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Wednesday
April 4, 2012 Long Beach, Here We ComeFiled under: ASI Shows, Members, News About ASI We’re ending the ASI Show in San Diego after three strong days with a major announcement: We’re moving our West Coast show to Long Beach next year. The move was instigated in large part by ASI suppliers and distributors who wanted a more convenient and cost-effective venue. Of the 4,313 distributors we serve on the West Coast, 61% are located in the greater Los Angeles area. Central to three airports, the Long Beach Convention Center is easily accessible from all major thoroughfares. Lorenz Hassenstein, the new vice president and general manager of The ASI Show, did his due diligence and found attendees will be able to save $500 per person in Long Beach. Hotel rooms on average cost $50 less per night, and flights into Long Beach are 50% cheaper as compared to San Diego. The 2013 Long Beach show will feature the same great education and exhibits you expect from an ASI show, along with a full roster of networking and special events. The show opens Saturday, March 23, 2013 – so mark your calendars. Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales for The ASI Show, says she expects the timing of the show – months away from other industry events taking place in the greater LA area – will result in a sellout. For more exhibition information on ASI Long Beach, visit www.asishow.com. Attendee registration will open this summer. The San Diego show ended on a high note with a keynote speech by actor and Parkinson’s activist Michael J. Fox. The standing-room-only event drew nearly 500 people who were really inspired by the remarkable personal lessons Fox shared about life with Parkinson’s disease. Calling on the old acting adage of “Don’t play the result,” the Family Ties and Back to the Future star urged people to live in the moment. “It’s about possibilities, and making sure you don’t shut those possibilities out because you’re blinded by what you think the future may hold. Life changes and you have to change with it,” he said. All told, the San Diego show attracted over 2,000 distributor attendees and 335 suppliers. The show earned great feedback from ASI members. Rick Greene from HALO Branded Solutions, asi/356000: “This is just a great show. In the first four rows I walked, I found two important apparel resources that I need for a huge project. Having access to the show floor is amazing.” Glenn Hersh from Admints and Zagabor, asi/31516: “We always look forward to the ASI shows because they give us a chance to interact with distributors and discuss specific projects.” There’s still more to come! The remaining two 2012 ASI shows are ASI New York (May 8-10) and ASI Chicago (July 17-19). ASI distributor and decorator members can register for free at www.asishow.com. To learn more about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen at kditomasso@asicentral.com. And please let me know what you think of the move to Long Beach by e-mailing me or leaving a comment.
Tuesday
April 3, 2012 ASI’s Latest App is a Tap AwayFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties ASI has exciting news: ESP Mobile™ HD for the iPad is now available free in the Apple App Store to more than 46,000 ESP users. ESP Mobile HD features the same business-friendly features as the iPhone app, allowing users to view the latest pricing, see razor-sharp images, check out supplier ratings, request a quote and e-mail clients products on the go. With its larger display screen, ESP Mobile HD has been optimized to showcase more product information to make finding product details easier than ever, and includes featured product videos. This is yet another key technological leap forward for the industry, and we’re happy to share it with you today. And for all you Android users out there, don’t worry – the Android app is on its way. To download ESP Mobile HD: ESP Mobile HD is integrated with ASI’s ESP Web, where distributors can source and order every promotional product in the industry from more than 3,500 suppliers. ESP Mobile is already breaking records and gathering superior reviews. For instance, more than half of ESP Mobile users have logged in between 2-5 times/day since downloading the app. Together, ESP Mobile, ESP Web and ESP Online perform over 100,000 searches daily. Remember: Licenses to access ESP Mobile HD are only available to authorized distributors of promotional products. To get a license to ESP Mobile HD, call ASI at 1-800-546-1350. If you have questions, contact Liz Kennedy, ASI’s director of product and technical support, at support@asicentral.com. And please let me know what you think of the new app by posting a comment or e-mailing me.
Monday
April 2, 2012 Golden State OpportunitiesFiled under: ASI Shows, News About ASI The three-day ASI Show in San Diego is off to a great start, with a full day of education followed by a full slate of exhibitions, activities and all-important networking. We’re expecting great weather and wicked surf out here in southern California. If you’re joining us this week, please make sure to say hello. Tuesday, we’ll host our first Executive Power Program over lunch with a business presentation by branding and leadership expert Warren Greshes. That night, we’ll head to the Gas Lamp Quarter for a party at Belo nightclub. We have so many members on the West Coast, and it’s great to get a chance to relax and reconnect in between business deals. Wednesday morning, actor and Parkinson’s activist Michael J. Fox is sure to thrill the crowd with positive messages and his trademark humor. This will be Michael’s second ASI keynote, and I know everyone is looking forward to his frank and funny take on life. As always, keep checking in on ASI Central for coverage of all the action, including videos, interviews and hot product offerings. And if you haven’t already, register today for the next ASI Show in New York (May 8-10) and ASI Chicago (July 17-19) at www.asishow.com. To learn more about exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen DiTomasso, vice president of sales, at kditomasso@asicentral.com. If you’re here in California, please let me know what you’re looking forward to the most by posting a comment or e-mailing me.
Friday
March 30, 2012 Page-Turning, Award-Winning ReportingFiled under: News About ASI Dave Vagnoni is used to tackling challenging assignments in the course of reporting stories for Counselor magazine. But he went above and beyond the call of duty during his trip to China for his 2011 feature package, “Beyond the Great Wall” – including getting detained at the border by authorities. His efforts paid off recently when the feature article, blogs and video package were nominated for a Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award from American Business Media. The prestigious Neal awards are considered the Pulitzer Prize of business journalism. If you missed it, click here to read Dave’s article and blog posts and to watch his videos. Although Dave was the only writer to actually travel to China, it took a team of editorial designers and editors to put the entire package together. My congratulations extend to each of them. More than 90% of the ad specialty industry’s products today are manufactured in China, and suppliers don’t think that will change anytime soon. At the same time, unprecedented changes in China are having a significant impact on the ad specialty industry in North America. With so much at stake, Dave traveled to the other side of the world for an in-depth look at a nation and a people in unavoidable transition. His reports detailed all of the issues and included extensive interviews with many key industry players. ASI’s editorial department has a long history of producing distinct, award-winning stories on issues critical to this industry. For that effort in 2011 alone, ASI’s magazines won a record 26 awards, including a Neal Award for Supplier Global Resource Editor Michele Bell, who was honored for her story, “Asia’s Seismic Shift,” detailing how labor unrest and other issues in China affect suppliers in the promotional products industry. You can look forward to more great stories in the pages of ASI’s magazines, which are also available online, in coming months. Let me know what story you read recently that served you the most by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Thursday
March 29, 2012 Red Letter Day for CharityFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Every year, ASI’s administrative staff Last year, ASI employees raised $1,762. But this month, they raised a record-breaking $3,000 – a total ASI Chairman of the Board Norman Cohn is matching through the United Way, for a grand total of $6,000 to be donated to our local Red Cross chapter. The Red Cross, our nation’s premier emergency response organization and biggest blood bank, also offers neutral humanitarian care to the victims of war and compassionate services that help the needy and provide support and comfort for military members and their families. Such services are dear to everyone’s heart at ASI. Since 2003, company fundraisers have raised nearly $2 million in cash and goods for worthy causes, including the Adopt-A-Family program, and food banks and homeless shelters in or around company headquarters in Bucks County, PA. At this year’s auction, employees had an amazing array of products to choose from, including an Oakley “Kitchen Sink” backpack, a wooden chess set, bottle of wine and a cheese board. The biggest hit of the two-day auction: grab bags full of miscellaneous samples that sold for $3 each, for a total of 140 sold, raising $420. It just goes to show you – everyone likes cool products and hot bargains! What charities does your company regularly contribute to, and how creative have you gotten in devising fundraisers? Let me know by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Wednesday
March 21, 2012 Go Big GreenFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties With spring officially here and Earth Day less than a month away, it’s the perfect time to think green. ASI has already sold over 60,000 copies of its eco-friendly Green Catalog, but there’s still time to order yours. The go-to guide for environmentally friendly products – with a circulation of 125,000 – features a ton of “didja know?” tips for being green and ways to promote eco-friendly products as a responsible alternative, along with case studies on such subjects as selling organic apparel and using technology to cut waste. The eco-friendly items range from bamboo iPhone cases, eco-friendly “sprout” watches and Bulova watches with mercury-free batteries to recyclable can coolers, biodegradable wine glass tags, bio pens and all-natural dog products. These are the kinds of products perfect to pitch to environmentally conscious clients at resorts, corporate events, schools, conferences and fundraisers. So arm yourself with a few facts and a copy of the Green Catalog before heading off to sales calls – in your Prius, of course (50 mpg!). Products are grouped by easy-to-navigate categories, including bags and briefcases, clocks and watches, clothing, executive gifts, food and drink, health and beauty, incentives and recognition, office and computer accessories, outdoors, pet accessories, sports, writing instruments and travel. The Green Catalog features:
As always, the front of each copy can be imprinted in full color with the distributor’s logo and contact information, and ASI offers this feature at any time throughout the year. For more info, contact Dan Brown, executive director of distributor services, at dbrown@asicentral.com or at 800-546-1392. To order the Green Catalog online and to see sample pages, click here. Let me know what your best-selling green products are this year by posting a comment or e-mailing me here. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Tuesday
March 20, 2012 ASI Offers 12 Tips For SuccessFiled under: News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Tips are great things to get … and not just for food servers, for everyone. When I started at ASI over five I simply love tips. Why? Because they’re short and to the point. We’re all so busy in our lives and stuck in our routines that sometimes we don’t see simple things that could go a long way in helping us succeed – both personally and professionally. When I asked ASI blog owner, President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Andrews why he likes tips, he replied: “ASI is dedicated to making distributors as profitable as possible, and one easy way to accomplish this is to follow our surefire blueprint: ASI’s 12 Tips for Success. Each of these tips can be quickly applied to any company to help them make more sales, communicate better with customers and grow their business.” So today I’d like to share these tips with you, created recently by our talented marketing team. They were written specifically for ASI members, but can be used by anyone looking to advance professionally. Clear, quick, accurate advice for organizing, updating and improving any size business is included … no tip required. To download ASI’s 12 Tips for Success, click here. Click here to view the distributor version. Click here for the supplier version. – Fal Dieso is ASI’s director of brand marketing. |
puts together a wonderful silent auction to raise money for the 
months ago, I couldn’t wait to receive some quick tips about the company and the industry to help me hit the ground running. Whether those tips came from coworkers, ASI Central or in marketing collateral, I was all eyes and ears.