It’s been a while since I’ve told a story about my rookie adventures in this fine industry of ours. It’s probably going to be a while longer too, since this post is really more of a convoluted philosophical observation than an interesting coherent narrative. Don’t worry though, I’ll work in some jokes in about pyromania or checkerboards to keep things punchy (you scoff, but let me tell you, I can tell a checkerboard joke like no other).
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I’ve recently started work on Promo Marketing’s Top 50 Distributors List, which is amazing and wonderful if for nothing else than the fact that I’m getting paid to make a list. The Top 50, much like the masthead of our magazine, is arranged by income level, ability to wreck house at shuffle board, and whether I can get ahold of your information or not.
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Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Prime Line, in conjunction with Bedford, New Hampshire-based Henderson Associates, announced Prime Line’s String-A-Sling backpacks reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. “We are always very excited to see the great distances our best-selling String-A-Sling backpacks reach,” said Jeff Lederer, executive vice president. “They were recently provided for the Glory Outreach Assembly Children’s Conference in Kenya,” he added.
For more information on Prime Line, visit www.primeline.com
Chocolate Inn Gets Gold From Geiger
Chocolate Inn, a chocolate manufacturer in the promotional products industry, was again designated a Gold Star Production Partner by Geiger. This designation is for excellence in quality,
I just need to take a moment to call everyone’s attention to the new Women’s Vineyard Jacket from Charles River. It’s on page 10 in the catalog, and here’s the link:
www.charlesriverapparel.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L6F83209B4A8137004C3C016+A01+ENG).
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this might be one of the cutest, most stylish promotional jackets I’ve ever seen.
Hopefully, this is a harbinger of what 2009 will bring to the industry. For one thing, forget the six-month lag. This piece is right in line with current retail trends.
Plus, a defined waistline makes for a really flattering, classic look (see any
We travel a lot as an industry, I’ve come to learn. And being that I just finished my first-ever promotional products trade-show cycle, I feel a little trepidation at the thought of starting all over come January. I just booked my flights for ASI Orlando and I’m tired already.
I realize making face-to-face connections is invaluable, particularly with you party animals, and maybe that alone is worth the price of admission (flights, booths/accoutrement, shipping, client dinners, etc.). But in terms of ROI, at what point do they stop being valuable and start becoming “same old, same old”? How many times a year do
The Selco Companies, based in Tulsa, Okla., announced the introduction of its True North Compass Collection. The collection contains a variety of wooden, boxed desk compasses that have proven popular for a variety of promotional programs. Mentioned programs include corporate training, mergers and acquisitions, travel incentives, and new product launches. The compasses come with imprinting and engraving options.
About the Selco Companies:
As a manufacturer and supplier of custom imprinted and die-struck medallion watches, clocks, compasses and high-tech products, Selco products are available internationally through promotional products distributors. The company was established in 1935.
For more information on The Selco Companies, visit www.selcocompanies.com
I’m surrounded by promotional products—and I mean that literally. For the upcoming June edition of Promo Marketing magazine, we will be doing an Extreme Office Makeover, which is very similar to the reality television home makeover shows, only on a much smaller scale (and, of course, limited to promotional products).The response from suppliers wanting to participate has been amazing and products are starting to stack up (one of the publishers started calling me Fred Sanford because of the junkyard quality of my cube as boxes roll in).
To my right are a rainbow collection of new-fangled letter openers/staple removers. At my feet, sits a
Bridal showers are funny things. The invitees all hem and haw about going, but it’s really just like pulling off a Band-aid. It’s never quite as bad as you anticipate.
Just add a mimosa and you can up the fun quotient on pretty much anything.
So this weekend I headed back home to Long Island for my best friend’s shower. As a member of the wedding party, I was charged with creating the centerpieces and favors for the blessed event. And as an editor at Promo Marketing magazine, I, of course, began thinking of whether or not promotional products could somehow find a niche
I was checking out the Women’s Wear Daily Web site http://www.wwd.com/monday today and something caught my eye. According to writer Caroline Tell’s assessmentx of the most recent rash of Fashion Weeks around the globe, “the runways from New York to Paris were as much about the handbags and other accessories as they were about the clothes.” Now, I’m not a WWD subscriber, so I can’t read the rest of the article (oh technology, must you mock me so?), but it did get me thinking.
A lot of the promotional wearables news I’ve reported on in the past year has pointed to our industry taking
» Be the change that you want to see in the world.
«MAHATMA GHANDI, INDIAN LEADER, 1869 – 1948
I write this editor’s note on the day of the assassination of two-time Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. Readers may ask, “What possible connection could her death have with the sales of promotional products?” Directly—I can easily cite, this being our political-promotions issue—it makes sense. Oftentimes, buttons,badges and ribbons are made to commemorate even horrific events, such as this. I can also mention the ensuing ramifications a world leader’s assassination can have on our industry economically. Already-delicate world markets and staggeringly high oil prices—which