[elonwer]

Day One at NBA Jam Session –
by Elon Werner

Checked in with the Upper Deck crew and was amazed with how cool their redemption cards looked. PR guru Don Williams handed me off to Michael Jue, the card designer, who walked me through the design process for this redemption card.

Michael Jue Wrote:I designed the redemption cards last year but these cards were my favorite to design. Giving them the playing card feel with the ornamental design as well as the rounded corners makes them unique. I also incorporated the player’s initials, jersey number, and even a basketball into the border design. collectors might have to take two or three looks at the cards to find them.

Traffic at the Upper Deck booth has been steady Williams reported and overall the initial feel from hosting the event in Las Vegas has been very positive.

Williams was quick to point out that even though Las Vegas as an adult reputation that hasn’t stopped the event from being very kid friendly.

Don Williams Wrote:We have seen a number of moms with their daughters which is a little unusual. Normally we get a lot of dads with kids or moms with sons but I think we are definitely making some inroads to all kids with our Kids Rewards program.

Since its inception in April of 2006 the Kids Rewards program has received over 20 million registrations with 150,000 new kids enrolled in the program.

Each redemption card has a Kids Reward ID number as well as some great All-Star stats on each player.

The Upper Deck guys were also excited to show off a late addition to the redemption program. They added and 11th card right before the Jam Session. You can see a glimpse of the card here but look for a full photo in the next issue of Beckett Basketball.