KEYNOTE: From Production to Presence: 3 Habits of Consciously Intentional Leaders
Step away from the daily demands of production and performance to reflect on who you are as a leader, not just what you produce. Drawing from his leadership journey and his book Stop Being Busy, Be More, Dan shares three habits of consciously intentional leaders through real stories, lessons learned, and practical application. Attendees will leave with clear, actionable next steps to lead with greater clarity, presence, and long-term impact inside their organizations.
This keynote is high-energy, reflective, and action-oriented. It challenges seasoned leaders to elevate how they show up, not just how they perform.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Irvin
Professional Speaker & Author
LinkedIn
Dan Irvin is a high-energy, fun-loving leader, consultant, motivator, author, and public speaker whose valuable insights and relatable stories of success and passion consistently set up entrepreneurs and employees across the nation for personal and professional growth.
As a former CEO and COO, Dan helps leaders remove distractions so that they can lead intentional, fulfilled, and meaningful lives. His popular presentations and trainings offer structure, fun, and best practices that are both thought-provoking and buck the age-old mentality of “this is how it’s always been done.” Too often, we become uber-focused on “being busy” and ultimately lose sight of our goals. Dan’s thoughts and ideas get you back on track.
Dan’s message will have you laugh and cheer, and his personality will convince you to stop taking life so seriously. His fanbase is growing, but his biggest fans continue to be his wife and three children.
The Touch Advantage: Untouched is Unsold
New research from Sappi, led by Vicki Strull in partnership with Clemson University, reveals how touch and packaging quality shape buying decisions. The study shows that products people do not touch rarely sell, and even a couple of touches on a premium package can boost purchase likelihood by 50%. Premium packaging is preferred nearly three times more than plain options, especially for gifting or unfamiliar categories, and it sparks 95% more positive emotions, often signaling luxury more than the product itself. This presentation delivers clear, data-backed proof that packaging can be a powerful, stealth sales tool.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Vicki Strull
Principal
Vicki Strull Creative Collective
LinkedIn
Vicki Strull is a left-brained Ivy League intellectual and a dynamic right-brained creative with over 25 years in the industry. Known for the energy she brings to graphic design, strategic thinking, and brand positioning, Vicki is a design strategist who has become an indispensable marketing and creative partner for some of the top brands in America, including HP, Bayer, Coppertone, and Pizza Hut. She currently serves as an adjunct professor of design at Tulane University.
Reframing Brand Expectations: What Brand Owners Need to Know
Facilitated by Paul Schutes, Executive Director of the Recycled Paperboard Alliance and President of the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association, this brand-owner panel will share firsthand perspectives on how sustainability goals and customer expectations are shaping packaging decisions. Panelists will discuss the realities of pursuing more sustainable packaging, where expectations and operational constraints diverge, and how paperboard compares to other substrates. Attendees will gain clearer insight into brand priorities, shared challenges, and opportunities for stronger alignment around practical, achievable solutions.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Paul Schutes
President
Recycled Paperboard Alliance
LinkedIn
Paul Schutes is the President of the Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA) and the Recycled Paper Technical Association (RPTA), the 2 leading industry associations dedicated to expanding the use and improving the manufacture of recycled fiber products. Paul is a paperboard and packaging expert with over 40 years of experience in the industry. During his career in paperboard packaging Paul has held senior positions in packaging design, engineering, sales and production. In his role as President of the RPA/RPTA Paul works with North America’s largest brand owners and retailers on a wide range of sustainability initiatives.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Courtney Chance
Vice President of Supply Chain & Quality Assurance
Nothing Bundt Cakes
LinkedIn
Courtney Chance is the Vice President of Supply Chain & Quality Assurance at Nothing Bundt Cakes, where she provides executive leadership over strategic sourcing, quality, and packaging for a rapidly growing national brand. With nearly 20 years of experience across foodservice and packaging, she has directed enterprise-level domestic and international sourcing initiatives, supplier diversification, and cost-optimization strategies while safeguarding brand integrity and product quality. Courtney is recognized for building high-impact supplier partnerships and positioning packaging as a strategic enabler of scalability, operational resilience, and long-term value creation.
Benjamin Dunlap
Lead Packaging Planning Specialist
United States Mint
LinkedIn
Benjamin Dunlap is the Packaging Team Lead at the United States Mint, supporting a half-billion dollar business line of coin collectibles sold directly to the public. With more than twenty five years experience in printing,and packaging, Ben leverages his knack for big picture thinking against programmatic minutae to ensure that problems large and small are addressed in the way that best contributes to overall organizational success. In his role in the federal government, Ben works to create opportunities for businesses to compete for work in a way that ensures high quality and high value with flexible business relationships.
Kate Stites
Owner/Designer
The Fold Design
thefolddesign.studio
As Senior Graphic Designer for The Brown-Forman Corporation, Kate Stites designed award-winning, innovative, and sustainable secondary packaging for iconic spirits brands including Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Chambord Liqueur, Herradura Tequilas, and Glendronagh Scotch Whisky. During her tenure at Brown-Forman, Kate worked closely with both brand marketing teams and converters to collaboratively develop hundreds of secondary packaging offerings for domestic and global markets.
After nearly 20 years at Brown-Forman, Kate retired from the company in 2025 to launch The Fold Design.
AF&PA Policy Updates
Drawing on AF&PA’s active involvement in key legislative and legal efforts, Abby will discuss the association’s role in Californians for Affordable Packaging, including the ongoing lawsuit related to California’s SB343 truth-in-labeling law. She will also share insights into AF&PA’s efforts to intervene in Oregon’s EPR-related legal proceedings.
Attendees will gain a better understanding of the current regulatory environment, how industry groups are responding, and what these developments could mean for the future of paper packaging.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Abigail Sztein
Executive Director, Recovered Fiber
American Forest & Paper Association
LinkedIn
Abigail Sztein serves as Executive Director, Recovered Fiber for the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA). Sztein manages issues and programs that promote increased paper recycling and maintain member company access to mill-quality recovered fiber for use in manufacturing new pulp, paper and paperboard. Until March 2024, she led the state advocacy team and directly managed advocacy in the Northeast on behalf of AF&PA.
Sztein’s experience with AF&PA spans various roles in government affairs and public policy, including state and local government affairs, sustainability, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B), recycling policy, and energy and water issues since 2010. Sztein is also co-president of her neighborhood citizens association and coach of her son’s preschool soccer team.
Member Spotlight: Bob Neff, Owner, Neff Packaging Solutions
At Spring Meeting, Bob Neff will take the stage to share how Neff Packaging Solutions has built more than a century of success by combining innovation, technology, and customer-driven thinking.
Founded in 1918 and now a third-generation family-owned business, Neff operates a 122,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility recognized as one of the most technologically advanced folding carton plants in North America. With dedicated digital printing capabilities, an in-house Innovation Center, and a strong focus on lean, sustainable solutions, Neff partners with leading consumer brands to solve complex packaging challenges efficiently and creatively.
Bob’s spotlight will offer insight into how long-term relationships, operational excellence, and continuous innovation fuel growth in today’s evolving packaging marketplace.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Bob Neff
President/CEO
Neff Packaging Solutions
LinkedIn
What Happens Next? A Look at the Scenarios
Chris Kuehl, Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, delivers a clear, data-driven look at the current economic environment and what may come next. Drawing on national and local economic indicators, he examines how inflation, tariffs and trade, and workforce pressures are shaping today’s outlook. Emphasis is placed on why local data points often provide the most actionable insight, helping audiences cut through uncertainty and better prepare for a range of economic scenarios ahead.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Kuehl
Managing Director
Armada Corporate Intelligence
LinkedIn
Dr. Chris Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients and business organizations around the world. He is the economic analyst for several national and international organizations.
Prior to starting Armada in 1999 he was a professor of economics and finance for 15 years – teaching in the US, Hungary, Russia, Estonia, Singapore and Taiwan. He holds advanced degrees in economics, Soviet studies and East Asian studies.
Chris is the co-author of The Flagship and the Strategic Intelligence System – both publications from Armada.
He presents to over 125 associations and businesses each year – in the US and globally.
ChatGPT, AI, Agents, Automation and Beyond
How will AI impact your business this year? In 5 years? Where should you be investing? What’s reality and what’s hype? You’ve read about ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Google Gemini, and other AI tools that will be changing the way we work, both in the short and longer term. As a business leader you want to leverage this technology to increase both productivity and profits. So what should you know now?
During this fast-moving, informative and entertaining presentation, Forbes technology columnist and consultant Gene Marks, CEO of The Marks Group, will share will share his thoughts on the biggest technology and AI trends that will affect your industry in the near and long term and help you make the right investment decisions.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gene Marks
CEO
The Marks Group
LinkedIn
Gene Marks, CPA, is the CEO of The Marks Group PC, a Philadelphia-based technology consulting firm serving more than 600 businesses nationwide. A longtime Forbes technology columnist who has focused primarily on artificial intelligence since 2022, Gene writes extensively about AI’s real-world impact on businesses and contributes to outlets including The Guardian, Entrepreneur, and Accounting Today. He is the author of several business management books, including The AI Business Playbook, and speaks nationally to industry associations and corporate audiences about how AI and emerging technologies affect productivity, profitability, and strategic investment decisions. Gene also hosts the Paychex Thrive Podcast and frequently appears on major media outlets such as Fox Business and CNBC.
Our Industry Story Roundtable
Join us for a dynamic, working roundtable as we shape PPC’s new industry-wide promotional campaign, designed to elevate paperboard packaging as sustainable, innovative, and commercially powerful.
PPC is stepping forward to help fill the visibility gap and ensure our industry’s story is told clearly, credibly, and consistently. This session moves beyond overview; we’ll collaborate on key decisions that will define the public launch. We’ll discuss:
- The campaign framework and creative platform
- The primary public-facing call to action
- What success looks like in Year 1
- How we measure impact and industry visibility
- How members can help fuel the campaign with compelling stories
- This is your opportunity to influence how paperboard packaging is positioned in the marketplace and ensure our collective voice is strong, unified, and forward-looking.
Come ready to share ideas and help shape what comes next.