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The Death of a Regional Association

Is it time for a rebirth?

3/23/2023 | Joel Schaffer, MAS, The Take Away

The demise of the Promotional Products Association of Wisconsin (PPAW) did not come as a surprise to me. My suspicion: it is a harbinger of things to come. 

Around 2003, I traveled to Madison, WI to do a “Kick Ass Session” and board mentoring session for that association. Back then, they were trying to figure out how to invigorate their organization. Things had changed around 1998 when ASI got into the show business; rep shows were popping up, private shows, supplier groups, distributor groups and bigger distributors turned their annual meetings into shows, as well. Since my visit, the climate for regional associations has gotten worse.  Many more channels of communication are in direct competition with the traditional regional show. If you cannot generate revenue from a show or find an alternate revenue stream, dues will not be sufficient, and an organization cannot sustain itself. This is the reality many regional associations are facing and will face.  Many regional associations’ revenues are invested in their management budget while the membership gets too little value in return. I am a believer in regional associations but, once again, with this warning signal from Wisconsin, we need to look at what our industry needs now and not live with the past. 

What I got out of SAAGNY in 1976 – 1998 is not what members are getting out of it today. The same is true of all other regionals. Additionally, what I wanted out of SAAGNY 20 years ago is not what today’s members want out of it today. However, one thing has not changed - association members seek true value from their investment of time and money.

I will cut to the chase. I believe the regional associations need a rebirth as professional associations, not quasi trade associations. A trade association serves the company, a professional association serves the individual. All along, our regionals and PPAI have really masqueraded as trade associations but focusing on salespeople. Companies were members, not individuals. In the American Medical, American Bar, American CPA Associations, the memberships are individuals and companies are only affiliates or special members. Professionals come first. The American Bankers Association is a membership of companies, individuals are secondary. 

Professional associations identify and promote the best of the best in any industry they are affiliated with. Be it an interior decorator, doctor, dentist or ……, we have all seen the acronyms after a person’s name on their business cards. These are certifications earned by professional association membership and continuing professional development. Yes, ASI and PPAI offer designations earned through continued education but, again, they are hybrid trade associations. Companies, not people, are their members.

I see a world where there is a clear delineation between members of a professional group offering credentials such as professional development, professional standards, etc. and the rest of the “riff raff” who claim to be professionals in the business but have nothing behind that claim. What if every prospective customer in Milwaukee knew that they could find the best of the best on the membership list of the association. What if every company in Milwaukee needing a wellness or safety program knew that the professionals in PPAW were the best resource to help them solve the problem? What if the business in Kenosha knew the performance standards of the professional they selected to work with were set by the organization? What if the alumni director of the University of Wisconsin needed a professional to help build alumni donations and could turn the spigot on for an RFP only going to the professional members of PPAW. What if the kid in Green Bay understood that to be in this business, joining PPAW was an asset in growing his or her business and self.

You won’t get there in a day but, it is, in my opinion, a transition needed if regional groups are to enhance the careers of practitioners in the area.  

Look at the top 10 distributor companies. They can have dozens of companies or individuals working in Wisconsin, but they pay the same in dues as do mama and papa working in Green Lake. It is not about financial fairness; it is about who was that regional really serving… the individual through corporate membership. It is time to identify, recruit and enlist individuals as members. It is time to deliver to them the needed education, the needed certification, the needed commitment to professionalism. We need to grow. Our professional groups need to supplement training that new and small companies can’t do on their own -- that is true value. We don’t need shows. We need “conventions”. The same types of business forums that organizations such as the medical societies have where their business and professional development programs come first, and also have a revenue producing “exhibit center” at every conference. 

Regionals must look on the 3-5 year horizon and think hard about their value/

  • If you cannot provide “true value”, you have no reason to exist.

  • If your core service can be accomplished by private enterprise, your true value comes in question.

  • If you cannot motivate activity and interest of the majority of your membership beyond visiting your trade show, you need to revise your charter and mission.

  • If you do not have a strong empowered committee structure, you will find difficulty in finding future leaders and growing your association.

  • If your supplier membership is attracted only because it is linked to your trade show product, these are not members, they are exhibitors, participants or sponsors.

  • If you do not have at least 50% of the distributor companies within your geographic area as members, you need greater critical mass to be a trade association and must sustain an annual recruiting effort. 

  • If your educational program is providing webinars on random speaker subjects and the audience is predictably the same each session, you need to look at the scope of your work and invest more in true value.

  • If you do not have a consistent and effective program representing the interests of the individuals and businesses in the government of your state or states, you are not serving the definition of a trade or professional association.

  • In the world of competition, you must find a way to delineate your membership and convince the marketplace that your membership represents the highest level of professionalism vs. all others. 

We need regionals. They need to adapt to the needs of the market and not exist to meet payroll through trade show income.


Joel D. Schaffer, MAS is CEO and Founder of Soundline, LLC, the pioneering supplier to the promotional products industry of audio products. Joel has 48 years of promotional product industry experience and proudly heralds “I was a distributor.” He has been on the advisory panel of the business and marketing department of St. John’s University in New York and is a frequent speaker at Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He is an industry Advocate and has appeared before the American Bankers Association, American Marketing Association, National Premium Sales Executives, American Booksellers Association and several other major groups. He has been a management consultant to organizations such as The College Board and helped many suppliers enter this industry. He is a frequent contributor to PPB and Counselor magazines. He has facilitated over 200 classes sharing his industry knowledge nationwide. He is known for his cutting humor and enthusiasm in presenting provocative and motivating programs. He is the only person to have received both the Marvin Spike Industry Lifetime Achievement Award (2002) and PPAI’s Distinguished Service Award (2011). He is a past director of PPAI and has chaired several PPAI committees and task forces. He is a past Chair of the SAAGNY Foundation, Past President of SAAGNY and a SAAGNY Hall of Fame member. He was cited by ASI as one of the 50 most influential people in the industry.
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