Buttonwood Technology Group, L.L.C.

A fascinating FT article on how Chinese web use of different from western habits.  Read here

It suggests the following:

1. Chinese tend to “roam the web like a huge playground,” whereas Americans and Europeans use it more as a giant library.

2. Chinese users are more likely to use the web for entertainment and less for business, relative to Europeans.

3. Chinese users are younger and less educated.

4. Chinese users don’t like to type (“Typing is a pain in Chinese”) and thus they use the mouse much more for navigation.

5. “Most portals have reacted by filling their pages with hundreds of colourful links competing for attention — creating a cluttered and disorderly view to the western eye but making life easier for Chinese users.”

(Thanks to Marginal Revolution for the article summary)

A fascinating article in the month’s WIRED magazine.  Read it here.

The future is small and fast…

Today, micro-factories make everything from cars to bike components to bespoke furniture in any design you can imagine. The collective potential of a million garage tinkerers is about to be unleashed on the global markets, as ideas go straight into production, no financing or tooling required. “Three guys with laptops” used to describe a Web startup. Now it describes a hardware company, too.

Design or Incompetence, Part Two http://bit.ly/4o35OY

Imagine putting a logo on one of these?

Curious idea for a promotional product…sold out right now but the opportunities for creativity and entertainment are endless…

So the release says Buttonwood is the second industry research provider to include QCA…actually Buttonwood was first!  Confidentially….it seems like SAGE threw some sort of fit and insisted that they get to be first.  Not that it really matters but these little industry intrigues are mildly entertaining so I figured I’d share them with you!

I’ve included the release in its entirety on the home page since no one has actually published it yet!  If anyone has comments feel free to share (click on the comments link to the left) …this whole QCA debate is only going to become more interesting…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUTTONWOOD ADDS QCA ACCREDITATION TO SEARCH TOOL

Buttonwood Technology Group is the second industry research provider to include the QCA Certified Icon in search parameters for its online research tool.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (December 11, 2009) – As Quality Certification Alliance’s efforts to improve the promotional products industry’s capacity to provide safe and compliant products continue to gain traction, New York, New York-based Buttonwood Technology Group has chosen to add the QCA Certified Icon to search parameters for its online research tool. Buttonwood joins Carrollton, Texas-based SAGE – Quick Technologies, Inc. in supporting this revolutionary industry initiative.

“We continue to hear comments from both distributors and suppliers about how much confusion there is around the topics of regulatory compliance and product safety,” said David Verchere, CEO of Buttonwood Technology Group. “Including the QCA Certified Icon in our search parameters helps Buttonwood connect the distributors whose clients expect a high level of regulatory compliance and product safety with those suppliers who have the ability to provide these products.”

Regulatory compliance continues to affect the promotional products industry on an ever-increasing degree, and all signs continue to indicate additional requirements in the coming years. In the past,distributors and their end-user clients frequently addressed the issue via indemnification agreements rather than actual performance standards. Today, however, these agreements are no longer sufficient. An industry standard of compliance built upon independent, third-party audits gives both suppliers and distributors the ability to be more proactive in addressing the changing regulatory environment.

“The topic of product safety is here to stay, and there is clearly a need to identify companies that are compliant with regulations so distributors can quickly access their product offerings,” said Damian Want, senior vice president of Tustin, California-based Logomark, Inc., a QCA founding and accredited member company. “Buttonwood Technology Group’s enthusiastic support of QCA is another important step in this direction.”

About QCA:

Chicago, Illinois-based Quality Certification Alliance is an independent, accreditation organization whose mission is to elevate the standards by which industry firms that import and/or manufacture promotional products provide consistently safe, high-quality, socially compliant and environmentally conscientious merchandise. The QCA Seal of Approval is granted to member companies who complete an independent third-party audit and comply with stringent standards, which are based upon a combination of state and national laws, international standards and industry-accepted best practices that are recognized for their strength and effectiveness by QCA members, the promotional products industry and the end-user clients.

QCA was formed in July 2008 by 14 companies that import and/or manufacturer promotional products. Currently five companies have met the rigorous qualifications to achieve QCA Accreditation—Barton Nelson, Inc.; BDA Inc.; Gemline; Leed’s; Logomark, Inc.—with the balance to complete the process before year-end. D E (Denise) Fenton serves as executive director – compliance, and Brent Stone serves as executive director – operations.

For more information, visit www.qcalliance.org.

And for additional information on Buttonwood Technology Group, visit http://buttonwoodgroup.com or call 212-897-4040.

“Our more discretionary lines of business like promotional products and furniture remained weak with year over year declines in the double digits”

-Ron Sargent – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer – Staples, Inc.  (SPLS)

(Hat tip) Seeking Alpha

Two distributors raised some serious cash this week to go spend money on new technology…

Boundless at $5 Million

Branders.com at $5 Million

Does this mean that the venture capitalist world is getting ready for another run at our industry?  Watch these two folks for some serious innovation next year since they’ll have to justify spending those dollars to a venture capitalist market that is pretty tight fisted right now.

The social network is also a place to find new customers and discover
a treasure trove of demographic data.

Read the article in the New York Times.

New York Times reports
that the college anti-sweatshop movement persuaded Russell Athletic to agree to rehire 1,200 workers in Honduras. 

“It’s a very important breakthrough,” said Mel Tenen, who oversees licensing agreements for the University of Miami, the first school to sever ties with Russell. “It’s not often that a major licensee will take such a necessary and drastic step to correct the injustices that affected its workers. This paves the way for us to seriously consider reopening our agreement with Russell.”

Students are the next generation of buyers of promotional products. We will do well to watch this trend towards outsourcing labor while demanding some measure of social compliance that reflects American labor practices.