TLMI successfully held its Annual Committee Summit from December 2-3, as nearly 100 attendees journeyed to Austin, TX, USA, to network and establish their committees’ goals for the upcoming year.

The committees met to discuss TLMI’s Government & Regulatory Affairs, Marketing, Membership, Sustainability, Technical, and Workforce Development.

“Committees have long been valuable to TLMI, and they’re how we get things done and engage with one another,” said Lori Campbell, president of The Label Printers. “How I get to know people is working with them, and that’s how I started my journey at TLMI. There’s so much value here, and I always feel like I get more out of the association than I put into it.”

“There’s nothing like being back together in person,” added Linnea Keen, TLMI president. “We pivoted throughout the year from virtual to in-person events and we’re happy with the response. It’s nice to be back interacting with people and seeing what TLMI means to the industry and its members.”

The event customarily takes place in January, but the pandemic and its associated travel restrictions sparked interest among members for an earlier date. The Summit’s new date prompted increased opportunities for the association to ensure it’s meeting its converter and supplier members’ goals and requirements.

“TLMI has a great reputation, and we’re viewed as a highly engaged and active association,” said Keen. “We’re admired for the work we do here, and we want this event to focus on member-driven strategy that we’re all a part of.”

The committee meetings focused on expanding TLMI’s reach while continuing to deliver valuable content to its members. “We want to continue to learn what adds value to our membership, collect data and share results,” noted Keen. “We’re always open to new ideas to move forward and improve our association.”

During the event, members were invited to set up their profile on TLMI Community, which is an online, member-only portal to collaborate and share information and best practices. According to Keen, this portal serves as a “LinkedIn for TLMI.”

“TLMI Community is a great way to connect during the year when we’re not together,” explained Kyle Baldwin, vice president of marketing at TLMI. “It’s not just the two weeks we’re together but the other 50 weeks out of the year. The past two years have really shown what we’re capable of here at TLMI. We want to brand TLMI as being a label leader community and give our members the skills needed to perform a wide range of skills like issuing a press release. Our focus is to better understand how to spread the word of TLMI, and not just grow membership but increase engagement and make sure our members are getting full advantage of their membership.”

“There is strength in numbers here and everyone is looking at the industry through a different lens,” commented Bill Myers, marketing manager at Domino. “That’s the power of association.”

TLMI has been quite active during the fall. In addition to hosting its Annual Meeting in October, the association partnered with AWA to host the International Sleeve Label Conference & Exhibition in November. The Annual Committee Summit also allowed TLMI to look ahead to the 2022 calendar and establish a strategy for the upcoming year.

The committees worked on TLMI’s 2022 goals and objectives, as well as how to achieve them. Plus, the committees identified resources and support needed to achieve those goals.

Next year, TLMI will host its Converter Meeting from March 20-22 and its Board Meeting from May 15-17. Meanwhile, it will welcome attendees to its Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, from October 16-19.

In addition, the wide-ranging committees scheduled meeting times to continue working toward the association’s goals.