PPAI Technology Committee Chairman Jon Norris and the committee's newest member, Essent President & CEO Eric Alessi, recently provided their 2015 outlook for the committee and more.
They discussed 2015 goals and initiatives, the growth of the 2015 PPAI Technology Summit sponsored by Essent, and their roles on the committee.
Mr. Norris
Mr. Norris, right, the Vice President of Operations for promotional products supplier Starline, is serving his fifth year on the PPAI Technology Committee and his first as chairman.
What is the committee’s overall mission?
The Technology Committee is responsible for
providing technology-related education and guidance to PPAI staff and members
to enable a more efficient industry.
What are the committee’s goals and initiatives for 2015?
The technology committee is currently working on setting
the agenda for the Technology Summit in August, creating a PPAI Technology
Survey, creating a maintaining an industry Wiki of resources and creating a set
of new "Techie Awards” for the Summit
What goal or initiative do you think will create the most
buzz, or which one are you most excited about?
"Eric provides both a highly technical as well as a strong business presence to the committee. His industry experience and involvement is definitely an asset that we welcome on the committee!"
The Technology Summit is gaining real steam in the
industry. We already have 45 people registered, which is nearly the
number that attended in 2014.
(UPDATE: Registrations Surge for 2015 PPAI Technology Summit.)
What do you see in store for the PPAI Technology Summit
in August?
The agenda is going to be excellent. The summit
will showcase technology initiatives that are currently happening in the industry
amongst suppliers, distributors and service providers.
What do you feel Eric specifically and the Essent
perspective in general will add for the committee?
Eric provides both a highly technical as well as a strong
business presence to the committee. His industry experience and
involvement is definitely an asset that we welcome on the committee! I
look forward to his help and input for years to come.
Mr. Alessi
Mr. Alessi, right, the President & CEO of promotional products technology solutions provider Essent, is serving the first year in at least a three-year term on the PPAI Technology Committee.
What are your 2015 goals for
the technology committee and how do you plan to contribute to the board?
The Technology Committee is
responsible for providing technology-related education and guidance to PPAI
staff and members to enable a more efficient industry. To that end my goals for
2015 are to raise promotional products business management issue awareness and
assist the committee under the guidance of Chairman Jon Norris.
What are your goals for your
three-year term and how do you plan to contribute to the board?
"I love technology and I love this industry. This is my way to contribute and give back."
Essent is the leading provider
of business management and commerce solutions for the promotional products
industry. We work with all size
organizations from small, progressive, boutique companies all the way up to the
largest and most influential distributors and suppliers in the industry.
As a result, we are in a unique position to understand the needs of the industry and
how distributors, decorators, and suppliers work together. My three-year goal
is to bring awareness of 21st Century industry information technology issues to the forefront, educating the industry and increasing the desire to build a tightly integrated industry.
What made a seat on the
technology committee an interesting position for you?
I love technology and I love this industry. I’ve made an
incredible number of friends throughout the world through PPAI and, like them,
I genuinely care about their success and the success of the industry.
"We live in an age of technology that I could only dream of as a boy. We live with supercomputers in our pockets."
At the
North American Leadership Conference in 2014 I spoke to the attendees and I
went on the record about my passion for this industry and my desire to help
make it as efficient as possible through standards and technology.
The industry
is huge, but close-knit, helpful, and friendly. It’s amazing how much love
there is for the industry. This is my way to contribute and give back.
Why is this an exciting time
to serve on the Technology Committee?
We live in an age of technology
that I could only dream of as a boy. We live with supercomputers in our pockets
with high-speed connections to an international network. Both at work and play
I communicate with people throughout the world.
Yet, with all of these
resources, our promotional products industry is behind the times in the
widespread application of information technology.
There is still an amazing amount of friction in the supply chain. Other
industries have benefited tremendously from information technology and industry
leadership.
"Our promotional products industry is behind the times in thewidespread application of information technology. There is still an amazing amount of friction in the supply chain."
There is all this technology and finally there is technology
designed for the unique needs of the promotional products industry. So now more
than ever it’s imperative that PPAI shows strong technology leadership. The
Technology Committee is the technology leadership for the industry. It’s a
hugely important role and an incredibly exciting time.
Chairman Jon Norris said the
PPAI Technology Summit scheduled for August already has as many attendees as
last year. How do you see this event growing and evolving in the coming years?
Technological issues, especially
for this industry, are complex. My hope is the Technology Summit continues to
grow because there is such a need for the technology leaders in the industry to
have a forum to discuss industry technology issues.
It is for this reason
Essent is the lead sponsor for the Summit. My expectation is that we will work
to define strong agendas that solve substantive industry problems,
resulting in successful solutions. As a natural consequence I expect the event
to grow and evolve in the coming years.