12 Magic Moments from skucamp Nashville!

Attendees rave about skucamp and share three things that make it special: high-level thinking by strategic outside experts, brass tacks know-how demonstrated by practitioners in the field, and the community coming together to share insights and lessons learned.

Dean Caravelis - CEO & Founder of Blezoo

Host: Elizabeth Wimbush | PPAI

Panelist: Céline Juppeau | Kotmo
Panelist: Pierre Martichoux | Chameleon Like

 

Michael Wolaver - Founder of Magellan Promotions

Dominique Volker - Vice President of Sales at Whitestone Branding

Andrea Kramer - President of City Apparel+Merch

Lia Garvin - Team Whisperer, Author & Speaker

Dan Pantano | alphabroder

Stephen Shedletzky - Leadership Speaker, Author & Coach

Ryan Paules | Radar Promotions

Clive Goldberg | Logomark

Rob Spector | Spector & Co.

Benji Bearman | Liquid Screen Design

This year’s skucamp was no exception, here’s just a sampling of twelve magic moments from skucamp Nashville!

1. “Inspiration is the wind, trust is the boat.” Stephen Shedletzky, author of the book Speak-Up Culture shared “How to Bring a Speak-Up Culture to Life” inspiring us to create a“high safety, high impact” culture by creating a foundation of both inspiration and trust.
2. Lia Garvin, bestselling author of Unstuck, has led teams across Google, Microsoft, and Apple shared how to build “Unstoppable Teams” resulting in innovation that creates outsized momentum and pushed leaders to release control: “the more people feel like empowered owners, the less work you have to do as a leader.” 
3. Dan Pantano, President and CEO at alphabroder, joined commonsku’s CEO Catherine Graham as they discussed topics related to the $4 billion alphabroder acquisition by S&S. Dan discussed alphabroder and S&S being “better together” and how some deals mean 1+1 = more than 2.
4. Dominique Volker, VP Sales at Whitestone, demonstrated how they create a high-performing team by showing their team structure, sales expectations for reps, and team development plan, all resulting in insane growth. Dom quoted Richard Branson, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” 
5. Michael Wolaver, Founder of Magellan Promotions, peeled back the curtain and showed how they dramatically changed their culture by building more benefits, sharpening their hiring practices, and the mechanics behind how they moved to a 4-day work week. “Keep working on your imperfect structure and do not underestimate the power of caring.”
6. At commonsku events, the merch is always the star, and this year, Senior Community Manager Sarah Remple shared the magic behind how we created our skucamp merch collection including a handy Merch Standards Guide shared with attendees, want the guide? Grab it here! Want to see the killer merch? Here!
7. PPAI’s Director of Sustainability and Responsibility, Elizabeth Wimbush hosted a panel that featured panelists Céline Juppeau, founder of Kotmo, and Pierre Martichoux, founder of Chameleon Like, the big takeaway? Transparency with end-customers can drive a lot of innovation in sustainability but it starts with being willing and open to share your supply chain!
8. Benji Bearman, Co-founder at Liquid Screen Design shared their secret to hitting goals was to getting gritty and real about actioning the plan, focusing on their 90-day sprints toward their goals. 
9. Dean Caravelis, CEO and Founder of Blezoo, didn’t just share why but shared how he and his team at Blezoo create thoughtful engagement and human connection through merch, it was a masterclass in how to do it right!
10. Ryan Paules, Chief Swag Officer at Radar Promotions; demonstrated how a bonus-based compensation plan for all is the way to build shared motivation for every team member!
11. Andrea Kramer, President of City Apparel+Merch, spoke on how to turn values into “30 habits” such as turning the value of problem solving into an action: “Practice blame-less problem solving.”  
12. A supplier CEO panel highlighted the supplier’s high-pressure stakes and featured Clive Goldberg, President at Logomark, and Rob Spector, President at Spector & Co digging into the challenges of what the new supplier-distributor partnership looks like which featured tech and data but what were they most bullish about? Q4 and 2025 growth! 
    

Thanks to our good friend Roni Wright from The Book Company who not only kicked off each day with refreshing yoga on the rooftop but donated books for every attendee. 

To our amazing suppliers: PCNA, alphabroder, Raining Rose Promos, Numo, Chameleon Like, Hit Promotional Products, Ruckus, Cap America, Redwood Classics, elemental, and PPAI – you make this industry special and we’re honored to co-create skucamp magic with you. To check out the supplier collections from skucamp, go here!

To our friends and customers: For nearly 50% of you, it was your first skucamp experience, we are thrilled to watch you grow as you put into practice all the amazing insights gathered from speakers and colleagues in your break-outs and dine-arounds. And to our OG’s:  You keep encouraging us to raise the bar and for you we forever will, thank you for joining us again!  

Miss skucamp? No worries, you can join us for another can’t miss event at skucon in Vegas!