Of all the holidays around, Cinco de Mayo has a special place in my heart. Mexico is one of my favorite places to visit and though the fifth of May doesn't mean too much to them there, the United States has turned it into a bonafide celebration. I feel that the holiday has the perfect ingredients for the ultimate fiesta.

Now let me cha-cha over to our promotional products and find the cinco best Cinco de Mayo giveaways. Now don't fel left out if you're lacking the Mexican - so am I. But if we're all Irish on St. Patty's Day, why can't we all be Mexican on Cinco de Mayo?

Uno! The party must start with some music. Whip out the custom printed Gemline sonic sound speaker and cue your fiesta playlist. You don't have a fiesta playlist!?! Let me make you one. You'll need to start it up with "La Bamba," get everyone involved with a classic "Macarena" routine and definitely incorporate a drinking  game to "La Cucaracha." May I mention that the solar speaker is perfect for Cinco de Mayo celebrations because now you can spend your whole day outside as the sun powers your speakers.

Dos! Show off your Mexican hip shaking and impress everyone with your rhythm when your sha-shaking these custom printed translucent maracas too.
                                       
Tres! All that dancing is going to make you hungry so whip out the custom Williams Sonoma Mexican food cookbook and season everything to perfection.

Quatro! Keep in mind, no Cinco de Mayo meal is complete without a cocktail. We can keep things traditional with a Margarita or get all fancy with Sangria in a custom fiesta acrylic light up wine glass.

Cinco Now finally that you've danced the tango, tasted the cuisine and sipped the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, it's time for a siesta. Lay down in a bed of grass and let the celebrations of Cinco de Mayo set in as you dream of sombreros, ponchos and large hoop earrings. Before slipping into your slumber, remember to mark your custom Viva Mexico wall calendar for next year. To top this years fiesta, you'll have to plan ahead!

Facebook is vital to the business world. We're grateful to see customers "like" us and are always flattered by positive reviews. We post company photographs to help give Motivators a personality on Facebook and we invite you all to join our on-line community there.
 

So how does a web-based social networking company promote itself? Well that is something that Motivators has in common with Facebook. We promote with promotional products.

            
Above are few Facebook logo clad items I found. But I've got even more suggestions. For instance, where are the promotional flash drives? The social media world is all about easy access to information and even easier ways to share it. A USB drive will make tons of information accessible so that no matter what computer you're on or whose internet signal you're stealing - your latest photos can be uploaded on Facebook.
                         
I'm also interested in some fun promotional notebooks. Come on you creative designers, I want to see a face imprint on the front of a notebook, face - book. Let's make it happen. Perhaps my face? Maybe your face? How about a company contest?! We'll have to get this rolling because I'd love some Motivators Facebook swag.

How much fun can you have with promotional drinkware? It's not a challenge, so please, no strange video submissions. However, I did discover some awesome items that I must share with you. It's the crazy cool custom game bottle. Now that will keep the kids quiet! It's perfect for road trips, picnics and around the house.

                               
Schools and day care centers should utlize these fun giveaways because they'll garner them an awesome reputation.

My Facebook news feed was flooded with similar updates yesterday. "I just finished the last class of my college career!" Some were more personally studded with H*l# $h!t, and can you F^c%ing believe it?!?! We're DONE!!!" while others took a more reflective approach, "Wow...this is it."

I can't remember the particular status update I made on my last day of class last year, but I definitely remember the thoughts I had. "Time for the real world."

As we sprout into the month of May, many high school and college students prepare for graduation. Motivators can supply you with the graduation promotional giveawaysyou need to help celebrate, and I will now attempt to supply the graduating class from St. Joseph's College of Maine with some hope. Look at me, I'm employed. (And I actually accidentally slept through the last class of my college career.)
           

The opportunities are out there, so conquer them! And while you're at it, hit 'em out of the park. That's just what Jesse  LaCasse, a St. Joe's '03 alumni is doing. The St. Joseph's College Magazine featured him in their latest edition and I couldn't pass up a story that included the word, "custom." For you see, promotional, custom, branded, logo and imprinted have become tokens of the marketing language I now speak - a language I first learned at St. Joes.

So what language does Jesse speak? He's currently living in Germany so I'd give that a guess, but since graduating, baseball has been affluent in his life. So where do these two alumni cross paths? On the baseball diamond.
                 
Jesse is a member of my college's Baseball Hall of Fame, but he can do more than just swing a bat, he can create it. Originally just a personal hobby, Jesse now runs a one man custom baseball bat company, LaCasse Bats. He primarily uses white ash and maple wood to get the most strength and flexibility. Even better? He gets all of his supplies locally, making him a one man eco-friendly bat making show. His personal logo can be found on each of his handmade baseball bats and he brands players names into each for teams in Little League all the way up to college.

So if you're having the typical graduation blues..."How can I find a job?" "Where am I going to live?" "What do I have to offer?" Have no fears. Opportunities are out there, so take a swing.

I recently became curious as to how many promotional items I have in my own home. To be fair, I won't include the swag that I've garnered through trade shows. I want to dissect the average home and giveaways in store. So at some point I will count the promotional magnets, tally up the promotional t-shirts and collect the keychains to find out what items stick around.

As I pick my brain for the promotional products I know are popular in my home, one stands ahead of the pack, promotional drinkware.

                            
Sitting in a cabinet over my kitchen sink, are at least twelve custom imprinted brewery glasses. Most of them are imprinted with a logo, slogan or image token to Maine. My parents enjoy a nice glass of beer and they adore Maine, so at restaurants up North, they often purchase the available drinkware. That way, they're able to bring a little piece of Maine back to Long Island every trip.

There are glasses with imprinted Moose, one with some blue berries and many imprinted with my parent's favorite brew, "The Maine Brewing Company."

If your eyes shoot to the cabinet above the stove, they'll see a collection of more random drinkware. Martini glasses, fish bowls and margarita glasses all call this cabinet home. I'll refer to it as the cruise cabinet, because most of the drinkware was acquired on tropical cruises. Again, while vacationing, my parents enjoy their cocktails and tend to buy the special promotional drinks.

By just focusing on the promotional drinkware in my home, I can truly say that promotional products work. Everydaaaaaaaaaaay my parents fill up one of their beer glasses or fishbowls and reminisce about the trip they got it on. Then they book another trip.

Take off your shirt, spray on a tan and pump that fist. Casting call for Jersey Shore tonight at the Crazy Donkey. JWoww is Long Island native and she's proven to have enough tude and push up bras to live the Jersey Shore's reputation. And now you can join her in the infinite quest for cut off shirts, body shots, and STDs.

          
           (Long Island chumps at the Jersey Shore audition want to be on the cast of the Jersey Shore.)
I'm so tempted to visit beach bum and the foreign section of Century 21. One "Island Tan" sprits and one reduced price Italian import dress later and I'll be ready to put on an obnoxious accent and parade into the Crazy Donkey pinning for a shot vodka.

If a similar feeling comes over you, I suggest that you stop by the Crazy Donkey between 7PM and 4AM tonight. Consider some light up giveaways to attract even more attention. As you pump your fist on the dance floor and butt bump your neighbor, the casting producer for Popular Productions, Vanessa Romanelli and her team will tap you on the shoulder and invite you to the trailer for a Jersey Shore audition.
            
             (The female cast of The Jersey Shore.)
There, you'll have to shed the clothing and slip into the mobile hot tub to show the producers you've got that hot tub edge that the Jersey Shore cast requires. Bring promotional rubber ducks along and find your own character niche early in the game. There's no telling how the producers will portray you after two months of footage yielding only 9 hours worth of TV time, so you might as well pull out all the shots.

Admire the photographs of last night's casting call and make sure to let me know if you're going to be auditioning. If we go as a posse our chances of attracting attention are greater and the possibility of getting into a brawl rise. This is a good thing, Jersey Shore style.

When life gives you lemons. Make lemonade. When life gives you $575. Fix your car.

That's my lesson of the day. Because not 5 minutes after spotting my $575 federal tax return in my bank account, my mechanic called to tell me it was going to be a $550 job.

No worries, the spacewagon will prevail. And in honor of that lovely check the government gave me, today's blog is all about customized government products.
                                     
Whether you're campaigning for the presidency or recruiting for the military, Motivators has the promotional products you need. The United States is most commonly branded by the American flag, which is why so many of our promotions for government incorporate that flip flapping, red, white and blue.

My favorite political giveaways all incorporate the presidents. I think there's something to admire and something to sneer at about each of our main American men. And having their faces on a custom printed president's ruler will really help me to preserve my 7th grade history class knowledge.

                                  
They're also great for any school giveaway because they can be incorporated into daily classroom activities. From making measurements in math, to drawing a straight line in art and referencing presidents of the past, these rulers are fantastic government giveaways.

Yes, that's right, in celebration of my federal return I'll be sporting a flap lapel pin and waving a miniature flag all weekend long. Also, take note of my new patriotic bumper sticker when the spacewagon returns from its visit with Dr. Mechanic.

Things have been going very well for me and my spaceship lately. Space aviation has been going smoothly and all systems have been go. However, this morning there was some sort of combustible problem. I think my spacewagon just wanted a little smoke break.

However, it was really perfectly timed as I had just parked in front of the gym as the smoke began to billow. I popped the hood, turned my attention to the sizzling round thing by some rubbery black belt and proceeded to shut the hood and walk into the gym.

I chugged from my promotional sport bottle and forgot about the car issues outside. The water kept me from overheating as my car sat outside cooling off.

Conveniently, Sales Ali pumps it up with me in the mornings and was able to transport this craftless space cadet to work. I then arranged a ride home and at no point have I considered getting my spaceship to a mechanic.

Why? Because after almost an entire year with my spaceship, I've realized its amazing stationary capabilities. I also took note of the neighborhood it's now sitting, there were no "No Parking" signs in sight.
                
Right next to my spacewagon is my gym, where I have access to hot showers and right up the block is a Dunkin Donuts for nutrients. Even more convenient? I estimate only a 10 minute on foot commute to work in the morning as apposed to my normal thirty minute ride.
                                        
My car is currently equipped with a toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo & conditioner, healthy snacks, a few changes of clothing (including pajamas) and a bag of shoes and assorted junk. Now all I need are some promotional throw blankets and a pillow.

So if you see me, make sure to congratulate me on my new place. It's located on Old Country Road in Hicksville, ride outside of Planet Fitness.

For the last month, Motivators has been running an accelerated version of our Plant a Tree program. We're not using magical tree seeds, but we have amped up our partnership with the American Forests ReLeaf program to give back even more trees to our environment. So with only one day left, get Earth Day interactive and order some of our Earth Day giveaways.

How will Motivators be going green this Earth Day? Tonight, like every night, our computers will automatically go beddie-bye and reduce the use of energy in our office while we're gone. Tomorrow, we will continue to use our promotional eco-friendly drinkware and to avoid plastic bottles. And we'll make sure to place any plastic we do come in contact with, in our recycling bin.
                               

I also invite every Motivators to take place in a bike to work day. Sure, we'll all stink, but it'll cut back on our carbon footprint significantly. While cutting back our negative impact on the environment, we'll also be cutting back the pounds by getting active.

My apologies to the New York State Highway Department for any traffic jams on the Northern, Southern, Wantagh, Meadowbrook or LIE; though Motivators is a fabulous name for a bike crew- we are not one.

Biking to work and sticking to reusable bottles are great ways to go green. The greatest way for us to spread sustainability is to give our customers access to the best supply in eco-friendly products.

Vanilla frozen yogurt topped with blueberries and mango on a sunny afternoon and free of charge. You don't have to pinch yourself, you are not dreaming. You don't have to feel guilty either, it's fat free. That's right, Red Mango makes dreams come true.

When Sarah squeaked, "The Red Mango CEO is In Plainview!" I imagined that more excitement was on the way. Red mango CEO, Dan Kim was making rounds to different Long Island locations this week and his latest FourSquare update was only 10 minutes away from our office.

                            
We got together a quick New Yorker promotional package and were sure to include a New Yorker pizza cutter, some fun sun screen, a pedometer for staying in Red Mango shape, anti-bacterial for staying sanitary, a custom printed luggage strap for traveling convenience and a scannable bar code Motivators promotion tee. All of this was inside a red promotional drawstring backpack that Dan Kim opened and explored.

After launching the Motivators app for the iPhone this week, there's been lots of tech excitement for us. That's why we were especially thrilled that Dan Kim already knew about the cool scannable barcode. We hope he gets scanning real soon and checks out this blog; namely because it's to thank him and the entire team over at Red Mango in Plainview for their fabulous service and fun spirit.
         
As twitter queen Sarah had mentioned to me early, Dan Kim tweeted, "Update: I'm arriving in NY 2nite, starting store visits 2mrw in Long Island. Catch me, say hi, & I'll buy u any 1 item on our menu!" He's a man of his word. Apon entering the friendly Red Mango store, Sarah mentioned the @RedMangoCEO twitter account and soon, Dan Kim greeted us and graciously offered us delicious frozen yogurt - or as he likes to call it, froyo.

I'd never been, so another lovely Red Mango employee gave me free samples of each flavor. Meanwhile another member of the mango team offered us samples of their brand new green tea flavor. As the refreshing flavor from the green tea left my mouth I ordered an original froyo with mangos and blueberries.
                                    
We thanked Dan Kim for his generosity and once again praise him for getting out there and engaging the customer. Red Mango is delicious- especially when it's complimentary and coming out of the hands of the company's president. Red Mango has a face and personality that not all businesses posses. So from one social media buzzing company to another, we applaud your efforts and invite you to browse our promotional products as well.

Next venture? Red Mango while in a promotional hammock. Heaven.