PartnerShip LLC senior account representative Mike McLaughlin is looking forward to watching ice hockey games at the Olympics in Russia. But he won't be watching from his office in Westlake, OH; he will be in Sochi in person. Watch the FOX 8 Cleveland news segment for more details - or click here to read the article online.

NACS, Inc. (and PartnerShip as one of its subsidiaries) was officially honored yesterday evening with a fifth consecutive NorthCoast 99 award. NorthCoast 99 is an annual recognition program that honors 99 great workplaces for top talent in Northeast Ohio. The program was developed and is presented by ERC. ERC is Northeast Ohio's leading and largest professional organization dedicated to HR practices, programs and services.

Prominent Northeast Ohio organizations were honored at the Westlake, OH banquet last night, including some very familiar names such as the Cleveland Indians, Great Lakes Brewing Co., Majestic Steel USA Inc., University Hospitals, Avery Dennison, Panther Expedited Services, FedEx Custom Critical, and 15-time winner Shearer's Foods Inc. Joining representatives of these prominent organizations was a small, cross-section of NACS, NACSCORP and PartnerShip employees who proudly accepted the award.

Fifteen years ago, NorthCoast 99 was started to showcase organizations that understood that building and enhancing workplaces for top performers was the key to success. It has since transformed from a workplace competition to a movement - with more and more CEOs shifting towards a great workplace strategy. Here are some interesting facts about this year's NorthCoast 99 companies that were shared at the event:

• 99% sponsor fundraisers, charitable events and/or scholarships
• 50% coordinate an organization-wide day of community services
• 83% provide ongoing coaching and feedback to employees at least quarterly
• Fill open positions with internal talent 32% of the time
• Provided, on average, 47 hours of training and development to employees in 2012
• 86% offer wellness incentives to employees, and 83% conduct wellness challenges or competitions
• 76% of the leaders hold small/intimate group gatherings with employees at least monthly
• 89% offer financial planning assistance

To end the evening, Craig Keilburger, co-founder of Free The Children, gave a very inspirational speech. His message included examples of how one person can make dramatic, positive impacts on the lives of others - a message taken to heart by the NorthCoast 99 companies that strive each and every day to help their employees be successful.

Congratulations to all of this year's NorthCoast 99 winners. Thank you for all that you accomplish, and for building great workplaces along side NACS, Inc. in Northeast Ohio!

Scott G Frederick

The PartnerShip staff (and friends) once again competed in the Cleveland Corporate Challenge. The 2013 games kicked off June 13 and officially ended August 8. The event is always a great team-building, summer activity that helps build pride and camaraderie among our employees.

This year's activities included the softball, mini golf, skeeball, kickball, volleyball, basketball, footgolf, cornhole, touch football, bowling, a 10K relay, tug-of-war, obstacle course, and 1 mile fun walk. Despite some scheduling issues that prevented PartnerShip from fully participating in every event, we still managed a 5th place finish out of 16 teams in the DIVISION 1 category (<79 employees). The video captures some of the photographic highlights that were shared at an all-staff meeting today.

Scott G Frederick

This past week, the PartnerShip Irvine, California office celebrated its 3rd anniversary! The office was opened in April 2010 as a way for PartnerShip to stay in close contact with its customers located in the West. The office also allows us to provide both live and live chat sales and customer support from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET (or 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM PT).

Today, the office is supported by senior account representatives, Dave Rehker and Sarah Conklin-Boone; account representative Anthony Abad-Santos; and customer service representative Brittnie Pham. Together this team provides personalized service to our customers located in the Southwest and Northwest.

Congratulations to our West Coast Team, here's to many more anniversaries in the future!

Last week Thursday the PartnerShip employees at our Cleveland/Westlake, Ohio office participated in a fun, team-building activity. The event was organized by Brad Alflen, director of sales and customer service for PartnerShip. As part of the event, eight four-person teams competed in six "Minute To Win It" challenges. Each team was awarded one point for every team member that successfully completed a challenge. In the end, two teams tied with 10 points each and had to square off in a sudden-death elimination challenge.

Congratulations to Bryan, Laura, Lauren and Lexi for being the winning team in the competition!

A tradeshow is a great way to get in front of your customers.Managing shipping programs for over 100 associations means that PartnerShip attends its fair share of tradeshows and events. What we've gleaned from all of these tradeshows is that there is always something new to learn, and things are always changing. That's why we called on one of the PartnerShip resident tradeshow experts to share some experience and knowledge that he has gathered over the years.

Harry Centa, a senior program manager with PartnerShip, has attended over 100 tradeshows in his seven year career with the company. When asked why tradeshows are important to small businesses, Harry said, —Tradeshows are a great way to put a face and personality to your company. The face-to-face interactions and conversations you have at tradeshows go a long way in building relationships and solidifying leads for your company. That's why we take tradeshows seriously and invest resources in this valuable tool.'

We asked Harry for some tips on pre-show, at-show, and post-show best practices and this is the advice he had to offer:

• Pre-Show — —Decide on a plan of attack for the upcoming show. Establish what you want to accomplish, how you are going to accomplish it, and what tools you'll need to successfully carry out your plan. You can then start thinking about collateral, giveaways, and promotions leading up to the show. Determine if your booth will ship to the advance warehouse or directly to the showsite. Lastly, bringing your own table, chairs, modular carpet squares, etc. can dramatically reduce your exhibiting costs.'
• At-Show — —If possible, setup your booth a day in advance of the show start, that way you are not rushed, have plenty of time to make extra copies of your marketing materials, and deal with any emergencies that can arise from time to time. Take advantage of every networking opportunity, and be sure to track all leads. For larger shows, renting a lead retrieval scanner is a wise choice, and for smaller shows, taking notes on business cards works just as well."
• Post-Show — —Write down what you learned through your show experience — it will be valuable for future shows. Also, be sure to follow up with any leads you received at the show in a timely manner. Striking while the iron is hot will ensure you are fresh in the prospect's mind and you won't get sent to voice mail with the rest of the sales calls. Another best practice is to send a post show eblast and/or postcard to the attendees list (if offered) to remind them of your product or service.'

Additionally, Harry emphasized, —The most important aspect of tradeshows is getting your booth and show materials to the tradeshow on-time and in one piece. Without a booth or materials for customers, the tradeshow experience is hampered considerably.' Harry went on to say, —Shipping my tradeshow materials is one part of the tradeshow process I leave to the tradeshow shipping experts here at PartnerShip!'

Your booth is now at the show, you've followed Harry's pre-show rituals to a T — now, how do you drive people to your booth? —There's not much point in going to a tradeshow if your just going to stand there and shuffle your feet for 8 hours.' said Harry, —I use giveaways as a method for driving traffic to my booth, and once customers are there I use that opportunity to discuss PartnerShip and the services we provide. Tradeshows are constantly changing, but one idea will always hold true: People love free stuff - pens, pads or any swag in general!' Harry went on to stress that a consistent, inviting, and aesthetically pleasing display is an important tool in catching people's eye, getting your sales pitch out, and getting literature in a customer's hand.

Tradeshows can be an investment for your company, but when done right, tradeshows are one of the most useful tools in your sales toolbox. The PartnerShip goal is to make sure your booth is at a tradeshow on-time and you are prepared for a successful show. That's why we've developed some tradeshow specific information for our customers: The 411 on Tradeshow Shipping and our tradeshow helpful hints page.

If you have any additional questions about shipping to tradeshows, about tradeshows in general, or would like to quote a shipment to your next show — contact the PartnerShip dedicated tradeshow team at tradeshow@PartnerShip.com or call 800-599-2902. You can also contact Harry Centa at the above information.