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Wednesday
December 23, 2009 See You in Orlando!Filed under: ASI Shows, Editorial Hi Everyone! I hope you’re enjoying this fabulous holiday season and are getting ready for a new year and decade so awesome that it’ll erase all the angst, stress and hardships of the last one. Are you going to be in Orlando for the ASI Show from January 3-5? I am! If you’re there, please join me on Education Day (Sunday, 1/3) for two panel discussions I’ll be moderating. If you’re an exhibitor, take a break from setting up your booth on Sunday for a free luncheon panel just for suppliers featuring four top distributor salespeople: Dan Jellinek from Touchstone Marketing — one of Counselor magazine’s Fastest Growing Distributors; Mercy Crespo from Counselor Top 40 distributor HALO/Lee Wayne; Burke Buchanan from Counselor Top 40 distributor Vernon; and Joe George from Counselor Top 40 distributor American Solutions for Business. They’ll share with you what it takes to win and keep their business, and their stance on topics like who’s responsible for product safety, what makes a great supplier and what they’d like to see from trade show exhibitors. This exhibitors-only luncheon discussion, “What Distributors Want From You,” will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in room 202AB of the Orlando Convention Center. If you’re a distributor, join me for a panel discussion on a topic near and dear to my heart: “The Fine Art of Creative Self-Promotion.” To be held on Sunday, 1/3, from 2:45-3:45 p.m. in room 104 of the Orlando Convention Center, this panel will feature: Power 50 member Greg Muzzillo, co-CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Proforma — a company that’s won numerous awards for its phenomenal self-promo campaigns; Leo Eisner, a 50-year industry veteran and top sales rep with CounselorTop 40 distributor HALO/Lee Wayne who’s generated a majority of his business over the years through self-promo initiatives; and Jake Krolick, ASI’s new media marketing guru, who’s an expert at using tools like video, Facebook and Twitter to boost sales and business. I look forward to seeing you all at the first national ad specialty trade show of the year, and hope you can make it to one of my panel discussions. Have a very Merry Christmas and a spectacular 2010! Cheers, M
Wednesday
December 9, 2009 Be a Giver!Hi Everyone! I hope you’re all doing well and embracing the spirit of the holiday season. I love this time of year for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that festive benders are sanctioned as “yuletide cheer.” ; ) Another reason I love the holidays is that everyone seems so much more giving and altruistic. Not so altruistically, I ramp up my charitable efforts in December because I know that as the year comes to a close I’ll be needing a Silkwood shower-style karmic cleansing and will have to do lots of good deeds to neutralize 12 months of toxic, self-indulgent antics. Let’s just say that I’m a charter member of Santa’s “bad” list. (Yet another example why I prefer the Easter Bunny… He’s not so big into the pesky judgements.) Here’s a cool way you can share the holiday spirit: As one of the hosts of ASI Radio (www.asicentral.com/radio), I — along with Melinda Ligos, Joe Haley, Kathy Huston and Andy Cohen — will be doing a radiothon on ASI Radio this Tuesday (12/15) at 10:30 a.m. to raise money for members of the military transitioning back to life in the U.S. after their service overseas. See below for more details and to find out about some of the cool items we’ll be auctioning off from my beloved BFFs at Gemline, IMC, Leed’s, Logomark and Sweda, among others. Big kudos to those companies for being so gracious and generous. So, if you can donate an item, please do; if you can pledge money, that’d be super too. ‘Tis the season to be ginchy, not Grinchy! ; ) Cheers! — M PS: Here, for you viewing pleasure, one of my favorites of the Christmas season: The “Mr. Heatmiser” song from The Year Without a Santa, as sung by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMjAf8Nwohs ASIRadiothon: Help ASI Raise Money For The G.I. Go Fund |