ASI Orlando Showcases Networking, Community and Innovation as Drivers of Industry Success

ORLANDO, FL – January 6, 2025

 

The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) the leading global resource for the $26.1 billion promotional products industry, brought together 4,000 suppliers, distributors and thought leaders at its three-day ASI Orlando show to ignite collaboration and innovation across the promo industry. With a strong emphasis on community building, education and interactive experiences, ASI Orlando demonstrated ways the power of connection drives success.

ASI Orlando, the largest promo show on the East Coast, hosted at the Orange County Convention Center January 4 through 6, delivered a dynamic platform for industry professionals to connect, strategize and grow their businesses.

ASI chose its first show of the year to unveil ESP+ Stores, its groundbreaking new innovation, drawing hundreds of attendees to witness its transformative potential firsthand. Distributors crowded ASI’s tech booth for back-to-back live demos, showcasing how easily they can create fully branded, customized online stores in just five clicks. Distributors were buzzing at the seamless integration with the powerful ESP+ platform, envisioning how ASI’s cutting-edge solution could revolutionize their businesses.

“ASI Orlando is where our industry kicks off the year with energy and excitement,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “This show underscores our commitment to helping suppliers and distributors succeed with new tools, strategies and a strong sense of unity. I’m proud of the opportunities and new partnerships generated here that will drive success throughout 2025.”

Supplier and Distributor Success Stories
Distributors praised the show for its full schedule of learning and networking. Janice and Steve Ghelerter of Shorty’s Print and Promo in Jacksonville, FL, have attended ASI Shows since the beginning, recalling the tradition of matriarch Bess Cohn serving her famous mini hot dogs. “We keep coming back,” said Janice. “After all these years, we’re still learning new things. The breakfast brainstorm session was fantastic, and the networking was a pleasant surprise.”

Toward the end of the first exhibit day, Nadieska Anaya, of Flamingo Paper & Food Service Products (asi/55021), was still meeting distributors and showing off her new line. “This was an amazing show for us,” said Anaya, of Hialeah, FL. “Usually by this time we’re slow, but we have 83 good leads. People love that we’re local, and everybody here is into marketing and we’re able to share marketing tips that help them.”

Supplier Jodi Losee of Silipint (asi/87306), based in Indianapolis, IN, loves exhibiting at ASI Shows because she always meets new distributors interested in her line of unbreakable, eco-friendly drinkware. She’s enjoyed such success at previous shows she increased the size of her booth for Orlando to accommodate bigger crowds. “This is probably our best show yet, lead-wise, and traffic was definitely busy,” she said.

Strong Southern Presence and Diverse Participation
Of total attendance, 110 companies were Orlando-based and 730 were from Florida. According to ASI Research, Florida alone contributed $1.73 billion to over $10 billion in annual southern regional sales, reinforcing its promotional prowess.

The show welcomed 170 new distributor companies and 40 new exhibitors, as well as most Top 40 suppliers like SanMar (asi/84863), S&S Activewear (asi/84358), Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125) and PCNA (asi/66887). The event included 313 female-owned companies and 137 minority-owned companies. ASI Orlando also hosted several large distributor meetings, including iPROMOTEu (asi/232119), Proforma (asi/300094) and HALO (asi/218437).

Strengthening Community and Innovation
With over six decades of expertise, ASI continues to serve as a pillar of support for the promo products industry. The #ASIorlando show floor hummed with activity as industry professionals explored the latest products, shared marketing strategies and connected with new and existing partners.

The newly redesigned ASI booth featured three zones – Support, Solutions and Community – offering hands-on demonstrations of tech tools and nonstop guidance at ASI’s own “genius bar,” an in-person help desk with staff ready to solve distributors’ thorniest issues. Learn more about ESP+ Stores or join ASI for the full benefits of membership.

Engaging Education
Distributors took advantage of a packed Education Day on Saturday, featuring 25 new classes on sales, marketing, AI and social media trends. Highlights included the highly interactive “Breakfast Brainstorm: Connect & Collaborate on Today’s Business Challenges,” where distributors shared actionable solutions to common industry obstacles, exchanging business cards and ideas. The new session attracted so many people, ASI brought in extra chairs twice. Attendees also benefited from Power Sessions held directly on the show floor.

In a standing-room-only keynote, Stephanie Stuckey, chair of the iconic Stuckey’s brand, delivered a powerful address, Getting UnStuck: Reviving Your Business & Brand. Sharing how she saved her family’s business and expanded it to 50 locations, Stuckey inspired the audience with her insights on storytelling and emotional connection in branding. Showing off photos of Stuckey’s promo products, she said, “It wasn’t just a mug. It was a memory. Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts….It’s all about how we connect with people. You may sell products but you’re really selling a story.”

As part of ASI’s new strategic partnership with PRINTING United Alliance, the most comprehensive nonprofit, member-based printing and graphic arts association in North America, ASI offered expert education to help promo distributors learn where promo, print and graphic arts overlap, identify opportunities and offer direction on sourcing info needed to succeed.

Fun On and Off The Show Floor
Networking opportunities abounded, from the New Product Preview Reception to the ever-popular Lunch and Learn sessions, where suppliers meet with distributor partners to share pitching tips and show off their latest products. Attendees also enjoyed engaging experiences like a mobile golf simulator, free massages, happy hours and the ever-popular ASI Gala, held for the first time at Topgolf, where over 500 industry professionals bonded over food, drinks, games and music.

Up next from ASI: ASI Show Fort Worth, March 29-31, at the Fort Worth Convention Center, and ASI Show Chicago, July 22-24, at McCormick Place Convention Center.

For more info on ASI Show, contact Andy Cohen, senior vice president of events, media and marketing services, at [email protected]. For info on exhibiting at ASI Shows, contact Meghan DeFrancesco, ASI’s vice president of supplier sales, at [email protected]. Check the ASI Show website (asishow.com) for the latest updates and schedules for all ASI shows and events.

About ASI Show
The ASI Show Family of Events features ASI Show, fASIlitate, Power House and ConneX, which foster business-building relationships among ASI distributor and supplier members. ASI Shows, the flagship series, are large-scale, in-person convention center trade shows held in Orlando, Fort Worth and Chicago. The hosted-buyer events bring together the industry’s elite – top suppliers and highly-qualified distributors – for three days of scheduled one-on-one meetings in select hotels across the country. ConneX is the largest hosted-buyer event in the promotional products industry. Visit asishow.com for more information on the full event portfolio.