The Leadership Development Conference (LDW), hosted by PPAI and the Regional Relations Council (RRC), returned to Grapevine, Texas on Monday. The conference continues through Wednesday and brings together regional association leadership for shared ideas, education and networking.

Executive Director Roundtable And Regional Collaboration

While the event, held at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center, took on a traditional conference format on Tuesday and continues Wednesday with roundtables, breakout sessions and guest speakers tackling specific topics, Monday’s registration was followed by a three-hour roundtable training session held for regional executive directors only.

  • The roundtable was moderated by Kara Keister, MAS, Regional Relations Committee delegate to the PPAI Board of Directors and co-owner of distributor Social Good Promotions.
  • The informal but fairly exhaustive session was meant to give the directors the space to collaborate freely, sharing big wins and pain points in order for the regional associations to continue to grow alongside each other.

“Our executive community is vital to our regional association,” says Keister. “They really are the lifeblood. They are what keeps the regional associations going. The regional boards are all volunteers. Those boards are always rotating, and the ED’s are not. They are the constant. They are the rock.”

Before the closed-door roundtable officially began, Brian Deissroth, current chair of the Regional Relations Committee (RRC) and director of national accounts at Edwards Garment Company, addressed the executive directors.

“RRC, over the last two years, has really worked to collaborate with each and every regional and bettering the partnership with PPAI,” Deissroth said. “That is our goal as volunteers.”

  • For executive directors and their board members, LDW serves as a form of board training in terms of the breadth and specifics of what is expected from a regional association.
  • Packed with formal educational sessions, board members also gain insight and best practices from being in the same room with their counterparts in other parts of the country.

“When board members typically come on, they don’t know the full commitment entrusted to them,” says Laura Munari, MAS, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Regional Promotional Products Association and the Arizona Promotional Products Association. “Hearing it from someone besides just me helps immensely.

Regional Associations Unite As PPAI Members

Earlier this year, PPAI invited regional associations to officially join PPAI as business service members. Since then, nearly every regional association has come on board and become members of The Association.

  • This marks the first LDW in which the majority of regional association leadership attends as PPAI members.

The goal of PPAI’s proposal is to create ongoing alignment between PPAI and the regional associations while creating pathways for PPAI to help strengthen each region they represent.

“This is the first LDW since the Regional Membership Program has gone into existence,” says Keister. “There’s definitely a shift and a change. I think it’s a positive one. We’re still navigating the waters of what membership versus affiliate agreement looks like, but there’s a very clear path and a very clear structure in place. I think it’s all moving toward something positive.”

As part of the membership, regional associations are encouraged, but not required, to advance the PPAI Strategic Plan and incorporate as many of the Association’s strategic pillars as possible.                      

LDW Continues With Education And Rising Stars

The Leadership Development Workshop continued Tuesday and into Wednesday with educational panels, breakout panels and numerous expert speakers.

Topics included in:

  • Regional trade shows
  • Recruitment and retention
  • The role of advocacy

“I’m just looking for that big ‘a-ha’ moment,” says Munari. “You can always find something. You might leave with a gameplan, like ‘I’m going to put these five things into practice immediately.’”

  • Ellen Tucker, CAS, CAE, PPAI’s vice president of revenue and expositions, is also hosting a town hall on behalf of the Association in which she will address questions and preview improvements that will be made to PPAI in 2024.
  • PPPAI invited the 2023 Rising Stars to the Tuesday and Wednesday portions of LDW in which they will have space to network with each other and leaders of the regional community.