Step2

This past weekend, we sent Nicole, the Step2 Internet Marketing Specialist, to her first conference, BlissDom, to see how Step2 could enhance the Test Drive Blogger Program and learn about the advancements in social commerce. This is third year that Step2 has been represented at BlissDom, known as “the premier conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online.”

Words cannot describe the amazing time I had in Dallas, Texas at BlissDom. I was blown away by the speakers and people I met during my time there.  Even though I traveled to BlissDom alone, I never felt alone because of the kindness of each person I met and sat with throughout the workshops.

Arriving at the conference, I was not sure what to expect from the speakers. I was astounded by the information that I learned from each speaker. Sara Hawkins, lawyer and blogger, spoke about the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) revised online advertising disclosure guidelines. Since 2000, online advertisements must disclose any affiliation and necessary information to a visible claim. Recent changes have been made to make the disclosures more apparent. At Step2, we work very closely with bloggers. We want to make sure that we are up to date on online advertising procedures for their awareness and ours. Some of the biggest takeaways from this session were:

• Online disclosures need to be clear and conspicuous
• The disclosure must be as close to the advertising claim as possible
• The use of hyperlinks to ensure disclosures are not hidden behind hyperlinks
• Online disclosures must also be found on social media posts. For example, the words “AD” must be found within a sponsored post. Using a shortening link to direct people to the information is not acceptable
• Advertisers may not send out a disclaimer following a sponsored post, it must be sent out as one complete post

Before this session, I was aware that the FTC had changed advertising disclosure guidelines but I had no idea how much it affected Step2 and our relationships with bloggers that review our products. I am grateful that I attended this session to better help Step2 understand the new guidelines that we must abide by.

At Step2, I get to experience firsthand how much consumer service and our direct sales representatives care about our customers. Another insightful lesson I learned from BlissDom pertained to brands focusing on trust. John Morgan, author of Brand Against the Machine claimed that brands need to be branded on caring. If customers understand how much we care than they will trust us more. At Step2, we always strive to make our customers happy and allow their experience with us to be nothing but positive. This session reaffirmed the importance of this.

Besides learning about the importance of trust, I learned that everyone can be a photographer. I have never thought of myself as a photographer because I do not have a fancy camera or catch the perfect image at the right moment. However, David Molnar, celebrity, music & advertising photographer, proved me wrong. He said that there is only art that I can create. After hearing him speak about how he fell in love with photography and how many of his photos were taken with his smart phone, I was inspired to go take some pictures (with my phone, of course).

Check out the pictures I took of the breathtaking Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention center, where BlissDom was held. What do you think? David also said to take a lot of pictures, practice makes perfect and I could not agree more!

After tapping into my amateur photography skills, I learned about work ethic and learning to have a work life balance. Another session featured, Michelle Sarabia, the Marketing and Membership Director for a Private Golf Course in Gallatin, TN. She talked about her decision to transition from a business woman to a stay at home mom and then back to business woman. Even though I do not have children, I could relate to having life transitions. My life has changed a lot in the past year from ending college to starting my career. It was a transition that I had to get used to and realize that naps were no longer a part of the daily routine.  It was refreshing to be able to relate to the speakers and other attendees that I met. Although my life may be different than theirs, we can all agree that life throws curve balls at you and it is all about how to decide to handle them which makes life interesting.

Also while I was at BlissDom, I was inspired by one of the sponsors – ConAgra Foods. They showed us a touching video about ending child hunger. After watching the video, it made me realize how important it is to inform others that nearly 17 million children face hunger in the U.S. Step2 strongly supports charitable efforts that focus on the health of children.  By tweeting #childhunger at @ChildHungerEnds on Twitter, ConAgra Foods will donate two meals to Feeding America.

It was an honor to represent Step2 and gain knowledge about topics that I can utilize in my career. The perfect quote to sum up my experience is by American author and poet, Maya Angelou. “Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will be able to treat life as art.” BlissDom was a blissful experience that made me realize my life and the lives of others are pieces of art and we are the only ones that can tell our story. So why not share it with the world!

Step2 prides itself on being part of the excellent community of Streetsboro, Ohio. Step2 has been a resident of Streetsboro for nineteen years. Actively helping out around the community is something that Step2 enjoys. We are excited to announce that we will be participating in the first annual Streetsboro Employment Expo.  The Streetsboro Chamber and City of Streetsboro have united to make this expo possible. The Streetsboro Employment Expo will take place in the gymnasium at Streetsboro High School, 1900 Annalane Drive on Wednesday, March 20 from 5 to 7:30pm.

In addition to Step2 participating in this wonderful event, we are also one of the main sponsors. There will be a total of forty exhibitors that specialize in the industries of retail, commercial, industrial and professional businesses.

For job seekers attending this event, admission is free. Anyone can attend from college graduates, seniors, business professionals, high school graduates, interns, volunteers, to seasonal help. There is an opportunity for everyone!

Step2 is happy to be a team player in a fantastic community such as Streetsboro; we are honored to call this city our home.

To find out more about the Employment Expo, contact the Streetsboro Area Chamber of Commerce at 330-626-4769 or sacc@streetsborochamber.org.

We’d like to wish everyone a safe New Year’s celebration and a very happy 2012, from our family here at Step2 to yours!

Family is very important to us here at Step2, so our office will be closed on Monday, January 2nd in observance of the New Year holiday so that we too can celebrate the holiday with our families. We will be back to assist you at 8am ET on Tuesday, January 3rd.

It’s a ton of fun to be at Step2 around around Christmastime. In addition to the fact that we are around toys all day long, it’s exciting to play a role in children’s excitement on Christmas morning.

The Step2 Store, located right in front of our main office, is open to the public year round. They too are having some holiday fun, deeming themselves “Toy Land.” A giant Christmas tree is the focal point of the store and when the little ones enter they are greeted by a mini tree and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. If you are in the Northeast Ohio area, we welcome you to stop by to check it out. There is a sale going on right now on excess inventory and discontinued items.

The holiday season is all about sharing time with loved ones.  In this spirit, the Step2 Elves (our HR department) put together holiday craft bags with a few activities for our little loved ones.  Each bag included a holiday stencil, ornament fun coloring sheets, paper plate holiday character craft, and a decorate a gingerbread house sticker sheet.

It also had a letter to Santa.  Santa asked that the letter be returned to the Step2 Elves so that it can be delivered to him.  The Step2 Elves will post the letters in our cafeteria. The “Elves” have it under good authority that the big guy himself will be happy to send a personalized return letter.

The ladies on our Customer Service team take the cake for the most holiday spirit in the building. Lights and garland line the cubicles, decorations hang on the walls, and Christmas music fills the air from 8am – 5pm ET each day from now until Christmas.

From our family to yours, we wish you a happy holiday and a joyous new year!

The tornadoes that hit the South this Spring impacted many people, including children. Play areas were destroyed impacting children’s ability to go out, play and just be kids.

In an effort to help the victims of the tornadoes, Step2 teamed up with Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. (K.I.D.S.) to donate 23 slides. Step2 is proud to partner with this organization, which brings hope and self-esteem to more than 4.5 million children and their families each year by providing new clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books and juvenile products donated by manufacturers and retailers.

The donations are distributed through a network of nearly 1,000 local community social service agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The efforts of K.I.D.S. reach children who are challenged by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, low literacy, military family service, major illness, incarcerated family members and disaster survival.

For more information about K.I.D.S., or to find our how you can help, please visit http://www.kidsdonations.org/

We’re always talking about our rotational molding process (often referred to as roto molded), but what is roto molding?

The process is designed to form hollow, seamless, stress-free parts with fairly uniform wall thickness, creating durable products.

This is done with conventional roto molding equipment by simultaneously heating and rotating a thermoplastic resin in a closed mold. Rotation and heat continue until the all the resin is evenly distributed on the interior mold surface and fusion is complete. The mold then moves to a cooling chamber where is it cooled.