Incentive - August 2009 - (Page 3)

AUGUST 2009 CONTENTS PAGE 8 merchandise travel gift cards FEATURES AND DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note: Confession of a Cash Clod I once learned the hard way: A business gift is a way of saying thank you, but cash is just a tip—or even an insult PG 4 By Vincent Alonzo Gifting for Good Helping Hand Rewards markets and distributes corporate gift items produced by social enterprises in the U.S. and from around the world PG 14 By Kassia Shishkoff & William Ng Headlines Full-service incentive house ITAGroup puts its money where its mouth is by guaranteeing program results; New survey shows consumers are joining more retailer loyalty/rewards programs but are whittling down frequent flier memberships PG 6 By Leo Jakobson Research: Gift Card IQ Incentive’s 2009 Gift Card IQ survey shows budgets are down and recipients are receiving cards with less value than last year PG 18 By Leo Jakobson Strategies: Proving Ourselves Everyone agrees case studies showing ROI are needed to protect and defend incentive programs, but will long-term lobbying be necessary, too? PG 24 By Jim Dittman Cover Story: Ameriplan, a Multilevel Marketing Firm, Stands By Incentive Travel In April, while companies across the country were scrambling and scrapping incentive travel programs, Ameriplan was running a double-points promotion for its Top Producer Trip to Las Vegas PG 8 By Leo Jakobson PAGE 29 Primer: Diversity Best Practices These practices ensure that your recognition program celebrates diversity to engage employees PG 26 By Lisa Massiello & Tommy Lee Hayes-Brown TRAVEL, AWARDS, AND GIFT CARDS Travel News: Where to Go and How to Get There TBA Global and Instinctif defend incentive travel; Maritz and Freeman ally on A/V, virtual meetings; Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas PG 28 By Leo Jakobson PAGE 33 Electronics: Recharging the Market with What Excites After a tough first half of the year, suppliers hold cautious optimism for the third and fourth business quarters, but flat-screen HDTVs, iPod-Bose bundles, and low-cost, high-value gear are expected to drive redemption activities PG 33 By William Ng Potentials: Here and Now Pillow gift: Tiger Woods’ latest trophy; Michael C.Fina’s new gift card spot recognition program; Legal Sea Foods accepts competitor’s gift cards PG 30 By Leo Jakobson Debit & Stored-Value Cards: The Universal Workhorse Finding their way into the hearts of incentive managers who need to cut costs and streamline programs, open-loop and multimerchant prepaid cards are widely redeemable and take away the guessing game on what motivates PG 36 By William Ng incentivemag.com | August 2009 | Incentive | 3 http://www.incentivemag.com

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

Incentive - August 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note: Confession of a Cash Clod
Headlines
Cover Story: Ameriplan, a Multilevel Marketing Firm, Stands By Incentive Travel
Gifting for Good
Research: Gift Card IQ
Strategies: Proving Ourselves
Primer: Diversity Best Practices
Travel News: Where to Go and How to Get There
Potentials: Here and Now
Electronics: Recharging the Market with What Excites
Debit & Stored-Value Cards: The Universal Workhorse

Incentive - August 2009