Deluxers Life

I expect you know that volunteer work is a great way to strengthen community bonds as well as assisting people in need. The obvious problem is that arranging to be free to volunteer often actually consumes time that could be put to better use. Obviously, if you volunteer as part of a group effort with colleagues, it’s likely to be far more fun. Companies like Adaptive Marketing LLC, a Connecticut-based firm whose programs, like Leisure Exclusives (MVQ*LSUREXCLUSIVE), bring value to customers, are stepping up to become the organizing points for volunteer activities and helping employees find the time to help. Luckily, company-supported volunteer work is more than once-a-year charitable giving. The employees of Adaptive Marketing have been given the opportunity to take part in community initiatives. For events like these, the locations, dates and times that had been arranged were published well in advance, making sure that staff members knew what to expect, and how much time it might take precisely. Making sure volunteers have their say in which drives the company supports is essential. Businesses involved in this like Adaptive Marketing, the developers of the program Leisure Exclusives (MVQ*LSUREXCLUSIVE), present their staffers with a diverse list of local programs. Volunteers may find themselves getting involved in arts, helping out children, green initiatives et cetera. A happy volunteer is an effective volunteer, so through offering so many programs Adaptive Marketing guarantee that their staff members will make progress on as many as possible. A regularly scheduled day or a single big event – these are the usual ways for a business to arrange this kind of volunteer initiative, possibly at a local school or the homeless shelter in town. So if you’ve only got enough time to burn to assist at the public library’s used book sale or a Saturday morning spent litter picking in the park, there’s still a chance to help.

Using their expertise to help the community around them is a practice with a long history at many commercial enterprises. Adaptive Marketing like many other firms maintains volunteer initiatives in part to generate goodwill within its home community by the actions of its members of staff. The fact is, the benefits of helping others include a sense of generosity and accomplishment – an upbeat feeling that leaves not just the staffer but the whole business in a better mood. Creating the opportunity to help employees become volunteers may actually be its own reward.

Nametags are worn for a variety of jobs and functions, but people don’t like to wear them because they’re annoying, damage your clothing, clash with your outfit, and eliminate anonymity.

Picture this: you see someone’s nametag and decide to strike up a conversation with them:

“Nice to meet you Jimmy, my name is Gary.”

Conversations like these don’t go anywhere because there’s nothing to say once your have introduced yourself.

“So…uh…Jimmy…what brings you to this networking meeting?”

But what if…

What if there was something other than your name to write on your nametag? There is certainly enough room on your three inch by four inch plastic tag to add another word or two! The following is a list of nine creative things to write on your nametag that will empower more interesting and engaging conversations.

Hometown
Casinos popularized this tactic years ago to include cities/countries of origin on nametags to create connections between dealers and gamblers. However, any setting in which nametags are worn will engage people to discuss where they grew up. Not only does the nametag promote a conversation about someone’s hometown (which shows a genuine interest in that person and appeals to their self-interests), but the self-disclosure reciprocates and expedites the encounter toward a more detailed interaction.

Position
Networking meetings, conventions, jobs or other business gatherings require nametags to identify people with their company or department. But an overlooked addition to your nametag in a business setting is to write what you do, not just your position. Instead of “Oscar Meyer,” write “I sell hot dogs to Walmart.” I promise everyone at the meeting will come up and say hello! Who knows, maybe they’ll want to do business with the person whose nametag made them smile!

Pet Peeve
Picture this: you sit down to a table and notice the nametag of the person next to you: “HELLO, my name is Theresaknuckle cracking drives me crazy.” Everyone has a pet peeve, and everyone likes to talk (rant) about it! So next time you go to a casual meeting or event, write your pet peeve underneath your name. You will be certain to have some interesting conversations with this one!

Food
No matter how boring people can get, you can always talk about food to spice up the conversation. Include such phrases as “Cereal works for any meal,” “Kiwi is the best fruit,” and “George likes his chicken spicy.” It will automatically open someone else up. They will usually smile and ask about your particular food selection. After you answer, you can follow up and inquire about their favorite foods as well. This is great for parties and small group meetings.

Nickname
Most people have some sort of nickname they have been called at some point in their lives. The best thing about nicknames is that there’s always a story behind them. As you discover these fascinating stories, you develop trust, levity and create a friendly bond between two people. After all, if you saw a nametag that said, “Laszlo the King”, wouldn’t you want to find out the story behind it?

Activities
Write down your favorite sport, pastime or interest. Not only does this allow you to discuss something about which you are passionate, but someone else is bound to enjoy the same activities! Who knows, perhaps you will meet your next teammate or book club member!

Quotation
Write your favorite quotation or bible verse on your nametag. This is a brilliant method to encourage conversations beyond the small talk level. Many people have some one-liner, old saying, proverb or verse by which they live their livesso why shouldn’t we share them? Wisdom like this is meant to be passed on to other people!

Number
Get creative and add a number to your nametag. Simply write a number in the bottom corner of your nametag that signifies something. For example, write the number of children you have, miles traveled to the event, number of speeding tickets received, amount of pizza you have eaten in one night, anything! But no matter what the number signifies, people will find out why it’s there.

Entertainment
Include the title of your favorite book, album, movie or magazine on your nametag. Because we learn from every connection you make, this addition to your nametag will be a great opportunity to tell people about some of your favorite things. What’s more, everyone has seen one movie, read one book or eaten at one restaurant you haven’t–so use your nametag to spark some future experiences!

REMEMBER:

© 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, “The World’s Foremost Expert on Nametags” and the author of HELLO my name is Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators – one conversation at a time. For more information contact Front Porch Productions at http://www.hellomynameisscott.com.

The spirit of brotherhood that develops among volunteers can tie their community together more closely, and of course it will fulfill the volunteers’ goal of assisting those who can’t support themselves. The obvious problem is that arranging to be free to volunteer is liable to to squander very time that could be put to better use. In reaction, some socially-conscious companies are creating organizing points to help their employees give back to the community. A leader in this field is Adaptive Marketing LLC of Connecticut who also offer shopping programs like Your Savings Club (MVQ*CLUBSAVE). If you think about company-supported charitable effort, you probably think of giving blood, maybe a Christmas call for donations, but that’s simply no longer true. Shoe recycling initiatives and more active work like tree replanting days – these are just some of the activities that have been organized by Adaptive Marketing for its employees. By centralizing the organization individual initiatives became larger programs, with specific locations, times and dates publicized ahead of time to make time management easy for volunteers. It’s hardly volunteering if there’s no opportunity to select activities, naturally. At Adaptive Marketing, the firm bringing you Your Savings Club (MVQ*CLUBSAVE), staff are given the chance to choose from a wide assortment of volunteer activities. These may include encouraging green initiatives and more. Adaptive Marketing’s staff members have so much to choose from that they’re sure to find something they enjoy, making their time enjoyable as well as useful. A one-off event or a regular addition to their schedule – this is how a company tends to organize this kind of volunteer initiative, possibly at a nearby homeless shelter or the local school. Members of staff may well say they have no time to give, though it would be surprising if they truly can’t find the hours to help at one instalment of a long-term project.

It’s common practice for firms to assist the people living around their premises. Adaptive Marketing maintains volunteer initiatives to support the people of its home town and to generate goodwill within its home community through its staffers activities. The simple fact is, one of the benefits of volunteer work is the certainty that you’ve done something good – an upbeat feeling that leaves not just the staffer but the whole company in a better mood. Promoting volunteering among your staff members becomes its own reward.

When Henry Kravis and George Roberts founded Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the seventies with support from the First Chicago Corporation, the firm’s specialty was in highly leveraged transactions. But they have established a unique enterprise which concentrates not alone on profitability, but also on the environmental impact of the companies they acquire. When Henry Kravis from KKR and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together last year environmental matters in the business world became major discussion topic. Significant environmental matters like hazardous chemicals and intemperate consumption of water resources rank high on their list of objectives.

Eco-efficiency (the phrase was first coined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD) is the methodology employed to achieve these objectives, employing policies like reducing the intensity of materials, improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance and reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals. Even though the project was an enormous success, no-one recognized how significant the effects were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, reviewed the first year’s profits. Beating all expectations, Ken saw that this program not only raised environmental awareness, but was also increasing the the net profit from each business organization as well. Up to now, KKR and Ken Mehlman have almost each and every company in their portfolio actively involved in eco-efficiency. And, with a current portfolio estimated at eighty six billion dollars, you may be certain this wasn’t a simple feat.

KKR and the EDF in association with Ken Mehlman are further extending the original program. To illustrate, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co linked up with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program which teaches interns studying for an MBA how to introduce financially strong, ecologically friendly practices.

KKR and Ken Mehlman have taken the time to formulate a variety of analytic tools and other applicable systems which will be able to measure and manipulate resources. With this information available, companies can assess each of their daily activities and discover precisely how any issues may be resolved while simultaneously allowing staff to discover their impact on the environment. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to reduce their ecological impact. In conclusion, the work of these organizations has made green business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their revolutionary ideas are setting a new standard in today’s world.

Most truly distinguished CEOs are keen on being constructive community members and this gentleman is no exception. You have probably heard of Mr. Naveen Jain the co-founder & CEO of Intelius, Inc. the predictive intelligence market leader. In addition to making the Forbes 400 Richest in America list in 2000, this successful entrepreneur has won various notable awards, most notably the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award, to list merely only three. But that is certainly not the end of the story. Because Naveen Jain and his relatives are equally as enthusiastic about philanthropy and will seek to help out as frequently as they are able to. The young of today are our best source of optimism or the future. Naveen Jain also regards young people as constituting the very focal point of his endeavors and he takes advantage of any chance he happens to come across to help them. This obviously, is the primary reason why he is always diligently taking advantage of every possibility he can to offer support whenever it is even remotely feasible. Therefore Naveen Jain, his family and the workers at Intelius are devoting plenty of time to philanthropical associations such as the Overlake Service League, Child Rights and You (CRY), and United Way. As you would expect, they offer plenty of pecuniary assistance but most importantly, they commit plenty of time and care to the children who need it the most. Moreover, Naveen Jain gives aid to the Children’s Hospital, dedicated to restoring children’s health, as well.

Because Jain is a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it’s not at all astonishing that schooling constitutes a critical focus in his charitable activities. This encompasses deserving causes and charitable foundations local, state, and nationwide. Therefore Intelius and its CEO are supporting aid agencies and charitable agencies,like, for example the University Preparatory Academy, the Rotary Club and Hopelink. Feeding the world’s famished is an additional essential task to Jain and his family and to him, it makes not one jot of difference. Although he is aware that the project of getting sustenance for all the world’s starving is a phenomenal one, he is also cognizant that the unattainable can indeed be realized assuming that everyone endeavors towards a united end. If this CEO obtains his objectives, the final curtain will definitely come down on famine and squalor in the world one day.

One may easily be pardoned for reckoning that functioning as the head of a highly successful market leading business on top of being a devoted spouse and father would allow him no surplus room for altruism and aiding his fellow men. But Naveen Jain ensures that all of his benevolent enterprises is given all the aid he can plausibly muster. This earnestly idealistic businessman is undoubtedly more than just a business captain. He is, beyond that, also an absolutely extraordinary individual and a genuine hero of his community.

You’ll very probably have seen Mr. Naveen Jain as the co-founder and CEO of Intelius, Inc. the leading company providing background checks and public records services. On top of making the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” in 2000, this enterprising entrepreneur has gained a variety of choice awards, most notably the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, the WSA Industry Achievement Award, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. But that is positively not where it ends. That’s because Jain and his relations are equally as passionate about their charitable works and will undertake to give aid wherever possible.

The young of today are indisputably mankind’s paramount aspiration or the future. This enterprising man views and treats children as an essential focus of his philanthropy projects and he takes advantage of any occasion available to support them. This, obviously, is why he is intensely using every possibility available to him to assist them, whenever even remotely practicable. Consequently, Naveen Jain, his family and his staff at Intelius, Inc. devote good-sized amounts of time to charities such as Child Rights and You (CRY), the Rotary Club, and TreeHouse. They will offer plenty of monetary support but most importantly, they pledge their time and effort to the most deprived and danger prone children. Mr. Jain also gives aid to the Children’s Hospital, being dedicated to improving children’s health, too. With Jain being a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it comes as no surprise that formal training has been assigned a very important priority in his philanthropic outlook. This includes movements and charitable foundations local, state, and nationwide. Hence Intelius and its head are actively funding charitable entities and establishments such as the University Preparatory Academy, the University of Washington and the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club. Getting sustenance over to the malnourished of the planet is another great objective for Jain and those around him and it makes no difference in the least to him whether it is a baby in the Sahel or Africa, or an elderly woman from Mumbai or Peru needing support. Although he is conscious that the mission of obtaining food for all the planet’s hungry is an eminently colossal one, he also knows that the irresolvable can truly become attainable when everybody works in concert. If this CEO really achieves his goals, there will be a decisive conclusion to hardship and starvation everywhere in the future. One may well believe that functioning as the head of a spectacularly flourishing market leading company and a committed spouse and father as well would leave practically no resources for donating and support. All the same, he sees to it that every one of his philanthropic endeavors is given as much assistance as he can possibly contribute. To wrap it up, this high spirited man is undeniably much more than a mere (though eminently successful) maverick of Internet commerce. He is, moreover, also marvelous individual and a veritable champion of his community.