John Stangle, CRM, Creative Awards & Screen Printing
President, APA - Where Personalization Pros Connect
(January/February 2023) Well, this past year has sure flown by. I want to thank everyone for the journey of being associated with this great organization.
On the surface, the APA is an organization that connects you to a wider group that is committed to talking about engraving or awards or gifts or the many other commonalities we share. But the APA is also a family—a community if you will. I have been fortunate enough to meet some of the nicest and most dedicated volunteers who all share one common trait: the love for our industry.
Our association runs on a mostly all-volunteer basis. Yes, we do hire a management company to run the day-to-day business, but the guidance comes from a board of directors and committees, which comprises a group of APA volunteers. I can tell you with certainty that this past year’s volunteers have done an amazing job of running this organization.
That being said, I would like to see more new faces on the committees next year to continue to bring new ideas into the fold. Volunteering doesn’t have to entail a lot of work—just a few hours here and there will get the job done. Please contact the APA office to volunteer for this coming year. Niels Norby from NetSoft Studios will be the new president starting Feb. 10, 2023, and he will need approximately 50 people to step up and help him guide this organization.
COVID remains a challenge that APA members will have to navigate. But the good news is we have seen a lot of new businesses looking for guidance. Remember when you first started with your company? Remember how excited you were and didn’t know what to do or know where to go for answers? Now, for some of you, you have a lot of good ideas and knowledge, so why don’t you share that with the entire association? To volunteer, sign in to your online account, then go to: awardspersonalization.org/forms/volunteerform.aspx.