|
Wednesday
October 7, 2009 In Praise of Spongy Girl Parts & Walks of Shame …Filed under: Editorial, Personal Hi Everyone! I’m heading off to Shelbyville, TN, tomorrow to celebrate the wedding of Andy Townes, the oldest son of Dan Townes, legendary industry luminary and owner/president of Shepenco/Shelbyville Pencil (asi/86850). I’ve been to Shelbyville to stay with the Towneses before and they party on a whole different level down there in the South. Can. Not. Wait. Before I leave for the long weekend, I wanted to send shout-outs to everyone doing creative promotions and giving their time and resources for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Cancer is such a horrible, insidious disease, and more than any other group, breast cancer awareness advocates are really experts at mobilizing the masses to raise funds and spread the word about early screenings and self-education. As the proud owner of spongy girl parts, I’m always happy to support friends and colleagues who do breast cancer walks for the Susan G. Komen foundation and other entities, and have received my fair share of pink-hued ad specialties — caps, T-shirts, mugs, water bottles — for my donations. However, as I always lean sharply to the irreverent side, I recently came across three items that just slayed me due to their sheer sassiness. Laughter, as they say, is potent medicine.
The first is this double-sided Scoop ColorBrights Rollerball/Highligher Combo Pen from my pals Michael and Matt Linderman at Express Pens (asi/53411) in Austin, TX. Michael and Matt did this particular pen for a group located in Austin called Planet Cancer, which offers support to young adults, ages 18-40, with cancer. Being in Austin – a city that’s so delightfully eccentric and idiosyncratic that the slogan for its business association is “Keep Austin Weird” — this group has taken a decidedly “F-You” attitude toward cancer. Their message, imprinted on Michael and Matt’s pen, is deliciously defiant and a hit product among visitors to Planet Cancer’s site. (As a rabid Stones fan and Keith fanatic from way back, I covet these pens!) Another favorite item on the Planet Cancer site (www.planetcancer.org)? This T-shirt for women, emblazoned with the phrase “Crazy, Sexy Cancer Goddess.” LOVE IT.
The next item, which ASI’s editorial creative director Jim Lang clued me in to, may be The Best Thing Ever Invented. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the Walk of Shame Kit. Now, I don’t know about you, but where I spend my summers in Avalon, NJ, walks of shame are practically an Olympic sport. (For those of you who aren’t degenerates, a “walk of shame” is what you do the morning after hooking up with someone, when you have to sheepishly shuffle back to your own home in the cold, harsh light of day — usually with throngs of smirking onlookers present — with your eyelashes stuck together, your tongue fuzzy, your shoes in your hand and other articles of clothing crammed into your purse …). Again, being the eternal optimist, I’ve always tried to put a positive spin on it, declaring my morning-after hikes home the “Strides of Pride” and adding a bouncy little jaunt to my step — until the inevitable tumble off the curb, into the gutter.
Complete with everything a dehydrated diva could need, the Walk of Shame Kit comes with sunglasses (to simultaneously keep the pesky glare of sunlight from exacerbating your crushing hangover and camouflage smudgy makeup), a beach cover-up-like dress, flip-flops, a drawstring duffel to carry your clothes from the previous night, a pre-pasted toothbrush, and my personal favorite, a note card that can be left behind that says, “Call me” on one side and ”Thanks for nothing” on the other. Lastly, there’s a pink breast cancer awareness bracelet to remind you that you should always balance out an act of blatant SHEdonism with one of altruism. For each kit sold, a portion of the proceeds are donated on the buyer’s behalf to a breast cancer awareness foundation. Kits can also be customized (ideal for sororities!), either by imprinting the dress, duffel and flip-flops or the tin the kit comes in. For more information on this item intended to help regain a little dignity the morning after and do a little good in the meantime, go to www.walkofshamekit.com. Cheers, and more next week! – M PS: Since I turned 40 two years ago, I make sure to get a mammogram every October. If you haven’t already, sign up for one soon … It’s what all the cheeky chicas who love their spongy parts are doing! ; )
Monday
September 28, 2009 With Glasses Half Full …Filed under: Editorial, Fun, Personal Happy Autumn! As summer is my favorite season, I’m less than thrilled to see it go but welcome the positive aspects of fall, like the latest crop of shoes and boots and the premier of some great new TV shows (more on that later)! Here at Counselor, we’re beginning to think about our awards season and have decided to add a new category to our Spirit Awards to honor industry pros who are using new media platforms for their self-promo campaigns. As an example, check out the latest in a series of Sweda’s hysterical YouTube videos for its 24-hour service. [Click here to watch.] I’m sure there are many companies in the industry crafting cool, creative self-promos using innovative forms of multi-media, so keep an eye out for our call for nominations in February. Here at ASI, one of my favorites is this video on the subject of athletic apparel for Wearables magazine, starring staff writer and our reigning editorial department kook, Matt George. Matt, who’s in his early 20s, reminds me of a big, goofy chocolate lab who pants and gets all excited at the idea of chasing a stray ball or having his belly rubbed. The last 30 seconds of this video make me cackle each time I watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2g1bBzKdDE&feature=player_embedded Speaking of fun, I — and my colleagues here at ASI — always try to stay positive and look on the bright side, despite turbulent financial and market conditions for the economy and our industry. We’re definitely glass-half-full kind of people. As an example, ASI president/CEO Tim Andrews graciously hosted a soiree at his home in Princeton, NJ, last week for the company’s senior leaders. It was a fun and festive occasion, and a great opportunity to relax with work friends you’re too busy to spend time with on a daily basis. I’ve been invited to Tim’s house before, but wasn’t able to make it due to traveling. As Tim greeted me at the door, I told him it was “my first time” and we both burst out laughing, knowing I don’t get to utter a phrase like that too often. Tim’s reason for hosting the party was quite simple: “In an uncertain time, and certainly these have been uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to thank the people who matter — and for me there’s hardly a better way I know than to invite them to come over for a little food, some drink and to be able to spend some time with their colleagues in a social environment,” he says. Here are some photos from the party, featuring some of your favorite ASI characters, I’m sure. Post a comment and let me know who your favorite ASI staffer is and why!
Cheers, and more next week! – M PS: By now those of you who read my blog and my tweets (@ASI_MBell) know that I’m a TV junkie. As I promised myself I would only add two new shows to my already-crowded roster (really, more than that and I would qualify as a crazy cat-lady recluse, just to keep up with all the TV I watch!), here are my picks: For a sitcom, the show Modern Family is hil-arious. It premiered last Tuesday and “The Lion King” moment at the end had me roaring… Click here to watch the 30-minute episode (it’s worth it). For a drama, I went with FlashForward, which premiered last Thursday. I vacillated about whether or not to commit to this one, because it’s premise is a little unnerving, creepy and disjointed and I already get my weekly mind-f**k from Lost. However, having watched the premier, I’m in. In the show, everyone in the world passes out at exactly the same time for two minutes and 17 seconds, which — as you can imagine — wreaks widespread havoc. The last scene from Thursday’s episode alone had me hooked.
Friday
September 11, 2009 Of Webs, Vampires & Sweda…Filed under: Editorial Happy Friday! First, thanks to everyone who logged on to hear the Webinar I moderated yesterday, which featured some industry leaders who will be speaking at ASI’s upcoming third annual Power Summit in Carlsbad, CA. [For more information on the Power Summit, click here]. David Nicholson, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Polyconcept North America, Vera Muzzillo, co-CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Proforma and Memo Kahan, owner of Counselor Top 40 distributor PromoShop discussed such timely issues as sales and marketing strategies to employ in a sluggish economy, pricing predictions for 2010, whether print or online supplier catalogs are the most effective, fertile markets for ad specialty sales, how the new CPSIA regulations will affect the industry and smart ways to utilize online social media. To listen to the free Webinar in its entirety, click here and then click the link at the top for “Power Summit Preview.” Speaking of social media, have you seen how my pals at Counselor Top 40 supplier Sweda are using it masterfully to tout their guaranteed 24-hour service? They’ve posted videos on YouTube that are freaking hilarious. You can tell that Scott Pearson, Sweda’s vice president of merchandising — and the man I affectionately call “Giggles” due to his infectious laugh — and Jim Hagan, the company’s oh-so-charming and self-deprecating president, are having a blast doing these videos. And yes, they are funny, but they’re also getting attention and pushing Sweda’s marketing message out to the industry by using a very cool medium that requires only a bit of time and creativity. Talk about off-the-charts ROI. They are smart cookies, my Sweda BFFs. Click on these links to see their three-video series. “Twenty-four Touches for Sweda’s 24-Hour Service”: “Twenty-four Shots for Sweda’s 24-Hour Service”: “Daredevil Jump Over 24 ‘People’ for Sweda’s 24-Hour Service”: Have an awesome weekend, and more next week! Cheers, – M PS: If you’re a fan of HBO’s True Blood like I am, how excited are you for Sunday’s finale to a season that — despite the show’s genre — definitely did not suck. My hopes for the last episode of ‘09? That someone finally takes down Maryann, the Dionysian strumpet, hard; that Jason continues his Dawn of the Dead-inspired attacks in his uproariously hysterical fashion; and that we again get to see bad-boy vamp Eric, who is so freakin’ hot he makes me want to do “bad things,” sans his shirt. Can. Not. Wait.
Tuesday
September 8, 2009 Get Caught in My “Web”Filed under: Editorial, Interviews Hi Everyone! I’m just back from a long holiday weekend in my beloved Avalon, NJ, where I reveled with such abandon that I now know how Keith Richards feels after a Stones tour. Now that September is off and running and school is officially back in session, we’re kicking our education efforts here at ASI into high gear. This Thursday, September 10, I’m moderating a free Webinar featuring three of the smartest, savviest, most talented people I know in the industry: David Nicholson, the newly-appointed president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Polyconcept North America; Vera Muzzillo, co-owner of Counselor Top 40 distributor Proforma; and Memo Kahan, owner of Counselor Top 40 distributor PromoShop. Each of these leaders will be panelists at ASI’s third annual Power Summit, which will be held from November 1-3 at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA. For more information on this year’s Power Summit, click here. What listeners will glean from this Webinar are the panelists’ insights and advice on the strategies they’ve been using to keep their businesses above water in a dismal economy, and their stance on topics like new safety regulations and what the industry can expect for the rest of 2009 and into 2010. See below for more information on this free education event. I hope to see you log on this Thursday! More later in the week, and cheers! – M
Tuesday
September 1, 2009 Guest Blog: My Top 5 Summer Escapes, by Jake KrolickFiled under: Travel So my buddy “Bell” asked me to guest blog for her while she is out of the office this week. We tend to think on the same page, get into the same type of shenanigans, and share a mutual respect for each other’s ability to incite a crowd to riot - or at least lead a gaggle of folks on an evening of unadulterated fun. Since it’s the last day of August, it seemed fitting that I send out the industry’s favorite vacation month by paying homage to my top 5 favorite summer escapes. Bell asked that I tie the post into the promo industry, and so I’ve included a promotional product that one would find most useful on each of these escapes. Please share your favorite vacation escapes in the comments, and let me know which promotional product you found useful to have along for the ride. Cheers, 5. Chicago I love getting away from people, but I can recognize a good city when I see one. I would have placed Philly here, but most readers wouldn’t get why. Chicago in the summer is another story, and one that won’t spark as much question. Plain and simple during the months of June, July, and August, it’s just gorgeous. It’s all about being lazy between the Zoo and the Conservatory in Lincoln Park, or playing volleyball until dusk on the lake. Stumbling around wrigglyville or the Viagra Triangle or snagging music at Free Festivals in Wicker Park or hanging out with Perry Ferrell at Lollapalooza in Grant Park – Chicago in the summer is on like Donkey Kong! For information about Chicago’s Park District, click here. Promo Product that you will find useful: Frisbee (175 grams, people - none of those wimpy disks) – yep, simple and still fun.
Ever since I stopped attending and working at summer camps, I missed them. The closest thing I’ve found to summer camp for adults is the summer music festival. No festival in the country is as pro as the intimate offering in Quincy, CA known as High Sierra. Do you love live music? Want to smell the California pines, and sample some of the bay area’s finest wines? Want to catch music from 2- 5 am and then play kickball at 6:00 am with a few hundred others? Cool – me too! For information on the High Sierra Music Festival, click here. Promo Product that you will find useful: Double-wide Collapsible Chair w/ Beverage Holders in the center – because your legs will be tired, and it’s always nice to have room for friends.
It’s not as off the beaten path as it once was, but thru-hike the narrows in Zion on a couple hot days in July or August – you’ll thank me for changing your life later. For information on Zion National Park, click here. Promo Product that you will find useful: Nalgene Water Bottles – rehydration is key, even though you’re wet most of the hike.
2. Summit County, Colorado Get in 18 holes at the Ranch course at Keystone, drop the clubs at the pad, jump on the bike and ride around Lake Dillon, stop for a light lunch and rum runners at the Tiki Bar at the Lake Dillon Marina while you watch the J-class boats race. Then ride your bike back to Frisco in time to catch the tail end of the Frisco BBQ challenge. Then snooze until dusk and jump back on the mountain bike to snag a 5- to 10-mile ride. Finish the night at the Moose Jaw or the Backcountry Brewery, but call it at midnight because tomorrow you’re going kayaking on a run from Pumphouse to Radium on the Colorado River. I could go on, but the list of outdoor activities, arts, and fun would just make your head spin, and yes, the winter has even more. For information on Keystone, click here.
Promo Product that you will find useful: an extra sleeve of golf balls – because you’re going to need them for holes 5 and 16. 1. Maine I have an unfair advantage, because I grew up in the state of Maine and almost always feel the need to escape to the foothills of the White Mountains or do dawn patrol surfing the 3- to 4-foot slabs of glass on Higgins Beach. Maine’s license plate motto says it best: “Vacationland,” and it’s called that for good reason. Send the kiddos up to summer camp in the lakes region and stay on Sebago Lake for a week. Then sample the 20+ microbrews in Portland (Gritty McDuff’s is a sure bet). Personally, I recommend a good hang in southern Maine. Take the Casco Bay Ferry lines to Peaks Island for reggae Sundays, or head up to Backcountry Bike Excursions for some of the east’s sickest mountain bike trails. Maine is one of the best family vacation spots in the world, so do yourself a favor and visit soon. For information on Higgins Beach, click here.
Promo Product that you will find useful: Lobster Bibs – because you’re going to eat more than a few of these tasty crustaceans. Again, please comment and share your favorite vacation escapes, and let me know which promotional product you found useful to have along for the ride. Jake Krolick, online marketing manager at ASI, also writes freelance for the music industry, specializing in live show reviews, photo journalism and video mash-ups. He has been known to enjoy long walks on the beach, skiing, biking, surfing, cooking, and travel.
Monday
August 10, 2009 The Sounds of SummerHi, Everyone! Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the summer! First, the wacky, “Are you kidding me, you crazy chica???” news: That sound you hear is hell freezing over, because I am officially on Twitter (ASI_MBell). Yep, my capacity for hypocrisy apparently knows no bounds, after my many “I loathe online social networking” rants. (I still want no part of Facebook, though, and giggled with delight over the best line in a recent episode of Entourage: Vinny to E: “Why aren’t you on Facebook?” E to Vinny: “Because I’m an adult.”) And don’t think the irony escaped me that literally, within hours of me joining Twitterville, the whole system came crashing down. It’s like online social networking heard I’ve bad-mouthed it and retorted with an extended middle finger. Second, I just returned from vacation in my beloved Avalon, NJ and spent lots of blissful beach time reading magazines, simmering in the sun (my skin tone now resembles beef carpaccio) and listening to my iPod. Which got me thinking: Is there anything better than the quintessential “summer song” to put you in a fabulous mood, no matter what season you hear it? Right now, “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (listen to it here) really wants to be the theme song for the Summer of 2009. And don’t get me wrong — it’s catchy, jaunty, and Lord knows I’m on board with any song whose refrain is “Fill up my cup — Mazel Tov!” But when considering the songs that put me in my happy place — those that would comprise my personal soundtrack of summers past — I submit the following, in no particular order: 1. “Sweet Child ‘O Mine,” Guns ‘N Roses. The album Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, but this song — which saturated airwaves in the summer of 1988 — put the band on the map. What starts with Slash having his way with his Les Paul guitar evolves into a declaration of affection from singer Axl Rose to his girlfriend at the time, Erin Everly (daughter of Don Everly, of the Grammy-winning Everly Brothers). What makes it a lyrical miracle is that a bunch of misogynistic tools managed to craft one of the most stunningly sweet love songs ever. Listen to it here. 2. “All Summer Long,” Kid Rock. Yes, yes — I know he’s douchy and looks like he needs a flea dip. But this song, unquestionably the anthem of the Summer of 2008, still makes me smile when I hear it because Kid Rock (of all people) managed to capture that feeling — the one you had when you were young and summer nights, and the debauchery that went with them, lasted forever. Listen to it here. 3. “Highway to Hell,” AC/DC. They had me, in the summer of 1980, when Back in Black came out and I heard “You Shook Me All Night Long” for the first time. They kept me when I saw the band for the first time and realized that the guitar player producing those incendiary sounds wore knickers, for the love of God. But it’s “Highway to Hell” that has me flooring it at 90 miles per hour in my car through sheer force of osmosis. I came to grips a long time ago with the fact that I — and all my heathen friends — are on the highway to hell; I’ve only recently realized that I’m driving the pace car. Listen to it here. 4. “Little Red Corvette,” Prince. Forget for a moment that when he wrote this song (which is most certainly not about cars, horses or jockeys) in 1982, Prince was not in a little, red Corvette, but in the back of a bright pink Ford Edsel that belonged to Lisa Coleman, his guitarist in The Revolution. So slyly sexy, so tongue-in-cheek sassy, this song alone can steam up any car’s windows. No one does dirty double-entendres like the little man in high-heel purple velvet boots; no one brings the funk like him either. Listen to it here. 5. “Express Yourself,” Madonna. If you can get past her annoying British affectations and that she’s had so much work done on her face it looks like Silly Putty stretched across one’s knee, the Material Girl and her music have morphed so many times, she really is the Mother of Reinvention. Released in the summer of 1989 on the then-scandalous Like a Prayer album, throngs of females everywhere — young and old — got their girl power on strutting around to this empowerment anthem. Listen to it here. 6. “Southern Cross,” Crosby, Stills & Nash. In the summer of 2001, five girlfriends and I rented a house in Avalon, NJ. None of us were in relationships at the time, and met quite the buffet of boy toys. The problem? We all suffered from late-night cases of extreme DUI (Dialing Under the Influence). If you’ve ever drunk-dialed a significant (or not-so-significant) other and woken up to less-than-savory consequences, you know it’s not a pleasant thing. At one point, we all decided to hide our phones after coming home at 3:00 a.m. from the bars. The issue? The next morning, we couldn’t remember where we hid them and had to call from an outside line to listen for the rings coming from the refrigerator crisper, the dishwasher and the toaster oven. There’s a verse in this song, “From a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you,” that will always remind me of that summer. Listen to it here. 7. “Roadhouse Blues,” The Doors. My friend Mark Hobbs (aka, “McDreamy”), owner of Pacific Coast Golf, is the only other person I know who loves The Doors as much as I do. With this song in particular, it’s the lure of the lead-in from Robby Krieger’s guitar, then John Densmore’s pulsing drums, followed by Ray Manzarek’s hypnotic keyboards that bring us to the baddest of all bad boys, Mr. Jim Morrison — Dionysus himself — and his seductive vocals. The Sexiest Rock Star Ever, I’d follow that reptilian devil in slinky leather pants right to the gates of hell. I don’t wake up in the morning, and I don’t drink beer, but you bet your ass that for the Lizard King, I’d give up my vows. Listen to it here. 8. “You Get What You Give,” New Radicals. When things look their bleakest thanks to an awful economy, sluggish sales or general doom and gloom, I challenge anyone to listen to this song and not get an immediate infusion of optimism. Listen to it here. 9. “Reelin’ in the Years,” Steely Dan. First, let me say that I have always worshipped at the altar of Steely Dan, the most sardonic, whip-smart and subversive of all rock genius weirdos. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker may not be much to look at, but their lyrics are simply sublime. (And not just because they pay homage to “the Quervo Gold and fine Colombian.”) Second, you have to give props to a duo who’s been together for 30+ years and has the wink-and-nod humor to name their band after a sexual device in legendary writer William Burrough’s infamous masterpiece Naked Lunch. “Reelin’ in the Years,” released in the summer of 1972 from the Can’t Buy a Thrill album, is a revelation. With the most acute clarity, I remember coming out of the ocean one Saturday afternoon in July of 1999 and walking to my beach chair on 21st Street in Avalon, NJ. The lifeguard was listening to this song loudly on his radio and, with the sky the most azure blue you’d ever imagine, seemingly every adult on the beach was singing along. And then I recall thinking, “This is one of those perfect moments that I’ll remember forever.” Listen to it here. 10. “Bad Things,” Jace Everett. This may be the most aptly-named song in history. The theme of HBO’s fabulously sinister and lascivious True Blood, never has a song woven so well with the surreal (and more than a little creepy) imagery of a TV show’s opening credits. The libidinous beat, with its Southern discomfort undertones, conjures up steamy summer evenings where, make no mistake, things will go very bad, very fast … in a very, very good way. Listen to it here. 11. “No One,” Alicia Keys. This soaring testimony to the power of unconditional love makes even a snarky cynic like me a true believer. Listen to it here. 12. “Liquor Store,” Dash Rip Rock. When Dan Townes, industry legend, one of Counselor’s Power 50 and owner of Shepenco/Shelbyville Pencil, turned me on to this band, it was this hilarious song in particular he knew I’d love. With the refrain, “I wanna be locked inside a liquor store with you,” it makes me tear up, it’s so romantic. Should the apocalyptic day ever come when I get married, this will be my wedding song (pause for the sound of my mother’s head exploding…). As an added bonus, you just have to love a band that names itself after a character on The Beverly Hillbillies. Listen to it here. 13. “Runnin’ with the Devil,” Van Halen. Ranking right up there with the debate over national health care is this one: Who was the better VH frontman, David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar? Whichever camp you’re in, you can’t deny that the car horn fade-in and Michael Anthony’s thundering bass line in “Runnin’ ” makes it one of the best openings for a song ever. It also reminds me of one of my ASI BFFs, Christian Brandt, executive director of distributor services. He loves Van Halen, and — let’s face it — if you know him like I do, you have to admit that if anyone’s running with the devil, it’s this Christian. ; ) Listen to it here. 14. “Magic Man,” Heart. Of the sister duo Heart, Nancy Wilson (the blonde one) is a girl after my own heart. She wrote this song as a way to explain to her mother why she just had to leave home for a summer and travel across the country with a hypnotic, enigmatic bad boy — much to her mother’s chagrin. Having once traveled cross-country for the summer in a bus with a band (I was dating the bad-boy drummer), much to MY mother’s chagrin, I am quite familiar with the lure of Magic Man land. I used to be a frequent visitor, and have the baggage to prove it. Listen to it here. 15. ”Brandy,” The Looking Glass. What a fine girl you are indeed. Always classier than boozy, haggard Lola with her faded feathers over at the Copacabana, and that boy tease Jessie’s Girl, we rooted for you to finally hook up with with your locket-giving sailor from the sea. He may have had a Brandy in every port, but you can serve us whiskey and wine any time. Listen to it here. 16. “Mexico,” James Taylor. There really are no words to express my love and adoration for James Taylor other than these: There was a glorious five-year stretch when JT would tour each summer and land in Philly on my birthday (August 9th). It was like my own, personal gift from God. One year, as he — alone on stage with only his guitar and amazing talent — sang “Fire & Rain,” some drunk girl in the row behind me kept heckling him, loudly and with profanity, to sing “How Sweet It Is.” Because we were seated within the first five rows, I had no doubt that The Beloved One heard her. Something in me just snapped, and I — to the delight and relief of everyone sitting around us — turned around and punched Drunk Girl in the face, dropping her like a bag of dirt. The moral of the story? No one disrespects Sweet Baby James on my watch. Samba-tinged, “Mexico” is such the seminal summer song that Mr. Margaritaville himself, Jimmy Buffet, covers it (and even manages not to cheese it up). Listen to it here. So for those of you who’d like to create a memorable soundtrack of summer (or any season, really!) for yourself or your clients, I suggest contacting my pals Mark Bruk at CFS Promotions for Now! (asi/42989; ph: 800-800-8285) or Rob Watson at MediaTree (asi/70303; ph: 800-475-8703), both of whom do music download cards, or my girl Allison Schaffer at Sound Line LLC (asi/88241; ph: 800-750-5189), whose company handles customizable music CDs. Music, truly, is the gift that keeps giving. Have I been egregious in leaving off any glaringly-obvious fabulous summer songs? Post a comment and let me know! One last thing: My BFF Craig Nadel, president of Counselor Top 40 distributor Jack Nadel Int’l., has been tortured for as long as I’ve known him (12 years) over the lyrics for “Sympathy for the Devil,” by The Stones (Listen to it here). The song is known for being, aside from downright sulfurous, remarkably historically accurate (it must have been one of Keith and Mick’s rare moments of lucidity when they wrote it). There is one line, however, that has driven Craig and I NUTS over the years because we can’t attribute it to any historical reference. If you’re the first person to post the accurate attribution, I’ll send you a $100 gift card. Here’s the lyric: “And I laid traps for troubadours, who get killed before they reach Bombay…” Please ease Craig’s pain — and mine! ; ) Cheers, and more soon! – M
Friday
July 24, 2009 My Kinda Town, Chicago Is!Filed under: ASI Shows, Editorial, Fun, Travel Hi Everyone! I’m just back from the ASI Chicago Show, which was awesome on a multitude of levels. It was fabulous seeing old industry friends (Windbrella’s Bob Hechler, JournalBooks’ Tim O’Boyle & Jamie Raynor and R.S. Owens’ Scott Siegel, I’m looking at you… ; ) ) and meeting some amazing new ones like industry veteran Lisa Bennett. That Lisa and I have never met is perplexing. Lisa, who lives in Chicago, is a multiline rep who handles companies like Counselor Top 40 supplier Ash City, my friend Leigh’s company, Say Thank You with Coffee, and some others. She is sassy, hilariously wry and we share many of the same friends. She also has the distinction of being the person to convince me to stop being such an old-school whiner and join the Twitter flock. (Though I still maintain, as I routinely tell SnugZ’s Charley Johnson, it will be easier to raise the dead than to get me on Facebook … that so isn’t happening.) Stay tuned for next week’s blog which will have my Twitter info. The show itself was well-attended and steadily crowded, and participation in ASI’s educational offerings was up nearly 10% from last year. I myself moderated two panels, which turned out well – mainly because I am so lucky to be friends with such talented people. On my panel for suppliers, which offered the chance to gain insights into how to win a distributor’s business and loyalty, I had Deluxe Corp.’s Sheila Johnshoy, Touchstone’s Tad Webster, Brown & Bigelow’s Cindy Jorgenson and WorkflowOne’s Mike Riddle. On my ”Secrets to Wildly Successful Self-Promotions” panel, I had industry speaker and veteran Cliff Quicksell, OnTime Promotions’ Sharon Biernat and PromoShop’s Kris Robinson. I’d like to thank all my panelists for being so gracious and giving with their time and expertise. Lastly, my favorite event of the Chicago Show is always the Counselor awards banquet, where we recognize the Person of the Year, as well as the Top 40 suppliers and distributors (for a list of winners, click here). It was an exciting night for me because my girl Bonni Shevin-Sandy, executive vice president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Dard, won the very well-deserved International Person of the Year award. I adore Bonni, and when it comes to doing business in a global marketplace, my girl has skills!!! The funniest line of the evening came from Chuck Fandos (”Chuckles,” as I call him), who took one look at the group of hooting and hollering rowdy rummies – PromoShop’s Kris Robinson and Memo & Sabrina Kahan, Chuck’s business partner Conrad Franey, Sweda’s Jim Hagan and Scott Pearson, BIC’s Dave Saracino, in addition to myself and ASI’s publisher Rich Fairfield – at our very prominently placed (dead center in the front of the room) table and looked at me with dread. ”What the hell are you doing putting us up so far in the front, Michele??? Look at us – we’re back-of-the-bus kind of people!!!” But hey, that’s my way – I love surrounding myself with excessive rock stars and charismatic wackos. ; ) Enjoy some photos below from the show and look for more next week! Cheers, M
Sunday
July 12, 2009 The Weirdness of Me…Hi Everyone! I hope you’re all having a fun summer and finding ways to chill (literally and figuratively) and enjoy yourselves. We’ve been busy in ASI’s editorial department, closing our special annual Counselor “State of the Industry” issue (due out later this month), in addition to our other magazines and preparing for the upcoming ASI Chicago Show. It is for these reasons that I’ve been more than a little stressed — which, for those of you who know me, makes me so much more of a delight than I usually am. Let’s just say that some of my eccentricities really start to shine under certain circumstances. For example, I have a tendency when I’m in a mood like this and want something, to write it in verse — usually rhyme, sometimes iambic pentameter – because it sounds sweet and whimsical, and makes me seem (I think) less like the demanding diva I can be. Recently, I wanted my BFF Jeremy Young (one of ASI’s tech geeks) to bring me some chicken salad (one of my favorite things!) that his mother, a fabulous cook who knows her way around a skillet*, had made. To avoid sounding petulant and Veruca Salt-ish (”I want, I want, I want…!!!”), this is what I sent Jeremy to convey my request: Ode to Chicken Salad Though not a fan of salad, green, There is another on which I’m keen, Often described as “finger-lickin’ “ It’s the kind made of chicken!
I think it’s because this was the last thing I wrote before going to sleep that night, and because I had work on my mind and took two Tylenol PM capsules**, I had a trippy (on a multitude of levels) dream that would have had Freud scratching his head and reaching for a tumbler of scotch. In it, Tim Andrews, ASI’s president & CEO, announced to the company that Ben Bernanke — the Chairman of the Fed — was coming to ASI and that I would be the one to make a presentation to him on the company’s behalf***. Walking through ASI on my way to address the Chairman, Joe Haley — my tortured managing editor and the star of The Joe Show – followed me with a little red wagon, handing out seashells to every ASI staffer we passed****. As we got to the auditorium, I took the stage, turned to the Chairman of the Fed, 500 ASI employees, Tim Andrews and the Cohn Family and did the entire presentation in haiku. The last thing I remember before waking in a cold sweat was the look of shocked horror on Tim’s face. The next day I mentioned my dream to Tim, who frankly waved it off as me being a weapons-grade weirdo. Fast forward to about a week later when Tim walked in to my office and told me he had just come from a visit to his home state of Indiana, where he stayed at a place called Hotel Indigo. At this boutique hotel, the menus, room advertisements, key card, “Do Not Disturb” door hanger, bar coasters and napkins — everything — had fun little messages that were written in, you guessed it, haiku.
Tim shook his head in disbelief. “I swear to you,” he told me, “before staying at this hotel and your wacko dream it had been years since I heard the word ‘haiku’ used in any form. You have to admit — it’s not something that comes up in everyday conversation.” How clever is this hotel, though, to tie in the concept of the haiku with all their collateral promotional materials? And how fabulous would it be if they offered some equally cool and inspiring ad specialties to guests as a welcome or in-room gift, or something sent to loyal customers? (Savvy distributors reading out there, I’m talking to you… ; ) ). I love this hotel’s attention to detail and creative ingenuity in employing the under-utilized (though clearly very hip) haiku as a form of communication! Speaking of communicating, next time I blog it will be from the ASI Chicago Show, starting Tuesday, 7/21 and running ’til Thursday, 7/23. If you’re exhibiting, please be my guest at a free luncheon and panel discussion just for suppliers (held on Tuesday, 7/21 from 12-1:30 p.m. right on the show floor). I’ll be moderating a panel of four top-selling distributors who will share with you what it takes to win their business and their loyalty. If you’re a distributor, join me on Wednesday, 7/22, from 2:45-3:45 p.m. (right behind the Advantages’ New Products pavilion) for a panel discussion on super-successful self-promotion campaigns, featuring some award-winning promos that garnered double- and triple-digit response rates and tens of thousands of dollars in sales for the distributors who created them. Cheers, and more next week from Chicago! – M * I myself cannot cook at all, and once had to ask Jeremy — with a furrowed brow and confused expression, “What the hell is a skillet?” ** I’m also mystified that I, certainly no clean slate when it comes to pharmaceuticals, was sent reeling by two little Tylenol PM capsules. It’s like Keith Richards being leveled by a Flintstones vitamin. *** As the majority of my working knowledge of the stock market comes from the movie Trading Places, it should be noted that I’d be the last person at ASI — and that includes the nice high school boy who mows our lawns — Tim Andrews would ask to address the Chairman of the Fed. **** Joe Haley would like you all to know that despite his guest role in my dream, he is neither my lackey nor my bitch in real life. ; )
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
