PPAI Show Las Vegas, January 2008

After several years of date collisions between the PSI Fair in Germany and PPAI Fair in the United States, this year the schedule finally provided me with an opportunity to visit both fairs in the same year. So I took off from Germany on Friday, landed back in Hong Kong on Saturday and tried to nurse my jet lag for 2 days (without much success). Tuesday I took of for Las Vegas and thanks to the time difference being the same as the journey I arrived in Vegas the same day and pretty much the same hour I left Hong Kong. Dead tired, but ready.

This has been my 3rd visit to the PPAI Show, but the first one since 2001. The last time I went I discovered what lanyard is :-), the product now as common as a ball pen but virtually unknown those days. Well, except it was all over the PPAI Show back in 2001 … So I was quite curious to see how the show, the exhibitors, the products have evolved. I also wanted to see what the location change did to the PPAI Show, as last time went the show was still in Dallas.

Same as the PSI Show in Dusseldorf, Germany, the PPAI Show is open to the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) members only. Vast majority of the exhibitors are suppliers, most of the visitors are the distributors. For the suppliers this is an opportunity to present their new product lines, distribute new catalogs, meet up with their distributors.

The first thing I realized when walking the fair was that the size of the booths seems to have shrunk. I am not sure whether it is a result of an effort to accommodate more exhibitors or a result of some cost saving measures from the exhibitors. This also lead to changes in the design of the booths, nothing really spectacular I must say. People who visit this fair every year may not have realized this, but after 7 year break the difference is very obvious.

When it comes to products on exhibit the biggest changes I have spotted is the lack of US made products. There still are some, but not as many as there used to be back in 2000 and 2001. It is understandable that production shifts to the places with lower production cost, but the same forces work in Europe too and one can still see lots of products made in Germany, made in Italy, made in Switzerland at the PSI show.

Very useful feature of the PPAI Show is New Products hall.

Ween I walked in I felt like I am at some sort of flea market (without the sellers being present). But this simple set up is very practical. Not all the products on display were new things, but they might have been new for the exhibitors displaying them. Still quite a few new products, new ways of packaging and most importantly applications of new technologies especially in printing were on display.

The fact that the booth sizes were not as big and designs as spectacular as they used to be does not mean there is nothing to see. On the contrary. One has to look hard and know what to look for (like at most of the trade shows) but the fair is definitely worth the visit. Even though I could not see anything totally new and groundbreaking this time, it was a fruitful visit. I was not coming as a buyer or a seller but as an observer. And those 3 days I spent at the fair helped me a lot to get clearer image about the current situation on BizGift market in the United States (and Canada to certain extent).

The PPAI show is more than an exhibition though. The show program includes development workshops, seminars, keynote luncheons, fashion and accessories show. The highlight of the entertainment program this year was the ONE party that included a concert by the rock band Daughtry. I unfortunately had no time to attend any of these events…

It has been several years since the PPAI Show moved from Dallas to Las Vegas, but only this year I got a chance to see myself whether it helped the overall experience or not. Oh yes, it definitely did help . Those who have been to Vegas will understand, those who are yet to try should go and see.

Here are few more photos from the 2008 PPAI Show.

Popularity: 100% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Subscribe to BizGiftGuru by Email

Read More

Did you enjoy this post? If so then Subscribe to my RSS Feed. Categories: Industry news, Trade Shows

Related Posts

• And it is time to get back to business
• PSI Show Dusseldorf, January 2008
• So how big is this BizGift industry ?
• The Lanyard Story
• Giveaway Watch Gift Set - Win One !