If you are looking to build morale within your own company consider looking toward your employees for inspiration. A local company out of Seattle called Noetix is doing just that. Noetix has taken life size images of the people that work there and created an employee wall of fame. Photos where taken at a company event and posted on one of the hallways at the company. Now when employees arrive, they are reminded how important they are to the company each and every day.
Thanksgiving Dinner From Someone Else's Kitchen Tastes Just As Good
Fabulous home-cooked feasts are a traditional part of Thanksgiving. They can also be a lot of work and a lot of stress. If you'd rather devote your energy to quality time with friends and family, dining out on Thanksgiving Day is a perfectly fine alternative. Since this has become a popular option, reservations are usually required. These resources will help you find out which Puget Sound area restaurants will be serving dinner on Thanksgiving.
Open Table - this online restaurant reservation services has a special section devoted to restaurants that are open on Thanksgiving
The Seattle Times - lists menu items, restaurant hours, and price range
CitySearch Seattle - in addition to listing open restaurants, this site lists Thanksgiving catering and takeout options
Gayot.com - this restaurant review web site provides a list of Thanksgiving dining options as well as links for reservations
Local Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner...
0/8 Seafood Grill & Twisted Cork Wine Bar Bellevue, WA Chef Dan is offering a Thanksgiving buffet of traditional fare as well as fresh local seafood. Cost: $38.95/adult, $16.95/child 5-12, free for children under 5 w/ an adult Time: Noon to 7 p.m. Reservations highly recommended
Andaluca Seattle in the Mayflower Park Hotel Offering the regular menu. Time: 3-9 p.m. Reservation recommended.
Brasserie Margaux Belltown A Thanksgiving Day buffet. Time: 1-8 p.m. Cost: $39/adult, $14.95/child under 12). Included validated parking.
Chandler's Crabhouse Lake Union Offering a 4-course dinner including traditional roast turkey, herb roasted prime rib, or fresh seafood delicacies. Cost: $44.95 Reservations Recommended
Clinkerdagger Spokane, WA Offering our regular dinner menu along with a featured Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Time: 3:30-8 p.m. Reservations Recommended
Cutter's Bayhouse Seattle, WA Offering a large variety of our most popular items as well as traditional Thanksgiving Day dinners. Time: Noon - 8 p.m. Reservations Recommended
Daniel's Broiler Lake Union, Bellevue Place and Leschi Marina Offer a delicious, 4-course dinner including traditional roast turkey or USDA Prime beef. Cost: $49.95
Maggiano's Little Italy Bellevue Celebrate Thanksgiving with your family & friends! Their special menu includes roast turkey, country style ham, garlic mashed potatoes, pumpkin praline cheesecake, & more! Cost: $34.95 per person (adults) and $16.95 per child. Carry out and home delivery also available.
McCormick & Schmick's Offering a limited menu, incl. a traditional turkey dinner, prime rib, salmon, crab, and lamb chops. Reservations Recommended
Ponti Seafood Grill Seattle, WA Join us for a traditional 3-course menu featuring grilled salmon, prime rib, and turkey. Cost: $39/adult, $15/child Time: 1-8 p.m.
Toscano Bellevue Offering a delicious Thanksgiving buffet with over 100 items! Cost:$39/adult, $20/child 6-12
On The Plane, On the Train, In A Boat, While You Float
When it comes to event planners, we are often on the go, go, go, so reading the next great novel isn't always an easy task. Until now. It's already been endorsed by Oprah as her new favorite thing, and we must admit, the new Amazon Kindle is worth all the buzz.
Utilizing a new high-resolution display technology called electronic paper, Kindle provides a crisp black-and-white screen that resembles the appearance and readability of printed paper. The screen works using ink, just like books and newspapers, but displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.The screen never gets hot so you can comfortably read as long as you like.
The holidays are just around the corner, and chances are, you are busy as bee planning your company holiday event. How will you market it to your fellow employees? We highly suggest using online meeting registration and marketing to spread the word...here's why...
Company Meeting and Event Websites The Internet has quickly become one of the most efficient and cost-effective meeting marketing and communication tools. A meeting website, e-mail marketing campaign and online registration will boost attendance for almost any event, meeting or conference. Consideration for a unique event website might be applied as an incorporated part of your company or groups permanent website, or a standalone site or both! Effective meeting/event web site components you should consider including on the site could be:
On-Demand Attendance Reports
Email Invitation and Attendance Campaign
24/7 Meeting/Event Registration
Venue Information
Accommodation Details
Program & Agenda
Frequently Asked Questions
Web Casting (video options)
Content Archiving
Post-Event Follow-Up
Online Event Program Management Event planning online through use of on-line form submissions, emails and updates quickly and easily creates a unified affect that when done well, will narrow the physical or perceptive distance that might exist within your team(s).
You can track the progress of program development more easily.
Your team will communicate more effectively with each other and with the meeting presenters.
Much of the information in the program development system can be automatically used in emails and on web pages.
Online Meeting Registration Online meeting registration can increase registrations while decreasing registration costs! In fact, the simplicity and convenience of online registration is a critical contributor to assuring high attendance for many events. When considering companies to work with make sure they can offer you a visible proven track record for many unique types of events they have setup on-line registration within your company’s needs and details.
Do not overlook a company who is not a “known” factor.
Do your research. It will pay heavy rewards in the end.
Meeting Webcasting Web Casting and archived audio, video and presentation content enables expanded distribution of meeting content. It makes a very efficient tool to connect with those who may not be able to attend your meeting or event.
HOT Tip! You've all heard about eVite, but have you checked out PINGG? PINGG is an online event invitation and management service. And it's free!
HP is introducing a whole new option for PC lovers. And even we Mac users have to admit, it's pretty darn cool. Meet the HP Touchsmart IQ804 and IQ816 All-in-One Desktop PC that works similarly to your iPhone or iPod touch, only it also has all the conveniences of features of a regular desktop computer.
What The Retailers Are Saying: Redesigned with a next-generation, touch-enabled 25.5-inch high-definition LCD screen, the HP TouchSmart IQ804 all-in-one desktop PC is designed to fit wherever life happens: in the kitchen, family room, or living room. With one touch you can check the weather, download your e-mail, or watch your favorite TV show. It's also designed to maximize energy, with a power-saving Intel Core 2 Duo processor and advanced power management technology, as well as material efficiency--right down to the packaging. It has a sleek piano black design with elegant espresso side-panel highlights, and the HP Ambient Light lets you set a mood--or see your keyboard in the dark.
The touch-enabled 25.5-inch widescreen BrightView LCD offers height/tilt adjustment for optimal viewing. It offers a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Video is powered by the Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS HD graphics/video card, which provides 256 MB of dedicated video RAM and offers up to 2047 MB of total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista. Enabled by PureVideo HD, movies come to life with outstanding picture clarity, ultra-smooth video and vivid color. The lifelike images have up to six times the detail of standard DVD movies. Delivering state-of-the-art graphics performance, GeForce 9300M GS graphics card is sure to give you the power and performance you crave to play the hottest DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 titles. Its 16x full-screen antialiasing technology delivers superior quality along with astounding performance and since it's optimized for Windows Vista. The integrated audio card is configurable to 6-speaker surround sound, and it can provide two-channel audio via its integrated speakers.
Watch the ad below:
The Touchsmart is not available yet, but you can pre-order yours at Amazon.com.
We think you'll love this local website that helps you connect with local teachers so you can learn just about anything. Meet teachstreet.com where you can search for teachers of a certain craft in the Seattle and Portland area. So if you want to learn to sail, cook, sew, dance, play the piano or just about any other craft you can think of, Teach Street helps you find the skilled professionals in the area that can turn you into a pro yourself.
Once you have found a teacher you can then go onto teachstreet.com and write a review that will help others find a teacher that is right for them. We also like how the site recognizes what craft you want to learn and offers books about the similar trade that are available for you at Amazon.com.
Check out Teach Street and let us know what you think.
We recently heard about a great organization that is making a difference in the lives of our military troops.
Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2008. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 15,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country.
The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.
Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.
Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.
If you are like many of us and have an old cell phone just sitting in a drawer, consider donating it to this great cause. Click here for details on how to donate your phone.
There are few things we hate more than a tangled weave of computer wires laying on our neat and tidy desks or tripping us up on the floor. That is why we are in love with the new Epson Workforce 40 Wi Fi printer. It never made sense to us why we would have a wireless labtop but have to move into our office every time we wanted to print.
The Epson Workforce 40 is engineered for the small business and home office. Get laser quality output at laser fast speeds for prints that make you look your best.
Better for your business, and your bottom line, the Epson WorkForce 40 printer blazes through critical documents at speeds about two times faster than those of competitive printers.1 Delivering laser quality text and brilliant color photos, it’s the perfect addition to your business team. In fact, with Wi-Fi® and Ethernet networking built in, you can easily share the WorkForce 40 with anyone in your office. And, with its small, compact design, it fits in even the smallest of spaces. Best of all, this budget-conscious performer offers an Extra High-capacity Black ink cartridge for high-volume printing at a price that’s sure to please.
Only three weeks now until the 2008 Northwest Event Show takes place at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center on September 23. Have you registered yet? If not, here are just a few of the reasons why you should...
It's 100% free to attend. That's right, the Northwest Event Show is free for all qualified meeting and event planners. Heck, even if you only plan one event a year, or have never planned an event before but have a major one coming up, this show is for you!
Not only is it free, but we'll also give you free stuff! Just for attending the show you'll receive the 2009 B&E Event Resource Guide as our complimentary gift. The guide retails for $14.95 in bookstores, and truly is the most comprehensive planning tool around. The best part is, the 2009 edition will be in FULL COLOR for the first time ever. And you'll be receiving it hot of the press!
The Northwest Event Show is occurring in conjunction with the 2008 SUMMIT INDUSTRY Meeting, also a first. If you are planning on attending the SUMMIT you'll get two great shows on one day.
You'll learn the latest Green Event Planning Tips. This year's event is going green and we have the best ideas and inspirations in town so you can plan greener events too.
Chances to win three weekend getaways to Skamania Lodge, Suncadia Resort, and Sunriver Resort complete with the royal treatment.
The exhibitors are top-notch! With over 250 booths you'll never get another chance like this to meet with the area's top event planning professionals, in one place, on one day. They are the best of the best in design, catering, entertainment, team building and more!
All the food your belly can take, and then a little more. You'll get to sample the best food Northwest caterers have to offer. It's definitely not a day to wear tight pants!
Have we convinced you yet? If so, head on over to nweventshow.com and register for the 2008 Northwest Event Show! You cannot afford to miss this spectacular event!
Have you heard about Pandora? It's the best new way to listen to music while you work. All you do is go to www.pandora.com, enter your favorite artist and a playlist will begin starting with a song from the artist of your choice. Then the next songs that play will be customized to predict the kind of music you like to listen to. Once a song begins to play, you can give it the "thumbs up" or the "thumbs down" and the more you rate music, the more Pandora knows what you like. Think of Pandora as a TiVo for music.
Pandora came from the Music Genome Project. Since they started back in 2000, they have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together their team of fifty musician-analysts have been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! Pandora continues this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.
The best part about Pandora, is its all free and you can make as many playlists as you'd like.
You can also download Pandora to select phones available through AT&T and Sprint including the apple iPhone.
Football season is just around the corner and you know what that means...Tailgating! If you are the king (or queen) of tailgating, we have just the thing for you. Tailgating Innovations was born of necessity. People are tired of spending their time preparing and cleaning up at sporting events rather than enjoying themselves with friends and family. Tailgating Innovations went to work researching just what makes a great tailgating experience... the ultimate tailgating experience - now you can have that too!
Tailgating Innovations trailers are decked to the nines with a tongue mounted grill with a pivot arm, satellite dish, rear and side doors for easy internal access, rubberized coin flooring, cabinets for storage, electrical outlets, internal e-tracks for secure hauling, internal lighting, smooth aluminum exterior and wheels. The trailer also comes with a 1080p (FHDTV) flatscreen and a high-tech sound system to wow the socks right off your friends.
Prices start at $12,500 as everything is fully customizable.
We've all seen them hanging on a rack at the local grocery store. Eco-friendly, reusable grocery bags are now a hot item when food shopping. But let's face it, now that these earth-saving bags are the way to reduce the use of paper and plastic bags, there is no reason why these new accessories can't be stylish.
From Dogeared, comes these "superheros" of the "supermarket" and they are pretty darn cute. Some of them even have funny phrases much like bumper stickers for those of you that truly want to make a statement.
The bags retail anywhere from $22 to $27. The bags are made of all natural cotton.
And if you are an advocate for greener-bags, you'll love our eco-friendly trade show bags that we'll be handing out for free to all of the attendees of the Northwest Event Show thanks to our sponsor Zippydogs. Have you registered for the show yet? Click here to do so now.
College is a great time for any young (and sometimes, not so young) person. But, with all the rising costs, college and all the expenses that come along with it can make you feel pressed for cash. So, whenever a student can pinch a few extra dollars and save them for a rainy day, they are more than willing do what it takes to save.
If you know someone about to enter college this Fall or know someone who is already in the thralls of learning, we have a completely fantastic online tool you NEED to share with them.
Meet Flat World Knowledge. Flat World Knowledge preserves the best of the old textbooks by leading experts that are rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards. Then they flip it all on its head. All of their textbooks are free online. They offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – print, audio, by-the-chapter, and more. The textbooks are open for instructors to mix, mash, and make their own. The other part this is great about Flat World Knowledge is that an online social learning network is automatically created every time you open a chapter to read, because you can also see who is reading the same chapter (even if they are across the globe) and ask them questions if you need help understanding what you are reading. How cool is that?
To learn more about Flat World Knowledge, watch the video below.
Auctions have more than gained momentum over the past few years. Although many companies have been using auctions for many years, due in large part to the popularity of Ebay and their on-line auctions, the growth of companies and organizations turning to auctions for revenue involvement has more than tripled.
Most auctions can be pretty simple and are believed to date back to Babylon in 500 B.C. What are they? Simply put an auction is the process of buying and selling things by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder
In economic theory, an auction is a method for determining the value of a commodity that has an undetermined or variable price. Auctions can be with reserve or minimum, or without minimums, or absolute or no reserve. In reserve auctions, there is a minimum bid or reserve price; if the bidding does not reach the minimum, there is no sale (but the person who puts the item up for auction may still owe a fee to the auctioneer or auction company). In absolute or no reserve auctions, the sale is guaranteed, with only the price left to be determined. In the context of auctions, a bid is an offered price.
Primary types of auctions
In terms of security/privacy, there are two main types of auctions:
Private auction: In a private auction the identities of the bidders are hidden, so anyone that buys the item can remain anonymous. This is normally done for either security reasons such as rare gems or art, or to avoid embarrassment if the item is more risk. In a public auction, the bidders' identities are not hidden and anyone is welcome to attend the auction.
Public auction: In a public auction, the bidders’ identities are not hidden and anyone is welcome to attend the auction
Breaking Down the Most Popular Auction Options
Vickrey auction A Vickrey auction is a type of sealed-bid auction, where bidders submit written bids without knowing the bid of the other people in the auction. The highest bidder wins, but the price paid is the second highest bid. The auction is believed to have been created by William Vickrey. This type of auction is strategically similar to an English auction, and gives bidders an incentive to bid their true value.
English auction This is the type of auction commonly used by the English auction houses like Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips. Participants bid openly against one another, with each bid being higher than the previous bid. The auction ends when no participant is willing to bid further, or when a pre-determined "buy-out" price is reached, at which point the highest bidder pays the price. The seller may set a 'reserve' price and if the auction fails to have a bid equal to or higher than the reserve, the item remains unsold.
Chinese auction Basically, a raffle.
Dutch auction In the traditional Dutch auction the auctioneer begins with a high asking price, which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price, or a predetermined minimum price is reached. That winning participant pays the last announced price. The Dutch auction is named for its best-known example, the Dutch tulip auctions. ("Dutch auction" is also sometimes used to describe online auctions where several identical goods are sold simultaneously to an equal number of high bidders.
All-pay auction An auction in which all bidders must pay their bids regardless of whether they win the prize. The highest bidder wins the prize. The all-pay auction is often used to model lobbying (bids are political contributions), or other competitions.
Sealed Bid Auctions
Sealed-bid first-price auction Also known as Sealed High-Bid Auction or First-Price Sealed-Bid Auction (FPSB). In this type of auction all bidders simultaneously submit bids so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted.
Sealed-bid second-price auction, also known as a Vickrey auction: This is identical to the sealed first-price auction, except the winning bidder pays the second highest bid rather than their own. This is very similar to the system used by eBay.
Silent Auctions Where bids are written on a sheet of paper, and at the predetermined end of the auction, the highest listed bidder wins the prize. This auction variant is often used in charity events, and many items may be auctioned simultaneously. Participants submit bids normally on paper, near the item. Other variations of this type of auction may include sealed bids. The highest bidder pays the price he or she submitted.
Auction Catalog An auction catalog is a catalog that lists items to be sold at an auction. Each entry typically includes a "lot number" identifying each item uniquely, a detailed textual description, and either an estimated price, or a "reserve" price below which the item will not be sold. Photographs may appear with the entry, or grouped into a separate section of the catalog; for mass-produced items like postage stamps, the textual description may be considered sufficient.
As a combined information source and "sales brochure", an auction catalog must tread a fine line between accuracy and promotion. For instance, any damages or flaws must be described exactly, so that buyers cannot be claim to have been deceived, but at the same time the description will typically include words playing down the bad points (as in "brownish spot that does not detract from appearance" or "faint crease, as is common"). Similarly, special characteristics are also called out, such as "one of only four known examples of this type", or perhaps a photograph of an item of jewelry being worn by a famous person.
Auction catalogs may be sent gratis to favored customers, but the better catalogs will cost, sometimes as much or more than a regular book. These kinds of catalogs may in turn be sold by bookstores, or even appear as items in book auctions.
Some time after the auction is concluded, recipients of the auction catalogs will receive a "prices realized" document, a bare listing of the lot numbers and the prices for which each was sold.
On-line auctions……King of the Hill: eBay
When one thinks of online auctions they typically think of eBay, the world's largest online auction site. Like most auction companies, eBay does not actually sell goods that it owns itself. It merely facilitates the process of listing and displaying goods, bidding on items, and paying for them. It acts as a marketplace for individuals and businesses that use the site to auction off goods and services. EBay was the first company to popularize the notion of conducting an auction over the Internet. The auction software that EBay uses is proprietary and not available to the general public.
Using Mission Fish as an arbiter, eBay allows sellers to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to a charity of the seller's choice. Some high profile charity auctions have been advertised on the eBay home page, and have raised large amounts of money in a short time.
Auction Houses If you prefer to have professionals setup and run your auction, then you will need to find an Auction House. No matter where you live, auction houses are always around and have been as long as auctions have been held. Remember auctions were more popular in the mid-twentieth century than they are now.
Auctioneers There is usually always a need to consider a professional Auctioneer. Even if you decide to setup and create your own auction in-house, keep in mind that good auctioneers can bring much higher prices, for profit or charity proceeds than an amateur.
The party employing the auctioneer pays a commission regardless of whether he or she procures a sale, unless the auctioneer is responsible for the failure of the sale. The auctioneer is entitled to a reasonable sum unless a statute or contract provision determines the amount.
Depending upon what type of auction you are considering, a good place to look for additional information on auctions and auctioneers is Answers.com and Wikipedia.
Be sure to check out the 2009 Event Resource Guide, available at the 2008 Northwest Event Show. A special new section on auctioneers has been added to our collection!
Hey all you iPhone users....Did you know your iPhone can actually help you save gas by tracking your mileage. In this day and age, we are all penny-pinchers. Wherever we can save a few extra dollars we try to take advantage of it. There are three applications available for your iPhone that can actually help put money back in your pocket. Here are our favorites...
AccuFuel Fuel Efficiency Tracker - Monitor fuel use by tracking how your driving habits affect your fuel efficiency. You can even track more than one car.
Price $0.99
CarStat - CarStat is a replacement for that little white book that all of our dads used to keep track of the car's mileage. Anytime you fillup your car or take it in for service, record what was done. You can then have CarStat compute a number of different stats on the data.
Price: $1.99
FuelGauge - FuelGauge is a simple little app that does about what you would expect, it helps you keep track of the milage you are getting out of your vehicle. The Miles Per Gallon.
Once you find the perfect vendor for your event, the next step is to negotiate a contract. Here are some tips and considerations during this process.
NEGOTIATION AND CONTRACTS Facility negotiations sound serious, but they don't have to be intimidating. These are important conversations because negotiations build relationships, which will lead to contracts. Contracts are serious business and when you, as a planner, enter into a contract, you want to be sure you have all the knowledge and information you need. Keep in mind that negotiable items and practices vary between areas of the country, so what may be standard procedure on the East Coast is not necessarily the same on the West Coast.
HOMEWORK PAYS OFF! Before you begin negotiating, you need some tools! If you have done your homework (refer to the first section), you'll be set! You need your meeting profile or prospectus, a history of your meeting or event, the value of your meeting to the facility (your budget), and a profile of your group. If you know your requirements, they will dictate the specific items you can negotiate.
NEGOTIATIONS SHOULD BE WIN-WIN Don't get bogged down in sleeping room rates! Rates are only one item that can be negotiated. The list of negotiable items may be as long as you want ...it never hurts to ask! But, in order to have a successful meeting, negotiations should be a win-win process. For example, if you get the hotel to provide complimentary meeting room space, but in order to afford this, the hotel cuts back on service staff for your meeting...who wins?
CONTRACTS The most important things to remember are that contracts should be written with an equal amount of risk for both parties, and that all your discussions are put into writing so there will be no confusion when it's time for your event.
Living green is really about taking advantage of alternative methods of doing everyday activities. Whenever we hear about a new and improved way of doing ordinary things, we just have to share them with you. We recently heard about a company based out of Orange County California that is changing the way families and business pack and move to new locations. Meet EarthFriendlyMoving, the do-it-yourself pack and move solution that allows you to rent packing eco-friendly packing supplies. EarthFriendlyMoving recycles all of those hard-to-recycle colorful plastic bottles from under your kitchen sink, laundry room and garage shelves- like bleach bottles, household cleaning products, dishwashing and laundry detergent to make the famous: RecoPack™
The word RecoPack™ is short for "Recycled Ecological Packing Solution." Made in five consumer friendly sizes, these lightweight, stackable containers are rented to relocating households for a buck a box per week.
Following the move, the Recopacks are picked-up at customers’ new home by a fleet of vegetable oil powered trucks, cleaned, sanitized and then rented out to another customer.
EarthFriendlyMoving is currently operating in Orange County and Long Beach, and will expand throughout Southern California and then nation wide over the next three years. To learn more about EarthFriendlyMoving, click here.
Since Seattle and other Northwest cities like Bremerton and Everett rest along the shores of the Puget Sound, we have the opportunity to watch cargo ships enter and leave our ports, attributing to our area's economy. Our offices are located in West Seattle, so each day we drive parallel to Elliott Bay where hundreds of goods are transported each day. With as much action as our waters undergo, one has to wonder what effect each ship has on our environment. Recently we came across something quite unique that could change the way cargo ships travel from port to port. Meet SkySails. That's right, just like a sailboat moves through the waters by the force of wind against its sails, now the same energy source is being used to move large vessels.
It's a simple fact: wind is cheaper than oil and the most cost-effective offshore energy source. Yet, despite its attractive saving potential, it is not presently being used by cargo ships - for a simple reason: so far no sailing system has met the requirements of commercial shipping.
SkySails is now offering a wind propulsion system based on large towing kites, which, for the first time, meets the requirements of shipping companies. By using the SkySails-System, a ship‘s fuel costs can be reduced by 10- 35% on annual average, depending on wind conditions. Under optimal wind conditions, fuel consumption can temporarily be reduced by up to 50%.
So the next time you drive past a water port, be on the lookout for a "sailing" ship. You never know what the wind might bring.
If you've ever seen the CBS show Survivor you've probably seen the contestants travel to a water source and boil the water they collect before they can drink it in order to decontaminate and filtrate the water from bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens. You may have even gone camping before and had to do this yourself. Now, for the first time ever, comes a water bottle that produces filtered sterile drinking water quickly and easily. The LIFESAVER bottle is the first ultra filtration water bottle that incorporates LIFESAVER systems’ unique failsafe technology (another world first) which shuts off the bottle’s cartridge upon expiry, preventing contaminated water from being drunk. With LIFESAVER bottle there is no need for tablets, boiling, chemicals, tubes, shaking, scrubbing, waiting or effort. LIFESAVER bottle produces clean, sterile drinking water with no foul taste - fast!
The LIFESAVER bottle was developed as a response to the tragedy that unfolded due to lack of safe drinking water after the tsunami in December 2004 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The LIFESAVER bottle has been designed to help save lives supplying people with clean pathogen-free drinking water.
The LIFESAVER bottle retails for $229, which may sound expensive, but as important as clean water is to your health, isn't it worth a few extra dollars?
We recently got a tip from one of our readers about a great new party ice-breaker called Mikon Mixers. Mikon Mixers are iconic stickers that event attendees and party-goers stick on their nametags that describe their personality traits and skills. They make great conversation ice-breakers. The website has a simple drag-and-drop application and thousands of images to choose from. (See below).
There are two ways to use MikonMixers at your event... (1) Free Form: At large events like Conferences, they are used a personal identifiers and people can freely meet other attendees. (2) Mixers - Meet and Greet: At smaller networking or social events you can use a more structured technique to encourage guests to meet. Click here to get the instructions. Generally, the attendees are asked to select the stickers that match them and the organizer instructs the group to find another person, and pick a mikon sticker and talk about it. The organizer should limit each conversation to 7 to 10 minutes then have the guests rotate to another person.
Hello everyone! First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Verner and today I'm the guest blogger for the EVENTive Event Planning Blog. I'll be stopping by each week to blog about event ideas, innovation and inspiration. I'm new to the blog, but I'm not new to Banquet & Event. I've done photography for Banquet & Event over the past sever
