Although this year’s show looks very different, its objective remains the same: to engage members and facilitate their ability to do business.

Jamie Watson, MAS, CPA, senior financial analyst at Certified Marketing Consultants LLC, led hundreds of attendees through “Plan C(risis): Building A Resilient Company.” She discussed what a crisis looks like and describes the different types of crises a business can face. Attendees left with actionable planning strategies and best practices to set their companies up for success.

Seventy-five women in the promotional products industry came together on Tuesday evening for their annual show-based social gathering—but it was quite a departure from previous mixers. Like few otherExpo Direct-2-You social events, the women gathered on Zoom to catch up with friends, meet new attendees and talk about the past year and what’s ahead.

During “Pivoting Your Company’s Marketing Plan,” Sharyn and Hank Yuloff, co-owners of Yuloff Creative Marketing Solutions, presented an updated and detailed marketing plan that can be implemented immediately, helping to reconnect companies to their clients through effective messaging. “A completed marketing plan is as mythical as a unicorn,” says Hank. “Since a unicorn doesn’t exist, your marketing plan is never going to be done.”

At the annual Association Update, PPAI held a live virtual, conversation among PPAI leaders on updates and changes made to the Association and its services over the past year; trends and issues affecting the state of the promotional products industry today, and growth opportunities for PPAI’s member companies and the industry as a whole. The conversation also covered the heavy, yet unavoidable, topics of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on business, the move to make Expo virtual this year and their projections for the industry’s future.

Industry veteran David Blaise, co-founder of TopSecrets.com and president of Blaise Drake & Company, Inc., shared a timely action plan during “7 Critical Steps to Sell Promotional Products in ‘The New Normal’” with attendees hoping to re-engage with clients, adapt their messaging, initiate more conversations and sell more promo. “When I talk about the idea of seven critical steps, I really believe that these are the most important things you can do right now to continue to sell promotional products effectively,” says Blaise. “Not just from the standpoint of selling products, but really helping your clients … accomplish their objectives.”

Overruns, misprints and surplus promotional products of all kinds can be repurposed to help make a substantial difference in underserved schools across the U.S. On Wednesday, Corey Gordon, CEO of Kids in Need Foundation, spoke with emcee BJ Smith during PPAI Expo D2U Live about the organization’s mission that every child in America should have equal access to a quality education.