General Colin Powell Guest Stars On ASI Radio
This morning, the hosts of ASI Radio's Tuesday Morning Show welcomed special guest General Colin Powell to the show. The former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called in to offer his top leadership and management secrets. "Good leaders always have a plan and a strategy for how they're going to execute that plan," Powell said during the show.

General Powell, who joined the hosts for the first 20 minutes of the show, even took questions from callers about business management and how to thrive through difficult times. "You can't just come up with gimmicks," Powell said in reference to a question about how to motivate employees during challenging times. "You have to be straight with them about the business and they have to see that you have a plan for success. That plan and the strategy around it will motivate them."

If you missed the show, don't worry. A recording of the whole show is now available at www.asicentral.com/radio. And, don't forget to join us next Tuesday, November 24, for our next broadcast. Log on to www.asicentral.com/radio at 10:30am eastern time and give us a call at 215-953-4979.

Government Proposes Limit To Gift Card Fees
Taking aim at fees, expiration dates and other retail gift card restrictions, the Federal Reserve has authored new rules benefiting consumers. As part of legislative provisions passed in May, the rules would specifically stop issuers from charging certain dormancy fees and monthly maintenance fees. However, the rules are unlikely to go into effect until next year. "It would be far better for them to take effect in time for this holiday shopping season," said Sen. Charles Schumer, the author of the reforms. "We will continue to push the Fed to speed up the effective date so that we end abuses by gift card issuers as soon as possible."

Implemented through the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the changes would also prohibit issuers from charging fees for balance inquiries, transactions and reloading. The Fed's proposal would additionally prevent cards from expiring sooner than five years after the funds are loaded, issued or sold. The new regulations don't apply, however, to prepaid cards not marketed as gift cards or to cards earned through reward programs.

Association Leaders Lobby Against Sunshine Act
Traveling to Capitol Hill to campaign against the Sunshine Act, Bob Hechler, vice president of the Gold Coast Promotional Products Association (GCPPA), and Wayne Greenberg, secretary of the Promotional Products Association of Florida (PPAF), recently met with Senator Bill Nelson and two of his staffers. During the meeting, Hechler and Greenberg emphasized promotional products are a form of advertising and are not used or intended as gifts. "The legislation lumps promotional products in with Rolex watches, fishing trips to the Caribbean and consultant fees," says Hechler, who's also the president of Windbrella (asi/97247). "Once they found the promotional products we brought were included [in the bill], they agreed to talk to the bill's sponsor."

Introduced in January, the Senate version of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act is designed to stop pharmaceutical companies from exerting influence over doctors by providing lavish gifts and services. Under the legislation, companies would be required to disclose virtually all payments to physicians once a $100 aggregate is reached. Hechler and Greenberg are among many in the industry championing an exception that would exclude the reporting of imprinted items that are less than $10 each. "I think there are many people getting involved in the cause and the message is getting out," Hechler says. "We have to realize, though, that electronic letter writing isn't effective. It's phone calls and private visits that are most effective."

The Joe Show: New Products
Looking for the hot-off-the-presses items available in the market? In this episode of The Joe Show, Counselor Managing Editor Joe Haley shows off some new products for 2010 that suppliers have sent to him recently. Check out the video, and wow your clients with some unique new offerings.

Click here to see this new-products edition of The Joe Show.

Survey: Self-Employed Are Happiest Workers
What people have the highest well-being of any occupation? Business owners. These were the findings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a study conducted during the first eight months of 2009. More than 100,000 people among 11 job segments were polled. Business owners consistently scored well in the six categories in the survey, which included: Work environment, basic access, emotional health, healthy behavior, physical health and life evaluation.

A number of ad specialty distributors, business owners themselves, agreed with the findings. "I get to sell 50,000 different items to different people every day," says Eric Lerner, president of Action Plus Marketing Ideas (asi/104683). "The work is always interesting."
           
The social aspects of the job are what Harry Parrish, owner of Harry A. Parrish & Associates (asi/291310), enjoys. "I love the interaction with the people, both the vendors and the customers. I'm a pretty happy person and I tend to gravitate toward happy people," Parrish says. "There is plenty of chit chat conversation. I know about their kids, families and where they went on vacation. It isn't just how many ballpoint pens do you want? Even if they don't order anything, I leave happy. Life is too short for grumpy people…and slow-paying customers."
           
The Gallup poll found that even though owners work longer hours than people in other categories, they still exhibited high well-being compared to those who are less engaged in their jobs. "There is a myth that being self-employed is the American dream and the gravy train," says Parrish. "But, I've never worked as hard for a paycheck as I've done working for myself. I never worked until 8 p.m. every night and on Saturdays. But, I happen to love what I'm doing. I love my business."

Hirsch International Acquired By CEO
Hirsch International Corp., a supplier of apparel manufacturing and decoration equipment, announced that its president and CEO Paul Gallagher has completed his acquisition of the company. According to the agreement, Hirsch has been delisted from Nasdaq and has become a private company.

As part of the transaction, stockholders received 31 cents per share, representing a premium of approximately 48% over Hirsch's closing share price of 21 cents on June 12. That was the last completed trading day prior to the public announcement of Gallagher's offer to acquire all of the company's outstanding shares. Following the acquisition, Henry Arnberg, Marvin Broitman, Chris DaVino and Mary Ann Domuracki resigned from Hirsch's board of directors, leaving Gallagher as the sole director. Gallagher began his career at Hirsh in September 2001 as COO. He was named president in 2003 and CEO in December 2004.

Hirsch, founded in 1968, provides equipment and support services to the graphic and decorated apparel industry. Its customers include manufacturers who use embroidery, screen printing or other embellishing techniques as well as promotional products, uniform and sportswear companies. The Hauppauge, NY-based company had been public since 1994.

Counselor Unveils 2009 Power 50 List
At a ceremony earlier this month during the ASI Power Summit, Counselor released its annual Power 50 ranking. Along with 14 newcomers to the list this year, the number-one spot is represented by the biggest news story of the year: BIC's acquisition of Norwood Promotional Products. Sharing the top spot on the 2009 Power 50 are Nicolas Paillot, the CEO of BIC APP (the newly formed BIC division that consists of BIC Graphic USA (asi/40480) and Norwood Promotional Products) and Paul Lage, president of Norwood. Combined, the organization will now represent the largest supplier firm in the ad specialty market.

The remainder of the top five on this year's Power 50 consists of: SanMar's (asi/84863) Marty Lott, Greg Muzzillo and Vera Muzzillo of Proforma (asi/300094), Marc Simon of Halo/Lee Wayne (asi/356000), and Gene Geiger and Jo-an Lantz of Geiger (asi/202900).

New Course Available on ASI Education's OnlineLearning Center
Be sure to register at http://www.asicentral.com/asionlinelearning for some exciting new courses available exclusively to ASI members. Brought to you by ASI Education, Online Learning is the newest and most convenient way for distributors to get educated. Here are some of the courses from our New Distributor Success Track available now:

NEW
Wearables Crash Course. In this course, you'll learn about the top five best-selling wearable categories, along with decorating and selling tips. Then, we'll give you an overview of the most popular decorating options. Plus, you'll learn about some of the hot new buzzwords in wearables, such as performance fabrics and eco-friendly fabrics. And, we'll advise you on how to find the right decorator and digitizer. Finally, suppliers are eager to help you show your clients how their logo will look on apparel, so that's where samples can be key to getting that sale. By the end of this course, you'll be on your way to selling even more wearables, which make up 30% of the $20 billion in annual ad specialty sales.

Course Track: New Distributor Success
* Nailing Down the Basics
* Marketing Your New Business
* Steps to Selling Success
* Creative Case Studies
* Avoid These First-Year Pitfalls
* Managing Your Business
Coming Soon:
* Building Profitable Client Relationships

ASICentral: What's Wrong With This Email?
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Got questions, comments or any type of feedback regarding anything ASICentral, don't hesitate to contact us at feedback@asicentral.com. Also, follow ASICentral at .

In The News
Boxercraft (asi/41325) recently donated more than 600 apparel items, including fleece shorts, flannel pants and hoodies, to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Heritage Sportswear Inc. (asi/60582) has announced that it's offering the Dunbrooke (asi/50930) relay jacket, style 8008M, for $9.99 through November 30. For more details and colors options, go to: www.heritagesportswear.com.

Logomark (asi/67866) was named the best "hard goods company" of 2009 by the distributor members of the Arizona Promotional Products Association.

Noteworthy Co. (asi/74360) is now taking ordering for K-R memo books (style #T11), with new pricing available upon request.

People On The Move
Octagon Merchandising (asi/286685) has promoted Rick Shahum to account director and Stefanie Mazel and Edward Andrade to senior account executive.

The Vernon Company (asi/351700) has hired Larry Ballew as an account executive in its Eastern region.

ASI SHOW

THE ASI SHOW ORLANDO — LESS THAN TWO MONTHS AWAY
Excitement is building for the first industry event of 2010, The ASI Show Orlando, January 3-5, 2010. Featuring top suppliers (including BIC Graphic, Leeds, Norwood, Hit Promotional Products and SanMar – just to name a few), best-in-class education and around-the-clock networking — such as ASI's 2010 Fashion Show, Women's Networking Reception, Counselor Distributor Choice Awards and the Gala Celebration at Universal Studios — The

ASI Show Orlando is THE place to kick off the start of the new sales season.
Plus, due to popular demand, additional seating has just been added to the Keynote by General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) on January 5 at 8 a.m. Come see a true American hero and one of the most admired men on the world stage.

Register today at www.asishow.com for The ASI Show Orlando. ASI distributor and decorator members enjoy free admission and can receive up to $100 toward a hotel room.

BUILD YOUR BUSINESS USING SOCIAL NETWORKING — FREE KEYNOTE AT ASI DALLAS
The ASI Show brings its innovation and fun to the Lone Star State February 1-3, 2010 with The ASI Dallas Show! Featuring record attendance in 2009, ASI Dallas delivers 600 leading suppliers, thousands of new items, more than 55 free education sessions and daily networking — including the acclaimed Ultimate Texas Bash featuring the best barbeque in Texas.

On Wednesday, February 3, all Show-goers are invited to attend an interactive Keynote by Dale Denham, entitled Build Your Brand & Your Business with Social Networking, from 8 a.m.-9:15 a.m. Whether you are a social media expert or someone who doesn't know a tweet from DIGG, you'll leave with straightforward, actionable opportunities to increase your sales.

Register today at www.asishow.com for The ASI Dallas Show. ASI distributor and decorator members enjoy free admission and can receive up to $100 toward a hotel room.

ASI SAN DIEGO— GALA LOCATION JUST ANNOUNCED
Timed in the first quarter, the brand-new ASI Show San Diego (February 24-26) is the perfect place to find new products, catalogs and pricing for the start of 2010. Featuring leading suppliers, such as BIC Graphic, Prime, Hit Promotional Products, Bodek and Rhodes and Sweda, cutting-edge education and non-stop networking, ASI San Diego will be a sales-building event like no other — including a FREE Keynote by motivational guru Tony Robbins on February 26 at 8 a.m.

The location of the Gala Celebration was just announced. ASI San Diego will be taking over the ever popular Stingaree Nightclub — one of the nation's hottest dance spots. Set in an historic warehouse in San Diego's Red Light District, Stingaree's state-of-the-art facility features three floors, including a Rooftop Oasis (the perfect surrounding for networking). ASI members can order discounted tickets to this night of fun that will include a mouth-watering dinner buffet, open bar and great dancing.

Join the excitement and register for ASI San Diego at www.asishow.com. ASI distributor and decorator members enjoy free admission and can receive up to $100 toward a hotel room.

Follow The ASI Show on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook today!

The following are the dates and locations for The ASI Show in 2010:
Orlando: January 3-5
Dallas: February 1-3
San Diego: February 24-26
New York: May 4-6
Chicago: July 13-15
Holiday & Incentives Expo, Las Vegas: September 14-16