Award Guide

Rewarding Client Loyalty

Maintaining good relationships with clients is Business 101. There are a variety of methods you can use to show your clients your appreciation for their continued business. Holiday gifts are a time-honored tradition for client appreciation and are typically well-received by customers during the winter holidays. Recognition awards, plaques, and trophy awards are a cost-effective and convenient way to thank clients and customers for their contributions to the ongoing success of your organization.

Possible Rewards For Clients

When providing holiday rewards for clients, you have several options to choose from including:

Reasons To Provide Holiday Recognition

The Effectiveness Of Gratitude

Showing gratitude toward customers increases their positive opinion of your business and may help serve as a buffer against any bumps you may hit in your relationship. A visible reminder of your gratitude, such plaques and awards can help reinforce this positive opinion and keep your business in the mind of customers when they need services or products.

Elements Of A Good Customer Recognition Award

When designing your customer recognition awards, be sure to keep quality in mind. Shoddy or poorly designed awards will leave the customer with a negative impression of your company. Here are a few tips for good award design:

• Legibility. Having an award your clients can read is essential to getting the message across.
• Correct. Misspelling the client’s name can be highly embarrassing and may offend the client.
• Attractive. Your reward should be a plaque, trophy, statue or certificate your clients will be proud to show in their homes or offices.
• Safety. Your customer recognition awards should be made of quality materials and be safe.

Work With A Designer

A company dedicated to creating award statues, plaques, etc. can help you design the right awards for your specific customer base. They can help you avoid common mistakes in design and ensure that you create an award that will be cherished by its recipients.

Incorporate It Into A Loyalty Program

Providing clients and customers with recognition awards over the holidays may be more effective if you roll the awards into a loyalty program. By combining an awards program with a program that provides discounts and special offers you can enhance the effectiveness of both. Gallup Poll research shows that loyalty programs must engage and activate customers to be truly effective. Adding holiday recognitions to the program gives you another avenue to reach your customers.

Cost Effective Recognition

Making a bulk order of custom awards will typically be more cost-effective than just buying a few awards. It will give you the opportunity to reach more customers and discounts may be offered for bulk orders. 

About Edco

Edco provides custom awards, plaques and other awards for various academic, sports and business clients. Located in Florida, Edco has been in the business of celebrating the milestones and achievements of our customers and their clients and partners for more than 40 years.

Define a Promotion Plan

Marketable events exist over a variety of areas, including business events (sales; grand openings; product promotion), social events (parties; reunions), school events, and fundraisers. Each hopes for a slightly different outcome, but the approach is the same for all. Utilizing proper promotional tactics for events can assure that little time or money is wasted in the process.

An effective event promotion starts with a solid plan, so spending some time developing a concrete strategy can save valuable time and money down the road.

• Identify the targets: Include individuals with whom you have previously done business, as well as those who have attended similar events in the past.
• Define the objectives: What are you hoping to accomplish with this event? What are you hoping your chosen targets can bring to the table?
• Construct the tactics: Determine what tactics can effectively combine chosen targets and objectives.
• Organize implementation: Develop a promotional team and assign tasks to each team member.
• Define the timeline: Schedule a starting date and ending date, as well as key promotional dates in between, such as presence at similar events or key dates for posting via online mediums.
• Allocate the budget: Determine how much money can be spent on promotions and distribute accordingly.
• Evaluate the results: Analyze all efforts and determine the return on investment. Use these results for future promotional efforts.

Online Promotion Tactics

As of June 2012, 2,405,518,376 people had access, and were using the internet. Whether for business or pleasure, it’s safe to say that any promotion effort enacted online will certainly have a broad reach.

Online scheduling has replaced traditional calendars, old-fashioned meetings have made way for Skype sessions, and virtual shopping is giving traditional storefront a run for its money. Businesses that recognize the value of online promotion for products and events can stay ahead of competition in the battle for customer loyalty.

Social Media

The unbelievable growth of social media in recent years has forced businesses to reconsider their marketing efforts. Facebook currently has 1.15 billion users, Google+ has 343 million, Twitter has 500 million, and Instagram steadily rising at 130 million. Each of these social media giants has implemented promotion plans for businesses, making it easier than ever to drive customers to an event.  Some tips for promoting an event through social media include:

• Offer a couple of free tickets to the event within a post.
• Post videos of event highlights, including notable speakers or special activities.
• Encourage users by offering coupons or discounts for those who share the event.
• Create a weekly posting schedule so that your event will stay on your customer’s radar.
• Create an event listing on Facebook. Letting users see who is attending as well as post their own comments is an excellent way to keep users engaged and excited.

Email Campaigns

Stay in touch directly with email campaigns; send-out campaign platforms such as Constant Contact or MailChimp to simplify the email process. It’s important to remember the following to create the most effective emails:

• Create compelling subject lines: To avoid an email being sent to a spam filter and never to be seen again, ensure that the subject is personable and to the point; offer a discount or coupon code within the subject to offer as much information as possible before they open the email.
• Include a call-to-action: Make sure the person knows what they need to do and how to act on event coupons or special notices.
• Be thorough: Include all relevant information about the event, so there’s little left unknown. Include the place, time, date, and where/how to buy tickets to the event. Include a link to the ticket purchase site if possible.

Event Website and Registration

Developing a user-friendly website for the event can make ticket purchase simple and also help businesses keep track of ticket sales and attendee contact information. Many event registration platforms also include an email portion that allows businesses to contact users directly via email about any changes to the event or to confirm the ticket purchase.

Sites such as eventbee.com or eventbrite.com can make the ticket sale process easier and can also be connected to social media sites for simplified promotion posting. Creating an event website can greatly improve visibility and promotion towards a targeted audience, while allowing for further social media marketing opportunities.

Promotional Products

Even though online promotional efforts have proven to be effective in today’s fast-paced marketplace, physical promotional productshave always found a place in event promotion success. When investing in giveaways, it’s important to remember the following:

• Choose products that can be used daily, such as pens, cups, cozies, and water bottles. The more useful the item, the more it will be used, and ultimately the more exposure it will receive.
• Choose timeliness to give away promotional items, including during similar events, at related conferences or to businesses which would have an interest in attending the event.
• Assure that all important information is included on the product, including how to register or buy tickets for the event.

Effective event promotion can be accomplished with careful planning, implementation of online resources and creative promotional products. With a little work and a lot of creativity, your event can be a financial success and a cherished memory.

Planning an event? Let EDCO Awards and Specialties help with your marketing efforts. With a wide selection of promotional products available, including pens, key chains, water bottles, mugs, golf tees, flashlights, umbrellas and more, EDCO can help make your event a success!

The Best Places to Work

For the 100 Best Companies to Work For , the organizations chosen must be at least five or more years old and have at least 1,000 employees in the United States. The list is nomination-based, and winners are chosen based on several factors, including:

• A thorough employee survey, which includes the Trust Index-Employee Survey and The Culture Audit. Although the surveys are anonymous, they truly provide the best insight into the company’s employee satisfaction, perceptions, opinions and attitudes. These surveys count for 2/3 of the decision.
• An in-depth evaluation of both surveys, as well as an analysis of company programs and policies according to the Great Place to Work Model.

Most organizations choose to take advantage of the feedback provided to improve their company’s culture for employees, hoping to find a place on the list for the next year. For companies that are looking to improve their workplaces and keep their employees happy, the best way to learn is by example.

The 2013 100 Best Companies to Work For include Google, SAS, CHG Healthcare Services, The Boston Consulting Group, Inc., Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., NetApp, Hilcorp Energy Company, Edward Jones, Ultimate Software and the Camden Property Trust. Here is what makes the top two companies, Google and SAS, so fantastic.

Google
The recent movie The Internship opened America’s eyes to what a fun place to work Google seems to be, but the real reasons for employee satisfaction in this industry giant’s workplace goes far beyond just a fun atmosphere. (Although these onsite perks aren’t bad, either: medical and dental facilities, valet parking, oil change, bike repair, laundry rooms, and free gourmet meals).

• Focused on women’s needs: A good percentage of Google employees are women, and when the HR department noticed a lower retention rate that seemed to center around a too-short maternity leave, changes were made. Rather than a standard 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, Google employees were given five months, with full pay and benefits, and could even divide that time out however they pleased. The focus even extended the new fathers.
• Thought for family: Forbes magazine recently revealed that if a Google employee dies, the company will pay his or her spouse half of the employee’s salary…for a decade. Recognizing the importance of family and showing compassion are two main reasons Google succeeds in keeping its employees happy.
• Investing in employees: Google’s Global Education Leave program allows its employees to take up to five years to further their education, and reimburses up to $150,000 to do so. Google proves to employees that they are believed in, at the same time strengthening the company’s brainpower and skills.

Google is a company of around 45,000 people and worth around $245 billion dollars, making it easy to provide these kinds of benefits. However, there are valuable lessons to be learned that any company can accomplish: recognize the importance of family, show compassion and invest in employee education and training when available.

SAS 
The second best place to work is SAS, an analytical software company in Silicon Valley, California. With over 6,300 employees, and a 5.6% job growth, this company is known for taking care of its employees and recognizing their hard work.

• Putting the people first: When the 2008 recession caused massive job layoffs of SAS competitors, CEO Jim Goodnight held a webcast to all employees that assured them their jobs were safe, but that everyone’s help would be needed to watch spending and push through. SAS is a company that values its employees and shows them that they are considered in decisions. Family members are also included in importance, with an extensive family resource program that includes family counseling, adoption, eldercare and childcare.
• Flexible hours: SAS prides itself on giving employees flexibility on the hours they choose to work. While a 35-hour work week is what is expected, the hours can be accomplished when and how the employee chooses, and the CMO, Jim Davis, pointed out that most work many more hours that required because they “enjoy those hours as opposed to ‘slaving in the office.’”
• Promote pride in work by recognizing accomplishment: SAS takes large measures to recognize employee successes and give credit where credit is due.  In identifying achievement, SAS finds that employees are more likely to take pride in their own work. The company even designates certain areas of their property to individual landscapers, so that they will treat it as their own.

SAS leads by example in its treatment of family members, employee consideration and recognition of employee successes. Other businesses can take these lessons home, finding ways to incorporate family values and showing acknowledgment and appreciation for hard work and success.

Regardless of size or financials, a company can always show its employees how important they are. Whether through considerations for family and personal time or awarding recognition for jobs well done, a company can always find ways to prove to its staff that they are appreciated and understood. 

Find some simple ways to recognize achievement in your organization, with EDCO Employee Recognition Awards. Since 1969, EDCO has provided quality motivation and recognition tools for any occasion. From sports trophies, to corporate awards and promotional items, EDCO carries all types of awards for any organization’s corporate needs. EDCO’s products are fully displayed on its website and can be customized and shipped in a week or less in most cases. 

Ever wonder how artwork is reproduced on glass with such close precision and depth?  Engraving glass is a skillful craft and the industry gold standard is a process called sandblasting.

The term sandblasting is actually quite descriptive of the process itself.  It involves a mixture of air and an abrasive material which is blown at a high velocity toward the material.  The abrasive then etches or cuts away the material surface.  Here at EDCO Awards & Specialties we utilize the sandblasting process for decorating glass and crystal recognition awards as well as engraving on marble and metal trophy components.

Sandblasting has many applications.  Aside from engraving crystal trophies, it is frequently used in the auto industry to remove rust from metal parts and burrs from castings.  Dentists also use a form of sandblasting in production of crowns and bridges to roughen surfaces so cement or porcelain can attach easier.  In the sign business, it is used to decorate messages on a wide variety of products.

Sandblasting items such as glassware is a straightforward process. First you adhere a stencil to the item to be blasted.  A stencil is a mask containing cutout areas of the design and message.  Stencils are commonly made from vinyl, rubber or in our case a photoresist film.  When engraving glass or crystal we use photoresist, a film that is photographically exposed and processed.  Usually black and white artwork is used in the photographic process where a negative is used to selectively allow light to pass through and develop the stencil.  The non exposed areas "resist" the stream of sand while reproducing an image on the crystal surface.  

When the stencil is in place, a steady stream of abrasive particles, such as aluminum oxide, is aimed directly at the item.  The best abrasive varies with the material being blasted and the type of cut desired.  The abrasive particles cut those surface areas not covered by the stencil.  The etching process for "frosting" typically only takes a few seconds, but if depth is desired can take much longer.  Explore our glass awards and crystal awards collections to get a better idea of what sandblasting looks like on trophies.

Three fraternity brothers stand at a counter in a trophy shop, discussing which recognition award to purchase for a new house sponsor.  After a store employee helps the three young men select a particular crystal award, he shows them a handbook that is opened to a page presenting layouts and messages specifically for crystal recognition awards.

Within a few minutes the young men decide that they particularly like a message and layout shown in the handbook.  With little difficulty, the employee substitutes the recipient's name, the date, the fraternity name, etc, for the information displayed in the handbook.  In less time than they expected, the young men selected a gift with a message that they know the recipient will appreciate.

In this example, a gift message handbook helped both the customers and the employee. EDCO Awards & Specialties offers an "idea book" called the Inscription Guide.  We created this guide to help our customers develop great sounding messages to be engraved on our awards, as well as our sales representatives who always strive to create great looking and sounding awards!

While checking out our Inscription Guide, be sure to explore our brand new selection of Employee Recognition Awards.  Recognition awards show appreciation and can help develop positive feelings about the company also improving employee morale and performance at the office.  Start building your awards program today by checking out our beautiful awards selection.  Motivate your staff with our featured awards;  Featured awards are our brand new designs just released for June 2013 and include the Together Recognition Award, Teamwork Art Glass, the Dedication Award and the Teamwork Recognition Award.  All awards are produced from optical crystal and deep engraved with precision craftsmanship.  Your congratulatory message will look amazingly beautiful on any of these high end designs. We ship to the entire U.S. and all awards include a premium quality presentation box.

If you have any questions please call one of our friendly Recognition Specialists today at 800-377-8646.

Glass Awards receive 5-Star Recognition

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. – Several glass awards were recently recognized in EDCO Awards & Specialties inaugural recognition of the best quality and design for its corporate awards.

The glass awards receiving the 5-STAR rating demonstrated the best of class in precision craftsmanship.  Awards were closely examined for glass clarity, thickness, edge finish, depth of engraving and accuracy in detail reproduction.  Other elements used for consideration were overall design and the ability to combine media such as wood, steel and colored glass.

Glass awards recognized with this year’s 5-START RATING are:

• Liberty Diamond Jade Glass Award:  From EDCO’s Jade Glass collection, this sleek design attracts the best light with its series of angles and opposing bevels. This corporate award is available in three heights (9, 11 and 13 inches) at a starting price of $69.95 for a single award.
• Flame of Excellence:  Available in two sizes to recognize different levels of achievement, this striking award is constructed of glass, wood and metal.  Low-volume pricing for this award is $79.95.
• Executive Glass Award:  This tall, 12-inch award combines stainless steel, jet black crystal and jade glass.  A single award is available for $159.00. 
• Glass Peak Duet Award:  This 9.5-inch award combines blue and clear optical glass elevated on a brushed silver base.   Single-award pricing is $98.95.
• Ribbon of Success:   New to EDCO’s Jade Glass Collection, this corporate award features a beautiful metal ribbon die-struck with a star pattern that wraps around the length of the jade glass.   Low-volume price is $189.00.
• Expression Art Glass Award:  This 15-inch art glass award features a creative glass rainbow flame.  A single award is available for $149.95.

Each of EDCO’s corporate awards is thoroughly inspected during the quality control process and comes packaged in a premium-quality gift box.   EDCO specializes in delivering high-quality customer service and fast turnaround times, EDCO can provide trophies typically within one week of order and faster for urgent orders.  In addition to Glass and Crystal awards, EDCO Awards & Specialties also specializes in laser engraved acrylic trophies including custom cut and custom printed awards.  The 40 person staff at EDCO is ready and eager to help!  The next time you need a trophy or an award choose EDCO Awards & Specialties and you will be glad you did.

For assistance with your corporate awards order, call EDCO at 800-377-8646.

EDCO expands custom acrylic awards lineup

EDCO has expanded its lineup of custom acrylic awards with five new designs that incorporate customers’ own designs or corporate logos.

• The Perpetual Recognition Trophy, standing 18 inches tall, features up to 24 individual laser-engraved, brushed silver plates, enabling companies to recognize the achievements of top employees for up to 24 years.
• The Grand Custom Acrylic Cut Trophy combines a company’s logo or award design with an ebony base.
• The new Mina Line Custom Acrylic Award, built with the customer’s design and assembled with a piano-finish base in rosewood or black, can be decorated with full color printing or laser etching.
• The Laser Smith Acrylic Award, custom-produced to your exact specifications, uses EDCO’s premium .5" thick acrylic for profiling the top of the award. The base is produced from .75" thick material and offers a wide slanted front which lends itself really well to personalizing each award.
• The Outer Lines Logo-Cut Acrylic Award offers a clean all-acrylic look without breaking the bank. Combining materials such as a .375" thick acrylic top and a .5" thick base, it will bring the WOW! factor and some heft when being presented.

We have a lot of customers who want to design their own awards or have input in the design.   They bring us their design or logo and our skilled designers create a virtual sample before we start production on the actual award. 

With full in-house capabilities, from award design to laser cutting, edging, beveling, engraving and color printing, EDCO can turn around orders in short order, often in as little as three days.

Delivering high-quality, memorable custom awards is where we really excel.

View our complete lineup of acrylic awards.   Most of our standard acrylic awards can be ordered online.  For custom awards or for assistance with your award, call 800-377-8646 to speak with one of our product advisers.

EDCO Awards & Specialties has unveiled 15 new corporate award designs in its Metal and Glass Awards and Art Glass Awards categories.

The traditional thinking in our industry is that customers will buy whatever you are showing.  We challenge that thinking by continuing to expand the product lineup by filling out our corporate awards categories with more creative choices.

The new corporate award designs combine materials like brass with glass, crystal and new shapes and color combinations, some using hand-blown glass.

 In the Metal and Glass Awards category, EDCO released five new corporate awards, including:

• Neo Classic Metal & Glass Award:  Measuring 8 inches high, this award combines an etched glass award with a silver-plated base that reflects light throughout the glass inlay;
• Guiding Star Award:  This limited edition sculpture features a unique metal star frame with a glass inlay;
• Glass Diamond with Brushed Metal Base:  Combines brushed aluminum with clear and blue glass for a designer look;
• Gemstone Brass and Glass Award:   Available in two sizes, this corporate award features a base  finished with brushed gold metal.  The glass inlay is beveled and deep engraved with your custom text and logo;
• Glass Circle with Brass Base:  This simple yet elegant award choice, features EDCO’s premium jade glass circle, slightly beveled and cradled on a brushed brass base elevated by a glass platform.

In the Art Glass Awards category, EDCO unveiled 10 new corporate awards, including:

• Teamwork Art Glass Award:  Measuring 13.5 inches high, this hand-blown color glass sculpture is elevated on a black base with a laser-etched plate;
• Years of Service Art Glass Award:  Measuring 15.25 inches high and artistically constructed from hand blown glass, this corporate award features a laser-etched plate on the base that can accommodate company logos or special art;
• Inspiration Art Glass Award:   This carefully selected art glass sculpture represents inspired success and will make a nice statement at your next awards presentation. Elevated on a black base with your custom inscription and logo laser etched onto a black brass plate;
• Celestial Art Glass Award:  Measuring an impressive 13 inches high, this corporate award is the perfect choice to make a really big splash!
• Vision Art Glass Award:   Standing 16.25 inches tall, this magical art glass sculpture is elevated on a handsome black base with a brass plate, laser etched with your custom inscription and company logo;
• Deco Glass Mosaic Peak:  This corporate award features a beautifully stained glass accent panel and a wide beveled edge.   The sculpture is set off by the black rod iron metal riser that cradles the glass award;
• Excellence Art Glass Award:  This 17-inch black glass sculpture with blue accents is elevated on a piano-finished base. This is the ideal choice for awarding the highest level of achievement;
• Blue Bubbles Art Glass Award:  This fury of rolling patterns is elevated on a glass finished base that features a custom printed plate for your company logo and personalized text;
• Intrigue Glass Award:  This 9.5-inch beautiful art glass sculpture features a black laser etched plate with your personalized congratulatory message;
• Glass Mythic Award:  This hand-blown art glass features rich blue hues suspended in clear glass. Clearly stunning, this recognition award is elevated on a black base that incorporates a black steel plate with laser engraved copy.

The art glass category has grown tremendously.  Three years ago, we didn’t offer any. Now we have 19.  The more unique the piece, the better the response has been by customers who like seeing a theme like “Teamwork” or “Progress” carried through the design.

EDCO offers more than 300 corporate award designs in five product segments:  crystal awards, glass awards, acrylic awards, custom awards and plaques.

View the full lineup of EDCO Awards’ glass awards.  For personalized assistance in selecting your corporate awards, contact the company at 800-377-8646.

EDCO Awards & Specialties has introduced 24 new crystal awards for 2013 as it continues to update and expand its line of corporate awards.

The new awards represent every price point, from $30 to $350, and feature dynamic designs and added color.  We’ve filled out our product lines with new crystal awards that feature interesting new shapes or movement as well several optic awards that combine optical glass, crystal, black glass and colored glass.

Here’s a lineup of the new awards now available among EDCO’s Contemporary Crystal, Optical Crystal, World Crystal Globe and Specialty Crystal Award lines:

New Contemporary Crystal Awards:

• Crystal Distinction Award:  All optic crystal with two colored crystals in blue and jade, and high-quality engraving using sand blasting – an amazing value.
• Atlantis Ellipse Crystal Award:  A geometrically simple yet a stunning combination of clear and blue crystal. Perfect for achievers from all walks of life.
• Ambient Clear and Red Crystal Award:  An original design that will engage your senses with soothing colors and sophisticated looks.  Also available in blue.
• Crystal Recognition Award:  This stylish corporate design engraved with your personalized message is sure to impress its achievers.
• Blocks of Success Crystal Award:  Light penetrating the colorful crystals will reflect beautifully on your engraved congratulatory message.
• Art Deco Crystal Award:  Inspired by the Historic Art Deco district in Miami.

New Optical Crystal Awards

• Rising Diamond Crystal Award:  Black obelisk stand cradles a clear diamond-shaped optic crystal.  The stand engraving is deeply etched and filled with a silver paint.
• Blue Diamond Crystal Award:  Produced from pure optic crystal.
• Crystal Triumph Award:  Handsome sculpture carved from flawless optical crystal.
• Nobility Clear and Black Crystal Award:  The fusion of clear and black crystals, pure in composition and optically perfect.
• Northern Lights Crystal Award:  Produced from optical crystal with sweeping curve lines and a series of crystal cubes embedded in the center of the award.

New World Globe Awards

• Omni Globe Award:  One of the most magnificent awards in our entire collection and so heavy it requires both hands for lifting.  It features a solid crystal globe, with detailed etching, that spins freely in a antique finished metal axis.
• Grande Planet Crystal Award:  Mouth blown and cut by hand from crystal. The crystal globe is perched atop a round base with custom engraving.

Specialty Crystal Awards

• Crystal Maltese Cross Award:  Produced from flawless optical crystal and deep engraved. This is the perfect award to honor distinguished service and bravery of our firefighters!
• Crystal Book Award:  Perfect way to show appreciation to that special teacher.
• Red Crystal Apple on Base:  Perfect award for teachers who made a difference.
• Faceted Gavel on Black Crystal Base:  A fantastic choice for a retiring chairperson.
• Crystal 18 Wheeler Truck Award:  A great award for a truck driver or freight company.
• Beveled Crystal Cross Award:  A beautiful remembrance for service in Christian organizations, churches and private schools.
• Faceted Crystal Football:  Produced from optical crystal and custom engraved to your specifications.
• Large Faceted Crystal Football Trophy:  The ultimate football award.
• Crystal Sailboat:  Produced from pure optic crystal.
• Faceted Crystal Sailboat on Blue Base:  Features a multi-faceted finish as well as a beautiful blue crystal base.

For help choosing the right crystal award for your corporate awards program, call 800-377-8646.

Edco Awards & Specialties new website showcases more than 300 trophy designs

With eye-popping colors, distinct shapes and spinnable features, trophies and awards for sports recognition and academic achievement have come a long way from the ones you might remember collecting dust in grandma’s attic.

We have launched a new website to showcase more than 300 available trophy styles, including new, customizable designs that are sure to be stars on anyone’s desk or bookcase. Our new trophy awards section is divided into six groupings that highlight various trophy styles, includin single-post trophies, double-post, triple-post, four-post, participation an achievement trophies.

Among our offerings are several new lines for 2012. In the category of Participation Trophies, we have added theSport Motion line of sports trophies, which includes Sport Motion figures for football, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, hockey, soccer, softball, volleyball, cheerleading and karate. The 13” customizable sports trophies feature a star burst riser with a 2” epoxy domed insert that can be used to include a club or school logo. The trophies also are available in various colors and textures.

Also new in athletic awards are sport ball trophies, including Squeezable Spinner Trophies, with squeezable balls that spin and can be removed from the trophy. The new star-themed Superstar Spinner Trophies also incorporate balls that spin.

Included among the Participation Trophies are Scholastic Series, which include multiple colorful star-themed awards with customizable inserts for recognition of any scholastic achievement.

Founded in 1963, we pride ourselves in personalized customer service. From corporate awards to sports trophies, our staff provides expert advice on trophy and award selection and customization options.

For more information or to obtain a 2012-13 catalog, contact Edco at 800-377-8646.

Rick Shapiro who has been with Edco since 2003 announced his retirement as of September 23, 2011.  Rick has been a leader in custom signage, awards, wearables and ad specialty sales.  There will be a retirement lunch for Rick on September 23, 2011.  Space is limited if you want to attend, please respond to Rick Cordary ([email protected]) soon.

We welcome you to leave blog posts here for Rick.  Simply click on the green "comments" at the bottom of this post.

Congratulations Rick! You have won the race.  Now it's time to relax and enjoy life.

Special T-Shirt Promotion is a HUGE SUCCESS!

Yesterday we emailed our contact list and we have sold thousands of T-Shirts (not Shrits as per the typo we made).
 
 
The T-Shirts are only $3.75 each with a LOW ONE-TIME SET-UP CHARGE OF $15.00!

 
 
These imprinted shirts are a real RECOGNITION BUILDER
 
If ever there was a time to promote your business, school, church or club, that time is now.  Edco is making it affordable for you with our T-Shirt Promotion.
 
You can make your staff, students or club members look more professional and feel more like a team!  Look at the great exposure you get too! 
 
These are  white, 100% cotton shirts with a one color, one location imprint, 48 piece minimum with sizes S-XL.  Additional charge for larger than XL.
 
Quick turn-around!  Take advantage of the T-Shirt season!
 
 
 
Of course Edco has all types of imprinted wearables, shirts, hats, jackets and much more.  Call your Edco Rep TODAY!  Offer expires August 26, 2011.

Now with 4 
locations
in Broward
 
800-377-8646
www.edco.com

Hollywood - 
5634 Johnson Street
954-964-2466 
[email protected]

Fort Lauderdale - 
3702 Davie Blvd.
954-587-0137 
[email protected] 
 
Pompano Beach - 
1216 E. Atlantic Blvd.
954-943-0128 
[email protected] 

Edco has completed installation of our newest laser, a Trotec SP 1500.  This laser is 400 watts and has a bed size of 59" x 49".  Previously the biggest laser cutter / engraver Edco had was 100 watts with a table size of 32" x 18".  The new laser enables us to cut through up to 1" acrylic leaving a polished looking edge.  Previously to obtain this edge on a piece of acrylic would require sanding and buffing.  This process CNC Cut/sand/buff) does not allow polishing on tight inside radiuses or corners.

Examine the photos below.  The thumb image was laser cut.  In the second image you will see what a traditional CNC router edge looks like and the third image will show how beautiful a laser cut and UV printed piece of clear acrylic can be.  The laser easily cuts many other materials including foam, paper, leather, wood and much, much more.  An interesting Youtube video of the SP 1500 cutting MDF board is shown here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq3dKDf5pN0

Let us quote on your next requirement for custom cut material.

This machine is 10 feet wide, 7 feet deep and 5 feet high!

This is 1" thick laser cut acrylic.  Notice the clear edges.

Notice the rough edge on this CNC router cut edge.  This will require sanding and buffing to be acceptable.

Notice how good this finished laser cut, UV printed award looks!

Edco now offers team and individual photography for groups of all sizes. Whether it be a single team, or a league with dozens of teams, we have the staff to meet your needs.  Now you can count on Edco Photo for photography as you have for awards, wearables, signage and ad specialties  for over 40 years!

Consider Edco Photo when you have a need for team photography.  We can make your job easy by being a one stop shop for awards, banners, wearables, promotional products and now photography!
 
Some of the products we can imprint with your action or posed shots include, trading cards, photo magnets, game day tickets, photo balls, pennants, calendars, key tags, bag tags, license plates, mugs, dog tags, magazine photo covers and even photo flip flops!

One of Edco's longtime customers, Seth Levit at the Jason Taylor Foundation emailed Edco on Thursday morning at 7:12 AM.  It seemed that one of his associates needed 135 awards by 11:00 AM that same day and he knew Edco could do it!  Apparently a basketball and cheerleading camp was coming to a close and there were no awards for the children.  Edco quickly produced all the custom awards, delivered them, and was even offered the opportunity to help the famous Dwyane Wade present the awards.

Below you see Edco's own Sammi Somers and Melissa Combs helping Dwyane Wade hand out the awards.  Other famous people at the event included Katina and Jason Taylor.

Edco has many, many success stories like this.  The #3 is in honor of the great  Dwyane Wade!

Every year, around the end of the school year, for a period of about 4-5 weeks, Edco does 3-4 times normal sales volume.  Much of the work is centered around school awards.  Awards for teachers, awards for students, awards for athletics and awards for academic achievement.  Each year it gets tougher.  School budgets go down, yet they all need just as many trophies and plaques.  To save money many organizations have turned to medal with neck ribbons.

These few weeks put a huge burden on our production and usually very cheerful sales staff with some of them working up to 80 hours per week.  We have to bring in temporaries to augment our production abilities.  Working all day Saturday and Sunday isn't uncommon for some of our regulars.

To keep worker morale up, at least a couple of times per busy season, Edco buys lunch for all the workers and sales / customer service staff at our Fort lauderdale award manufacturing plant.  Today we served delicious Cuban/Latin food made by Sunshine Bakery right here on Davie Boulevard and two weeks ago we served fantastic Italian food including pizza and sausage and peppers from Pete's-A-Place also on Davie Boulevard.

It's official!  The EDCO letters we placed on the roof of the building on Davie Boulevard are now visible on Google Maps.  See our post of March 2, 2011 to read all about it!  The contest for $100.00 is over though.  We are sorry there was no winner.

See the actual Google page here  http://bit.ly/kHpZDm

Edco is proud to be a sponsor of the 2011 Burger Battle.  See our name on all the signage and promotional literature!

Riverwalk Trust will host Fort Lauderdale’s second annual Burger Battle Presented by Publix Apron’s Cooking School on Friday, May 13, 2011 from 7 to 10 p.m. on the Riverside Hotel Lawn, 620 E. Las Olas Blvd. in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.  Some of the city’s top restaurants will compete, showcasing their creativity and grilling skills to about 1,000 guests. The event will bring together local employees, residents and businesses for an evening of gourmet burger creations, cocktails and fun, while raising funds to support the Riverwalk Trust’s mission of building and nurturing a vibrant community connected by the New River.

Edco Awards and Specialties involvement stems from the long time production of signage and engraved bricks for the Riverwalk Trust.

The Edco Awards & Specialties Tree of Life fundraiser is a most effective and beautiful way to recognize and motivate donors to your organization. Let us help your organization raise money and recognize the donors with this beautiful product.

Our "Tree" has helped many parishes, hospitals, schools, temples and other non-profits realize the goals they have set for fundraising. Some of the specific purposes have been to Recognize contributors to a building fund or fund-raising campaign, honor contributors to an endowment fund, salute individuals or groups for outstanding service or achievements or just to create a tasteful memorial space.

The Tree of Life needs approximately 7 feet x 7 feet of wall space. The tree is made of gold "leaves", attached by screws and mounted on .220 clear acrylic. The tree trunk is real wood, profiled on a CNC, beveled, stained and lacquered. Imagine what a tribute to your generous contributors the Edco Awards & Specialties Tree of Life fund raiser will be in your organization. Also available are custom dimensional letters to name your tree.

The Tree of Life is so successful because the donor's personalized message that will be on display forever.

Click on the image below to go to our Tree of Life page for more details including the financial benefits available with this tree.