Incentive - April 2009 - (Page 4)

APRIL 2009 EDITOR’S NOTE Save Employee Motivation he incentive industry has been taking some major hits in the consumer press ever since AIG ran a dealer incentive right after receiving TARP funds in November. And the poor coverage hasn’t been confined to travel incentives—in March, Citibank was skewered when it canceled an incentive trip and gave the qualifiers gift cards instead. But there has been a silver lining to all of this. In the past, the industry response has always been to run and hide Editor In Chief Vincent Alonzo when these things happened. But not this time. Just after the AIG story broke, Edward Liddy, the chairman and CEO of AIG, appeared on Larry King Live to defend the event. When President Obama made a public statement criticizing companies for holding events in Las Vegas, the CEO of Wells Fargo took out full page newspaper ads defending the practice. The industry mobilized as well. A coalition of meetings, incentive and hospitality industry associations formed in January to lobby on behalf of meetings and travel incentives. And the Incentive Federation is working on a similar lobbying effort that will focus on all forms of non-cash incentive awards. The efforts of the travel coalition have already yielded positive results. In March the coalition met with the President and got him to tone down his rhetoric in regards to meetings. If it’s possible to change the perception of the leader of our nation, maybe it’s possible to get the consumer press and the public at large to see the other side of the incentive story too. But it’s still an uphill battle. The lobbying and public relations effort the Incentive Federation is currently working on will be crucial. But it’s one piece of a two-piece puzzle. The other piece is you. We need a strong grassroots effort spreading our message to Congress and the consumer press. To help with this effort, Incentive has created www.saveemployeemotivation.org, a Web site where suppliers and end users can go to have their voices heard. The site has an online petition you can sign that shows your support of the incentive industry. There is also a link to help you contact your congressperson and a sample letter to help you make the argument that incentives not only make companies more productive and profitable, but they also support jobs in every community. A sample letter to the editor is also available that can be used to spread our message to media outlets around the country. The success the travel coalition achieved with President Obama proves if we focus on the facts of meetings and incentives we can bring about a shift in the public’s perception of these tools. It’s up to us to save employee motivation. www.incentivemag.com Editorial and Executive Offices 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595 (646) 654-4500, Fax (646) 654-7650 Vice President & Group Publisher Nella Veldran (646) 654-7325, nella.veldran@nielsen.com T EDITORIAL (646) 654-4500 Editor In Chief Vincent Alonzo (646) 654-7361, vince.alonzo@nielsen.com Senior Editor Leo Jakobson (646) 654-7642, ljakobson@nielsen.com Managing Editor Alex Palmer (646) 654-4435, alex.palmer@nielsen.com Online Editor Stacy Straczynski (646) 654-7336, stacy.straczynski@nielsen.com Special Projects Director Karen Gines (646) 654-7647, karen.gines@nielsen.com Research Director Nancy Lazarus (646) 654-7272, nancy.lazarus@nielsen.com ART Art Director Michael Strong (646) 654-7471, michael.strong@nielsen.com PRODUCTION Production Manager Anita Wise (646) 654-7298, anita.wise@nielsen.com CIRCULATION, SUBSCRIPTION & ADDRESS CHANGES (847) 763-9050, Fax (847) 763-9037, E-mail iv@halldata.com LIST RENTAL Postal info (845) 731-2731, E-mail info (845) 731-3854 REPRINTS Mike Shober (800) 290-5460 x129, incentive@theYGSgroup.com PERMISSIONS & LICENSING Barbara Grieninger (646) 654-4675, barbara.grieninger@nielsen.com MEDIA KIT www.incentivemag.com/mediakits ADVERTISING Associate Publisher Monique Agaliotis (646) 654-7638, monique.agaliotis@nielsen.com Midwest Marvel Jasnoch (507) 663-1480, marvel.jasnoch@nielsen.com Florida Arthur Hyman (561) 736-5374, arthur.hyman@nielsen.com West Coast and Hawaii Peter Edmunds (714) 963-3499, peter.edmunds@nielsen.com International/Caribbean Diane DiMaggio (646) 654-7332, diane.dimaggio@nielsen.com MARKETING Marketing Director Robert Kuwada (646) 654-5159, robert.kuwada@nielsen.com Vincent Alonzo Editor In Chief vince.alonzo@nielsen.com President: Greg Farrar • Senior Vice President, Human Resources: Michael Alicea • Senior Vice President, Finance: Sloane Googin • Senior Vice President, Marketing: Mark Hosbein • Senior Vice President, Media & Entertainment: Gerry Byrne • Senior Vice President, Brand Media & Corporate Development: Sabrina Crow • Senior Vice President, Retail: David Loechner • Senior Vice President, Building & Design: Joe Randall • Senior Vice President, Central Services: Mary Kay Sustek • Vice President, Licensing: Howard Appelbaum • Vice President, Manufacturing & Distribution: Jennifer Grego • Vice President, Audience Marketing: Joanne Wheatley 4| Incentive | April 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com/mediakits http://www.saveemployeemotivation.org http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - April 2009

Incentive - April 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Speak Out!
Headlines
Cover Story: Penn Mutual Stands By Its Incentives
Defending Incentives
Primer: Merchandise 101
Employee Contracts Work
Gift Card Roundtable
Incentive Strategies
Endo Pharmaceuticals
Travel News: Where To Go
Caribbean: Idyllic Deals
Cruises: Value Ahoy!
Potentials: Here and Now
Cameras: Smart and Active
Merchandise IQ Survey
Incentive Merchandise Buyer’s Guide

Incentive - April 2009