Almost 200 people attended a four-day sales leadership summit in St. Petersburg, FL, this month with the theme of “Pinking Outside the Box.”

The event ran from June 9 to 13 and was hosted by Batavia, OH-based distributor Kaeser & Blair (asi/238600). The Counselor Top 40 distributor’s annual summit drew 38 supplier partners, 80 high-performing dealers who accounted for over $38 million in yearly sales and members of Kaeser & Blair’s leadership and support teams.

Attendees gather at Kaeser & Blair’s (asi/238600) annual leadership summit in St. Petersburg, FL.

This year’s event centered on strengthening the connection between dealers and supplier partners while driving 2025 business growth through strategic insights. Attendees participated in supplier meetings, were given a tour of Counselor Top 40 supplier Hit Promotional Products’ (asi/61125) operations and celebrated with a ‘70s-themed party complete with disco balls and bell-bottoms.

During the summit, Bill Petrie — founder of marketing agency brandivate — gave a keynote session about using AI to support dealer growth, and Hit CEO CJ Schmidt gave a state-of-the-industry Q&A. There was also an awards banquet that recognized the top-performing dealers of the 2024 selling season.

“Our goal was to create an environment where relationships could flourish, innovation could be explored and our dealers felt empowered heading into the second half of the year,” said Kaeser & Blair Co-CEOs Mitch and Brad Kaeser. “Judging by the energy, feedback and enthusiasm from attendees, we believe we more than delivered.”

Kaeser & Blair’s next sales leadership summit will run from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7 in San Antonio, TX.

With a reported 2023 North American promotional products revenue of $99 million, Kaeser & Blair ranked 25th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. The new rankings are due out in July.