Business services provider commonsku (PPAI 552077, Silver) brought its annual skucamp conference north of the border for the first time last week, gathering branded merchandise executives in Montreal for four days focused on leadership, artificial intelligence and the changing business landscape in the industry.

The sold-out event, held Sept. 27-30, marked the ninth edition of skucamp, which is designed for distributor owners and senior industry leaders.

Author and speaker Todd Henry opened the educational program with his Herding Tigers Workshop, examining how leaders can build healthier and more productive teams. Global brand executive and author Ana Andjelic opened the following day with a broader look at cultural and purchasing trends and how branded merchandise fits into consumers’ everyday lives.

Industry-specific sessions explored several of the pressures currently facing distributors and suppliers.

commonsku CEO Catherine Graham moderated a supplier CEO panel featuring Spector & Co.’s Alan Meinstein, PCNA CEO Josh Militello and Koozie Group President Pierre Montaubin. The executives discussed pricing, capacity and the evolving relationships between suppliers and distributors.

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Elsewhere, Jayson Tompkins of Fulfill Engine and STAHLS and Ryan Wenkus of FAST Platform examined the continued development of print-on-demand technology and its potential implications for turnaround times and margins.

Artificial intelligence also remained a major theme. commonsku Chief AI Officer Bobby Lehew presented The AI Promo Brief: Trends & Outlook, while other sessions addressed changing approaches to marketing, customer experience, organizational change and the evolution of the modern merch agency.

Among the additional presentations were The Marketing Shift in Merch, featuring PPAI’s Josh Ellis, Stephanie Hinkle of MadeToOrder and Sarah Remple of commonksu. The session emphasized the need for distributorships of all sizes to embrace a stronger marketing presence, including efficient ways to do so through PPAI’s Merch Moves Us campaign and assets from the Merch Moves Us toolkit.

The event also showcased a Montreal-inspired merchandise collection curated by commonsku’s Aly Anderson. Products from a dozen industry suppliers were designed around the idea of souvenirs collected during a day spent exploring Old Montreal.

“For years, the skummunity kept asking us when skucamp would go international, and Montreal delivered everything we hoped it would,” says commonsku co-founder and President Mark Graham. “We’re honored to host so many bright minds at skucamp, coming together to tackle the top challenges our industry is facing.”

For years, the skummunity kept asking us when skucamp would go international, and Montreal delivered everything we hoped it would.”

Mark Graham

Co-founder & President, commonsku

Beyond the educational sessions, attendees participated in walking tours of Montreal, a dine-around dinner, networking receptions and a closing party.

PPAI served as the event’s association sponsor, while Office Beacon was the partner sponsor.

Toronto-based commonsku provides CRM, order management and e-commerce technology to the branded merch industry. The company says its platform is used by more than 950 distributors and 100 suppliers.