Free Education Conference
Thursday, January 3, Afternoon Workshops
Click here for Morning Sessions
Click here for Power Sessions

Thursday, January 3, 12:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mary Kilburn, DinoMar and Christine Lovell, ASI
Supplier
.15 CEU

Suppliers who are new to the promotional products industry, or are just looking for new ideas will learn how to maximize exposure for your line, gain top-of-mind status with distributors, leverage the power of the ASI Distributor Network to increase market share and quickly attract new sales to your company. Win more distributor loyalty and stop losing clients to the competition by distinguishing yourself from other suppliers and creating a positive “persona” to the industry. Define the niche markets you serve best and discover how to target them most effectively when you capitalize on distributor and end-user buying trends. Leave with an integrated marketing plan to catapult your success in the industry. You will…

• Gain an understanding of the value of the distribution channel
• Understand the audiences where your marketing can be targeted
• Learn about all of the options available to you for leveraged marketing
• Understand the vast opportunities provided by ASI
• Define strategies that suit your size, product line, service options and budget
• Learn how to develop YOUR marketing plan
• Find insights into measuring and assessing your marketing
• Build a successful promotional products business

Mary Kilburn, DinoMar and Christine Lovell, ASI
Mary Kilburn and Chris Lovell bring more than 45 years combined experience to new suppliers looking to quickly and successfully enter the promotional products market. Helping well-known industry firms become industry icons is also a specialty of these marketing specialists. As DinoMar’s principal consultant, Mary brings 30 years of experience developing sales and marketing plans, market evaluations and strategies, representative programs, catalog and material design in promotional products and peripheral industries. As Sr. VP of Sales at ASI, Chris has countless case histories and can discuss many supplier success stories. Chris and Mary’s classes are where to begin if you’re looking to enter with a bang, quickly increase sales and profits or brand and position your firm for long-term success.

Thursday, January 3, 2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
ASI Product Training
.05 CEU

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
ASI Product Training
.15 CEU

You already know that ESP Online is the industry’s most powerful research tool. During this interactive workshop, you’ll learn to create customized CenterStage presentations and comprehensive marketing programs. Join us as we review ESP Online’s marketing features and show you how to increase your sales and profits.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Panelists: Fred and Leslie Oesen, ASI Canada and Shelley Gares, Licensed Customs Broker, UPS
.15 CEU

The Canadian advertising specialty market is expanding quickly and there are many opportunities for US-based suppliers and distributors to do more business in Canada and vice versa. This informative panel will reveal:

• Similarities and differences in the business culture and sales approaches
• Insights for easily managing financial exchanges and balancing currency
• Valuable tips and guidelines for reducing brokerage fees and taxes and increasing volume shipping discounts
• The latest developments in NAFTA regulations and international treaties including breakthroughs like paperless invoices for drop shipments
• How to cultivate customers across each others borders
• Available resources for simplifying shipping requirements and keeping up to date with new developments

Fred and Leslie Oesen, ASI Canada
Fred and Leslie Oesen are co-leaders of ASI Canada. Recently, they formed an alliance joining their Canadian industry services firm,TEAM Task Force, with ASI to form ASI Canada. TEAM Task Force was formed in 1991, to provide resources for Canadian ad specialty professionals to network and discover new business opportunities like traveling seminars and a buyer's guide featuring popular and unique products from select suppliers. AsTEAM Task Force evolved, the Oesens realized an alliance with ASI would provide Canadian advertising specialty businesses with additional valuable products and services to grow their sales and increase their profits, and in September 2007, joined forces to form ASI Canada.

Shelley Gares, UPS
Shelley Gares is Vice President Brokerage for UPS Canada. In her 20 year career with UPS Canada, Shelley has held a variety of positions in Operations Air International and Brokerage. She is a Qualified Customs Broker (QCB) and Certified Customs Specialist (CCS), having completed her GSCB (Graduate Studies Customs Brokerage) and CITT (Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation).

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Chuck Fandos, GatewayCDI/ecopromos.com and Kris Robinson, PromoShop/ecopromos.com
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Environmental awareness has accelerated into a full-scale Green Revolution and the demand for eco-friendly products and services has skyrocketed. Help your existing clients “Go Green” and learn how to market to forward-looking businesses and enthusiastic organizations striving to create a sustainable future. In this fast-paced, highly informative program, you’ll learn:

• What it means to be “Green” and how to help your customers reduce their impact on the environment
• How to use advertising specialties to promote your clients’ efforts and message of “eco-awareness”
• How to define what an eco-friendly product is and learn how to find truly sustainable imprintable products
• How to introduce and sell eco-friendly products and programs to new and existing clients
• How to reduce your own carbon footprint and be more sustainable in YOUR everyday life and business

Chuck Fandos, GatewayCDI
Chuck Fandos is President of GatewayCDI, a company known for developing, promoting and selling environmentally friendly advertising specialty products and incentive programs to some of the largest multi-national corporations in the world. Chuck and his wife Susie opened GatewayCDI in July 1988 with literally one phone line, one desk, one filing cabinet and no clients. Today, he is involved in the day-to-day operations of the company while simultaneously negotiating with suppliers via The Legacy Buying Group. Prior to opening GatewayCDI, Chuck spent three years at Maritz, one of the largest incentive companies in the world.

Kris Robinson, PromoShop/ecopromos.com
Kris Robinson is Vice President of PromoShop, a $30 million distributorship, a 14-year industry veteran and was HALO’s “Salesperson of the Year” in 2000. From his Boise, Idaho office, Kris actively works to save the Earth’s vital resources and revolutionize the way the advertising specialty industry thinks and responds to the environment and our need to reduce our carbon footprint on a global level. He founded the industry’s first “eco-friendly” division for PromoShop — ecopromos.com, which focuses on the development of sustainable products, education in the industry and responsibly building their clients’ brands.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Rosalie Marcus, PromoBizCoach.com
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU
FREE

There has never been a better time for women in promotional products sales, but to succeed you must be knowledgeable. Women have more economic clout than any other time in history, and many major corporations are actively seeking women to do business with. More marketing campaigns are geared toward women and the trend is growing. Start here to learn what you need to know to make more money, have more fun and enjoy more freedom in your business and your life!

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Ira Neaman, Vantage Apparel
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Create your own competitive advantage when you learn how to build a distinctive, varied and high quality apparel program. Armed with this capability, your profits will soar and your pipeline will fill with new customers who want a skilled apparel program designer armed with the latest decorating techniques, the latest style and graphic designs. Participants will:

• Gain an understanding of the textiles market and learn how to keep up with the evolving technologies and imprinting techniques available today
• Learn which components every apparel program needs to offer and how to keep a program fresh, functionable and fashionable
• Get tips and techniques for making your custom designs and imprints exclusive and difficult to imitate
• Discover new decorating processes, how to use mixed media, special inks and embroidery techniques to create unique images
• Learn innovative strategies to increase sales with complimentary or add-on products
• Realize how to make the most money on apparel sales and how to re-generate sales year after year

Ira Neaman, Vantage Apparel
Ira Neaman founded Vantage Apparel, a Counselor Top 40 supplier of decorated wearables, in 1977. For more than 30 years, he has served as President of Vantage. Ira has been an active member in the advertising specialty industry, serving on committees including Leadership Advisory, Strategic Planning, Marketing and Research. In 2003 Neaman was named the Counselor Magazine Person of the Year and in 2007 included on Counselor’s Power 50. Ira shares his expertise in all areas of manufacturing, decoration and apparel trends as a regular speaker for the industry’s continuing education program.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Bobby Lehew, ROBYN
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Blogging, Social Media, PR and the new Web World: Come learn how small businesses can get heard in a big way. Discover tools that will help you harness the power of the Conversation Age and raise the online visibility of your company. Learn how to move from consultative salesperson to trusted advisor by using the web to demonstrate your experience. This is a general overview of the tools and resources you can use to build your marketing potential. We’ll explore:

• Why new media matters
• Blogging: get published/get noticed
• MySpace, Facebook and Twitter: the social networking phenomena
• White papers: catching big clients in simple ways
• PR: do-it-yourself PR and the online tools that make it possible
• How to integrate your marketing communications and increase your user interaction

Bobby Lehew, ROBYN
Bobby Lehew is Director of Operations for ROBYN, a fulfillment company that creates and distributes branded products and collateral printed materials through private-label company stores. A passionate believer in the effectiveness of well-placed promotional marketing and the strategic significance of well-managed brand assets, Bobby cut his teeth in the industry packing boxes for a corporate catalog program 15 years ago and now oversees the multi-million dollar distributorship. With an exceptional staff, ROBYN has doubled its sales since 2002 due to a direct emphasis on company stores.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Lisa Leitch, Teneo Results
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Want to put your sales in high gear? Master Lisa’s seven-step consultative sales formula and you’ll accelerate your sales with even the most difficult clients! Steps include:

• Formulating a more powerful USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
• Handling price objections with finesse
• How to use a marketing calendar to fill your sales pipeline with new clients and opportunities
• Maximizing profits through effective negotiation techniques.

Lisa Leitch, Teneo Results
People who know Lisa Leitch describe her as a “fireball.” Contributing to a wealth of marketing, promotions and sales hands-on experience, Lisa delivers results. As a national advertising manager, Lisa understands the client and buyer’s perspective. As a multi-million dollar salesperson and VP of sales for one of the largest Canadian promotional distributors, selling to IBM, Hershey, Daimler Chrysler and YTV, she knows the promotional industry. And as a strategist, speaker and trainer, it is Lisa’s goal to help you “master” the sales game.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Jon Buckles, Kaeser & Blair and Michael Crawford, Crawford Creative Group
Professional Development
.15 CEU

Discover the amazing potential that each of us have inside our own minds to maximize our creativity to win clients and assist them in taking their businesses to the next level. Learn how to use positive self projection — expecting the sale — to get your customers to act on your suggestions with minimal resistance. Discover how to breathe life into your visions and bring them to life using OPM (other people’s money). Take a look at some elements of creating successful special events and promotions while being mindful of potential booby traps along the way.

Jon Buckles, Kaeser & Blair
Jon Buckles and his wife Christy are Authorized Dealers with Kaeser & Blair. Together they achieved Kaeser & Blair’s prestigious Top 30 National Sales Leaders awards in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Over the last 30 years, Jon has sold products and services in numerous industries, promoted large conventions, designed and constructed innovative tradeshow strategies, presented seminars at conventions, managed salespeople, owned businesses and created “one-of-a-kind” special events. Jon possesses amazing creative talent with extraordinary practical, “how to” tips to share with distributors.

Michael Crawford, Crawford Creative Group
Michael Crawford is an award-winning graphic designer and consultant. He has worked as an art director for advertising agencies and promotional products suppliers. Michael recently opened his own promotional products distributorship, Crawford Creative Group, LLC, a multi-service agency, which includes promotional products as its core media. Michael teaches visual communications, marketing, sales and advertising design at local colleges and high schools, spreading the word to students, faculty and local business leaders about the value of promotional products marketing.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Glen Holt, Jeffry Meyer, John Schimmoller and Jamie Watson, Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.
Distributor Management
.15 CEU

There are proven strategies for selling a promotional products business. If you have been approached about selling your business, are looking to retire and sell or just want to know what the market value of your business is, don’t make a move until you get advice from these experts. Bring your questions for valuing your supplier or distributor business and get proven tips for successfully completing a sale.

Glen Holt, Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.
Glen Holt offers over 41 years of promotional products experience. As a Master Advertising Specialist and Certified Incentive Professional, Glen has served the industry in a variety of capacities:

• 1993 Specialty Advertising Association International “Hall of Fame” inductee
• 1990 Joseph M. Segel “Man of the Year” Award recipient
• Board of Directors, Past President, National Premium Sales Executives (now AIM)
• Board of Directors, Past Vice Chairman, Specialty Advertising Association Intl.

Glen maintains many other professional affiliations and is a frequent industry lecturer on specialties and premiums and their importance in today’s marketing mix. Prior to forming CMC, LTD. in 1981, Glen was a senior executive with a leading promotional products supplier company. He has since assisted in the formation of several supplier companies.


Jeffry Meyer, Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.
Jeff Meyer has been involved in various aspects of finance for over 24 years. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Finance from Manchester College. Jeff qualified as a CPA in the state of Indiana where he worked for the Big Five international accounting firm of Ernst & Young (formerly Ernst & Ernst.) Jeff has been active in the promotional products industry for over 20 years in various CFO and CEO capacities for a large group of supplier and distributor companies. During his career he has evaluated, negotiated and consummated many mergers and acquisitions and performed valuations on many more.

John Schimmoller, Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.
John Schimmoller has been involved in various aspects of finance for nearly 20 years. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Accounting from Ohio Northern University. He qualified as a CPA in the state of Ohio while employed by the Big Five international accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick. He has been active in evaluation, valuation and negotiation of mergers and acquisitions throughout his career. John has been involved with the operations of both supplier and distributor companies in the promotional products industry for over 10 years.

Jamie Watson, Certified Marketing Consultants, Ltd.
Jamie Watson has been involved in various aspects of finance and accounting throughout her career. She earned her CPA after graduating Magna Cum Laude from Stetson University and earning a Masters of Accountancy from Manchester College. She worked for the regional accounting firm of Alerding & Co., LLC, where she was actively involved in small business consulting for business valuations, business planning services and acquisitions.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Don Arbuckle, Creative Resources
Technology
.15 CEU

Should I buy a Mac or can I use my PC to create artwork that suppliers can use? Is Adobe Illustrator better than CorelDRAW? In which format do ad specialty suppliers want to receive my artwork? What type of separations will my decorator need for screen printing? How do I scan images and touch them up for printing on products? How do I take bad artwork and make it better? Confused by all the choices in computer graphics? If these questions and others have you stumped, this class will clear the air. You’ll learn:

• Which computer graphic programs are best for ad specialty distributors and what hardware you need to run them
• Graphic and electronic artwork terminology and types of file formats
• Which file formats ad specialty suppliers want your artwork
• How to label artwork files when you send them to suppliers

Don Arbuckle, Creative Resources
Don Arbuckle started his distributorship, Creative Resources, Inc., in 1999 and it has been growing strong for over eight years. While not a true computer “geek,” Don has been using computers since the early 80s, teaching college classes in Fortran, and using artwork programs since before CorelDraw had numbers. Prior to opening his distributorship, Don was an educational consultant and designed, developed and delivered training programs on technical skills as well as personal and executive development. Don sits on ASI's Production Ready Artwork Committee (PRA) and was instrumental in the development and release of electronic standards for our industry.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Glenn Junker, ASI
ASI Product Training
.15 CEU

Discover how ESP Online and LogoMall web site can make your company more successful by increasing your sales, saving time and improving overall efficiency. During this session, Glenn will show you:

• Why ESP Online and LogoMall is the industry’s #1 business management package for client development, product research and marketing
• How to take advantage of ESP Online’s exclusive features, like virtual samples, mobile client project access and editable PDF presentations
• How to leverage ASI's LogoMall web site platform, with its world-class new shopping engine, to help your customers and prospects find products faster, provide them with more relevant results, and, most importantly, increase the number of leads from your web site!

Glenn Junker, ASI
Glenn Junker has been involved in many aspects of corporate software development and web-based technologies for almost 10 years. He is currently Senior Account Manager for the Southeast region and is also a member of the ESP Online Development Task Force.

Thursday, January 3, 1:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wayne Williams, ASI
ASI Product Training
.30 CEU

ALL ASI Members! Join us for an exciting afternoon of discussing how to grow your business. Topics will include goal setting, customer and vendor relations, people politics and more. Wayne has been in approximately 600 ASI members’ offices over the past 10 years. He would like to share some of the ideas that work and some that may not. This seminar is designed for owners and managers. You do NOT need to have the ProfitMaker software to attend.

Wayne Williams, ASI Computer Systems, Inc.
Wayne Williams, ASI Computer Systems, Inc., has taught ProfitMaker, ProfitPro and ProfitMaker Plus software for 13 years. Currently he is Senior Instructor/Program Facilitator specializing in advanced training and also assists in solving business management issues for ASICS customers.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Melinda Ligos, Editor-in-Chief, ASI Publications and Andrew Cohen, Editor of Counselor magazine
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Each year, the fastest-growing distributor companies are identified and honored by ASI. We’ve invited several of these company owners to share their secrets for fast growth and insights for managing that growth profitably. Counselor editors interview these wildly successful entrepreneurs, delving into their fascinating backgrounds and business approach, their drive to succeed and secret sales strategies. Don’t miss this exciting and revealing probe into what success looks like for an ad specialty distributor in today’s competitive market.

Melinda Ligos, ASI Publications
Melinda Ligos is Editor-in-Chief of ASI Magazines. Before joining ASI, she spent more than 13 years at Nielsen Media in New York overseeing a group of business-focused magazines that included Sales & Marketing Management. Under her leadership, Sales & Marketing Management was awarded the honor of “Magazine of the Year” from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). She also has been a frequent contributor to the business section of The New York Times, and her work was featured in the 2001 edition of The Best Business Stories of the Year.

Andrew Cohen, Counselor magazine
Andy Cohen is editor of Counselor magazine. He previously was editor of Incentive & Potentials magazines at The Nielsen Company in New York. While working for Nielsen, Andy's work received four Jesse H. Neal Awards, the highest honor in business journalism. This year, under Andrew’s leadership, Counselor magazine received its first ever Neal Award for its Family Business Spotlight series, an ASBPE Award for Best Department and two Folio Magazine Awards for Best Feature Article.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Bill Jones, Atlanta Promotional Products
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Create a larger-than-life image and close deals without ever leaving your office. Clients today use the Internet to source, buy, sell, trade and communicate and prefer to work with you via the Internet too. Discover how to make the most of today’s technology without being technical. You can find, research and prospect new clients, qualify accounts, uncover needs, research products and quickly respond to client requests without ever leaving your office. Learn how to effectively send ideas, virtual samples, receive and send artwork and close deals — all in your slippers! As a bonus, you’ll learn tips and techniques for organizing your emails and keeping account information at your fingertips. With today’s technology, you can build a bond with clients thousands of miles from your office as easily as the ones down the street.

Bill Jones, Atlanta Promotional Products
Bill Jones, Atlanta Promotional Products, was recognized as one of ASI’s Top 10 Growing Distributors for 2006. With almost 20 years industry experience, Bill has worked with large companies, small companies and now owns his own company. He is a frequent presenter and contributing editor for many industry publications and has won awards for creative design in advertising specialty marketing campaigns. Bill’s selling strategies and case histories are drawn from his experiences as one of the industry’s top sales performers, his varied client base and his ability to grow new business while still getting home for dinner by 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Lisa Leitch, Teneo Results
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Get hot, new selling ideas for more than 50 innovative products featured in the Advantages New Product Showcase! Brainstorm selling ideas for new products with other distributors and compete to see who comes up with the most creative and lucrative ideas. Winners, determined by the group, walk away with prizes donated from industry suppliers. You’ll leave this exciting and interactive workshop armed with hundreds of new selling ideas, plus you’ll discover:

• How to accelerate your sales by showing new products to clients and prospects
• How to utilize the brainstorming process to create marketing solutions for your clients
• The latest industry stats on the top selling products, including who buys them and why
• The hottest new ad specialties to show your clients in 2008

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Paul Kent, ASI
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Adding advertising specialties to the products you already sell is how many distributors enter our industry. In this course, you’ll learn how advertising specialties fit into the marketing mix, how clients use them and why. Gain an understanding of the vast array of products available, who buys what kind of products and how to sell into your client’s need. There are many complexities involved in selling advertising specialties and you'll save yourself time and money if you understand the roles and responsibilities of distributors and suppliers and how both work together to create end-buyer/user satisfaction.

Paul Kent, ASI
Paul Kent is a 14-year ASI veteran who specializes in helping to maximize the sales, profits and efficiencies of ASI distributors. Paul has a good working knowledge of what actions and applications lead to success in the promotional product industry. Join him for an “off-road” tour that will lead you to a place that the most successful distributors have already found.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Rosalie Marcus, PromoBizCoach.com
Sales & Marketing
.15 CEU

Each year corporations and government agencies allocate billions of dollars to certified minority- and women-owned businesses. Here’s how you can tap into this lucrative market. In this informative workshop,
you’ll learn the qualifications to become certified, and determine whether you're a good candidate for certification. Find out why corporations seek certified vendors and the key certifying organizations. Discover the big mistakes women make when applying for certification and how to avoid them. And, finally, realize how you can get your piece of the pie, even if you're not currently certified!

Rosalie Marcus, PromoBizCoach.com
Rosalie Marcus, The Promo Biz Coach™, shortens the learning curve for people in the promotional products industry, teaching them how to get more sales, more clients and more income FAST! Rosalie is the creator of The Fast Track to Promotional Products Sales Success: How to Make More Money in Promotional Products Sales and the facilitator of the Women’s Selling Advantage Success Circle. A successful distributor herself, Rosalie is passionate about inspiring promotional products distributor professionals to grow their sales faster and farther than they ever thought possible!

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Don Sanders, SellPromoProducts.com
Distributor Management
.15 CEU

Discover how successful distributors achieve extraordinary profits from the sale of advertising specialty products and campaigns. This seminar focuses on the five selling strategies that million-dollar producers use to consistently earn higher margins: personal visits, follow up, effective prospecting, setting limits on customers and showing appreciation to everyone. After attending this class, anyone who consistently uses these principles will become a high-volume producer with off-the-charts margins.

Don Sanders, SellPromoProducts.com
Don Sanders began selling ad specialties with one catalog in 1981. Since then, he has sold more than $10 million dollars worth of customized products and advertising campaigns at an average profit margin of 43%. Along the way, he has appeared in industry publications more than 150 times. He is a contributor to Counselor and Advantages magazines and co-authored three books — the most recent being How to Sell Promotional Products. Don has won multiple awards for his creative use of custom advertising products and campaigns. Additionally, he co-produced a documentary film entered in the 2001 Academy Awards. Don is the founder of SellPromoProducts.com, a free sales training site available to ad specialty distributors and suppliers.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Distributor Management
.15 CEU

Uniform sales are growing at record pace with even the most traditional companies updating their image and jumping on the “brandwagon.” Uniform customers are fairly well entrenched with their current provider. Breaking into the market can be challenging. To find and service uniform customers, you need to know:

• How companies buy uniforms, why they buy them and what they look for in terms of style, fit and garment life
• What companies with uniform programs need in terms of service and maintenance
• How to approach clients with existing programs and uncover and address their challenges and issues
• How to make product recommendations and effective sales presentations
• What it takes to maintain profit margins on uniform programs in today's marketplace
  

Michael Doniger
Michael Doniger is a recognized expert in the uniform and career apparel industry. He has 35 years experience in the marketing and administration of multi-million dollar uniform programs to some of America’s largest corporations. Michael has served as Executive Vice President – National Accounts of Crest Uniform (An Aramark Company), President/COO Commercial Uniform Co., and National Sales Manager of Fashionaire – a Division of Hart Schaffner & Marx. His customer base included major airlines, car rental services, the largest QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) chains, hotels, restaurants, as well as supermarkets, security, and petroleum companies.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.           
Brandon Mackay and Charley Johnson, SnugZ USA
Distributor Management & Supplier           
.15 CEU

New distributors will realize increased effectiveness with clients and advertising specialty suppliers when they understand industry priorities and basic rules for success. Learn what is expected of a distributor, supplier and client, and how keeping your sense of humor and communicating effectively leads to success. Minimize common mistakes, reduce stress and maximize profitability when you learn the recommended procedures for order processing, order tracking, product research, proposal writing and effective communication in business.

Charley Johnson, SnugZ USA
Charley Johnson is Vice President of Marketing for SnugZ USA. He has been instrumental in maintaining the high customer service goals and objectives at SnugZ USA, who was named the 2006 ASI Supplier of the Year. 

Brandon Mackay, SnugZ USA
Brandon Mackay, CEO, started his career in 1994 in the shipping department. Through his forward thinking and ability to build systems, he has been promoted to the top leadership position at SnugZ USA, one of the most well known and respected suppliers in the industry.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Jay Busselle and Craig Mertens, Digital Art Solutions
Distributor Owner                       
.15 CEU

Adding decorating services, personalization and/or customization is a logical way to grow your ad specialty business. Learn how to get started offering embroidery, screen printing, heat transfer or direct-to-garment printing. Explore what equipment, software and accessories you will need and what they will cost. Develop a realistic business plan, determine start-up costs and pricing strategies and understand how to assess profitability and return on investment. Additionally, you’ll learn how to identify emerging markets as well as advertise and market your new offerings.

Jay Busselle, Digital Art Solutions
Jay Busselle began his graphics career at the age of 14, printing bootleg surf and skateboard T-shirts. After learning valuable lessons about copyright law, Jay landed a job as a cut-and-paste artist for the Yellow Pages and quickly saw the advantages of working for his parents' screen printing and ad specialty company. Jay evolved into a top-producing sales professional and 27 years later, he is (mostly) grown up, and serves as General Manager of Digital Art Solutions, a Phoenix-based software company that makes graphics easy for distributors and suppliers. 

Craig Mertens, Digital Art Solutions
Craig Mertens began his career in the imprinted sportswear business as the warehouse boy/janitor in the family screen printing and embroidery business. During college, Craig was known as “The T-Shirt Guy”, after saturating the campus with T-Shirts during his marketing class entrepreneurial project. After graduation, Craig undertook a vigorous sales training program in the imprinted sportswear industry that consisted of a sample bag, a price list and the words “go get'em kid." Craig quickly realized that great graphics were the key to opening new accounts. As an early pioneer of virtual samples, Craig used graphics to separate himself from the competition and build an imprinted sportswear empire. Translating his knowledge of graphic design and sales into software, Craig co-found Digital Art Solutions in 1999. Under Craig’s leadership, Digital Art Solutions has made it possible for countless non-artists to turn artwork into their secret sales weapon.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Donna Gray, Total Awards & Promotions, Inc.
Family Business                                   
.15 CEU
                                                                       
Awe-inspiring stories of family businesses will have you laughing, taking notes and head-slapping as you discover the down-to-earth approaches and disciplines of successful family-owned companies around the country. Distributor and award-winning marketer Donna Gray went on a three-year quest to find out what works and what doesn’t in family businesses. During this interactive and entertaining session, Donna will share ideas to help your family business thrive. You’ll…

• Understand practical operating strategies for family-owned and other small businesses
• Discover strategic public relations marketing ideas for family-owned and other small businesses
• Gain insights that help business-owned families in their quest to simultaneously manage family harmony and business success
• Identify 10 characteristics and five key areas of a successful business
• Find out how to plan for the future of the family-owned company and for yourself

Donna Gray, Total Awards & Promotions, Inc.
Donna Gray has just finished her second book on family business, It’s All Relative, which features family-owned companies from all over the country...and their secrets for success. One chapter is about R.S. Owens & Company, an ASI supplier company. Donna and her husband Dave own AwardsMall/Total Awards & Promotions in Madison, WI. As President, Donna oversees all facets of the organization, including sales and marketing. Between managing her company’s marketing, speaking to professional groups, book signings (her first book is Never Quit, The Ups and Downs of Running a Family Business) and doing interviews and research for her next book Relatively Speaking, she writes a monthly column for CorelDraw Pro Magazine and Recognition Review Magazine. Donna is a charter member of the Recognition Roundtable, was named 1998 Retail Marketer of the Year by the Madison Chapter of the American Marketing Association and earned the 1999 Sam Walton Business Leader Award.  Donna and Dave were co-recipients of ASI's 2002 Bess Cohn Memorial Humanitarian Award for their innovative approach to honoring volunteers.

Thursday, January 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Deb Norton, ASI
Technology
.15 CEU

Learn basic Adobe Illustrator skills to successfully create and transfer logo artwork to your clients and suppliers. During this informative session, you’ll learn how to navigate through Illustrator’s basic tools, recognize types of supplied files, identify formatting issues and properly prepare files to send to suppliers. Plus, you’ll discover how the pros eliminate imprint errors that lead to lost productivity and save time with easy-to-use tools and determine at which point you’ll outsource production/logo clean up and when you can turn this skill into one of your most powerful sales and marketing tools.

Deb Norton, ASI
Deb Norton works with thousands of client logos supplied by distributors in her role as Creative Director for ASI's E-media Department. She was actively involved in the creation of the industry's production ready artwork instructional web site. Currently, Deb directs the creative team, which designs and maintains over 8,000 distributor LogoMall web sites, and she directed the design and production of ASI's LogoMall Design store. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design and has worked extensively with graphic design software, including Adobe Illustrator for more than 15 years.