Chicago – PSDA is thrilled to announce a successful P2P Technology + Innovation Summit, which took place on October 4-6, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. With a focus on technology and innovation, this year’s event facilitated quality interactions, peer to peer learning and showcased new products and services with some of the freshest faces in the industry. 

This year, Peer Group participants were able to choose from a total of 17 cutting-edge education sessions to attend, including:

• Beyond Swag: Building Branded Experiences with New Tech with ROBYN Promotions’ Eric Granata
• Neurotic for a Reason: The Culture & Brand of Hotcards with Hotcards’ CEO John Gadd and Jordan Sanford, Director of Social Media
• 2 Guys, 3 Stories: Why Technology Matters to thumbprint with thumbprint’s COO Tod Ellington and Brian Gill, Vice President of Sales

Attendees also enjoyed two keynotes, including Sam Richter’s presentation, “Web Search Secrets to Find More Leads and Land More Business,” which explored how to use online searches to develop deeper client relationships. One attendee raved that P2P’s outstanding content “offered ready-to-apply solutions that turn our challenges into opportunities.” 

Also new to P2P was the Speed Networking event, a 90-minute session where distributors and suppliers had 3 minutes to connect before moving on the next partner. PSDA also launched a Customer Service Representative Program, where distributor CSRs enjoyed CSR-specific education, meetings with PSDA member manufacturers and networking time with fellow CSRs.

“The P2P Summit was a great experience, one that I would like to be able to take advantage of again,” said one CSR program participant. “I took so much away from this event that can only make me better at what I do. Both the peer and vendor networking was amazing. I returned to work with a new sense of excitement about what I do!”

One PSDA member was impressed by how the association is “jam packed with innovative thinkers and doers. The sessions we had and the conversations that followed were of immediate value to our climate of change and implementation of new marketing and operational technologies. The relevance of rubbing shoulders with peers and the discussions that occur is still as invaluable as when we were a ‘forms company,’ even more so.” 

“When an industry is changing as rapidly as the one that PSDA serves, we wanted to evolve this event to better serve our print world’s shifting needs,” said Barbara O’Connor, Executive Vice President of PSDA. “Seeing distributors and manufacturers come together at P2P shows us that despite this state of evolution, our community is as close-knit and progressive as ever. Staying ahead of the curve is vital to our industry’s future, and P2P is a reflection of our commitment to providing the best possible resources for growth and ideation.”

For more information about PSDA’s events, membership and programs, visit www.psda.org.