I’ve got some good news and some great news. I’ll start with the great news first: After a tenure of 51⁄2 years, Friday, April 25 will be my last day at Promo Marketing magazine. I’ve accepted a new position as a writer at an ad agency. So, herein is my final entry to my three-month stint as a PromoMarketing.com blogger (well, I suppose the part about the end of the blog might be the only bad news).
But, here’s the good news: Although I will no longer be a full-time staff editor at Promo Marketing, I will, however, continue writing for the magazine
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Red Perks, based in Rumford, R.I., introduced its fully customizable gift card program for the corporate market. Red Perks’ line of cards aims to provide services for corporate gift programs, employee motivation incentives or as a way for a company to extend its brand through promotional programs. Designed specifically for the corporate premium marketplace, the Red Perks gift card program is loaded with features that make it the sensible choice for corporations. Gift solutions include golf and sporting equipment, apparel, personal electronics, small appliances, luggage, tools, and products from a variety of other categories. Red Perks cardholders will enjoy a wide selection of
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Wayland, Massachusetts-based iPROMOTEu has declared its inaugural Dunk Fest tournament a success. Dunk Fest 2008 was the first-ever NCAA college basketball tournament challenge exclusively for the promotional products industry. It was created as a fun way to generate enthusiasm, spirit and friendly competition among those working in the promotional products industry. Competing for trophies and $2,500 in prize money were 137 registered Dunk Fest 2008 players, consisting of distributors, salespeople, suppliers and service providers. Among the winners of Dunk Fest 2008 were the following individuals, who were awarded trophies and prize money at The ASI Show in Las Vegas on April 10: •
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Kensinton, Maryland-based Floatpens.com announced the addition of Stand Out Promotions products to its product line. Floatpens.com has been a expert on floating action pens for more than 20 years and the new relationship with Stand Out Promotions will let the company provide an entire product line of pop-up products including cards, calendars, magnets, ornaments, mugs, shot glasses, picture frames, coasters, stickers and photo albums. For more information, visit www.floatpens.com
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Hub Pen Company, based in Quincy, Mass., announced the addition of Bill Nault as sales executive. Nault brings more than 10 years of experience in the promotional products industry and was most recently sales manager for The Quill Company, based in Providence, R.I. “We are excited to have Bill join our team. His professionalism and strong writing instrument background will make an immediate impact,” said Joseph Fleming, Hub general manager. For more information on the Hub Pen Company, visit www.hubpen.com
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Las Vegas, Nevada-based Digispec, the focused mousepad manufacturer, announced its MousePaper and MousePaper Calendar mousepads are now green. As the demand for eco-friendly products has increased, Digispec added products to its product line to meet those requirements. As a paper-based product, MousePaper has always been recyclable. Now, the pages contain 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper and the backing is 100 percent recycled paperboard of which 50 percent is post-consumer. “The decision to add a green MousePaper mousepad to the product line was an obvious choice,” said Ed Hamilton, president. “Our customers expect us to keep up to date with the most current technology and
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West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Spectrum/Picnic Plus announced the addition of a new independent sales representative agency. Daniel Pauley will represent Spectrum/Picnic Plus in the southern region. Spectrum distributes their exclusive Mega Mat and Picnic Plus products through its network of promotional products distributors throughout the United States and Canada. “With the addition of Dan and his associates, we will continue to increase our market with ad specialty distributors.” said Daniel Berkowitz, Spectrum’s president. “With our tremendous growth over the past eight years, our new sales reps will open many new doors in the Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana area.” “I am excited to join forces
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St. Paul, Minnesota-based Crystal D, a leading supplier of crystal awards, plaques, trophies and corporate gifts, recently donated 24 awards for the ninth annual Cardiac Children’s Cup hosted by FirstSite Staffing, Inc. The Cardiac Children’s Cup is a golf tournament fundraiser that donates 100 percent of the proceeds to the cardiac-care unit at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics. The Cardiac Children’s Cup was created by Mark and Sheryl Howard, the owners of FirstSite Staffing, in recognition of the doctors, nurses and staff who saved the life of their son—now a survivor of a congenital heart defect. “It is important for Crystal D to support
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In honor of Earth Day, Pittsburgh-based Leed’s, a Polyconcept North America company, announced it has donated one tree for each full-time employee. This effort builds upon the company’s EcoSmart platform launched in November 2007, where a tree is planted through American Forests—a nonprofit tree planting organization based in Washington—for every EcoSmart imprint order placed. Leed’s donations have been earmarked for planting projects in North America. Between the trees planted on behalf of Leed’s employees and those generated from EcoSmart orders, there have been a total of 2,407 trees planted since November 2007. “Not only do we feel good about manufacturing recycled products,
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Parsippany, New Jersey-based MediaTree, a leading industry supplier of digital download and gift card solutions, named Rob Watson as its new president. Watson, formerly MediaTree’s director of marketing, assumes the position as president with more than 12 years of marketing, advertising, operations and executive-level management experience. “It is with excitement and enthusiasm that I announce the promotion of Rob Watson as president of MediaTree,” said Bill Grassmyer, company CEO. Grassmyer continued, “In the past year-and-a-half, Rob’s management of successfully marketing and branding MediaTree within the promotional products industry has proven to be invaluable.” At 30 years of age, Watson’s recent promotion makes him one
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