New Year is just around the corner and we are getting ready for welcoming 2009 in and waving goodbye to 2008 as it heads for the history books.

This last year has seen a range of developments in technology which have massively broadened the application of tagging and carrying information – this is after all what the point of a tag is – to carry information.

I expect to see greater application of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) technology with labeling and not just in security functions to protect goods from shop lifters but also in delivering information to consumers.  Already, there are several test programs for carrying RFID tags on food products so the customer can use a scanner provided by the store not only to automatically add the item to the bill but give the buyer a history of where the food is from, who grew or produced it, when it was made and what went into it and a host of other good stuff.  This is not so far fetched as you may think and they are already introducing this technology in the UK with leading grocery store, Sainsbury’s.

I’m also going to predict a dramatic increase in the application of biometric tagging in both identification and security functions.  Biometrics have still to achieve their full potential and there is the money in the market for it – the government is throwing huge sums not just at biometric development but in furthering the application of reliable technology.  There is just too much money being invested for this to fall flat on its face.

What else takes my fancy?

I think that there will be some of the first integrated scanning technology delivered for use in cell phones – in fact, I’ll confess, I know this is going to happen as a friend of mine writes cell phone reviews and Visa has been teaming up with several handset manufacturers so a cell phone will also be able to scan intelligent tags and act as a money payment device.  Still in its infancy but the Europeans are stepping up the momentum here and I expect we’ll catch up with them on this sooner rather than later.

That’s all from me for 2009, drive safe if you are going out to party and enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you all next year

The best way of supporting the American economy is to buy American!

Now this really makes me mad – I did some research of my own and hit the store looking for general “stuff” – what I was looking for was not so important as trying to find it produced right here in America.

We are an industrious people and sure there was a great big range of stuff that was “Made in the USA” but as a marketing guy, what stood out to me was just how little was made of goods being made right here in this country.

It was fairly rare to see emblazoned across packaging “Made in America” or “Made in the USA” – come on Corporate America what are you thinking – fire your marketing department and wake up!

How much does it actually cost to put “Made in USA” on your packaging?

No more than “Made in Japan” or “Made in China” and they certainly don’t seem to be ashamed of announcing where their cars or plastic gizmos are manufactured – it just seems to me it’s only us that are worried that “Made in USA” might detract from selling goods or is it that homegrown manufacturers just take it for granted?

Perhaps it’s just the time of year and I got out of bed the wrong side this morning but when we have so many families facing hard times, the least we all can do is to buy American and support the jobs, workers and economy right here at home.  Every US manufacturer should be sticking one of these Made in America stickers on every box they ship out of their factory so every American consumer knows they are buying American and supporting American families and jobs right here at home.

You may be asking where to find quality identification labels for your suitcase or any other items you may be taking on your trip whether it is via airplane, bus, or just traveling in your car. One great place to visit is MaverickLabel.com. They have every type of label you would need for any occasion.

The information that should be indicated on your identification label is your name of course, address, and most reliable contact phone number. If you have a cell phone that is carried on you at all times – you should probably use that phone number. Sometimes, adding two or three reachable phone numbers is a great idea. This will give the person who finds your lost luggage a much greater chance of getting in contact with you than if you only had one phone number listed.

The identification labels come in all sorts of colors, styles, and materials. Your only job is to choose the one you would like and would better fit your needs to place on your stuff. You should place a label on the outside of the item as well as one on the inside – both with the same information on each.

Even if you are into sports, band, or any other type of extracurricular activities at school, you will want to be able to identify the items that are yours. Not all activities require you to take your items home with you, so storing them at school can cause some identification problems if you have a particular item you use all the time, and you don’t want someone else using or taking that item away from you.

Identifying your stuff can be a decorative and fun thing to do. Children in elementary school love arts and crafts, so why not turn something so important into something that is fun by showing them how to create and add labels to their stuff. Labels come in various colors, shapes, and styles for everyone’s taste. Checking websites online such as Mavericklabel.com is a great place to start when looking for a large variety of labels to choose from. Here’s a tip: You can use their custom integrated labels for blank labels.

Identification labels can be created out of just about any type of material from paper, metal, foil, wood, and plastic; the choice is purely your own. Some labels can be special ordered with your contact information on them already. Other types of labels can be ordered blank and you fill in the information yourself. The blank labels are the best kind for kids to design themselves. They can add whatever colors they’d like as well as the contact information they would like to include on each label.