I was working on the web tonight and researching tradeshows. I think I am going to write a series of articles about marketing ones company at the top trade shows. I did not realize that there was so much volatility among the top trade shows, and that a couple of tradeshows Comdex and E3 that were the top tradeshows just a couple of years ago are either dormant or entirely restructured. It appears that the granddaddy of all trade shows as of this writing is CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. It has over 140,000 attendees! I'd love to attend that show.

I've always dreamed of attending a major auto show as well. My brother Daniel and I both love cars, and we have talked about flying into Detroit to attend the Detroit Auto Show. Both of us have families and limited vacation time, and it has not happened yet, but some day it will.

I think it is shows like CES that have driven the demand for flash drives in the promotional products industry. I would say that they are the hot promotional products story of the last five years, as five years ago they practically didn't exist. We have sold thousands of flash drives, and I believe that we have sorted through the junk and selected a couple of the highest quality suppliers. You can check out American Promotions' flash drives here.

I love mountain biking. Today, I would love to be up on the Mountain. I cannot believe that it is the third week of October and that the temperature today in Central Point, Oregon is 75 degrees Fahrenheit! I just longingly look out the big picture window in my office wishing that I was not sitting in front of this flat screen, but I really don't have that option today.

We just sold a sizable order of Anvil Dri-Release T-shirts and I realized that these would be great for mountain biking and they would make a great promotion for a sports themed promotion or company gift. My cursory research indicates that our price for this Anvil t-shirt is one of the best prices on the web.

Yesterday was a wonderful day with my family. We had our weekly Family Home Evening. We hold this on Monday nights every week, and it is a night that we set aside solely for family togetherness. Sometimes, we plan family events. At other times, we have a religious lesson or message. Earlier this summer, we built a chicken run for our chicken coop. Sometimes, the evening is completely unstructured, and we just jump on the trampoline or chase each other around the house. I work long hours, and my children really look forward to this. They are ages 2 to 10 and I hope that they don't grow out of it, although I am sure that is just wishful thinking.

Last night, we gathered long dead sticks in the meadow area in our front yard and we raked giant pine needles. The kids are using these raw materials to build a lean-to style shelters against the pool house and against a closely positioned grouping of four oak trees out in the meadow. It is so adorable to see them plan and construct. Their goal is to not use any items that are not native to our yard. We would place the long narly oak branches against the trunk of the tree and try to lay them and interweave them in a way as to get a reasonably sturdy structure. The kids then thatch the frame with the big pine needles and line the floors with soft moss. (I'm sure that the hundreds of species of spiders that call are property home are going to be very grateful to the kids for these huts).

I'm just glad for times like last night and for the memories they create.

And since this is a promotional products blog, and since the weather is starting to turn chill, I would really enjoy a classic jacket like this Devon & Jones Clubhouse Jacket.

Make Your Logo "Wrinkle-Free"

I woke up this morning before 5:00 a.m.. I couldn't really sleep. When that happens, my mind starts pouring over all of the things that I have to do. But, then I just lay there and don't do anything. It's not very effective. I decided to get up and to start my day, and try to squeeze in a blog post and some extra work. I showered, shaved and got ready. I then grabbed a shirt that I had already worn once before, a Land's End no-iron shirt. However, I had crumpled it onto a shelf in my closet, and the shirt did need ironing.

Parenthetically, I love the Land's End no-iron shirts. They are attractive, they are very durable, and if you hang them up straight out of the dryer, then you really don't need to iron them and they look just as crisp as if they have been professionally laundered and pressed.

Back to my ironing. So anyway, I start ironing this shirt, and I finish the two fronts, the collar the back and one of the sleeves, and then I turn the shirt over to do the final sleeve, and there in orange red glory was the reason I should not have shoved this into my closet in the first place. The last time I wore it, my two-year-old girl had taken a chubby, friendly hand and smeared the sleeve with spaghetti sauce and then smiled up at me with a big sticky grin. Fortunately this shirt has some kind of stain guard on it, but I couldn't wear it today.

Anyway, this little insignificant, but time-wasting experience reminded me how much I love my daughter, but it also got me wondering if American Promotions offers a no-iron shirt. The closest thing I found was this Port Authority Long & Short Sleeve Easy Care/Soil Release Shirt. It is a woven shirt by SanMar. This is a quality shirt, and the price with a corporate embroidered logo is very competitive. It is not truly 'no-iron.' It is wrinkle-resistant.

I do not think that this is quite as dressy or as care-free as the Land's End version, but it is a lot less expensive and gives the promotional apparel buyer a lot of shirt for the money.