ASI® Publishes First HOT Issue From Counselor Magazine

Features Hot People List, New Products for Clients and Business Trends to Watch

TREVOSE, PA – August 18, 2008 – Advertising Specialty Institute®, the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, announced today that it published the first HOT issue from Counselor® magazine featuring the exclusive list of 37 hot people.

In addition to the new hot people list, the issue features snapshots of 40 hot products to sell to clients and identifies important business trends affecting how advertising specialty companies are moving forward.

People named to the HOT list are trend-spotters who are launching new products, using technology and leveraging green initiatives to make money.  Distributors and suppliers can learn from their experiences that are featured in their profiles, including how they use blogs and YouTube videos for promotions.

The “prized products” section provides descriptions of 40 hot, functional and sometimes sexy products for distributors to sell to clients, and highlights products that readers voted as the best in eight categories.  Products include a bean bag chair shaped as a stiletto heel shoe and a USB drive encased in bamboo.

Important business trends are also featured in the issue, including five laws that are reshaping how companies are doing business, ideas for navigating the waters when marketing to America’s growing Hispanic population and new apparel trends in the award-winning “Apparel Hot Sheet” section.

“The HOT people list was very well received when we announced it at the HOT party at the W Hotel rooftop during ASI Chicago,” said Rich Fairfield, publisher for ASI.  “In addition to the HOT people, the entire issue is packed with hot products and trends that offer distributors valuable ideas for their businesses.”

Counselor magazine is the leading publication for distributor principals in the advertising specialty industry and this year won two American Society of Business Publication Editors awards for its “State of the Industry” issue and apparel coverage.  It has also received two Neal Awards for editorial excellence.

The Counselor HOT issue was mailed recently to its 13,500 paying subscribers.  ASI members can access password-protected content using their ASICentral.com username and password, at http://asicentral.com/asp/open/news/counselor/index.asp.

To learn who made the HOT list and to view photos and videos from the HOT party in Chicago, visit www.asicentral.com/hotpartyphotos.   For more information about Counselor magazine, contact Rich Fairfield, publisher for ASI, at [email protected].

About ASI
Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 25,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 21,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit www.asicentral.com.