From the President

If you are planning to acquire seminar credit at the 2009 International Awards Market in Las Vegas (February 23-27) to reach the 17 CEUs required for your Certified Recognition Master (CRM) designation, now is a good time to start preparing your 1,200-word CRM thesis. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1.  Submit your thesis topic for approval by the ARA Education Committee by November 28, 2008. If you're having trouble choosing a topic, think about what you enjoy, or what interests you the most about your business. For instance, is there an aspect of running an awards business that you feel particularly good at? Have you developed a special product line? Did you build your business by superior customer service, a superior marketing strategy, or through community connections? Write about what you know best.

2.  After your topic is approved, create an outline, then write your paper. You may need to research some details. Submit your finished paper to the Education Manager by no later than January 23, 2009.

If you have more questions, please contact ARA Education Manager Daniel Weinstock (dweinstock@connect2amc.com). Good luck!

Sincerely,


Cathy Garcia
President
Awards and Recognition Association

Regional Education Events
Sign up now for these upcoming education events at a location near you.

Regional Education Event at Continental Trophies
  Saturday, October 4
  Newark, DE 

• Marketing VS. Sales
  Ed Hunt, Continental Awards & Trophies
• Make Your Company Work For You (Not the Other Way Around!)
  Michael Anzalone, Precision Signs.com 
• Working Smarter with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite® X4
  Evelyn Watts, Corel Corporation

 Click here for details about this seminar and to register.

Regional Education Event at Identification Plates
  Saturday, October 11
  Mesquite, TX

• Laser Engraving Advanced
  Roy Brewer, CRM, Engraving Concepts
• Creative Marketing for the Awards Industry
  Tricia Shaw, CRM, B & B Awards and Recognition
• Your Awards Shop and a Presence on the Web
  Robert Hensley, Engravers Network

Click here for details about this seminar and to register.

Regional Education Event at LaserBits
  Friday, October 24
  Phoenix, AZ

• Basic Laser Engraving Techniques
  Mike Fruciano, LaserBits
• CorelDRAW & PHOTO-PAINT for Lasers
  Kathryn Arnold, LaserBits

Click here for details about this seminar and to register.

Canadian Education Conference
  Saturday, November 15
  Mississaugua, ON

• Working Smarter with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4
  Roger Wambolt, Corel Corporation
• Grow Your Awards Business with Sublimation
  Jay DeGenova, Value-Rite Business Products
• Optimize Your Time in CorelDRAW to Speed Up Your Production 
  Mike Clarke, MTM Marketing

Click here for details about this seminar and to register.

Plus, you will have the opportunity to talk to suppliers sponsoring this event and to see a selection of their products.  These sponsors include:

Click on a Logo to Visit the Website

Are You Covered?
With hurricane season sadly upon us, insurance experts are urging homeowners to examine policies to determine whether the deductible they think they have is the one they in fact have. Ordinarily deductibles are set at a specific dollar amount. But a deductible for damage due to a "named storm: is generally expressed as a percentage of coverage. If a house insured for $500,000 has a 2 percent windstorm deductible, the homeowner would have to pay $10,000 before the insurance company writes checks. To learn more, click here.

Make Your Las Vegas Plans Now!
We've all heard the predictions regarding air fares. Make your plane and hotel reservations NOW to avoid any increases that may come in the future. The 2008 ARA International Awards Market will be held February 23-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Education days are Monday and Tuesday, the show floor will be open Wed, Thursday and Friday. The host hotel is the Las Vegas Hilton, call them at 800/732-7117 to make your reservation. Make sure to mention you are with ARA to get the special rate.

ARA Seminars2Go - New Online Option!
We know many of you were not able to attend all the seminars at the last ARA Las Vegas show. Great news - ARA has six of our most powerful seminars available via CD or via an online download.  Learn from the experts right from your desktop!  Click here to see.

ARA Member Savings Program Reminder
The Member Savings Program is an ARA initiative which creates savings opportunities for you with national pricing on products and services you purchase in your daily operations.  Our representatives will assist you in doing cost comparisons that can save you both time and money.  Cut costs through a wide variety of different programs; from shipping and storage to credit card processing and insurance.  Call ARA Savings' Mark Schiavone at 941/330-8050 to discuss some of the ways we can help reduce your expenses… or visit ARASavings.com for more information.

October 4
ARA Education Event
Continental Awards & Trophies
Newark, DE
http://www.ara.org/

October 11
ARA Education Event
Identification Plates, Inc.
Mesquite, TX
http://www.ara.org/

October 11-13
Euro Trophex
MECC Exhibition Centre
Maastricht, The Netherlands
+44 (0) 1442 230431
E-mail: colingallimore@aol.com

October 24
ARA Education Event
LaserBits, Inc.
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.ara.org/

November 15
ARA Canadian Conference
Sheraton Four Points
Mississauga, On. Canada
http://www.ara.org/

February 23-27, 2009
2009 ARA International Awards Market
Las Vegas
Convention Center
800/344-2148
http://www.ara.org/

The October 2008 issue features a specifications chart for ARA laser engraver suppliers. The issue also features corporate gifts and awards from ARA companies. ARA distributes its official magazine electronically in addition to its standard printed-and-mailed issues. If you didn't get a copy via e-mail, please let us know by sending a message with your store name and address to info@ara.org.

Ask the Experts Extra
If you're an ARA member, log in to the "Members Only" section using your member number, and select ARA "Ask an Expert." Find the topic and expert you're looking for and submit your question(s). More often than not, an ARA expert will have the solution you need.

? Can you recommend any books that show examples of font styles, or books of fonts that come with CDs that I can then load onto my engraving program?

Robert "Dr. Type" Trogman responds: The subject of font identification is a hard one when it comes to recommending software that displays showing of fonts. I used to use the Adobe Type Manager by Adobe; it would allow users to print samples. There are also books that show type styles but they don't cross reference the junk that is on the CDs. In order to copy a font for sale they change the name, thereby making it difficult to find a showing in a type book. If you surf the Internet in the font section you can see showings of the bogus fonts. Right now there are about 20,000 fonts floating around with fake identities. Some of the software people are guilty of changing names to avoid paying any royalties and I'm afraid you are caught up in it.