Today, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) announced, from the floor of PROMOTIONS EAST, a strategic alliance between PPAI and the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) to produce Expo East, a promotional products trade show designed to serve the eastern United States. Under this strategic alliance, PPAI will bring its vision, growth management and production expertise to the robust eastern marketplace and PROMOTIONS EAST will cease operation at the close of this year’s show.
Over the past year, PPAI has focused on reaching out to members to better understand their needs and how the association can better serve the marketplace. Taking into consideration the abundance of shows already in the industry, it was determined that an alliance between PPAI and SAAGNY to form one show, as opposed to the creation of another show, was the best way to impact the market in a positive way. Expo East will enable PPAI to reach thousands of members and industry professionals that were not attending PROMOTIONS EAST, The PPAI Expo or other major trade shows.
The strategic alliance between the two associations allows SAAGNY to focus on providing enhanced member benefits and gaining new members. It allows PPAI to bring its expertise in producing The PPAI Expo to a new area and a new audience.
“By forming this strategic alliance with PPAI and letting them bring their trade show expertise to the East Coast, it allows SAAGNY to focus on its members and the growth of the association,” said Alan Baker, MAS, SAAGNY board president. “We are excited about focusing our staff and volunteers’ time on developing more valuable programs and services to better serve our membership.”
For more than fifty years, PPAI has produced The PPAI Expo, the promotional products industry’s longest running and most successful tradeshow event held every January in Las Vegas. The PPAI Expo is ranked among the Top 50 of ALL tradeshows in the U.S. and is the largest promotional products industry tradeshow in North America.
“Over the last 17 months, PPAI has grown by 38 percent to more than 10,600 members, 46 percent of which are based east of the Mississippi. With this type of growth, PPAI, as the voice and heart of the industry has an obligation to serve the industry and our members at every level, large and small — wherever they are — in every geographic area,” said Paul Bellantone, CAE, PPAI president and CEO. “Expo East will give us a substantial footprint in the eastern United States from which to serve our industry and our members like never before.”
Slated to open May 19-21, 2013 in Atlantic City, N.J. at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Expo East will focus on the promotional products industry rooted in the eastern United States. The new show is strategically designed to meet the needs of industry stakeholders with a preference for the location, timing and convenience of a truly unique East Coast event. Expo East will feature PPAI’s Vegas-style show production and its one-of-a-kind brand. and DECORATE pavilions, its top-rated education and professional development programs.
“Launching Expo East is consistent with PPAI’s desire to be more inclusive with its members. We realize that there is a fairly high percentage of our membership located in the eastern U.S. not attending The PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. Therefore, they were missing out on the opportunity to experience all the great products, networking and education offered at Expo. Expo East will bring that experience to them,” said Steven Meyer, MAS, PPAI chair of the board.
“We’re raising the bar on how we go to market not only on the East Coast — but nationwide,” said Jonathan Riegel, MAS, SAAGNY executive director. “The strategic alliance between SAAGNY and PPAI to create Expo East represents one of the industry’s most significant business developments in many years — a truly strategic investment in the way associations strive to meet our members’ needs.”
For more information, visit expoeast.ppai.org.
