Thousands of distributors flocked to The PPAI Expo Grand Opening Celebration at 8 am in the Product Pavilion on Tuesday morning, and in addition to getting first looks at products in the four Product Pavilions and the brand. Pavilion, 32 lucky winners won door prizes donated by suppliers and PPAI, including two round-trip tickets on American Airlines.

The Grand Opening was designed to introduce show attendees to the new show halls and single-level trade show floor space being unveiled at The PPAI Expo this week in Las Vegas.

As attendees made their way along the product pavilion tables and then through brand., drawings for prize items were being announced every few minutes. John Oda, account executive at Onyx, was thrilled to win a Weber grill. “I’m really excited. That’s a phenomenal way to start the show,” he says.

Joe Chavarria, owner of New Generation Graphics, enjoyed the Grand Opening even though he didn’t win a prize. “I’m here to see what we can offer our customers in terms of new products. We walk through here and it’s kind of amazing to see how many new products there are. For me it’s exciting,” he says.

For some distributors, getting on the floor early was a good way to get the creative juices flowing. “If you stand back and look at everything as a whole, you get better ideas. I look for items that I can combine with screenprinting,” says Rich Ringer, president of Boardwalk Promotions. He pointed to a reversible sweatshirt in the New Product Pavilion. “This is a perfect example.”

And The Grand Opening prize winners are...

Brad Shuman

Brian Beam

Brian Klayman

Chris Matsumoto

Chris Stumpf

Cindy Gardner

David Laviguer

David Skolsky

Gayle DeBord

Gordon Ballard

Ian Miller

Janna Mundis

Jean Sillman

Jerry Hare

Jody Ferrer

John Oda

Johnathan Vasquez

Joyce Sato

Kathy Adameak

Masayuki Sato

Matt Gonzales

Melanie Richards

Nick Cooper

Paul Herzbrun

Pete Aklestad

Randy Gallant

Sarah McTaggert

Sherry Cousins

Sunny Fedorick

Walter Kurt

Wayne Grothmann

Yvonne Leung

Winners who have not yet received their certificate should go to the PPAI booth (Booth # 2451) on the show floor and take the certificate to the booth number listed on it to claim their prize.