For the second time in 2022, ASI hosted a major in-person industry event after nearly two years of COVID restrictions. It was a welcome shift back to pre-pandemic times, said exhibitors and attendees.

ASI Fort Worth, which began on Monday, Jan. 31, with Education Day followed by two days of exhibits at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Texas, welcomed an estimated 2,300 suppliers, distributors and decorators.

Matthew Cohn, vice chairman of ASI (left), and Tim Andrews, ASI president and CEO, cut the ribbon at the official opening of the show on Tuesday, Feb. 1.

“ASI is on a solid winning streak, coming off our success with ASI Orlando directly into ASI Fort Worth, which delivered on every promise we made to attendees,” said Tim Andrews, president and CEO of ASI. “Everyone is eager to get back to business and the best way to do that is through in-person shows and events, the very lifeblood of the promo industry.”

Education Day featured tracks on sales, social media, decoration and business-building (see sidebar), followed by two full days of an open show floor. “We’re impressed with how many people have been at our booth and interested in golf items,” said Kellie Matheson of TPK Golf (asi/90511) in Waconia, MN, as she was showing off products in her company’s booth. “We’re glad we’re down here in Fort Worth.”

Jay Jacobus, CEO of Scarborough Specialties (asi/319940) in Lubbock, TX, hosted his company’s sales meeting in conjunction with the event. “We thoroughly enjoyed the show,” said Jacobus. “I wasn’t expecting such a good turnout, but I was happily surprised with the number of great quality vendors who were in attendance. We used the meeting room [for the sales meeting] toward the end of the day so that we could discuss any innovative ideas we had come across on the floor and go back to get more information if we needed to. We also used the room for a couple vendor meetings for our team. It worked out great.”

The traditional balloon drop and Promo, the ASI Show mascot, welcome visitors to the show floor on Day 1 of exhibits.

Dawn Candy, marketing specialist at I Promote You (asi/229496) in The Woodlands, TX, said she was eager to get back to in-person interaction after nearly two years of almost all virtual selling and relationship-building. “In-person provides an energy that’s difficult to achieve in virtual settings,” she said. “I look forward to the show each year, but this year especially. Working solo in a home office and not being able to see customers helped me appreciate the face-to-face connections. It’s invaluable to see supplier reps in-person, get valuable information from them, and brainstorm projects and ways to present ideas to our clients.”

Approximately 2,300 exhibitors and attendees mingle and discuss product ideas at the Convention Center in Downtown Fort Worth.

As ASI continues to host in-person events this year, there’s been a gradual and welcome return to normality, said Rich Corvalan, senior VP of sales at Zing Manufacturing (asi/99025) in Phoenix, who’s attended three major promo trade shows so far this year.

Connection Reception closing out first exhibit day, with live band, Texas beef, crab cakes, drinks and all-impt networking. #ASIfortworth pic.twitter.com/Bbobfpeh3n

— Timothy M. Andrews (@Tim_Andrews_ASI) February 1, 2022

“We’ve been trying to right an industry that took a major hit,” he said. “There were a lot of local distributors, but also people from Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas and others. It was great to see people so engaged in bringing promo back to what it was. It’s a relationship business, it’s about eye contact and making connections in person. ASI has done a great job of bringing people back together in an industry that needs it.”

Suppliers also expressed enthusiasm for the constructive conversations on the show floor, which they’ve sorely missed these past couple years. Jay Ago, Midwest regional manager for AZX Sport USA (asi/30250) in Tonawanda, NY, said “there’s something special” about meeting in-person with clients and peers. “Overall, the discussions were positive and the optimism was at a really high level,” he said. “I can’t wait to see everyone in Chicago this summer.”