With over 50,000 actively selling items on the Motivators website, it is safe to say that there's at least something for every type of client out there.

But what if your clients are very picky? One might like that 26810 Bottle Opener while another may like the 40052 Bottle Opener. Yes, they both open bottles and they are both of a high quality. But, as you can tell, there is a physical difference that is rather evident with one look. 

With Motivators' redeemable promotion cards, you'll give your client the gift of a promotional product they get to pick out. So if you hand out the custom imprinted eBook Download Card, you'll be giving your clients and employees the option to have them choose the book of their choice. One person can pick a biography while another can pick a mystery novel. The instructions on how to redeem the promotion is very simple and each card is fully cusomizable to the giver's choosings. 

Motivators allows you to give the gift of music, books, cell phone skins, magazine subscriptions, photo prints and even the gift of planting a tree. 

With the passing of Dick Clark and Levon Helm comes another passing from the music industry. Adam Yauch, best known as MCA in the rap trio Beastie Boys has passed away. He was only 47 years old. 

Although his latter years were shrouded in doubt as a result of throat cancer that pushed back the launch of an album (Hot Sauce Committee Part II) and some very high profiled festival tour dates, MCA is best known as the eldest of the trio responsible for such party hits as "Fight For Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" as well as the (still) funny videos for "Sabotage" and "Intergalactic". MCA was partly responsible for taking the group through the transition from a late 70's hardcore punk band to a hip-hop group that transcended race and charts. Over their lengthy career, the trio sold over 66 million albums worldwide. 

Adam Yauch was also a practicing Buddhist, inspired by hearing the Dalai Lama speak in Arizona.

We will always remember MCA as a member of the phenomenal group and on promotional t-shirts and music videos everywhere.  

Take one step outside of the Motivators corporate office in NY and travel 45 minutes east (or almost 2 hours in typical Long Island rush hour traffic) and you'll find a small gem located along the main strip of Patchogue, NY. The Brickhouse Brewery, located just a stone throw away from the Blue Point Company, is a microbrewery that serves an eclectic variety of food and beverages. I find myself out there at least once per week, visiting my old college roommate and taking in the great original and cover bands that grace the small stage there. (Grateful Dead, Talking Heads, R.E.M., Crosby Stills Nash & Young, etc.) 
I've become a regular at Brickhouse Brewery so I decided to join their promotional incentive program. Entitled the "Mug Club" it is a chance to have a limited edition Brickhouse Brewery mug with your name (or nickname) printed on the lip of the mug. "Mug Club" members are also entitled to free entrees on their birthday, discounted homebrews, free food during Happy Hour and even admission to private events. 
If you have a restaurant or bar and want a special way to thank your "usuals" consider purchasing some custom imprinted Grand Pilsner Glasses - 16 oz. This classic-styled glass has a wrap imprint option and will make your "usuals" feel welcomed and special. 

Summer is all about unique and interesting outdoor events to celebrate the warm weather associated with the season and a cash-cow opportunity for businesses looking to benefit greatly from throngs of people and the weather. One such event that hopes to successfully take off is called Googa Mooga.

Googa what?

Yes, Googa Mooga. Googa Mooga is a 2-Day outdoor festival (from the minds of Bonnaroo Music Festival) located in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that features the finest in music, food and drinks. Whether you refer to it as a music festival with food/drink or a food/drink festival with music, your mouth will water once you find out what it is.

Googa Mooga will feature over 75 food vendors from across the country cooking up the finest treats from all walks of life. So whether you want a hot cup of coffee from Third Rail Coffee on Bleeker Street, gumbo from Crawfish Monica in New Orleans or lobster from Chelsea Piers, it'll be there. The beer is curated by Garett Oliver (brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery) and there will be over 15 wineries represented. 
If that didn't entice you to click the above link, this should: The music aspect of the festival is headlined by great talent such as Hall & Oates and The Roots. The entire roster includes well-known and up-and-coming talent. 

So whether you're there for the music or the promotional food samples, you'll find something for you at Googa Mooga. 

While today seemed pretty monotonous and uneventful, yesterday was a roller coaster of emotions for me. The passing of my good friend and The Band drummer Levon Helm shook me to the core with much of my time spent reading the pre-emptive epitaphs from well-wishers on the Internet. I'd be lying if I wasn't bummed about it and if I didn't have intention to at least try and make the funeral.

But on the other side of the spectrum, I was able to snag tickets for my second Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band show. This show, taking place at the new Metlife Stadium, (which I have yet to go to) will close out The Boss' lengthy world tour and seeing as he's playing a large stadium in his homestate, I can expect an even better show than when I saw him tear up the XL Center in Hartford. 

But as opposing the news is, I discovered both of these by following both Levon Helm and Bruce Springsteen on Facebook. Facebook is not only a good way to keep in touch with friends and family but is a great way to get instant news updates on the movies, music, news and sport teams that matter to you most.

So if you know you're in the market to purchase promotional products, be sure to become a fan of Motivators on Facebook. By clicking "Like" you'll be able to get a discount coupon on your next order and be kept up to date on other promotions and new products. 

I spent much of my weekend as a shut-in, watching much of the streaming footage from this year's Coachella Music Festival. While I enjoyed watching full sets from such favorite artists as Radiohead, Real Estate, The Weeknd and Pulp, it was something that happened on the final day of the festival that was breathtaking and unexpected.

It happened during the Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre headlining performance. The duo had just finished "California Love" when the stage went black. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, I saw Tupac rise out, command the stage and give one outstanding performance.

Yes, you read correctly. Tupac Shakur. The famous rapper notorious for being gunned down just at the height of his career in 1996. Thanks to the innovative visions of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and computer graphics company Digital Domain (works include Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Tron: Legacy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and X-Men: First Class) a realistic visual of Tupac Shakur was recreated and given the ability to perform "Hail Mary" solo and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" with the two living artists. The "holigram" (technically, it is a 2D visual, thus not called a holigram) cost $100,000 to make.

Now there are sources saying that a lengthy tour is in the works based on the Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg Coachella performance. Although not confirmed whether the other living guest stars will be a part of the tour (Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and 50 Cent) the tour will at least include the Tupac visual/performance. 

Stay tuned for tour dates and other information. 

With the same giddy enthusiasm of a child with his/her first allowance, my girlfriend and I made our way to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for the first night of Kraftwerk's multimedia concert series. The group was performing Autobahn in its entirety, including some of the hits not seen on the album. It's amazing that Autobahn is 38 years old and that the only time the album is performed in its entirety was the night I attended.

The excitement started even before the first note was played. Arriving at the MoMA after-hours warrants questions from everyone from the cab driver to the security guards standing outside the door. After four security checks, we made our way to the front desk to sign-in. After signing in, we received something I never expected: a limited edition picture book and a pair of custom imprinted envelope.

Curiously, we opened the envelope as we made our way up the stairs to the Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium. We were both astonished and excited to find a pair of custom imprinted 3D glasses. The art and exhibit on display was to be in 3D - something that also has not happened in the 40 years of the group's visual performance. 

Kraftwerk's performance was just shy of two hours and included a wide variety of music from their 8 studio albums that were on showcase. 

On the way out, we noticed a pop-up store inside the Museum that had merchandise from the band. We didn't stop by to buy things (something I regret now) but the displays included vinyl records, a limited edition box set of the group's discography and custom imprinted t-shirts.

Check out video of "Radioactivity" performed by the group. Remember that the visuals behing the group are in 3D. (photos via brooklynvegan)

After subtlely hinting to it in this blog post, I have finally picked out the bicycle of my dreams. It has a light-weight aluminum frame, a stellar paint job and very thin fast wheels. Now that I've bought some great accessories and am no longer rusty at riding, I'm looking for a few bike routes. 

With the magic of Google, I've found not only a few bike routes on Long Island but have also found races/competitions. I'd never thought of riding in competitions or anything like that but now that the idea is impressioned in my mind, I research the competitions heavily.

One in particular I am looking at is Ride to Montauk. It is a competition from various cities with the finish line in Montauk. Depending on where one starts, the race can be anywhere between 30 and 145 miles. What I find enticing is that the race includes transportation for you back to your start location, a massage after the race and even a promotional t-shirt/bike shirt. 

Promotional giveaways are perfect for getting people to participate in your event. Order now for your summer event. 

My family will be visiting Europe not once but twice this year. Separated by only a few months, they will embark for Rome, IT in about a week and to Athens, GR sometime in August. Because of a prior arrangement (see this post) and to not take too much time off of work, I will be missing out on the first leg of their European adventure. It will be a very lonely few days without seeing or talking to them so while they spend the next few days packing and repacking, I am creating a small care package of some of the necessities of travel - a map of Rome and a promotional world Travel Adaptor for the length of the trip and a small bag for the flight itself. (sudoku books, magazines, tissues, ear plugs, luggage tags, etc.) I know the'll love this stuff and find it very useful. Then I get to do it all again in August. (but get to tag along this time)

Sony Computer Entertainment has had a large percentage of the video game market for almost 20 years. (the original Playstation system was released in the US in 1995) But with rumors on its new entertainment system, that could very well shift in favor of Nintendo, Microsoft or even another company.

Despite rumors of a Playstation 4 press conference at the E3 convention (Sony quickly confirmed that this wasn't the case) Sony Computer Entertainment officials have confirmed that a new system is in the works for Christmas 2013. The system will be called the Playstation Orbis, avoiding the mistake Nintendo did with their upcoming Wii U. While December 2013 is a while's away, rumors on some of its features have already leaked. 

As expected, there are amazing features that will make this more appealing than the previous Playstation consoles. Unlike the Playstation 3, which succesfully plays 3D games and films at 720p, the Orbis will be able to play its 3D features at 1080p. Best of all, the Playstation Orbis will feature an AMD 64x CPU and an AMD Southern Islands GPU - pushing gaming resolution to a futuristic 4096 x 2160! Any television released with the 4096 x 2160 resolution (still waiting on that) in the future will allow the Orbis to perform in tip-top shape. 

But are we so ready to take the bad with the good? The Orbis is rumored to also not be backwards compatible - something that set back the Playstation 3 during its original release. But what is almost shocking is that the Orbis will not be able to run pre-owned games unless an additional fee for each game is paid to Sony in advance. This is as a result of popular lending/trading services like Gamestop, Redbox and Gamefly. 

It's hard to say if these features will make it onto the Orbis. All I know is that I won't be packing my Playstation 3 away for a long time.

Note: the image is only an artist rendering of what the Orbis might look like.