• • • • • • August 19 • 2014
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Top News
PPAI’s Product Safety Summit Delivers Master Class On Compliance Issues
With record attendance and an exceptionally strong speaker lineup, the fourth annual PPAI Product Safety Summit hit a decisive note last week in Boston, Massachusetts.
Read More Product Safety Summit
Industry News
Proforma Owners Acquire Printing Company
Steve Flaughers, owner of Proforma 3rd Degree Marketing, and Dick Kulick, owner of Proforma Excalibur Business Solutions, have teamed up to acquire Hyde Brothers Printing Company, a Marietta, Ohio, commercial printer. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Read More Proforma
Industry Companies Answer The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Anyone near the internet over the past few days could not help but run across the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral campaign that has overwhelmed social media to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. A number of industry companies have done their part to draw attention to the disease and to raise funds to support research for a cure.
Read More ALS
Hub Pen Employees Achieve Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification
Fourteen Hub Pen Company (UPIC: HUBPEN) employees from various departments at the Braintree, Massachusetts, supplier are now Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certified. They will move on to Green Belt training and another Yellow Belt class will begin.
Read More Hub Pen
Marketers Must Adapt To Consumer Tech Connectivity
Consumers’ personal technology has become another influence marketers have to either compete against or learn to accommodate. A July 2014 survey by CivicScience, a polling and insights provider, found that 60 percent of U.S. internet users were connected almost all of the time.
Read More Connectivity
In Memoriam: Steve Almeida, MAS
Steve Almeida, MAS, owner of multi-line rep firm Almeida Enterprises (UPIC: ALME0001) and past president of the New England Promotional Products Association (NEPPA), passed away on August 4. He was 75.
Read More Almeida
The Allen Company Celebrates 55 Years In The Industry
The Allen Company (UPIC: ALLEN), headquartered in Blanchester, Ohio, is celebrating its 55th Anniversary this year. The company has been a supplier of drinkware and related products since 1959.
PPAI News
PPAI’s NALC Brought High-Level Education, Engagement To Boston
With 10 insightful education sessions on tap and a speaker lineup drawn from the best in the industry and the Boston academic community, PPAI’s sixth annual North American Leadership Conference (NALC) made a strong impact in Boston, Massachusetts. Held at the Revere Hotel August 10-12, NALC drew 145 promotional products business leaders from across North America.
Read More NALC
In September, Vote For The 2015 PPAI Board Candidates
PPAI has announced four nominees for election to the 2015 Board of Directors Class of 2019—distributor candidates Dale T. Denham, MAS+, CIO of Geiger, and Anita Emoff, president of Shumsky; and supplier candidates Edgar Hernandez, general manager of BIC Graphic Worldwide, and Norm Hullinger, CEO of alphabroder. The PPAI board election will run September 4 to September 29, with results available in early October. A voting link, with details about the candidates, will be sent by email and available in the September 9 edition of PPB Newslink.
Danny Rosin, co-owner of Morrisville, North Carolina, distributor Brand Fuel, has a video message for Association members on how voting in the board election is quick, easy and important for the future of PPAI and the work the board does for the promotional products industry.
PPAI Webinar Explores Balloons’ Unique Regulatory Requirements
Wednesday, PPAI’s webinar series explores the regulatory and compliance issues around balloons.
CPSIA: Focus On Balloons
August 20, 1-2pm CST
PPAI’s live and on-demand webinars enable industry professionals to continue their professional development anywhere, any time.
People News
San Diego, California, supplier Terry Town (UPIC: TERRYTWN) has added Tony Sabo of Brickyard Sales & Marketing to its multi-line rep sales force. Sabo will represent the company in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Vernon Company (UPIC: Vernon) has hired Kimberly Allen-Johnson (left) as an account executive in the Newton, Iowa-based distributor’s western region. Allen-Johnson is a promotional products industry veteran and former owner of Island Imprints in Fresno, California. Shyla McFrederick, based in Wichita, Kansas, has been hired as an account executive for the central region. Another experienced industry professional, McFrederick has specialized in sales to the industrial and restaurant markets.
All-In-One (UPIC: ALLINONE) has hired Lori Bolton-Herman to represent the San Diego, California based supplier in the western states. Her territory will include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Charitable Contributions
Royce Leather Donates $62,000 In Executive Accessories To United Way
Royce Leather (UPIC: royce) announced that it has donated $62,000 in leather goods and accessories to support the many programs of United Way of Hudson County (UWHC), in particular job training and professional development.
Read More Royce Leather
Showdown Displays Helps Common Hope Raise Money At Golf Classic
For the past five years, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Showdown Displays (UPIC: SHOWDOWN) has partnered with Common Hope, an organization that works to educate youth in underdeveloped nations. Earlier this month, the supplier participated in the 5th annual Common Hope Golf Classic to help raise money for the organization’s efforts in Guatemala and find sponsors for the children who live there.
Read More Showdown Displays
SAGE FACT OF THE WEEK
Trade-Show Finds
SAGE Online is designed to let users easily search for the products they have seen at trade shows. Click on the Tradeshow drop down option, on the main product search page, and select the trade show attended. This narrows down the search to only suppliers that exhibited at a particular show, allowing users to more quickly find the products they are looking for.
To learn more about SAGE Online or to become a SAGE subscriber, contact SAGE to find out how to get on board at no additional charge through the Power of Two relationship, exclusive for PPAI members.
This Month’s PPB
The Glory Of Youth
Since June, the orange Truth® Tour truck has been making stops in towns across the country, piggybacking on youth-oriented festivals and concerts to spread its anti-smoking message to young people ages 12-21. When the truck arrives, Truth Tour riders—energetic men and women in their late teens and early 20s—hop out and begin setting up a mobile dance floor, audio equipment, a shade tent and mountains of branded products bearing the tour’s “don’t smoke” message.
Read More Youth
Everything On Display
A Distributor Asks: Our distributorship has a pretty extensive product showroom that we try to keep as updated as possible. How do other distributors deal with pricing of samples and how often do they do an inventory and purge discontinued products?
Read More Display
Working For Both Sides
When PPB spoke to Nancy Phillips, executive director of Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC), she was hard at work dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on this year’s 35th SAAC Show, scheduled for August 6-7 in Long Beach, California.
Read More Phillips
Contribute To PPAI Publications
Getting A Handle On Great Bags
Editor’s Picks in November features bags. Submit images and descriptions of what’s trendy, classic and one-of-a-kind, and share stories of how you incorporated bags into a successful program or campaign. Email Jen Alexander by August 22.
Fit As A Fiddle
Market to Market in November explores the health and fitness industry and how to develop relationships with clients in this diverse field. Share stories of your work with health and fitness companies, and send images and descriptions of promotional products that pump up a health and fitness campaign or program. Email Jen Alexander by August 22.
T-shirt Toss
November is PPB’s t-shirt issue, and we’re filling it with crisp, fresh tees. Suppliers: Send us your case studies, high-resolution images and product descriptions. Distributors: We want your case studies, t-shirt recommendations, and questions and advice about selecting, selling or decorating this category. Please send all submissions to Tama Underwood by August 29.
A Supplier Asks: I sell a niche product and am interested in selling the exclusive rights to it and keeping some royalty for myself. So far, I’ve contacted individual companies I think would be interested but have had no luck. Is there a better way to get the word out?
What’s Your Answer? Email answers along with your name, title and company name to Question@ppai.org by August 29 for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of PPB magazine.
Need peer advice on a sticky situation? Send your question to Question@ppai.org.
Read the answers to each month’s question here.
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