The BPMA held its inaugural show at Silverstone on the 14^th September with great feedback from visitors and exhibitors alike. The one day members’ show attracted almost 400 distributor visitors from the promotional gift industry; with many of the larger promotional gift distributors sending almost their entire sales teams.

The BPMA decided also to trial the idea of distributors inviting their customers along. Around 20 end user buyers attended denoted by a different colour lanyard. There were a number of visitor attractions including the Winning Formula supplier product competition, the launch of the newly formed BRIMAN group, the Innovation Alley showcasing student product designs, the branding zone featuring a number of different branding techniques and a Christmas tree feature supported by Festive Promotions and other leading suppliers. In addition, the Tech Zone had some great cool products from Sony.

Matt Franks chairman of the BPMA commented “I am absolutely thrilled with the feedback from our members having been aware of the months of planning that went into our Education Day the BPMA, show and Awards. Given the announcement relating to the Sourcing City collaboration, I am looking forward to an even greater event in 2017.”

BPMA Education Day brings speakers from all over the world

The BPMA held its 4th Annual Education Day and was enthusiastically welcomed by members of the BPMA, with over 90% of attendees feeling that it had exceeded their expectations.

Around 140 people attended the event on the 13th September at Whittlebury Hall; close to Silverstone, which preceded the BPMA Show the following day. The 13 speakers gave the audience a huge choice from within the industry and externally.

Gordon Glenister, director general of the BPMA who put on the event, commented, “I have always sought some of the finest speakers around to really help inspire our members. When you run a business, so often you can miss out on some of the great ideas from other industries.”  Marty Lott, talked about the importance of apparel to the gift distributor sector, playing a much higher percentage in the America than in the UK. His company Sanmar turns over in excess of $1bn and is one of the most highly regarded suppliers in America, Other well-known professional speakers included Nigel Risner, Steve Clarke, Andy Hanselman, Grant Leboff,  Peter Hill, Murray Cowell, Mark Blackmore, Robert Craven. The day was rounded off by keynote speakers from PPAI (Promotional Products Association International CEO Paul Bellantone, and President Tom Goos from Image Source.

Published on: September 19th, 2016