PPB Newslink August 7: In Memoriam: Gene Cesario, MAS

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In Memoriam: Gene Cesario, MAS
Eugene P. (Gene) Cesario, MAS, former PPAI board member and 1997 PPAI Hall of Fame inductee, passed away in Arlington, Texas, on August 2 following complications from heart surgery. He was 72. Read more Cesario

PPEF Executive Committee Holds Annual Planning Meeting At PPAI Headquarters
Last week, PPAI hosted the annual planning session of the Promotional Products Education Foundation’s (PPEF) executive committee. The meeting is an opportunity for the executive committee to discuss the future of PPEF. Read more PPEF

SAGE Updates Its SAGE Mobile Application
SAGE has released an updated version of its SAGE Mobile application for iOS and Android devices. SAGE Mobile 3.0 adds more than 50 new features and enhancements. Read more Mobile

Visual Promotions Signs Exclusive Decorating Contract With Igloo
Visual Promotions (UPIC: VPBrand), a supplier in Sealy, Texas, has signed an exclusive decorating contract with cooler manufacturer Igloo Product Corp. Read more Visual Promotions

Newton Manufacturing Company Holds An ESOP “Note Burning” Party
Newton Manufacturing Company in Newton, Iowa, held a Note Burning Party to celebrate the final payment on a series of loans used to establish the company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Read more Newton

Industry Distributor Hit By Scammers
An industry member reports falling victim to a credit card scam. It came to the company in an e-mail order that appeared to be legitimate. Read more Scams

BrightStores, Inc. Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary
BrightStores, Inc. (UPIC: bsi), a supplier in Evergreen, Colorado, celebrated its 10th anniversary on August 2. The company launched in 2002 to provide company store technology to the promotional products industry. Read more BrightStores

MARCO Ideas Unlimited Moves To New Location
MARCO Ideas Unlimited (UPIC: MARCO), a distributor in Portland, Oregon, has relocated. The company’s new address is 7105 SW Vams St. #150, Portland, Oregon 97223.

Sign Up For Today’s PPAI Suppliers’ Forum At The SAAC Show
PPAI is holding its Suppliers’ Forum alongside this week’s SAAC Show, hosted by the Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC) in Long Beach, California. And SAAC Show attendees not already registered for Suppliers’ Forum can register for the event on-site. Read more Suppliers’ Forum

PPAI’s Suppliers’ Forum Comes To The MAPPS By SAGE Show
On August 19, PPAI is hosting its Suppliers’ Forum at the MAPPS by SAGE show in Dallas, Texas. In a program tailored specifically to the needs of industry suppliers, the Suppliers’ Forum provides education and networking opportunities for industry suppliers attending MAPPS. The Suppliers’ Forum education session and lunch runs from 11:30 am-1 pm. More information is available here.

Reserve One Of The Final Seats For The 2012 PPAI North American Leadership Conference
Registration is still available for next week’s PPAI North American Leadership Conference (NALC) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Read more NALC

PPAI’s Webinar Series Delivers Professional Education Opportunities This Month
PPAI’s August webinar series educates and informs industry professionals on the latest trends and best practices, helping their businesses grow and furthering their professional development. Read more Webinars

PPAI Releases 2011 Annual Report
This month, PPAI released its Annual Report for the 2011 fiscal year, which ended December 31, 2011. The document outlines the Association’s programs, activities, events and accomplishments for the fiscal year and looks at its financial strength. To read PPAI’s 2011 Annual Report, click here.

Sign The PPAI Code Of Conduct Today
The PPAI Code of Product Responsibility Conduct gives industry professionals a tangible presentation that can show clients what they are doing to meet end buyers’ expectations for product safety and social and environmental assurances. Read more Code of Conduct

CPSC Commissioner’s Term Set To Expire
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will soon be down to three members and it is anticipated that this will lead to more decisive action from the organization in the coming months. Read more CPSC

The 2012 PPAI Product Safety Summit Is Sold Out, But There’s Still An Opportunity To Attend
Due to overwhelming demand, registration for the 2012 PPAI Product Safety Summit is now closed. However, interested promotional products professionals attending the PPAI North American Leadership Conference this month in New Orleans, Louisiana, are encouraged to sign up for the attendee waiting list for their opportunity to participate. Read more Product Safety Summit

Pinnacle Designs (UPIC: PINNACLE), a supplier headquartered in San Fernando, California, has hired Ryan Felts as a custom project specialist. He brings eight years of custom promotional products experience to the position.

Marsha Brooks (left) has been promoted to sales manager at Avenel, New Jersey, supplier Vantage Apparel (UPIC: vantage). Brooks joined Vantage Apparel in 2010, most recently serving as sales representative for Kentucky and Ohio. In her new role, she will be responsible for the central region. Bryan Vaughn, MAS, has been brought on board to replace Brooks as the sales representative for Kentucky and Ohio. He brings prior experience as an industry regional sales manager to the position.

Crystal D Holds Employee Blood Drive
On May 14, employees at St. Paul, Minnesota-supplier Crystal D (UPIC: CRYSTALD) donated 17 units of blood at an American Red Cross Bloodmobile. Read more Crystal D

If you are like most distributors, you are constantly working on multiple projects at the same time. That is why SAGE has made it easy to perform multiple searches and work on multiple presentations all at the same time using its intuitive tabbed navigation. But what if you have 10 tabs open and you need to close them all? Instead of closing each one individually, simply RIGHT CLICK on your mouse and you will get three options: 1-Close all tabs, 2-Close other tabs, 3-Close all tabs to the right of this one. These three options will allow you to manage your multiple tabs with ease. Learn more about SAGE and the other benefits available through your PPAI membership by clicking here.

Lucky 13
Meet PPB’s 2012 Rising Stars—13 up-and-coming leaders who have the potential to guide the industry into the next decade and beyond. Read more Stars

Ring Up Sales With Retail and Franchise Clients
It was a small idea hatched in a Destin, Florida, breakfast spot—custom coffee mugs that Another Broken Egg café customers could purchase at the upscale franchise eatery’s locations across the U.S. Read more Retail

Culinary Cornucopia
Salty or sweet, savory or subtle, food promotions reward us on so many levels. Besides satisfying our senses, using food as promotional incentives offers a level of personalization not often found with inedible items. Read more Culinary

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.