April 2007

Dear Members:

Is the awards and recognition industry growing or shrinking? What are the revenue projections for our members in the upcoming year? It goes without saying that you can't run a successful awards business without preparing a marketing plan and doing some basic research about your market. How are you supposed to know the challenges and opportunities that your awards store will face this year without knowing what the industry is going to do this year?

That's where ARA comes in. There is no better source for this information than your trade association. As an association of retailer and supplier members, we have a built-in audience representative of the entire industry, and frankly, a built-in obligation to report on these trends. Our last price survey was published in 2003. Before that, our last survey was in 1995. Clearly, a new survey was needed.

Your ARA Board of Directors realized this need and was committed to conducting another pricing and industry trends survey. However, your Board agreed to do so with a twist—instead of selling the information in the form of a price survey report, your Board was committed to giving away the information free of charge to all members. This decision wasn't easy—the pricing and trends survey is an expensive project—but your Board felt strongly that this kind of information is only useful if it is widely distributed. The Board hired a well-respected independent firm to conduct this research, and the data were collected last fall.

I'm pleased to announce that the new ARA Industry Trends and Pricing Survey is available to all members at no charge, from the ARA Web site. It's easy—go to www.ara.org, login to the members only section using your member number, and select "surveys" from the member menu on the left-hand side. This 66-page report answers a lot of important questions, including:

• Are sales in the awards industry growing or shrinking?
• What is the fastest growing product in the awards and recognition industry?
• What is the annual revenue of an average retailer?
• How do the revenues of members and nonmembers compare?
• Last year, what did most people charge for an 8 x 10 engraved walnut plaque?
• Last year, what did most people charge for a plastic sublimated name tag?
• Where do people expect their business to be in 10 years?

I'm excited about the results of this survey, and urge you to visit the ARA Web site as soon as possible to download these important data. After you've had a chance to take a look, please let us know what else you want to know about the industry—that's why we're here.

Ed Hunt
Seeking Perfection

Back to Top

ARA 2007 Regional Education Events
ARA Regional Education Events allow you to expand your skills and acquire CEU credits without traveling to an ARA trade show. These one- and two-day seminars are held at the facilities of hosting supplier companies. Each event is also a good occasion to learn more about your supplier's products and services. All seminars will conform to ARA's standards for quality, adhere to ARA's policy of non-product promotion, and comply with anti-trust regulations. Each seminar will be available for CEU credit for those who are enrolled in the ARA Certification Program.

Here is information on the ARA Regional Education Event hosted by LaserBits in Phoenix, AZ, on Friday, April 27, 2007.

Additional Regional Education Events are scheduled for 2007. See the list below to find a location near you:

Updated Certification Transcripts
CEU credit that ARA Certification Program participants earned at the 2007 International Awards Market and the 2007 East Coast Awards Market are now posted on the Web site.

Enrollees in the certification program can check their transcripts by visiting the ARA web site at www.ara.org. Go to "Education" on the menu list at the left side of the ARA home page. Select "Check Your CEU Transcripts" from the sub-menu. Enter your last name and then your personal enrollment number (without any leading zeros). Remember to use your personal enrollment/membership number and not your company's membership number. Click "Begin Search" and you should get your transcript. If you notice any mistakes or omissions in your certification record contact the ARA Manager of Education at dweinstock@connect2amc.com.

Customized Shipping Discounts for ARA Members!
Through a unique partnership, ARA has made it easy for members to save on all types of shipping services. We've teamed up with the leading transportation providers in the industry, including Yellow Transportation, Roadway Express, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, DHL, USF & New Penn. Whether you ship envelopes, packages, or heavy freight, these carriers have a solution.

• Save at least 52% with Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express on North American LTL freight
• Save 20% on international air freight and 45% on heavy North American air freight with UPS Supply Chain Solutions
• Save up to 25% with DHL on express air, ground, and international services
• Save at least 52% with USF and New Penn on regional, next day less than truckload freight services throughout the U.S. and parts of Canada regional next day less than truckload

To take advantage of your ARA member benefits, or to find out how much you can save on your next shipment, call your shipping benefit consultants at 800/MEMBERS (636-2377) x303. For more information about the ARA Shipping Program, visit www.1800members.com/ARA.

Back to Top

April 12–14
CorelDRAW Boot Camp
Cave Creek, AZ
800/736-8973

April 19–21
CorelDRAW Boot Camp
Cave Creek, AZ
800/736-8973

April 27
ARA Education Event
LaserBits, Inc.
800/733-7705
www.ara.org
www.laserbits.com

July 26–27
ARA Education Event
Rowmark LLC
Findlay, OH
877/ROWMARK
www.ara.org
www.rowmark.com

July 26–28
Texas Trophy and Awards Show
Moody Gardens Hotel
Galveston, TX
Set-up Day, July 26
Exhibits Open, July 27–28
800/433-0965

August 11
ARA Education Event
N & R International
Metro Atlanta
678/560-4008
www.ara.org
www.etchedstone.com

August 17–18
ARA Education Event
Plastic Dress-Up
South El Monte, CA
800/8007711
www.ara.org
www.pdu.com

September 15
ARA Education Event
Continental Trophies
Dallas, TX
800/289-0400
www.ara.org
www.continentaltrophies.com

September 28
ARA Education Event
Digital Art Solutions
Tempe, AZ
800/959-7627
www.ara.org
www.smartdesigns.com

October 20
ARA Education Event
Johnson Plastics
Minneapolis, MN
800/869-7800
www.ara.org
www.johnsonplastics.com

January 14–17, 2008
CorelDRAW Boot Camp Cruise
Miami/Eastern Caribbean
800/736-8973

February 25–29, 2008
2008 ARA International Awards Market
Las Vegas Convention Center
800/344-2148
www.ara.org

Back to Top

In the April 2007 Issue:

Special Section: Spring Catalog Expo
Here is Recognition Review's showcase of new catalogs available from ARA Supplier companies. Read more...

Recognition Industry Captures Web's Reach
The Internet offers the awards and recognition industry opportunities beyond sales that, before the advent of the Internet, were unheard of or nonexistent.

ARA Online Buyers Guide
The new online ARA Buyer's Guide promises to be a robust and useful tool that will allow members to search for specific products using very specific criteria.

What's My Discount?
We all have clients known as "shoppers" rather than "customers." They can cause you frustration, but there are effective ways to work with them.

50 (More) Ways to Use Your Laser
Your laser engraver can bring in all sorts of business, such as engraving patterns on custom buttons, applying logos to leather portfolios, and vector-cutting clock movements.

Create JPEG, JPEG 200 and PNG Files for the Web
Now that you inderstand the concepts for creating content and the details for making GIF files, Foster Coburn covers the other bitmaps formats geared for use on the Web.

The Influence of Sans Serifs
Like clothes hanging in the closet, most types are subject to wear or lack of interest—except for a type classification called sans serifs, which means without serifs.

Paragraph Text Formatting
In this month's Corel Concepts, explore editing and format changes you can make to the text itself. Remember that Paragraph text is the single most sophisticated item you can place on your page.

Learn to Listen
Good communication is a huge part of good customer relationships. And it begins with the way we answer our business phones.

Color Scores Big for Sports, School Awards
Recognizing excellence in athletics and academics is nothing new. The challenge retailers face each year is offering new ways to recognize old or familiar achievements.

Meet the ARA Board
Here are the leaders and directors who will be serving their fellow ARA members during 2007-2008.

And the Oscar^® comes from…R.S. Owens
While many associate the Oscar with Hollywood, the prestigious award is manufactured in the Midwest by Chicago-based manufacturer R.S. Owens & Co. Read more...

Golf, Wedding Gifts and Awards
Golf outings and tournaments and weddings are great sales opportunities for awards and recognition retailers. Here are some awards and gifts appropriate for such events.

Back to Top

If you're an ARA member with computer access, simply visit www.ara.org, log in to the members-only section using your member number, and select ARA Ask an Expert. Find the topic and expert you're looking for, then ask your question(s). More often than not, the ARA expert will have the solution you need.

? I engraved the wrong spot on a medal. Is there a way to correct engraver errors like this?

Fred Schwartz of Quality One Engravers responds: Repairing deep engraving mistakes is possible on some materials. However, restoring the same color and texture may not be possible if you use a fill. If the part is to be painted, then fixing the mistake is pretty easy. There are special epoxies available; I have used products made by Devcon to successfully repair engraving tables and panels. I have also heard of services that will take a part and smash the metal from side and bottom to fill the void, but doing this is probably expensive.

If an item is scratched or the engraving is very shallow, sanding and polishing can be an option. Figure it this way, if it can't look any worse, go for it. Jewelry engraving mistakes can often be buffed out. I recently engraved two watches perfectly, but accidentally switched the inscriptions for each. I took them to a jeweler and had them buffed out. They looked better than new, but one of the watches lost all of its rear stamping.

Back to Top