Gold Coast Promotional Products Association upcoming events

The Branding Brief with GCPPA (10/09/2026)

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

The Branding Brief: Before You Launch Your Brand (or Re-Brand)

Build it right or pay for it later.

Launching a brand is exciting. Rebuilding one after you’ve invested in merchandise, a website, and advertising can be expensive. Join Tammy Wisell and Andres Munoz for a practical conversation about building a recognizable brand, avoiding common mistakes, and thinking about protection before making a major investment.

What you’ll take away

Questions to ask before committing to a business name, logo, or rebrand.
The difference between registering a business and exploring trademark protection.
How unlicensed images and copied designs can create problems.
Ways to keep your look and message consistent across merchandise, websites, and marketing.
Where AI can help generate ideas, and why originality and strategy still matter.

Meet the panelists

Tammy Wisell, President, Build That Brand
With more than 30 years of experience in promotional marketing and brand visibility, Tammy helps businesses create intentional brand experiences through merchandise, apparel, signage, packaging, recognition programs, and promotional campaigns.

Andres Munoz, Founder, Merca Legal; Partner, Romano Law PLLC
Andres helps businesses navigate trademarks, intellectual property concerns, disputes, and proactive legal planning. He brings more than 20 years of litigation experience to conversations about protecting brands and managing risk.

Tuesday Learning Lab: "The Growth Gap" (10/13/2026)

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 16:30:00 GMT

In this webinar, Jamie will focus on the gap between knowing and doing, what gets in the way of execution, and how to turn insight into more consistent action.

Participants will learn how to:

Recognize the patterns and barriers that derail progress.
Prioritize the behaviors and actions that have the greatest impact.
Create practical strategies for stronger follow-through, accountability, and momentum.

About the presenter:

Jamie Lorenty is the Founder and Growth Strategist of Lorenty Consulting, LLC, where she helps sales professionals and business leaders in the branded merchandise industry strengthen performance through mindset, outcomes, visibility, and execution. With more than two decades of experience in sales, leadership, training, and consulting, Jamie brings a practical, industry-specific approach to improving sales skills, strengthening processes, and driving sustainable growth. Jamie is passionate about empowering the potential within people, both personally and professionally. Her work is rooted in helping individuals strengthen their mindset, take intentional action, and create a ripple effect of positive change that extends beyond business results.

Wild Wednesday Webinar: " Beyond the Product: Building a Smarter Social Media Strategy for 2027" (10/28/2026)

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Learn how to leverage social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and search engine optimization (SEO) to increase your visibility, stay relevant in a changing digital landscape, and turn your content into a valuable sales asset. This session will explore practical strategies and tools to help you reach the right audience, create more effective content, and build a stronger online presence that supports your business goals.

Learning Outcomes By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Identify ways to use social media and SEO to improve online visibility and reach their target audience.
Explore practical AI tools and strategies to streamline content creation and improve engagement.
Apply content strategies that turn digital engagement into meaningful business opportunities and sales.

About the Presenter Nicki Witek has been the owner of Wellspring Business Solutions for nine years. Her successful marketing agency focuses on comprehensive digital marketing strategies, including social media management, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation, and paid marketing strategies like social ads, Google ads, display advertising, and retargeting. Before establishing her digital agency, she worked as a promotional products distributor and now proudly supports distributors, suppliers, and multi-line reps, as well as clients in a variety of other industries.

Tuesday Learning Lab: "An Inside View: Integrating commonsku with QuickBooks Online" (11/10/2026)

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Promotional Product Distributors excel at driving sales, but managing orders and accounting behind the scenes is just as critical—even if it’s often the least favorite part of the job. While QuickBooks Online (QBO) is used by 60–80% of small to medium-sized businesses, it isn’t built specifically for the unique needs of the promotional products industry. That’s where specialized order management software comes in.

In this session, we’ll take a deep dive into one of the industry's leading order management platforms, commonsku, and explore how it connects seamlessly with QBO.

Key Takeaways:

Behind-the-Scenes Integration: See exactly how the integration works from inside the commonsku interface.
Seamless Data Flow: Learn how order details and financial data transfer directly into QBO to eliminate double entry.
Real-World Examples: Review live exports of invoices and bills moving directly from commonsku into QBO.

Presenter Bio:

Harriet Gatter is an independent consultant dedicated to helping Promotional Product Distributors streamline their back-office operations. A former distributor and accounting professor, Harriet sold her business in 2013 to become a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and found Accounting Support, LLC. Her mission is to provide distributors with practical, affordable solutions that integrate QuickBooks with industry-specific order management systems. She brings deep software expertise across QuickBooks, commonsku, SAGE Workplace, ProfitMaker, and OrderMaster.

Wild Wednesday Webinar: "Generating Recurring Revenue through Stores, featuring Matt Parisi, SAGE" (11/18/2026)

Wed, 18 Nov 2026 17:30:00 GMT

As we progress towards a more digital world, end-users are looking for easier and more efficient ways to shop, especially online. Join Matt Parisi from SAGE for a deep dive into online stores, including best practices, practical examples, and common pitfalls distributors may face.

Learning Outcomes:

Setup: Learn what questions to ask your customers to determine the right store setup and what to consider internally to ensure expectations are aligned from the start.
Approaches: Explore key considerations such as payment options, product selection, branding and design, and logistics.

About the Presenter

Matt Parisi is the new Corporate Programs Manager at SAGE as of 2026! He has five years of experience in the promo industry working with SAGE as a Distributor Account Advisor in his previous role. After growing up in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he graduated from Texas A&M and currently resides in Houston, Texas.