{"id":2671,"date":"2014-06-19T18:56:46","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T22:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/?p=2671"},"modified":"2014-06-19T18:56:46","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T22:56:46","slug":"happiness-canada-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/2014\/06\/19\/happiness-canada-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness, Canada Style"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no wonder polls officially rank Canada as among the happiest countries in the world. In general, Canadians seem like a very happy bunch, and it was a real pleasure to enjoy their company at this year\u2019s <a title=\"ASI's 2014 Power Summit Canada\" href=\"http:\/\/support.asicentral.com\/mktg\/powersummitcanada2014\/#Home\" target=\"_blank\">ASI Power Summit Canada<\/a>.<a title=\"Group photo at ASI Power Summit Canada 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/support.asicentral.com\/mktg\/powersummitcanada2014\/#Home\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"right\" src=\"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/Can PS group.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We packed a lot of info and a ton of serious socializing into the gathering in lovely Niagara-on-the-Lake and I want to thank everyone who attended and shared their knowledge with the group, which included entrepreneurs, CEOs and small-business owners from both sides of the border and throughout the promotional products industry.<\/p>\n<p>The Q&amp;A I conducted with <a title=\"Brian Lee Crowley bio\" href=\"http:\/\/www.macdonaldlaurier.ca\/about\/who-is-involved\/brian-lee-crowley\/\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Lee Crowley<\/a>, managing director of business and economic think tank Macdonald-Laurier Institute, tied for highest-rated panel with the social media discussion spearheaded by ASI\u2019s creative director Jake Krolick and two of the savviest social media masters in the industry: Mark Graham, co-owner of distributor firm RIGHTSLEEVE, founding member of PromoKitchen and <em>Counselor<\/em>\u2019s 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year; and Sarah White, COO and co-founder of distributor Fairware and one of Canada\u2019s leading female entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to our panel discussions and breaks for golf and a trip to the famous falls, we also broke into smaller groups of suppliers and distributors so they could share their thoughts on the most substantive issues they face. Below is a brief recap, from the two points of view.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Distributors talked about\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improving strategic relationships with suppliers and becoming more aware of where products are from, how they\u2019re made etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Streamlining the order process by realizing most clients want to order and move on quickly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Knowing more millennial consumers are increasingly conscientious and want to know if products are recyclable \u2013 and are sometimes willing to pay more for products if their purchase will promote the greater good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Becoming aware of potential implications of Alibaba\u2019s coming U.S. IPO later this summer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>More understanding of the value suppliers bring in regards to regulations, compliance, safety and social issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Keeping track of pending anti-spam laws. As of July 1, Canadian businesses will be required to obtain either express \u201copt-in\u201d or implied consent to send emails to potential clients. Although it\u2019s one of the most onerous anti-spam laws in the world, distributors are less concerned about existing clients but preparing for impact on future prospecting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Suppliers talked about\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Implications of changing demographics of end-buyers increasingly comfortable with searching online via sites like Amazon.com and making sure their platform is robust enough.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>More collaboration between suppliers and distributors to educate end-buyers on promo products\u2019 high ROI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Determining hot-button issues surrounding compliance and safety and making sure distributors ask clients for their concerns so suppliers have info on hand to satisfy their questions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more info on the Power Summit discussions, please <a title=\"Counselor Promogram Power Summit 2014 coverage\" href=\"http:\/\/www.asicentral.com\/asp\/open\/news\/promogram\/index.aspx?vol=8696&amp;full-story=0&amp;Status=mem&amp;asi=33020\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> for recent <em>Counselor<\/em> Promogram coverage, including video interviews with some of our speakers. <a title=\"ASI Facebook coverage of Power Summit\" href=\"http:\/\/ow.ly\/yaOhV\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> for a Facebook gallery of photos from the event.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"right\" src=\"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/PS Can.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asicentral.com\/asp\/open\/AboutASI\/pressRoom\/index.aspx?id=8700\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to read our press release on the 2014 list of top 10 fastest-growing ad specialty companies in Canada, released during the Power Summit. <a href=\"http:\/\/redwoodclassics.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Redwood Classics Apparel<\/a><em> <\/em>(asi\/81627), a Toronto, Ontario-based promotional apparel company headed by Kathy Cheng that specializes in goods made in North America, topped the list at No. 1, growing nearly 160% between 2011 and 2013.<\/p>\n<p>If you missed the Power Summit in Canada, there\u2019s plenty of time to plan for next year, when we\u2019ll gather June 21-23 at the Four Seasons Resort in Whistler, British Columbia. (I knew we had a winner with this year\u2019s event when I found out how many of this year\u2019s attendees have already signed up for 2015!).<a href=\"http:\/\/support.asicentral.com\/mktg\/powersummitcanada2014\/#Home\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/support.asicentral.com\/mktg\/powersummitcanada2014\/#Home\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you were in Canada with us, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts so please post a comment or e-mail me <a href=\"mailto:tim.andrews@asicentral.com\">here<\/a>. I\u2019m also on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/Tim_Andrews_ASI\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/timothymandrews\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn<\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>P.S. The top pic is our group photo and the second pic is me with Dave Saracino, VP of field sales for BIC Graphic USA (asi\/40480), left, and Carol de Ville, president of The Branding Company and a former PPPC chairperson.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no wonder polls officially rank Canada as among the happiest countries in the world. In general, Canadians seem like a very happy bunch, and it was a real pleasure to enjoy their company at this year\u2019s ASI Power Summit Canada. We packed a lot of info and a ton of serious socializing into the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-members","category-news-about-asi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2678,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions\/2678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}