Striking the best balance: companies receive top award for implementing popular work-life practices

Balancing a job and a home life often can be a struggle that many wish they didn't have. But several companies in the U.S. are doing what they can to decrease employees' stress by implementing work-life policies.

Several of the companies recognized within these pages have successfully implemented quality work-life policies, including:* Company gatherings. Getting together for some fun every once in a while shows employees that they and their families are important to the company. Whether it's a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the office one Friday or a picnic for employees and their families, company morale is improved when employees know that they matter.Every year, Fortune magazine features its "100 Best Companies to Work For." In 2008, it chose Google[TM] as its number one company. Google's work-life policies help to create a relaxed atmosphere at its Mountain View, Ca. headquarters, which feature gym equipment and foosball tables along with healthy lunches prepared on site, among other things. As an international corporation, Google seems to have more work-life enticements than most.* Telecommuting. Allowing employees to work from home via computers, telephones or video conferences is another popular practice. Employees benefit by having more time at home, while employers benefit by having decreased energy costs and increased employee motivation.* Health and wellness programs. Several of this year's award-winning companies have exercise and dietary programs available for their employees. Not only do healthy employees yield increased productivity and less absenteeism, they also help mitigate companies' health-care costs.But businesses don't have to go over the top with their work-life policies like Google does to attract and retain top-notch employees. By adding a few practices that benefit not only the employees but also the employer, smaller businesses and lesser-known corporations can prove that their work-life policies are worth more than just a cursory glance.Increases in employee productivity and employee loyalty are ways that a company can benefit from allowing flexible schedules.Trends in Work-Life Balance PolicyA flexible schedule. Another trend is the flexible schedule--perhaps a four-day work week or maybe just a certain amount of hours allotted annually for personal errands.

* Company gatherings. Getting together for some fun every once in a while shows employees that they and their families are important to the company. Whether it's a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the office one Friday or a picnic for employees and their families, company morale is improved when employees know that they matter.

Gain sanity and satisfaction with a quick declutter

A while back, I ventured down to our storage basement, which we affectionately call "The Abyss." I was met by a sea of strewn Legos, toys, scattered children's books, an unused weight set, and foosball and hockey tables blocked by piles of food storage.

This week, enjoy decluttering a spot that is driving you mad. And then savor the joy of a job well done.e-mail: lifechange@rfburst.comAnyway, I stomped upstairs and announced to the family it was time to DECLUTTER.To make the cleanup go even faster, consider setting a time limit. Even better, set a timer.Each younger child was handed a big garbage bag or a tub and told pick up and sort for 15 minutes. If we were indecisive about a toy it went to charity or the garbage, and the rest went IMMEDIATELY into the children's bookcases.These steps will help lighten the load. Of course, hiring the neighborhood teenagers isn't a bad idea either.When did this happen? I am surely without fault as Clutter Fairies make this mess while I sleep.Last, the vital sustain. This is where you point to the room and have the people who will use it describe how it looks and where things belong. It also helps if you offer them a reward, like, "Whoever keeps this room the cleanest gets first dibs on PlayStation."Next, a quick clean. Some children vacuumed, others wiped down the weight set, and others snuck upstairs for a Popsicle.If you have a room or a closet that needs to be decluttered but you'd rather avoid it, try using the VEERS formula -- Visualize and Evaluate, Eliminate and Replace, Savor and Sustain -- to get in and get it done!A few weeks later, we tried the pull the old, "If we do it fast, we can all go bowling" ploy. A miracle occurred and the basement was transformed.Almost done, it was time for an extended savor. We took a minute and viewed the fabulous, sparkling clean room, and then raced to the air hockey and foosball tables that could now actually be used.I visualized the basement with just the weight set and play tables -- the food storage tucked in a storage closet and all children's toys in their rooms.And then I forgot.Next, quickly eliminate. The food storage was in the way of everything, so we assigned the older children to form a line and pass it through to the closet. (I acted as the organizer so we can later find said storage).First, quickly visualize the room. Take five minutes, using a pen and pad if necessary, and imagine the room without clutter. What does it look like? What activities happen there?

e-mail: lifechange@rfburst.com

Retailer of Shuffleboard Tables Hires Internet Marketing Company to Boost Sales

A game room equipment supplier announced its partnership with SEO 1 Services, a Dallas-based internet marketing company . The supplier hopes to increase awareness of their product lines, including air hockey tables, coin-operated pool tables and combination game tables. A spokesperson for the Keller, Texas-based company expressed excitement regarding the potential exposure the partnership could bring for the business.

The company prides itself on offering the highest quality gaming equipment available in the United States and offers a wide selection of options to assist customers in putting together their ideal game room or arcade. For example, the company offers five brands of outdoor ping pong tables, including Killerspin, Joola and Kettler.Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to NewsvineAccording to the company's spokesperson, SEO 1 Services' background in search engine marketing consulting and high Google rankings made them a good choice to assist American Super Sport in their goal to increase traffic to their site long-term. While a pay-per-click strategy appears to be the choice of many of the company's competitors, American Super Support wanted an option with long-term effectiveness.American Super Sports is a supplier of game equipment to both individual and commercial buyers. The company focuses on game room items, such as Foosball or shuffleboard tables , but also supplies coin-operated games, portable hoops , licensed team merchandise and concession equipment.In response, SEO 1 also expressed enthusiasm for the partnership. A marketing executive from the company said, "We are confident that our efforts combined with the high quality associated with the American Super Sports name will equal positive results that exceed the expectations for both parties."About SEO 1 Services: SEO 1 Services is a search engine marketing company specializing in online visibility solutions by increasing its clients' ranking and positioning in popular search engines. Leveraging over three decades of combined internet marketing know-how, SEO 1 Services' integrated approach creates highly targeted optimization campaigns that deliver online visibility, web traffic and Internet business objectives. SEO 1 Services' certified consultants drive the innovation, the proprietary technology and optimization methodologies that have delivered our clients' success. http://www.seo1services.comAbout American Super Sports: American Super Sports is a Texas-based supplier of gaming and sporting equipment, including portable basketball hoops, coin-operated machines and more. http://www.americansupersports.com

Contact: Rodney Brooke Tel: 888-751-1114

RightNow Announces Customer Service Week Video Contest; Share How Your Organization is Celebrating Customer Service Week

RightNow Clients Can Enter for a Chance to Win a Flat Screen TV and Wii, Shootout Basketball Game or Foosball Table for Their Contact Center!

About RightNow Technologies[Table Omitted]BOZEMAN, Mont. -- RightNow® (NASDAQ:RNOW) is hosting a video contest to celebrate Customer Service Week. Enter the RightNow Customer Service Week Video Contest for a chance to win a flat screen TV and Wii, shootout basketball game or foosball table for your contact center!RightNow is helping rid the world of bad experiences one consumer interaction at a time, eight million times a day. RightNow CX, the customer experience suite, helps organizations deliver exceptional customer experiences across the web, social networks and contact centers, all delivered via the cloud. With more than ten billion customer interactions delivered, RightNow is the customer experience fabric for nearly 2000 organizations around the globe. To learn more about RightNow, go to www.rightnow.com.

RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ is a registered trademark of the NASDAQ Stock Market.

Save Money � Stay In An Orlando Villa

Did you know that an Orlando vacation rental could cost the same if not LESS than a hotel or motel but offer you SO much more?

Now imagine your own home for the length of your Orlando vacation. Your own car is parked on your very own driveway and you have a maximum of 2 people to a bedroom. Almost all bedrooms have their own private bathrooms PLUS a separate lounge PLUS a separate dining room/area PLUS your very own fully equipped kitchen where, if you wish, you can have breakfast before you are even dressed, with cool drinks/beer always on hand during the glorious hot Floridian weather. All of this can be yours PLUS your very own private swimming pool just for you and your guests to enjoy day and night.Look at how the prices differ�Still to take into consideration is the laundry facilities which all privately owned villas offer and nowadays it is fairly common (although not guaranteed) to find a games room in your vacation rental villa. This could include anything from a pool table to darts board; a treadmill to a foosball table. Sometimes these features are to be found in a converted garage or some villas even have a �bonus� room, which they use for this purpose.Many of the homeowners who rent out their vacation villas in Orlando have gone that extra mile and provided computer access and most have some kind of games console for the children. Normally there are pool toys left out at your disposal and quite often there are books for all ages, which you are welcome to use. Some also have board games and/or toys.Let us look at the costs involved. Take 3 hotel rooms at roughly $70-$90 per room per night. This totals $1470-$1890 for a one week�s stay for your entire party. Compare this to the $1000-$1500 you could pay for a villa, then remember all the extra rooms and facilities you will have. In a villa it never feels crowded and everyone can have his or her own space.Of course you will also have the opportunity to barbecue outside near your pool deck, so this can add another dimension to mealtimes. There are plenty of supermarkets close at hand to your villa where you can select a wide variety of ingredients to include in your barbecue.Some homes have games rooms�

Let us look at the costs involved. Take 3 hotel rooms at roughly $70-$90 per room per night. This totals $1470-$1890 for a one week�s stay for your entire party. Compare this to the $1000-$1500 you could pay for a villa, then remember all the extra rooms and facilities you will have. In a villa it never feels crowded and everyone can have his or her own space.

Author: Peter Kenny

Great American Restaurant In Bangkok, Thailand

Great American barbecue isn�t easy in Bangkok but there�s one place where you can count on it and that�s at Roadhouse Barbecue, located on the corner of Surawong and Rama IV Roads. This three-story restaurant/bar is home to great American food including barbecue specialties like barbecued ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, barbecued chicken and many more that represent true American barbecue at its best. There�s also a large selection of American favorites from burgers and steaks to soups and sandwiches.

So there are a lot of reasons to visit Roadhouse Barbecue and while the barbecue may be the most publicized of the attractions here don�t forget about everything else, especially the great service and friendly atmosphere.And although the barbecue gets the most attention, they actually serve more burgers here than anything else. You can get yours with three different kinds of cheese as well as toppings like grilled onions, smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms and grilled peppers. Another big favorite is the Buffalo Wings which are on special every Monday night when you can get 20 wings for the price of 10 (170 baht).But the real stars of the menu here are the barbecued specialties starting with ribs smoked with mesquite wood � imported from the U.S. � and including chicken smoked with hickory wood, pork for pulled pork sandwiches and even salmon smoked with apple wood. You can get a half or full rack of ribs or a chicken and ribs combo dish, all of which are served with potatoes and cole slaw made from an old North Carolina recipe.Next, there�s live entertainment almost every night downstairs after the dinner hour. On the second floor is another dining room that can be used for private functions or parties. And finally, on the third floor is Roadhouse�s version of a sports bar with plenty of TV screens and lots of games to play including foosball, video golf and soccer and pool on an authentic Brunswick championship table.There are a lot of other menu items here including steaks, seafood, some pastas and even a great grilled pork chop. It�s not all about food here, though. First, there�s Thailand�s largest selection of draft beers which also happen to be the coldest in Bangkok according to a magazine poll last year.As for more American food, the menu also contains sandwiches such as a Philly cheese steak, a �Texas-style� beef brisket sandwich, a chipotle pulled pork sandwich, a three-cheese grilled cheese and tomato, a BLT with apple-smoked bacon, a fish sandwich, a grilled sausage sandwich with pepper and onions. Well, you get the idea. They cover a lot of bases here.

So there are a lot of reasons to visit Roadhouse Barbecue and while the barbecue may be the most publicized of the attractions here don�t forget about everything else, especially the great service and friendly atmosphere.

Author: Tom Aikins

Families That Play Together Stay Together: A Personal Life Experience!

Growing up my parents made it clear that enjoying time with family was very important! They didn't come out and say it all the time and they didn't need to. They did it with actions and as the saying goes, "Actions Speak Louder Than Words". They did this by turning their basement into a home game room. It was done before I was born and games came and went all in the name of good old fashioned family fun! Now I'm the last of 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls and I tell you this, our home game room worked wonders in keeping this family close!

Now it�s time to find the best TABLE GAMES. Besides the cost it�s room size that determines which games to include in your game room. By far every �Ultimate Game Room� needs a billiard table. Now days you can get a variety of fabric colors besides green. Also you can find themed billiard tables like NASCAR and more. Two other great additions are foosball and air hockey. Easy to play fast paced games. They also come in a variety of sizes and fun designs. Table Tennis is a fun game but not everyone knows how to play and they take a lot of space if they don�t fold up so you may want to add other games first. One game that is overlooked too much is Shuffleboard. It�s GREAT for the whole family and it�s easy and fun to play.So what�s best? Checkered tiling is what �Ultimate Game Rooms� are all about. Match the tiles up with your wall color for the ultimate effect. Whether you use 6x6, 8x8 or 12x12 tiling squares it�s a checkered floor that makes your game room �Ultimate�.We had so many great times in that game room with family and friends. On some nights you'd be the winner and others you'd be the loser. It's the same as in life as an adult. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but you have to keep your head up and try harder the next time.To do this you start with the wall colors. The best looking game rooms have two-toned wall color schemes. This means a top border around the room that�s 12-24 inches in width. Then paint the rest of the room a complimentary color.Finally to create the �Ultimate Game Room� you need a TV. One should be mounted on the wall in the vicinity of the pool table / poker table and the other in a sitting area for kids to play video games. This is a must. No game room is complete without a TV or two for the big game.Home game rooms are good for another reason also. They teach some great skills to children. From the hand-eye coordination from playing pinball to the angles, cut/slice shots and bank shots in pool. Those coordination skills come in handy when you're older and are great to learn as a kid. With pinball you learn how to count numbers and keep score. In billiards alone you learn how to hold a stick, aim and shoot the balls and rack them up afterwards. Also for the youngest of children the pool balls are different colors with different numbers. I've never seen a child who didn't LOVE to sit on a pool table and roll the balls into the pockets. (Just make sure you're watching the child closely so they don't fall off). Every table game is good for learning skills. That includes ping-pong, air hockey, foosball and shuffleboard also. You'd be amazed at what a child can learn by playing those basic but fun table games.Whether you are seeking a magical Disney World Vacation or an active family holiday, a Florida vacation rental villa is one of the most flexible options available to you. Many visitors decide on a hotel or motel room. This can appear to be the cheapest option but has several disadvantages. As I'm sure you know if you wanted a suit of rooms in a hotel that offered all the facilities of a vacation rental villas, you would spend many hundreds of dollars per night! Limited space, limited bathrooms, neighbor noise etc - we've all been there! The convenience and space of a vacation rental villa not only make for a much more enjoyable vacation for everyone but when things go wrong these were an important factor for one of our guests when 3 of her 4 children became ill shortly after arriving. She was so pleased to have chosen a luxury vacation rental villa with the space and convenience of 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms as it meant that the whole family was not wakened when one member had to get up frequently during the night!All of those experiences made us become closer as a family. We learned how to deal with the different personalities of each family member and it's kept us close to this day. No a home game room won't solve every problem in the world. And it may not work for every family. But I firmly believe that "Families That Play Together, Stay Together". That is coming from my own life experience.This is often overlooked as one of these things that has to be done but be careful. Check in and out is not usually at the villa! Its normally at the management company office where you have to wait in line with everyone else that booked through the same company. This means that you have to drive to and find the office from the airport. We know of offices that are over 15 miles from the vacation rental. Check the driving distances and times from airport to office and from office to your villa. (Be aware that if the office is in Kissimmee, it can be very busy and take a long time especially in the early evening). Note: We have an electronic access system so our guests can drive direct to their chosen luxury villa and let themselves in. The benefit of this system is clear - and you have no keys to lose or hand back.Visit http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/ to find other fun and interesting information on creating your ultimate game room. You'll find information on other decorating themes like Western and Hawaiian themes and much more at http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/game-room-themes.html . To view game room posters go directly to http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/picture-and-poster.htmlCheck in/out

Visit http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/avoid-arguments.html directly get some useful ideas on stopping game room arguments before they start.

Author: Joe Schmieder