Ways of Volunteering Your Time

We all know that volunteer work can strengthen community bonds and in the same stride assist people in need. However, organizing this can be somewhat difficult by itself, and let’s not forget that’s free time better used in actually volunteering. Keep in mind that you’ll have more fun volunteering when your colleagues are getting involved right along with you!

The obvious step is for other companies to take a cue from far-sighted firms like Adaptive Marketing LLC. As well as financial and shopping benefits programs like Passport to Fun intended to benefit consumers, Adaptive Marketing handles the organizational duties to give its employees more time to help the local community.

Such initiatives used to be rare, limited occasions — but today that can be seen as just the beginning. As an example, Adaptive Marketing has provided its staff members with the opportunity to help with anything from tennis shoe recycling efforts to tree planting weekends. With all pertinent information — time, date, location, type of event, etc — prominently displayed it became very simple for staff to set aside the time they’d volunteer and how they’d be using it.

Making sure volunteers have their say in what initiatives are available is essential. At Adaptive Marketing, the people who brought you Passport to Fun, staff are presented with the chance to choose from a wide assortment of volunteer activities. These may include working with children and young adults, getting involved in culture, green initiatives etc. Adaptive Marketing’s staff members will be certain to find a project they’ll enjoy getting involved in, ensuring they’ll spend their time effectively.

Most often a company supported charity initiative — getting involved with a local school, for example, or assisting at a homeless shelter — is either done on a regular schedule or as a one-off event. Employees may well submit — and truly assume — that they have no time to give, though we’d be surprised if they truly cannot find the resources to help at an event covering merely a single day. You’ll find plenty of tales of firms giving back to the citizens of their hometown. A sense of community goodwill is generated by the volunteer work carried out by Adaptive Marketing’s members of staff over the course of these initiatives. Another aspect is, one of the benefits of volunteer work is a sense of accomplishment and generosity — a positive feeling that uplifts the entire corporate culture.

One Excellent Approach You Have to Learn about: Nicholas Bredimus

Taken note of the extent to which the advances in computer software have fundamentally redefined air travel and hospitality as you have known them in the past decade? Most responsible is New Jersey’s own Mr Nicholas Bredimus. His CV covers time-saving software, air safety advancements, and he’s even involved in designing high-value houses. And whatever he settles on, he will bring his full energy to it.

His family history will reveal everything you might want to know regarding his talents and the tremendous amount he has achieved. His family traces its roots as far back as the days of Rome’s glory and proudly boasts a diverse background. His maternal family came from Scotland and Germany. Luxembourg and England were the source for his father’s family, although the family came to America in the late 19th century. Once in the United States of America, the family still strove to rise to the top. One of seven children — three boys and four girls — Nicholas had a father employed as a mechanical design engineer, and a mother who worked as a nurse. Bredimus went on to make his home in the Lone Star State for quite some while as well as in Reston, VA, Kansas City, MO and Scottsdale, AZ. What did he do with his heritage and studies? He would swiftly embark on a string of respected jobs, each one as part of major airlines. Bredimus rose to the position of VP with corporations like Republic Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA), and Hughes Airwest. Most notable, though, is his prowess as an inspired software architect working with the airline industry. He is most recognized for a project for US Airways, his airplane maintenance applications which are now used by most air carriers. He turned his gaze next to making and recording bookings. For both hotels and air travel he designed programs to handle the bulk of the work required before automation. He went on to design QuikTix, the world’s first automatic ticketing network.

While this was his specialty, Nicholas Bredimus often worked on other areas. In his own company, as a Division Manager with American Express, and as the inaugural president of AMR Travel Services his performance speaks for itself.

And is he still active? Very much so — his prowess is still very much ready to answer the call no matter his retirement. Now, you can look for his work in luxurious homes designed around some of the most advanced green technology on the planet.

Business and the Planet: Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. And the Environmental Defense Fund

Originally, when Henry Kravis and George Roberts founded Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the mid-seventies with the support of the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s main business was in highly leveraged transactions. Lately, however, aiming to make the businesses in their portfolio more environmentally aware, KKR have rolled out a remarkable green enterprise that has completely transformed the method by which businesses and environmental activists operate. When Henry Kravis from KKR and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged just a year ago green matters in the business community became major topic. This coalition intends to tackle serious matters affecting the environment, for instance hazardous emissions, climate change, unreasonable consumption of water resources, and depletion of the ozone layer. In order to achieve this, they employ eco-efficiency which makes use of concepts such as fuel economy, using clean energy, and reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals. Simple and effective, but the management didn’t see the full program’s advantages until the person responsible for the project, Ken Mehlman, studied the program when it had been functioning for a year.

Capping everyone’s expectations, Ken realized that this program not only diminished the impact on the planet, but was increasing the profits from all their business concerns as well. Currently, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have managed to get almost every associated business organization involved in eco-efficiency principles. If you think about the fact that the entire portfolio is valued at 86 billion dollars, you can see what a feat this actually is.

The Green Portfolio project has developed beyond its primary remit and nowadays includes new and groundbreaking enterprises. For example, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co got together with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program a venture which teaches MBA interns how to introduce cost-effective, environmentally friendly principles. KKR and Ken Mehlman have been creating a package of analytical tools that can measure and oversee resources. Systems such as these allow management to measure their progress and identify any areas that may need improving. The business world has been transformed forever by the ground breaking efforts of Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund. In summary, the work of these organizations has made ecologically friendly business practice not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their novel ideas are setting a new standard in the high-pressure business world of today.

Volunteering Your Time to Good Causes

The sense of companionship that volunteers experience can strengthen the local community spirit, and naturally it will fulfill the volunteers’ goal of assisting those incapable of supporting themselves. But where do you find the time to donate your time? It’s much less hassle to get involved when a volunteer event has been organized for you. And don’t you agree that with your friends from work working alongside you, you’d all have a better time while volunteering?

The obvious step, then, is for other companies to take a cue from far-sighted firms like Connecticut’s Adaptive Marketing LLC. In addition to programs like Shopping Essentials Plus (MVQ*SHOPESSPLUS) intended to benefit consumers, Adaptive Marketing organizes local volunteer activity to give its employees more time to help the local community. Initiatives like these were always annual, minor events - in today’s world, so much more can be achieved. The employees of Adaptive Marketing have been given the chance to get involved in a wide variety of community initiatives. By centralizing the organization individual initiatives became events, with specific locations, dates and times posted in advance to make time management easy for volunteers. It’s hardly volunteering if there’s no choice between projects, of course. Firms providing this kind of service to their community like Adaptive Marketing, the developers of the program Shopping Essentials Plus (MVQ*SHOPESSPLUS), present their staffers with a diverse list of local events to get involved with. Earlier projects have included work in areas as diverse as aid and assistance for children and young adults, green awareness activities, and events related to theatre. Adaptive Marketing’s staff members have so much to choose from that they’re certain to find a project they’ll enjoy taking part in, making their time enjoyable as well as useful.

A regular addition to their schedule or a single big event - these are the most likely ways for a company to arrange this kind of volunteer initiative, maybe at a local school or the homeless shelter in town. Regardless of how short the time you have, you’re sure to find some initiative needing your help, so time is no block against volunteering. It’s common practice for companies to help to support the people of their home town. Like many other firms, Adaptive Marketing supports volunteer activities in part to generate goodwill within the local community through its staff members activities. Helping around your hometown makes you feel better about yourself - exactly what you need, of course, to make employees motivated both in their daily work and their volunteer activities, too. Promoting the volunteer spirit among your members of staff can be its own reward.

Stepping Back to Study the Entrepreneurial Life of Naveen Jain: Practical Humanitarianism at Its Foremost

You are bound to have heard mention of Mr. Naveen Jain the CEO as well as co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the company offering background checks, identity theft protection and public records services. On top of having made the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” in 2000, this prosperous entrepreneur has received multiple distinguished awards, most notably the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award. Nonetheless things categorically develop further from there. Because Naveen Jain and his relations are just as passionate about philanthropy and will strive to assist needy people when they can.

There’s no doubt about the fact that children are indeed the world’s #1 resource and the single guarantee of its entire future. They are moreover a central motivation for this enterprising man, and he leverages any opportunity available to aid them. This, of course, is the chief reason why he is always diligently using every opening available to him to lend a helping hand if it seems at all feasible. In consequence, Naveen Jain, his kin and his staff at Intelius give their time to many different charitable foundations like the University of Washington, the Indian American Education Foundation, and Hopelink. Obviously they will hand out ample financial support but most importantly they dedicate plenty of time and care to those youth who require it the most. Furthermore, Naveen Jain helps by sponsoring the Children’s Hospital in an attempt to restore children’s health, too. Because Naveen Jain is a former student of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it is no surprise that formal training holds an extremely important preference in his philanthropic endeavors. This also includes causes and charitable organizations that cover the spectrum from neighborhood programs to the global. In doing this Intelius and its CEO are sponsoring aid agencies and humanitarian entities such as the University Preparatory Academy, Child Rights and You (CRY) and the Overlake Service League.

Feeding the planet’s destitute is another critical responsibility for Naveen Jain and his folks and to him, it makes not one jot of difference. Although Naveen Jain is conscious that the enterprise of getting provisions for all the world’s hungry is a colossal one, he also knows that the unfeasible can indeed become feasible provided everybody works together. If this CEO actually achieves his goals, the final curtain will certainly come down on famine and poverty all over the world in the future.

You could believe that being the man in full command of a highly thriving market leading enterprise on top of being an out-and-out family man would provide him little or no resources for donating and support. However, Naveen Jain sees to it that each one of his benevolent efforts may rely on all the aid he can possibly ramp up. To wrap it up, this energetic man is decidedly more than a mere steersman of industry. He is, in fact, an exceptional person and a true community patron.

The Business World of Naveen Jain: Constructive Humanitarianism at Its Very Best

You’ll most likely have seen mention of Mr. Naveen Jain as the co-founder & CEO of Intelius, Inc. the information commerce market leaders. Well beyond making the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” in 2000, this prosperous businessman has collected a variety of choice awards, foremost the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the WSA Industry Achievement Award, and the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Even so it does not end at that point. For Jain and his relatives are equally as passionate about their beneficent endeavors and will seek to lend a hand as regularly as they can.

All our anticipations for humanity’s future are held in our youth. They are moreover an all-important motivation for this enterprising man, and he takes each and every chance available to aid them. This of course, is why he is always meticulously taking advantage of every possibility available to offer help wherever at all practicable. Consequently, Naveen Jain, his kin and the workers at Intelius devote their time and efforts to diverse philanthropical organizations for example the University of Washington, the University Preparatory Academy, and the Children’s Hospital. Obviously they offer a great amount of financial assistance, but even more importantly, they devote plenty of time and care to the youth who need it the most. Moreover, Mr. Jain helps by sponsoring the Children’s Hospital in an effort to restore children’s health too.

Seeing that Jain is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it comes as no wonder that formal education is a tremendously significant rank in his philanthropic operations. This also incorporates movements and deserving cause that will range from the regional to the global. In doing this Intelius and its CEO are supporting aid agencies and philanthropic bodies, for example the Indian American Education Foundation, TreeHouse and the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club.

Feeding the world’s hungry represents another serious litmus test for Jain and his family and to him, it makes not a iota of difference. Although he is conscious that the undertaking of locating provisions for all the world’s unnourished is an eminently phenomenal one, he is also aware that the unfeasible can really be positively achievable if only the whole world exerts themselves towards a united end. If this business leader really achieves his goals, there will be a final conclusion to privation and starvation in the world in the future. Many people may suspect that being the headman of a successful market leading business and a committed spouse and family man as well would leave him no spare time for philanthropic works. But he takes care to make certain that each and every one of his benevolent endeavors obtains all the assistance he can possibly marshal. This philanthropic man is certainly way more than your familiar (though very successful) captain of industry. He is, even more importantly, an exceptional personality and a genuine hero of his community.

A Background Portray — the Prominent Business Leader Naveen Jain - Admirable Altruism at Its Very Best

These days compassionate charity work is more important than ever before in history. Like most people, you will have encountered Mr. Naveen Jain’s name in connection with him being the co-founder and CEO of Intelius, Inc. the acclaimed company providing background checks and public records services. Well beyond having his position on the Forbes 400 Richest in America list in 2000, this prosperous businessman has gained various reputable awards including the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award, to list a few of them. Yet things definitely develop further from there. For Naveen Jain and his relations are by the same token as zealous about philanthropy and will endeavor to assist whenever possible. There can be no doubt regarding the fact that kids are definitely our world’s number 1 resource and indeed its entire future. Naveen Jain also views children as constituting the focus of his endeavors, and he uses any opportunity he gets to support them. This, too, is the chief reason why he is so assiduously leveraging every possibility available to him to offer support whenever at all practicable. In consequence, Naveen Jain, his kin and the workers at Intelius, Inc. pledge their time to charities like the Children’s Hospital, the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, and United Way. They give plenty of monetary assistance, but more importantly they devote their time and care to the children who require it the most. Mr. Jain also donates to the Children’s Hospital, dedicated to improving children’s health too. Seeing that Jain is a former student of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it is hardly astounding that education constitutes a critical pivot point in his philanthropic operations. This incorporates movements and aid organizations local, state, and nationwide. Thus, Intelius and its CEO are aiding deserving interest groups and charities such as the Rotary Club, the Vedic Cultural Center and TreeHouse. Feeding the world’s hungry is an additional important responsibility for Naveen Jain and his relatives and to him, it makes not one jot of difference. While Naveen is acutely conscious that the objective of feeding every starving person in the world can seem to be an overwhelming task, he also knows that the irresolvable can really turn out to be achievable if each and every one of us works in concert. If this entrepreneur really achieves his goals, there will be a certain end to destitution and hunger everywhere one day.

Readers could probably be pardoned for supposing that as the man in charge of a wildly prosperous company in addition to being a dedicated spouse and father would leave him with no free time for philanthropic projects. Yet he sees to it that each of his benevolent ventures obtains as much assistance as he can feasibly ramp up. To wrap it up, this entrepreneurial man is indisputably way more than a mere captain of industry. He is a very humane person and an exceptional community champion.

6 Forum Management Essentials

If you are tasked with managing a forum, congratulations to you. If you find yourself weighed down by mundane management tasks, you are not alone. Let’s examine some essentials to help you run an effective and vibrant message board community without the hassles of micromanagement.

1. Find a forum you like and stick with it. Yes, not everyone will be using vBulletin or one of the other wonderful PHP or ASP message board sites. If you like EZBoard or if you like making your own site up with PHP open source, then do it and stick with it. By now you know the pitfalls of the particular sites; can you really afford to regularly change to the latest and greatest technologies? Probably not, unless your site is already generating plenty of income through Google AdSense or similar types of PPC advertising. I am not saying to never update your site, rather weigh the costs of whether your site has to have a certain site or feel to be successful. Even ugly sites can prosper, witness Craig’s List!

2. Find moderators who want to moderate. Not everyone who volunteers to moderate a particular forum on your message board is fit for the task. Some will sign up and then not moderate; better to go without a moderator then to have a “name in place.” Keep your standards high and only the best will volunteer.

3. Envision long term. Unless you plan on rapidly growing your forum and then “flipping” it in a quick sale, you are better off looking at keeping your site for many years. Yes, in the land of the internet, everything changes so rapidly; still there are forums that can and do thrive the longer they are online, with proper management of course!

4. Reward your core constituency. Chances are your site is dominated by a small group of people who post regularly and are generally most helpful overall. Consider having a private forum viewable only to them on your site. Out of this group will likely come your moderators; run contests for this group only. Find advertisers to fund the prizes.

5. Ignore the squeeky, vocal minority. Yes, there will be the small amount of people — usually less than 10% of your members — whose demands on your time far exceed what is normal. They are the ones who want extensive hand holding and technical assistance…if they would only read previous threads or pay attention to announcements, your problems with them would be resolved. As much as it cuts against the grain for some administrators [heck, you are all about helping people, right?], you must cut them loose. You need not do it directly, but by not promptly answering their questions they will either figure things out themselves or move on.

6. Be well funded. Have a treasure chest or Paypal donation box on your site to welcome contributions. Run banner ads and join a successful PPC program. Find an advertising plan that works well for you. Seek grant money if your site is geared toward helping raise awareness about a particular health or social issue. You want to reap some monies from your site and you should pay yourself for your hard work.

Not all forums are meant to succeed on the internet, nor should they. The successful sites are well managed and positively impact members and guests far beyond the internet. If you have one of these sites, congratulations and good management to you!

Matt runs two successful forums which can be viewed at http://aviationemploymentboard.net/forum and http://corporateflyer.net/forum

Talk Isn’t Cheap

The most successful organizations have good communication skills. Survey after survey bears this out. Poor communication skills are often cited in employee surveys as a reason for poor morale and performance.

Having been in the business of building organizational communication skills for more than 25 years, I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact these skills can have upon a company. Speaking with respect and active listening are so important that I don’t understand why more organizations don’t teach these important skills. They can truly differentiate you from your competitors and give you a decided advantage in the marketplace.

In a recent article in Chief Learning Officer, our friend and client, Randy Hall from Pfizer Animal Health, had some interesting things to say about our Excellence in Speaking Institute and its impact upon his company. Here’s an excerpt from that article:

“During Ty’s course, you’re probably on your feet 15 to 18 times in front of your peers or a group of folks that you’re in the course with, presenting to them. Even if you are uncomfortable the first couple of times, by the time you’ve done that over and over the fear starts to fade and the confidence starts to come in,” said Randy Hall, global director of learning and development, Pfizer Inc. Animal Health Group. “The other thing is the coaching (participants) get. They get one-on-one, very specific coaching during the class that allows them to address whichever areas of their communication skills need the most work.” These improvement areas depend on how participants present to other people and could include lack of clarity, inability to quickly get to the point, incorrect use of body language or other habits that detract from the messenger and the message being delivered.”

Hall added that Pfizer had a real business need: getting people to communicate effectively in various situations-from one-on-one conversations to group meetings. After going through a pilot of Boyd’s class with his peers, Hall said the course was so impressive that Pfizer Animal Health Group now requires every new sales representative and manager to go through it. “These folks communicate for a living, and what Ty and his team enable them to do is lose or at least diminish their fear of the process,” Hall explained. “They feel more comfortable and confident in front of small or large groups of people, and we believe that it helps them engage more in every area of their business. He’s been a great business partner with us, and the demand for the course is what drove it. People aren’t going because I say so. They’re going because they’re hearing word-of-mouth out there on the street that this is something that really helps them get better at their jobs. They want to be there.”

Are your people communicating effectively inside and outside the organization? Shouldn’t they be?

Ty Boyd, CEO of Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, is in the Broadcast Hall of Fame and the Speakers Hall of Fame. He has taught presentation skills to Fortune 1000 executives in more than 34 countries. His Excellence In Speaking Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2005.

Pass That Lead Along Instead Of Saying No!

I just got a lead from someone who left a message saying he wants to have appointments set on his behalf.

I used to consider these inquiries a nuisance, because it would bother me to ignore them, and I didn’t feel I could benefit from them, directly.

But now, I take a different tack.

For example, at present, my firm doesn’t do appointment-setting, but we know others who do.

So, without hesitation, I didn’t call him to say no; I passed along his inquiry to someone who can say yes.

I won’t earn a spiff, a commission, or a referral fee of any kind.

But it’s in everybody’s interest to make the economy more efficient, so instead of sitting on this lead, I sent it out as soon as I could, which happened to be within five minutes of receiving it.

This is the second time this week that I’ve done it, and I know, somewhere in the ether, someone, the great Overseer of All Business, is keeping track, and my very minor generosity will come back to me.

Perhaps multiplied, as some folks believe.

No matter, we should develop a small but responsive network of people to whom we can distribute excess or not quite relevant leads, if for no other reason, than it feel so good, and makes us feel we’re making a contribution.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.