Hi Everyone,
Let everyone know what’s going on – Add your event to our blog. We’ve created pages for our customers to post their event based on the type of event. Check it out – Post your event.
(You can also find the link at the top of this page)
January 7, 2009
Hi Everyone,
Let everyone know what’s going on – Add your event to our blog. We’ve created pages for our customers to post their event based on the type of event. Check it out – Post your event.
(You can also find the link at the top of this page)
February 2, 2009
Hodges Badge wants to hear your story!
Every month we will choose a story you send in to be posted on our blog.
Have you won an award made by Hodges? (To find out if its a Hodges Badge Company award just turn it over, our name will be on the back.) Send in your story and tell us about it. We want to know it all – how, where, when and what it really means to you!
Do you have an inspirational story of a recent Hodges award recipient? Share it and inspire other.
These stories are why we love what we do!
July 13, 2009
We are once again running a contest for next years Equestrian Catalog cover. We had some great entries last year and hope that the trend continues. If you want to take a look at last year’s winners for idea as to what we think makes a good cover follow this link: www.hodgesbadge.com.

2008 Winners
To enter, submit by mail a color photograph attached to an official entry form. The official rules are on the form. You can enter as many times as you’d like but each entry has to be accompanied by an entry form.
Check out these great awards:
Hurry! Entries must be postmarked on or before October 1, 2009!
July 2, 2009
This fall we should be launching our new website with the help of DMInsite for web design and Adobe’s Scene 7 rich media platform. Great change is coming and it’s something we hope that all our customers will appreciate.
The website we have currently was first built over 7 years ago and has evolved rather slowly over those 7 years into what you see today. During these 7 years a great deal has changed on the internet.
The following figure from Internet World Stats is a table showing the number of internet users in the United States over the past 8 years.
|
YEAR |
Population |
Users |
% Pop. |
Usage Source |
|
2000 |
281,421,906 |
124,000,000 |
44.1 % |
|
|
2001 |
285,317,559 |
142,823,008 |
50.0 % |
|
|
2002 |
288,368,698 |
167,196,688 |
58.0 % |
|
|
2003 |
290,809,777 |
172,250,000 |
59.2 % |
|
|
2004 |
293,271,500 |
201,661,159 |
68.8 % |
|
|
2005 |
299,093,237 |
203,824,428 |
68.1 % |
|
|
2007 |
301,967,681 |
212,080,135 |
70.2 % |
|
|
2008 |
303,824,646 |
220,141,969 |
72.5 % |
As you can see; the internet usage in the US has just about doubled over the past 8 years. Since our switch to Verndale in 2002 the site has had one real face-lift that only changed the look of the site and didn’t really affect the underlying capabilities of it – this was four years ago. We hope that with this new website we can make it easier for you to get what you want in a much improved manner.
In 2008 alone our website brought 10.51% more visits than 2007 and generated 1.66 million pageviews. These numbers are nothing compared to Amazon or Google but if you look at how far we have come; the first year that we had analytics running on our website it had 90,000 visits but in the past 6 months of 2009 we have had almost 70,000 visits. With an increase this big in visitors it’s definitely time for a change, we realize that it isn’t the easiest thing to purchase off our website and we hope to improve customer experience come this fall.
Along with the new website we will be rolling out a personalization system for some of our most popular products which we hope will not only give you a way to preview your product before you get it, and at the same time reduce any discrepancies between what you want and what you get.
For a little bit of nostalgia and to take a peek at what our website looked like many years ago you should check out the “Wayback Machine”, specifically here. You can even see what our website looked like when it first launched way back in 1997.
Having a new website not only makes the job easier for the web team here at Hodges but it improves the experience you have when you buy something off our website.
We are looking for customer feedback; what sort of things would you like to see on the new website, and what sort of things could we change to make purchasing your awards on www.hodgesbadge.com an easier task for you? Put your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section, we would love to hear them.
June 29, 2009
Happy 4th of JulyHodges Badge will be closed July 3rd so our employees can enjoy a long weekend and spend the holiday with friends and family.
Stay Safe!
June 12, 2009
Hodges Badge Company takes pride in selling Quality items. Your satisfaction is important to us and we want your awards to embody the hard work and dedication the recipients put into achieving them.
Every catalog we also strive to include new quality products to offer you more choices. These new products are researched extensively before being added to the catalog to ensure they can meet your needs.
Unfortunately, as with life there are sometimes some unforeseen problems. This has been the circumstance with the Resin Horse Trophies displayed in the 2009 Equestrian Catalog and on the Hodges website.
We were so excited to include this beautiful selection of trophies, however after several customers complaints of unsatisfactory awards , Hodges has decided to discontinue this line immediately.
If you have any questions about this or need suggestions on another trophy selection, please do not hesitate to contact customer service.
1-800-556-2440
June 10, 2009

After several years of research, Hodges has decided that it it time to move ahead with a project that will not only generate 100% of our power using the wind but be a great step to help the environment. We looked into a large number of options in wind turbines and selected one that is about 190′ tall. It’s small in comparison to two other turbines that have been built locally: the Portsmouth High School wind turbine (336′ ) and the Portsmouth Abbey wind turbine (240′).
We invited all of our neighbors to an open house on May 14th to hear our plans. It was important to address any concerns that they might have. To our surprise and gratitude everyone in attendance seemed to have a good response.
Although construction of the turbine would be at least a year away we are still excited at the prospect. In it’s lifetime (25+ years) the turbine will reduce CO2 emission by 10,000 tons and return at least 30 times the energy requried to manufacture it. That’s pretty substantial.
For more information on wind turbines go to The Wind Energy Association website.
June 2, 2009
The Potter League Heart & Sole Walk is just around the corner – June 7th and it’s not to late to participate. The walk has been held for the past 20 years to raise money for the shelter. Yes you read that correctly 20 years!
Melissa Leary-Brown and Meghan Lewis are the Co-Leaders for the “Strut your Mutts” Hodges Badge Company team!
This walk provides a chance to get with some friends (and your pets) and have fun, while at the same time helping many animals in need. It focuses on raising money to provide care to over 1800 homeless animals through out the year.
But it’s not just a walk. There is other activities too. Check out the schedule>>
All are welcome to participate and again it’s not too late to register!
May 29, 2009
Companies can claim that they care about their staff and say that they’re what makes up the heart of the company but it’s another thing to show it and be rewarded for it.
On May 28th, Hodges Badge was presented with an award for Outstanding Worksite Health. We were one of only 88 Rhode Island companies presented with this award from the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
This award recognized the effort Hodges has taken to promote worksite wellness, either through written materials, seminars, lectures or a demonstrated commitment to education through committee development and policy change.
May 20, 2009
Every once in a while Hodges will come across a great article or blog that we think our customers will find interesting. This a great blog by Stacey Kimmel-Smith to help equestrian enthusiasts answer the question: Can you afford to show this year?
Check it out.
She also has some great resources at the bottom to learn more.
May 12, 2009
Have you heard of Riding for Reading? It’s a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting reading, literacty and education through equestrian activities. Hodges Badge Company is a proud sponsor.
Check out their site >> Riding 4 Reading
Pin Oak Charity Horse Show actually held the inaugural Riding for Reading class for 2009 Read more about it >>
May 11, 2009
Do you need ribbon rolls? We’ve got a great deal for you.
Any time until July 31st you can buy one roll of custom ribbon, whether it be traditional custom printed rolls or custom multicolor ribbon rolls and you get $10 off any additional rolls on that same order.
That means on one order you can have several different custom rolls, with different print, colors and logos and combine them for a quantity discount! You’ll only pay full price for the first roll on your order – the rest will be reduced by $10 each.
Call 1-800-556-2440 for more details or to place your order!