Norwood Promotional Products

As people have probably seen from both this week’s and last’s newsletter, there is no end to the compassion shown by the suppliers and distributors of this industry. With the two tragedies, the earthquake in China and the continuing flooding in the Midwest, came news of devastation that needs no elaboration. What also came was a true outpouring of support. Journalbooks, Norwood, PPAI amd Hub Pen are just a few of the companies and organizations providing support and relief efforts. I hope everyone will consider donating to help make their efforts a success. Below are links to articles from last week’s newsletter.
Journalbooks Aims

On Wednesday June 11, Norwood’s Souvenir writing instruments facility and the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa experienced a “once in a thousand years” flood, exacting a devastating toll on the lives of all the employees in Norwood’s Souvenir facility as well as the Cedar Rapids community at large. “On behalf of the entire Norwood family, we are now focusing our attention on our employee’s recovery efforts as well as deploying contingency plans to meet the needs of our customers. We will continue to update customers with direct phone contacts and with postings on our Web site, www.norwood.com, with the most recent information as

Indianapolis-based Norwood Promotional Products announced the launch of an updated Web site. Norwood has been working on revisions to the site to make navigation and searching for products more intuitive, convenient and user-friendly. In addition, the Web site has been redesigned with a cleaner look and feel as well as improved speed and structure. Some of the updates include: • Products arranged by category and Norwood brand • Unique product and category URLs for easy reference • An updated search engine with advanced sort criteria • Expanded search functions including multiple product searches Improved speed and easier navigation •

Philadelphia-based Promo Marketing magazine, the source of product and marketing information for distributor sales professionals, announced the finalists for the 2008 Supplier Excellence Awards. The Excellence Awards are the industry’s objective standard for supplier achievement and will honor winners in more than 30 categories, spanning the range of promotional products. “The entire Promo Marketing staff is very excited to have the Excellence Awards underway,” said Matthew Barnes, publisher of Promo Marketing. “We’re pleased to offer distributors an objective platform to recognize their best supplier partners.” Nearly 200 finalists have been chosen. Voting is currently taking place and will continue through May 30 to determine

Wayland, Massachusetts-based iPROMOTEu announced the establishment of Dunk Fest 2008, the first ever NCAA college basketball tournament challenge exclusively for the promotional products industry. The goal of Dunk Fest is to create enthusiasm and spirit, and to foster friendly competition, among those working in the promotional products industry. Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), based in Trevose, Pa., and Norwood Promotional Products of Indianapolis are also sponsoring Dunk Fest 2008. In years past, iPROMOTEu organized a tournament challenge just for its affiliates and preferred suppliers. This year, iPROMOTEu decided to open up its tournament challenge to the entire promotional products industry. Four winners will be recognized

Norwood Promotional Products, based in Indianapolis, announced the launch of the Norwood Edge, a new service offering that will make their distributors’ business easier and more profitable. The Norwood Edge is a set of solutions focusing on simplifying distributors’ day-to-day business with Norwood, it gives distributors reduced extra charges, expanded customer-service hours and a new organization for the company’s most powerful sales tool, its print catalogs. The reorganization of the company’s catalogs is the most significant piece of the Norwood Edge. Previously, Norwood’s print catalogs were organized by their popular industry brands. For example, Norwood RCC Koozie had its own catalog, Norwood Souvenir had

Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF) announced that Norwood Promotional Products of Indianapolis has committed to join the PPEF Tomorrow Fund at the platinum level with a $120,000 donation to be paid over the next 12 years. “Our platinum level donation to the PPEF Tomorrow Fund sends the message that we are investing in and are committed to the promotional products industry, and we value higher education,” said Paul Lage, MAS, president of Norwood Promotional Products. “Because education has been a centerpiece for the Association and the industry, Norwood, as one of the largest industry suppliers, has the responsibility to be a leader

Regina Harrington, East Coast inside sales representative at Norwood, shows new products in the company’s V-Line, RCC Koozie and Jaffa collections.

Norwood introduces a plethora of new products for 3rd and 4th quarter in several of its lines.

Norwood Promotional Products, Indianapolis, recently announced a number of additions to its sales staff. Joel Jahns joined the Norwood field sales team as account manager, covering the state of Wisconsin. Prior to joining Norwood, Jahns served as the national sales manager at Mille Lacs Corporate Gifts (Gourmet Foods) in Sun Prairie, Wis., and the national accounts manager at Admanco, Ripon, Wis. Norwood has also added four inside sales representatives to its team. Christopher Dell will cover the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Dell has more than 13 years of sales and management experience.