70 • JANUARY 2026 • PPAI Community | Inside PPAI LDC Kicks Off With Olympian’s Challenge For Promo Leaders Three-time Olympian bobsledder Steve Mesler delivered the keynote address at PPAI’s Leadership Development Conference in October. The event, held near Dallas, welcomed regional association leaders and emerging professionals from across the promotional products industry for learning, collaboration and connection. Mesler challenged attendees to seize on their vulnerability – fears, doubts and uncertainty – to unlock their full potential. In guided workbook activities, he asked attendees about their current actions that don’t align with their aspirations. What keeps you up at night, or where are you not acting like the person, the leader, the partner or parent you want to be? What’s holding you back? The key to effective leadership, Mesler suggested, is self-awareness. “Once we set our goals, and once we start to do something about it, we build some awareness around it,” Mesler said. “What is it about me that’s stopping me from doing these things? If I’m going to get to the way I want to live, I’ve got to figure out [myself]. All of these things will translate to your organizations.” A philanthropist, executive coach and member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, Mesler showed off the “favorite piece of swag” he accumulated during his career – a gold medal from the 2010 Vancouver games. He also shared insights from his athletic and professional experience, encouraging attendees to embrace purpose-driven leadership and focus on what truly drives high performance – targeted messaging for the volunteer leaders and rising professionals in the audience. PPAI Leaders Discuss Regionals’ Future During LDC Town Hall PPAI Board Chair and Fairware CEO Denise Taschereau joined PPAI President and CEO Drew Holmgreen for a town hall discussion with regional association leaders and young professionals. The open conversation reflected deepened trust in PPAI’s relationship with the regional community and a broader vision for where the industry is heading. Together they touched on everything from community-building and leadership pipelines to artificial intelligence, directto-consumer business models and how the Association is positioning the industry for the future. Taschereau began with perspective on how far the relationship between PPAI and the regional community has come in recent years. She recalled that when she joined the PPAI Board four years ago, “the conversations of the Board were kind of hard around regionals. … There was always a little tension around the conversation.” But, “when we talk about regionals now,” she said, “it’s with enthusiasm and optimism, and it’s really anchored in what the potential is and what exists.” Taschereau pointed out that the trust between PPAI and the regional community has particularly improved over the last 18 months, and she credited Holmgreen’s background with Meeting Professionals International for helping the board see new opportunities. Holmgreen, who joined PPAI in January, reflected on lessons from his prior experience at MPI. “The chapters were charter members of MPI, and they were all over the place. The branding was all over the place. Websites, leadership, nothing was consistent,” he said. “Now it’s different for regionals than it is versus the chapters. Regionals, you do have your own brand. You do have your own messaging. You do have your own strategies,” Holmgreen added. “However, if we can find a way to make our strategies, our messaging, our kind of high-level push toward elevating merch … if we can start to unify that approach, if we can then provide you with some of these toolkits so that it is now a unified message for across the globe.” Holmgreen suggested these efforts could apply not just to U.S.-based regional associations, of which all 26 are now PPAI members, but to international groups as well. “I want to make sure that we are singing from the same hymnal,” he said.
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