June/July 2018
AzPPA E-Newsletter
You Are Amazing!
Our Promotional Products community pulled together and did a great job collecting and donating more than $5,000 worth of unused samples and apparel to UMOM, one of our favorite charities for helping homeless families. This effort was part of our celebration of Promotional Products Work Week!
Click here for more information about this great organization, and please continue to help whenever you can!
Register Today for our Event on 6/19/18

The Industry From MY Point of View:
Panel Discussion
Have you ever wished that the person at the other end of the phone, email, or text message understood better what you were trying to communicate? Join us for an in-person panel discussion on Tuesday, June 19th at the beautiful Sky Song facility in Scottsdale, and let's clear up some of the mystery between Distributors, Suppliers, and Decorators! We're delighted to have two representatives from each of these key roles in our industry participating on the panel, which will be moderated by our own Damon Subasa, VP of AzPPA for 2018.
Register today so you're guaranteed a seat!
A Special Collaborative Event from your District 5 Executive Directors!

The EDs from SAAC (Donte Shannon), PMANC (Carol Murphy), NWPMA (Nellie Gonzales), and AzPPA (Betsy Andrade) are proud to bring you the first in a series of events produced just for our regional district.

On Friday, June 15th, we are hosting a round table discussion on Sexual Harassment in the Promotional Products Industry. Whether you have experienced harassment personally, want to know how to deal with situations that may come up for your business, or don't have a clue if you're part of the issue, this event is for you! In order to protect the privacy of all of the participants, this event will be a conference call rather than a webinar. When you register below, SAAC will not record your identification, nor will this session be recorded for replay. We are hoping for a candid, open discussion of this important and timely issue, not just for our industry but for society in general. Click the button below to register and take part in this historic event.
It's Almost Time!
The AzPPA Expo will be here before you know it. Exhibitors come in to set up on August 27th, and Distributors come for the show on August 28th!

More details coming soon!
Registration opens June 15th!
May, 2018 -
"Mr. Gordon Goes to Washington!"
2018 L.E.A.D.
 AzPPA was fortunate to have a great representative at this year's Leadership Education Action Days in Washington, D.C. along with other regional and PPAI participants. Jim Gordon, our AzPPA President-Elect got to meet with several legislative representatives to talk about the importance of our industry in Arizona. Here's what Jim had to say about his experience:

“Meeting with the staff of Arizona representatives of Congress was an incredible and enlightening experience. I had individual meetings with Representative Kyrsten Sinema’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Representative David Schweikert’s Legislative Director, Representative Raul Grijalva’s Staff Liaison, Senator John McCain’s Legislative Assistant, and Senator Jeff Flake’s Legislative Assistant. All of them were amazed at the size of the promotional products industry and the impact on Arizona with over 4100 employees and $255 million in revenue for Arizona. All of the staff loved the promotional products that were given to them and see the importance of our industry (especially during election time).

One additional highlight of my trip was when I was able to walk on the floor of the House of Representative. The House was not in session, and no electronics or cameras were allowed so I don’t have any pictures to share. It was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget.

I would be happy to talk to any AzPPA member who would like to know more about LEAD and/or how to get involved.”

To contact Jim, email jim@northstaridentity.com .
July 24, 2018
Family Fun Night at Main Event!
Beat the Heat and Have Some Fun!
This year's social event of the summer will be AzPPA's night at Main Event in Tempe. Bring the family, bring your friends, come on your own - no teams and no theme this time! We'll have a buffet dinner followed by some fun and games.
Watch for details coming soon!
Plan to join us at the Mesa Convention Center again this year. Registration will open soon. In the meantime, here's the tentative schedule:
Tuesday August 28th -
10 am - Show Floor opens
11:30 am - Keynote Luncheon featuring Paul Bellantone, PPAI President and CEO
2:00 pm - Clients invited to attend with their distributors

Featured Sponsor: PPAI
Name That Board Member!
Can you name the two AzPPA Board members pictured below? Email your answers to betsy@azppa.net . The first person to send in both correct identifications will win a $10 gift card to be presented in August 2018!
You can just see the mischief in his eyes, planning his next wry comment! He's relatively new to Arizona and serving in a key position on this year's Board of Directors.
What a sweetie! This young lady is new to the Board this year and bringing us a whole new perspective. Her background ties in nicely with this year's AzPPA Expo theme.
Congratulations Debbie Umberger from Spartan AZ, who was the first person to correctly name both of our previously pictured board members!
Mitch Shreder - Director, and Awards & Recognition Coordinator
Janna Mundis - Past President, Director, and ProDevelopment Chair
Important Links

AzPPA Wild Wednesday Webinars
Wednesday, June 27th - Leveraging Market Trends in Top End-Buyer Markets - Nate Robson, Raining Rose
Details to Follow



PPAI Webinars
June 18, 11:00 am - CAS: Marketing and Advertising Overview
June 20, 11:00 am - Practical Quality Considerations for Audits and Scoring
July 25, 11:00 am - In Depth Look at How to Handle a Recall
Aug 1, 11:00 am - How to Secure a Job in the Promo Industry after your Internship

On-demand topics are available whenever you log in to ppai.org.

Save the Dates!
Watch for more details about these upcoming AzPPA events:

July 24, 2018 - Family Fun Night at Main Event, Tempe
August 28, 2018 - The AzPPA Expo at the Mesa Convention Center
Sept. 25, 2018 - Escape Room Adventure
Oct. 23, 2018 - Communicating Product Safety Compliance to your Clients
Dec. 6, 2018 - Annual Holiday Party
Benefits of Membership
McCreary's Tees:
As the Official Apparel Sponsor for AzPPA, McCreary’s Tees is offering to waive for AzPPA members, the $2.00 or $5.00 fee that is normally charged on smaller orders.   You must ask for this waiver at the time the order is placed, whether on an order placed via the website or via telephone.  
This is another great benefit of your membership.  
You can contact McCreary’s Tees at  602 470-4200  for details

For more information about the benefits of Membership in AzPPA, click here .
Find savings from SAGE, Zoom Catalog, Constant Contact, FedEx, Merchant Services, and more!



Contact www.zoomcatalog.com to find out more!

Contact your SAGE representative for more details.
for more details and to get started.
Sponsors and Affiliations
AzPPA is Proudly Affiliated With: