Come Pah-h-h-ty with Me in New York

Here is a recent media release from the National Stationery Show telling about the doings at the show in May. They always manage to combine practical, store-building events with so much fun you won't know you're working! (-:

NATIONAL STATIONERY SHOW EXPERIENCE TO INCLUDE NATIONAL

MEDIA EVENT, NETWORKING EVENTS, BOOK SIGNINGS AND MORE

- Opening Night Party Moves to Quintessential NYC Venue -


WHITE PLAINS, NY, April 22, 2010…In addition to presenting the latest product collections from nearly 900 exhibiting companies, the National Stationery Show® (NSS) will offer a host of exciting events to further enhance the market experience for some 11,000 attendees, May 16-19, 2010, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Events such as the "Party on the Battery" Opening Night Party, USPS® Butterfly Stamp release, Greeting Card Association LOUIE Awards, "Meet the Authors" Book Signings, and The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer provide additional networking opportunities during the social stationery industry's foremost gathering of the year.
"The National Stationery Show serves as the single platform that brings the industry together - not only for new product discovery, business development, and education - but also for events that support networking and generate excitement for the year ahead," said Patti Stracher, show manager. "This year is no exception, with a full schedule of events that will create a vibrant market experience for all."
Following is the complete schedule of special events at the 2010 NSS:

"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Sunday, May 16, 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Long-time retailer and author Carolyn Howard-Johnson will launch two new books in her award-winning "How To Do It Frugally" series: Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers: Tweaking Your Tweets and Other Tips for Integrating Your Social Media and Your Blog; and Your Business: A Retailer's Mini Guide to Garnering Customer Loyalty and Sales Online and In Store. The first book in the series, A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions, was launched at last years National Stationery Show. Carolyn is a veteran of the retail industry with more than 30 years founding and operating a small chain of stores from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Both books will be available at half-price during this signing event.


"Party on the Battery" Opening Night Party
Sunday, May 16, 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Battery Gardens

Battery Gardens will serve as the new venue for the annual NSS Opening Night Party, celebrating the opening of the 64th annual National Stationery Show in style. A Manhattan oasis positioned along the water's edge with panoramic views of New York Harbor, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, "Party on the Battery" promises to be a true New York City experience. Tickets are $65 per person. Early ticket purchase is recommended, as this event sells out each year. Tickets are available online at www.nationalstationeryshow.com.


USPS Butterfly Stamp Release Ceremony
Monday, May 17, 9:30am
South Concourse, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

The NSS will host the official announcement and unveiling of the U.S. Postal Service® Butterfly stamp, a 64-cent, 1-ounce postage stamp developed in collaboration with the Greeting Card Association (GCA) to serve the needs of greeting card and other social stationery manufacturers and their customers utilizing square or irregular shaped envelopes that require hand cancelling. The new Butterfly stamp will serve as a universal symbol for mail requiring additional postage due to being square or irregular in size. Join us for the unveiling with USPS leaders, GCA representatives who spearheaded the effort, and NSS Show Manager Patti Stracher.


"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Monday, May 17, 10:00 - 11:00 am
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Linda Cahan is internationally known for her visual merchandising and store design expertise over some 37 years in retail. Get a first run, signed copy of her book 100 Display Ideas Under $100. Her book will be available at half-price during this signing event.


"Meet the Authors" Book Signing
Monday, May 17, 4:00 - 5:00 pm
Media Resource Lounge, 3600 Aisle

Paper Words President Rob Fortier and manufacturers' representative Meryl Hooker have jointly authored Pushing the Envelope: The Small Greeting Card Manufacturer's Guide to Working with Sales Reps. This book will convey to small greeting card manufacturers how to find, recruit and retain a winning sales rep. Written from both the manufacturer and sales rep perspectives, this nuts and bolts guide is full of industry information, sales tips, and guidance for building successful and profitable rep relationships.


22nd annual International Greeting Card Awards - "LOUIE Awards"
Monday, May 17, 7:00 - 10:00 pm
The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers

Presented by the Greeting Card Association (GCA), the LOUIE Awards celebrate the year's most original and ingenious greeting cards in a variety of categories, including the Grand Prize "Card of the Year". This year's theme - Go for the Gold - recognizes the gold medal caliber of the greeting cards, imprintables, and invitations considered for this year's competition. Sponsorship and ticket information is available by calling the GCA at 202-393-1778 or visiting http://www.greetingcard.org./


The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer
Tuesday, May 18, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Level 3, Hall E

Suppliers to the social stationery industry exhibiting within The Supply Side division will have dedicated time to connect with NSS exhibitors during The Supply Side Exhibitor Mixer, where a casual atmosphere and complimentary refreshments will foster networking among colleagues. Advance registration is not required.

The 64th annual National Stationery Show, the nation's leading marketplace for the social stationery industry, will run Sunday, May 16, through Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The Show features nearly 900 exhibitors and attracts some 11,000 attendees.

The National Stationery Show is owned and managed by GLM®, LLC. For exhibitor information, contact Kelly P. Bristol, sales manager, at GLM, 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, NY 10604. Telephone (914) 421-3228. Fax (914) 948-2918. E-mail kbristol@glmshows.com. Attendee information is available by contacting GLM's Customer Relations Department, at (800) 272-SHOW or (603) 665-7524, or by email, at customer_relations@glmshows.com. Additional information and registration is available online, at http://www.nationalstationeryshow.com/.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Retail Consultant Robert Medak Reviews Marketing Book Especially Written for Retailers

A review of A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson



Reviewed by Robert Medak

A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions lists a series of frugal ways of promoting your business, in good economic times as well as bad; and not break the bank in the process. Anyone in the retail business should read this 120-page book. There is a good deal of information in a small book that is of use to retailers, and their business no matter the present circumstances.
Many of the ideas are common sense, but also things that retailers may not have thought of. There are many inexpensive concepts that are easy to implement in your store, whether it is large or small. The size does not matter, the ideas in this book are what can help retailers grow their customer base with a few simple adjustments to present stock and how to deal with it. Simple promotion ideas that may cost only a few dollars, to free can increase your business over time. Fortunately, the few ideas listed in this book may trigger some things retailers can come up with on their own.

Do you need more business in your store? A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions can help you with simple ideas form how to move and arrange your stock and more. There are also some simple and effective ways to garner publicity in your local newspaper and have customers send you business with ideas that may cost you nothing expect some time and training of your employees.
A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions is an easy to read book that can help all retailers do more promotion for your business without spending a lot of money.

I recommend this book for any retailer and award it a four star rating.


----Endorsement Disclaimer: All reviews posted on this site and written by this reviewer are personal opinions of the book by this reviewer. The reviews are NOT paid endorsements of the book or the author. They are not advertisements. All reviews are honest, forthright and the opinion of this individual reviewer. This reviewer’s opinions are not for sale. (There is however, a small fee for some reviews, and sometimes this reviewer receives complementary copies from the author.) Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255 (http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)


Reviewer Robert Medak is a freelance writer and editor and serves the retail industry as a consultant and editor of promotional materials like blogs. Find him at http://www.stormywriter.com/.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is also the author of Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers.

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

Learning How Not To Market From the Big Guys

It seems, Abercrombie and Fitch . . . .mmmm, borrowed the name "Hollister" from a California town for one of its lines of clothing.

Seems after they did, they wouldn't even put an outlet in the town to help the Hollister folk with their economy (the economy being another story entirely!).

Seems a local woman decided to use her own town's name on a small line of her own jeans.

Seems A&F didn't like that.

Now it seems that the whole town is up in arms. They want to reclaim their name and they're publicizing the injustice done them everywhere!

Seems to me that A&F made a whole string of public relations booboos here. Seems to me that A&F should backtrack. Say, "I'm sorry." Hire the Hollister woman to design jeans for them. When the economy does an upturn, put in an outlet and use that magnanimous gesture to glean all kinds of counter publicity. Ahem!

Marketers--that means anyone who has anything to sell from retailers to authors--can learn from the mistakes made by the big guys. Keep a pulse on when your name is being praised and/or taken in vain by using Alerts from Google and others. Have a considered plan before catastrophe strikes. Admit your wrong-doing (if any) immediately and apologize. Fight back immediately when necessary but don't blame others for your booboos.

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This post is based on information from the LA Times, an article written for the business section by Hugo Martin. The blogger is Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques (www.budurl.com/RetailersGuide) and the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books including The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) and The Frugal Editor (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor. All are also available on Kindle.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it:

For the Writing Needs of Retailers

I'm including this review for retailers because these days retailers must be writers, too, what with newsletters, blogging, to say nothing of advertising copy and all the wordcraft they needed in the past.
Title: Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Publisher: HowToDoItFrugally.com
ISBN: 1450507654


Reviewed by Karen Cioffi


What’s more important to a writer than words? Not much . . . maybe how to put words together properly, using correct grammar, weaving them together to create descriptive or informative content . . . but, we still go back to the foundation of every writer’s manuscript or article . . . words.

Carolyn Howard Johnson’s latest book, Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers, is a little 55 page book (or e-book) that a writer can refer back to over and over and over to find help with some of the most common word trippers.

In the Before You Get Started section of this book, Howard-Johnson explains, “Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers is full of words that are trouble causers. They either sound alike or are spelled similarly. They are not arcane words that you will seldom have an occasion to use. They are not words the writer knows but still mistypes.”
Words such as climactic and climatic used improperly or misspelled can mean a rejection when submitting to the “gatekeepers.” The addition or deletion of that little second “c” makes a huge difference in the meaning of the word.

Or, how about the words: all together / altogether; demur / demure; one in the same / one and the same; and peeked / peaked / piqued. These are just a few of the word trippers added in the Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers.
Listed in an A – Z format, the words chosen for this book are thoroughly explained with the aid of examples. This all makes for an easy to understand and easy to read guide. The author also provides two resource sections at the end of the book: Reading: One Editing Book at a Time, and Other Writers’ Aids.
I happen to be a fan of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s Frugal series and have the Frugal Editor as well as the Frugal Book Promoter. They are a part of my writing and marketing toolkit. The author has done it again with the Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers. She has compiled this much needed booklet as an addendum to a list in the appendix of her book, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success.
I learned a great deal from Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers and will be referring to it often; I highly recommend it.


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Reviewed by Karen Cioffi, author, writer-for-hire, freelance writer. She blogs at  http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/ and is co-author of Day's End Lullaby. She is the author of The Self-Publisher's Guide, Writing, Publishing, and Marketing - You Can Do It!, and Walking Through Walls - In contract with 4RV Publishing. She also reviews for BookPleasures.com and Muse Book Reviews.
Follow her at http://twitter.com/KarenCV


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson's FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center. Because she is the author of the multi award-winning how-to books for writers,The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, retailers will also find essentials of writing for blogs, Web sites, and newsletters on this blog. She is the author of an award-winning novel, This Is the Place; and other fiction and poetry. She blogs on better writing at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog. Find her tweeting for retailers at @frugalretailing . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use this little green widget to let them know about it: