Oct 8, 2013

GHTA Confirms New Board at Successful 2013 Conference

The Gift and Home Trade Association (GHTA), whose mission is to support, lead, and unify the gift and home industry, focusing on its long term success, confirmed its 2013-2014 Board of Directors during the 11th Annual GHTA Conference, held October 2-5 in San Diego, California.

The GHTA’s executive board is as follows: John Keiser of OneCoast, chairman of the board; Todd Litzman of Brandwise, president; Bob Ricciardi of About Face Designs, vice president; Joe Harris of Whereoware, treasurer; and Cindy Henry of Wellspring, secretary.

Additionally, the GHTA has added several new members to its board, each of whom bring a wealth of talent and experience to the organization: Dan Loughman of Roman Inc., Dylan Schauben of J.Grob & Associates, George Kacic of Giftcraft, and Cliff Price of Cliff Price & Company. Continuing their board terms are Fred Schmidt of All for Color, Randy Spoor of Center Stage Team, Lisa Wohlhart of Ivystone Group, and Allison Barrows of Ganz. Chad Corzine of Archipelago Botanicals and Julie Dix of FalconBlue were named ex-officio board members. Andy Bjork of Ivystone Group will continue as parliamentarian.

All GHTA board members are chosen using a nomination and interview process. The members of the GHTA then vote to confirm each member at the annual GHTA conference.

“This creative, smart, and innovative group of industry executives are committed to working hard to improve our association and our industry,” said Todd Litzman, newly elected president of the GHTA. “We have already begun tackling issues and initiatives, and we look forward to providing additional opportunities for our members to connect, learn, and contribute.”

The GHTA enjoyed a successful conference in San Diego, held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. On Wednesday, October 3, conference attendees participated in a “Give Back” event to support the Wounded Warrior Project and Fisher House.

Thursday, October 4, was “Leadership Day” and featured three keynote speakers – Pam Danziger with Unity Marketing, Mark Brohan with Internet Retailer, and Bonnie Mackay with BMackay Consulting. Benno Duenkelsbuehler also hosted a panel discussion entitled “Innovation Roadmap.”

On Friday, October 4, attendees joined different TRACK sessions focusing on industry-specific topics. They also heard from an Industry Leadership Panel featuring Barbara Bradley Baekgaard, founder of Vera Bradley, Doug Cofiell, CEO of Ivystone Group, Marcia Miller, CEO of Mud Pie, and Jeff Portman, COO of AmericasMart.

The conference concluded on Saturday morning, with remaining attendees participating in the annual Gift for Life Golf Outing, held at Torrey Pines.

To learn more about the Gift and Home Trade Association, please call 877.600.4872 or visit www.giftandhome.org.

About the Gift and Home Trade Association:

GHTA is the gift and home industry’s non-profit professional trade association formed to help vendors, sales agencies and industry affiliates work together to improve relationships. GHTA’s mission is to lead and transform the gift and home industry to ensure its long-term health and viability. GHTA has four major initiatives: to educate sales professionals; to understand and educate the industry on opportunities for technological efficiencies; to support and cultivate the industry’s independent retailers; and to understand and educate the industry on showroom/trade show costs, statistics, schedules, opportunities and preferences. GHTA can be reached by email at info@giftandhome.org. or more information on the GIFT AND HOME Trade Association visit www.giftandhome.org.