While The Joe Show Live opened with a reel of video bloopers from ASI Managing Editor Joe Haley, the star of The Joe Show and several supplier presenters made sure that distributors wouldn’t make similar mistakes. Yesterday’s keynote at The ASI Show Long Beach offered helpful information on new products and sales strategies for attendees.

Bryan Fichtner, an account executive with Alexa Springs (asi/34037), pointed out that while lots of bottled water is often just “cleaned-up sewer water,” he added, “we don’t do that. Everything we use is bottled at the source.” He listed the three top markets for his product as car dealerships, banks and funeral homes. Haley cited additional automotive targets like airport parking lots and rental car companies. “I rented a car in Dallas,” he said, “and they gave me a bottle of water, but it wasn’t logoed. So there is an opportunity right there.”

Kevin Walsh, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Showdown Displays (asi/87188), told attendees that the sign and display category represents $14.5 billion a year in corporate spend, with 18% annual growth for the last seven years. “If you look around your local markets,” he said, “you'll see that signs aren’t just for tradeshows. They’re everywhere.”

Wearable technology also made an appearance at the keynote. Idol Memory (asi/62222) debuted the new iMove fitness band. “It basically tells you how lazy you are,” said Idol Memory President George Shih. It tracks daily activity, counts total calories burned and monitors the wearer’s sleep patterns. It also gives an alert when someone has been sitting for too long. “It creates a wow factor,” Shih said.