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Aug   29

The Inevitable Office Question

By Katie Posted in h2b creative 3 Comments

There is a question that always floats around our offices here at h2b in the mornings. It’s inevitable. It happens anywhere between 8 am and 11:50 am. It’s the question we all think, but only some say out loud…

“What’s for lunch today?”

Whether it’s a quick jaunt to one of our local favorites like Oakwood Cafe or Iron Gate Pizzeria, or a drive to Chili’s or Panera (full disclosure: we just returned from Panera for lunch), we love being able to step away from our computers for a bit and socialize outside of the office.

But then there are those days when the answer to the eternal question is, “Oh, sorry, I brought my lunch today.” Usually this is greeted with an, “Oh, okay,” and the slightest of frowns.

There’s something to be said about bringing your lunch and saving money, but I know that I find lots of enjoyment in socializing with my coworkers outside of the office setting. It’s more relaxed, and, let’s be honest, the food is probably better. We even have a rule for when we’re going out to eat: No Social at the Table. While we all admittedly love our various iDevices, we’ve decided that to truly have an enjoyable lunching experience, our iPhones aren’t to be used during the meal, besides checking into our chosen venue of the day on Foursquare. Hey, we want our mayorships and free salsa.

According to an article on CVtips.com, eating lunch with coworkers significantly boosts office morale:

“If you eat and socialize with your co-workers, you’re making a positive statement. You’re also in a position to talk about situations in the workplace. Social interactions are the working processes of any work environment. If they don’t work, neither does the workplace.”

We’re trying to work on creative ways to pack quick, delicious, and healthy lunches. We’ve thought about making a schedule for days that we go out to eat and days that we brown bag it, but nothing has come to fruition yet.

We have thought about having a Pinluck… What’s a Pinluck, you ask? A Pinluck is a potluck using recipes one has found on Pinterest. We haven’t done it yet, but we’ll update you, our fearless readers, as soon as we do. It will probably be amazing. (Are you following our Pinterest boards?)

We want to hear from you–what does your daily lunch routine look like? Do you prefer to go out to eat with coworkers, eat your lunch in-office with coworkers, or work through lunch and eat at your desk? When you do pack a lunch, what are your tips for a quick but delicious meal? Leave us a comment and let us know! 



Apr   18

Earth Day 2012

By administrator Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off

The official Earth Day is coming up next week and only rolls around once a year (April 22), but with the right education, tools, and enthusiasm, every day can be Earth Day and one step closer to a more sustainable environment.

Some things we do at h2b creative include regular recycling, reusing scratch paper, and turning the lights out in rooms that aren’t being used. These may sound like small solutions, and they are, but remember that many small puzzle pieces make a beautiful big picture.

According to earthday.org:

  • The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

From there, Earth Day eventually led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

As the fight for a cleaner earth continues, h2b creative encourages you to make small yet effective changes in your daily lifestyle, treat the environment with respect, and live every day as if it were Earth Day.



Apr   17

Happy Tax Day!

By administrator Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off

Today is the day! While it may not be an immediate thought to celebrate tax day, you can indeed be happy that the stress is over for a few months. Today also happens to be Tax Freedom Day, which means that, theoretically, Americans have earned enough income to pay off the bill for all local, state, and federal taxes for the year.

Due to the recent storms, our friends in Hamilton, Bradley, and Polk counties have an extension until May 31 to file their taxes this year, and this deadline was extended automatically for anyone who lives or owns a business in these counties.

On a lighter note, Tax Day also means that many retail stores and restaurants will run specials to celebrate, and who doesn’t love a great excuse to go shopping? Here is a list of restaurants running tax-day specials.  Be sure to check out the comments in that link to see some user-shared specials as well!

 

 



Feb   10

American Heart Month

By administrator Posted in Community Outreach Comments Off

Bob Hope once said, “If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”

Coincidentally, February is American Heart Month, and here at h2b creative, we are giving our hearts a healthy dose of helping.

As part of h2b creative’s mission, we like to participate and help our community. As global citizens, we have a responsibility to act to benefit our society at large. In celebration of American Heart Month, sponsored by the American Heart Association, we are donating our creative services to AHA’s Dalton Heart Ball, taking place on March 3, 2012.

We are thrilled to be donating our time to this cause, and we hope to encourage others to help with a charity whenever possible, with whatever talents you have.

We also encourage you to attend the Heart Ball. For ticket information, go to www.heart.org/daltonheartball.

The Heart Ball promises to be an engaging evening of fun and passion bringing community and philanthropic leaders together. Last year, the Heart Ball campaign raised just over $51 million nation-wide allowing the AHA to fund over $123 million of research and programs across the country and in your community.



Jan   18

The Digital Technology Guide to Pre Surfaces 2012

By administrator Posted in Trade Shows Comments Off

As Surfaces 2012 and StonExpo is fast approaching, be prepared to learn about new floor covering products just by carrying your smartphone or tablet.

Even before taking off, there are a couple of apps to download to make your trip easier and more enjoyable during the layovers at the airport or the taxi ride to the hotel.

S2 (The Official App of Surfaces 2012 and StonExpo)
This app contains all the latest and greatest that these shows have to offer. You can create your schedule, find exhibitors or read live comments. The entire list of exhibitors is available, allowing you to select the exhibitors you want to see. The app will then create a map for easy locating. S2 also has an education portion for both Surfaces 2012 and StonExpo sessions along with the featured speakers. Also, if you are into social media, there are also categories for both Facebook and Twitter to get the latest show updates and info.

TripIt
TripIt is a social network designed to make your travel easier by containing all your travel information in on location for easy 24/7 access. From your airline ticket confirmation to rental car information, everything you need (excluding your ID or passport).

Be sure to find us on Tuesday January 24 at this year’s Surfaces 2012 and StonExpo to get all the application and digital guidance you need.



Jun   30

NeoCon 2011

By administrator Posted in Trade Shows Comments Off

This month, interior designers, textile manufacturers, artists and architects alike swept into Chicago for NeoCon-the three day long industry event. Between checking out the showrooms and visiting with new and old friends, I was able to enjoy a little bit of Chicago: dinner at Miller’s Pub with the Shaw Contract folks, cocktails at Pops on Champagne with Mannington Commercial, and even dinner on the river at Wollensky’s!

Mannington Commercial announced the winners in tx:style Competition, Sara Meier & Paul Lewandowski who will be debuting their collections at NeoCon 2012.

Our flooring friends were well represented in the Best of Awards:
- On the Edge by Shaw Contract Group, Best of Innovation Award & Modular Carpet Gold Award
- Change Modular Collection by Tandus Flooring, Editor’s Choice Award
- SmartStrand Contract with DuPont™ Sorona® by The Mohawk Group, Carpet Fiber Gold Award
- Roughhewn Broadloom by Tandus Flooring, carpet broadloom Silver Award
- Luxe at Work by InterfaceFLOR, Modular Carpet Silver Award
- Cork Décor, Vol. 2 by USFContract, Resilient Flooring Gold Winner
- The Rinascita Collection: Bufalo & Castoro by Milliken, Resilient Flooring Silver Award



Jun   08

h2b creative Celebrates 5th Anniversary by Donating to Victims of May Southeast Tornadoes

By administrator Posted in 5 year anniversary, Community Outreach, h2b creative Comments Off

While most businesses today tend to celebrate key milestones with a party, full-service marketing agency h2b creative decided to mark its 5th anniversary by making a donation to victims of the tornadoes that devastated parts of the Southeast in April of this year.

“These violent storms hit at the heart of our community in Northwest Georgia,” noted president and founder of h2b creative, Kim Buckner. “While we are proud of reaching our 5th anniversary, because we know so many people who experienced such loss during the storm, we wanted to find some way to give back.”

The agency donated funds that were originally slated for a celebration complete with catering,

a band and other entertainment for clients, to Cherokee Valley Baptist Church in Ringgold, Georgia.  The small town located between Chattanooga and Dalton in Northwest Georgia experienced devastating losses, including the death of 15 residents, hundreds of injuries and many who still remain homeless.

Located in one of the hardest hit areas, Cherokee Valley quickly became a defacto first responder and coordinator of services.  Since the tornado, the church, one of many local groups coordinating aid to the community, has gathered food, water, clothing and is helping many in the community to rebuild.  A website with links to information and resources has been set up for the community at http://cherokeevalleyrelief.wordpress.com/about-us/

“We can’t think of a better way to thank our clients that have helped our agency to grow in the past few years than to give back to our community,” said Buckner.

As a commemoration of the company’s anniversary and as a thank you to clients, the agency has created a short video. 



May   09

Chattanooga Expo 2011

By admin Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off

h2b creative attended the 2011 Chattanooga Business Expo last Wednesday, and we had a great time. There were a ton of great looking booths, exciting businesses and determined business owners. We spoke to a lot of extraordinary people, and the staff at h2b creative would like to thank all of you that stopped by our booth to say hello or discuss how we can transform your business.

Our booth was really great too, and you can catch a glimpse of its glory below.

And many of you may be wondering who won our giveaway, a Roku, at the expo. For the non-geeky and the uninitiated, the Roku is a streaming content player that connects to the world wide web and to your TV. Roku can stream Netflix, huluplus, amazon, pandora, and tons of other streaming content. We had a huge amount of people come by and register, but only one lucky winner. And the winner is… Dr Marc Cromie with Chattanooga Allergy Clinic.

Thanks Dr. Cromie for stopping by our booth. We hope you enjoy your new toy because if you don’t want it there are plenty of people around here who would like to taste the Roku’s magic.