Badges And Medals – In Honor of the Hon’ble

September 22, 2011 · Filed Under Awards · Comment 

A badge is a device which often contains the distinguished sign of an organization which is presented to indicate some feat or some symbol of an authority while taking an oath. Badges and medals are accessories to uniform and clothing’s worn by people in h organizations. Badges and medals are awarded as marks of respect to the people. They come in various types like bronze, silver and gold, etc. Silver and gold thus speak about rich tributes paid and meritorious achievements. As of today badges and medals have great demand for corporate gifting.

Badges vary value and significance attached to it. Military badges are awards, which are authorized by the respective government and the armed forces of the country. It signifies the ratings, qualification or accomplishment in several career fields. Moving back to the decade of Hitler’s reign collar badges, which were used as the symbol for their particular groups.

A medal or a medallion is a sculpted thing which is rendered with some insignia or portrait. A medal may be awarded to a person in the organization as in the form of recognition for athletic, military, sports or any other competitions. There are various types of medals, which are devotional medals exclusively for religious matters and functions. It can also be presented to someone for excelling in the field of artistic expression in their rights. Medals are generally seen in three materials who are bronze, gold and silver, which are often seen presenting it to the sports person. In today’s leap pf time medals are now seen in wood, terra cotta, paper and plastic. Medals have seen as an excellent artistic proposal which has excelled in the field of art. Die cast sports medals are made up of zinc, which is electro plated with gold and silver. Here silver is used as it prevents from oxidization. All other medals can be engraved.

Navy achievement medal was established in the year 1961 to recognize the work performed by junior artists. It is regarded as the lowest honor of a medal in the navy. When the term medal is uttered the pride and prestige of the person is considered as well as saluted with gaining of such tangible but worth material called as a medal. Authorized by the respective government and the armed forces of the country. These metal badges are available in a number of shapes and sizes, and could be for daily use or for use on specific occasions.

Badges And Medals In Honor of the Hon’ble

Ideas For Corportate Executive Gifts: Letting Employees Know They’re Appreciated

August 24, 2011 · Filed Under Awards · Comment 

Showing your appreciation for your employees can be easy with executive gifts. Ideas are nearly limitless, from corporate wall plaques to lapel pins to clocks. No matter which of the many corporate executive gifts you give, the most important thing is to present them sincerely and thoughtfully. These tokens are a way to make workers feel appreciated and special so take the time to do it right. Here are some of the most popular corporate executive gifts for employees.

Corporate Wall Plaques

Corporate wall plaques are a great way to show appreciation for a job well done, a company milestone or more. These tokens can be completely customized for your company and the recipient and some versions can even include a personalized photo. These wall plaques come in a variety of styles, from traditional plaques with engraved metal plates, framed medallions and unique versions made out of materials like stone or even recycled dollar bills or newspapers. These awards can be displayed on a wall, but some are also available with a stand for employees who work in a cubical or ones who don’t have wall space to display corporate wall plaques.

Clocks

Clocks are other popular executive gifts. Ideas for clocks go far beyond the traditional desk clock. Companies can choose from traditional crystal, marble or wooden versions or choose a contemporary metal one in the shape of a car, airplane, star, apple and other fun shapes. Themed clocks are also available for golf enthusiasts, car lovers, exercise buffs and more. These clocks can be fully personalized with a custom message and while most are designed to sit on a desk, it’s possible to find versions that will hang on a wall.

Engraved Or Imprinted Pens

A pen is one of the most useful of all corporate executive gifts. Pens can range from very inexpensive imprinted versions that are given to all new hires and customers to engraved pens that are saved for special office occasions. It’s possible to find classic stationery sets with a pen and clock, sets with a wristwatch and pen, or pen and business card holder combinations. No matter which you choose, be sure to select a model that is personalized and useful to the recipient so they know you’ve chosen their gift thoughtfully.

Certificate Frames

Certificate frames are other useful tokens. Certificate frames can vary from a sturdy blend of linen and paper, leatherette, wood, acrylic and more. Certificate frames are an excellent way to show your appreciation for everything from completing a training program, to smaller work anniversaries. They’re relatively inexpensive and can be fully customized with a personalized certificate that you can even print yourself on your office laser printer.

Whether you’re celebrating a big company milestone like a 10th, 20th, or 30th anniversary or retirement, or want to show your employees that you appreciate their day-to-day work, corporate executive gifts can be an easy way to show your gratitude.

Chris Harmen writes for Awards & Fine Gifts, Inc, a company with unique executive gifts ideas, such as corporate wall plaques. The company has a number of corporate executive gifts.

3 Occasions For Custom Crystal Awards: From Anniversaries To Retirements

August 24, 2011 · Filed Under Awards · Comment 

Executive office gifts are excellent ways to show employees that you appreciate what they do for you on a day-to-day basis. It’s always nice to give employees small presents as a random token of appreciation, but there are big occasions in your workplace that call for larger executive office gifts such as custom crystal awards like clocks, frames or plaques. Here are three different occasions that are typically marked with executive office gifts.

Recognize Workplace Anniversaries

Gone are the days when employees worked at one company their entire lives. Today’s average length of stay at a company is seven years, although some businesses foster environments that encourage workers to stay even longer. If you have a subordinate who’s approaching a five, 10, 20 or even 30 year anniversary, mark it with some sort of token, such as engraved crystal awards. Some companies also like to commemorate the lesser anniversaries with smaller gifts like engraved pens. Just as in a marriage, workplace anniversaries are important and should be recognized.

Celebrating In-house And Industry Awards

An award is another reason to purchase executive office gifts. Whether the award is an internal one or you want to show a little extra appreciation for the employee who won an industry wide award, it’s a nice touch to mark this with a tangible token of your gratitude. You can choose to have a plaque engraved or even just print out a certificate and place it into a special certificate frame or certificate holder.

Commemorate Retirement

A retirement, whether the employee has worked at your company their entire career or just a short time, is a big deal. If one of your coworkers is retiring, it’s customary for the company to provide him or her with a token to commemorate the career. Many companies also have a small reception – if you do this, make sure to ask the employee’s family to come to the office or venue so they can participate.

Options For Executive Office Gifts

There are a number of tokens that work for all occasions. Engraved crystal awards (such as clocks, obelisks and stemware), corporate wall plaques, lapel pins, pens and stationery sets, nameplates and watches all make excellent choices for executive office gifts. Just make sure the token matches the situation. For instance it’s inappropriate to give a desk nameplate to someone when they retire and a wall plaque can be too formal for a minor celebration such as a one year anniversary. Save larger things like engraved crystal awards for big celebrations like awards, retirements or major anniversaries.

Even if you haven’t purchased things like engraved crystal awards before, now can be a great time to start. Your employees will appreciate that you took the time to find a thoughtful gift and employees that feel valued often have a greater work ethic and more personal ownership of their work and their company. Executive office gifts are an easy and relatively inexpensive way to show employees what they mean to you.

Chris Harmen writes for Awards & Fine Gifts, Inc, a company that sells executive office gifts, like custom crystal awards. The company has a number of engraved crystal awards.

Top 7 Tips for Winning Online Sweepstakes

August 10, 2011 · Filed Under Awards · Comment 

One way to try and earn extra money is to enter contests. Just like the lottery, you have to play to get paid. In order to promote their products, companies sponsor online contests. Survey companies also organize sweepstakes as an incentive for consumers to provide their opinions about products and services. For example, readers can answer a short survey at WinningSurveys to enter their $50,000 Sweepstakes. You can improve your chances of winning an online sweepstakes or contest by following a few tips.

1) Do Not Delete Your Email So Fast
Almost every online sweepstakes or contest requires the winner to respond to an email or certified letter in order to win. In your rush to delete spam, you could be deleting your email notification. Also, take time to pick up that certified mail from the post office.

2) Provide Accurate Contact Information
Sweepstakes organizers such as WinningSurveys report that several of their winner notifications are forfeited due to an incorrect mailing address or email address. Be careful about making typing errors.

3) Enter Often
Most sweepstakes allow you to enter once per day. Doing so greatly increases your chances of winning. In the case of WinningSurveys, the rules for their $50,000 Sweepstakes allow for up to 10 entries per day per email address.

4) Check Your Email Filters
Your email filters may be keeping out sweepstakes notifications or announcements by blocking email with keywords such as “Win” or “You’ve Won” or similar phrases. Adjust your filters and rules accordingly. Keep an eye on your junk mail folder too. To ensure delivery, add the sweepstakes email address to your email address book.

5) Enter For Yourself
Do not enter your spouse, your kids and your dog. Most sweepstakes prohibit entering on behalf of others. A good rule of thumb is to enter just the allowed number of times with one person’s information from one single computer.

6) Get An Email Address Specifically For Contests
This is another safeguard against accidentally deleting important emails or announcements from the various sweepstakes you enter. This also consolidates all email related to contests into one inbox so it’s easy to find and isn’t mixed up with personal email you receive from family and friends.

7) Type Mail Entries
If you want to enter a sweepstakes by postcard instead of online, this is okay. But you would be surprised how many postcards people send that are illegible or don’t provide contact information such as address or telephone number. Improve your chances of winning and of being notified of winning by typing your postcard (or write very neatly) and providing complete contact information.

Nathan Randall, editor, Daily Dollar Newsletter provides free daily advice on money matters plus coupons and discount codes. FYI…you can now access the Daily Dollar Newsletter via iTunes podcast, YouTube video, and on Facebook and Twitter too.

Writing Competitions: The Inside Scoop

November 18, 2010 · Filed Under Awards · Comment 

Most aspiring writers dream of being discovered and earning their living from their literary efforts. While this is a noteworthy goal it can be very challenging for a new writer to cut through all of the noise in the publishing world. There are thousands and thousands of published manuscripts competing for eyeballs. A good writer needs to be aware of the landscape of challenges that face traditional authors today.

Participation in literary contests offer the aspiring author the chance of making meaningful connections with the publishing world. The issue with many of these competitions is that they are scams that charge hefty fees and accept your work regardless of the quality. Their purpose is to publish a book which they ultimately sell to all entrants. In the industry this is referred to as vanity publishing. They cater to the egos of the competition entrants and capitalize on the opportunity by charging more than full retail price for a book which includes the entries of all entrants.

Some online writing contests present the opportunity of having your work published online or in a magazine. Usually these types of contests do not require a purchase of the publication, nor do they control the rights of your work. Stop and think about some of the mega blockbusters that have been published over the last thirty years. Titles like Star Wars and Harry Potter were all written by unknown authors. These fast paced tales and adventures successfully captured the audiences imagination and sold billions of dollars in movie sales. Never give up the rights to your manuscript.

The top writing contests allow you to control the rights to your manuscript which permits you the opportunity to sell the work to other venues. Avoid those competitions where you forfeit the ownership of your manuscript. In these types of contests publishers seek to take advantage of writers with little or no experience by legally laying claim to their content.

It is important that before you enter any competition that you familiarize yourself with the rules of the contest. Reading the fine print will help you understand the intentions of the contest organizers as well as to how they define quality. Simply following the rules can exponentially increase your chances of success. Many contests have a huge number of participants and require exact procedures so that they can handle the volume. Not following those rules can lead to your manuscript being rejected before it is reviewed and forfeiting any entry fee.

Beware of high entry fees for writing contests. While these types of contests position themselves as exclusive affairs they are often operated with the intention of fleecing unsuspecting authors who have the money to burn.

One of the side benefits of entering into writing contests is the opportunity of reading the work of other contestants. Reading excellent fiction helps fine tune your writing skills. Great writers are avid readers. Never lose sight of the fact that your best education will come from being exposed the writing styles of other authors.

The top writing contests follow a very simple format. They have no entry fees. You the author maintain ownership and control of the manuscript. The contest judges are all professional writers. And lastly, cash prizes are awarded for top performers.

Writing competitions are a wonderful way to expand your horizons as an author. I highly recommend them.

Frederick Hail loves writing fiction stories and submitting them to
writing competition contests.

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