Since this is the week of reminders, don’t forget that the first official seminar about The 3/50 Project is happening next Monday. Whether you’re new to the movement or an early adopter, I hope you’ll come to learn about where the Project stands now, and what other independent businesses have done to promote it with successful results.
Date: Monday, May 18, 2009, during the National Stationery Show
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Room 1C02/03 (lower level)
Admission: Free, but must have a show badge or be a credentialed member of the press
Registration: Required (click here to sign up)
See you there!
A big thanks to our friends in Nashville for doing such a great piece about The 3/50 Project and a couple of the participating retailers in the area. Well done!
Do you know about a television station that’s done a feature piece on The 3/50 Project? Let me know and I’ll get their video up on the blog asap.
Just a reminder, all you fine RetailSpeaks folks planning to attend the National Stationery Show this weekend. Join us for tonight’s RS:Live! conference call where we’ll swap info, share notes, and form a plan of attack for our time at the Javits.
Time: 7:00 E / 6:00 C / 5:00 M / 4:00 P
Duration: One hour…or longer if needed
Call in number: Will be sent via our email service
Admission: Must be a current member of RetailSpeaks
Attendees are asked to be in front of a computer if possible, making it easier to look up vendor sites, and peruse the Exhibitor listings on nationalstationeyshow.com.
RS:Live! conference calls are offered exclusively to members of RetailSpeaks. For more information or to apply for membership, visit RetailSpeaks.com.
The past two weeks flew by, between Hong Kong and Beijing, both of which were amazing. Today, I’m back on home turf, fighting the cold of the century and 13 hours of jet lag, which means half my body wants to sleep off the bug, half my body wants to sleep thinking it’s the middle of the night, and none of my body can sleep until 10:00 p.m. each night or I’ll be a train wreck in New York a week from now.
Wish me luck.
In spite of the extraordinary differences between the very western, very modern Hong Kong and the ancient traditions of Beijing, two constants existed between the cities-—a very sincere interest in what’s happening with the U.S. economy and how we’re handling the H1N1 virus–making for some fairly interesting conversations. [click here to continue…]
by Cinda Baxter on May 9, 2009
in NSS
Planning to attend NSS? Want to know where the treasures are? No sweat.
I’ll be Twittering from the show floor as I walk the booths at the Javitz; all you need to listen in is a free Twitter account and a cell phone. With those, you’ll be able to receive short bursts of info, live from the aisles, with my honest opinion about what I’m seeing…good, bad, and hmmm.
Twitter messages are only 140 characters long, max, so this is easily manageable. Every so often, your phone will beep to tell you there’s a text message. You look…and…voila! “Great recycled note cards by Perfect Papers…fresh colors…good show special. Booth 1354” pops up. Eeeeeasy as pie. All you have to do is read five seconds’ worth of text…then bolt to grab the goodies. [click here to continue…]
Since my guess is a few of you are wondering if the flu virus has impacted my travels, here’s a quick update (since I rather expect my link to the blog will be blocked after this post, now that I’ve accessed it):
As of my departure from Hong Kong yesterday morning, there was one reported case of H1N1 in the city-—a traveler from Mexico checked into a local hospital with the bug, making him China’s first confirmed case. His stay at the Metropark Hotel in Wanchai resulted in quarantine of dozens of people, from hotel staff to fellow passengers who sat near him on the plane. As a result, the lot of them is being held for 7-10 days, and the Hong Kong Government has raised the Influenza Pandemic Alert Level to the highest level-—Emergency. [click here to continue…]
Well, today’s my last day in Hong Kong, which is always bittersweet. This place is amazing, an extraordinary mix of ancient history and modern technology. Something about it really resonates with me.
Tomorrow, I jet off to Beijing for a week, where-—if like last year-—I’ll be plunged into internet blackout, due to rather “challenging” government restrictions. With luck, I might get one blog post off first thing upon arrival, but after that, the firewalls go up and the door locks. If not for Skype (which, thankfully works), my family would be a wreck, since even email access through my business account is blocked off.
If I get lucky and can post from there, I will. If not, please enjoy the soothing music. Will see you upon my return, jet lagged and all.
