The Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) presented the Midwest Leadership Conference virtually on March 16 and March 17.

According to the organization, 159 participants from around the United States reported a great experience. In addition to speaker sessions and networking opportunities, 25 sponsors set up virtual trade show booths at the conference. There were breakout sessions with Latisha Marshall, senior director of sales operations at Top 40 distributor ePromos (asi/188515), Jon Sloan, CEO of Mercury Promotions (asi/267770), Bobby Lehew, chief content officer at commonsku, and Janie Gaunce, CEO of Grapevine Designs (asi/212829).

The first day ended with a discussion on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, featuring Michelle Sourie Robinson, president and CEO of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, Julie Kwan, talent consultant at Hilltop Holdings and Johanna Gottlieb, vice president of sales at Axis Promotions Powered by HALO (asi/356000).

On the second day, Dale Denham, CIO of Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900), presented “The Future of Tech in Promo – Today.” “Whereas our environment becomes more and more reliant on digital technologies, the promotional products industry is a laggard in adoption,” Denham said. “Technology opens up new potential and new business opportunities for those with the courage and stamina to embrace them.”

Thanks to @paulkiewiet and MiPPA for inviting me to address the Midwest Leadership Conference with PPAI’s @Bellantone (our last public talk together!). Covered a lot of ground – consolidation, hyperlocal trend, Amazon etc. Here’s to a strong Q1 for all. #promo pic.twitter.com/B0M28yhBwb

— Timothy M. Andrews (@Tim_Andrews_ASI) March 17, 2021

The final conference was a town hall-style conversation with Tim Andrews, president and CEO of ASI, and Paul Bellantone, outgoing president and CEO of PPAI, which was moderated by Paul Kiewiet, executive director of MiPPA. Answering questions from attendees, they discussed what it means to be a leader in a changing world and remembered the biggest crises they faced while leading the industry’s two largest membership organizations.