Graduation Gowns

Graduation Regalia

Graduation Stoles

Graduation stoles are the items that are found on the gowns of many graduates during their graduation or when gracing a formal event. Most of these stoles can be custom made by selecting what engravings one will have on the graduation stoles or cords and the color that one prefers. Others may have just been made to look the same depending with the specifications that the institution that one is graduating from has. If an individual wants to graduate in style, they may chose to customize their graduation stoles in a manner that they feel will expose their beauty and their brains.

Graduation Information On The Internet

Graduation information is available all over the internet. You’ll find multiple links which can assist you in your research. Gordon International offers a lot of information which can be useful to anyone ordering graduation regalia but if you’re looking for specific history please see the link provided below.
The Following Site Offers Great Information About Graduation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dress wikipedia provides the searcher with a great information source for any type of search. You can go to their search wiki and place an random search in the engine and you’ll come across a few useful sources & articles.

All of us have dreamed about building a home business that is profitable and rewarding. Just think about it, no boss, plenty of time for you and your family and the ability to save money (no gas for that awful commute, no expensive work clothes and fresh hot lunches straight from your kitchen). Now you’re thinking, “Okay everybody dreams about it but how do I go about implementing it?” In Holly Cotter’s course “Secrets Of Multiple Passive Profit Streams,” you will learn exactly how to create your own very profitable home business.

Although the course is not cheap, it was worth every penny to establish my financial freedom and should give me a secure future. Holly details how to build your business with internet websites with every step explained thoroughly. And you do not need extensive computer knowledge. I am technology challenged and Holly’s course was easy to follow and use. The course comes on audio and video CD’s and work books so you can really study every step involved in building websites that generate profits. Her system allows you to set up websites on the internet that you can walk away from and let the computer do the work. This allows you more time to set up additional websites.

Years ago Holly was a Child Care Worker with little income and struggling to pay bills. Then her husband had a massive heart attack and could not work, leaving Holly to care for him and having her parents to pay the mortgage. It was then she decided to build a home business that would free her from the “hand-to-mouth” syndrome. And, yes she fell for some of the “get rich quick” schemes until she hit on her highly profitable system. All of her research and hard work paid off, she received the Top Business Developer Award in 2000.

Her system takes a truly hands-on-approach that I’ve never seen in any other Marketing gurus eBooks, courses or seminars. And just like Holly, I’ve purchased many other systems that just didn’t live up to what they advertised. With “Secrets of Multiple Passive Profit Streams” you can build your first website in about a day and it gets easier and takes less time with each one you create.

It will take a little time to learn all of the intricacies of building your website but once you “get it” you’ll be building websites and profit streams quickly and easily.

In her course Holly asserts that anyone, regardless of their business or profession can use this proven system to build their own Passive Profit Streams. When I first read about this course I was skeptical because of my limited computer knowledge. After going through the CD’s and work books however, Holly’s claim that anyone can be successful with this system is 100% right on.

The only thing I felt that would make this course even better is a few more hints on finding specific markets to pursue.

I feel totally comfortable telling you that “Secrets of Multiple Passive Profit Streams” fulfilled the promises it made to me in the sales literature with nothing left unanswered.

If you are serious about breaking free from the 9 to 5 rat race, Holly’s course is a “must get” . If you want to quickly learn how to build profitable websites, than I give “Secrets of Multiple Passive Profit Streams my highest recommendation and a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.

In addition to this valuable course you get one full year of monthly coaching calls from Holly and further access to her on the student forum and help desk. This is a very fair and impressive package. Holly sincerely wants everyone to be successful. Holly continues to teach various ways of building passive profits and strategies to her students.

For more information on Holly Cotters “Secrets of Multiple Passive Profit Streams” please visit http://www.PassiveProfitsIncome.com

Copyright © 2005 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

——-

Mary Hanna writes eBooks, Software Reviews (for people who are technically challenged like her) and Practical Articles on Internet Marketing, Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at: www.WebMarketingReviews.com, www.FirstCruiseBestCruise.com, www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com, and www.GourmetChefAtHome.com

Lisbon is not only the Capital city of Portugal but also one of the most ethnically rich cities with a rich history of over 20 centuries. The Alfama is one of the oldest quarters in Lisbon which has withstood natural calamities over the years. Old churches like the St. George’s Castle, So Vicente de Fora and Santa Engrcia are beautiful structures that are reminiscent of the old type of architecture and culture. The other places to visit in Lisbon are the Pena Palace that was built by Fernando Cobourg Gothas in 1839, Serra da Arrbida where one can see the primitive Mediterranean vegetation and a lot of museums that house some of the most beautiful pieces of art from the old and new age days.

Since Lisbon is a capital city there re plenty of hotels to take care of the travelers coming to visit this city. There are hotels that suit every budget type from the costliest and luxurious ones to suit the ones who are ready to spend big money and the cheap hotels in Lisbon to cater to the traveler who is traveling on a budget or is looking for some decent cheap place to stay in. You can also get some cheap air tickets on your flight to Lisbon by getting your reservations done much prior to your date of travel. Doing an early reservation can get you some real good deals on some of the best international and national carriers that fly to Lisbon. These flights are a good way to save you some money on your vacation that you could use for other purposes such as food, shopping etc. There are many feasts and festivals that happen all round the year that attract travelers from worldwide.

Five years ago it was nice but not mandatory for owners of small to mid-size businesses to have a web site in order successfully market their company. Unless e-commerce was a potential source of revenue, you could choose if and when to join the Internet set. That is no longer true.

Today businesses of all sizes, including independent consultants, find it nearly impossible to remain competitive without a presence on the web. Potential clients ask for your web site address because it gives them a non-invasive way to learn more about you and your business. A well-designed and developed web site offers more than just products and services, it can be a great starting point to building your brand and developing a relationship with potential clients by giving insight into the organization, its core values and its personality. It’s not an issue of when to start on your web site, you already know that you need one now. The problem is how to get started.

Here are four steps that will help you evaluate what you need. Consider each before you begin interviewing web designers; professional marketing and design groups should ask you these same issues and offer to help you work through the process. If they don’t, if they go first to a package price, buyer beware. Your web site may not reflect your company brand and might not give your customers what they need from your site.

Step 1: Know how a web site will support your marketing plan
Put into writing your thoughts on company philosophy, all marketing efforts being used and other aspects of your company’s brand. Evaluate the image you currently are projecting and how it compares to your competitors. If you have a written marketing plan, share that with your designer. Know who the main user of your site will be and understand their web viewing needs.

Web sites should offer business solutions, so knowing where you are and where you want to go are critical to developing a successful site that supports your brand. Understanding your customers or the end user of your site and their expectations will determine key factors like color, style and font, images used, technology supported. Building a complex site for a lo-tech end user is a misuse of assets. Conversely you won’t be able to compete against hi-end sites if yours fails to perform at a similar level. Talk all of this through with your web and marketing teams.

Step 2: Determine your site’s value
Ranges are fine, but establish a value for the site. Notice I said value and not price—how important to your business will this web site become? Based on the research you did in Step 1, you can make a sound decision on the value your site will give to your customers and how it may directly affect sales results. This allows you to determine an appropriate investment levels so you can better evaluate the estimates you will be given for web development.

Step 3: Envision your web site at its best
Consider what your ultimate dream machine web site would look like and how it would operate. Evaluate all kinds of sites not just those of competitors; look for images, ease of use, content. Bring likes and dislikes to your design team. Decide if your site will be used to drive retail sales now or in the future and the designers can help determine how that might be accomplished.

By discussing where you want to be, a web designer can build your first site with long-range goals in mind. A costly mistake many people make is buying the least expensive package, using a templated and sometimes restricted design or getting the bare minimum site available. Usually those sites cannot be easily adapted and in order to grow the site you have to start fresh.

Step 4: Build each web page on paper first
I like to work with clients to think through, and put on paper, how every web page will work—content, function, navigation, images, links, databases. This allows us to estimate the cost of the site and it helps clients choose between must-haves, good-to-haves and great but not necessary pages and accessories. This is where you can really start to see the site developing.

Now it’s time to design
Using all the information gathered, your web design team will begin to create visual elements, write copy and formulate the form and function of your site. The look of your site, all the visual elements that will make it distinctly yours, begin now. Your research and time spent meeting with the design team will help give you the web site that effectively communicates with your customers, offers business solutions and supports your brand. The perfect web site!

Claudia Trusty develops strong marketing and branding messages that drive results for small and mid-size companies. For twenty years Trusty and Company has produced communication solutions for clients in retail and service industries. Visit them on the web at
http://trustyandcompany.com/.

What you should do and know if you are an artist and you
have decided to have a website.

1) Look at “Web Sites That Suck.”

If you are an artist and have never had a website, the
concept of a website can seem unnerving. The first thing to
do is look at a web site called “Websites that Suck”, www.
websitesthatsuck.com by Vincent Flanders. This is a
website that is so funny, and so enlightening and it is very
hard to stop looking at it. You will also learn a great deal as
an artist about the Web and feel much more at ease after
that experience.

2) Get a domain name.

A domain name is “www. name.com” of your web site.
Artists need to have their own name as part of their domain
name, “www. yourname.com” or “www. yourname
artist.com”. It is not a good idea to have the gallery that may
represents you as part of your domain name. Web visitors
are looking for the artist, the artists art work, not the gallery.
But, by having the website in your name, you also help the
gallery, because you can promote the gallery on your
website.

3) Find a person to design the website.

People like to design for artists; this is one of the “perks” of
being an artist. There are a lot of great people involved with
the Web who do not have huge overheads who can design
a very good website for you. The cost can be for as little as
$500 or less.

4) Find a Hosting Company.

There are many places that will host your website for $100
or less a year. Your web designer should be able to help
you with this.

5) Web browsers come in different sizes.

Web browsers come in all different shapes and sizes, from
very small to very large. It will be impossible to make your
wesite look perfect for every size web browser. This means
that you as an artist will need to make some compromises.
This is a good thing to know while you are thinking about
your website design.

There are websites that let you look and see how your
website looks in different sizes and on different web
browsers for free. After your web design is completed,
lookup “web browser size test tool” on a search engine to
find one.

6) Copyright information.

It is impossible to completely protect your images on the
Web. People simple do not pay attention to copyright
information. Your best protection is to keep the images
small, so if a visitor enlarges the image, it will look blurry.
Also put “your name © the year” under the image of your art
work. All the fancy things that are suggested for protection
do not work. You can put copyright information all over your
art work, I’ve seen it done, but it defeats the purpose of your
website and web visitors will not return.

© Mary Baker 2005

Mary Baker is a contemporary realist painter, whose studio
is in Newburyport, Massachusetts. This New England city,
north of Boston, has been the inspiration for the artist’s
realistic oil paintings. Mary Baker is a professional artist and
has shown in New York art galleries.

You can visit Mary at her website, Mary Baker Art, at http://www.marybakerart.com, see her beautiful paintings and read her
articles on a variety of subjects including, Art, Artists and
Money, Tips on Breaking the Creative Block , Art,Women and
Creativity and the four part series on Art, Artists and the Web.

A list of articles can be found on her Site Map and Mary’s
paintings can be seen on every page of Mary Baker Art.

Global warming and the global downturn, these twin risks have spared the Alps, at least for this Christmas. On the other hand it may have been so entirely polar. In the weeks before the holidays towns in the Gourette region were cut off when avalanches rained down. Dual carriage way cols such as the all important Col du Serre Chevalier were severed. There was no power or phone lines, home owners were evacuated to make shift housing, it seemed as though it were the repeat of 1997.

It seems that all promotion is good promotion. Courchevel featured every night on the French news. Immediately electricity was fixed bookings commenced to come in, pulled in by the fantastic skiing conditions.

Flegere and neighbouring Chamonix have almost 4 meters depth on the upper slopes at 2100 m elevation and 2.3 metres at the bottom of the runs. Currently the deepest in Europe. Araches-la-Frasse claims that there is three meters at the the highest point of the resort. Unfortunately snow storms have swept away a support of the ski lift that accesses the domain. They’ll be out of commission until the end of Jan.

Elsewhere in the Alps bookings are up 17% in La Grave, Bessans and Plateau de Beille. La Rosiere has 99.7% occupancy and distributed a record breaking number of passes last Tuesday. That is timely for luxury ski chalets and big snowboarding operators.

Numerous card players have asked me “Why would I need a rakeback? I just play on the web if I have an inducement to play.” Still what if you take the opportunity to play poker full time? There are many betters who are extremely dissapointed at not using rakeback but like a shot most of them have now opted in for all the leading online web sites.

Do not allow this to happen to you. If you are a person who bets less than $1/$2 and then just bets if you are clearing bonus payments, you could be picking up normally around a hundred percent rake back considering the bonus payment on your bet. A leading gaming website recently removed card players who logged into the gambling website exclusively to bet this way. Nobody knows for sure whether this practise will potentially inspire a new trend. If it come about then straightaway a poker rakeback is critical.

Some day you may hit tiptop form and become very fortunate, if it hasn’t happened already. I was hurt by an on the job accident and discovered poker during my recovery and I have never looked back. That happened more than 2 years back now yet I have not even once had a job in those two years all due to gambling and of course rakeback. Planning ahead is a great plan. Think of it as an investment, even if you do not consider rake back is good for you at the minute it could become a brilliant idea in the future, there’s nothing to lose. Should you be thinking about checking out a different room signing up for a rake back deal is essential. Rakeback Deals The gamblers’ help organization Rakeback Professionals is delighted to offer such a lot of reputable partners all in the same place.

Opting in is as easy as looking up any Rakeback Professionals affiliated website or as pain free as e-mailing. The associate can effortlessly get anyone set up instantly. You will be set up to play directly. If you sign up with a partner thru Rakeback Professionals you can always be confident as every partner has been checked out and furthermore have agreed to allow Rakeback Professionals to mediate whatever concerns which may surface. Granted that we evaluate all our associates, issues have been few and far between and we always work straight off to get to the cause of the problem for the peace of mind of all players.

Most businesses have numerous uses for numbers, both written and oral. Some numbers are funnier and more interesting than others. A number like zero has other names that are funny that aren’t even numbers.

* Goose egg,

* Nada,

* Nil,

* Zip and

* Zilch

These are all funny ways to express the number zero. Even zero is funnier than the word none. Although none is funny when you talk about the two chances of a hostile takeover as ’slim and none.’ A hundred dollar bill is a C-Note, a five-dollar bill is a fin. If someone is outrageously rich, they could be a zillionaire.

If you want to exaggerate a little bit, or if you have some tough news to deliver that involves numbers, add a touch of levity to help soothe the sting.

One common rule of humor that does not apply to numbers is brevity. In all other types of humor you should conserve the number of words you use. Normally you want to use the fewest words possible to get to the punch line. When using numbers in a presentation, pronounce them using the longest version possible. This gives them more punch. The digits 1,500 should be recited as one thousand five hundred, not fifteen hundred. The time of 8:15 should be a quarter past eight, not eight fifteen. ‘6 foot 2′ should be six feet two inches not six-two.

Copyright © 1998 – 2005 Advanced Public Speaking Institute

Tom Antion provides entertaining speeches and educational seminars. He is the ultimate entrepreneur, having owned many businesses BEFORE graduating college. Tom is the author of the best selling presentation skills book “Wake ‘em Up Business Presentations” and “Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing.” It is important to Tom that his knowledge be not only absorbed, but enjoyed. This is why he delivers his speeches laced with great humor and hysterical jokes. Tom has addressed more than 87 different industries and is thoroughly committed to his clients’ needs. http://www.antion.com

Advanced Public Speaking Institute
3105 Sergin Ct.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
(757) 431-1366
Fax (757) 431-2050
Contact: cmckinney@public-speaking.org
http://www.GreatPublicSpeaking.com

Visit our Blog at http://www.GreatPublicSpeaking.BlogSpot.com

One way to overcome fear of public speaking is to be afraid and speak anyway. As stupid as this seems, it’s possibly the most reliable way to gain confidence in speaking. Be afraid, be nervous, be hesitant, but do it anyway.

You won’t be very good at it the first few times, but don’t expect to be. Simply make it a goal to do it and finish. Once you’ve done it a few times, and you realize it hasn’t killed you, you’ll be less afraid to do it the next time. And if you keep doing it, eventually you’ll start to get good at it and may even learn to enjoy it.

I think one of the reasons people fear public speaking is that they expect too much of themselves. It’s like being afraid of flying a plane when you’ve had no instruction. Of course you’re going to fail. If the pilot calls you up to the cockpit and says “land this plane,” it’s a safe bet you’ll crash if you try it.

But at least when you fail at public speaking, it isn’t normally fatal. Failure is actually one of the best ways to learn it. It’s the same way we learn to walk and talk when we’re toddlers. We stumble and stutter until we get it right. Just as you wouldn’t expect a white belt in Karate to be able to break a brick, you also wouldn’t expect a first-time public speaker to be as polished as a pro. But sadly, people demand such a level of performance of themselves, expecting that if they’re going to speak publicly, they’d better be outstanding. And since this isn’t going to happen, it generates fear. But the fear largely goes away if you set realistic expectations and head up to the lectern expecting to stink your first few times.

Remember the scene from the movie The Matrix where Neo tries to do a super jump between two skyscrapers and falls to the ground? “Everyone falls the first time.” The same goes with public speaking. You’re going to stink your first time. Get over it.

Unfortunately, in the real world it can be hard to find opportunities to speak where you aren’t expected to be good. People assume that if you volunteer to speak, you must be good. But it’s reasonable for people to demand that speakers be good, since most people don’t want to listen to a poor speaker. It’s boring.

I think the best solution to this conundrum is to join Toastmasters International. The nice thing about Toastmasters is that the organization is designed to make it as easy as possible to learn public speaking. You can attend a few meetings as a guest for free to see what it’s like without pressure. Just show up and watch. Everyone understands what it’s like to be new to speaking, and they don’t expect you to be good. It’s low pressure with plenty of encouragement. Before I joined Toastmasters last year, I thought the organization was for people who were really good at speaking. The brochures make it look like a bunch of business people doing formal presentations. But that isn’t the reality I discovered. Some clubs are mostly people in their 40s and 50s and treat their meetings fairly formally, but other clubs are people in their 20s and 30s who hold very informal meetings; every club is unique. Most speeches I’ve seen are personal, not business-like people often give speeches recalling vacation stories or events from childhood.

Everyone has flaws. Some people that have been in Toastmasters for more than a decade still struggle with “ums” and “ahs” during their speeches. Everyone is at a different skill level, but no one is perfect. And most importantly everyone seems to have a healthy recollection of what it was like their first time too.

The best way to get a sense of what Toastmasters is really like is to attend a meeting as a guest. You can even try out more than one club I’ve been to five different clubs so far. And if you decide to join, membership is cheap. The dues are going up soon (not by much), but I currently pay only $5 per month. Plus you get a monthly magazine. There are over 10,000 individual clubs in 80 different countries with an average of 20 members each, so chances are good that you can find a local club in your area. There are 10 clubs just within a 7-mile radius of my home. Check out the club locator to see what’s near you.

Some of the casinos here in Vegas even have their own Toastmasters clubs. The MGM Grand has the Lions Roar club. The Luxor has the Pyramid Power Talkers club. And the New York, New York has the Manhattan Express club.

Toastmasters actually has two tracks for building skills. One is the communication track, which involves improving your speaking skills. But less well known outside the organization is the leadership track, which helps you build leadership skills. Members are free to focus on one track or the other or both. I recently earned my CTM (Competent Toastmaster), which is the first educational award on the communication track, and I’m working towards my CL (Competent Leader), which is the first award on the leadership track. There’s a lot of flexibility in how you go about fulfilling the requirements for these.

Toastmasters is a lot of fun too, and I look forward to meetings partly for their entertainment value. There’s normally a lot of humor in each meeting, especially in the club I belong to that includes a few comedians. In some clubs a few members will go out to dinner afterwards. One club in my area called Bachelors & Bachelorettes is only for singles; they meet in the back room of a bar & grill and have cocktails and dinner during their meetings, which tends to make them fairly lively. So don’t be intimidated by the seeming formality of Toastmasters it’s extremely friendly to newcomers.

At the very least, Toastmasters is a great way to get out and do something social, make new local friends (which is especially nice to counterbalance an overabundance of online friends), have some laughs, and get the heck away from the computer for a while. In fact, I have a meeting to go to right now…

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters:

The Hero’s Journey:

• Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

• Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

• Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

The Hero’s Journey is also a study of repeating patterns in successful stories and screenplays. It is compelling that screenwriters have a higher probability of producing quality work when they mirror the recurring patterns found in successful screenplays.

The Hero’s Journey is also a study of conventions. Before screenwriters can decide whether to accept or reject the conventions, they must appreciate their purpose and value.

Consider this:

• Titanic (1997) grossed over $600,000,000 – uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Star Wars (1977) grossed over $460,000,000 – uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Shrek 2 (2004) grossed over $436,000,000 – uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• ET (1982) grossed over $434,000,000 – uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Spiderman (2002) grossed over $432,000,000 – uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.

• Out of Africa (1985), Terms of Endearment (1983), Dances with Wolves (1990), Gladiator (2000) – All Academy Award Winners Best Film are based on the Hero’s Journey.

• Anti-hero stories (Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.

• Heroine’s Journey stories (Million Dollar Baby (2004), Out of Africa (1980) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.

Celebrating the Success of the Trials

Post the Transformation (also known as the Road of Trials), the hero has to make a choice: to seize the Sword or not. The choice is made all the more difficult by various forces- the pull toward the Sword and forces dissuading the Seizure of it. Often the forces backward are more overpowering – making the push forward all the more difficult.

In Elizabethtown (2005), Drew has a choice – to go for Claire or go back, to Ellen. This is represented by Drew having a simulatansous three-way conversation between Heather, Ellen and Claire.

In Spiderman 2 (2004), Peter wants to give up the curse (as he sees it) of being Spiderman. His Mentor (uncle, in a dream sequence) strongly dissuades him otherwise.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and FREE 17 stage sample and other story structure templates can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/