Duncan Ville

Archive for April, 2010

My dad has been working in a company for years now, and is in charge of advertising and as part of the company’s advertising schemes is giving out promotional items!  An imprinted promotional product has proven to be very appealing to potential customers and to existing customers as well!  They were great gifts to give out!  If you think about it, giving out promotional products is like hitting birds with one stone, not only did you make your customers feel special, but at the same time, they are promoting your company’s products and services! Every time they make use of these promotional items, they become marketing tools as well!

Most of these promotional items are in demand during the holidays, and the popular promotional items include imprinted mugs, shirts, umbrellas, and such! One of the company’s favorite is the promotional key chain, for giving out in fairs or at the mall.  Giving out promotional key chains is relatively cheaper, light weight and a space-saver, making it suitable for giving out in crowded and public areas. And when it comes to imprinted mugs, my dad gives them out to existing clients, that they want to thank for their continuous support and patronage.  Even employees use these promotional items as gifts to relatives and friends during the holidays! Like last Christmas, my dad gave out about a two dozens of imprinted mugs with matching promotional key chains, our relatives were happy with the products since it was practical and something they can use at home or at the office! And the best thing about promotional items is that they are cheaper to make, and can be produced fast!  Who says advertising is handled by the company and its employees alone? With promotional items, your customers are also helping you advertise your products and services!

Each year as graduation draws near, colleges all over the world start searching for the perfect commencement speaker to be a part of their graduation services. The commencement speaker is usually noted for their outstanding achievements, and is selected because the school administration feels they will serve to inspire graduates, and compel them to excel along the pathway they have chosen. Not all commencement speakers fit into this tidy little mold that has become to be considered the norm.

Sometimes the chosen speaker fits better outside of the box, rather than in it. Here is some of the oddest commencement speakers, and speeches, ever made; or at the very least, ones that stand out among the rest as being non-traditional.

Steve Jobs was the commencement speaker at Stanford University in 2005. Sure his sister belonged to Stanford’s class of 2005, and sure Jobs was the co-founder of Apple, and sure he didn’t graduate from Stanford (Which isn’t necessarily a requirement) but he didn’t graduate from any college! As Jobs put it in his speak, “…This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.”

He goes on to say, “You have to trust in something…your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.” Does this mean your education has nothing to do with it? Not to disregard Mr. Jobs’ achievements, but usually the emphasis in a commencement speech focuses more on using the education you struggled so long and hard to acquire rather than on luck or karma.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was the commencement speaker at Evergreen College in 1999. (Well sorta) Abu-Jamal actually delivered his speech on an audiotape. He wasn’t able to be there in person because he was a resident of Pennsylvania’s death row.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1982 murder of a police officer. The trial that ensued lead to widespread debate, and in 2001, the conviction was upheld although the sentence of death was overturned. Abu-Jamal was definitely an odd choice as a commencement speaker.

Russell Baker was chosen as the commencement speaker at Connecticut College in 1995. While his credentials are more in tune with what many consider a tradition speaker, the address he gave to the graduating class wasn’t.

“Let’s plunge right ahead into the dull part. That’s the part where the commencement speaker tells the graduates to go forth into the world, then gives advice on what to do when they get out there. This is a ridiculous waste of time. The graduates never take the advice, as I have learned from long experience. The best advice I can give anybody about going out into the world is this. Don’t do it. I have been out there. It’s a mess.”

This was probably the last thing anyone expected this Pulitzer Prize-winning author to say.

Neil Diamond, who was the commencement speaker at New York University in 1995, was a college dropout. How surprised his mother must have been when he told her was receiving and honorary degree. She must have been truly shocked when Diamond gave an outstanding rendition of “Louie, Louie” as part of his address.

Trudi Buck blogs about how to find schools with the best university reviews online.

I  never liked going  to the dentist, when I was kid, I wouldn’t tell my mom that I had a toothache!  The dentist for me, was the scariest person! Back then I thought that dentists are there for solely one reason only, to extract tooth! I had this misconception for years! And it was only recently that I really understood the real functions of a dental facility.

It  was that day, I was at work, carrying a huge pile of paper works, when tripped over a cable and fell down! Papers were flying everywhere, and I fell, face first to floor.  Although our office was carpeted, it was still  a nasty fall that one of teeth fell off!  I went to a dental implants bolton for an appointment at first I felt embarrassed about my missing tooth, but the employees were caring enough to make me feel that it was accident and should not be embarrassed about it.  They made me comfortable as I  can, and we started to have a conversation about dental procedures that are popular.  And I was amazed that more or less the staff knew what they were talking about! And they said that taking a few dental courses, made them competent employees.  It was also during that conversation that I found about other dental jobs! I never noticed how fast the time went by, and before I knew it, it was my turn!

I detest a Toothache and have it extracted every time I have it against the advice of mother’s dentists in halifax or my father’s dentists in wakefield. Naturally I had gaps here and there to my great embarrassment.

Now retired, I returned to Halifax to nurse my mother back to health.  As she got better, I decided to make a call to mother’s dentists in halifax for a toothache.  After exchanging pleasantries with my dentist who still remember me, there I was listening to suggestions to have dental bridges to cover the gap and replace long gone teeth.  I didn’t want my smiles looking like the bridges of Madison Country and I was hesitant, of course. Out of civility, I listened as my dentist explained that porcelain teeth will be custom made to match the teeth I still had. Obviously, the remaining teeth had to undergo a series of teeth whitening procedures to create lighter and whiter teeth.  Crooked or unaligned ones had to be straightened out.    Mom’s dentists in halifax did what they had to do and agreed to let my dentists wakefield continue my complete dental makeover.  My dentists wakefield made small gum grafts to  improve the cosmetic appearance of gum shrinkage caused by past tooth removal and my latest one done in  Halifax. When it was all over I went further, I changed my hair style and color that mom hardly recognize me when I fetched her to live with me.

A psychology volunteer in a facility for Lost Boys I deal with problems and solutions as diversified as the boys living in.  Under my care are minors already in and out gangs.  I help boys in their reversal problems:  vasectomy reversal, tattoo removal, trauma and attitude reversals to name a few.  I consult dentists shrewsbury for oral reconstruction for battered boys.

Probing young minds is dangerous exercise.  It is vital to explain all procedures, methods, techniques and expectations without human rights violation.  Like vasectomy reversal with surgery as the only option for the males, dentists shrewsbury is for oral reversals.  Manual or machine operated, lasers and skin grafting are options for  tattoo removal with the last two, in my opinion, the most effective. Most these reversals are done with combined efforts of  medical doctors or dentists, anesthesiologists, tattooers and the patients.  Among reversals discussed here, tattoo removal is the most intricate.  Some boys have done their own tattoo removal causing scarring, tissue texture change, keloid and infection.  .  Professional fees and other costs are discussed by  management with juvenile lawyers and local authorities. Fess for oral makeovers for our battered boys under dentists shrewsbury care and a vasectomy reversal not covered by charitable institutions are paid by donors at special rates.  I find working with our lost boys rewarding and productive. Most of them moved on with brighter prospective reverting as responsible citizens while stayed for either more counseling or turned dedicated volunteers like me.