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Thursday
June 12, 2008

Primo Show for Promo East!

Filed under: Editorial, Fun, Travel

Hi Everyone!

Last week was the Promotions East Show in Atlantic City (or, as I refer to it, the Hellmouth of the East Coast). Despite the fact that it is not an easy place to get to unless you’re from NJ or Philly, people flock to this show and for good reason - it’s one of the two biggest regional shows (SAAC’s August show in Long Beach, CA, being the other) and a solidly good, mid-year event that attracts top-tier ad specialty professionals. (Another factor could be the world-famous “White House” cheesesteaks and hoagies, which have developed a rabid, cult-like following among show-goers.)

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Wednesday
May 28, 2008

The Good, the Bad & the Slimy: Memories of this year’s Asian shows

Filed under: Asia, Travel

Hi Everyone — 
 
Having just returned from a debaucherous Memorial Day weekend in Avalon, NJ, where I disgrace myself each summer, I’ve asked a colleague to guest blog on my behalf while I tend to my quivering liver.
 
In the past, Rich Fairfield, ASI’s senior vice president & publisher, and I have attended the Hong Kong and Canton shows held each year. This year, Rich took pity on me — and my crazy deadlines — and gave me a reprieve. Staff Writer Elaine Wong, who speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese and whose family hails from Guangzhou, attended the shows with Rich. (He made a wise choice in bringing Elaine, as the only language I speak fluently is Snark…). Not only was this Elaine’s first time at the shows, it was her first time ever in Asia. Read on for her recollections of and personal insights on the country and the shows, which are refreshingly less jaded than mine would be…

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Friday
March 21, 2008

The End of the Roadshow… Out with a Bang, Not a Whimper

Filed under: ASI Shows, Fun, Travel

Hey there Everyone!

My apologies for just getting this final blog installment from last week’s Advantages road show through the Midwest to you now. Frankly, it took a few days for my internal organs to stop quivering. Some people may leave their hearts in San Francisco, but my lungs and liver are in Des Moines and St. Louis.

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Thursday
March 13, 2008

Kooks Invade Kansas City; Locals Flee in Fright

Filed under: ASI Shows, Fun, Travel

Hi from Kansas City, where it is day four of the Advantages Roadshow though it feels like day 8, 895.

You’ll all be happy to know that Kansas City has been a blast and today’s attendance at the show was 199 — suppliers are freaking ecstatic. “The quality of the attendees has been really good across the board,” says Tom Ngo, director of sales and marketing for Key-Bak and the person who has been my handler on this trip. Tom has also been the bartender extraordinaire on the bus — he is like “Isaac the bartender” on The Love Boat.

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Tuesday
March 11, 2008

Advantages Roadshow — Day Two: Des Moines

Filed under: Travel

Hi from the show bus in Des Moines!

So last night my new friends and I went out in downtown Des Moines looking for some fun, and found it in spades. After cocktails at the aptly-named “Doozies” bar in the hotel, we started the evening at a “rustic” place where Dan Burke from Avaline took music requests from the group. Dan regaled us with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” not once, but twice. Then, we found ourselves in our first gay bar of the evening. Who knew that downtown Des Moines was so cosmopolitan?
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Monday
March 10, 2008

On the Road with the Advantages Show — Day One from Minneapolis

Filed under: Travel

Hi from the Twin Cities!

This is the first day of the Advantages traveling show, which will take me from Minneapolis today to Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis.
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Friday
February 15, 2008

Come Fly With Me (Or Not)

Filed under: Fun, Travel

Hi from Philly!

Well, after traveling to four shows in three countries already this year, I am thrilled to be home in PA for a few weeks. The great part of traveling, of course, is getting to spend time with friends, as I did this past weekend in Austin, TX. After the ASI Dallas Show, I went to hang out with my favorite industry family, the Lindermans — Michael, Jane and Matt. Austin, if you’ve never been, is a very eclectic, idiosyncratic blue reservoir of liberal cool in a big ‘ol red state. Its slogan, of all things, is “Keep Austin Weird” — which should tell you a lot about why I love it so much. Michael & Jane Linderman, who are not weird but definitely fun, took me to an awesome area of Austin called the Domain, where fantastic restaurants, fire pits and upscale shops like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. reside. There are condos above the stores and don’t think for a moment that if I lived in Austin, I wouldn’t buy one just so I could say I live at Tiffany’s.

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Thursday
February 7, 2008

Michele Does Dallas!

Filed under: ASI Shows, Travel

Hey Y’all from Dallas, Texas on the first day of the ASI Show!

I’ve been here since Tuesday, and spent that night catching up with the one and only Dan Townes, at the Palm. We have dinner there every year and we’ve become friendly with the general manager, Randy Hill, who is just the coolest guys and tolerates (and in fact often encourages) our bad behavior (because, when Dan and I are involved, there will be “incidents,” such as the one year when Dan hurled a pork chop two tables away to say hello to our friend Jay Donlin, the vice president of Visions/Awardcraft…).

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