Bob was a big part of the Promotional Products industry and always felt strongly about contributing to and being a partner with our Associations. He mentored and kept in touch with many employees and people from the industry. Bob believed that there were no customers, vendors or competitors, only relationships and friends to hold or to make. He was always fair, honest and able to make people laugh. Bob was able to take the edge out of a room or awkward situations by throwing a quip or joke and then to follow it up with a solution or idea for the project at hand. He cared about his employees, as well as his customers getting a fair shake.
Finn was one of the original companies in PPAI, back when the big show was Chicago, then Dallas and help start TSPPA. The presentations were in hotel rooms before the trade shows moved to booths. Bob was there from the beginning and worked on projects such as Brunswick adhering a Budweiser label to a bowling ball for a commercial, Saudi Arabia Air plane decals, and even working with the Bengals to get the stripe design to work on the helmets. Bob proudly served on the PPAI board for many years.
Some things said about Bob were:
“He was always the most engaging, gregarious and funniest person at the event but also took time to speak thoughtfully about business in the industry.” S.D., Allen Company
“Bob loved to tell his story, even if you’ve heard it before, he frequently related a current situation to how his experience brought him to the point of the conversation and as a supplier partner, always wove that into the recommended solution. His ability to solve problems and craft an amazing solution for literally every challenge. What I am going to miss most is his “Bob-isms” , every conversation would have a “so on and so forth” or “alrighty now” in there somewhere.” M.E. Shumsky
“After nearly 8 years as an employee at Finn company, I resigned to go into my own business. I mentioned to Bob that I bought a large format offset press to allow us to go after some higher end commercial work, but getting that work was a challenge. Bob began sending work to my new company and really gave me the help I needed in those early days.” G.E. Kaeser & Blair
Bob was a great story teller because of all the experiences he lived and the friends and connections he made throughout those experiences and journeys.
Brian Finn
President
Finn Graphics Inc.
