2013-01-29

Twitter as an employee communications tool – really?


Effective employee communication is about providing context.  How much context is possible in 140 characters? Research shows that the vast majority of tweets are right up there at 139 or 140 characters demonstrating that most people are trying to squash their message into the maximum allowed space. Don't believe the hype.  Some technology organisations are promoting case studies about how they have used Twitter as a tool to build staff engagement.  Take the time to lift the lid on the numbers and you'll find that the uptake is around 1 to 2% of staff - Pretty poor for a ‘game changing' internal communications tool. Useless, unless employees are there.  Twitter is an opt-in messaging system.  Once an employee has set up an account, they then have to follow your internal communications tweets…which brings us to our next point: Engaging content. For Twitter, or indeed Yammer, to be successful as an internal communications tool, you need to have a stream of regular engaging content that staff will take the time to follow.  Many organisations struggle to find interesting content for internal blogs…  Twitter presents even more of a content challenge. Message approval.  Depending on the type of organization you work for, you may be struggling with message approval processes around certain types of inte stamping tool rnal communications.  The issue escalates with Twitter which is in the public domain. Yes, internal communications should be open, some organizations are better than others at this, but there is a certain amount of fear that needs to be managed for Twitter to be successful as an employee communications channel. Twitter is a ‘social communications' tool.  Many staff may not want to blur the boundary between work and their social lives.  They could choose to create extra profiles on Twitter i.e. one for work and one for social, but this adds another potentially off putting step. Inane chatter and spam can dilute the cut through for important messages and cause those employees who have opted in to stop listening. Not everyone in the organisation is a di stainless steel casters gital immigrant.  Our workforce may be made up of a range of demographics.  Enterprise RSS is on shaky ground in many organisations due to low opt in amongst staff.  Twitter can be scarier as staff need to ‘put themselves online' which can be unnerving and off putting for some staff. Perhaps a better way is to send short scrolling news feeds to targeted staff computers.  This allows you to send ‘Tweet like' messages out to employees in a secure format that do swivel caster esn't require staff to opt in. Formats like news feeds allow you to initiate conversations and maintain direct interaction with staff.  For example with a CEO news feeds containing Twitter like updates.

Learning about Gardening in the Garden

If there is one thing that many people do not know how to do, that's gardening in the garden. More and more people really want to learn how to garden for themselves. For this reason many of them are deciding to create gardens in or around their homes. What many are discovering is the fact that growing fresh vegetables and herbs is extremely healthy, and it keeps costs down at the local market. I don't know about you b Folding wheelbarrow ut the last time I looked at corn and bell peppers, the prices were unbelievably high. All of this can be avoi Platform hand truck ded simply by knowing about gardening in the garden.

There are a wide variety of guides and books on simple gardening and for the most part, they are very easy to understand and implement. You really do not need to have a green thumb when it comes to gardening; however, you will need to be consistent, keep good records, and try and grow things that will flourish in your area. What I mean by this is - if you live in the northwest, there are some items that grow better in that area rather than say, California. You will learn all of this without question by picking up a few gardening in the garden books or guides.

Something else to keep in mind is the area you will need to have in order to create this new found garden. A garden doesn't necessarily have to be in the ground. In fact, you can have what is called a container garden where all your vegetables, fruits, and herbs are all grown in containers. For some this may be an easy alternative to creating a conventional garden. These are all items that you will discover when reading a good gardening book on the subject. You will be amazed at all the different ways in which you can start a beautiful garden at home.

The next item of consideration will be the gardening tools that will be needed for gardening in the garden. Of course, all of this will be listed in the gardening books you purchase; however, it will not hurt to reiterate the need for specific gardening tools that you will need to have a pleasant gardening experience. Now, you will not need to run out and buy a whole lot of different tools at first. Spend some time studying exactly where it is you are going to start, then purchase the gardening tools as you need them.

When you learn about gardening in the garden, you will be extremely pleased at the wonderful results you will experience as a result of staying consistent through your first growing season. Once you've made it through, you wi Roll container ll find that it wasn't that difficult at all, and you will not be able to wait when it comes to finding out what your next gardening project will be. Gardening in the garden is a whole lot of fun but you will never know how much unless you get started.

Layering garden landscaping

Could your home do with a little more garden landscaping? Probably so, and that is a good thing. In fact you should be very excited about it because there is nothing more fun than garden landscaping, it will get your imagination working overtime and you will have a ball planting and rearranging your plant wheel for wheelbarrow s and flowers.By layering your garden landscaping beds you will be able to add a whole other level of beauty to your landscaping design. Your yard is the first thing that people will see when they come to your house and giving a grand tour that includes a fabulous garden is always fun and exciting. You will be the talk of the neighborhood, and for all the right reasons this time, when you do some really good garden landscaping.Layering your garden landscaping design is easy to do. You need to know the flowers that you are going to plant first however. The choices that you make as far as the flowers and other plants will affect just how your garden landscaping is laid o Metal wheelbarrows ut. For example you do not want to have the taller plants in front of the shorter ones. This is obvious but you should still make a rough sketch of where you want things laud out for your garden landscaping before you begin. This will help you to keep thins as simple as possible. Your garden landscaping will go a lot faster this way and you will run into fewer problems as you go.When layering you should have about three layers. Your back row should face north, if it can, and the back row s wheelbarrow sale hould have the tallest plants and as the rows descend so should the heights of the plants and flowers. The trick of this kind of garden landscaping is that oftentimes the plants we buy are baby plants. So you will need to talk to those working at your local gardening store about how large the plants will grow to be. This is key to successful garden landscaping. If the front or middle row of your garden landscaping design is going to grow much higher than the last row, then you will have to do some rearranging.The layering affect of your garden landscaping design will add depth and make your garden much more interesting to look at. This is what will make your garden landscaping a success.

How Transportation Methods Keep Fresh Flowers Fresh

Chances are the flowers that arrived on your doorstep today traveled a long, grueling journey from flower farms in the Netherlands or South America.  Yet they look just as fresh as they were when they were growing in fields.  The secret to their blooming appearance is in the transportation methods used by the flower industry when they ship flowers to any point in the world.

Depending on where they are grown, flowers take various routes to their buyers. For local shipments, some Farm fences growers send their flowers to a packing company, who grades the flowers and arranges them in bunches.  The packing company then sends the flowers to supermarkets or flower shops.  Other growers cut, pack, and package the flowers themselves in the nurseries and send them out to buyers through mail, or to wholesale markets.

International shipments work a little differently.  Sometimes, flowers are packed in flat boxes, which allow a large number of flowers to be put in small spaces like airplane holds.  Other flowers like expensive tropical varieties will not survive long without a constant supply of fresh water. 

Delicate tropical flowers are sent with a little water holder at the ends or shipped out in buckets of water.  The latter method not only extends the l Farm gate ife of the flowers; it also reduces labor time because once the plane or the boat arrives, the flowers are ready to be sold.  On the other hand, buckets are heavier than boxes and take up more space.  This method costs more and reduces the number of flowers that can be shipped.  That’s why tropical flowers are the usually the most expensive in your local flower shop. 

Even growers in developing countries such as The Phi Wrought iron balusters lippines now are using modern transportation technology that improves the shipment quality of their local flower industry.  The lack of a cold storage facility usually results in flowers that are already half-wilted. This is because the time frame from when flowers leave the greenhouse to when they arrive at the plane or ship is very short, and it’s crucial that the flowers are placed in cold chain storage throughout the journey. 

Cold chain is a technology used to keep the temperature down for sensitive cargo like pharmaceuticals.  With the availability of cold chain transportation, flowers sent from major growers to Europe and the United States arrive in excellent shape, as though they were freshly picked just that morning.

2013-01-28

Rubber Stamping : From Maya Indians To Scrapbooking

Who would have thought that your scrapbooking and card making had a connection to the Maya Indians? Rubber Stamping is certainly one of the fastest growing hobbies today, and for good reason. With its inexpensive materials and creative versatility, rubber stamping provides millions with hours of fun and creativity. How did it all start? • Spanish explorers were the first to talk about a "sticky substance" that bounced, used by South America Indians. Though it didn't revolutionalize the world at that time, these same Indians were using a primitive form of rubber stamping to "mark and tattoo" images on men and women. • In 1736, Charles Marie de la Condamine, a French scientist studying the Amazon, sent a piece of "India Rubber" back to France. • Rubber got its name in 1770, when the scientist Sir Joseph Priestly made a comme swivel caster wheels nt about a substance "excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping from paper the mark of black lead pencil." Hence the "rubbing out" of pencil marks gave it the term "rubber". Up until this time, people wishing to erase pencil marks had to use bread crumbs. • Rubber Stamping owes much gratitude to a hardware store owner who decided to quit his job to solve the "sticky problem" he had heard about. Though his persistence was tested time and again, even filing bankruptcy and going to jail for failure to pay debts, Charles Goodyear eventually discovered that heat was the secret to rubber's "curing". • As early as 1866, a man carved information in a flat piece of rubber and mounted it to a curved block of wood. This 4 industrial caster wheels "x 6" mounted rubber stamp was being used to print information on bath tubs. • Early rubber stamps consisted mainly of words and phrases used to mark packages and manufactured products. Stamping suppliers began to spring up in Ohio and the West. • Rubber stampi metal casters ng as a hobby took off in the early 1970's with companies such as All Night Media (1974) and Hero Arts (1974). Soon the craze had caught and many other companies decided to cash in on a hobby that would last for decades. • It wasn't until a boom in the 1990's that rubber stamping became so popular with millions of crafter's worldwide. As thousands of companies begin to produce rubber stamps, the availability and unique designs become common everywhere! It's no wonder why rubber stamping has turned into a worldwide crafting phenomenon. Women and men alike have found hundreds of creative uses for rubber stamps, from scrapbooking and cardmaking, to gift bags and 3D artwork. Give it a try, you'll see!

Smart Tips on Damaged Garden Flood Restoration

Once flood damage sets in your garden, you need to gear up to bring your home and garden back to normalcy as soon as possible. Keep in mind that more delays d heavy duty hand truck oing this mean more work to be done after.

At some point, however, you will have to deal with repairing the flood damage to your garden. Do not postpone this unduly as timing is critical in any flood damage restoration, and delaying it can constitute a health risk to you and your family, especially to younger children. Most water in flooding rivers, lakes, streams, seawater and oceans contains at least some human or animal waste (and therefore pathogenic contaminants). Time and heat can actually transform this slightly contaminated Gray Water into heavily contaminated Black Water. The longer floodwater remains in your garden, the more of a health risk it becomes - especially when temperatures are warm.Flood water brings with it a lot of impuri wheelbarrow ties including germs and bacteria that can be detrimental to the growth and development of fruits and vegetables grown in your home garden. So, the most important thing to be kept in mind is to always boil your fruits and vegetables before consuming them to make them safe for eating.Garden Restoration for Overall SafetyClear the ground of all potentially dangerous objects, including broken tree branches, debris etc. Rent a shop vac to remove all debris from your yard if you need to.Wash plants with clean water, from the hose, to remove all traces of contaminated floodwater.Empty any containers where floodwater has collected (plant pots, buckets etc). Even if your flood damage is caused by clean water (rain, for example), the standing water will quickly become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.If you have a water feature in your garden (a pond, for example), you should pump out the possibly contaminated floodwater and replace it with clean water.A central part of repairing your garden is to replace soil nutrients that may have been washed away by heavy flooding. If flowerbeds are still wet or soggy, the roots may be exposed - be careful not to step on them. Cover up these exposed roots with as much compost-enriched soil and mulch as you can.Start hunting for snails and fire ants. They almost always invade flooded yards and gardens. Look for snails in dark places such as under bricks, boards, porches etc. Remove them by hand (wear gloves if you wish). Snail poison is unnecessary and can harm pets or children. Use fire ant bait if you discover infested spots, and make sure to follow label directions.Finally, remember that the bacteria in floodwater may very well have contaminated fruits and vegetables picked from a flooded garden. This is particularly true for leafy vegetables such as spinach. Never eat produce from a flooded garden.Your garden may take a few weeks or a little more to completely recover from this catastrophe, so don't panic. Let your garden get rid of excess water to avoid the damage to the roo steel wheelbarrow ts. Providing your garden with compost, farm yard manure or mushroom compost can help the earthworms to recover and in turn, prove to be a major remedy in case of extreme flood or water damage. Another vital hint is providing a dressing of calcified seaweed which stimulates the proliferation of soil micro-organisms in the plants. If you have plants in very low-lying areas, the recovery may be take much more time. Potting these plants is the best solution for a quick recovery.For more helpful ideas on this topic, check out our main page here:Auckland flood restorations

Portable Garden Football Goals

Are your kids fond of foot ball? Mommies need not worry of getting a permanent goal set up in their garden anymore. Portable garden football goals are a very good alternative if you don't want to have a goal as a permanent decoration in your garden and still want your child to enjoy their sports. Portable ones are also cost efficient than the permanent ones so your ch garden cart wheels ild can enjoy their favorite sports without damaging your garden and your pocket at the same time. Advantages of having Portable Football Goals in your Gardens ·         Portable garden football goals are lightweight that can be easily move ·         . You and your kids can bring it along if Inflated wheel you have family activities like camping and some sort. ·         You can simply put it up and take it down again after playing so that you can use your garden for any other functions or activities. ·         Very handy and not space consuming. You can simply store it somewhere without worrying about space. ·         Quick and very easy to assemble, designed to fold with hinges and locking pins or elastic cords. ·         Your kid can develop their being independent in the long run when they won't need their parent's help to set up their garden football goals. ·         Parents can enjoy playing with their kids while staying at home and do their regular home chores at the same time. ·         If kids want to play in your neighbor's place, they can easily carry them out and assemble it in their friend's garden.  Features   ·         Easy to assemble, even kids can do this on their own. ·         Comes with a small carry bag to allow compact storage and easy transport. ·         Available in different attractive colors for children to get attracted to fun play. ·         Available in different sizes depending on your kid's age range. This also matches kid's ability towards the sport. ·         Suitable for garden use. Things to Consider Before Buying Before wheelbarrow tyres purchasing your kids these portable garden football goals you need to do some checking first to make sure you are not risking the quality of the play set you're buying. Look for the best durability, make sure that every steel bars are sturdy. Also look for lightweight ones, so that you and your kids can simply set it up and take it down eventually. Consider your kids input when choosing for the right garden football goals. Parents should consider the type of garden you have and think on how to set up this football goals with the present landscaping you have at the moment. You may need to do some adjustment to give way of the football goal space.