April 2014

At Trophies2Go, our goal is to create the perfect award for you to give to someone special.  We take great pride in expertly etching a unique, personalized message on each award we create.  We want the award you purchase to stand the test of time and be a cherished for years to come.

One obstacle we often see in creating a memorable award is engraving errors, especially MISSPELLED WORDS.  We try our hardest to catch these offenders when they come through our website, but sometimes they get missed.  Customers accidentally type the wrong information, or sometimes it’s our mistake – you call your order in, and there’s a typo, for example.

With this blog post, I hope to point out common errors we see in the hopes that everyone, both our staff and customers, double and triple checks the engraving so that it’s error free when engraved onto the award.

3 Most Common Engraving Errors

How many engraving errors can you find on this phony plaque? It was fabricated specifically for today's blog.

Here are the top 3 errors we regularly see:

1. Commonly Misspelled Words.  According to our engravers and our customer service team, here are the worst offenders that they see misspelled over and over again:

Achievement

Congratulations

Commitment

Fantasy

If you have any of these words in the text of your award, use your spell check to make sure they are correct before submitting the engraving.

2. The Wrong Date.  An order gets repeated from the previous year, yet last year’s date doesn’t get updated.  When you get your order confirmation email, be sure to double and triple check the dates, especially the YEAR, to be sure the date on the award is correct.

3. Misspelled Names. Often we have to re-make awards because names are misspelled.  To remedy this problem, it’s a good idea to confirm spelling before entering engraving information. For participation awards, double check your team roster with parents before submitting the engraving for your trophies.  For corporate awards, double check the spelling of the winner’s name before placing your order.

Our goal is to create a fun and hassle free ordering experience for our customers.  But unfortunately mistakes do occasionally happen.  When an award is incorrectly engraved, give our customer service team a call at 877-926-4700 to find a solution.  To prevent errors, double and triple check the engraving text when placing your order.  We strive to create accurate and beautiful awards to be enjoyed for years to come!

Cheers!
Jessica

Your grown child has moved out of the house, and you’re reclaiming his/her room as your own. What do you do with that collection of old, dusty trophies? Here are some ideas of how to give those old trophies a new life.

Trophy Recycling

Our engraver Mike's box of brass scraps bound for recycling.

Unfortunately, the awards and recognition industry does not produce many recyclable trophy components. Most of the trophies we create cannot be recycled and must be either reused or disposed. Hopefully our industry will soon change its ways and reduce waste by offering recyclable products or products made from recycled materials. Until then, we have some suggestions for more utility from your old awards.

What Can Be Recycled?

Most metal plates that are attached to plaques and trophies can be recycled. Usually these plates are made from aluminum or brass and can be taken to a local recycling center. We recycle all of our scrap metal from plates.

Many solid wood plaques are biodegradable. Our Eco-Plaques and Bamboo Plaques are harvested from environmentally-friendly sustainable forests. These are a great product choice for eco conscious buyers.

Donation, Donation, Donation

This eco-plaque is made of sustainably harvested cherry and the engraved metal plate can be recycled.

Many larger chain thrift stores, such as Goodwill or Value Village, accept donations of gently used awards in good condition. They clean and sell the old trophies to their customers. It’s surprising what creative things people can make out of old awards!

Unfortunately, many smaller thrift stores do not accept trophies. If you have a question, call your local second-hand store before making your donation.

Reuse Your Old Trophies

If you decide to reuse trophies for another season, the old engraved metal can be removed and recycled. New metal plates can be ordered and easily attached to existing trophies using double sided tape.

Make Your Own Trophies

If your team is concerned about purchasing products that cannot be recycled, consider making your own awards out of wood or another biodegradable material. At Trophies2Go, engraved plates are available for you to attach to your awards. All of our engraved metal is recyclable.

We appreciate and share your commitment to our environment. At Trophies2Go.com, we strive to create meaningful recognition in an earth-friendly way!

Cheers!
Jessica

At Trophies2Go, a common question we get  from new team parents and coaches is what engraving to put on their kids’ participation trophies.  Here are some general pointers on what’s commonly engraved on sports trophies.

The Basics

Three different engraving layouts on our 3 common metal plate colors - gold with gold letters, black with gold letters, and black with silver letters.

1. Engraving is free.  First and most important, engraving is included in the price of your trophy.  You can put as few or as many characters of text as you want and it’s still free.  Some teams even add a logo.

2. Max of 3 lines of text. Most  plates for basic trophies are around 1” tall by 2.5” wide.  Our engraver Paul can fit three lines of text in that space.

3. Fonts.  Depending on the amount of text, Paul uses the best looking font to fill the space.  Customers do not choose the fonts.  However, if you would like to see how the engraving looks before going to production, request a Proof.  It’s free for orders over $50.  Paul will email you the engraving layout so you can see how it looks and approve it before the etching begins.

What Should I Put On My Awards?

Here are the most common pieces of information that are engraved on sports trophies:

Line 1: Team Name (and Year if you are only using 2 lines of engraving)

Line 2: Player’s Name - This can be first and last name, or first name with last initial.

Line 3: League Name, Award (such as MVP), or Year (this line of text is optional)

What Layout Choices Do I Have?

We commonly see 3 different types of layouts for engraving on trophies.

Layout #1:  2 Lines of Engraving  - Team Name and Year on line 1, Player's Name on line 2

Layout #2:  2 Lines of Engraving with Curve - same as above, except the top line is curved

Layout #3:  3 Lines of Engraving - This has more variety.  One line usually has the player's name, another line the team name, and the third line the year or league name, for example.

I hope these examples help you determine the best engraving for your sports trophy.  With so many choices, you're sure to find the perfect award with a special message for your favorite player!

Cheers!

Jessica

How do we give back to the community?  Each quarter, our staff chooses a charity to support through our 'Awards for A Cause' program.  This quarter, we have chosen the College Success Foundation as the program recipient.

What is the College Success Foundation?

The College Success Foundation helps students dreams come true!

For more than 13 years, the College Success Foundation (CSF) has been a leader in improving college access and completion for thousands of underrepresented students throughout Washington State and in Washington, D.C.

In 2000, CSF was founded in Issaquah, Washington by Bob Craves and Ann Ramsay-Jenkins to provide college scholarships and mentoring to low-income, high-potential students.  CSF provides the unique integrated system of supports and scholarships to inspire under-served, low-income students to finish high school, graduate from college and succeed in life.

CSF is headquartered in Washington State and includes its subsidiaries, Washington State Mentors and College Success Foundation – District of Columbia. Through its work, the foundation provides pathways for eligible students to succeed in college, and in so doing improves their economic future.  Find out more and like the CSF Facebook page!

Trophies2Go will make a donation to the College Success Foundation based on selected product purchases.  To see the trophies and awards that will benefit the charity go to our 'Awards for a Cause' page.   Thank you customers for supporting worthwhile charities in our community by purchasing 'Awards for a Cause' products!

Cheers!
Jessica