PPAI Kicks Out ASI
Rift between competitors should not affect their industry tradeshows
By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 10/3/2005
The Promotional Products Assn. Intl. board has voted to yank the Advertising Specialty Institute's membership, saying ASI's conduct has been detrimental to the association.
PPAI President Steve Slagle said the group ousted ASI, producer of The ASI Show! in five U.S. cities, because of "ASI's ongoing disparagement of PPAI's products and services."
As a result of the expulsion, ASI won't be allowed to exhibit at PPAI's annual tradeshow. ASI officials have said, however, that they have no problem with letting PPAI exhibit at their shows.
Matthew Cohn, president of The ASI Show, said PPAI doesn't "like having a big, successful competitor. Unfortunately for them, we live in a free country."
ASI had been a member of PPAI for a half-century. Both PPAI and ASI serve the promotional products industry and produce tradeshows. PPAI is a century-old nonprofit association with 6,700 members, while ASI is a 50-year-old media company with 18,000 distributors and suppliers as members.
PPAI alleges that ASI has tried to make its proprietary identifier the industry standard, to the detriment of PPAI's universal promotional identification code, which is available for free. In particular, the association took issue with an article published in an ASI magazine two years ago that criticized PPAI's code.
"While we believe in a member's right to freedom of expression, ASI's ongoing disparagement of PPAI's products and services exceeds the boundaries of constructive member opinion," stated Danny Sirmon, chairman of the PPAI board.
According to PPAI, ASI tried to prevent it from working with other show producers. PPAI also charged that the incentives that ASI offers its tradeshow participants are intended to weaken PPAI's marketplace position.
"Competition is good and makes us all stronger," stated Slager. "But the competitive playing field becomes uneven when a member exploits and leverages its access to the association's benefits and resources (in order) to compete against the association."
The ASI Show! is produced in Orlando in January, Dallas in February, Las Vegas in March and Chicago in July. The Orlando event was one of last year's Tradeshow Week Fastest 50 winners. This year, ASI expanded the franchise to a May 23–25 event in Philadelphia.
In addition, ASI will take its Advantages Roadshow series to 60 cities this year.
PPAI holds its own show at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas each January. The PPAI Expo, a TSW 200 event, last year drew nearly 12,000 attendees to a 350,500 net square foot showfloor with 1,553 exhibitors, earning it a No. 48 ranking.
Organizers said the rift will have little effect on either group's tradeshows.
