By Charlie Laughtland
BDA blog editor

BDA is officially AMP'd.

We've expanded and rebranded our National Sales Meetings to include all BDA departments. Moving forward, these semiannual meetings will be known as AMP: Alignment to Maximize our Potential.

Our inaugural Winter AMP set the bar high for the future.

BDA employees from across the U.S., Canada and even our China office gathered at the Grand Hyatt Seattle and our Woodinville headquarters for two days of strategizing, collaborating, training and carousing.
Alignment was the cornerstone of CEO Jay Deutsch's keynote presentation that opened our all-staff meeting.

Later, Jay moderated a BDA client panel that included representatives from Bank of America, Caterpillar, Lowe's, Major League Baseball and Michelin. The panel fielded questions about:
• The role of merchandise in a Fortune 500 company's marketing mix
• The benefits and challenges of licensing and sponsorship activation
• Adhering to strict quality, safety and compliance standards
• The value of a single-source partner
• How the branded merchandise industry is evolving
• The ways BDA can better serve our clients

To conclude the Q&A, the clients were asked what they value most about their partnership with BDA. One by one, they echoed the same sentiment:

BDA throws the best parties.

Not really. (But actually, we do.)

Their real answer: Our people rock.

Each client—some new to BDA, some long-time partners—pointed to our culture and the caliber of our people. Or what we call, "The Power of A."

It's one thing for us to talk about our commitment to hiring and retaining the best people. It's far more moving to hear straight from our clients that we've assembled a winning team.

The week kicked off with BDA's 10th annual Supplier Alliance Fair at the Washington Trade & Convention Center. The expo is BDA's largest vendor event of the year, offering attendees a chance to preview product trends for 2011 and connect with suppliers.

More than 100 Supplier Alliance Partner vendors participated. Every imaginable product category was represented, from inexpensive writing instruments to funky desk accessories to high-end custom apparel.

The tradeshow featured a special Quality Certification Alliance section, showcasing QCA accredited factories. These suppliers are leading the way in manufacturing safe products for the promotional product industry.

QCA was one of the discussion points during a vendor panel featuring Gemline president Jonathan Isaacson, Gill Studios CEO Paul Lage, McCarthur Towels president Gregg McArthur, SanMar founder Marty Lott and Sweda president/CEO Jim Hagan.

The industry leaders also offered insight into marketplace trends, supplier/distributor relationships and potential growth opportunities. Our sales and purchasing teams left with a better understanding of how to grow our vendor relationships.