Friendship Day, as we are all well aware, is a day of celebrating your ties of genuine friendship. It’s a significant occasion that fortifies the bond between friends. The day is not far away. And you may well be thinking of an appropriate gift idea for the occasion.

Instead of going for a rushed, last-minute purchase of flowers, here are some gift ideas to work on to make your friend happy.

1. An eclectic picture perfect photo frame with nice personal touch can be presented. Rummage through old photo albums! Reprocess an old birthday, anniversary or a picnic. An intelligently conceived, calligraphic text will make it look classy.

2. Mouse pad with a message is also worth considering. Many computer accessory stores readily customize the mouse pad with photos or illustrations of your choice. You could redo a ubiquitous penholder or mug in the same manner.

3. Burn a CD of your friend’s favorite duets or solos or classic poems. A music CD with personalized messages sneaked in between songs for you friend will make him or her special. Customize the CD cover with a childhood picture that you can source from your family album.

4. Get a personalized piece of art if you friend is an art lover. Gift him or her one of those beautiful, original prints.

5. Engraving your feelings or simply your initials on a gift will make it a memorable and treasured one. A generic gift may not stand out, but it is possible to give a complete twist to even the simplest and commonest of gifts, making them appear fantastic! For example, by engraving a bracelet or a pretty key chain with a special message for your friend, you can make him or her happy.

Gifting your friend something he or she has been thinking to buy for a while is a perfect way to capture the spirit of the day.

With a bit of thought and imagination, you can come up with an interesting Friendship Day gift ideas.

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“Ever spent hours just wandering from store to store, searching for a gift for someone, which would be useful still not a commonplace one? Why not consider an option that has been around for quite a while, though is still relatively unknown.”

These are the lines from an interesting article in the Business Line publication that explains how a gift card can make a really ‘presentable’ idea. Incidentally, it can also be a perfect Rakhi gift. 

The writer of this informative essay, Bhavana Acharya is referring to a prepaid gift card.

Clearing some basic things about it, she mentions: “You may think that a gift card and a gift voucher are one and the same. Well, even though they are closer to each other in conceptual terms, there is slight difference between the two.

Let us try to follow how and where the two differ.”

• Basically speaking, a gift card is a hybrid between a debit card and a gift voucher. Being so, it provides the receiver with a twin advantage – flexibility of the former with the functionality of the latter.

• A prepaid gift card is fashioned after a debit card and a gift voucher, combining their beneficial features.

• A prepaid gift card is worth a fixed amount of sum. It can
be swiped, well at any top mall or shopping complex.

• Depending on your budget and the money you want to spend for the person, you can determine its value. Accordingly, you may load the amount on it. It is entirely up to you, making it absolutely convenient. For example, if your gifting budget allows you to spend not more than Rs 1,000, you can purchase a gift card exactly worth that denomination. Obviously, the person whom you are gifting it will be able to make a purchase of his choice up to Rs 1,000. 

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Here is an opportunity in the offing for those keen on gifting exquisitely crafted, classic and glittering gold items. According to media reports, the World Gold Council is all set to explore spiritual connection of the popular yellow metal with India’s heritage and mythology. 

WGC, as is known, has developed into a worldwide organization funded by the leading gold mining firms. The council apparently is searching for the precious metal’s intrinsic value beyond prices. It is thinking of appointing an expert on Indian mythology, Dr Devdutt Pattanaik, as a consultant.

The famous writer of several research based books comprising ‘The Book of Ram’, Dr Devdutt Pattanaik will be mandated to come up with innovative ways for fitting gold in spiritualism. As reported, the council is likely to engage him for the project by October. The first glimpse of the concept is slated to be offered by as soon as April 2010.

Now, gold is considered more as a valuable asset for future. Primarily stored more for its ornamental value in the past, people now hold it as an investment. However, WGC is trying to look at gold beyond just market price. For this it will try to strike a mythological chord with those spiritually inclined. The council is planning to work with leading temples trusts like Vaishno Devi Shrine Board to manufacture jewelry items, either by themselves or by engaging local manufacturers.

Ajay Mitra, MD (India sub-continent) for WGC, has been quoted as saying: “The concept has immense potential; the metal will not only accumulate all the known forms of mythology like forming symbols (such as trishul, om), rituals and telling story, but will also bridge the gap between the ancient art of story-telling and rituals as of today.” 

These gold artifacts with a spiritual connection, once they are released, are bound to make a popular gifting choice. 

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With rains the air, chirpy children are back to school. It’s that time the year to meet old classmates, to study, to shop for books, notebooks and other accessories. If you rewind back to your childhood days, college and school reopening has a charm of its own. As you would recount, making new friends, uniting with old classmates, it’s all fun! Schools have already opened up and colleges will start soon. SSC and HSC students are waiting for their respective admission formalities to be completed.

If you want to strike a bond with a family friend, relative or office colleagues having school or college going children, there can be no perfect occasion than this to give a meaningful and useful gift. You can convert them into exciting gifts for children, and make them happy.

Buying new uniforms, shoes, water bottles, raincoat…the list is endless. Why do make all these a mere routine purchase? Get something for children, which will put a twinkle in their eyes and will bring a smile on their faces! After all, gifting is about spreading happiness, isn’t it? Here are some ideas to help you in making your choice.

• There are unique umbrellas and raincoats specially designed for children and in colors that delight children of all ages. To wade through monsoon waters, you can get specially designed cute umbrellas for little ones.
• Erasers in the shape of Tweetie and Bugs Bunny, water bottles shaped like Winnie-the-Pooh will certainly fascinate the children.
• Fancy lunch boxes will be another good pick. With varieties galore and so much choice, buying a gift for children will be a pleasure in itself.
• Several brands, such as Camlin, ITC, Crayola, Apsara, Sundaram, Maped and Pidilite are leaders in the school products range.

You can only add to the fun by giving some interesting and timely gifts.

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Why not gift a good camera that is built to last to your relative, friend or colleague. He or she would like to receive a highly functional and sturdy camera with a resilient body.

For slightly rough usage, a camera that is both water resistant and shockproof will be a perfect choice. In effect, it will make an ideal companion on trips to muddy hiking trails, sandy beaches, and even underwater adventures. If you can afford, you can certainly consider gifting a camera that is perfect for those tough moments in life.

Let us check the worth of Canon PowerShot D10 as a gifting option. It pitches itself directly against Olympus’ Tough range. In fact, the PowerShot D10 is Canon’s first native underwater camera. It comes with optional longer straps and a super-strong wrist leash.

Also, the Canon’s tough, funky chassis keeps it safe from water as far as 33 feet deep and even from a four feet fall. It can deliver some great imagery. The issue with many rugged cameras is the picture quality. D10 seems to have all the basic components of a comprehensive camera, as is the feature of other Canon’s PowerShot models.

Basic specs are a 12.1 megapixel CCD imager, a 3x zoom lens with optical image stabilization, and Canon’s latest DIGIC IV processing. The extended battery life, which lasts up to 190 shots at single charge, is another big plus. This definitely makes it a great choice outdoor shoots.

As proclaimed, it is waterproof, freezeproof as well as shockproof. It carries an accurate autofocus. However, its 3x zoom along with a 2.5” display is not really high-end for cameras. But if you want to gift just a point-and-shoot device, its comprehensive range of different scene modes make Canon D10 at a price tag of Rs 20,995 a good choice.

Tags: low cost gifts, Business Gifting
Corporate gifting, Best corporate gifts, Worst gifts, Gifting occasions, Gifting events, promotional gifts, business gift baskets, gifting to clients, promotional products

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In our recent blog, we discussed a unique initiative by Hindustan Unilever for all its employees. The company has set certain parameters that are meticulously measured, and a score is given to each employee on a vitality index score card.

The lower is the score, the better is an employee’s vitality;  a score of 0 to 4 puts the employee concerned in the green zone, a score of 5 to 6 slots one in the amber zone and a 7 plus score puts one in the red zone. Each employee is informed about his/her personal vitality score/color zone in a confidential manner.

Such relation building programs are a big boost to the employees’ morale and far more gainful than mere monetary rewards and incentives.  Of course, these measures succeed only if there’s a buy-in at the top! The top management committee ensured this. Another challenge was to create a buzz around the initiative. Mailers and posters like ‘Do you see red every time you see a staircase?’, or ‘Cool as a cucumber about your health? Don’t wait till it becomes red-hot’ were circulated.

In the next stage, employees were prompted to improve their vitality scores by conducting workshops  across the company’s different locations, through events such as Family Day, Walkathons, Vitality Exhibitions, nutritional menu counseling etc. Interactive sessions were held to teach the employees about the concept of BMI, ways of improving lifestyle, healthy diet to avoid/reduce weight gain as well as proper exercises for weight management.

The focus has been on scientific exercise methods, correct practical nutritional advice, and stress management techniques. The aim is to create health awareness so as to attain better fitness levels and enhanced lifestyle patterns. Workshops are conducted on post-retirement health planning for managers. At a basic level, the vitality index project reflects common sense: The healthier your employees, the more likely they’re to be (efficient) at work.

Tags: Cheap corporate gifts, low cost gifts, business gift baskets, Popular corporate gifts, Worst gifts, gifting etiquette, Gifting occasions, business gifting, promotional products, Best corporate gifts

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The recession has left quite a many people without jobs, leaving behind many more insecure about their futures. The smarter ones though, are always thinking long-term going beyond such slumps. They are not worried about ups and downs in life. They want to ensure that they become indispensable in the organizational set-up.

This can be made possible by persistently enhancing your work skills. You constantly need to reinvent yourself. This again is a skill in itself that can be learnt and passed on.

In case you want to offer one of your despondent friends or colleagues a helping hand, you can do so through a host of inspirational and self-help books. Those looking to move on having lost a job will find solace in spiritual and philosophical readings. And the more adventurous ones already thinking beyond jobs, to turn entrepreneurs in their own right, will get the motivation from your timely gift.

Of course, not every one has the confidence and drive to take that radical step, and few indeed can afford going back to B-school. So to feel the breach many advice-providers and authors of how-to business books step in. They tell you how to remain unruffled by the downturn.

We have already checked some titled that might make good gifts in today’s tough times in our recent blog. Here are some more ideas. ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’, a self-help fable about an individual who had everything and simply gave it up for the sake of his soul, is right on top of the heap. But what is the current trend? “Now it’s more human-oriented,” Sugata Ghosh, head of commissioning, Sage Publications stated in a recent interview, summed up the business-books market orientation.

So even while Robin Sharma’s boom-time hit retains its popularity, many new and upcoming releases tell a different tale. Jaico has on offer a series of affordable business books. ‘The 60 Second Self-Starter’ is a simple, effective, hands-on guide, which one can use to dismantle obstacles acting as barriers to productivity.

The crucial tip offered: “Keep your frustration level low and your energy level high.” Here’s another one: “Theory of Constraints sermonizes that the goal is making money at present, and for the future! Here, ‘future’ is as important as ‘present’.”

Such words of wisdom sound optimistic as well as practically useful. “People want a feel-good factor, a hope for better times” points out Krishan Chopra, chief editor-publisher of HarperCollins. You can impart that hope by gifting something like this Hachette title: ‘I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program that Works’ by Ramit Sethi.

Tags: Gifting occasions, promotional products, corporate gifts companies, Popular corporate gifts, Business etiquette, business gifting, Best corporate gifts, gifting etiquette, gifting to clients, low cost gifts

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For the design-conscious person, a good looking mobile phone does not necessarily mean that he or she would compromise on its features. This factor should be kept in mind while selecting a device for the purpose of gifting.

Thankfully, there is no dearth of options when it comes to pick good-looking devices with handy functionalities.

Samsung Ultra Touch
An example of this is Samsung Ultra Touch, which is a step up from the plastic slider phones previously released by the company. This one is a nice mix of a full touchscreen interface, a physical T9 keypad and an 8 megapixel camera.

Priced at Rs 27,500, the Ultra Touch model sure has the potential to warm the hearts of the elite fashion-seekers. On the flipside, 2.8” display might feel a bit compressed for internet surfing and e-mailing but other multimedia needs, such as videos viewing and music listening/streaming are well served on a display of this size.

Asus P565
Another option is available in form of the Asus P565. Retailing at just a little more than Apple iPhone, it costs Rs 35,000. Asus P565 gives the same touchscreen you see on iPhone.

Asus has forced out some fairly impressive smartphones in the mobile phone market, till date. It comes with a fairly huge flash memory (256MB, to be precise). P565 has also thrown in a nice program that allows uploading videos and photos to Flickr and Youtube.

A user can directly share pictures and videos from anywhere with an internet connection. A 3 megapixel camera plus the auto-focus feature guarantees good pictures.

Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220
The new Flip is lighter than most other RIM devices. The smooth curves, metal trim plus a glossy embedded front display along with the bundled 2 megapixel camera make it a good pick. It’s priced attractively at Rs 21,990. The new built-in web browser is better than that on Blackberry Curve & Pearl handsets.

Tags: Best corporate gifts, business gifting, low cost gifts, , Popular corporate gifts, Best business gifts, Business Gifting
Corporate gifting, Gifting occasions, promotional gifts, corporate gifting for employees

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In today’s hectic work life, your friend or colleague sure would appreciate an offering that eases up their workload. Smartphones are essentially for those who demand literally everything at their fingertips from jazzy voice services to handy productivity-enhancing features, and that too without compromising on the cute looks. There are ample handsets to gift in this category as well.

An overwhelming variety of handsets available in the market only makes the decision even more challenging for those looking to gift something to smartphone lovers. To simplify your task, here is a look at two of the most suitable business phones you can consider for the purpose of gifting.

Nokia E75: the complete multimedia offering
It is a good choice because with it users find easier to adapt to a familiar-looking interface. However, the unique feature that sets Nokia E75 apart from other phones is its ability to allow integration of messaging and email services. Follow a simple three-step process and one is all set to support up to no less than 16 email accounts and this along with third party email solutions like Gmail and Yahoo! Another key feature is a 2.4 inch landscape slide-out keyboard. It will make life a little simpler for executives. You can get this device for Rs 26,299.

Blackberry Storm 9500: A good choice in the business phone category
Blackberry Storm 9500 is another excellent choice that closely follows the leader. Priced at Rs 27,990 it is available on Vodafone networks. The device can serve as a valuable upgrade for those who love Blackberry. Storm can though, disappoint conformists who think that a physical QWERTY keyboard is irreplaceable.

The entire screen of Storm acts as a virtual keypad. Browsing the web, playing music and reading emails is a doodle on the 3.25” screen. The Storm has other usual corporate features like push email as well as administrator control.

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In one of our previous blogs, we have checked mobile devices worth gifting. In this post, we shall check more mobiles to gift.

Clamshell shaped Samsung E1310 will cost just about Rs 2,650. It has a battery that promises to lasts up to 7-9 hours on trot. Another strong point is its stereo FM. It includes a mobile tracker feature that is an added bonus and so is its impressive speakerphone.

This is another mobile device worth gifting for travelers with a blend of music, camera and abundant memory to stash away the user data. The 3.2” touchscreen-based Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is worth considering. It comes with a plastic casing, which ensures that the device will survive the occasional drops and jolts during travel.

A 3 megapixel autofocus camera comes with a dual-LED flash, along with music attributes, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack and 8GB memory to store songs and music pieces. The features make it a worthy travel companion for someone whom you gift. You can buy it for around Rs 20,000 so this will make a high-end gift. However, the battery tends to run down rather quickly if power-hungry features like GPS and Wi-Fi are used extensively.

The Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman is Nokia’s closest price match. It’s a slider phone, which retails at roughly Rs 18,000. However, a 2.4” display might seem inadequate for viewing pictures snapped on its 3.2 megapixels camera. The W705 also has more jazzy features, including shake control that will enable you to toggle music tracks as well as control volume with a simple flick of your wrist.

The music player almost matches what you expect of the Sony Ericsson Walkman series, inclusive of the packaged in-ear earphones, which produce a responsive sound with ample depth. Note that W705 does not carry GPS, or a touchscreen.

Tags: Business etiquette, Corporate gifting, promotional products, business gift baskets, Corporate gifting India, Popular corporate gifts, low cost gifts, Gifting events, business gifting, gifting to clients

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