{"id":1014,"date":"2007-08-18T14:01:44","date_gmt":"2007-08-18T18:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catchingfireflies.com\/blog\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2007-08-18T14:01:44","modified_gmt":"2007-08-18T18:01:44","slug":"retailer-excell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.catchingfirefliesgifts.com\/blog\/2007\/08\/retailer-excell\/","title":{"rendered":"Retailer Excellence Awards in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rea_8\"<\/a>During our recent trip to the New York International Gift Fair<\/a>, Steve and I were honored to attend Gifts & Decorative ACCESSORIES Magazine<\/a> Retailer Excellence Awards held at Tavern on the Green<\/a> (the famous restaurant in Central Park). <\/p>\n

Catching Fireflies<\/a> was one of finalists in the category Bricks ‘n’ Clicks: Integrated Marketing. <\/strong>We were chosen because of how we use our website, blog and enews to promote our physical stores and vice-versa.<\/p>\n

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This is one of the mirrored hallways leading back to the event’s venue. (bring on the bling)<\/p>\n

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Our ‘super-sized’ article<\/a> on showcase.<\/p>\n

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Cocktail hour took place in their gorgeous courtyard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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You’d think Edward Scissorhands<\/a> paid a visit!<\/p>\n

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The actual event took place in the amazing Crystal Room<\/a>.  I love all the mismatched chandeliers.  The dinner was delicious and Steve and I got to mingle with a lot of other interesting people in the gift industry.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>After dinner, they featured two minute video clips<\/a> of all the finalists and announced the winners.\"Rea_1\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

When catching fireflies<\/a> was announced as the winner, our table of newly made acquaintances erupted in cheers and applause and the rest of the room immediately joined in.  It was an incredibly surreal moment Steve and I will always remember.<\/p>\n

After babbling a few stuttered sentences, I enjoyed the rest of the evening on cloud nine.<\/p>\n

Since our staff couldn’t attend this event with us, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for all that they do.  <\/strong>Without them, I wouldn’t have the time to sit behind a computer and write the enews, blog about new goodies and dream up crazy promotions.  I’m truly blessed to have such wonderful people to work with.  <\/p>\n

I’d also like to thank all of our lovely customers who enjoy perusing our enews, blog and website.  I hope many of the tid-bits I share with you brighten your day.<\/p>\n

And of course, my ever faithful and patient husband Steve.  He gets to do all the fun jobs like paying bills, writing paychecks… taking photos of me so I can blog about them<\/em>.  He is the very important half of catching fireflies that’s usually behind<\/strong><\/em> the spotlight.\"Rea_2_2\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

To celebrate our accomplishment, we ended the evening with a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park back to our hotel.  It was truly a magical evening!<\/p>\n