Top 40 promotional products distributorship AIA Corporation (asi/109480) recently held its annual national sales meeting in a virtual format that saw 250 of its distributor owner/members participate.

Called “2020 Reimagined,” the virtual event brought together the AIA distributor owners with employees and “MVP” suppliers for inspirational keynotes, educational training sessions and more. The meeting focused on helping AIA network members to do everything from reignite their brands and elevate customer relationships, to learn about hot trends and how to leverage company stores.

“We’ve weathered hard times before and as a community, we're stronger and better for it,” AIA CEO Nancy Schmidt said in a keynote. “Now it’s time to reimagine how we successfully move forward.”

Many AIA distributors praised the event. “This meeting provided me with so many new ideas and a more positive outlook for our industry in this trying time,” said Yvonne Morrison, managing partner at AIA-affiliated distributorship MVP Video & Promotions.

To close out the meeting, AIA celebrated 2019’s successes with its annual awards ceremony recognizing owners and suppliers who exemplify the company’s core values. Recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors former AIA CEO David Wood and recognizes individuals who show passion, leadership and commitment to the AIA Community, included: Bob Simmons, NDSl; Maria Perez, Effective Promos; Mindy Moss, Moss Marketing; Larry Schendelman, A&J Graphics & Promotions; and Joy Smith, Joy of Advertising.

AIA also recognized MVP suppliers with awards to celebrate the largest dollar or percentage growth from 2018 to 2019 within “MVP” levels that included Platinum, Gold and Silver. Additionally, Peerless Umbrella (asi/76730) received the Workplace Engagement Award for “fully embracing and utilizing AIA’s business collaboration platform with product suggestions and insights to help all AIA owners,” the company said.

Supplier winners were:

Platinum Supplier Awards
● Largest YOY percentage growth - WOW Line (asi/98360)
● Largest YOY dollar growth – PCNA (asi/78897)
Gold Supplier Awards
● Largest YOY percentage growth – The Hershey Group, Custom Importers (asi/72743)
● Largest YOY dollar growth – Fields (asi/54100)
Silver Supplier Awards
● Largest YOY percentage growth – Midnite Snax (asi/71685)
● Largest YOY dollar growth – Midnite Snax (asi/71685)

With reported 2019 North American promotional product revenue of $210.7 million, AIA ranked 10th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry.