{"id":2710,"date":"2014-07-17T18:49:01","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T22:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/?p=2710"},"modified":"2014-07-17T18:49:01","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T22:49:01","slug":"windy-city-wow-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/2014\/07\/17\/windy-city-wow-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Windy City Wow"},"content":{"rendered":"

ASI celebrated its 15th<\/sup> anniversary of hosting a national trade show in Chicago in a very big way. This show had it all: art, commerce, education, networking and, above all, fun and flair.\"\"<\/p>\n

The show featured 50 education sessions, leading suppliers, 22 team-building distributor sales meetings and a multimedia keynote by graffiti artist, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Erik Wahl on using creativity to supercharge your potential.<\/p>\n

Go to www.asicentral.com<\/a> for complete coverage of the show, including blogs and videos from ASI\u2019s ace on-site editorial team.<\/p>\n

To me, innovation was the word of the day on a bustling show floor. I saw tons of new packaging ideas, along with some traditional decorating techniques applied to new products. And, everyone seemed to really benefit from the new Signage + Decoration pavilion and the two days of demos inside. After seeing the techniques, I\u2019m sure distributors will gain a new appreciation for the decorating suppliers do for them.\"\"<\/p>\n

The feedback from the Erik Wahl keynote was also tremendous. He actually painted right on the stage and spoke about the importance of creativity to business \u2013 which are not two words most of us use together in the same sentence. But it makes sense to think outside the box for inspiring ideas.<\/p>\n

I think my favorite part of the show was the heartfelt speeches made by winners at Wednesday night\u2019s 2014 Counselor<\/em>\u00ae <\/sup>Awards. I especially loved the speech by Gary Hellinger, of Gary Plastic Packaging Corp. (asi\/55990), who won the Marvin Spike Lifetime Achievement Award. ASI Chicago was the very first trade show he\u2019s ever been to. And I almost choked up as he described his operation in the South Bronx, where he has 600 employees working three shifts. What a sweet guy.<\/p>\n

At the ceremony in the very cool Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago we also announced the Top 40 Distributor and Top 40 Supplier rankings \u2013 the largest companies in the industry based upon 2013 revenue. For more info, go to www.asicentral.com<\/a>. For the complete list, click here<\/a>.\"\"<\/p>\n

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Our Counselor <\/em>Person of the Year, Norman Hullinger, CEO of alphabroder (asi\/34063) (pictured with me, right), was loudly applauded by his team members for expertly guiding the company through an unprecedented period of change, acquisitions and re-branding. As I said during my speech, talk about daring!<\/p>\n

Throughout the show, it\u2019s been great to talk to people and to hear how bullish they are on the second half of the year. Suppliers and distributors alike are very positive on our industry and are looking forward to a stronger finish than ever.<\/p>\n

ASI Chicago<\/a> took place Tuesday, July 15, through Thursday, July 17, at McCormick Place and featured 750 exhibiting companies \u2013 including numerous Counselor<\/em> Top 40 suppliers and 105 exhibitors new to Chicago this year. Total distributor attendance was more than 4,300, from distributor firms based in 42 states and eight countries. The show is the largest ad specialty trade show of the summer.\"\"<\/p>\n

The reviews were excellent:<\/p>\n