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Monday
January 16, 2012 On With The ShowFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI The ASI Show Orlando is underway, and we are pumped up and ready to roll, starting with a full day of education. In addition to lots of hustle and bustle, we’re already getting great feedback on our new show look. Orlando, the ad specialty industry’s largest event on the East Coast, takes place through Wednesday at the Orange County Convention Center. ASI met early demand for more hotel rooms and more booths while showing off the brand-new Incentives and New Exhibitor pavilions. Tuesday, ASI honors more than 250 of the industry’s top-performing suppliers at the annual Counselor Distributor Choice Awards. Distributors across North America choose which companies to honor by voting for their most-valued ad specialty suppliers. Winners are selected based upon real votes and data from ASI’s Supplier Performance Ratings. Wednesday, Republican Bill O’Reilly and Democrat James Carville hit the stage running for the Live from the No-Spin Zone debate co-sponsored by Pepco Poms (asi/77280) and Showdown Displays (asi/87188). We’ll post updates of all the action, including pics and videos, throughout the week on ASI Central. Upcoming 2012 ASI Shows are Dallas (February 1-3), San Diego (April 2-4), New York (May 8-10) and Chicago (July 17-19). To learn more about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities for 2012, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. If you’re here in Orlando with us, please say hello!
Wednesday
January 11, 2012 Advice From A Master CommunicatorFiled under: Community ASI Radio conducted one of its best interviews ever with Biz Stone, and if you missed it, you really owe it to yourself to check out the archive. The Twitter co-founder was funnier than I thought he’d be, smarter than I thought possible and full of great advice – no surprises there. He thinks cultivating a fun work culture and keeping a healthy sense of humor in the workplace are vital. I couldn’t agree more. Stone talked with us in advance of a keynote he’s giving February 3 at the ASI show in Dallas titled “A New Landscape for Communicating and Doing Business.” We chose Stone as a keynoter because he’s advised numerous companies and organizations ranging from tiny startups and nonprofits to publicly traded international companies. Twitter now boasts over 300 million users, generating over 300 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. I’m sure we’re all going to learn a lot from Stone. If you haven’t read his blog yet, you should. To listen to the entire radio interview, click here. To register for the show in Dallas and Stone’s keynote, click here. My favorite quote from the interview: “Humor is such a powerful mechanism for delivering truth. It’s a great leadership tool, a great way to break the ice, a great way to get people to tell you what they’re thinking about without it being scary or formal. Invariably, something true comes out of that.” Stone, named one of the Most Influential People in The World by TIME magazine and Nerd of the Year by GQ magazine, shared business tips and dished on a visit from a Russian president (who brought a security detail and dogs to the Twitter offices) and who would play him in a Twitter movie (we suggested James Spader and Ed Norton, but you’ll be surprised at his hilarious choice). Stone said he worked for years before Twitter on the idea of an open exchange of information having a positive impact. “I saw a rudimentary tool and thought, ‘I could build something on this. Instead of one to one, one to many.’ And that was the beginning.” His two biggest mistakes after co-founding Twitter with Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass and Evan Williams were not being ready enough for success and failing to communicate enough. “If you want to have relationships outside, with investors or anyone, communicate like crazy,” he told the ASI Radio audience. On corporate cultures, Stone says he likes it fun and team-oriented: “I like people to have autonomy. Be really creative. Be open to ideas. I don’t like people who say no right away. At Twitter we have a very fast-growing sales culture, but we’re also open to really new, crazy ideas. It’s an emergent phenomenon.” What do you think is the most interesting thing Stone said? Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
January 4, 2012 A Winning Attitude for 2012Filed under: ASI Shows, News About ASI I’m fanatical about setting New Year’s resolutions. And although it’s estimated a mere 2% of us ever realize our yearly goals, I’ve got a pretty good track record. In 2010, I vowed to spend more time with fewer people and successfully jettisoned acquaintances or Debbie Downers, increasing the time I had to spend with people who really mean something to me. In 2011, my No. 1 goal was to spend more time in fewer places. Instead of all those hours wasted at the airport and in the air, I stayed closer to my home in Princeton and nearby New York City and Philadelphia, which allowed for more time with loved ones – and less time enduring airport security. For 2012, my resolution is to convert anything and everything to digital, both personally and professionally. I feel more efficient already! I kicked off the New Year in Chicago, where I met two inspiring people: Ernie Halvorsen and his fiancée Cindy Chiang, who recently won “The Amazing Race,” a CBS reality show that pits couples against each other in a worldwide competition. Ernie and Cindy, pictured with me at right in a photo taken by Elvin Montero, raced nearly 40,000 miles across four continents and 20 cities to win $1 million for being the first to cross the finish line in Atlanta. They plan to use their winnings to start a business to help educate children in developing countries. They’re also interested in helping fight childhood obesity. Their winning attitude should serve as an inspiration to us all. January is of course not only the start of a new year, but the start of a new show season. We’re kicking off the action at ASI Orlando, the ad specialty industry’s largest event on the East Coast, January 16-18 at the Orange County Convention Center. Click here for registration and information on a full slate of education, the new gala at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Counselor Distributor Choice awards and an electrifying election-year keynote with political pundits Bill O’Reilly and James Carville. The sparks are surely going to fly when those two go head to head. And don’t forget to visit ASI booths in Orlando for a live demonstration of ESP Mobile and to activate your free ESP Mobile license. An enhanced version of ESP Mobile will be available as an iPad app in March. From Orlando, we’re off to Dallas (February 1-3), San Diego (April 2-4), New York (May 8-10) and Chicago (July 17-19). If you have any questions about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities for 2012, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. And let me know what resolutions you made this year. There’s still time! |
