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July 14, 2009 |
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INDUSTRY NEWS |
PPAI NEWS |
More Industry Members Employing Social Media To Connect Lisa Bibb, MAS, of Memphis, Tennessee-based distributor Zebra Marketing Corporation (UPIC: ZEBRAMC) also launched a Facebook site last last year to encourage her industry associates to connect with one another. "My initial reason for going on (Facebook) was to 'spy' on my kids," Bibb jokes, "but I found a lot of people I knew professionally and personally and was getting invites to other groups." Bibb decided to create a group for her peers, Promotional Products Professionals, and "it grew from there. Now we have more than 600 members," she says. "It kind of speaks for itself. It's a great place to connect and network." The page features topics of discussion, requests for information and job postings and is open for anyone to join. The connections that have been made online have led to connections in real life, too. "I met someone from the group while I was standing in a line at The PPAI Expo in January!" says Bibb. QCA Opens Doors For Membership "Industry manufacturers and importers, who are the entry points for products into the promotional products marketplace, have been looking for a way to effectively address client product safety concerns," says D E Fenton, QCA's executive director. "Based on an independent third-party audited standard, the QCA Seal of Approval offers the credibility Fortune 500 companies require for promotional products purchases." For the past year, the 14 founding members of QCA have been working to establish certification standards as well as define and test a comprehensive accreditation program. "Opening QCA membership up to industry suppliers represents the next step in the evolution of our organization," says Fenton. Artina Promotional Products Acquires America's Promo Products Artina Vice President Matina Zenios says Schaffer and Artina discussed merging the two companies last fall, but it wasn't until April when the opportunity arose for Schaffer to join Artina. Zenios adds that while Artina has no set strategy for continuing to grow,"we're aware that smaller businesses are having a tough time in this economy and may be open to the idea of joining a larger company." Captain Foods Enters Licensing Agreement With Wildlife Artist "We are very excited about this new endeavor," says Douglas Feindt, president of Captain Foods. "Guy Harvey and I share a deep love of the ocean, which has transpired into successful business endeavors for both of us." Vitronic Parters With Totes»ISOTONER® ppai law Put S. 301 On Your Schedule The bill could have sweeping implications for the promotional products industry, as it requires all manufacturers of covered drugs, devices or medical supplies to disclose payments (or any other "transfer of value") made to a physician, a physician medical practice or a physician group practice--promotional products are included under this definition. Additionally, a draft proposal on Health Care Reform, Physician Payments Sunshine Provisions, is now under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. PPAI has filed comments for the hearings record, but members are encouraged to share their views as well. Send your legislators a copy of this letter, then visit www.house.gov to locate phone numbers for follow-up calls every Friday at 3:01 pm. people news
Counterpoint Hires Bruns Bruns was previously an administrative assistant for Tower Realty Group for four years, and MacKinnon was most recently a part of the Zappos online customer loyalty team. iPROMOTEu Announces Newest Affiliates Arkin Leaves Jornik Manufacturing Newton Manufacturing Names Donlin Executive VP Donlin most recently was senior vice president of sales and marketing for Eighth Floor Promotions LLC. He serves on the board of directors of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) and previously served as president of the Promotional Products Association of Chicago. River's End Adds 18 Sales Reps Nationwide Vernon Company Hires Bruce To Rep Western Region |
Women's Leadership Conference Dished Up Plenty Of Wit And Wisdom Of the 144 women in attendance, nearly a quarter were first-time attendees and almost half had attended four or more years. "For every event, I want it to be better than last year--more education, more networking, more everything and I think we succeeded," says Margie Price, MAS, chair of the 2009 WLC Advisory Committee and owner/president of distributor Premiums Plus, Inc. (UPIC: PREMPLUS). "Look, we're in tough times. I wanted people to walk out refueled and refreshed with the tools and the energy they need to move through the second half of the year and feel good about it." Read more about the conference at PPB online. Carol Aastad Wins Inaugural PPB Award In addition to serving as chair of PPAI and PPEF, she also served on the first Women's Conference Committee in 2005 where the idea for a women's conference was born. The award was presented to Aastad during the opening general session by Sherri Lennarson, MAS, PPAI board chair and senior VP business development for Bankers Advertising (UPIC: BACADV) and Tina Berres Filipski, editor and publisher of PPB. PPAI Supplier Index Shows Drop In Second Quarter Sales The index is based on a cross-section of approximately 30 leading promotional products industry suppliers who report their sales increases or decreases compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The next report will be available in October. PPAI's Lobbyist Gives Staff Drummer, who has been working on behalf of PPAI since January, talked about the role of a lobbyist in Washington. He said he spends much of his time educating politicos-- clearing up misconceptions about the role of promotional products and explaining the implications of S. 301, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Also discussed were efforts by Drummer and PPAI legal counsel John Satagaj to modify S. 301, which could effectively ban the distribution of promotional products to healthcare professionals. Drummer praised the industry's grassroots efforts to change public policy, but he said more needs to be done. Visit PPB online to read more. Friday's PPAI Webinar To Focus On Tracking Labels Susan DeRagon, associate director for toys and premiums with Specialized Technology Resources (STR), a leading product testing lab, will address the law and offer guidance on "best practices" in tracking labels. As always, a Q&A session will cap the webinar. Learn What Makes Your Staff Tick With This Member Advantage Offer Valued at $175, the Omnia Retention Report identifies employee strengths, motivators and areas of development to help employers better manage their staff, leading to greater retention. For more information and to take advantage of this free offer, contact Omnia representative Carletta Neal at Cneal@omniagroup.com or 800-525-7117 ext. 1226. For more information on the PPAI Member Advantage program, contact Blake Bozeman, PPAI business development manager, at 888-426-7724 ext. 3095 or BlakeB@ppai.org. Techies, Win Your Company Winners will be honored during an online presentation and during the live awards presentation at The PPAI Expo 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January. Go to awards.ppai.org to enter. For more information contact Melissa Peterson at 972-258-3042 or MelissaP@ppai.org. |
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SAAGNY Member As a SAAGNY volunteer, Goldberg started on the bottom rung and worked her way through the ranks to eventually serve as SAAGNY's president in 2005. She was elected to the SAAGNY Board in 2000 and served as director, secretary, treasurer, vice president, president-elect and finally president in 2005-2006. During her term as president and as immediate past president, Goldberg dealt with several difficult and sometimes controversial events, displaying graciousness and fairness. "Lenore set the standard for leadership, and we will continue to strive to maintain that level of integrity and fair-mindedness," says Jonathan Riegel, CAS, SAAGNY president. Goldberg was a member of several SAAGNY committees and was instrumental in developing the "New and Not So New" program, now known as the Ambassador program, says Barbara Lyons, the regional's assistant executive director. She was a strong supporter of The SAAGNY Foundation and its many charitable events and programs and served as a foundation trustee. An avid golfer, Lenore was especially proud of her three holes-in-one and was the recipient of several outstanding golfer awards. The SAAGNY Foundation will name its annual golf outing in her memory, adds Lyons. "She was a good friend and a beautiful person and an asset to our industry," says Mike Schenker, MAS, chair of the SAAGNY Council of Past Presidents and principal of Newton, New Jersey-based supplier Custom InterSource, LLC (UPIC: CISLLC). "Her steering of SAAGNY helped strengthen the organization, and her direction of PROMOTIONS EAST helped maintain its status as the leading show in the Northeast." Goldberg is survived by her mother, Beverly Ancona; her husband, Stanley; daughters, Joyce and Allison; grandsons, Jason and Aaron; and sister, Marilyn, who shared Lenore's love of classical music. Services were held Sunday at Robert Schoem's Menorah Chapel in Paramus, New Jersey. The family requests that donations be made to The Melanoma Research Foundation. Industry Member Jessica Reay Dies At Age 43 A resident of Portland, Oregon, Reay was born November 10, 1965, in Englewood, Colorado, to Robert and Jacqueline Reay. She graduated from Sunset High School in 1984 and spent several years in San Francisco before returning to the Portland area. Reay's time in the industry includes work at Designer Line, which was purchased by Indianapolis, Indiana-based supplier Norwood Promotional Products (UPIC: NORWOOD), and at Woodinville, Washington-based distributor Bensussen, Deutsch and Associates (UPIC: BENS0002). Karie Ann Cowden, MAS, of Phoenix, Arizona-based distributor Connect The Dots Promotions, LLC (UPIC: dtdpromo) remembers Reay as a woman with a beautiful personality. "She was just an awesome person," says Cowden, who met Reay while working as a rep for Norwood. "She was well-loved and will be very missed." Reay is survived by her parents; brother, Rodney Reay and his wife, Carol; sisters, Jennifer Love and husband, Dennis Munoz; and Jeri Porter and husband, Hal; and 13 nieces and nephews. The family requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to a charity of your choice. |
Southern Plus Donates Bags To Mission Team "These bags were truly a godsend," says Nidia Walkup, director of Northstar's Global Community Mission Team. "They enabled us to achieve our mission objectives well under budget and without issue. We will now have the bags all imprinted with our Northstar Global Community Missions Team logo and use them for all our upcoming trips." accolades
IHS recognition measures year-over-year improvement in aggregate employee health metrics including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and triglyceride levels. HALO/Lee Wayne won the award in a comparison of overall key health metrics based on a comparative study of more than 2,000 companies. We have a very proactive approach to employee healthcare," says Lisa Taylor, HALO/Lee Wayne's human resources manager. "In addition to company wellness incentives, we take a strategic approach that addresses healthcare concerns before they become issues for an individual. The voluntary free health screening provides added value to our employees while helping us reduce the growing cost of healthcare through awareness and prevention." R.S. Owens Recognizes Outstanding Employees Employees who have been previously nominated during a quarter for an Above and Beyond award for exceptional performance are all eligible. Koenig was recognized for independently creating a template for all new perpetual plaques, which dramatically reduced manufacturing and assembly times and provided customers with a virtual layout of their award more quickly. |
Green products make the scene this week on the Industry Show. |
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How Do You Deal With Companies In Bankruptcy? Delve Into Denim Good Timing Best-Dressed Men Share Your Sports Campaigns With PPAI what would you do?
A supplier asks: "I did everything I could to resolve an issue a distributor had with an order, but the distributor still posted a negative comment about my company on an industry website. What is best in the long run, responding to the comments on the site or leaving the matter alone?" What's your answer? E-mail answers along with your name, title and company name to Question@ppai.org by July 31 for possible inclusion in the October 2009 issue of PPB magazine. |
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