An Ideal Personalized Present – Movie Gift Baskets

Finding the ideal gift can often be a difficult chore. If you find that you tend to run out of ideas for what to give your friends and loved ones, this article about movie gift baskets is for you. The baskets are ideal gift-giving solutions, and you’ll actually have fun preparing them. They are so versatile that they can be given for all occasions and you can personalize them to please and delight everyone you offer them to. After all, everyone derives pleasure from watching movies while eating their favorite snacks.

Movie gift baskets are perfect romantic Valentine’s Day gifts, for example. Prepare a basket containing your special girl’s favorite chocolate, popcorn and / or candy and one or two romantic movies you know she’ll enjoy. The Internet is a great place to look if you’re not sure which movies to buy. Your friend is bound to appreciate the thoughtfulness of personalized movie gift baskets, and you’ll spend a lovely evening together right at home. Don’t forget to stock up on your favorite drinks too.

These gifts don’t always have to be romantic. This is one gift idea that you can adapt to any occasion. Rather than mindlessly buying flowers for sick relatives or friends, show how much you care by offering them movie gift baskets. Simply fill up a basket with small snacks or fruit and add a couple of funny movies to raise the spirits of the ill person and help him / her to get better. Boredom often aggravates a bed-ridden person’s condition, and movie gift baskets are an excellent way to fill up the long hours and raise the spirits of any depressed patient. Making an effort to find out which kinds of movies the person prefers and including those in your basket will make it a memorable gift that will be even more appreciated.

Baskets containing candy, popcorn and a selection of scary movies are perfect to offer your friends on Halloween too. Christmas and Easter are other occasions when movie baskets can come to the rescue! There’s nothing easier than making a Christmas movie gift basket. Holiday season candies and great Christmas movies are available everywhere. Choose classic Christmas movies for older people and movies like ‘The polar Express’ for children. Gift baskets for Easter can contain things like colored jelly beans and bunny-shaped Easter chocolate, plus religious movies or any traditional entertainment movie you know our friends enjoy. As you can see, movie gift baskets are the ultimate personalized, fun to make presents for everyone, at any time!

In fact, you may find yourself making up your own special occasions just for the fun of preparing them. One idea, budget permitting, is an ‘Academy Awards Night’. Prepare gifts that contain popcorn flavors and one or more of the Academy Awards nominated movies. Another idea would be setting up a ‘Classic Movie Night’ where the baskets would hold some of your and your friends’ favorite old movies. You could even ask your friends to chip in and make these on a monthly basis, enjoying a movie night in your homes on rotating schedule. These baskets can also keep family members happy if you go on vacation to a place where television channels don’t offer much to see.

There’s really no limit to what you can add to movie gift baskets. Personalize them to suit both the occasion and the people who will be using them. In addition to popcorn and movies, you can include such things as movie guide booklets, plastic forks for greasy popcorn, paper napkins, nuts and lollipops; the list is endless.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Gourmet Cheese Gift Baskets Make the Perfect Present For Anyone Anywhere

Stop the presses and listen up! The perfect gift for just about anyone has been found. By sending a gourmet cheese gift basket for almost any occasion, you’ll be sending something that the recipient can really appreciate. Cheese is such a versatile food that it can be enjoyed equally for a birthday in the middle of summer or a Christmas present while the snow flies. Pair it with some tasty meat selections, crackers, and other items, and you’ve got a gift that will make you a hit with anyone. It’s a gift that’s equally appropriate for a co-worker, a relative, or a friend and will be welcomed any time, anywhere.

The sure thing about cheese is that it always tastes good, and when you send a gourmet basket of cheeses, you can rest assured that it will include only the best. Many baskets feature cheese from Wisconsin, America’s dairyland. You just can’t get much better than that. That is unless you add some great summer sausages to the mix providing the person you send it to with a picnic in a basket. As you well know, everyone has an urge to snack sometimes, and what could be nicer than having such a super snack available for just these times?

Do you know anyone that would fail to appreciate a basket of gourmet cheese? It’s one of those universal foods that everyone seems to love. Use a cheese basket as a corporate gift from your company to a client to show them how much you appreciate their business. Maybe you could send one to your child’s teacher to thank them for a great year at school. Or what about your great aunt out in Utah? She’s sure to enjoy receiving such a package of delightfully-wrapped meat and cheese. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to think of someone who would like to receive a gift like this from you.

You’ll never be stumped for what to buy again now that you know about gourmet cheese gift baskets. And by the way, they’re convenient to send, too. You can order from your computer and have them delivered directly to anyone’s door.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

A ‘Lean’ Supply Chain Presents Risks and Rewards

Ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland blankets Europe and closes major airports. In no time, the Boston flower market runs out of tulips, and factories in California shut down for lack of parts. Most people are aware of the supply chain (SC) only when a disruption of this sort brings it into the headlines, but SC professionals deal every day with suppliers, transportation providers, customs brokers, warehouses and schedules that keep the worlds of manufacturing and distribution running smoothly.

The supply chain has been called “logistics taken to a higher level.” It is the science (and the art) of scheduling and coordinating all of the resources that produce, store and transport goods and services throughout the world.

There are five primary activities defined by an industry group called the Supply Chain Council – plan, source, make, deliver and return. The supply chain extends from the mine to the landfill, meaning multiple levels from raw materials suppliers through components and assemblies on to products, distributors, warehouses, retailers to the end consumer.

For food products, it spans the range from the farmer, rancher or fisherman to the restaurant or dinner table. Plus, SC management is now concerned with return, re-use, recycling, reprocessing of recoverable materials and responsible disposal. Include traceability as demonstrated by the discovery of lead paint on toys manufactured in China (which specific toys, how they were distributed, and where they ended up), and you can see how complex and important supply chain management can be.

Modern SC management is based on cooperation and collaboration. Historically, buyers would often have an adversarial relationship with suppliers – aimed primarily at getting the best price for parts and materials. We now realize that price is not the most important factor in purchasing; the supplier must be able to make enough to be able to provide high quality products and reliable delivery, and to stay in business. The supply chain view of supplier relationships is focused on this bigger picture and is oriented to what is best for the entire chain, not any individual link in the chain. And that goal is delivering real value to the end customer.

Today’s supply chains are “lean,” meaning that great effort is made to speed up the flow of goods and reduce the amount of inventory needed to satisfy customer demand and operate efficiently. Lean supply chains depend on technology to provide visibility and control. Those bar code labels you see on most consumer goods are one of the technologies that allow companies to trace products and inventories to better manage production and replenishment. The checkout scanner logs the sale of that product, deducts from the inventory records at the store, and might even alert the factory or warehouse to make or ship more of the product so the store doesn’t run out. Radio Frequency ID tags, electronic stickers that can identify themselves from a modest distance, along with cellular communications and GPS location tracking allow modern supply chains to know where shipments are and whether they will arrive on time.

Lean processes contribute to keeping costs and prices down, but they also present more risk, since there is less slack in the chain. A disruption like the volcano or a strike at a component plant can quickly ripple down the chain and stop production or cause stock-outs at the store. Supply chain management is the science of dealing with all of these factors.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Reasons Why Plastic Cake Stands Are Perfect to Present Your Cakes

When you need to present a cake for showcasing to people, plastic cake stands can often be an inexpensive way of getting a stunning look without having to pay additional charges that come with other more expensive forms of cake stand (like crystal).

Plastic stands can be manufactured relatively inexpensively in an almost unlimited array of ways. The process of making one is normally to inject plastic resin into a machine so once a template has been made it is easy to reproduce.

Plastic cake stands are easy to wash and reuse. The material is easy to wipe down and keep clean so you can use plastic over and over.

These cake stands are lightweight and can often be split down into smaller sections when not in use. If storage is an issue then a plastic cake stand makes more sense.

You can often configure plastic stands into many different arrangements. Quite often you will find kits where the parts can be interchanged allowing you to create different styles to suit different situations such as a wedding.

You can choose plain legs or intricately designed carved legs to offer whatever look you are needing.

They also lend themselves well to pretty much every conceivable event they may ever be needed apart from the most extravagant set up.

So as you can see that plastic stands are a great solution all round really in the fact that they are an inexpensive solution, can be configured to suit the occasion, can be kept clean easily and stored easily as well.

Your next step is to start identifying the size of your cake and then going on to find the most appropriate stand for your needs. Consider whether or not a budget is important and level of complexity of the stand that you need.

You will find that a plastic stand will suit your needs more times than not

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Presenting Your Skills in a Job Interview

Your professional career will benefit from understanding you skills. Some skills can be seen in both a positive and negative light. A balance needs to be found when working in the work world and when presenting these skills in a job interview.

On its face being able to multitask is a positive skill. You can do more than one thing at a time. However, it can also be seen as someone who lacks focus on finishing something and flits from one thing to another. The best thing to work on is being able to prioritize each task in order of importance.

When someone says they have a strong work ethic they assume that everyone will see them as hard worker. Well, you can be a hard worker but an ineffectual one. Being at the office the longest does not mean you got the most done or at the best quality. Make sure you just don’t have limited time management ability.

Overtime hours can lead to tension and wanting to quit. Avoid them if you can. This will mean you will have to get your work done efficiently.

An overly “rosy” look at the world sounds great but it really is not realistic. Employers want to know you know what reality is and that big time challenges do happen. Everyone can relate to a realistic person better.

Bosses would rather have you be honest about when something is going to be done than be told a date that will only happen under the most ideal of circumstances.

Being your own cheerleader in the office and letting everyone know what you have done usually leads to harsh feelings with coworkers. You can let your boss know your contributions without making it a big deal that ends up hurting you in the end.

Follow these skill tips and they will help you in the working world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Presentation Skills – The Worst Audience

Have you ever been on an airplane seated in the window seat and have to get up to use the bathroom? You know what’s coming, you have to crawl over the people seated alongside you and you can just tell they aren’t too happy about it. (Particularly if they just dozed off.)

It can be a tense situation. So what can you do? How can you relieve the tension? By changing the perspective of the people you need to disturb.

This always seems to happen to me. So my solution? I lean over and say kindly, “Excuse me, I need to get out.” And before my neighbor can even react I follow it with, “Trust me, it’s better this way.” (hee hee)

The Worst Audience… ever!

I always find it fascinating to study any presentation as if it were a formal speech. You can learn a lot from this practice. Most of the elements are the same. And oftentimes I discover things I can use, or things I need to remember to avoid. When observing with a student-like mind, it’s always interesting what you’ll learn.

For example, have you ever really observed a flight attendant giving safety instructions?

You think you have tough audience, how about that gig?

Can you tell if a flight attendant is new?

When I flew recently to Singapore to give a talk and to work on creating this program, I discovered that on international flights the instructions are a little more detailed. They include a demonstration on how to use the life jacket.

When our flight attendant, Cindy, began it was obvious that most people were not even paying attention. In fact some were even sleeping. I’d had a jolt of cafĂ© mocha and was feeling a little hyper so I decided to have a little fun.

I was seated in 19F and proceeded to put an over zealous grin on my face. And I kept pointing to my smile with my two index fingers. I held that until she noticed. What do you think happened?

Instantly she came to life. She couldn’t help but smile. Wow! What a difference! The rest of her presentation was much more exciting.

What happened? I made her “present.” She came into the moment, and the presentation became much more real.

Afterwards when I asked her how she felt she said that she has given it so many times that she was just on “automatic pilot” (no pun intended). She was not even thinking, just going through the motions. This is the life or death stuff of any presentation.

Although this may seem like an extreme example, it is reality. We’ve all given presentations in this manner in some degree. We all have moments in our presentations when we tell a story, rather than “live” the story. Don’t fool yourself. If you drift off even for a moment the audience knows it. This is especially important if part of your goal is to make them laugh. That is why the preparation for being “in the moment” prior to going onstage is critical.

The world is a stage, and you are an audience member and/or performer more often than you think. Look for other examples of presentations around you. What can you learn from them?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Things You Need to Know For Making the Most Out of a Scorecard Presentation Template

Are you looking for a presentation driven BSC metrics template? Well, there are many useful things out there that can meet your needs and demands. Take the instance of internet based KPI Dashboard to manage KPI. Actually, the underlying value of your presentation will be determined by the quality and graveness of the info, the presenters’ delivery and communication skills as well as on the effectiveness of the visual aids used in the presentation.

There’s no doubt on the fact that the key indicator of a presentation’s effectiveness is recognized by the overall impact it lays on a business. Fortunately, it is also possible to make presentation of KPI using Excel. You got to download a high quality trial version of the presentation indicator. In the majority of the cases, presentation of balanced scoreboard can be easily distributed in Excel format. Prior to purchasing, it is good to download the trial version or sample edition of the balanced scorecard.

Some presentation version of balanced scorecard (the Excel versions) comes with some sort of dashboard interface which includes help info section and in-detailed explanations on balanced scorecards. Nevertheless, as far as the issue of scorecard presentation template is concerned, purchasing the complete version of presentation templates and indicators also remains among your options. Just when your order is processed you’ll be provided with a link for downloading Balanced Scorecard (or BSC) based Excel files. This typically includes files in BSC designer formats.

And some people find it useful using presentation scorecards online that come with standard BSC designer system. This types of solutions come with world-wide accessibility to scorecards no matter which web-browser your. It could be also worthwhile checking some standard balanced scorecard toolkits that comes with useful for scorecard designing. It is also download some Key Risk Indicator or KRI based toolkit for efficient risk management. Then again, it’s not hard to find other ingenious ideas regarding the use and application of scorecard presentation template or presentation KPI.

There’re a huge number of issues, which determine the failure or success of the above mentioned issues and activities. To deduce the results of the BSC presentation, some people use certain statistical tools for improving the gradual influence and progressions. Through a true quality presentation that communicates the value and inspiration of BSC, you can see how easily people understand the great power of the ‘specific’ as well as ‘countable’ metrics onto a common platform. As we mentioned before, such metrics generally are coined as KPIs (or Key Performance Indicators). In most of the instances, they are utilized in umpteen companies or sectors to improve their internal and external processes.

Generally, presentations as well belong to their respective domains. So the management can easily and appropriately watch the manner in which such processes go by classifying these indicators in a rather manageable amount of groups. And it is also important that the management makes regular visits to the BSC. Anyone can find success in scorecard presentation template if they keep in mind these issues. Still, it usually helps if you take some suggestions from some specialists.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Love and Being Present

I was reunited with the teachings of the most influential yoga teacher I have ever had; Rolf Gates.
Yup. Me. Yoga.

For those of you who know me, you know that yoga is a big part of my life. For those of you learning about me through these writings you might think, “yoga?”

Last night I received a mass mailing from Rolf about the comings and goings on his website, his blog, and where he’ll be teaching next. Unfortunately for me, Rolf does most of his teaching back on the Northeast, from where we moved two years ago. Fortunately for everyone, Rolf is still out there teaching.

After receiving this email I scrolled through the blog and was reminded of many of the things about Rolf that I hold so dear. One of the Rolf’s prinicipal ideals is how love is stronger than fear — a powerful yogic principal. And in reading Rolf’s blog I was reminded of another yogic prinicipal of being kind to yourself, and remembering to bring yourself back to the present without getting upset with yourself that you strayed from the present.

But what struck me most today was Rolf’s brief entry on “Love.” He goes on to write, ” I have looked into [my children's] eyes countless times. Their eyes are always filled with love for me[,] a love that I have not earned, they just shine their love on me because they know of no other way to be. Love is what we are born with.”

I took pause upon reading this, thinking about my own children and the guidance I want to give them, the forms of discipline that I use, and I thought “I’m doing a good job, but can I do better? What about leveraging that love?”

I hesitate, however, to use that word “leverage.” For me it has such negetive connotations, but seeing that it is so powerful, and children really are born with it, why not use it to everyone’s advantage?

I think about so many different ways of effectively socializing young children, and feel like we, as a society, do a really good job of squashing the effervescence, curiosity, and trust out of children. There are so many restrictions imposed on children today born out of fear of terrorism, fear of child predators, fear of fear. Pop culture, mainstream media, and some times our extended family, send messages that easily lead parents to over-protect children to a point that they are not allowed to be themselves, to be children, to shine brightly.

But reading Rolf brings me back to that notion that love can conquer all. Is this perspective naive? I guess that depends on your perspective. But if you follow yogic principals and remain connected with your Self, then you have no need to be paranoid about having naive notions of human potential.

It’s time for me to go give my kids a big hug.

Orgininally publishes at: bentspoon.net

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Christmas Presents For Men – The Magnificent Seven

With a ginormous galaxy of gifts to choose from why is it that, generally, Men end up with more of the same old, “been there -got that” Christmas presents? If its not socks and underwear, it’s power tools and car wax. Useful stuff.

Functional.Solid. Logical. But without any “sizzle!.” Hey – it’s Christmas for men too! Where’s the equivalent excitement of a boy’s talking/morphing into a car robot in a bar-b-que set? This Christmas, why not dig a little deeper into your fertile Imagination for the alpha male(or alpha wimp) in your life. They can grok irrational, non-functional and frivoulous too. So, give ‘em a chance. Think outside the box.Take a walk on the (Christmas)wild side!

You say he loves to cook, but he already has a bar-b-que? Well then, howsabout the Wustoff 18 piece gourmet knife set?(in it’s own block yet!) Each stainless steel blade carved and shaped to perfection by the best german lasers.(And you know how hard they work!) If he’s truly a “gourmet for all reasons”, watch him salivate when he unwraps the Frenchentree 24 speed food processor! The “launching pad” to authentic gourmet French cuisine. For the more contemplative male on your list, the Panasonic 42 inch HDTV, would certainly help accelerate his reveries. And, while he’s ruminating on thoughts esoteric, what could be more relaxing(and stimulating) than a nice glass of “the red.” Fully developed and bursting with flavor after passing through his Vinturi Deluxe Wine Aerator? And, if, perchance, “the red” should render him too relaxed(after all, ’tis the season!) – you can help him navigate safely back to the fridge with the Garmin Forerunner GPS. Worn on the wrist, and includes a heart rate monitor.Video games, as all the statistic confirm, are’nt just for kids. Why not rock his virtual world with the latest game rage – Aion -Tower of Eternity? On the other end of the scale, if you think he’s gaining little value from pursuing virtual aliens, why not ease him into some value producing eyeball/mind exercise with Kindle? (and if you’ve never heard of kindle – go back to your cave. This world is not for an alien like you!)

You’re getting my drift, are you not? In a word, the essential man pleasing element this, or any other Christmas, is Surprise! And there ain’t no surprise in underwear, socks and aftershave.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Just Be – Being In The Present

In my last article I was talking about how when I first started on a spiritual growth path, I would get so frustrated when my mentors would say “just be”! I would look at them with a blank expression, I had no idea what they meant! When we do get this, it is amazing! So learn how to “just be”!

What Does It Mean?

To “just Be” means to be still and quiet in the moment, being present, rather like meditation. There are many ways to achieve this, and there are many people who actually find this by accident while they have been day-dreaming!

Being present brings a feeling of great power and peace. You will be more creative, relaxed and at one with all there is. It is as if we discover a great connection to everything that before now has been under cover or hidden from us.

Everything seems to slow down, our mind is soft and accepting our breathing deep and slow and we feel almost tingling with life. There is a great feeling of joy like a big inner smile on your heart, everything is beautiful!

How To Get There!

We all find our own way and which suits us best, if it is a struggle then it is probably not the best method for you.

For me, the best way is to be outside with nature, preferably somewhere beautiful with trees and flowers, or a beach. We can close our eyes and just listen to sounds or we can focus on something. We are just learning to be, without distractions, without judgements, with nothing, just you and what is around you!

If you close your eyes, hear the sounds but don’t focus or think of them just hear them, try to keep your mind inactive just witness.

If you want to keep your eyes open, soften your focus and look at the tree or whatever you choose, a tree is a great subject as they have such great energy, you will see it as you never have before, you will become aware of the space around it, a fuzzy sort of space, an energy, the tree’s aura! I love looking at trees.

Indoors!

If you prefer to be indoors, practice listening to silence, Listening to silence is one of the easiest ways to become present.

Then there is the breathing technique, just close your eyes and focus only on your breathing, listen to it, feel it, breath in through your nose deeply and slowly right to the pit of your stomach and then breath out through your mouth very slowly, keep doing this until you are aware of your slowing down and then breath normally but stay focused!

If you like the breathing method there are many audio recordings that you can follow, and breathing properly heals on a very deep level!

New Fresh Eyes!

When you “come back” so to speak, everything will look different, brighter clearer, cleaner and your body will feel amazing, you will be full of new ideas, your mind creative and playful! You will not want to come out of it, but remember this is your place that you can visit anytime.

How To Measure Your Success?

If you feel light, peaceful and full of joy, then you have got it!

The more you practise the more you will achieve! This is where you find all your answers.

You will with practise be able to just step in there for a short while if you are looking for an answer to something or just needing that space for a while. But your life generally will be amazingly different, just watch it unfold as you get happier and happier and you learn that from this place you can create whatever you like!

“Just be”!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off