AFTER 22 YEARS, Mike Lasky takes his leave from the World Pet Association (WPA) board, with his time officially ending after SUPERZOO 2024. Lasky, with more than 29 years of experience in the pet industry, including as COO and partner of SLA Brands, Inc., explains, “I have loved every minute of serving on the board, but I felt the time was right to step down. WPA and SUPERZOO are in great places, and this is due to the contributions of so many caring past and present board members.”
While industry leader WPA is known for SUPERZOO, Lasky says that’s really just the tip of the iceberg for what they do. “We are a nonprofit investing in the future of the pet industry, supporting the Pet Advocacy Network and the Pet Care Trust.”
TIME FOR CHANGE
Lasky’s tenure included many changes in the WPA and in the pet industry at large. Two big ones: SUPERZOO’s move from Anaheim, CA, to Las Vegas, NV, in 2004 to draw more national and international attendees, and the rebranding from World Wide Pet Industry Association to World Pet Association.
“We had a regional trade show located in Anaheim that was treading water,” Lasky recalls. “It was a crowded field with five industry trade shows around the country competing for exhibitors and attendees.”
Today, industry leader SUPERZOO ranks as one of the 100 largest U.S.-based trade shows, making Trade Show Executive magazine’s “Gold 100 List” every year since 2013.
As for the name change, which officially went into effect in September 2009 at WPA’s 59th annual board meeting, Lasky shares how that came about.
“We were the WWPIA, and I became chairman shortly after the move. At that time, we decided if we were going to become a national show, we needed to rebrand the organization.”
Lasky and board member Michael Twain recruited Twain’s uncle Art Twain — an award-winning marketing and branding legend — to help the organization rebrand. “Mike and I met him for lunch at a dim sum restaurant in San Francisco. We handed him our letterhead, which read ‘World Wide Pet Industry Association.’ He took out his pen, crossed out two words and handed it back to us and said, ‘This is your new name: World Pet Association.’ My reply was, ‘Lunch is on us.’”
GETTING INVOLVED
Past WPA board members and chairpersons Andy Schmidt (former president of San Francisco Bay Brands) and Lew Sutton (executive vice president at Pet Ag) had asked Lasky to serve.
He remembers that at his first board meeting in spring 2002, another board member recommended he just observe for the first few meetings and say little or nothing. Says Lasky, “I told him ‘Sorry, that’s not me,’ and if there is something every board member I have served with will agree on, it will be the fact I voiced my opinions at all meetings.”
He shares that being a WPA board member taught him respect, compassion and understanding. “When I joined the board, the hardest thing for me to do was listen, understand and respect others’ opinions and feelings and to take them into consideration before commenting. I feel this has taught me how to better communicate and build consensus.”
Lasky also served as a board member for the nonprofit Pet Care Trust — which promotes the joys and benefits of pets to the public through education, support and interaction — for eight years. He served as chairman in 2018, stepping off the board in 2020. “We put all our efforts into building Pets in the Classroom, which I am very proud to have been a part of,” he says. “It provides grants for teachers to have pets in their classrooms. Having a pet in the classroom for teaching tears down social, racial and economic barriers and teaches compassion. We have provided over 200,000 grants to teachers, positively impacting over 8 million students.”
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
Lasky says that the current amazing WPA staff and board of directors are ready to take the organization to the next level. He’s watched the pet industry go from a family and hobbyist industry to so much more, attracting very bright people who are raising the bars at every level. But, he believes there is still much to do and asks other pet industry professionals to get involved. “It not only makes the industry better, it makes you a better person.”
As for the future of the pet industry, Lasky would love to see it find a way to properly fund and support the advocacy groups, which are on the front lines preventing harmful legislation from being implemented. Lasky says that the groups are severely underfunded, and he’s concerned about what will happen if they cannot get full industry support. “We are all at risk as this affects the entire industry. We need to be able to change from reactive to proactive, and this will only happen if we properly support our advocacy groups.”
NEXT UP
Now that Lasky has left his role with the WPA, he gets to spend more time in his full-time position as COO and partner at national sales management specialist organization SLA Brands, Inc. And that’s perfect for him as he explains that it’s not just a company, it’s a family. His business partner, Bill Schiaffino, and the entire team have been 100% supportive of his serving on the WPA board. “It’s time for me to pay it back to them as well as our amazing partner brands. I also look forward to playing more tennis, traveling and taking more scuba-diving trips.”
And when Lasky says “family,” he means it for both his company and the WPA. His daughter, Madison Lasky, began attending WPA consumer events with him at age 5 and volunteering in the show office from when she was 8. “While she was in college, she worked for WPA at SUPERZOO in the New Product Showcase,” he says, “and when she graduated from Berkeley, she joined SLA Brands and is the western zone manager. She is as much part of the WPA family as I am, and I hope one day will serve on the board.”
