SnugZ’s Mackay Discusses Mayoral Run

Coming close but ultimately short of being elected mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, Brandon Mackay, MAS and CEO/president of supplier SnugZ USA , recently discussed with Promo Marketing some of his feelings on the race, as well as his political future.

Read More

Paul Bellantone, PPAI President and CEO, Responds to U.S. Marshal Spending Controversy

Paul Bellantone, PPAI president and CEO, recently posted a letter of response on his blog in regards to the U.S. Marshal Spending Controversy. The controversy, which revolves around the revelation that the U.S. Marshal’s Office had spent nearly $800,000 on promotional products from 2005 to 2010, has gained some traction in the press, many accusing the Marshals of overspending on “swag.”

Read More

Apparel with Live Moving Animation is Here, and It’s Pretty Cool

Bloomberg Businessweek recently reported on a new apparel company animating T-shirts by cutting holes in the artwork, then placing smartphones or tablets behind the opening and configuring them so an animation would play. Is this a technology you could apply to your apparel marketing?

Read More

My Best Promotion

For this month’s My Best Promotion, Devin O’Brien, M.A., account executive for O’Brien Corporation, St. Charles, Ill., recounted a job done for a hospital employee-appreciation event.

Read More

Lanyards 101

What kind of materials can I chose from?” “What about decoration?” “Why are there like 4,000 attachment options?” “And where the heck am I supposed to sell these things? Should I just drive around and look for people who might want a better place to store their keys or badge?”

Read More

Possible Safety Ban for Magnetic Pen

Andrew Gardner, creator of a pen made from modular magnets and pen parts called POLAR, had his recent Kickstarter manufacturing fundraiser for the pen close at 58 times the value he asked for-earning $817,164 in Canadian dollars rather than his requested $14,000. The enormous leap in fundraising volume for the pen is likely due to the massive interest its video demo generated online with major tech sites such as Wired and CNET. Now, however, that interest may have backfired-in the form of the ban by the Canadian government.

Read More

The Toronto Star’s “I Got Hired at a Bangladesh Sweatshop. Meet My 9-year-old Boss”

Last Friday the Toronto Star published an article about one of its writers going undercover in a Bangladesh sweatshop. It’s an incredible piece, and one I think everyone in our industry should read.

Read More

6 Unexpected Upsides of the Government Shutdown

There’s plenty bad about the government shutdown. Social service closures, work furloughs, dead air on C-SPAN—You name it, we’re suffering through it. But there are a couple silver linings too, especially for the promotional industry. Check out these surprise upsides of total governmental collapse that are really helping our industry.

Read More