A shameless plug...

It is rare that you will catch me doing this but I feel compelled to do this today.

I want to make sure that all PPAI members know that I am running for a spot on PPAI's Board of Directors.

I feel uniquely qualified in that I have been in the promotional products industry since 1989. I worked my way up through the ranks to the position that I have today as Vice President of Sales of The Vernon Company.

I have been involved volunteering at the national level with PPAI for the past dozen years. Working with the Awards Committee, the Leadership Advisory Committee and currently the MAS/CAS Certification Committee has allowed me to get to know hundreds of association members, small and large, from the supplier side, the distributor side and service providers as well.

One of my current passions is the promotion of PPAI's education services. With issues involving product safety and legislation on the rise, staying on top of things with my own personal education (my MAS certification) and promoting education certification to our account executives is a top priority.

PPAI needs to continue to promote the value of their education tools and efforts. I am in a great position to help them to do this. Having an MAS degree enables me to push these efforts because I have been there. I am practicing what I would be preaching!

At Vernon, we have account executives located all across the country with our current roster totalling about 325 individuals. They are productive members of the industry with needs and concerns similar to any distributor in the industry. Vernon holds membership status in all of the regional associations and we are actively involved in many.

We have three of our AE's who are currently Presidents or President Elect of their respective associations. We have two people on the PPAI Committees with another two members participating on the editorial council in addition to the Woman's Leadership Team.

The bottom line, is that I am connected! 

 We are connected. 

I have long believed that we need to give back to this great industry of ours and my track record shows this.

PPAI Voting is open from September 4th through October 4th.

Have you voted yet? Every PPAI member firm gets one vote!

I encourage you to vote today. Do not delay! 

I would appreciate it even more if you select Dave Regan when you exercise this right. I am excited about the opportunity and I am "all in" because as anyone who knows me would tell you, I do not do anything half way!

Thanks for considering to cast a vote for me!

For more info on my background:
Dave Regan, MAS

To Vote :
https://eballot4.votenet.com/ppai/

You can make a difference!

Do you believe this statement?

I hope so because it it TRUE!

Whether we are speaking about making a difference by voting in the upcoming Presidential Election or voting in PPAI's Board of Directors Election to choose the new additions to the Board of Directors you play a role.

I am confident that I can make a difference and that is why I have chosen to run for the PPAI Board spot open to one distributor this fall. The voting begins September 3.

To learn more about me click here.

In addition to my passion for the promotional products industry, I am also very involved in helping special needs children. I must admit that I did not choose this path as much as it chose me with the birth of our second daughter, Katie, in 1994. Now 17 years old and quick to remind me (almost daily) that she is a senior in high school, she has opened up a whole new world to me.

This world has shown me that many of us, myself included, take way too many things for granted in this life of ours. Simple things are not so simple to many people in this world!

Things that many of us think are our biggest priorities in life really do not matter that much in the big picture. Perspective is a relative term but it greatly affects the way we view things around us and the way that we treat other people.

I am getting better at realizing this, with the help of my daughter Katie, as she helps me, my wife and my other daughter Erin (19) focus on the simple things in life. She has an incredible knack of finding the positive in everything.

We all know the old saying that weighs whether the glass is "half full" or "half empty". While I can understand that one might have a decision to make if they viewed an eight ounce glass with four ounces of milk in it however what if the glass was always full in your world?

What if you took it upon yourself to fill the glass up to the top so that there was no doubt to those around you? Do you add energy to those around you or zap the energy out of those around you? Think about this! Can you answer this?

For those of you that may have missed it, I reference a very personal story on perspective that I wrote about a few years back. Not a day goes by when I do not think about this story. It has been a life lesson for me.

I am not perfect, far from it, as I am reminded by the others around me at work, home and play but I know that I have a choice in how I act today. I know that I can make a difference. I can make a conscious decision when I get up each day to make a positive contribution to society in some way.

The picture at the top of this post shows Katie playing baseball in her Miracle League in Des Moines. Approximately 300 children with a variety of disabilities come together each Saturday in the spring and the fall to get out and have fun. Each game includes about 30 volunteers who choose to make a difference by assisting, and make a difference they do for a few hours each weekend.

Honestly as I watch the volunteers and their reactions as they view a young blind girl, a housemate of my daughter, hit the "beeper" ball that makes a sound as it is pitched, I wonder who is getting more out of this event.

In my mind this is truly a win-win where each participant, the child playing baseball with their friends and the "buddy" who is assisting them, gaining a great deal!

Don't ever question whether or not you can make a difference! There is no doubt that you can make a difference. The question is whether or not you will CHOOSE to make a difference!

Take the plunge. You will not regret it!