Happy Holidays from
Diversity Builder!
DIVERSITY NEWS December 2005~ Special Holiday
Edition.
Welcome to the December Edition
of Diversity News.
Articles include:
*Holiday Gift Giving Guide*Diversity Builder Provider
Discounts!
*CoffeeCakes.com Winner
announced!
*A Compelling Look
at Gender Identity
Be sure to
forward to your friends and coworkers!
To forward this newsletter
scroll to the bottom
and type in a friend's email address.
Your comments and suggestions are
always welcome.
Increase
Holiday Sales - Small Business Promotion – Networking with Holiday
Gifts
During the gift-giving
season, savvy small businesses have begun to capitalize on unique
branding, networking, and sales opportunities.
New trends
in gift cards - Sending gift cards to the most valuable ‘A-list’
customers is a trend popularized by Starbucks in recent years. Many small
businesses are taking the holiday appreciation gift card notion to the
next level of marketing by purchasing from existing customers.
Gift giving example: An insurance agent purchases gift cards
from a key client, Rafferty’s Restaurant. In turn, the agent mails the
gift cards to his/her other clients with a business holiday greeting card.
The relationship benefits of the gift are multiplied, by the networking
factor; the clients receiving the cards will be pleased and the client who
sold the cards will be thrilled.
Gift card purchases
are venturing out from the passé clothing and mall cards. Gasoline,
convenience store, and salon cards are gaining momentum.
Company branding through gifting - A ‘hot’ small
business trend is to buy holiday thank you and appreciation gifts with
company logos. In November, The United Promotions Group, Inc., a national
promotional products online store, reported their top holiday sellers for
2005 are branded briefcases, high-end sweatshirts and jackets, and
stainless steel and crystal drink ware.
Click
here to check out Diversity Builder's Holiday Gift
Ideas!
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Diversity
Builder Exclusive:
A Compelling Look at
Gender Issues -
Gender Identity Disorder or Gender
Nonconformity?
by Dawn M. Beatty, MA, EdS
There seems to be a growing interest in the last few
years about gender identity and sexual orientation. In gaining a better
understanding about Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and if it is actually a
diagnostic disorder or a healthy part of development, I will refer to the
book, Sissies and Tomboys: Gender Nonconformity and Homosexual Childhood
(Rottnek, 1999). It is crucial that we understand how children and adults
learn about, come to terms with, and express their sexual identity and
orientation in order for healthy development to occur. Although gender
identity and sexual orientation are two different issues, they are
inter-related and will therefore be discussed together.
In
1980, GID was first listed as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic Statistical
Manual (DSM), which is used by mental health professionals when diagnosing
clients. According to Rottnek, GID refers to cross-gender wishes,
interests, and behaviors that are exhibited often between the ages of two
through four. A child or an adult who has a pervasive cross-gender
identification and continuous discomfort with one’s assigned sex is
considered to have GID, which includes transsexuals. Transsexualism,
which is now referred to as GID in the DSM, is considered a psychiatric
disorder instead of a nonpsychiatric medical condition. Homosexuality was
viewed by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental health disorder
until 1973.
Dawn M. Beatty, MA trains gender topics and other
diversity curriculum for Diversity Builder, and is currently completing
her Doctoral Degree.
Click here to read the rest of the
story!
Visit Diversity Builder's Training
Page
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Enter to win the book To Bee or Not to
Bee by Author John Penberthy
Peppered with aphorisms and laced
with wit and humor, To Bee or Not to Bee book teaches that life is too
important to be taken so seriously. No matter what your spiritual path,
this touching tale will leave a smile on your face, a glow in your
heart and a tingle in your spine.
To Bee or Not to Bee is the
story—clever and spiritually sophisticated—of a worker bee who transcends
the mindless tedium of life in a honeybee colony. Imagine that stifling
existence—build the hive, forage, feed the larvae, store honey and pollen,
sleep. Repeat. The parallels with modern human society are inescapable,
and you’ll snicker time and again at the follies of our advanced yet crazy
world as reflected through honeybee life. Throw in some curiosity and
spiritual yearning and you get this clever and heartful inspirational
allegory.
To win a copy of To Bee or Not to Bee
email your name and address along with the answer to the following
question, Who is the famous cartoon charactor who lives in Hundred Acre
Wood and loves honey?, to newsletter@diversitybuilder.com.
To Bee or Not to
Bee
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Ask the Plate Spinner, A
column by Debra Hyslop~owner of Plate Spinning Productions
Question: “I’m trying to help a colleague from work put
together a holiday event for our department. We’ve decided to hold the
event at her home. She has boxes and boxes of decorations we can use. I
thought this was great, until I started sorting through everything, and
now I don’t even know where to begin. Help!”
Whether your
event is the Annual General Meeting for a Fortune 500 company, or an
intimate gathering at somebody’s home, it is extremely easy to become
bogged down in the details.
A trick we use every time,
regardless of the event, helps keep your focus on the big picture, yet
builds in support for filling in the specifics:
Mapping
It!
Even if you are throwing an event in your own home,
spend a little time mapping out the space you have to work with.
Not an architect? – No worries! This is a guide for you – as
long as you understand your map, it’s fine. Try using grid notepads, and
rough out your map in PENCIL.
Feeling lost already? Don’t be.
The key components of your map are, obviously, the walls, doors, windows,
etc. As long as you have those mapped out, you should be in good
shape.
However, don’t forget to include notes on important
factors like:
• Power Sources – There is nothing more
frustrating than hanging a mile of Twinkie lights, only to find that the
only outlet is completely across the room, and you’ve got the wrong end of
the lights hanging down. (And please, please don’t forget to plug in your
lights before you hang them, to make sure they still work. Sound obvious?
You’d be surprised…)
• Traffic Flow – Take some time to
visualize the traffic flow. Make sure that you have archways, hallways,
doorways, etc on your map. Once you have your map in hand, make it your
new best friend. Have it with you all the time. Spend time visualizing the
event, as you want it to happen. You will find that the more you do this,
the more specifics will make themselves known.
Check in next
month for an in-depth look at decorating: “Poof, Froo & Gak – The Finer
Art of Décor!”
After almost 5 years of Event Planning in
Toronto, Ontario, Debra Hyslop has returned to Nashville, TN – a place she
holds dear and which she has considered home since 1996. She and her
talented team of event professionals enjoy creating exciting events of any
size, anywhere nationwide. Plate Spinning Productions can be reached at
615.491.0305 or
platespinningproductions@yahoo.com.
Click here to find out more about Plate Spinning
Productions
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Check out these powerful marketing solutions
Diversity Builder now offers:
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brochures for your business, and much more at affordable
rates
Brochure and Logo Design
Press
Releases - from creation to distribution, place your business in the
public's lap.
Free Marketing Consultation - set up your
free marketing consultation with Diversity Builder to discover how you may
improve in reaching your customer and business
goals.
Email info@diversitybuilder.com for
more information.
Click here to request more
information!
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Congratulations to Melisa
of La Vergne Tennessee
and Elaine of Little Rock
Arkansas!
Diversity Builder is happy to announce the winners of our Holiday
Cake Giveaway!
Here's what Melisa and Elaine had to say....
"I can't believe I won! It pays to read
and support Diversity Builder. Your newsletter contains a great amount of
information for anybody. Those who own a business, those whom wish to
start a business and which businesses support our community in whole.
Thank you for the cake and keep up the great work.
I would love to
have the Marionberry Marble Cheesecake please." Melisa
Dotson-Lee
"Thanks for a great holiday
treat to share with my friends!
Elaine
Zarco
Look for Diversity Builder
survey results in the January 2006 issue of Diversity
News.
Visit Coffeecakes.com and enter the promo code:
DIVERSITY to receive a 10% discount. Coffeecakes.com is currently
offering half off on select cakes.
Click
here to visit CoffeeCakes' 1/2 Off Page - Use Coupon Code
Diversity
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Diversity Builder Provider
Discounts
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Cleaning
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Design
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And much
More!
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Business Gay-Friendly" Reminder Cards? If not, email
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physical mailing address.
Thank you for
supporting www.diversitybuilder.com! Your comments and suggestions are
always welcome.
Your Diversity Builder Staff
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