Friday, December 24, 2010

World's Best Cat Litter

World’s Best Cat Litter
For Immediate Release                          
Contact:
Sue Littlefield, World’s Best Cat Litter
603-978-4069
Rochester, NH –May, 23, 2010

The World’s Best Cat Litter is simply just that, and I would like to introduce everyone who has a cat to this wonderful product. What makes this product so great that GPC Pet Products would be so proud to share their new product to all of America? This planet friendly product made of corn helps prevent foul odors, clumps the quickest, scoops the easiest, last the longest and it is pet and people safe (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010).
The story goes like this, and before 1998 there was nothing out on the market like The World’s Best Cat Litter, and with scientific research it was perfected to be called “The Best” (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010). The product was developed by people who have a passion for our little fury friends, they wanted to promote a healthier and waste conscious product. Who would have thought the hidden ingredient in cat litter would be corn? This is because it has a naturally micro porous structure that helps to trap nasty ammonia odor in every clump, with no perfumes or scents (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010).       
The World’s Best Cat Litter clumps moisture on contact – with no seeping, sinking to the bottom or sticking to the sides of the box, and each compact clump locks in odor (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010). This cat litter is easy to scoop up, and it is even recommended to be flushed down the toilet as opposed to throwing it in the dumpster. One bag of The World’s Best Cat Litter will last 2 -3 times longer than other clumping brands, and a bag can last one cat a whole month (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010). When cleaning take out what is needed and replace with fresh no one needs to know which room the cat litter is in because there is no foul odor.
We love to keep our pets safe, and using corn is a great alternative to the other clumping brands that have harmful toxins inside them. It is safe for cats to lick their paws, and for them to dig in because corn is not a dangerous substance it is just corn. The corn is 100% biodegradable, and is produced from renewable whole corn and because it is flushable that helps save on landfill space (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010). Try this product and join the green movement, and remember that this helps keep pets safe from toxins found in other cat litter products.
To find The World’s Best Cat Litter, just go to one of the local pet shops or small mom and pop animal supply shops. The size range starts at 7lb, goes up to 34lb and the price can start as low as $7.99, and go up to $34.99 and it also depends on the number of cats one has. With more than one cat there is a multiple clumping formula that would be perfect for homes with many cats.
The World’s Best Cat Litter is produced by GPC Pet Products in Muscatine, Iowa and our company is committed to working on providing cat litter that is based on science and not sawdust (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010).  More about our company can be found online, but it is important to know that the company was founded by people who love animals and are committed to taking responsibility for their part in taking care of our planet.“That is why we're committed to giving to programs that further and enhance human-pet relationships, community viability and earth-friendly sustainable practices (World's Best Cat Litter, 2010).”

 Reference
World's Best Cat Litter. (2010, May 23). Retrieved from
      http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/about/         

Whitney Hits a Home Run - Press Release

Whitney Hits A Home Run
Whitney Mollica hits a home run when she married Matt Goldstein on July 17th 2010. The couple was married at the Andover Country Club on the very fragrant lawn surrounded by flowers under a trellis and hundreds of friends and family. Whitney and Matt held hands throughout the ceremony and looked into each other’s eyes with a look of undying love. Tears were flowing down the bride’s maid’s faces, but only a true friend could appreciate the moment the couple said, “I do”.  A warm wind was blowing and the guests were anxious to celebrate the couples union and photographers were everywhere capturing their special moments. Whitney wore a beautiful white gown that glimmered in the light off the fabric and made everyone wonder are those real diamonds? Real or not this was a special moment that the couple would never forget.

People wondered into the grand ball room to find their seat and one step inside all one could see was hundreds of table’s decorated with flowers, baseball bats and each table had a team name. It was exciting to see the level of detail that the mom of the bride Donna Mollica paid and each extra detail was touched with love to make this a perfect day. The tables were covered with white cloth and fancy glasses, plates and oh so many forks, spoons, and the centerpiece were made out of fresh cut flowers of pinks, blues, yellows and greens. Each table had two baseball bats made by Louisville Sluggers with the couples names and wedding date on them. Whitney’s grandfather Don Zimmer had special tribute because his picture was on a wine bottle, he wore a baseball helmet with 62 on it which is the amount of years he has been involved in baseball. Donna Mollica planned the wedding for over a year so that Whitney’s wedding day would be perfect, and it was exciting to see all the extra details she put into the set up of the table. Whitney and Matt met because of their love for sports and around the room it was evident to see that their love for sports was a blessing that brought them together.

The bride’s maid wore beautiful purple strapless gowns and the groom’s men had black suits with purple vests that matched the women’s dresses. Baseball is a huge love for both sides of the family, as the crowds cheered for the bride’s maids and groomsmen; the announcer that Matt had worked with gave out their stats about their school and height. As they came in some did a very theatrical stunt to show they were the coolest, one even jumped over the bride’s maids head and then they started to Jitter Bug. The Crowd went wild and next thing we knew the bride and groom entered and took center stage. The room was filled with family and friends and some people had to stand on chairs just to get a better view of the new Mrs. and Matt Goldstein.

Whitney’s and Matt’s friend hit the dance floor and a big crowd gathered in the center of the floor, and then up went Whitney and Matt in chairs over the heads of some very strong men. This tradition is called the Hora, and this dance brought so much excitement to the floor it was hard to believe that they were being bounced around on chairs. Their friends and family gathered around outside of them and danced holding hands and they moved very fast around the couple. Up went Matt’s parents in the chairs and then Whitney’s and the looks on their faces were a combination of shock and joy. Shock that people were lifting them above their heads and joy that they could share this special Jewish tradition with their daughter and new husband.

As the evening went on the guest were treated to a five course meal which included a fruit cup, salad of Field of Greens with Spiced Pecans, Gorgonzola, Warm Fig and Bacon Vinaigrette. For the Entrée a Sliced Sirloin of Beef with Au Jus Sauce was accompanied with Chicken Oscar which is a French Breast of Chicken topped with Herbed Vegetable Stuffing with Twice Baked Potato and Julienne Vegetables. Warm dinner rolls were also served and for desert the wedding cake had three flavors distributed out in the layers of the cake. The heart shaped Vanilla Ice Cream was served on a separate plate which was drizzled with Raspberry Coulis made the combination of both feel like a delightful treat even though it was served at 10:00 pm at night.

Throughout the dinner and the evening the band played and kept all of Whitney’s and Matt’s friends and family entertained to the early hours of the morning. The bar was free to all the guests and many enjoyed a few more beers than normal because it was on the house. People lined up to send a special message to the new couple via an ESPN TV camera and that is something that the couple can laugh at after they return from their cruise on the Mediterranean. The couple will be able to enjoy their start to their new life together away from the family so they can start working on their kids. Because we all know how important family is to both the Mollica’s and the Goldstein’s, and Matt’s brother’s gave heartfelt toasts at the reception that no one will forget.



Reference:
Mollica, D. (2010, July 19).
The Menu and Press Release
 Jewish Wedding Dance. (2010 , July 19). Retrieved from
   http://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Jewish_Wedding_Dance






Cold Stone Creamery

Open House
Cold Stone Creamery
June 15th
Cold Stone Creamery Store, Portsmouth, NH
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Bring Your Appetites
Ice Cream is Free!
Try Our New Cakes and Nonfat Flavors
Bring Your Friends and Family To The Taste Testing Event Of The Century!

Bring Your Coupon
Visit Our New Store
Portsmouth, NH
Present This Coupon When You Make Your Purchase and Receive a 35% Discount on Your Purchase Bring a Friend Receive 50% off


Stone Cold Creamery
Ice Cream Developer Needed


Wanted: Talented Culinary School Student

Job Description: Develop New Flavors of Ice Cream; Create a More Nutritional Line of Product, Abide by the Company’s Goal of Excellent Customer Service, and Be Able to Work with Our Team of Development Scientists.

Send Resume to catcrazy72@hotmail.com





Cold Stone Creamery
Ice Cream is something we all love, but where is the best place to get it? Everybody follow me to the Cold Stone Creamery; enjoy the hundreds of flavors, specialty cakes that are made by a Granite Stone which is used for blending ice cream. The stone is used because of its even non-porous surface and its ability to remain at a constant five degrees Fahrenheit (Cold Stone Creamery, 2010). Come and try our waffle bowl cone, our new line of Healthy Indulgence which has specialty non-fat flavors, and do not forget that we have some tasty cakes that will sure become a family favorite. There are other companies out there that we do compete with, they have their own gimmicks and target markets, but our company is tried and true, and we do not need gimmicks. The answer is simple with creative marketing, special store events, free ice cream, coupons, and job opportunities for students, a great product and excellent customer service will set the bar high.
Did you know that Ben and Jerry’s are now owned by a London based conglomerate called Unilever? How did a company that was started in 1978 in Vermont by two hippies get sold to a company based in the United Kingdom (Wolf, 2010)? According to an article about the shift in owners, “Ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's, once known for its counter-cultural roots, was one of the first to sell up to a corporation, when it was bought for pounds 175m by the consumer goods group Unilever in 2000 (Tryhorm, Sweeny, 2009). Now it is important to acknowledge that Ben & Jerry are still running the business, they just do not own it which gives them time to focus their attention on being activists. Now it is good to know about the competition, but how many consumers really know that the power has changed hands to a company in the United Kingdom? The two men have worked very hard, and their goal is by the end of 2013 to have all their ingredients meet the Fair Trade rules. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else (Hickman, 2010).
American people want American made products, because some consider the act of using people in other countries to do the same work is considered off shoring. This means that people in other countries will be paid less to do the same work that any blue collar American could be doing, but big corporations tend to want to save money by doing this (Cameron, Wilcox, Reber, Shin 2010, p. 376). Ben and Jerry should be given kudos for trying to make smart decisions, and using the Fair Trade labor system to protect workers in other countries, but should American Products be owned by Americans? Where are they really getting their products from, and how far are they being shipped away from so that Americans can enjoy this tasty treat? No one really knows expect for the purchasing agent who works for Unilever. Continue on with the good work fellas, but what is going to be the reaction of consumers when they find out their beloved ice cream company has sold out?
Cold Stone Creamery make’s their ice cream fresh daily, and the first store opened when Don and Sue Sutherland came up with an idea that would change their lives forever. Cold Stone Creamery now has hundreds of flavors to choose from, and with a little creative marketing their customers fall in love with their product without feeling they are getting a sales pitch. Grocery stores place marketers in the store with their samples, and after trying a sample then sometimes the pressure is on to buy the product. That is not the case here because people can go online to the Cold Stone Creamery, see a menu of special treats, and they can plan on what they order. Samples flow freely at the Cold Stone Creamery and a person can try as many flavors as they want before making a decision. The portions are big enough to share with a friend or two and the waffle cone bowls make serving easier for everybody.
Have you ever been to an ice cream shop and thought when was this place last cleaned? Sometimes people will turn right around and walk out the door if the atmosphere or the workers seem kind of strange, and who knows where their hands have been before being placed on your ice cream? Creative marketing means having a place where all are welcome, where the music is not too loud or disruptive, where people smile and sing just because it is fun.  Even though different age groups can be targeted by researchers to analyze the target market, we do not need a bunch of facts and figures to tell us that everybody loves ice cream no matter what their age is. Old people used to be young and eating ice cream helps them quench their sweet tooth and feel like a kid again.
Special store events are exciting for both the company, and the customers that will be coming through the front door to experience the Cold Stone Creamery hospitality. The staff is excited about being a part of a special event, because they can show pride in their job and feel camaraderie with their co-workers. Special events bring excitement to the customers, because once word gets out that there is going to be free ice cream for all that attend an open house, the line will be waiting out the door. With an open house it is important to plan for more people than expected because having enough supplies is important. As well as having enough staff for an event, because being understaffed my take a little of the fun out of the event, but with a good leader they can motivate the team to pull a little extra weight. Having a special event means figuring out whom to invite, what time the event is, what level of client is being focused on for this event, and what kind of return will come back to the company?
Coupons are a great way to advertise to large masses of clients, and having a coupon that a customer can print on-line is a great way to save on posting an ad in the newspaper. People feel like they are getting a discount when they use coupons, and it is a great marketing trick to get the person in the store, they feel that they should use the coupon because they have it. According to Don Packard of Frankel & Co, he predicted back in March of 1993, that coupons would play a big contributing factor on where a consumer will shop. In an interview with Howard Schlossberg, he told the following about how coupons affect consumer behavior. Coupons are helping to drive their decisions. "Because it's money," said Packard. "Consumers see it as money. It's a reward for using the product. It's a reward for being loyal. Consumers see it as a reward for their patronage. They don't over think it. It's become ingrained in them. Consumers really like brands that reward them with an incentive. Consumers like all kinds of promotion incentives and think favorably of the brands that give them to them (Schlossberg, 1993). So nothing has really changed since this interview took place, it has only multiplied and taken on a life of its own mostly because of the different media sources there are available.
Looking for a job with a great company? Then look no further because Cold Stone Creamery has committed to the concept and has embraced the following qualities, do the right thing, be the best be #1, bring out the best in our people, profit by making people happy, and win as a team (Cold Stone Creamery, 2010). Many people, who work for the company enjoys singing, write their own songs, and when looking to get hired at Cold Stone Creamery it is called an audition, and not an interview. Students who want to break into the business because of culinary interests are encouraged to apply to the company, and there are many opportunities for growth.  A job may include a description that would welcome any student to the company, and promoting jobs like development specialist, flavors nutritional specialist, team advisor and lead flavoring tester would interest the public. Going to the website will introduce anyone who is thinking about joining the Cold Stone Team, whether it is at the corporate or in store level, it is a good resource to use before applying.
Cold Stone Creamery provides a superior product, if you go to order an ice cream and ask for a ‘Like It’, ‘Love It’, or a ‘Gotta Have It’, nobody is going to look at you like you just stepped off the moon. When ordering the ‘Like It’ this is the smallest at 5 oz, ‘Love It’ is a medium at 8 oz, and ‘Gotta Have It’, is the largest at an incredible 12 oz, and we all know that is a lot of ice cream (Cold Stone Creamery, 2010). The following is a taste tempting description of what a Cold Stone Creation is, “A smooth and creamy ice cream treat that combines super-premium ice cream with a variety of fruit, nuts, chocolate and other goodies customized for each customer, creating a mouthwatering dessert (Cold Stone Creamery, 2010).” With all this level of sweetness and a variety of creative names, the company gives ice cream lovers some advice for making a more nutritious decision when indulging in your favorite flavor.
Here are a few calorie conscious tips for enjoying your next visit to Cold Stone Creamery:
  • Choose Sinless Sweet Cream in your favorite Creation to reduce the ice cream calorie count by 57% with zero grams of fat.
  • Swap out the regular ice cream in the Like it Oh Fudge Shake with the Sinless Sweet Cream for a treat that has 61% fewer calories and contains 97% less fat.
  • Choose fruit mix-ins instead of candies. Swapping blueberries for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups will eliminate 180 calories. (Cold Stone Creamery, 2010).
To find more secrets about how to count calories, and survive a visit to the Cold Stone Creamery follow these tips, and always ask the crew member who is working if there are any other new tricks they could share. Our company is always coming up with new health considerations, and finding alternatives that still taste good is a part of the project of our development team.
Excellent customer service is what is expected and not something that is deserved on a customer per customer basis. When a crew member signs on with the company they know what the company standards are, and so it is no surprise that people who want to succeed will like their job. When someone is interested in working for Cold Stone Creamery they will need to audition for the position than rather call it an interview. For young people, who want to work in an ice cream shop as their first job, audition sounds far more exciting, and it does not sound so much like, “I have to get a job”, it is more like “I have to win this audition”. The company is a great place, and young people will get to learn how to work as a team, how to commit to a schedule, have enough money to buy things, and have a little independence from mom and dad.
When deciding how to market to ice cream lovers consider the basic idea that everyone loves ice cream, and having different marketing campaigns targeted for different markets is very important. For example, inviting the public into Cold Stone Creamery with Open House events, and whenever there are large groups of people who share the same passion a sense of camaraderie is built amongst strangers. Free ice cream is always a good thing, and people will not believe at first that a company can be so generous, but it is good will that will bring in more customers after the event is over. Giving away ice cream will help the company bring in new and return business, and will bring a smile to almost any families face, unless they have fussy kids. People love coupons, and just the fact that they have a coupon for a product they love makes them feel like “Since I have this gift, that I should use it.” That is why direct mail works so well, because people will go someplace and make a purchase based on getting something in their mailbox. Having a great product and excellent customer service is crucial to any business, and when people eat ice cream they want to be someplace that is fun. Creative marketing is the key to Cold Stone Creamery’s success, and making the first impression when a customer walk’s through the door can happen as quickly as less than 30 seconds. So make the most of those 30 seconds and remember to smile!

 
Reference:
Cameron, G.T., Wilcox, D.L., Reber, B.H., & Shin, J.H. (2008). Public Relations Today.
Boston, Ma: Pearson Education Inc.
Cold Stone Creamery. (2010, June 6). Retrieved from
 http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/about/about_cold_stone.html
Hickman, M. (2010, February 27). How to stop the builder cowboys ripping you off.  The
Schlossberg, H. (1993). Coupons likely to remain popular. Marketing News, 27(7), doi:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=625188&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQ T=309&VName=PQD St Like It - approximately 5 oz. 
Sweeny.M, Tryhorn C., (2009, April 7). Financial: marketing: smoothie operators tread
familiar path to big business deal: like other niche brands, innocent must convince customers it hasn't sold out. The Guardian, London UK, 25. L http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1674721851&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Wolf, A. (2010, May 19). Ben and Jerry's founders urge CEO’s to do good.
McClatchy - Tribune Business News, Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=2036158701&Fmt=3&clientId=74379&RQT=309&VName=PQD





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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Health and Wellness

 Identify the topic for your formal report. Explain how this topic could address a problem or situation in your organization. Who would be the audience for this report? What benefits might they receive from the research and report?

How do I introduce alternative health and wellness at work?  That is the big question for me because for the last four years of my life I have seen a huge transformation take place and I am at a point where I feel that I want to share what I have learned. People go to the doctor and have a 15 minute appointment and a prescription is written for the patient with little knowledge of who that person is, what they have experienced in the past, or how they feel and think about themselves. Some people go to a doctor and explain what their symptom is and when someone goes to a traditional MD the doctor will work on treating that symptom, but with energy work practitioners the person will get treated on a holistic basis.

When visiting an energy work practitioner you may feel a little nervous, but that is normal because you are trying something new and usually people get recommended by a friend or some people who are very sick will seek something other than the traditional route. When seeking out an energy work practitioner you will most likely come into an office where you feel a sense of peace, calm and open mindedness that usually is not found in traditional medical practice. The first thing that will happen is that an intake will take place and depending on what type of practitioner you are seeing the intake could last more than an hour. These special practitioners care about the person who they are meeting with and want to know what is happening to this person and their feelings, thoughts and questions are opened up for both and notes will be made because each session will build off of each other.

Many people ask themselves how do I achieve balance in my life when I am stressed out and overwhelmed with what is happening in my life right now? People assume that they have to accept what is going on in their lives or their bodies because it is normal for them and if it is normal why should it change? In doing years of energy work with several different practitioners I have learned how to work through the old stuff and make room for new energy and I have dropped old patterns and behaviors off the top of the cliff.  

That is just a little background information because this may be new to some of you and it is a good idea to start off with the basics and energy work practitioners will help their practice member learn how to build new strategies to help them heal themselves. This is a huge idea because most people think that they need to have whatever hurts taken out and removed, but little does that person know that the pain could go away by dealing with what happened in the past. Our bodies remember our past experiences even if they happened when we were little, our bodies remembers how we felt, what we thought about what happened and those memories can become “stuck” in our bodies and show up as pain later.

My goal is to introduce to my co-workers and hopefully do a little marketing for my friends businesses while spreading interest in health and wellness. I started to think what would I be like if I did not know what I have learned from energy work? Would I feel disconnected and unbalanced? Some people are walking around at work in a haze because of all the stress that is happening to them in their daily lives, job loss is huge, money stress for some never ends and dealing with family and other responsibilities on top of that can really send a person off balance.

            While researching online I found so many great articles, and for me my issue is going to be narrowing my topic because my goal is to be an introduction to energy work not some mass movement to change the way my co-workers think. In my search for a really inspiring quote or two I found a health care practitioner who was speaking to business leaders, and advising them on health and wellness and how to introduce it among other different mind-body and soul modalities to their employees. It was nice to see someone from the alternative healthcare field advising company owners and top management that there are other ways to become more productive other than working late nights and long hours.

In Ryan Diener’s article Renew Connection to Ourself –Making a Commitment to Self Care he asks business leaders, “Is efficiency not the hallmark of any good business? Too often, I have seen business leaders break down in the face of rising work hours and increased stress. Working efficiently means maintaining a healthy level of balance, which is often easier, said than done. We all know that we can maintain a healthy level of balance by following the three cardinal rules of health – eat well, exercise and get enough sleep?" (Diener, 2010). Just think what an influence this acupuncturist who is the co-founder of Holistic Health Associates can have on powerful business leaders and the positive effect it will have on those who follow his advice.

My next goal is to introduce research to Human Resources and show them what results I got from the survey and explain to them the benefits that have been proven by other companies who have started a health and wellness program. There is so much information on the web about the benefits that people can receive from doing energy work and three of those things are a sense of balance to their life, better productivity, less time away from work and lower cost for claims than the cost of traditional medicine, energy work is effective and not very expensive, and heals the person from head to toe and does not focus on just on the symptom.

Employer’s health care costs and productivity losses are related to employee lifestyle choices (Desmond, 2009). I found a great article that gave me this surprising information and I believe that if people were more aware of their options that they would choose the less expensive route and take the holistic approach to healing instead. Instead of spending money on insurance for unhealthy lifestyle habits for employees after starting a wellness program the money would be put to better use for education of alternative health and hiring more people instead of cutting jobs to save money.

I think there is still much to learn and I am excited to jump into this topic.

Desmond, S. (2009, August 7). Using wellness programs to reduce health care costs. Retrieved from  http://hrhero.com/hl/articles/2009/08/07/using-wellness-programs-to-reduce-health-care-costs/

Diener, R. (2010, November 1). Renewing connection to. ourselves—making a. commitment to self care . Retrieved from http://www.hhamd.com/pdf/ryan_self_care.pdf



Communication Types

Evaluate and summarize how you might use the following forms of communications: emails, memos, formal reports, white papers, and presentations.
Emails: I love to use emails more than phones because I can send an email and respond to one even if I am busy or too tired to make a call. Sometimes when I receive an email from my family I would rather shoot them a response back because it is quicker, plus my dad likes a few minutes on the phone and then he is done and onto the next thing. When an email is sent there is a record and I usually file important messages about projects for my cycling club because sometimes the things we talk about continue on and need future attention. It is easiest to reach me by email and my phone spent the night in my lunch bag in the freezer, it still worked, but I never noticed it missing because I have emails to communicate with people.
Memos: When I worked at a call center whenever they handed out memos I would look at the message and then use the paper for taking notes on the customers issues, they mostly sent messages out to us through the computer because our office was so huge. Sometimes, my manager would have special memos made up for our team and it was easy to communicate with my team which consisted of about 30 members. Memos can be a waste of paper, because I think a message can easily be remembered and saved by sending an email or using an update in the knowledge base, which anyone can refer back to.
Formal Reports: I have never done a formal report before, but I think it is an important way to communicate with upper management about a concern or issue that someone has. I am sure that my last company I temped at used formal reports to communicate with each other and the government because the contract is up for bid, and they want to continue and get the contract for next year. I know they have made several proposals stating that since they already hold the contract that it makes sense to renew the contract and continue on with the same excellent service.
White Papers: Are almost like formal reports, but the focus here is on educating the reader about whatever you are trying to promote for example: a sales pitch or an idea for a big company. I bet people who are scientists, analysts, and consultants use this type of approach when they want to educate and show that they can outshine their competition.  
Presentations: I like when I go to a meeting and there is a slide show and a couple of weeks ago they has a detailed slideshow and the speaker followed an agenda. It was funny because throughout the meeting they made jokes and showed some pictures of when the managers were dressed up in their Halloween costumes and when they were little kids. It was a great way to give out a lot of information about open season enrollment and the possibility of losing or having to go through the process of securing the contract. They thought of everything and had pizza and drinks for us and it did not seem like the meeting lasted for an hour, but that was about the length of time they allotted and someone kept track with their watch and gave little reminders to move it along.



Bad News

The holidays that we will pay you for are Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Fourth of July but unfortunately not the day after Thanksgiving although you will have that day off it will not be a paid day for you.
This was in an email that I received from the temp service because I was told by the company I temped for that we would have the day off after Thanksgiving but because it was not going to be paid that I would lose out on pay that day. By explaining to me that we have many days that the company considers as paid time and putting it first it did not seem as much as a letdown just more like another day off.
Sometimes people rely on email so much that the message could come off the wrong way and I believe that if you send a bad news email it would be a good idea to follow up with that person face-to-face. If someone was giving an update that sales figures where down then the person could also end with that note that even though sales are down that we have an opportunity with each customer that comes in to provide excellent service. When I worked in retail during the winter it was a slow time but if you had the one customer who wanted to shop and not have to bother shopping for months than you knew the potential for a sale was good. Many times emails are sent from district managers to cheer up and keep hopes up that things will get better and a good manager will be able to encourage their staff that things will get better.
Nobody likes to receive bad news but if you do it with an uplifting and positive manner than people will know that the news is bad but they can take a proactive approach to try to change the situation. Our book, tells us to end on a positive note, “Close your document with a positive statement…whatever you write do not bring the bad news up again” (Roebuck, 2006, p.89).

I hate listening to someone whine and complain that one person could bring a team down if people listen to him or her long enough, who needs someone with a sour disposition? When bad news is shared people may want to talk about it instead of moving on or trying to come up with a solution to the problem.
Roebuck, D. B. (2006). Improving business communication skills.  Upper Saddle River, N.J.:

            Pearson/Prentice Hall.


Attention Getter

Attention:
One way to grab someone’s attention is to come up with a quick one line sentence that will make that person stop and look at the message that you are sending. Our book talks about when a reader is “hooked” they will then continue to read past the first line and “with an attention getting statement, you capture your readers’ attention” (Roebuck, 2006, p. 103).
The first line of your cover letter or resume has to hook your reader so they will continue to read if you lose the readers interest too soon it will go on the pile of I will read it later… It is just as important to choose a font and a color that will be easy for your reader because sometimes people want to use fancy fonts in their signature that is very hard to read and is annoying to the reader.
When you read a good book what is the first thing that you look at? The title or the picture on the cover or do you flip to the back of the book and read what the story is about. I do all three and I find my favorite author’s website so I will be able to make a list of what other books she has written.
Interest:
How do I maintain someone’s interest? I make sure what I write makes sense to both myself and the reader and this is where I “introduce my main selling point by stating a benefit, filling a need, or showing distinct advantage” (Roebuck, 2006, p. 104). People want to read something that is exciting, short, to the point and if there is a common interest than that person is more likely to feel more interested in reading the memo or cover letter. If I am writing a memo for cyclists in my club or an article for my clubs publication called Pedal Talk, people already have an interest in cycling and they know my style of writing is upbeat so they will want to read what I have to say. No matter what the topic is I can draw any reader to what I want to say because I do not sound snooty or use words that will make me appear to be arrogant. Confidence and arrogance are two separate things wouldn’t you agree?
Desire:
What makes the reader want to continue reading my memo or cover letter? What is in it for them, what service can I provide, will I be the better candidate, did something catch their eye with the layout of the memo? Desire takes them to the next step which is action.
Action:
Action is the goal of the memo or my cover letter. Contact information is given in this section and if it is a memo the information could pertain to an event, meeting or an appointment, it is a special reminder of something that person needs to do and depending on how the memo is sent that person can hold on to it to refer back to. For a cover letter the action can be the information that is given for the employer to contact that person and sometimes the applicant will put in a date that they will follow up with the potential employer.
Roebuck, D. B. (2006). Improving business communication skills.  Upper Saddle River,
            N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.


Private Information

When I worked at Long Term Care Partners, who have a government contract and are administrators for federal benefits and as part of our training we had to take many online training modules and pass a test at the end. There are so many strict rules that we as a company have to follow in order to protect our customer’s personal information and limited information can be given through an email. It is important to follow the rules with someone’s identity and to protect each customer that we have strict rules that we need to follow when communicating with them. Whether it is over the phone or by email we must be aware of what our limitations are and today I helped a gentlemen who is stationed in Iraq learn what his options are for helping him solve the problem he had. Since he is in Iraq and probably does not have a lot of time to spend communicating with us I sent him a certificate of permission that he could send our office that gives his wife permission to speak on his behalf. If she called up without this authorization in his file then we would have to insist that he gets in touch with us or fill out the form.
I am on the email team so we are the first point of contact for people who are surfing the website called Benefeds and we are only allowed to advise them on what to do. We use templates that are already made up and we answer everything and anything that has to do with any type of insurance even if the question does not apply to dental and vision we come up with something. We cannot go in and make any changes to their information that person has to call up to update us of any changes that cannot be done over the computer. Sometimes people lock themselves out and contact us and think we will just go in and unlock their account because they asked us to do it. We must ask them to call us and let them know that the customer service reps. will be able to answer their questions in more detail.
We have to follow the Hippa Privacy Act and there are different levels on fines depending on what laws have been broken, in our training class I learned that if a breach affects more than 500 people of any particular state, notice must also be provided to the media (Benefeds Training, 2010). Health and Human Services will also have to be notified as well and we have a privacy officer who will determine if an incident is an actual privacy breech and whether individuals, HHS or the media must be contacted (Benefeds Training, 2010). The officer has to figure out three things: Was it innocent access? Was it innocent internal disclosure? Is retention of the information is possible?
We must be ethical with how we handle someone’s personal information but if someone is not honest they may steal information from that person about their medical records, where they live, banking information, anything you can think of we have access to and an example of unethical communication would be using a person’s personal information for their own means. We are trained in security safety and many of my co-workers have worked at another call center and we had a contract with the government to do customer service for passport information. So most of us are used to having a high level of security and people would get spoken to if we did not follow the strict rules and usually the first time is just a warning.
Because the information that I learned was from a training session I just realized that I cannot cite the source I used to locate the information I shared because I would be breaking the rules of my contract. Some of you may work for a federal agency or have heard of Benefeds before and I wish you luck if you need to change your rate plans during open season.


Communication is Important

Identify how you can use the communications process to ensure effective communications. What technologies are currently used to enhance the effectiveness of communications today? What causes miscommunications?
How do I insure I have effective communication with the people I encounter and work with? I pay attention and listen to what they have to say. Even if I disagree with what someone say’s I still will hear them out and listen with an objective ear. There are so many communications types that the book has talked about this week which include verbal, non-verbal, using technology to communicate with each other and written work that we submit to a boss or a co-worker.
Interpersonal communication is important and working with many different types of people means for me to see what their communication style is and work from there to decide how I want to interact with them. I really enjoyed reading in chapter one about personality differences because I want to learn how to deal with people better who might be on the little annoying side or the opposite of me. I like to speak up for myself and ask questions but this is not the case with some of my new co-workers. I like to ask questions about how I can do the job better and sometimes I have had to ask questions that the whole team was afraid to ask. Using email is a great way to communicate with a boss or a supervisor without drawing attention to yourself or the situation.
Miscommunication can come from so many different directions I feel that sometimes people perceive that there is a problem when there really is not one and when they interact with someone that person will be responding as if there was really a problem. Miscommunication also takes place when someone does not accept responsibility for what they have done and makes it appear that they were not involved or it was someone else’s fault. These types of issues can really kinder a relationship or cause unneeded confusion or aggravation to you and your co-workers. People need to learn to own their own mistakes and learn from it and not do it again, but some people do not realize their communication patterns that they have when they interact with people at work.
We have so many ways that we can communicate with each other and sometimes I wonder with all these different hand held devices there are that do we forget how to communicate with each other face to face? How many times have you noticed someone check out and you have lost their attention? I think we have a shorter attention span and want to be quicker and we assume that we will have a quicker response time. How many times have you caught a co-worker texting, responding to an email, receiving a phone call and they either stay in their seat and talk or they walk away from their desk? I feel that people become disconnected from each other with all of this technology that surrounds us every day.
I love to use email and at work I am on an email team and throughout my day I am copying and pasting templates onto an email and then I send it out to the customer. Sometimes in an email the person may feel like the response they are getting is confusing or impersonal so that means my role of the sender means breaking down the information and cutting and pasting certain sections of templates and not the whole thing. People may feel overwhelmed with too much information using and by using a heading followed by the information helps to break up a very long email.
I think the most popular ways that people communicate where I work is by email, I have seen people have face to face meetings and I think that people feel that both are equally important. I am on the low tech end, but I know a lot of people have hand held technology and can use phones with flip screens which hold the same amount of information a regular computer can. Typical ways to communicate information to a group is by using web conferences, team meetings with slide shows, sending emails using a distribution list so that only certain groups are the receivers.
Just out of curiosity what are your favorite types of technology that you regularly use to communicate with the people in your life? I have a cell phone, but only use it once and awhile and one morning I noticed that when I pulled out my lunch bag from the freezer that my phone was tucked into one of the pockets. Yes, it still worked and the point is I really did not miss it too much because my communication is mostly done on the internet and if I did not have a computer I would feel lost. What about you is there something that you use that you can give up for just a day or two and be fine?


Health and Wellness

Abstract
A health and wellness program is a great way to promote the importance of maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle and your employees and company will benefit greatly in more ways than one. It is important to reduce stress for everyone and having the right tools and education explaining about what options are out there besides traditional medicine will help empower that person to make improvements in their lives through a wellness program. The more aware people are of the different types of care that is available to them will help reduce the company’s overall dollar amount that is spent in health insurance benefits cost and claims.

Health and Wellness

Introduction:
Health and wellness is an important part of everyone’s life and an unhealthy lifestyle can lead to costs to both the person and the company they work for and which can be greatly reduced by starting a health and wellness program at this company. What I propose to do is introduce to this company information through workshops, handouts and using the practitioner’s websites to the wonderful world of non-traditional holistic healing and health awareness.

Body:
Through research it has been found that employee health related costs can be greatly reduced for the company and that employee can learn about how to maintain all aspects of their lives through good health, fitness, by reducing stress, and all of these factors will help the employee feel a sense of balance. Through informational workshops with these practitioners each person can decide for themselves what level of interest that they have for participating in this type of health and wellness program. The tools will be presented to each employee and that will empower those who want to get involved in changing their lifestyles and there will be significant changes that will directly improve their productivity at work.
Supporting Evidence:
“From a macro perspective, the business case for wellness stems from two main variables: employee health and well-being, and organizational culture. These two spheres of influence are highly integrated, mutually dependent and significantly impact the success of an organization from both an employee and fiscal standpoint. A wellness strategy that acts to prevent future employee illness and is linked to the business objectives of an organization can unequivocally result in health benefits cost containment, a more productive workforce and ultimately competitive advantage (Abdelnour, 2010).”
Explanation:
Health and wellness directly effects productivity, absence rate and costs spent in medical claims for the company. Due to a sedentary lifestyle many people become very overweight and have developed unhealthy eating patterns due to less time spent preparing a healthy meal and some eat fast or prepared foods that are very unhealthy.
Diabetes and Tobacco are very deadly and costly to the employee and the employer.
        * $1000-$15,000 in care for each diabetic individual
        * $3,396 is the estimated annual cost of employee that smokes
        * $9,920 is the average per employee cost of depression to the workplac
        * $3 billion = the estimated cost of absenteeism due to work overload (Abdelnour, 2010)
All of these facts can make most employers want to step back and take a look at the hidden costs of having employees who have serious health concerns or unhealthy lifestyles. One cannot walk up to someone at work and say, “You are very unhealthy, and we must start you on a program right away,” because that would be very hurtful to that person and they would feel like they are being singled out of the crowd.
Supporting Evidence:
 Using alternative medicine is very different from mainstream traditional medicine, many people assume that the only way to solve a health issue is to go to a doctor and that they will be able to take away their pain and in reality that cannot happen. That doctor will listen to the patient for about 15 minutes and take a pad of prescription paper and write something down that will treat the symptom.
 People need to learn and be able to have the tools to protect themselves from terrible health conditions that can be curtailed with the help of health practitioners in a variety of fields. People need to be educated on what is available such as acupuncture, health and fitness consultation, and energy work can return someone’s energy back to a balanced state instead of in the mode of just surviving.
 Acupuncture:
What is community acupuncture? People who decide to choose acupuncture in a group setting can have many treatments a week because the cost is as low as $15 per visit. Because more than one person is getting treated at one time it means two things, first it lowers the cost of the treatment for all because some individual sessions can run $65- $100 or maybe more in a private setting. Second, with energy work people can have the experience of “feeling the room” because not only are they having their own session and the energies from other people in the room help strengthen the experience.
“Acupuncture helps the mind and body achieve and maintain balance through a mechanism we call "Qi," or our body's natural energy. Acupuncture not only treats the symptoms that arise, but the root of the problem as well. Each person is treated specifically and individually based on what they are experiencing (Pendergast, 2010).”
Health and Fitness:
Going to a personal trainer will help people learn how to eat, exercise and maintain a balanced diet, and according to Tami Provost, It means we teach you how to take top-notch care of your body, and you, in turn, take what you have learned and pass it on to others. We want to empower generations of people to start the journey of a lifetime – a lifetime of being fit, happy, and soulful (Provost, 2010).”
Tami teaches people how to take care of themselves and she uses her own personal weight loss history to help people learn that they can overcome anything, and that includes an unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. Having a personal trainer means people help themselves to learn, grow, become fit and realize that they have the potential to set weight and exercise goals and achieve them.
Energy Work:
Some people have heard or read about people who have had powerful transformation in their lives because they have visited a Shaman or someone who is an energetic healer, but because it seems almost unattainable or unreal that person decides that it must have been a onetime deal. When information and testimonials are heard then the situation becomes more believable, but people are unsure of where they can seek this type of healing in their area, with Joy’s work she can do everything over the phone so there is no reason to travel.
Chakras are energy centers within the body which extend into the aura (the energy field of the body). These centers are responsible for the person’s physical, mental, and spiritual well being. When one or more of the chakras is blocked, not fully developed, or wide open, it will result in an imbalance that is manifested in all areas of life, including disease of the physical body (Costanza, 2010).”
Network Chiropractic Care:
Network Spinal Analysis was developed by Donald Epstein and many traditional chiropractors have found this to be the best and most transforming type of care that anyone can receive because it is not your normal snap, crackle and pop technique because gateways are developed and healing is done through energy work. Three things that can be learned by visiting the website http://wellspringdover.com are:
“Greater self-awareness, greater expression of the human spirit, and conscious awakening of the relationships between body, mind, and emotion are realized through this unique healing work (Ayer, 2010).”
“A University of California Irvine study of 2,818 people receiving Network Care worldwide, demonstrates Network Care is associated with profound improvements in health and wellness (Ayer, 2010).”
“Network Care is the combined practice of Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) and Somato Respiratory Integration (SRI).  Through NSA, people develop two healing waves associated with profound improvements in health and wellness (Ayer, 2010).” 
How Can This Benefit the Employee?
With the combination of these types of health and wellness practitioners a person can feel a new sense of self, be able to come up with new strategies for life’s unexpected occurrences, the person who receives any of the types of care listed in this report will be a more productive worker and will be a role model for others around them. Healing can take place on a natural level and this would reduce costs greatly for the company, because they are treating the person as a whole, using energy work or health and fitness suggestions rather than having an invasive surgery or taking medicines that have strange side effects. These practitioners are experts in their fields and will help a person heal and grow with love, support, and acceptance not with ridicule or condemnation. These practitioners do not place labels on people that will make them feel less than whole, because that is what some medical doctors have done in the past for no good reason expect that is what they know and taught.

Conclusion:
Using alternative medicine and promoting a health and wellness program at this company will help change the lives of everyone who works here. People will feel a positive energy around them and that will entice them to become healthier and aware of what they can do to overcome an unhealthy lifestyle. With the research that I have conducted I feel that this company will benefit with an introduction to health and wellness and given the different types of healing people will have their choice of practitioner that they would like to see. Sometimes people are unaware of the variety and types of healing that can occur for something that they would typically see a medical doctor for or even consider surgery as their only option. When people have a resource to go to when they become sick or stressed out that is the first step in realizing that they can change what is going on an in a non-invasive way. This company will see a change in attendance which will drop, see more productive employees, will see and feel that their employees are happy and balanced, and finally the company will also see a huge drop in the costs that they have to spend on medical claims for people who lead an unhealthy lifestyle. It is a win-win situation for everyone and what a great role model that would allow this company to be for others in our industry.

References
Abdelnour, S. (2010, Novemeber 8). Worksite health promotion and organization culture: investing in success. Retrieved from http://www.buffettandcompany.com/news/supporting_the_business_case_may09.html

Ayer, D. (2010, Novemeber 8). Nsa + sri = network care. Retrieved from http://wellspringdover.com/network-care/network-care

Costanza, J. (2010, Novemeber 8). Chakra balancing and healing. Retrieved from http://joycostanza.com/services/healing-work/chakra-balancing-and-healing/

Pendergast, E. (2010, Novemeber 8). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.portsmouthacupuncture.org/faqs.html

Provost, T. (2010, Novemeber 8). Fit on the fly. Retrieved from http://www.fitonthefly.net/aboutus.html