I was recently in the market for finding my father-in-law a birthday present - and we all know how difficult it can be to find the perfect gift! After creating a list of things he loves to do, it was clear the gift that would get him the most excited would be one that is centered around fishing - his favorite sport and past time! I decided to ask my mother-in-law if she could take a picture of the back of their boat, which is named "Boat Nick" (Nick is their last name). She sent over this photo: 

Once I received the photo, I sent it to our Art Manager at Motivators, Keri, to see if she would be able to re-create "Boat Nick" as a logo. She did an amazing job so I was confident that creating a custom gift was the way to go. But what should I get? There were so many fishing theme items to choose from!  I decided to go with custom can coolers that my father-in-law could use to keep his drinks cold when he went out to fish or just for a leisurely spin with the family. I also thought promotional towels would come in handy during tournaments and they would look great rolled up on the couches of the boat! Boy, was I right!

Because of Motivators artistic abilities and fantastic selection of promotional sporting goods, I will have "Boat Nick" gifts to give for life!

Last week I showed you some of my top branded picks from the Women's Leadership Conference. As a follow up to that post, I wanted to show you some of the other great branded goodies I received:

• A motivational promotional book which was customized with an inspirational letter printed on the inside cover. Also on the front cover of the book was the PPAI logo.

• A great custom water bottle which came in handy throughout the conference to be sure I stayed hydrated.

• A promotional computer mouse - it's small, light-weight and makes working outside the office much more comfortable. I love this as a corporate gift idea!

Hello, readers, I’d like to take a minute to introduce myself, as this is my first blog post with Motivators and I’m super excited about it! My name is Kim Laffer and I am the Director of Strategic Development for Motivators. I feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to attend our industry association, PPAI, Women’s Leadership Conference this past week- it was such an amazing experience! The agenda for the conference included networking events, panels such as “Insights From Women Leaders of our Industry”, breakout sessions and round tables, and keynote luncheons. Being in a room with 150 brilliant, successful and driven women was so inspiring and I can only hope to join them one day!

I came home from the conference with a wealth of knowledge and a suitcase filled with fabulous branded goodies! Some of my favorites were the custom printed pen, a great promotional journal notebook for us to jot down important points from the conference (and I'm now using it as my To-Do list book!), and a branded business card case, which really came in handy after a "speed networking" session!