries, the overall economic impact of direct visitor spending during The PPAI Expo 2017 is estimated at $18.4 million by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Next year’s show will return Jan.14 to 18, 2018 to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
“The PPAI Expo 2017 was a resounding success and exceeded expectations,” said Paul Bellantone, CAE, PPAI’s president and CEO. “The PPAI Expo marked near-record attendance, and now serves as the launch pad for the year, where industry professionals connect, learn, discover and build lifelong partnerships. As Expo has grown, so too have the magnitude and focus of the show. It is the forum where Association executives, industry leaders and professionals meet to guide the industry forward on key initiatives, branding and strategic partnerships to promote, protect and grow this great industry.”
The Sneak Peek of the Product Pavilions, the rolling opening, the Expo Live stage, and the streamlined end-to-end 360-degree show merchandising floor design showcased exhibitor merchandise and encouraged attendees to experience the entire show. To further enhance distributor-supplier engagement, PPAI adopted EventBit technology to allow it to customize show engagement, and create unique and personalized attendee experiences as part of its plan to elevate Expo from great to extraordinary. In addition, through SAGE Mobile, attendees were able to view complete event schedules, create walk lists, navigate the show floor using an interactive floor plan, and take notes, pictures, videos and voice memos, all from their handheld mobile devices.
“The 2017 Expo had a great buzz to it,” said outgoing PPAI board chair Tom Goos, MAS, president of Kirkland, Washington-based Image Source Inc. “There were crowded halls, and engaged suppliers and distributors. I know when I have a hard time working through the crowds that it is going to be a successful show. I stopped by dozens of booths to check in on how Expo was going for them, and I heard nothing but positive reactions. The PPAI Expo is the event all industry professionals attend, and the conversations that are shared are invaluable.”
“Best show ever,” said incoming PPAI board chair Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS, founder of distributor Competitive Edge LLC. “I was proud to walk the show floor and hear ‘great show’ from literally everyone I spoke to. Exhibitors were thrilled at the level of engagement they had with distributors, and distributors were pleased with both the quality of the show and the networking. On the final show day, Paul and I met a woman who had back surgery three weeks prior and she exclaimed, ‘This is my show!’ She said that nothing could keep her from attending Expo.”
For more information on PPAI, visit www.ppai.org.
