Thanks to the generosity of the promo experts at Universal Links Inc. http://universallinksinc.com/ I was able to attend the PPPC National Convention 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre yesterday, accompanied by my trusty side-kick and photographer, Gabriella Luchetta. PromoCan/PPPC presented their annual tradeshow featuring the newest trends in the promotions and corporate incentives business (like these wacky pens above), and I wanted to share the sights and sounds with my readers…so come walk the aisles with Gabriella and me on this virtual tour.Everything and anything you can stick a corporate logo on is featured here. Coffee mugs, coasters, stickers, pens, apparel, frisbees, decals…all shapes and sizes are available. Companies like Universal Links source merchandise like these then offer to their clients (known as end-users) who distribute to their customers as give-aways or special promotions and corporate gifts. Gabs and I saw so many cool things we’d like to be given as “gifts”….. We had a lot of fun with the folks in the Soft Stuff Creations booth hugging teddy bears, I even tried to hug the hunky “booth babe” manning the display but I just made him laugh…LOL! Of course, we went straight to all the chocolate promotions like the Taylor-Grant booth below where Gabs chowed down on samples and I made do with just looking at the yummy catalogue (I really MUST lose some lbs).There’s always lots of fun squishy stress relievers…here are some of our favourites: Gabriella found this cute froggy (below) which she promptly pulled apart… it’s actually a memory stick/USB as are those other cute characters behind.Great to meet Karen (below) from Martini Promotions who showed us some funky sparkly apparel and reversible totes.Suddenly, Gabriella and I were stopped in our tracks when we spied this stunning grey wrap jacket. Are you kiddin’ me? This is a promo item? So stylish and feels like a baby cashmere goat….wow, who made it?Founder and President of Redwood Classics, Kathy Cheng (below) came over and introduced herself…and then told us the story of her family business that makes high-quality apparel here in Canada. Kathy showed us one of the unique items that are made from re-purposed overstock like this 3M umbrella – its materials have been made into this cute cushion (below), creating a stylish functional and fashion-fwd promo gift for the company. This saves unused products going into landfill and allows companies to “re-gift”. Brilliant!We were so engaged and inspired by her family’s story that I promised Kathy I would do a special feature blog on Redwood Classics later and interview her once she has recovered from the long hours of the tradeshow so stay tuned.
Lots more groovy products like these watches, custom labelled bottles of wine…wow! For fans of “Caddyshack” the movie, you can even find sassy gopher golfclub covers….LOLAnd here’s one of my favourite booths showcasing sparkly, glowing lights on all their products.
Thanks again to Universal Links Inc and the folks at PromoCan/PPPC who hosted the show. Bravo all of you!