Blog
Tech Summit 2026 People of The Year
As part of PromoStandards annual tradition at Tech Summit, we were proud to announce those selected by our members as standouts in the industry throughout 2025. Each winner is nominated based on the type of company they work for, being a Supplier, Distributor, or, Service Provider. Our Supplier of the Year winner was Ajay Kaul, IT Operations Leader at SanMar. Ajay is a long standing member of PromoStandards, and head of the Best Practices Committee. The Distributor of the Year was Allen Casey, Senior Manager of Integrations and Automation at HALO. Allen is a member of our Standards Committee. Last, but certainly not least, was our Service Provider of the Year, David Shultz, CPO at commonsku. David has been an outspoken advocate of PromoStandards for many years and has become known for creating engaging music and video content for the PromoStandards community. We would like to once again thank each of them for being outstanding members of the organization, and congratulate them as our People of The Year!
Introducing the Supplier Self Assessment Questionnaire
At Tech Summit 2026, the Best Practices Committee introduced the Supplier Self‑Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ helps Suppliers evaluate and communicate the strength of their PromoStandards implementations. It provides integration partners with greater transparency while helping suppliers identify areas for improvement over time.We encourage all Suppliers to complete the SAQ. Strong participation improves data quality and strengthens integrations across the ecosystem. Below you will find:The SAQ template for download and completionAn instructional video for uploading your completed SAQ to the PromoStandards website If you have any questions while completing the SAQ, please feel free to reach out to Ajay Kaul via slack or email marketing@promostandards.org, and we will be happy to put you in contact with one of our best practices committee members for assistance. Download the Template
Website Update – Member Exclusive Tools & Upcoming Demonstration
Hello PromoStandards Community, We are excited to share that we have updated our website! 🔹 Member Exclusive Benefits: Tools such as documentation, best practices, and the validator have always been member exclusive benefits. With our old site we were not able to fully implement this benefit, but with our new site it is now in place. 🔹 For Non-Members: Access remains limited to the Service Provider Directory and Endpoints. Please make sure you are advising your customers accordingly when it comes to available resources. There will be a a Website Demonstration during the September PromoStandards Office Hours Session. 📅 Date: September 16, 2025⏰ Time: 2 PM EST📍 Where: Zoom (link will be sent upon registration) 👉 Click here to register This session is open to both members and non-members, so please feel free to share with your teams. If you missed the session, please keep an eye out for resources to be posted or linked here.
S&S Activewear Completes Acquisition of alphabroder
S&S Activewear, a tech-enabled specialtydistributor of apparel and accessories, today announced that it has completed itsacquisition of alphabroder, a leading distributor of trade, retail, apparel brands andbranded products. Completion of the transaction enables S&S and alphabroder tocommence a thoughtful, multi-year integration process designed to ensure thecombined company continues to deliver exceptional customer service, whileleveraging the strengths of both brand offerings. S&S Activewear CEO Frank Myers will continue to lead the combined company, withsupport from alphabroder CEO Dan Pantano through the integration process. Fornow, S&S and alphabroder continue to go to market under their respective brandofferings backed by their existing distribution channels. “Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for our company, as we build onthe unique strengths of S&S and alphabroder to enhance the customer experience,strengthen our relationships with our industry partners and continue to invest ingrowing our sales force and technology capabilities,” said Frank Myers, CEO of S&SActivewear. “Over the past few months, we have had valuable discussions with ourcustomers and vendors that will inform the strategic direction of our company andensure S&S is best positioned to deliver for our partners into the future. As we workto bring this combination to life, our top priority is ensuring our employees,customers and vendors continue to succeed alongside S&S.”“We are pleased to officially join with S&S and kick off the integration process,” saidDan Pantano, alphabroder CEO. “Together, we are focused on building on ourbusiness momentum while continuing to exceed the expectations of our customersand our partners as we begin our next phase of growth as a combined company.” S&S Activewear Remains a Member of PromoStandards About S&S ActivewearFounded in 1988 and headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, S&S Activewear is aleading technology-enabled distributor of apparel and accessories in the UnitedStates and Canada. S&S offers more than 80 brands, including basic garments tofashion-forward styles, with over 4 million square feet of warehouse space acrossNorth America. S&S services a broad range of customers through its nationwidenetwork, including retail brands, e-commerce companies, garment decorators,promotional products distributors, entertainment merchandisers, lifestyle brandsand web-based platforms for apparel customization PromoStandards’ Impact “PromoStandards has contributed greatly to standardizing integration conversations with our customers. It’s removed much of the discovery phase and allowed us to get straight into implementation,” said Aaron Anderson, Sr. Director of Software Engineering at alphabroder/S&S. Become a PromoStandards Member! At PromoStandards, we understand streamlining product development and management is necessary to keep up with growing demands and a complicated supply chain. That’s why our standards are free for anyone who needs to use them. We also offer resources for our members, helping them to create even more positive change for their businesses. Members can join events, chat with the entire PromoStandards community through our Slack channel, have full access to our directory of service providers, and more. To get started, join one of our membership levels today! Read More