'The Tackifier' Blog by FindTape

For many of us, war seems a distant prospect. But for millions of U.S. military men and women and their families, it is an ever-present and lasting reality. More than 2.5 million people have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, and more than 50,000 have come home wounded. On the homefront, their families bear the brunt of the war's implications, including economic hardship and health issues. For many, it's a daily struggle.

These men and women and their families need our help, and I'm very excited to announce FindTape.com's support of Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that provides emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.

But before I tell you what we have planned, I'd like to explain why our support of military families means so much to me.

Many divisions of the U.S. military are customers of FindTape.com, and we're proud to serve them. But the decision to support military families is a very personal one, for several reasons.

Both of my grandfathers served in combat in World War II, and the stories they told about the war and the heroism of our soldiers always filled me with a strong sense of pride.

Until one of my closest childhood friends, Robert Valley, joined the 82nd Airborne, war was a distant prospect for me too. As a veteran of both Operation Just Cause in Panama and the Gulf War in Iraq, Robert made war a reality for me too. (As it happens, Robert also has close ties to FindTape.com. He's the owner of JV Converting, the primary tape converter we work with.)

I started FindTape.com while I was still living and working full-time in New York City, and I was working in lower Manhattan during the attacks on 9/11. This experience heightened my appreciation for the men and women who have defended the causes of freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm grateful for their courage and the sacrifices they and their families have made in defense of our nation.

It's in honor of these connections – my grandfathers, my childhood friend, and all of those who have served and are serving – that I've dedicated our charitable efforts at FindTape.com toward supporting military families.

I've chosen to partner with Operation Homefront because the support offered by this nonprofit organization makes an enormous difference for military families. In 2014, 92% of Operation Homefront's expenditures - $49 million - were spent on programs for military men and women and their families. This remarkable focus on making the lives of military families better is very inspirational.

So how do we plan to support Operation Homefront?

During the month of May, we'll help Operation Homefront raise awareness about the needs of military families due to financial hardship, death, injury, or physical or mental detriment as a result of service since 9/11. Follow this blog and our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest – to learn more about the efforts Operation Homefront and others are making to improve the lives of veterans and military families.

We’re also pledging to donate a percentage of our merchandise sales – up to $10,000 – over Memorial Day week to Operation Homefront. From May 22 to May 28, 2015, for each purchase a customer makes on FindTape.com, we'll donate 10% of the total merchandise price to Operation Homefront.

It's our way of saying thank you for the courage military servicemen and women show and the daily sacrifices they and their families make in service to our country.

About Operation Homefront

A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 2,500 volunteers with nationwide presence who provide emergency and other financial assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors. Operation Homefront has provided assistance to thousands of military families since its inception in 2002. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity watchdog groups, nationally, 92 percent of Operation Homefront's expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families.

Easter is just a few short weeks away, and church production managers and media ministry are well underway with planning some of the year's biggest productions and events.

Churches with memberships of several thousand or more already put together events of significant size. But holidays like Easter and Christmas put big demands on their creative and production teams. The holidays draw far more attendees than regular weekly services, requiring most houses of worship to hold additional services on Saturday to accommodate the larger crowds.

But it's not just the crowds that are bigger. Easter services are usually more elaborate productions as well.

Liquid Church, a contemporary Christian church in Mountainside, NJ, aims to put on a bigger, more elaborate show for Easter, along with adding Saturday services. The ministry is a multi-site church with 3,500 attendees across all sites each week. With three portable locations and one permanent in Mountainside, the church sets up three stages every week.

Technical Director Joel Freeman, who oversees all the audio/visual systems and gear, says they'll bring in a lot more lighting for the weekend Easter services. And because the productions are more elaborate, they'll require bigger props.

At Easter, as he does throughout the year, Freeman will work with members of the creative team to understand what they need to put together the production and whether a new staging or video element is required.

His biggest challenge is time and complexity, something that is more challenging at Easter. "We want to do the best show we possibly can," he says.

That's especially challenging at Easter - a time to focus on families. That means fewer volunteers than usual, and Freeman needs to lean more on regular staff to get sets, lighting, and props in place in a short amount of time - and on multiple stages.

With about three hours to get ready for each production, set up needs to go smoothly and quickly. At Easter, the ramped up complexity includes more doorways to cross and more lines to prep. Freeman uses Scapa 425 gaffers tape in 2- and 3-inch widths to hold down wires, trussing, and cables, and to hold carpets together so that no seams are showing. His teams use it to mark off the stage for props and performers, as well as to hold back drapes.

Scapa 425 is one of the most adhesive gaffers tapes we sell. It adheres longer and more securely than other gaffer tapes, and also has high tack, high tensile strength, and an easy unwind. It has an extremely low gloss finish which causes it to reflect the least amount of light. This makes it a good choice for stage production.

Every Easter production is slightly different, although all are likely to require lighting, audio, and video. The choice of tape will vary depending upon the type of set up and individual preferences. Here are a few tips and suggestions for helping your Easter service run smoothly by choosing the right tape for your needs.

Start planning early

A great way to begin is to ask what worked and what didn't in your last production, according to Shaun Miller in Church Production Magazine. This applies to the type of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape you used. Did you have enough for what you needed? Did you have the right type of tape for each job?

For example, a gaffers tape like Pro Tapes Pro-Gaff Gaffers Tape is ideal for holding down wires and carpet, removes cleanly from most surfaces, and is available in a wide array of colors. Because it's very dependable, it’s used throughout the entertainment industry and is a good choice for large productions.

Map Your Lighting

Creating a visual for your stage production will help you better understand the types of lighting supplies and materials you'll need.

"If you are doing a dramatic production that will have different lighting requirements from a normal service, consider working up a lighting plot. A lighting plot is a drawing of your stage area along with each light and its location," suggests Mike Sessler at ChurchTechArts.org.

Setting the Stage

Keeping performers safe as they move on and off the stage is a priority. Shurtape P-661 Glow-In-The-Dark Gaffers Tape can be used to mark stairs and exits. It's hand tearable, so it's easy to use and quick to apply. An added benefit is that is photoluminescent after the tape is activated by an artificial or natural light source.

Plan Your Media Production

Video producers will also map out their camera angles and shots ahead of time. Once you've created your shot list, you can work out the path of wires and have a better understanding of what needs to be marked and what needs to be invisible. Commonly referred to as AV cord tape, JVCC J90 Low-Gloss Duct Tape is a good economical choice.

Budgeting For Your Needs

Once you've settled on the type of tape needed for your production, you can visit FindTape.com to order the right sizes and amounts. If you need help, contact us at questions@findtape.com, and we'll work with you to place your order.

GES Trend Tracker

Each year, GES, the global event marketing company, releases its Trend Tracker white paper, identifying 50 emerging trends in the trade show and event industry. The 2015 report was released in January, and it covers four areas: budgeting and planning, marketing, technology, and design.

This year, the report noted one very big overarching trend: Brand Experiences. Marketers are aiming to connect and engage attendees with their brands and with each other. As a result, GES says, "marketers will go 'all in' on experiential with bolder budgets, bolder strategies and bolder experiences that tie together creative, execution and data analysis."

High-tech, including gamification, drones, and next generation audio/visual, will also be front and center during 2015. In a post-report follow-up blog post, Paul Wedesky, the senior vice president of Audio Visual Services for GES, describes several additional audio visual trends for 2015.

Here are a few of our favorite insights both from the report and from Paul's post.

A Moveable Exhibit

Exhibit booths are being designed both to incorporate technology and to be re-purposed. According to GES, designers are being challenged by clients to create experiences that can be taken on the road after the event, to be used by the sales team. This includes not only product display elements such as digital catalogs, but also exhibit booths.

Helping your salesperson recreate this experience on the road is a lot easier if you have the right adhesive tape to tamp down wires and secure media equipment. We recommend packing a roll or two of JVCC GAFF30YD Gaffers Tape, an economical and popular general-purpose gaffer tape, along with the booth.

Open Floor Plans With More Media

With clients looking to create more inviting spaces, exhibit structures are becoming more open. At the same time, they're demanding interactive features, including more LED displays, touchscreens and tablets.

To keep wires under control and out of the way, but also have flexibility of movement, you can use JVCC Wire-Line Cable Cover Tape. The adhesive-free zone in the center of the tape allows for cable and wire to be easily pulled through, and no residue will be left behind on your cables.

An Artist's Space

More marketers are forging partnerships with artists, incorporating more creative and cultural elements into their events. For example, GES noted that "TD Bank commissioned artists to turn its storefronts into mini art galleries."

In case you're wondering, you can create some amazing artwork with adhesive tape. Check out some examples HERE. And to see a list of tapes used in the examples click HERE.

3D & 4K Monitors

More high-tech monitors are reaching the trade show floor in 2015, according to Paul Wedesky. He has noticed 3D and 4K monitors being using at medical and pharmaceutical trade shows to enhance the brand experience, and he believes that 3D eventually will become the norm.

For protecting and anchoring the monitors' electrical wires, we recommend Polyken 510 Premium Grade Gaffers Tape, which has a softer adhesive than most other gaffers tapes so it adheres better to carpets.

Projection Mapping

Another trend in audio visual Wedesky has noticed is an increase in projection mapping, in which special software is used to spatially map a design or scene onto an object, such as a building. The design usually fits the shape of the object.

When constructing your object, an ultra-high bond tape will help keep your structure together and stable. The 3M 4941 VHB Tape is a good multipurpose option, as it's ideal for use in many interior and exterior structural bonding applications. It's strong enough to replace rivets.

Low-Res Prototyping

As a way to test ideas and manage budget more effectively, event planners are creating prototypes of their space. "It allows decision makers to visualize the concept, and for changes to be made quickly without impacting the budget," GES says.

A good all-purpose duct tape will work for temporary structures. We recommend Polyken 2280 General-Purpose Duct Tape, which is often used for bonding and holding applications and bonds well to a wide variety of smooth and rough surfaces. It's easy to unwind and tear, so it's perfect for manual applications. The tape is also available in a variety of colors.

Electronic Brochure Kiosks

Printed product brochures have long fallen out of favor, but show attendees are still interested in receiving more information. Kiosks designed to deliver electronic brochures can be incorporated into the exhibit or as a standalone. Attendees can download only the material they want.

Robotics Technology

Creating and deploying a robotic attendee, as EventMobi did at IMEX, might be on every event planner's list now. If you plan to have your robotic ambassador travel the show floor, you can create a suspension system using double-sided sticky tape. By attaching the wheel servos using double-sided sticky tape such as Scapa S301, all four wheels will remain even on an uneven plane.

Finally, when you're packing up your exhibit, be sure to have plenty of Shurtape HP 500 on hand to seal your boxes. This tape is ideal for sealing cartons, and is recommended for overstuffed or underfilled boxes. It's perfect for trade shows, when you're likely to be re-packing older cartons or taping up bulky or odd-shaped materials.

There are a great number of people who engage in sports. This is good considering that a passive lifestyle could lead to a large number of health problems. However, one thing that is associated with sports is injuries, and you may need athletic tape. At one point or another you will find that since you have sustained an injury or one of your loved ones is injured. So, what exactly is athletic tape and why should you consider it?

Athletic tape is a form of bandage that has adhesive qualities. As such, it can be used for a myriad of things. If you have sustained an injury on your wrist or your ankle, the athletic tape can be used to keep the joint in place. It would be pertinent to keep the joint immobile so as to ensure it heals well and in the shortest time possible. Usually, this is done by bandaging the joint with a regular bandage then covering it up with athletic tape, which will hold the bandage in place. However, this colored athletic tape is not only used for injuries.

For people who play sports that require the use of a bat or some other prop, the tape can also come in quite handy. By having this tape around your palms or on the handle of a baseball bat, you increase the amount of grip that you have thus ensuring you can play your sport better. This makes it great for hockey sticks and other sports bats too.

Athletic tape will come in a variety of types. Your choice of this colored athletic tape depend on a variety of things. For instance, what you plan on using it for, the type of support that you want, the levels of comfort that you are seeking as well as the amount of time that you plan on wearing it.

The main difference between athletic tape is whether it is stretchy or non-elastic.

Stretch tape: this tape is generally used to apply pressure to injuries like a compression bandage and to provide support. It is typically coated with a rubber based adhesive which sticks well to surfaces or only to itself if it is a co-adhesive tape. It also allows for flexibility and range of motion.

Non-elastic tape: this tape is used as a pre-wrap before a sports activity. It is made of cotton and as the name suggests, it is not stretchy and provides a more firm support.

No matter what type of athletic tape you decide to use, you can find it at FindTape.com.

Inc. Magazine today ranked FindTape.com #1848 with three-year sales growth of 141% on its fifth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy - America’s independent entrepreneurs. Online retailer ideeli tops this year's list. FindTape.com joins Spirit Airlines, television maker Vizio, Honest Tea, Dunkin Donuts and Metrokane, makers of the Rabbit corkscrew, among other prominent brands featured on this year's list. In other sub-groupings we were #86 overall in the retail industry and #338 overall out of Internet companies. In the geographic sub-groupings we were #132 overall for companies based out of the NYC metro area and #57 overall in NJ.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000.

We've seen over the last several years incredibly creative work done with tape purchased from our web site. From hula hoops to art installations to window displays customers have used our tape in a myriad of ways. We just saw a new window display one recently posted online so we thought we'd showcase a few of these now.

Monika Grzymala's Distortions 2008 art installation in Vancouver, BC

POST 27 window display in Chicago, IL

Martha Stewart gift wrapping in Blueprint November/December 2007

Martha Stewart halloween decoration in Martha Stewart Living October 2008

We've recently launched a redesign of FindTape.com's home page and page navigational elements. In the top navigational there is now a 'Shop By Category' button which opens up to show an expanded category listing including the first few subcategories belonging to a category. Hopefully this will allow customers to see the full breadth of tapes carried on the site and also allow quicker access to the subcategory level on the site. In the bottom navigation we now show you images and provide links to your most recently viewed products. On the home page another larger keyword search tool is included in addition to the one shown along the top navigation. There is a promotional area on the home page which rotates items we think could be of interest. We also now show product thumbnails for our main categories in case you know what a specific type of tape looks like, but may not be sure what category it lives under. Once you browse it to the site we still provide a left-side navigation bar to allow you to switch between categories and subcategories. In addition a link is provided there to information regarding our partnership with Bongo International Parcel and Mail Forwarding which services our international customers where we do not ship direct. We hope these changes make the site more usable and we'd love to hear your feedback. Thank you.

The primary tape converter we work with has just opened a facility in Las Vegas, NV which they are just beginning to stock. Not only will this lower the shipping costs for orders shipping to the Western United States, but it will also reduce the time in transit to those locations. Also in our checkout process we now allow you to choose "pickup" as one of the shipping method choices. This means that if you're shipping to the general Las Vegas vicinity you can defray shipping costs by picking it up yourself (the facility is located next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 15 minutes north of the Strip). Also, items shipping out of Las Vegas via UPS Ground take just 1 day to arrive to the Southern California area including Los Angeles and San Diego. To see if your items can ship out of the Las Vegas warehouse, just add the items into your shopping cart and then enter in your destination zip code and click on the 'Calculate' shipping button. Beneath each line item in your cart it will then tell you the state it will be shipping from. Also if the product you are looking for is not available yet to ship out of Las Vegas just use the Contact Us Form to inquire about whether or not they'll be stocking that product in Las Vegas and the potential time frame.

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So my family is always making fun of me for insisting we use adhesive tape to solve every problem, so I decided to actually document what tape I've used over the last couple weeks to see how excessive I've really become.

1. I used some black Polyken 510 gaffers tape to hold the power cord in place on an air compressor. Comes off cleanly and doesn't dry out like rubber bands do.
2. Recently put in a new sliding glass door and it came with a molding piece which was to be put on as finish to the side of one of the doors. I assume it was meant to be glued on (the instructions didn't say), but I used some JVCC DC-UHB40FA-C ultra high bond double-sided tape to mount it (I also used some white gaffers tape to hold it in place while the adhesive bond was setting).
3. On a day-to-day basis the tape I probably use the most is Shurtape JLAR. My 3-year old son is always tearing or ripping something in one of his books and this is great for book repairs. I still have some old rolls left over from when Permacel still made the tape and what I love about it is that they crush-cut the rolls so you could just pull on a length of the tape to break it by hand (no scissors needed). Now that its made by Shurtape is razor-cut like most tape so you can't do that anymore, but hopefully my supply will last a while longer.
4. I've been using 3M EC100 super glue all week to fix ornaments like the purse on this snow-lady. One thing I really like about EC100 is that it doesn't seem to clog up and become unusable after you use it a couple of times like I've had happen with other super glues.
5. I've been using a lot of gaffers tape over the holiday season to hold down cords - here I've used some 4 inch white Scapa 225 gaff tape to cover a green extension cord on my front door. It's a bit wrinkled since I probably should have gotten some help putting it on (it's a little hard applying wider width gaffers and duct tape alone), but you should get the general idea.
6. 3M 109 double-sided poster tape is great for putting up your kid's artwork on walls since it easily removable. In this case I even used some to hold the 109 dispenser up to the wall so I could take the photo.
7. I'm a big fan of the JVCC GLW Glow-in-the-Dark tape and use it on electronics all around the house. I'm always a little surprised when I see reviews of glow tape say it's not very bright. It's definitely not a high-powered light source and wouldn't compare in intensity to say a flashlight, but to darkness-adjusted eye it works great to help you find a remote control in the middle of the night in order to turn off the TV you left on. I haven't mastered the art of photographing a glow product in darkness yet so this is just showing the product in daytime light - pretty boring.
8. Besides the Shurtape/Permacel JLAR, double-sided carpet tape is the other type of tape I used the most often probably. Here I've used some Polyken 105C to hold down the mat rug on a landing outside in the garage.
9. I was having an issue with some file drawers I had on some shelving downstairs. When you pulled the drawer completely out it would overhang the shelving and cause the back of the file drawer to pop up and the heavy drawer overhanging the shelving would then pull it off the shelf (not a very good storage system). I used some extra 2 x 4 pieces to brace the Vaultz File Drawers in place, but I first lined it with some JVCC FELT-06 felt tape to make sure it didn't dig in or scratch the drawers.
10. We just got in some of these Wooster Caution Non-Skid Cleats and figured they would work great on some outside steps I had in the garage. I was going to use the glow-in-the-dark cleats we got in from Wooster instead, but the area I used them on in the garage is pretty dark so I didn't think they would get enough light-activation to work properly. Figured the "Caution" cleats would actually be more visible.
11. To repair a big crack in my garbage can I used some JVCC 762-BD bi-directional filament tape as the first layer and then overlapped it with some wider width Polyken 231 military-grade duct tape. I should probably just call the trash pickup company to get a new receptacle, but this is way more fun.

So not too excessive - is it?

It’s always been easy to order multiple colors of a tape when ordering full cases, but very time consuming when ordering individual rolls. Now we’ve made it much faster. If you want to order single rolls of a tape in multiple colors or sizes, here’s what you do:

Let’s say you’re a hooper and you want to purchase single rolls of the 3/4" JVCC V-36P vinyl tape in all 17 colors it is offered in. Just add one of the items, in any desired color, to your cart. You’ll then see a pop-up window where you should click on "Continue Shopping". At that point all you need to do is change the color selection (the quantity will have already been saved) and click "Add to Cart" again. Do this until all of your desired colors have been placed in your cart.

The “Continue Shopping “ button avoids numerous clicks where you’d have to first get back to the JVCC V-36P product page before placing the new color in your shopping cart. I hope this simplifies the ordering process for those of you who are ordering single rolls of different colors or sizes of the same product.