NICRA December 2020 Bulletin

December 2020

THE BULLETIN THE

OFFICIAL

PUBLICATION

OF

THE

NATIONAL

ICE

CREAM

RETAILERS

ASSOCIATION

8 Advertising Tips to Attract Holiday Shoppers PLANNING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR

CONVENTION REVIEW

VIDEO TRAINING UPDATE nicramembersonly

nicraofficial

nicra_org

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I was speaking to one of our great supplier members this week and exclaiming that I can’t wait for this year to be done with so we can start nice and new in 2021. He wisely informed me that when a page on a calendar is turned, it does not necessarily wipe out COVID, area restrictions on restaurants, or the emotional and financial pressure that last 12 months has heaped upon us. Wise words indeed.

However, I would like to think that at least an emotional and attitudinal reset may be achievable. There seems to be a force or feeling at the end of each year that compels us to put behind the past struggles and disappointments of the last 12 months and strive for something a little better for ourselves and those around us for the next 12.

Hence the New Years Resolution.

Even though the percentage of these resolutions that are not really achieved can be relatively high, lets set that aside and set a resolution for a brighter outlook in 2021. I have been impressed and sometimes touched with the stories of our members through this year. Some did not make it and had to cancel their membership. Some just eked through by the sweat of their brow and some quick thinking to change their business model, and some came out better that previous years.

I applaud your tenacity and your grit. Even though we could not meet physically at this year’s convention, the feeling of enthusiasm and the positive mental attitude certainly came through in your comments and participation. My hopes for the balance of this year and the next is that you, your family, your employees, and your customers remain happy, healthy and optimistic about this next year ahead of us.

Happy holidays to you all, and as always, we remain available to you for any of your NICRA needs.

Steve Christensen

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Executive Director NICRA

If you have employees or team members on the Members Only Facebook Page please make sure they are listed as a sub account on your membership record.

As we process names and additions to the page we look for matching membership records. If there are no matching membership records we cannot grant employees or team members access.

Click over here to see how its done:

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The National Ice Cream Retailers Association Welcomes our New Members Nelia Valdez Luliet Creamery and Bake Shop Spring, TX DEBORAH HARTLAUB Hartlaub New Berlin, WI Genelle Brooks-Petty All Chill Inc Los Angeles, CA Vanessa Jones Golden Gelato Covington, KY Sonia Marroquin Howdy Homemade McAllen EDINBURG, TX Larry Kraft St Louis Park, MN

Kurt Rode Eventful Sweets Minneapolis, MN

Rocky Troise Scoopalicious Royal Palm beach, FL

Tom Trueman Trueman Blueberry Farms Aulac, NB

Roger Kaspar Panguitch Gem Theater Santa Cruz, CA

Todd Gudeman Patio DriveIn Francesville, IN

Martin Parisien Singing Dog Vanilla Eugene, OR

Paul and Colleen Palmer Palmer Lane Maple Jericho, VT

Richard Swartz Swartz Verree & Morefield LLC Green Brook, NJ

ChuckWelsh As The World Churns Liberty TWP, OH

Francheska Vera Cream Collab North Miami Beach, FL Annie Williams Freshie’s Ice Cream Lexington, KY Robert Christian Sleeping Giant Ice Cream Company Kerhonkson, NY

Joey Martin Martin's Dreamery Creamery Oviedo, FL Michael Schutz What's the Scoop Metuchen, NJ

Suzanne Azucar Azucar Ice Cream Miami, FL Rafael Ramirez Aubi & Ramsa Miami, FL

Benjamin Keser Preferred Ingredients Syracuse, NY

FOOD SAFETY SUPPORT HOT-LINE FOR

SMALL/ARTISAN DAIRY PROCESSORS Not sure where to start? Our network of food safety experts from Universities across the US are here to help you take the next step by providing free one-on-one plan consultation and review.

315-787-2600

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Dairyfoodsafetycoach@cornell.edu

Convention Review This year NICRA surpasses giving $300,000 to employees of members who need it most.

This is made possible through the Bryce Thomson Scholarship fund.

This year's winners are as follows: $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1500 $2000 $2000 $3000 $3500

Hayley Anderson Victoria Peguri Trang Vo Morgan Hansen Logen Yaklin Amelia Bassett Hayley Collins Michaela Rothrock Laurel Jenks Natalie Currie Elizabeth Penrice Nicole Knauber Madison Johnson

Congratulations to all of our Scholarship Winners this year and we look forward to seeing more applications next year.

OUR ICE CREAM CLINIC WINNERS We hosted 10 judges from the St Louis culinary and media world, who were blown away by the quality of the ice cream and non dairy desserts. Here are the results: VANILLA ICE CREAM WHITE RIBBON Cockeye Creamery Karen’s Kreamery Inc. Mrs. Moriconi’s Ice Cream Mikey Dubb’s Frozen Custard Outside the Cone Sonny’s Amazing Italian Ices & Cremes Andia’s Ice Cream Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe VANILLA ICE CREAM RED RIBBON Reeds Dairy Austin’s Homemade Ice Cream Guerriero Gelato Hoffman’s Ice Cream Almost Heaven Ice Cream Sweet Temptations Pizzi Farm Ice Cream Queen City Creamery & Deli, LLC Holy Cow Ice Cream Café CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM WHITE RIBBON Sweet Temptations Revolution Gelato

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CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM RED RIBBON Sweet Temptations Reeds Dairy Mrs. Moriconi’s Ice Cream Cafe Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe Daddy O’Brien’s Irish Ice Cream Pub Sweet T’s Ice Cream & Food, LLC Enstrom Candies Guerriero Gelato Karen’s Kreamery Inc. Hoffman’s Ice Cream Andia’s Ice Cream

BEST NEW FLAVOR NON-DAIRY 3rd Place - Blank Slate Creamery - NonDairy Sunbutter Cinnamon 2nd Place - Sunflower - Black Dog Creamery

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM BLUE RIBBON Andia's Ice Cream Mikey Dubb's Frozen Custard Almost Heaven Ice Cream Austin’s Homemade Ice Cream Cockeye Creamery Outside the Cone Reeds Dairy Ilsley’s Ice Cream

Grandma’s Apple Cake - Queen City Creamery & Deli LLC Millionaire Shortbread - Holy Cow Ice Cream Café PB Mallow Crunch - Sonny’s Amazing Italian Ices & Cremes

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM RIBBON Guerriero Gelato Karen’s Kreamery Inc. Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe

WHITE

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM RED RIBBON Andia’s Ice Cream Ilsley’s Ice Cream Hoffman’s Ice Cream Almost Heaven Ice Cream The final announcement was the Best New Flavor and Best New Flavor Non Dairy.In the session, Christine mentioned that the judges found the quality and taste of the products were amazing and the results were very close. There were several Honorable Mentions awarded as well.Here are the results:

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WINNER - Vegan Pistachio Cherry- Karen’s Kreamery Inc BEST NEW FLAVOR Honorable Mention

3rd Place - Regal Caramel Apple - Daddy O’Brien’s Irish Ice Cream Pub 2nd Place - The Charleston - Holy Cow Ice Cream Café WINNER - Bee My Honeycomb - Outside the Cone

Congratulations to those who placed in the Ice Cream Clinic! We look forward to even more submission next year! Stay tuned for 2021's registration and ship dates!

Video Training We have reset the password for the online training videos. To access all of the online content click below

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8 Advertising Tips to Attract Holiday Shoppers Target Market

The holidays may look a little different this year, but it’s still a season of peak demand and a critical time for businesses to connect with customers. With Thanksgiving just over a week away, we wanted to share some new insights and advertising tips to help you attract holiday shoppers.

How Holiday Shoppers Have Changed Earlier this month, Google shared new data revealing how the behavior of holiday shoppers is changing in 2020. Here are some key statistics you should know: Searches for “support local businesses” grew by over 20,000% since last year and searches for “curbside pickup” have grown over 3,000%Searches for “available near me” have grown over 100% globally yearover-year.

69% of US shoppers plan to shop online for the holidays more than in previous years (with more people going online to browse and buy for the very first time.)

70% of US shoppers said they were open to buying from new retailers.

77% of US holiday shoppers said they would browse for gift ideas online, not instore.

46% of online US shoppers expect retailers to offer discounts.

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66% of US consumers who plan to shop this holiday season said they will shop more at local

small businesses.

What These Changes Mean for Your Business When you take into account all that has transpired in 2020, none of those statistics are all that surprising. The key takeaway is that your tried and true marketing tactics from years past aren’t likely to be as effective this year.

Shoppers are spending more time browsing online, but want to shop local. Your business may be losing out on sales if you don’t have a curbside pickup option available on your website. If curbside isn’t an option for your business, you may want to consider offering free shipping. It would appeal to those who expect a discount this time of year and those who are reluctant to shop in stores.

Advertising Tips to Attract Holiday Shoppers As your business evolves to meet the needs of today’s shoppers, it’s important to communicate those changes through your advertising. Here are some tips to help your holiday campaigns convert: 1. Budget for key holiday shopping days. Being prepared for key holiday shopping dates—days when people tend to do a lot of research and look for

deals—is vital to capture as many relevant searches as possible. These include Thanksgiving (Nov. 26), Black Friday (Nov. 27), Small Business Saturday (Nov. 28), Cyber Monday (Nov. 30), Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1), and Free Shipping Day (Dec. 14).

2. Optimize your landing page. Create a landing page specifically for your PPC or social media ad campaign and ensure it’s optimized to turn traffic into inquires and sales. Does the page load quickly? Is the call to action clear? Does it include customer reviews to build credibility through social proof?

3. Create a Geofence. Geofencing creates a virtual perimeter around your physical location that can be used to deliver targeted advertisements to people in your area.

4. Use email marketing. Consumers are used to receiving emails about deals and specials. In fact, 75% of consumers say they search their email inboxes just to find a relevant deal or discount code, so make sure they see yours this holiday season.

5. Make sure your local listings are updated. Your local listings, like your Google My Business listing, provide consumers with an easy way to see your business’s hours, location, and phone number. But, you can also provide additional information that they’d find useful like whether or not you offer curbside service, any specials you’re running, and more to streamline their online experience with your business.

6. Leverage new formats. Did you know 15-25% of Instagram users swipe on links in paid Stories? Looking just like regular Instagram Stories, Sponsored Ads allow you to ‘insert’ your branded offer in between user-created stories. For the best results, it’s recommended that you use them to re-engage your website visitors or target lookalike audiences (the users whose demographics and interests are similar to your existing customers’ ones).

7. Retarget. Optimize your advertising campaigns by retargeting those that have previously interacted with your brand. Think people that purchased during last year’s holiday season, visitors to your website visitors, social media followers, etc.

8. Plan a post-holiday campaign. The few weeks following Christmas can be very strong for sales. Some will have gift cards or cash to spend that are burning holes in their pockets. Others will return things and want to purchase something else. Start planning your post-holiday ad campaign now. Preparing for the holiday season can be overwhelming, but the most important thing you can do is to be flexible. For more marketing tips to help you grow your business, be sure to follow TargetMarket on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin.

TargetMarket

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Planning your Social Media Calendar Stephen Christensen

I know there are a lot of things to get sorted out before the season commences. You need to review your pricing, make sure your menu boards look as best as they can, train new people, ensure your equipment is running well and many other tasks.

One of the items you should have on your to do list is create your social media publishing calendar. The trouble with marketing is that it is one of those things that can be put off until after your most important things are done.

Dr. Stephen Covey wrote a fantastic book, First things First, in which he describes the quadrants where we spend most of our time.

This quadrant system is developed on tasks and responsibilities that are either important and/or urgent. Quadrant one is the important and urgent things that need to be done. In small business this may mean responding to a customer complaining at the front counter, or an alarm that went off at the store that needs your immediate response.

The second quadrant is important but not urgent. These are the things which we know we have to do, but we put them off in order to tackle the more urgent things. This might mean reviewing your vendor pricing, painting the walls of the shop, some bookkeeping, and a popular position in this segment is

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marketing.

Dr. Stephen Covey says that we should be trying to live most of our personal and business lives in quadrant two, or the “important but not urgent� things. In your regular life this may mean a date with your spouse, or regular exercise. We often fill our time up with things that are the most pressing, or the squeaky wheel, or the issue that is making the most noise.

That being said we need to carve out some time in our personal and business lives to concentrate on those things that do not have an immediate effect but are extremely important in regard to our long term benefit.

So amid all of the preparation that you are going through to get ready for the season, may I suggest you carve out some time to organize how you are going to attack the beginning and throughout the season so far as your marketing content is concerned.

Although there are other pressing things to be done, if you get to the beginning or middle of the season without having a plan for social media and other marketing efforts, you may find yourself way behind the eight ball on this important aspect of your business. In this article we will discuss the different platforms and the regularity in which you should be posting on them. I would suggest getting a paper calendar, or better yet establish an Excel spreadsheet with dates and weeks and months, so you can start to fill in the roster of social media posts and information you are

going to send out to your community.

I believe it is not enough to simply say you were going to post on Facebook every day.

If you don’t have that written down or entered into a social media calendar, you’ll very quickly find yourself back in Q1, attending to the important and urgent things, and let social media posts fall by the wayside. So once you have a physical or digital calendar in front of you, start to make categories of daily and weekly areas that you can start to select, and also the different platforms that we will discuss in this article.

As you start to populate the regularity of posts from each platform, you will start to see your publishing calendar fill out, which will make it easier for you to take a step back and have a look at the time and effort required to fulfill your social media needs. Yes social media is free, but it does take time to produce and publish good content Once you have a look at this calendar with all of its highlights of different posts for different days and weeks, you may want to consider tasking your social media responsibilities to another employee.

You may also want to carve out some time for yourself, if you are the person that is responsible for doing this. Many marketing businesses are now becoming extremely popular, in helping small business owners manage their content and post for them. Part of our office now is dedicated to helping small businesses, in particular Ice Cream businesses, post regular content about their menu, their items, their staff, and special events happening at the particular business.

Perhaps you can find someone in your market that can help support you in this manner.

Let’s now look at some of the platforms that you really should be on.

Facebook Facebook is quickly becoming the “old people’s” platform of social media, although there are still millions and millions of reasons to continue to use Facebook in your social media marketing. Facebook allows you to post in a variety of different methods, including regular written posts, images from your businesses, videos taken all of your businesses, or even a live video of special events or product making.

Another great aspect of Facebook is the ability to place ads to a very targeted market. You can select a certain circumference from your business and drill down to the demographic that you would like to concentrate on. If you feel as though you have a promotion that you would like to target mothers between the age of 25 and 45, that have an interest in desserts, fun, family activities, and culinary interests, these are some of the elements that you can plug into an ad campaign that will target this demographic.

Facebook continues to also break new ground in its “Groups” functionality. You can very easily establish a special Facebook group that can give the impression of exclusivity.

Perhaps you have some customers that engage with you regularly and visit your store more often than others. Perhaps you could create a Facebook group of top-tier customers that get a preview of flavors that are coming up, special discounts and prizes, or other information that you do not post on your regular Facebook page.

This is a great way to reward your regular customers by acknowledging their continual support of your business. How many times a week should you post on Facebook?

That is the question. I would suggest at least once a day. You should also mix up your content. I do firmly believe that the written words, although it may be mightier than the sword, does not attract a lot of attention on

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a Facebook feed. Images, gifs, memes and video is a great way to have people stop and look at your posts while they are scrolling through the myriad of others on their wall.

Your daily post should rotate through these different images and offerings, to keep your engagement fresh.

Images, gifs, memes and video is a great way to have people stop and look at your posts while they are scrolling through the myriad of others on their wall. Your daily post should rotate through these different images and offerings, to keep your engagement fresh.

Many ice cream shop owners do not like being in front of the camera, or being the focus of their business, however you will soon come to find that your story and history to your business does make a great connection with your customer base. Having your customers connect with you on an emotional level helps them become more engaged and loyal to your business. So as you start to fill out your social media calendar, put a check mark in every single day for a Facebook post.

Twitter A lot of small business owners don’t see the need to engage with their customers on Twitter. Twitter for a long time had been considered irrelevant by small business owners because you can only limit your posts to 280 characters.

This means that a Twitter user could only publish or post a short paragraph. However, images and video are becoming the norm for Twitter users, and when someone scrolls down their Twitter feed, images and video clips grab the attention more so than the written word. Again, using images and short video clips that you can post on Facebook

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can also be posted on your Twitter feed. You don’t have to

reinvent the wheel between Facebook and Twitter.

Although you can use small online quotes on Twitter that also grab people’s attention. You also need to have a call to action on all of your posts. This may mean a link to your website, or a short survey to complete. Surveys and poles are popular with online users, and can add another level of engagement with your business.

Simply asking your customer base or Twitter followers whether they like chocolate or vanilla. Or simply the line “2 scoops or one” with a question mark will gain a lot of engagement. This may not seem like much, but every time a potential or existing customer has a touch point with your brand and business, the more engaged they are.

You also need to have a call to action on all of your posts. This may mean a link to your website, or a short survey to complete. Surveys and poles are popular with online users, and can add another level of engagement with your business. Simply asking your customer base or Twitter followers whether they like chocolate or vanilla. Or simply the line “2 scoops or one” with a question mark will gain a lot of engagement. This may not seem like much, but every time a potential or existing customer has a touch point with your brand and business, the more engaged they are..

I say it’s almost like a virtual thumb print in their minds to continue their association with your brand and your logo long after they have left the store with a cup or cone.

How often should you post on Twitter?

I would recommend at least twice, if not three or four times a day. Don’t be too concerned that you have to come up with original content or keep posting the same items over and over.

Twitter feed runs so quickly, that you will not be considered an over poster. You can also get

some great engagement on Twitter that you don’t necessarily get on Facebook.

The back-and-forth of customers asking questions or interacting with your posts, can be a great way to increase engagement. I will suggest some external programs or platforms that can help you schedule all of these tweets and posts, so that you don’t have to continually take time out of your day for your three or for tweets.

Instagram.

Instagram has become one of the most common ways on social media for people to connect. The platform started off as simply a way to post images, but many celebrities, business owners, and even individuals now use Instagram as a way to communicate to their tribe or community.

Instagram is still image-based, so creating a library of great images of your products, services, procedures and other interesting things around your business is important.

Every time you make a new menu item, pull a batch out of your batch freezer, dress a Sundae, or really do anything in your business, you should be taking a quick snap. You don’t need a highresolution image for Instagram, so taking a photograph on your phone is fine. You will find that there are a myriad of filters and effects that you can put on these images, and you may want to talk to someone about the best way to dress up the photographs that you post.

How many times do you post on Instagram?

Maybe once or twice a day. Again the Instagram feed scrolls pretty regularly, particularly if your customer or follower has a copious amount of people that they engage with on the platform. Again don’t be overly concerned with filters or hesitation that you were not doing the right thing. Ice cream and frozen desserts

are pretty fascinating pictures regardless of how dressed up they are.

Instagram will also allow you to do a small video clip, or boomerang. Boomerangs are video clips which repeat over and over on themselves. You may want to film a warm cascade of hot fudge trickling down your newly scooped ice cream. Only capturing the first three or four seconds of this lava flow, and having it repeat over and over, can be quite mesmerizing. Any platform that allows you to post images or short video clips, tends to be more popular with food establishments because it captures the eye.

Have you ever been at a restaurant and taking a photograph of your food before you eat it?

Have you seen other people do it? It is surely a trend that people are fascinated with. Posting and viewing images of food and dessert items are extremely popular. And as you make these items each day, don’t forget to have the Instagram mentality to take a myriad of photos to use for your upcoming posts.

I can’t comment effectively on Snapchat, as I haven’t really used the platform much. I don’t think it has much sway for small business owners. If nothing else, it continues to strengthen your brand among millennials. But I do think that time and effort invested in

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other platforms will be a better return on your investment.

Tik-tok.

As mentioned in a previous article, Tik Tok is becoming one of the most fast growing platforms on the market. Again, it utilizes short video clips with tags and other effects and sound backing. I honestly think that if you can utilize the same videos that you post on Instagram, and utilize them in a TikTok feed, you will grow your brand. Remember you’re not going to sell more ice cream as a result of posting a one-minute video of you stacking the tallest sundae in town. But you will get people looking at your logo and your brain and it will be more present in their mind and they are making a frozen dessert selection.

Once you have established all of these platforms, the content, and how often to post on them, it is time to start populating your calendar. Keep one tab on your spreadsheet for all of your links, passwords, and usernames. Some of these platforms require you to refresh your username every 60 to 90 days. Keeping track of all of these different platforms and passwords can be extremely confusing. One of the reasons why people don’t use multiple platforms is that the hassle of having to remember both usernames and passwords for multiple different applications becomes infuriating for some.

Always have a tab or a section in your calendar spreadsheet to describe which platform you are posting on, it’s username and password, and also the regularity of how often you wish to post. Then start filling in a month at a time. Most of these platforms allow you to schedule a post rather than having to do them constantly throughout the day. There are also other applications that allow you to post an image or video over multiple platforms.

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The only thing to be aware of here, is that the Instagram audience may respond

differently to the Facebook audience and vice versa. You do need to have a look at the demographic you are trying. to reach with each platform, and post the appropriate images, video and tags for each time. Hashtags (#) have become quite cliché, but it is also an incredible way to tap into someone’s search habits.

If someone has a fascination for ice cream or gelato, many times they will search a hashtag rather than a particular post. If someone puts in a search item of #ice cream, all of the posts using this particular hashtag will come up.

Most social media marketers use a blend of traditional and unique hashtags to help their posts reach certain markets and pop-up in certain search methods.

The fact of the matter is that there is no silver bullet when it comes to planning out your social media posts. You really need to take a test market over a week or two weeks and see what the reaction to your posts are.

Likes, shares and other forms of following are a good indication that your posts are reaching their desire to platforms and are being shared appropriately. Again this isn’t going to happen without you carving out some time to do it.

Make the decision for a certain period of time on the same day of every week, to spend 30 to 45 minutes on content creation and filling your social media calendar. Again I want to stress that social media for the most part is free. But dedicating time and effort to get the most out of this unique way of marketing your business is a must.

MARKETING CALENDAR DECEMBER 2020 Daily Holidays Clark Kent's Birthday (Superman): 1 Giving Tuesday: 1 National Cookie Day: 4 St. Nicholas Day: 6 National Cotton Candy Day: 7 Human Rights Day: 10 International Mountain Day: 11 Kaleidoscope Day: 11 National App Day: 11 Gingerbread Decorating Day: 12 Gingerbread House Day: 12 National Cocoa Day: 12 National Guard Birthday: 13 Yoga Day: 14 Bill of Rights Day: 15 National Cupcake Day: 15 National Chocolate-covered Anything Day: 16 A Christmas Carol Day: 17 Wright Brothers Day: 17 Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day: 18 Crossword Puzzle Day: 21 Forefathers Day: 21 Humbug Day: 21 Winter Solstice: 21

Chanukah: 22-30 Forefathers Day: 22 Festivus: 23 Metric Conversion Day: 23 Christmas Eve: 24 Egg Nog Day:24 Christmas: 25 Christmas Pudding Day: 25 National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day: 25 Kwanzaa: 26-1/1 National Candy Cane Day: 26 Free Balloon Day: 27 National Chocolate Day: 28-29 Pledge of Allegiance Day: 28 Bacon Day: 30 National Champagne Day: 31 New Years Eve: 31

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MARKETING CALENDAR JANUARY 2021 Daily Holidays New Years Day: 1 National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day: 3 World Braille Day: 4 National Keto Day: 5 Whipped Cream Day: 5 National Shortbread Day: 6 National English Toffee Day: 8 National Bagel Day: 15 Bald Eagle Appreciation Days: 16-17 Popeye Day: 17 World Snow Day: 17 Pooh (Winnie The) Day: 18 Popcorn Day: 19 Inauguration Day: 20 National Cheese Lovers Day: 20 National Day of Service: 20 Get to Know Your Customers Day: 21 National Pie Day: 23 National Peanut Butter Day: 24 National Irish Coffee Day: 25

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National Peanut Brittle Day: 26 National Geographic Day: 27 National Kazoo Day: 28 Rubber Ducky Day: 28 National Puzzle Day: 29 Croissant Day: 30 Grammy Awards: 31

Please find them as follows:

A NOTE FOR OUR SUPPLIER MEMBERS Hey there, Supplier Member. Hopefully by now you have seen quite a few changes in the way NICRA is improving member benefits and communicating with our members.

Our main method of communication is still our monthly Bulletin published on the 10th of each month. Up until recently, the NICRA Bulletin has struggled to attract advertisers and we have been offering free ads to those supplier members who contributed an article.

THE GOOD NEWS IS.....

We have recently put extra effort into increasing the effectiveness of the Bulletin with the following functions: Full Color Front Cover President and Executive Director Messages Monthly Food Safety Articles Marketing and Event Calendars More Links to articles and online content.

This has led to high engagement through open rates and link clicks.

With this higher engagement, we are having more inquiries by Supplier Members about advertising to our members again in the Bulletin. For this purpose, we are publishing the NICRA Bulletin Advertising rates for 2020.

1 issues 3 issues 1/4 page $70 $65

6 issues $60

11 issues $50

1/2 page

$90

$85

$80

$70

Full Page

$160

$150

$140

$120

DISPLAY ADVERTISING Frequency rates are based on the total number of insertions used within a twelve-month period.

Space Reservations: 10th of month preceding publication Material Deadline: 15th of month preceding publication.

Please direct any questions to Steve Christensen, Executive Director at the below contact details.

743 Spirit 40 Park Dr, Suite 121, Chesterfield MO 63005 636 778 1822 * Toll Free: 866-303-6960 E-Mail: info@nicra.org * Web: www.nicra.org

NICRA OFFICERS 2020 President George Xouris, Andia’s Homemade Ice Cream, Morrisville, NC President Elect Dave Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI Vice President Patti Otte, Sweet Firefly Gourmet Ice Cream, Richardson.

TX Secretary/Treasurer Charlie Wilcox, Marianne’s Ice Cream, Santa Cruz, CA

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Secretary/Treasurer Elect Kelly Larson, Sweet Temptations, Grand Haven, MI Immediate Past President David Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI Executive Director Steve Christensen, Chesterfield, MO Terms Ending Annual Meeting 2020 Valerie Henrici, Yummies, Warsaw, NY Andy Jones, Lloyd’s of PA, Prince Frederick, MD Sue Kloter, Kloter Ice Cream Barn, Ellington, CT Donnie Montgomery, Homestead Creamery, Wirtz, VA Jason Mandler, Carmen's Italian Ice, Rockville, MD Terms Ending Annual Meeting 2021 Bob Hearn, Hearn’s Ice Cream, St Mary’s ON Canada Zach Burton, Nielsen Massey, Waukegan IL Christine D’Amico, Over the Top, Pleasant Hill IA

2020 SUPPLIER OFFICERS

Convention Committee Dave Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI Membership Committee Patti Otte, Sweet Firefly Gourmet Ice Cream, Richardson. TX Ice Cream Clinic Committee Christine D’Amico, Over the Top, Pleasant Hill IA Scholarship Committee Sue Kloter, Kloter Ice Cream Barn, Ellington, CT NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY NICRA is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in all of its endeavors. To that end, NICRA shall not tolerate any words or acts of discrimination, harassment or any inappropriate behavior in general against any person affiliated with NICRA, including its members and guests, with regard to race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status or sexual orientation.

President Kyle Cameron, Joy Cone Co., Hermitage, PA Vice President Ben Keser, Novelty Cone, Pennsauken Township, NJ Secretary/Treasurer Evan Waldt, Ice Cream Equipment Spec. Reno, NV Chairman Cherish Mathews, Forbes Chocolate, Broadview Hts., OH

This Bulletin is published by: National Ice Cream Retailers Association 743 Spirit 40 Park Dr., Suite 121 Chesterfield, MO 63005 George Xouris, Chairman Publications Committee Steve Christensen, Executive Director, National Ice Cream Retailers Association.

COMMITTEES AND COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN Executive Committee George Xouris, Andia’s Homemade Ice Cream, Morrisville, NC Nominating Committee David Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI

This issue of the NICRA Bulletin is now available online at http://www.nicra.org. Click on the Members Only button and enter your Username and Password. If you cannot find your Username and Password, call the NICRA office at 866-303-6960 or send an e-mail to info@nicra.org requesting the information.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please “LIKE” us on Facebook using your personal Facebook page (not your business Facebook page) in order to receive our comments in your News Feed.

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