John Stangle, CRM, Creative Awards & Screen Printing
President, Awards and Personalization Association

(November/December 2022) APA’s 2023 International Personalization & Awards Expo is coming along beautifully. Our website, awardspersonalization.org, has all the information you need about the Expo, including a list of suppliers that will be showing off classic and new products. On the website, you can register for the Expo and select educational classes you would like to attend. In addition to learning opportunities, attendees will be able to take part in the Party on the Show Floor on Wednesday evening, the awards celebration on Thursday evening (for an additional fee) and the member breakfast meeting on Friday morning.

Information about the two fantastic host hotels is also available on the website, including a link to reserve your room. I also recommend pre-ordering the educational session recordings. Even if you attend a session, you might like to review what was presented after you return home. I know I sometimes miss information at the show that could be very important for future jobs. By reviewing the recordings, I learn even more. I also use these recordings to train employees, who can listen to one recording a week to boost their skills. It’s almost as if they went to the Expo as well.

We will have a few restaurant gatherings, called “dine around,” where you can eat dinner with people you might not know but will hopefully come away thinking of them as new friends. I would also like to bring your attention to the numerous volunteer activities that are available during the Expo: one-hour shifts staffing the ARIEF auction booth, selling raffle tickets, introducing speakers in the education classes and welcoming prospective members. With just an hour or two of volunteering, you will receive so much more than you give—not only will you get to meet and connect with loads of people, but the joy of volunteering makes you feel so much better, too.

Don’t forget to donate an item or two for the ARIEF auction—10 scholarships are awarded each year to APA members, their employees and their families through funding from the Foundation. And, by all means, if you see me at the Expo, stop and say hi. Let me know where you are from and how you are enjoying this wonderful profession! I can’t believe I’m getting close to 30 years in this industry, and I still love coming to work.

See you in February!