The regional community recognized its best on Tuesday evening during the 2018 Leadership Development Workshop. Roger Burnett, vice president of sales and marketing at Fort Collins, Colorado, supplier Branded Logistics, LLC, and Steven Meyer, MAS, vice president of sales at Dallas, Texas-based supplier RiteLine, were presented with the 2018 PPAI RAC Volunteer of the Year award. Lisa Bibb, MAS, executive director for the Virginia Promotional Products Association (VAPPA) and the Georgia Association of Promotional Products Professionals (GAPPP), was also presented with the 2018 Donna Hall Memorial Grant.
The PPAI RAC Volunteer of the Year award is presented annually to regional association members who have demonstrated an outstanding level of volunteerism and leadership, and who have made significant and measurable contributions to a regional association.
In accepting his award from Danny Rosin, CAS, PPAI board member, Burnett, who is president-elect of the Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) board of directors, spoke on the impact and value that volunteering has brought to his life and career: “The saying goes, people buy from people they know, like and trust, yet, it’s increasingly more difficult to create the kind of real connections we’re all searching for.
“That’s why I love volunteering so much. When you have an opportunity to work alongside other people from the industry on an item of common interest, it gives you the chance to find the people amongst you that we each know, like and consequently, trust. Volunteering, if done correctly, is one of the best ways I know to find your tribe—people who are approaching their work in a way you admire and changing the market in memorable ways.”
Meyer accepted his award from Cassondra Franze, executive director of the Promotional Products Association Southwest (PPAS), where he is the current board president. His remarks also highlighted the importance of volunteerism on his life and career. Meyer said, “I imagine that most previous recipients of this award felt as I do now—that this honor isn’t completely deserved. I mean, after all, we are volunteers. But I am so grateful for the sentiments of my peers. Each of you know how much better your life has been because of volunteering. It changed my life and it has or will change yours also.
“We all have people or groups that have special meaning in our lives. Don’t wait for them to ask for help but step forward to make a difference. I’m asking you to step forward because you have the skills, the talent, the energy and the heart they need. Step forward because we all realize, even if we do not often enough demonstrate it, love and compassion for others heals ourselves.”
Lindsey Davis, MAS, RAC president, presented Bibb (above right, with Davis) with the Donna Hall Memorial Grant, and shared her pride in presenting it to such a deserving volunteer. The grant honors the memory of Donna Hall, who served as executive director of the Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) and provides regional association executive directors the opportunity to advance their education and careers by providing financial support to attend education conferences and events.
