Earlier this month, the Facilisgroup team traveled to Las Vegas for the 2025 PPAI Expo where they had the chance to learn, connect, and celebrate with our incredible community at the industry’s largest event. Want to know what went down while we were there? Read what our team had to say about their experience at the trade show, what stood out to them, and how they would prepare for the next year’s expo.
The Folio: This is your first promotional products industry event. How would you compare this event to other industry events you’ve attended?
Lauren Shomaker: In full transparency, I haven’t been to many trade shows! In my previous position, I was always helping to prepare messaging, presentations, and sales and marketing assets to send to clients, but I never got to attend the events in person. My background in tech and product helped me listen and observe carefully what exhibitors highlighted as differentiators, and what strategies they used to connect with potential prospects (distributors).
Rather than coming from a specific industry, my coming from servicing tech companies across multiple industries gave me the ability to come to PPAI with an unbiased, open mind ready to learn more about distributor needs, supplier relationships, and our connection to current Partners. While attracting prospects to a booth and establishing market leadership and presence is important for any similar event across industries, what stood out to me as unique were two things: the importance of a connected supply chain and our connection to our Partners.
The Folio: Describe your first thoughts on the trade show floor. Which booths attracted you?
Shomaker: Needless to say, as you would expect from the promo industry, exhibitors didn’t hold anything back! I was impressed by the suppliers’ quality of products and the innovative custom solutions some of them now offer.
I have to give a special shout-out to one of our Preferred Suppliers, Edwards, for showing me samples of their EdwardsX custom apparel work – it was inspiring to see what they were able to envision and execute, from threading to mixed media to the unique zipper on each item. It was great to meet one of our newest Preferred Suppliers, Sock 101 (who gifted the Homecoming Bash band with epic Facilisgroup-branded, light-up sneakers!). I also appreciated seeing PCNA’s commitment to sustainability near the center of their booth – it’s important to me and many distributors that this is taken seriously in an industry that produces so many products. And in general, I loved seeing a variety of smaller suppliers who specialize in very specific types of products, from playing cards to kayaks.
The Folio: What were your takeaways from this event? How will it help you in your role at Facilisgroup?
Shomaker: To put it simply, the promo industry is awesome! In all seriousness, I learned so much that will help me in my role as a Product Marketing Manager at Facilisgroup. An important part of my role is crafting and implementing positioning and messaging that ensure we’re using the right words to tell the right story to the right people. At PPAI, I heard pain points from prospects at our Syncore booth, learned what’s important to Partners at our events, and gathered trends noticed by suppliers. Because I attended PPAI Las Vegas and have a stronger understanding of the industry and how distributors think, I can work with my team to fine-tune our messaging to prospects, support our sales team with specific event-focused assets, and better contribute to our product vision.
The Folio: What was your ultimate goal of attending the expo?
Bob Fitzgerald: My ultimate goal was to continue to grow my industry exposure as well as strengthen my relationships within the Facilis community. I think I was successful on both fronts, especially as my interactions with partners not assigned to me and conversations with Preferred Suppliers continue to increase.
The Folio: Describe your first thoughts on the trade show floor. Which booths attracted you?
Fitzgerald: When I first saw the floor, my initial thought was that I should have brought a map! It is absolutely massive! Keepsake Products USA, which is a Premier Perk, had a great booth. Andy and his team put much effort into making sure they have a great display of products and can tell a story about all of them! The other booth that I was drawn to was alphabroder, I mean, after 20,000 steps, who didn’t want to hit up one of the couches they had set up?!?!
The Folio: Did you achieve the goals you set for yourself at the expo?
Fitzgerald: I’d say that I achieved my goals. Having two different plans made it so that I wasn’t going to overstress myself to get everything done and allow new opportunities to allow for easier reprioritizations of what I wanted to do!
The Folio: How are you going to prepare for next year’s event?
Fitzgerald: Knowing what is all offered, I will plan time for education on day 1, and on time budgeted for the expo floor, I’ll be looking for more opportunities to grow our Premier Perks offerings.
The Folio: You’ve attended the PPAI Expo a handful of times over your career in the promo industry. How was your mindset headed to the trade show compared to other times you went?
Terri Harland: This year was different. Of course, given my new role, I had a different focus for the show and a different set of priorities. It was interesting to be on the other side of the room as a speaker/service provider focused on delivering value as opposed to an attendee trying to absorb everything. I’ll admit, it was a little intimidating to navigate my first time around, but having the hindsight of it now behind me is so incredibly rewarding! I may go as far as to say addicting because I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!
The Folio: Describe your first thoughts on the trade show floor. How does it compare to the previous times? Which booths attracted you?
Harland: I stepped onto the floor with a colleague who was attending for the first time so I sat back and watched her reaction. Call me a promo geek but it truly felt like I was the mom on Christmas morning watching my family open their favorite presents. She immediately had the deer in headlights reaction at the vastness of the show floor and all the booths. She was quickly attracted to the booths with tech as an experience and noticed the “floors”. I would agree that this year I was inspired by all the technology components of the booths. It added an authentic touch to the way we interact with products today in our usual lives rather than the pick it up and put it back down mentality.
The Folio: You’ve attended the trade show as a sales rep and now you’re teaching new sales reps the ins and outs of the PPAI Expo. What has been the best part about teaching a new generation of sales reps your sales knowledge?
Harland: The most rewarding aspect has been seeing suppliers enhance the experience at their booths and witnessing the sales reps’ reactions to it all. A key focus of this workshop was the art of networking and leveraging those skills to deepen product knowledge and strengthen business relationships with key suppliers. Watching the reps engage with suppliers who brought a “wow” factor and seeing their excitement and growth tied everything together seamlessly.