I've never had such fun that included so little sleep and losing my voice. I believe that is my new litmus test for how successful a show is.

Our team had a wonderful time seeing old friends from Guayaki and Grounds for Change, making new friends at Better World Books (Go Irish!) and ChicoBag, while being fueled by massive amounts of acai smoothies from Sambazon.

We did a fair number of interviews with journalists regarding our world's-first eco-certified sports balls. Look for the coverage over the next week or so. It's fun to see a journalist's eyes widen when you describe your product line; it's not often they get to see something really different, especially a completely new entry into the world of Fair Trade and green products.

And many thanks to Coop America's Chip Py the photo guy, for the use of this shot.

Check out this video from Fair Indigo, a fair trade clothing company headquartered near Madison Wisconsin.

There, you'll meet Karina Madelaine Perez Leon, an extraordinary young woman who has made a big impression in her community in Peru, while she stands just two and a half feet tall!

Karina is making handcrafted jewelry in her first-ever real job, thanks to the efforts of Anonymous Angels (Angeles Anonimos), an organization that finds employment for people with disabilities.

Speaking of Fair Indigo, go ahead and stop by their website and get one of our children's Fair Trade soccer balls.

After spending two days holed up in my hotel room with a 48-hour flu bug that I picked up in the Denver airport, I finally made it to the third (and final) day of ExpoEast last weekend. How ironic that I catch a nasty bug going to a tradeshow where 50% of the vendors are showcasing organic and wholesome products to keep you from getting sick!

ExpoEast is one of several large international shows where you get to see and visit with the other leaders in the segments of Fair Trade, organic, and green products/services. For me, it is (usually) a time of seeing old friends and making new ones. Shows like this barely feel like work to me, although we usually leave with a significant amount of sales completed and prospects collected.


After a steady diet of yoga, Boiron flu remedies, and herbal teas for two days, I recovered well enough to write this whiny post and head over to the tradeshow floor to join my teammates Kevin, James, and Anne (that’s me holding the Fair Trade soccer ball).

What fun to see friends at Zhena’s Gypsy tea, Guayaki, and Equal Exchange on the last day…as well as make new friends at Clif Bar. Can’t wait for ExpoWest!

The good folks at Equal Exchange have just updated their fundraising program to include a new incentive…an EE-branded Fair Trade soccer ball!

The largest worker-owned coffee roaster in the country, Equal Exchange offers tours to fundraising groups for coffee and chocolate tasting. In some areas (such as Portland, OR), they will also send a crew out to your school assembly to help launch the new program.

Contact them if you are interested, and be sure to tell Kelsie we said hello!

And if you need a Fair Trade soccer ball (or any of our other sports) branded with your organization’s colors and logos (minimum order 250 balls), just let us know! If you need less than 250 sports balls, just head over to our Gear Shop to see our volume pricing on all orders of 10+ balls.

If you love sports, have your own website, and would like to earn some extra cash for yourself or your organization, then our new Affiliate Team program is for you.

The fundraising program is only a few days old and we’ve already had several organizations sign up, including leagues like EBOTS Soccer and nonprofits like These Numbers Have Faces.

Link your website to the first company in the US with a full line of Fair Trade soccer balls and more to earn a steady stream of revenue as a Fair Trade Sports Affiliate Team member.

Join now!

Susan and I have been fans of Global Exchange for quite awhile. We’re thrilled to have GX on board as one of our wholesale accounts.

Should your team or store be interested in ordering Fair Trade soccer balls and more in bulk quantities, please refer to our volume discount price guide.

When you do alot of public speaking, you quickly learn the definition of a “great question” from the audience.

It’s the question that you have a ready answer for - one that helps reinforce a point you made earlier in your talk.

Here’s an example:

Question: Does my Fair Trade store/market need fairly traded youth soccer balls?

Answer: Great question! Yes, it does. And I know where you can find a supply of them.

:)

Here’s what Dick Meyer, proprietor of the Traditions Fair Trade store in Washington state, says about our fairly traded sports balls:

Fair Trade Sports balls fill an important niche in getting new groups of people aware of the importance of fair trade. The quality of the product and the service from Fair Trade Sports provide great opportunities to reach schools and athletic organizations to have them buy responsibly.

Another proponent of fairly traded sports balls is Sarah Davison-Tracy from Colorado. She founded the Seeds of Exchange market and recently commented:

The prompt delivery and personal attention from Fair Trade Sports for our wholesale ordering is terrific! Their fairly traded sports balls are the perfect addition to our monthly markets and are a great complement to our Fair Trade product selection.

You can order volumes of fairly traded futsal balls, soccer balls, volleyballs, and rugby balls from our site - your volume discounts are automatically applied - or by contacting us directly with your order details. Wholesale price guide here.

Just got back from Boston - a beautiful city currently wearing a blanket of ice from a recent Nor’easter - for a Fair Trade event called Convergence.

Convergence is an annual event that gathers 300+ Fair Trade activists from high school and college campuses nationwide, hosted by United Students for Fair Trade.

Lots of learning and planning goes on during the multi-day event. This year I saw and heard alot of excitement from both high school students and college students about bringing fairly traded sports balls to their campuses.

Check out what Cabini College in PA has already launched - the country’s first Fair Trade Wallyball Tournament, featuring our Fair Trade Sports volleyballs.

This “Play Fair, Trade Fair” event is part of a larger CRS campaign the students and faculty are pursuing on campus. Well done, Cavaliers!

Need *alot* of sports balls? Not a problem. In addition to our retail, wholesale, and distributor pricing, we also offer private label pricing through our domestic partner Fair Deal Trading USA.

If you are interested in a minimum order of 250 units, just ask and we can help you from design to delivery to your door.