Back From Vegas

The adventures of your favorite rookie are going pretty well. I’ve just returned from my first industry business trip to PPAI Las Vegas. Prior to this cross-country journey, I certainly had not done much traveling. In fact, post-college, most of my life has been split between tiny beige cubicles and the weird mix of pine trees and delis that is South Jersey. (Seriously, there are eight delis on the maybe five-mile street that leads to my house! Eight! Who needs that many sandwiches?)

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American Apparel Issues Statement in Response to Lawsuit

Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc. issued the following statement in response to news reports of a lawsuit filed by a former employee:
“American Apparel denies all of the allegations in Mr. Hernandez’s lawsuit and will vigorously defend itself and its shareholders in this contemptible action. Mr. Hernandez was a non-accounting employee in the information technology department who was terminated for legitimate reasons. The allegations in this lawsuit are fictional, which the company believes represents a cynical attempt to extract phony leverage by Mr. Hernandez’s counsel, Keith Fink, who has been engaged with the company in other litigation for over three years. The facts are

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Bill Gates: American Workers Not Smart Enough???

I recently came across a news article on Bill Gates’ testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology, held on March 12. As part of the hearing, Gates requested the current 65,000 cap on H-1B visas—which allows that number of foreign workers to be legally employed at U.S. companies within a given year—be removed. He argued “the shortage of trained scientists and engineers had grown so severe [in the U.S.] that it required a dramatic increase in the number of highly skilled immigrants permitted to enter the country,” according to the www.artstechnia.com Web site. Gates contended that “despite the excellence of America’s institutions

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U-S-Beautiful

I just finished putting together a technology showcase for the magazine, and it is truly amazing the wide array of products that have entered the marketplace in such a short time. USB drives seem to come in every shape and color, from credit-card size to ones tucked neatly inside a pen. It seems like only a couple of years ago they were priced well outside the promotional market (and most non-techies pocketbooks as well). Companies like Flash By Design are including widgets within the programming of the drives—creating sticky drives that automatically load programs or RSS feeds. Other companies like All-In-One Manufacturing are touting

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Can Accessories Make Bank?

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

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Giving it Away for Free

Hi. Welcome back, you.
Since I got nothing but crickets from my last post’s call for comments, I am forced to do all the heavy lifting this week. But that’s the point of having one’s own blog, I suppose. It seems you’re onto the fact I’m trying very hard to not have to think of a new topic each week. Thanks reader, for always keeping me on my toes and teaching me a life lesson to boot.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about things that are free.
First up, free editorial. Suppliers, I’m going to let you in on a not-so-hidden secret:

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