Dan Messerschmidt, JDS Industries
President, APA - Where Personalization Pros Connect

(September/October 2024) APA’s roots are carrots. Allow me to explain. APA   members have deep roots in corporate recog-nition. And in corporate recognition, the phrase “carrot and stick” describes the use of a mix of rewards (carrots) and punishments (sticks). You and I know that in the workplace, carrots are more effective motivators than sticks.

APA was founded in that belief. Sixty years ago, our association was started “when visionary Stan Seaman brought together 12 awards retailers and one supplier to form the Northern California Trophy Dealers Association,” APA’s website explains.

Dan Messerschmidt, JDS Industries
President, APA - Where Personalization Pros Connect

(July/August 2024) For a lot of small businesses, hiring staff is hard. It’s an extra job to do, one that requires different skills than personalizing products or operating a company.

But when you think about it, needing to hire staff is often a good problem to have. If you’re adding to your staff, it’s likely due to the growth of your business, which is definitely a positive. If you are replacing an existing employee, you have an opportunity to add someone who will bring excellent skills and a great work ethic that could help re-energize existing staff.

Even with a lot of hiring experience, we’re always looking to get better. After all, it’s crucial that we hire team players who get what it is that we do and why we do want to be part of that success.

Dan Messerschmidt, JDS Industries
President, APA - Where Personalization Pros Connect

(May/June 2024) The modern world can be isolating. We’re so busy that building genuine connections can seem like a lost art—or a luxury we can’t afford to make time for. But humans are social creatures. Craving connection isn’t a weakness, it’s a fundamental need.

Psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow is famous for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which outlines basic needs that must be met before we can address our psychological needs and eventually try to achieve self-fulfillment.

Belonging and love are smack-dab in the middle of Maslow’s pyramid. Once we’ve fulfilled our basic needs (physiological needs and safety), we need relationships and friends or we can’t advance to trying to meet our needs for respect, recognition, self-esteem, and eventually, self-actualization.

Dan Messerschmidt, JDS Industries
President, APA - Where Personalization Pros Connect

(March/April 2024) Many of you know me, but for those who don’t: Hi, I’m Dan Messerschmidt, your recently inducted APA president. I’m the national sales director for JDS Industries, an APA supplier member and one of its strong supporters. I joined the industry in 2011 and volunteered with APA almost immediately.

My service to APA began on the Trade Show Committee (2012-2015). I chaired the committee for a year before being elected to APA’s Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018, serving the final year as a member of the Executive Committee. In 2021, the membership elected me to the board for a second time. This February, at the International Personalization Expo, I was officially inducted as APA president.

In the whirlwind of activities at the 2024 International Personalization Expo, two significant events stood as pillars of celebration and recognition: the Awards and Recognition Industry Educational Foundation (ARIEF) Scholarships and the esteemed Gold Obelisk Award Ceremony. Nestled within the vibrant atmosphere of the expo, these events underscored the industry's commitment to education, innovation, and excellence.