PIAA Directors elections
The PIAA election of directors is here, and after many years of little interest in taking on the director’s positions, it is good to see the number of members on the ballot paper keen on directing the Pet Industry over the next two years.
The existing directors up for re-election include Anthony Ramsay, Andrew Millen, Matt McLachlan, Stuart Chamberlain, Karen De Bruin and Helen Schmidt.
The new faces are Bruce Cary, Brendan Westaway for Retail, Phil Young and Andrew Young for Distribution (Andrew was director of Retail has now changed to distribution), John Grima for Livestock, Steve Austin for boarding (a respected past President of PIAA), and Nicky Renwood for grooming.
The manufacturing division had 2 positions available and only had 2 nominations so therefore the new directors will be Bob Croucher, publisher of Pet Industry News and Vic Sawyer director of CPV.
Financial members of PIAA are entitled to vote in all categories regardless of which membership category they are in and can vote for each of the seven positions available.
Ballot papers will be due in by 4.30pm on the 4th October 2007, or at the latest, handed in to Anne Saunders at the AGM on the 5th October.
We look forward to the Pet Industry being the winner in this keen competition.
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Glee Birmingham 2007
Running from the 16th to 18th of September, this year’s Glee Petindex will include more facilities and features than ever before.
Petindex has been moved to Halls 6-8 due to its substantial growth, and will feature a buyer lounge, large seminar theatre, Dog Fashion Show area and Glee New Products.
With nearly 300 exhibitors and a host of profit-focused seminars, visitors can source all of their pet and aquatic needs in one go and see what’s new with leading manufacturers and distributors.
For further information, visit the Glee Birmingham website at http://www.gleebirmingham.com/
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New York’s finest fashion, people and pooches
New York held its second annual Pet Fashion Week this year, featuring some little creatures jazzed up in everything from jewel-encrusted collars to pink and bronze satin capes.
More than 2000 people came to the event, including its most anticipated spectacle – an hour-long catwalk featuring pooches modeling designs from 20 pet fashion houses, accompanied by a thumping disco soundtrack.
Although dogs were the prominent models, a black cat in a golden collar also made an appearance on the runway, held by a young girl. The highlight of the show, according to The Malay Times, was a Chihuahua dressed as a Balinese dancer carried by a model wearing the same outfit, which drew a particularly ecstatic applause from the audience.
The first and fourth floors of the Manhattan exhibition centre were dedicated to exhibitors, where buyers and sellers of pet lifestyle products could find everything from bags, vitamins, leashes and special pet furniture, to perfume such as “Les Poochs VIP” which costs a phenomenal $3500 for a 120ml bottle.
As the event proved, no cost was too high in a 40 billion dollar pet-care industry which expects Americans to spend $2.7 billion on special services for their dogs and cats this year. Pets are the new children it seems, with 83 percent of pet owners in the US going by “mum” or “dad” when defining their relationship with their pet.
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