A Fond Farewell To EVP Bob McLean
In July, PPAI Executive Vice President Bob McLean announced that he was stepping away from his role at the Association to pursue the next chapter in his career as a consultant. While he will continue to work with PPAI, his departure caps off a distinguished tenure with the Association.

There simply aren’t words to describe the impact Bob has had on our industry and trade association. It isn’t enough to say his strong fiscal management and business decisions served as a foundation for so many other initiatives PPAI could bring to members. His character and positive contribution to the volunteer side of the equation were and will continue to be a vital part of developing new leaders not only in our industry but in their personal lives. Bob has enriched my life experiences and been a true guide to not only bettering all of our journeys with the Association but being better, more caring and supportive humans!

Steven Meyer, MAS
National Sales Manager
Gemini Industries
Roxana, Illinois
PPAI 112011, S6

Bob has been amazing. I have loved when we were able to work together and always enjoyed our warm friendship. I’ll never forget the work we did together on PPEF [Promotional Products Education Foundation] and how instrumental you were to some of our most successful initiatives!

Kippie Helzel, MAS
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Spector & Co.
Montreal, Quebec
PPAI 168328, S10

Bob has been a wonderful representative of PPAI. He will be greatly missed! Best of luck on your new journey!

Paul Lage, MAS
President (Retired)
IMAGEN Brands
Mason, Ohio
PPAI 114197, S10

Returning To The Basics
In June, Promotional Consultant Today shared five tips to being a better listener from Brian Ahearn, a speaker, coach and consultant. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit pubs.ppai.org/subscribe.

Basic reminders are my favorite. They refresh what we heard or read long ago but tend to push to the back of our minds.

Rene Richards
Account Executive
Cedric Spring & Associates
Saint Charles, Illinois
PPAI 108800, D6

Keeping Track Of The KPIs
An August issue of PPB Newslink shared details from Jon Zientek, CFO of California distributor MadeToOrder, on the performance indicators he uses to track the financial strength of his company. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit pubs.ppai.org/subscribe.

I was guilty for years of focusing on sales and marketing, not realizing just how much it was costing me by not keeping a close watch on the numbers. Fortunately, technology makes monitoring easy.

Jae M. Rang, MAS
Strategist, Speaker, Author, Mom
JAE Associates, Ltd.
Oakville, Ontario
PPAI 561178, D4