My wife and I just got back from a mini vacation to Lake Tahoe, CA.  We went snowboarding at Heavenly Mountian.  It was a great time even with the lack of snow.  The " Tahoe " sun was out all 4 days.  A suntan was the last thing I was thinking about when I went snowboarding, so I was not prepared.  As lunch time rolled around.. I took a look at myself in the mirror and realized I was going to be in for a world of hurt.  I headed directly to the shop and picked up some promotional sunblock.  They were cool they were branded with the mountain logo and cool image of a snowboarder and they had a sport clip so I could clip it to my board bag and never be without it.  and of course I paid a premium being @ 10,000 feet.  The good news is they even threw in some promotional candy to help heal the pain of the sunburn.

There has been a study that people get more depressed in the winter time due to the lack of sunlight but, this year I think I am getting depressed due to the lack of snow.  Who would have thought it would have been a gamble to book a trip in December to go snowboarding in lake tahoe at the beginning of February.. no one.  Mother Nature has not been too happy with the California ski resorts.  Washington state, Utah, and Wyoming have been getting killed with snow.  Wyoming just got 80 " of snow in 8 days!!!  but Heavenly ski resort got an estimated total of 70" for the season.  We will definitly not be getting in the white room as they say or having to break out our snorkel but they do have plenty of man made snow so we will be tearing down the groomers.  Good thing about South Lake Tahoe is the Casinos and the lively night life,  worse case scenerio we go around collecting logod beer glasses.

This past Thursday January 26th, Ken, Laura, Samantha and myself attended the SAAGNY winter showcase 2012.  The plethora of trade show items were amazing.  Any promotional product you could think of was there.  Any item you may want imprinted they had on display.  It really makes you think about how many of these items you come in contact with every single day.  We all had a great time walking the show and are looking forward to selling many of these item to our customers!

"Student warning!  Do your homework early.  Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #sopa"

That's just one of the many alarming Tweets sent out by Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales yesterday.  What's Wales talking about?

According to Mashable, "Wikipedia will go offline Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)."  SOPA is a bill that's meant to expand the rights for U.S. law enforcement and copyright owners who want to fight online piracy. 

SOPA's opponents claim the bill would have an extremely negative effect on user-generated sites like YouTube, and could potentially lead to complete shut-downs of popular social Web sites like Etsy, where individuals sell handmade jewelry, customized totes, and more.  "The intention is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar," Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon asserted in an op-ed piece.

Those who oppose SOPA also worry that the bill could weaken Internet safe harbor protections, kill E-commerce businesses, and threaten virtual private networks (VPNs).

The scheduled blackout will affect a massive amount of people -- approximately 25 million Internet users access Wikipedia's English content each day.  Mashable reports that "Wikipedia’s decision means those millions of visitors will be greeted not with the usual digital tome of knowledge, but with a screen explaining the company’s stance on the bill and information on how to take action against SOPA."

Do you think Wikipedia's Wednesday Blackout will help prevent the passing of SOPA?  Share your thoughts below!

Hometown pride and promotional products go hand and hand.  Recently I was food shopping at the local grocery store and as I was heading in I received a customized tote.  The gentleman handling them out was hooting and hollering, he was very excited.  He was dressed head to toe in Patriots apparel bringing attention to himself, the store and the big playoff game over the weekend.  Im not the biggest sports fan but I sure appreciated the extra promotional grocery tote to bring home my groceries.

Promotional printed pens have got to be the oldest giveaway.  They are perfect!  Everyone needs one no matter how much technology is taking over.  My daughter and I were coloring the other day, she was using the promotional crayons, from our recent trip out for dinner, and I had some promtional markers and pens that I was using.  She grabbs the pen out of my hand and says MINE! .. it was too cute to get angry so, I grabbed the crayons and continued.  When she can read she will find the humor in it.. the pen had our company logo and my sales contact information on it.  so it really was MINE! 

Metlife stadium holds over 82,566 fans.  It sells out every Sunday.  But even the NY Jets owner Woody Johnson knows the importance of Promotional Gifts.  As my brother and I left the Jets win vs the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, the security staff near the exit gate was handing out Mark Sanchez bobbleheads.  He was probably not the most loved Jet at the time, but for sure something that all Jet fans in attendance will remember for years to come.  Promotional products are a great way to remember past events.  Everytime I glance over at my promotional bobblehead, it will remind me of That Jets victory for years to come.

It's hard to define specifically what tickles someone's funnybone and what makes people laugh. Some jokes that have people falling on the floor in laughter will have others offended. And we all know that not everyone finds specific topics to be humourous. 

Then there's Patrice O'Neal.

Patrice O'Neal seems like one of the few comedians that was a part of everything funny in film, TV and radio. He was a regular guest on the Howard Stern Show, a staple of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and VH1's Web Junk 20 and incredibly funny cameos in both The Office and Arrested Development. He was also a staple of the New York comedy scene and was a regular face on Comedy Central. His most recent work included roasting Charlie Sheen on Comedy Central. 

O'Neal passed away yesterday due to complications from a stroke. He was 41.

Although May is Stroke Awareness Month, it's not too early to purchase promotional awareness ribbon products. The color of stroke awareness ribbons is PURPLE. Also keep in mind that Motivators has an Awareness Month blog that keeps you up-to-date on awareness months and promotional products.   

Browsing through the web, you can find some of the craziest things sometimes! The other day I was looking through the Guinness World Records online and I was just at awe at some of the different records people have set. I mean some of them are absolutely mind-boggling, whereas others make you think "where do these people find the time". Looking online, I saw records of all sorts - from the tallest person alive, to the person with the smallest waist, to the person with the widest mouth, to the most body piercings, to the largest collection of Charlie's Angels memorabilia, and the list goes on and on and on. Yes, breaking some of these records requires determination and persistence, but some of them are just a natural part of who these people are. After spending quite some time looking through this site at all of the different records broken, past and present, I was truly amazed. After surfing the web a bit more, I stumbled across more "record breaking" news on CNN.com.

After watching this video with I realized that promotional t-shirts are not just great promotional giveaways, but was also a record breaking tool for this Iowa man. Not only did he stack on 247 promotional t-shirts and set a world record, but he also helped raise money for Diabetes Awareness. Being that Diabetes Awareness month is this month, this was a great opportunity to raise awareness about this health condition that affects so many people.

Pets need love too and sometimes they get too much love.  After this halloween season, I feel bad for some pets.  How many labs did you see dressed up as a butterfly or the lap dog dressed with a lobster costume on.. heheheh.. funny but sometimes enough is enough.  I think what put me over the edge of the video sent by my neice where they had there cat dressed in a velour track suit with a gold chain.  Poor little thing couldn't walk right.  There are some promotional pet products that are suitable and not likely to scare your pets ego.  Perhaps a folding dog bowl monogram for the on the go pet or a royce leather dog leash to show how sassy they are.