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Tuesday
October 23, 2012 Fight Like a GirlFiled under: Community, Using Ad Specialties Every October, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, thousands of dedicated people come together to walk or run for the cure. Unfortunately, nearly everyone has been touched in some way by the disease, which can strike both men and women. Every October, I always think back to 1973, when I was in 6th grade. One of my favorite aunts had Stage 4 breast cancer – only we didn’t know it because back then it was a medical problem that people whispered about but didn’t name. All I knew was that it was serious and something bad might happen. My aunt – Lenora Hull, now 80 and still living outside my hometown of Hope, Indiana – underwent a radical mastectomy 39 years ago today, followed by cobalt radiation. I spoke to her this week and she recalled how, for many, breast cancer was treated like a secret. Rather than say she’d lost a breast, one neighborhood parent said she’d lost a leg! Luckily, Aunt Lenora (pictured here) survived. Although treated for metastatic cancer in the lung in 2001, she is now cancer-free and feisty as ever, keeping in touch with family on Facebook and on Skype. As she told me this week, “God has certainly blessed me. You kids were all still in school and I thought I might never see you as adults. But I did and I am very proud of all of you.” For 15 years, she was chairperson of a Reach to Recovery program at the local hospital, giving back by “It’s just part of life and we just have to go on,” Aunt Lenora told me, sharing very wise words indeed. In our industry, pink is also the color – and promotion is the point. Everyone who carries, waves or wears pink apparel and ribbon-imprinted accessories at events helps spread the word about breast cancer while raising much-needed funds for research and education. The goody bags given away by fundraising organizers often contain branded items participants can use during runs and walks, like umbrellas in case of rain, bottled water or pedometers. Click here for a press release ASI issued this month on ways the industry is helping to fight for the cause. And let me know how this disease has touched your life by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Friday
October 19, 2012 Promo Products 101Filed under: Community, Education, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Pop quiz: Next time you find yourself in a group of college students who don’t know what you do for a living, ask them about promotional products. Then ask if they’ve heard about the industry in their marketing class, or if they’re considering our industry for a potential lifetime career. I’m betting you’ll get a lot of blank stares in response. If recent discussions I’ve had with distributors in Chicago and Los Angeles are any indication, just about everyone is on board with the need for more outreach to colleges and universities. We want to get young people educated and excited about this industry. Hopefully, they’ll give it the ultimate stamp of approval and brand it “cool.” To that end, ASI® recently announced a unique education initiative designed, in great part, to teach college students ways to become successful entrepreneurs as distributors in our industry. Along the way, they’ll also learn about suppliers, decorators and the ad specialty industry itself. We think it’s a great way to expand the number of new college graduates who understand the industry and, we hope, become interested in making it a career. Or at least understand the great ROI from using promotional items in the marketing programs they might create in whatever career course they might take. Right now, our industry is rarely if ever mentioned in marketing, advertising or business courses or textbooks – and I’d like to see that change. It’s a pilot program so we’ll see how it goes. Right now, it involves a single institution: Babson College, a Massachusetts school that blends top-flight business education coursework with hands-on training, online education and real-world applications. At Babson, approximately 500 first-year undergraduates enroll in a year-long course to learn how to run a business. Instructor-led groups of about 20 students each receive approximately $3,000 in seed money, which some groups will use to buy, imprint and sell promotional products during the second of two semesters. As part of our effort to introduce the industry to potential new hires, ASI is donating our time and energy, along with offering access to ESP® and ESP Websites™. Students will also be able to take courses at ASI’s Online Learning Center and further hone their business and networking skills during an on-site guided tour at our New York City show in May (featuring a keynote by Buddy Valastro, Jr., the “Cake Boss” on the hit TLC reality show). We’ve had positive feedback from several local distributors interested in speaking to or mentoring students during this trial. A couple of other people were worried about “the competition” but I think our active distributors can overcome a few kids as we build a pipeline of future industry leaders. Let me know what you think about this new initiative and if you have any suggestions by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
October 9, 2012 Where in the World is Tim Andrews?Filed under: Community, Members, News About ASI One of my favorite things to do is visit member companies and meet with smaller, more intimate groups. Over the past few weeks, it seems like I spent more time in the air than on the ground, traveling to the U.K., Chicago and L.A. I was in England for Sourcing City’s Marketplace event, which serves the U.K. promotional market. Besides the international cuisine and gorgeous English countryside, the U.K. means valuable face time with the distributor and supplier clients of Alistair Mylchreest, the CEO of Sourcing City and our partner in PromoAlliance, a new international alliance we formed with PSI to identify and introduce best practices and market development concepts benefiting the U.S., U.K. and European markets. In the photo at right, I’m pictured with PSI’s managing director, Michael Freter, left, and Alistair Mylchreest, center. They do things a little differently across the pond. For instance, only select U.K. distributors with sales in excess of 500,000 pounds are invited to the Marketplace event, held in Farnborough, England. There, they meet with suppliers during 30-minute appointments. It’s an interesting twist and provides up-close-and-personal opportunities for more in-depth discussions. I also traveled to Chicago to meet with a number of large distributors convened for an annual meeting. During business and social gatherings we discussed industry trends and challenges, the outlook for 2013 and beyond and what we all can do to strengthen the industry. Later, in Los Angeles, I met with the principals of distributors that are members of the PeerNet Group, an alliance that will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. The business discussion extended to a recreational whale-watching trip that didn’t include whales but instead hundreds (maybe thousands) of leaping dolphins. No kidding. And they really put on a show. At each gathering, I was more than impressed with the intensity of their interest in ASI and the thoughtful roundtable discussions we had about our industry. They really pressed me for answers! I was also very happy to hear that so many of these successful entrepreneurs use ESP® to help drive their business, as well as ESP Websites™ and a number of other tools. There also were discussions about expanding attendance at The ASI Shows™ and other events. Along the way I heard a ton of ideas, including the possibility of holding sales meetings at one of our upcoming ASI Power Summits (the next one is November 11-13 in Naples, Florida). By co-locating, a group or company can take advantage of two major events while saving on travel and hotel expenses. If you think this might work for your company, please let me know. This week I’m in Lewistown, Maine, to visit with Geiger (asi/202900), and after that I hope to get some home base time before heading down to Florida. I’m flying right into the New Year! Let me know where your travels brought you this summer (and beyond) by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
September 18, 2012 The True Value of EducationFiled under: Community Can you put a price on education? The simple answer is yes. Various organizations put the net value of a U.S. college degree anywhere from $325,000 all the way to $1 million. In fact, a new study recently reported on by NPR shows college grads faring much better in the economic recovery than those lacking a degree. And while many grads continue to struggle to find work, those who have found jobs get paid substantially more than those with only a high school education. The bottom line is education counts, no matter what industry you work in or what the economy’s doing. Here at ASI®, we take education seriously, investing $1.3 million each year to educate members. During The ASI Show™ 2012 season alone, 6,597 industry professionals attended live education classes, up 4.7% from 2011, making ASI the largest educator in the industry. Recently, we announced the names of seven more industry professionals certified through the ASI Education Certification Program, bringing the total to 540 – with more than 22,000 enrolled in ASI’s free Online Learning Center. These pros know there’s no better way to impress prospective and existing clients than with proof of your industry knowledge. Once certified, you can frame your certificate for your office and brag about it on your business cards and website. The ASI Certification Program offers two certification levels: BASI™ (Bachelor of Advertising Specialty Information) and MASI™ (Master of Advertising Specialty Information). Please join me in congratulating BASI graduates for August:
And MASI graduate for August:
The ASI Education Certification Program is free, all-encompassing and user-friendly. And the virtual component means anyone can take part – from anywhere and at any time. No matter what your experience level, you can always benefit from more education. For a complete overview of ASI Education, click here. If you’ve taken any of our classes, please let me know what you thought – and if you have any suggestions – by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Friday
September 7, 2012 Voting MattersFiled under: Community, Guest Blog Recently, a friend I’ve known since 7th grade in Indiana turned 50. Instead of just crying about it, April Mitchell-Nading seized the opportunity and compiled an online list of 50 things she wants to do or change this year, from zip lining to flossing. I love this idea and want to pass it forward while sharing one of the posts from April’s blog, “The 50 List,” since it concerns an issue I also feel strongly about: exercising your right to vote. Click here to read the blog and keep reading below for her post, “No. 49: Attend One Meeting or Rally for Women’s Issues:” Yesterday, I attended Evansville’s 10th Annual women’s Equality Day luncheon, which is a celebration/recognition of the adoption of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. I think we need a reminder that obtaining the right to vote was a hard-fought battle for women and didn’t occur until August 26, 1920. And I hate it when I hear a female say she never votes because she doesn’t like any of the candidates or her vote doesn’t really matter. It does matter. If nothing else, it matters that we have the right to do it, and we should never take this right for granted. I have voted in every presidential election since I turned 18, whether I liked the candidates or not. I remember how excited I was to hand in my absentee ballot to the clerk at Ball State University. I was voting for the president and my vote counted! I don’t have quite the same excitement years later as I did then, but I do still feel an air of importance knowing that I am a woman living in the United States of America and I have the right to vote! The keynote speaker for the luncheon was author Peggy Orenstein, who wrote Cinderella Ate My Daughter. I haven’t read the book – yet – but I liked her idea that the Disney princesses and other marketing techniques aimed at girls are actually doing more harm than good. Do we really want our daughters/granddaughters/nieces, etc. thinking Prince Charming is going to come along and rescue them? Is it a positive for girls to be so focused on appearance, sexuality, and looking/behaving like a princess? Orenstein points out that young girls are now focused on “being sexy” and are so intent on appearance it results in eating disorders. I would add that along with Disney princesses, it probably doesn’t help for these girls to see their own mothers/grandmothers, etc. opting for plastic surgery, Botox and other extreme measures to alter their own appearances in an effort to stay young and sexy. How can we expect young girls to be happy with the way they look when the female role models in their lives are showing them that the only way to be happy is by changing the way they look?
Thursday
August 16, 2012 Mastering Star PowerFiled under: Community I recently enjoyed dinner with Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” contestant Angelo Sosa, who served up great food along with some interesting lessons in the fine art of self-promotion. I say “fine art” because anyone in the public eye, whether they’re running a company or appearing on reality TV, walks a fine line between skillfully honing a persona – and shameless hawking. I’m impressed with Sosa, who’s worked alongside some of the best chefs and restaurateurs in the world, because he’s a skilled businessman with two restaurants, a cookbook memoir and even a consulting group. He never misses an opportunity to promote himself or his many activities – but always does it with real panache and charm. I earned dinner for two and a chance to meet the chef at Sosa’s Manhattan restaurant, Social Eatz, in a silent auction to benefit Alliance for a Healthier Generation. By aligning himself and his restaurant with a charity fighting to reduce childhood obesity, Sosa helps spread the word while earning goodwill with customers like me. Once I arrived, I was happy to find the restaurant, billed as an “Asian gastropub,” was casual and reasonably priced. It even featured lots of promotional items! Sosa is Dominican-Italian but initially made a name for himself with his flair for unique, Asian-influenced recipes. We had a chance to chat during a very casual staff dinner that took place after the restaurant closed for the night. I ended up holding one waiter’s baby on my lap pretty much the entire time and left really impressed with the restaurant’s friendly atmosphere. Anyone who succeeds in business must take chances and sometimes put themselves “on the line” – skills savvy promoters like Sosa have clearly mastered. That ability to build a brand and skillfully sell yourself and your company is an asset I’m willing to bet is also shared by any number of the suppliers who responded to ASI’s most recent sales report on Q2 2012. The report shows a year-over-year increase in sales among ASI® supplier members of 4.6% and is the 10th consecutive quarterly year-over-year increase in sales. My own shameless self-promotion alert: I was recently featured in a regional magazine called Bucks Life in its “Essentials 2012” issue devoted to the best local landmarks in three counties: Bucks, PA; Hunterdon, N.J. and Mercer, N.J. The editors asked a few locals to share things like our favorite brunch place, nature spot and even charity. I decided to participate because it gave me a chance to plug two things I love promoting: the nonprofit Arts Council of Princeton, where I just ended my third term as president of the board of trustees, and ASI. Click here to read the story. I’m not crazy about the photo of me, but the article itself offers up some great places to check out, whether you live in the PA-NJ area or are coming for a visit. And let me know what you think: Is all publicity good publicity? Post a comment or e-mail me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
July 19, 2012 Blown Away in the Windy CityFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, Members, News About ASI Here’s all you need to know about ASI Chicago: Tony Robbins rocked. Mayor Daley delivered. And from all accounts, everyone who attended enjoyed the nonstop networking, show floor action and unprecedented education. Officially, the 2012 show season is over. All that’s left is the packing up and plane rides. As always, the end comes with mixed emotions. I’m happy to put another successful year behind us – and excited for 2013, when another incredible lineup awaits. It’s never too soon to register for the 2013 ASI Shows (Orlando, Jan. 5-7; Dallas, Feb. 6-8; Long Beach, March 22-24; New York, May 8-9; and Chicago, July 16-18) – registration is open at www.asishow.com. We’ve got a great lineup of speakers already locked in: Steve Forbes in Orlando, Emmitt Smith in Dallas, Ben Stein in Long Beach, “The Cake Boss” in New York and Christopher Gardner – the inspiration behind the movie Pursuit of Happyness – in Chicago. If you missed us in Chicago this year, go to ASI Show, www.asicentral.com and Counselor magazine for complete coverage, including blogs and videos. Click here for Hot Party pics (look for me in the crowd. I’m the one with the red tie and big smile). The McCormick Place show, undeniably one of the most significant shows within the industry and continually ranked as the industry’s most important summer show, featured 718 exhibiting companies, up 5% from 2011 – including many Counselor® Top 40 suppliers and 204 new exhibitors to Chicago. Total distributor attendance was about 4,400 from 1,800 distributor firms. Leadership authority Tony Robbins alone attracted over 1,000 distributors and suppliers on Tuesday, a record-breaking day of education. Robbins’ full-day program, which was co-sponsored by Fields Manufacturing (asi/54100) and Showdown Displays (asi/87188), spoke to companies large and small. Nikki Edwards, of Red Line Graphics (asi/305643), summed it up best: “Tony Robbins was fabulous and extremely energizing … I would have paid over and over to see it, but thanks to ASI I didn’t have to.” And that wasn’t all. The three-day show featured the industry’s most innovative products for the fourth quarter, the New Exhibitor and Incentive Pavilions showcasing the most unique items and a total of three receptions. Earl Bateman, from DVL Enterprises (asi/261648), says he’s already planning to share the ideas he discovered on the show floor with his clients for the upcoming holiday season. Now there’s a forward thinker! Don’t forget, for information on exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities for 2013, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. And if you were at the show, please let me know what you thought – and any suggestions or ideas you may have for 2013 – by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. |
