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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
Monday
November 30, 2009 Break Out the Crystal Ball!Filed under: Editorial Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and didn’t pass out in a tryptophan-induced coma face down in a Jell-O mold. ; ) As we enter the last month of 2009, it’s a natural time to look ahead and try to prepare for what 2010 has in store for us. In that vein, I’ll be moderating a Webinar this Thursday, 12/3, from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. (ET) called, “Get Ready for 2010: Top Sales and Market Trends.” My whip-smart panelists are three of my favorite people in the industry, all of whom are at the helm of distinguished supplier companies and each of whom is on this year’s Counselor Power 50 list. My pal Bonni Shevin-Sandy is the executive vice president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Dard and this year’s Counselor International Person of the Year. My girl knows her stuff, and is so savvy when it comes to finding new markets into which to sell that the international and custom division of Dard, of which Bonni is president, was up double-digits in 2009. Bill Korowitz, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier The Magnet Group, is a new friend of mine. He’s very much the renaissance man — a trained economist as well as a guitar aficionado (he’s been known to stay up til 2 a.m. jamming, with his amp cranked “to 11″). Bill has one of the driest, most sardonic wits I’ve come across in some time and is equally astute at reading sales and marketing indicators both for our industry and the U.S. economy. And last but not least, we have Ira Neaman, owner of Counselor Top 40 supplier Vantage. Ira is one of my oldest friends in the industry, and the person who — when I was new to the ad specialty business nearly 13 years ago and knew nothing about imprinted apparel — was patient enough to give me many in-depth tutorials. Still, to this day, when I have an apparel-related question and need someone to explain the intricacies to me, Ira — who was one of the youngest people ever to graduate from Harvard Business School — is first on my list. For that reason, I have always called him my wearables “Yoda.” As apparel constitutes the largest category of product sales in our industry, Ira the Yoda is an expert on the latest trends and applications. Learn from him, you will. If you’d like to listen in to the Webinar this Thursday to hear Bonni, Bill and Ira discuss such topics as keeping your company competitive in a down economy, where industry sales will be in 2010, new growth markets for ad specialties and the smartest thing companies can do in the upcoming year to be successful, click on the link below to register. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/174512624 Cheers, and more next week! — M
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
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
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