PromoKitchen Podcast

Listen to our #promochat follow-up from 8/8/18 as Charity Gibson talks with Bill Petrie about mentorship.

On this episode, Mark Graham (co-founder commonsku) down with Paul Bellantone (CEO, PPAI and Dale Denham (Chairman of the Board, PPAI) for a discussion about how PPAI advocates for our industry and promotes an environment of success for its members.

The impetus for this conversation was a Planet Money podcast\called Rigging the Economy. The episode looked at how some industries use regulation as a way to restrict new entrants in an effort to protect current members. The podcast looks specifically at the dental industry in North Carolina and how they tried to restrict teeth whitening clinics from operating without a dental license. So, in other words, if you were offering teeth whitening services in your local mall and were not a licensed dentist, the licensing board saw this as a crime.

Here’s an excerpt from the episode that frames things nicely and also creates a few parallels with the promotional products industry:

Teeth whitening is a fairly simple process. It doesn't require a lot of years of school. And people in North Carolina had started opening up these little teeth-whitening kiosks in malls and salons. They charge less than a licensed dentist and...

Dentists didn't like that competition. And so the licensing board for dentistry in North Carolina issued cease-and-desist orders to teeth-whitening clinics telling them to stop the unauthorized practice of dentistry.

We encourage you to listen to the entire episode to find out what happens, but for now this got us thinking about how our industry deals with new entrants. Some suppliers and distributors in our industry worry about lax qualifications to join our industry as this increases competition and potentially confuses end customers.

Are we like the dentists? Let’s find out.

On this episode, Mark Graham (co-founder commonsku) down with Paul Bellantone (CEO, PPAI and Dale Denham (Chairman of the Board, PPAI) for a discussion about how PPAI advocates for our industry and promotes an environment of success for its members.

The impetus for this conversation was a Planet Money podcast\called Rigging the Economy. The episode looked at how some industries use regulation as a way to restrict new entrants in an effort to protect current members. The podcast looks specifically at the dental industry in North Carolina and how they tried to restrict teeth whitening clinics from operating without a dental license. So, in other words, if you were offering teeth whitening services in your local mall and were not a licensed dentist, the licensing board saw this as a crime.

Here’s an excerpt from the episode that frames things nicely and also creates a few parallels with the promotional products industry:

Teeth whitening is a fairly simple process. It doesn't require a lot of years of school. And people in North Carolina had started opening up these little teeth-whitening kiosks in malls and salons. They charge less than a licensed dentist and...

Dentists didn't like that competition. And so the licensing board for dentistry in North Carolina issued cease-and-desist orders to teeth-whitening clinics telling them to stop the unauthorized practice of dentistry.

We encourage you to listen to the entire episode to find out what happens, but for now this got us thinking about how our industry deals with new entrants. Some suppliers and distributors in our industry worry about lax qualifications to join our industry as this increases competition and potentially confuses end customers.

Are we like the dentists? Let’s find out.

On this episode, Mark Graham (co-founder commonsku) down with Paul Bellantone (CEO, PPAI and Dale Denham (Chairman of the Board, PPAI) for a discussion about how PPAI advocates for our industry and promotes an environment of success for its members.

The impetus for this conversation was a Planet Money podcast\called Rigging the Economy. The episode looked at how some industries use regulation as a way to restrict new entrants in an effort to protect current members. The podcast looks specifically at the dental industry in North Carolina and how they tried to restrict teeth whitening clinics from operating without a dental license. So, in other words, if you were offering teeth whitening services in your local mall and were not a licensed dentist, the licensing board saw this as a crime.

Here’s an excerpt from the episode that frames things nicely and also creates a few parallels with the promotional products industry:

Teeth whitening is a fairly simple process. It doesn't require a lot of years of school. And people in North Carolina had started opening up these little teeth-whitening kiosks in malls and salons. They charge less than a licensed dentist and...

Dentists didn't like that competition. And so the licensing board for dentistry in North Carolina issued cease-and-desist orders to teeth-whitening clinics telling them to stop the unauthorized practice of dentistry.

We encourage you to listen to the entire episode to find out what happens, but for now this got us thinking about how our industry deals with new entrants. Some suppliers and distributors in our industry worry about lax qualifications to join our industry as this increases competition and potentially confuses end customers.

Are we like the dentists? Let’s find out.

On today’s episode Mark Graham (commonsku) and Danny Rosin (Brand Fuel) welcome Luke Freeman to the podcast. Luke is the President of Fort Lauderdale based distributor Wizard Creations.

Luke played an instrumental role in rallying his community in the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Luke brought his community together to raise funds for the victims of the tragedy as well as to raise awareness on how to make schools safer everywhere.

The promotional products industry plays a role in national crises, often in supplying products to help those impacted by the tragedy. In other cases, we see products emerge in response to crises as is the case with the clear backpacks that were distributed to students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the shooting.

We wanted to discuss what it means for us in the industry when it comes to products that are deemed controversial. How do we handle discussions when clients ask for these products? What do we do if we as distributors have a moral objection to the product or the client’s industry? We wanted to delve into these questions on the podcast today as our industry is very diverse in terms of the products we produce and the people that purchase them.

On today’s episode Mark Graham (commonsku) and Danny Rosin (Brand Fuel) welcome Luke Freeman to the podcast. Luke is the President of Fort Lauderdale based distributor Wizard Creations.

Luke played an instrumental role in rallying his community in the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Luke brought his community together to raise funds for the victims of the tragedy as well as to raise awareness on how to make schools safer everywhere.

The promotional products industry plays a role in national crises, often in supplying products to help those impacted by the tragedy. In other cases, we see products emerge in response to crises as is the case with the clear backpacks that were distributed to students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the shooting.

We wanted to discuss what it means for us in the industry when it comes to products that are deemed controversial. How do we handle discussions when clients ask for these products? What do we do if we as distributors have a moral objection to the product or the client’s industry? We wanted to delve into these questions on the podcast today as our industry is very diverse in terms of the products we produce and the people that purchase them.

In this episode of the PromoKitchen podcast, Mark Graham sits down with Gene Geiger, CEO of Geiger. Gene was last on the program in January 2015 and since then he’s been busy making headlines by expanding Geiger’s presence beyond the US. Specifically, just this past week Gene announced that Geiger was merging with the UK’s largest family owned distributor, BTC Group.

During their conversation, Mark and Gene unpack what this merger means for Geiger and the industry overall. We have seen a few global merger and acquisition announcements in the last few years and we are only seeing the beginning of an interesting trend as companies in the promotional products industry ready themselves for the demands of a global customer base. Mark also speaks with Gene about the process he follows for making acquisitions work, given the challenges of integrating different company cultures and systems.

In this episode of the PromoKitchen podcast, Mark Graham sits down with Gene Geiger, CEO of Geiger. Gene was last on the program in January 2015 and since then he’s been busy making headlines by expanding Geiger’s presence beyond the US. Specifically, just this past week Gene announced that Geiger was merging with the UK’s largest family owned distributor, BTC Group.

During their conversation, Mark and Gene unpack what this merger means for Geiger and the industry overall. We have seen a few global merger and acquisition announcements in the last few years and we are only seeing the beginning of an interesting trend as companies in the promotional products industry ready themselves for the demands of a global customer base. Mark also speaks with Gene about the process he follows for making acquisitions work, given the challenges of integrating different company cultures and systems.

Hello everyone, welcome to the PromoKitchen podcast. We are a community inspired conversation featuring boundary pushers, rabble rousers, freaks and geeks who are shaking up the $21 BN promotional products industry.

 

My name is Mark Graham co-founder of commonsku and today I get the opportunity to speak with one of our industry’s foremost online community builders, Mike Schenker.

 

In his day job, Mike is the Executive Director of the Gold Coast Promotional Products Association, but his side hustle is guiding the ebb and flow of the Facebook Promotional Products Professionals group, a role that he proudly shares with Lisa Bibb

 

At 6134 members, the Promotional Products Professionals Group is the largest industry group on Facebook. It was founded in 2008 by Lisa Bibb as a way to bring industry people on Facebook together.

 

The group is well known within industry circles as a place where people can get ideas for projects they are working on, source hard to find products and discuss the latest trends. And yes, it’s also a place where some people come to vent and complain. More on that later.

 

Our episode today will explore the good, bad and ugly sides of building an industry group online and how one manages all of the different stakeholders, each of whom brings their differing opinions to the table.

 

There is never a dull day here folks, and I am excited to welcome Mike to get into the details with us today.

 

Mike, it’s great to have you here with us....

Hello everyone, welcome to the PromoKitchen podcast. We are a community inspired conversation featuring boundary pushers, rabble rousers, freaks and geeks who are shaking up the $21 BN promotional products industry.

 

My name is Mark Graham co-founder of commonsku and today I get the opportunity to speak with one of our industry’s foremost online community builders, Mike Schenker.

 

In his day job, Mike is the Executive Director of the Gold Coast Promotional Products Association, but his side hustle is guiding the ebb and flow of the Facebook Promotional Products Professionals group, a role that he proudly shares with Lisa Bibb

 

At 6134 members, the Promotional Products Professionals Group is the largest industry group on Facebook. It was founded in 2008 by Lisa Bibb as a way to bring industry people on Facebook together.

 

The group is well known within industry circles as a place where people can get ideas for projects they are working on, source hard to find products and discuss the latest trends. And yes, it’s also a place where some people come to vent and complain. More on that later.

 

Our episode today will explore the good, bad and ugly sides of building an industry group online and how one manages all of the different stakeholders, each of whom brings their differing opinions to the table.

 

There is never a dull day here folks, and I am excited to welcome Mike to get into the details with us today.

 

Mike, it’s great to have you here with us....