Above photo: NALC 2018 participants Danny Rosin, CAS, Brand Fuel, Inc. (left) and Kenny Ved, Goldstar, exchange ideas during a networking break.

PPAI’s North American Leadership Conference (NALC) is taking its highly popular program to the Dallas/Fort Worth area this summer. To be held August 11-13 at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Irving, Texas, NALC is a strong results-driven program, led by an elite group of recognized industry leaders and innovators.

NALC will bring together approximately 140 industry leaders to focus on strategic foresight and the most relevant, top-of-mind business issues and ideas impacting the promotional products field. The conference is designed to help promotional products professionals see, analyze and sort through the myriad information being thrown at them daily so they can capitalize on opportunities and best prepare best for the future.

The speaker roster at PPAI’s NALC is consistently impressive and this year is no exception. Included in the lineup are:

  • Adventurer John Beede will share leadership lessons learned in some of the planet’s most hostile environments, including the peak of Mount Everest. In his session, he will pass on his takeaways on risk reduction, team decisiveness, overcoming doubt and communication.

  • Economist Michael Davis, Ph.D., a professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas who specializes in the intersection of business and government, will focus on how the current economic landscape could impact the promotional products Industry

  • Gary Garfield, the retired CEO, president and chairman of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., will speak on how, during his six years as CEO, he took a business that had suffered years of low profits, poor cash flow and stagnant growth and led it through explosive growth and profits—up 500 percent—by changing its focus and transforming a tire manufacturer into a marketing company.

  • The longest-serving chairman in the history of Export–Import Bank of the United States, Fred Hochberg is joining NALC to speak on global trade and the new trade landscape, and insights he picked up working in and traveling to more than 45 countries on behalf of American exporters and workers.

  • Don Rheem, author and founder of E3 Solutions, is onboard to speak on maintaining a high-performance culture and the science of engagement. A former science advisor to Congress and White House correspondent, Rheem’s session will deliver best practices for creating workplace cultures that spark engagement and increase profitability.

Learn more about NALC and register at www.ppai.org/nalc.

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James Khattak is news editor of PPB.