PPB Newslink August 21: PPAI Introduces Promotional Products Work! Week

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August 21, 2012 • Share PPB Newslink • Send News To JamesK@ppai.org

PPAI Introduces Promotional Products Work!^TM Week
Last week at the North American Leadership Conference, PPAI announced Promotional Products Work! Week™. Running February 25 to March 1, 2013, Promotional Products Work! Week is a promotional products industry event aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of promotional products. Read more Work Week

PPAI’s Sold-Out Product Safety Summit Draws Leading Compliance Experts To Speak
PPAI’s second annual Product Safety Summit drew a record-breaking 121 registrants, five guests and nine staff to New Orleans, Louisiana, last week to hear from top experts on how to manufacture, decorate and sell compliant products. Read more Product Safety Summit

Enter The PPAI Suppliers Achievement Awards Today—Deadline August 31
The PPAI Suppliers Achievement Awards recognizes suppliers with outstanding craftsmanship, exceptional creativity and impeccable service for the distributor community. Recognition as one the industry’s best provides a company with broad exposure and enhanced credibility. And with 28 categories of competition, there’s an opportunity for everyone to receive recognition for their accomplishments. Submit an online entry here before the deadline of August 31, 2012.

Submissions For The PPAI Supplier Star Competition Now Open
The PPAI Supplier Star competition brings annual recognition to supplier members for excelling in communication, service and quality as voted on by member distributors. Read more Supplier Star

Support Your Professional Development With PPAI Webinars
Learn more about the latest trends and best practices to help your business grow, as well as valuable information to further your professional development through PPAI’s webinar series. Read more Webinars

The Promotional Products Industry Comes To Dallas For The MAPPS By SAGE Tradeshow
On August 20, SAGE hosted its MAPPS by SAGE tradeshow in Dallas, Texas. Held at the Dallas Convention Center, the show featured a bustling tradeshow floor, education sessions and a number of networking opportunities. Read more MAPPS By SAGE

In Memoriam: Mark Patterson
Mark Patterson, CEO of Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based supplier Eco Lips (UPIC: EcoLips), died in his home on August 11 after a sudden and unexpected illness. He was 34. Read more Patterson

Distributor City Apparel Releases “City Truck” Music Video
Kramer Enterprises, which operates in the promotional products industry under its City Apparel (UPIC: CITYAPRL) subsidiary, has launched a music video, “City Truck,” a parody of LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem,” to build its digital presence and brand. Read more City Truck

ZOOMcatalog Introduces ZOOMcustom Service
ZOOMcatalog (UPIC: Zoom-cat), an industry business services company based in Boulder, Colorado, has introduced its ZOOMcustom service, which allows distributors to personalize supplier online catalogs as their own. Read more ZOOMcatalog

FTC Attorney Laura Koss To Join PPAI On Going Green Webinar
On August 29, PPAI is hosting a webinar on “going green” and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Green Guides. Read more Green Guides

Arizona Advocates Meet With Congressman Quayle’s Office
On August 17, industry advocates from Arizona met with Patrick Howell, senior legislative assistant for Congressman Ben Quayle (AZ 3). Read more Advocates

Schaumberg, Illinois-based distributor Club Colors (UPIC: CLUBCO) has promoted two members of its staff. Derrick Baker has been promoted to graphic support supervisor, while Vita Duncan, formerly the human resources manager, is the new corporate sales manager.

Supplier SnugZ USA (UPIC: SNUGZUSA), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has brought PRG Multiline on to represent the company in Canada.

Paula Shulman, CAS, vice president of sales at Prime Resources Corp. (UPIC: PRIME), recently celebrated her 30th anniversary with the supplier. She has held a number of positions at the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based company during her tenure, including customer service manager, director of marketing and national sales manager. She was promoted to vice president of sales in 2007.

Jeff Stepp, Nancy Jolly, Joy Jacobs and Claire Ashford of In Stepp Marketing (UPIC: InStepp) will represent Chicago, Illinois-based supplier A La Carte (UPIC: alacarte) in the Southeast and Southwest.

Chocolate Inn/Taylor & Grant (UPIC: CHOCINN), a supplier headquartered in Freeport, New York, has named Aram Tessier (left) its executive vice president of operations. Brian Seltzer, formerly the vice president of operations, is the company’s new vice president of inside sales and customer service.

Jeff Thomas, MAS, Goes Online To Discuss The BRF’s “15 For The Fund” Campaign
In June, RAC’s Promotional Products Disaster Recovery Foundation’s Business Recovery Fund (BRF) program launched its“15 For The Fund” campaign to raise money in support of its mission to assist industry companies affected by natural disasters. Read more BRF

Bodek And Rhodes, Digispec Among Those Taking Home Awards From The 2012 Proforma Convention And Family Reunion
At the distributor’s annual Proforma Convention and Family Reunion event, Proforma (UPIC: PROFORMA) bestowed honors on its supplier partners that had gone above and beyond in the past year. Read more Proforma

Shumsky Enterprises Takes To Facebook To Support The American Heart Association
Dayton, Ohio-based Shumsky Enterprises (UPIC: SHUMSKY) has launched a promotion on its Facebook page to help raise money for the 2012 Greater Dayton 5k Heart Walk/Run to be held on September 22 at Dayton’s Fifth Third Field. Read more Shumsky

MARCO Giving Away Free Wallet Cards To Raise Suicide Prevention Awareness
Distributor MARCO Promotional Products (UPIC: MARCP009) is offering free awareness wallet cards to support suicide prevention efforts. Read more MARCO

Card Colossus
The founders of Continental Plastic Card knew big opportunities could be found in small packages. They built a business out of their home in 1972 catering to requests for small orders of plastic cards, silk-screening one card at a time by hand. Read more Card

Suit Up
A stark contrast exists between one-off apparel promotions and major corporate uniform programs. The difference between the two is sort of like the difference between dashing inside during a rainstorm and running a 5K marathon. The latter requires planning, know-how and commitment. Read more Uniforms

A Million Dollars, A Mustache and You
A mustache is a statement, a look and a deliberate thing. A man can stay clean-shaven or choose to grow a number of varieties from classic to wild. So how is a mustache connected to $1 million? The answer is PPEF—the Promotional Products Education Foundation. Read more Moustache

Stars And Stripes Forever
When it comes time to celebrate the good ol’ US of A, we shouldn’t stop with Independence Day. Share your best and brightest made-in-America products, and tell us how you pitch them to clients, for possible inclusion in the November issue of PPB. Send product descriptions and high-resolution images to Jen Alexander McCall by August 27.

Let’s Get Physical
Fitness is more than a fad—it’s a lifestyle for millions of Americans. Have you successfully pitched programs to clients in the health and fitness industry? Send your tips, case studies and products to Jen Alexander McCall by August 27 for possible inclusion in November PPB.

Polo Palooza
PPB celebrates polo shirts in the November issue, so send product descriptions and high-res images of your men’s, ladies’ and children’s polos to Tama Underwood by August 31 for possible editorial inclusion.

What Would You Do?
A Distributor Asks: We have been purchasing a lot of products from suppliers recently, and just this week I had three suppliers come back and tell me they didn’t have that particular product, color, etc., in stock. I know this was an issue a couple of years ago when the economy tanked, but I guess I didn’t realize it was still an issue. Why can’t suppliers keep products in stock?

What’s Your Answer? E-mail answers along with your name, title and company name to Question@ppai.org by August 31 for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of PPB magazine.