Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Gifts for 50th Annual Earth Day

Is your company making an effort to go green? There’s no better time than the present. With companies across the globe currently supporting remote work, employees are already adapting to a more sustainable way of living. Memos are being sent via email instead of printed out. Fewer people are using disposable paper coffee cups and plastic water cups. The fact is, this could be a great time to support your employees with an initiative to go green – just in time for the 50^th annual Earth Day.

Reusable Water Bottle

A reusable water bottle is the ultimate in sustainable gifts. With the range of water bottles available now, there’s no reason for most people to be consuming water out of one-time use plastic bottles. Gifting your employees washable, reusable tumblers and giving them a place that they can refill them with filtered water is a great way to start a sustainability movement at work.

Reusable water bottles come in all different types of materials, shapes, and sizes now, including:

• Aluminum
• Hard plastic
•  Double-walled
• Straw or screw top

Regardless of the type of water bottle or tumbler you choose, your employees are sure to love it – and so is the earth.

Canvas Tote Bags or Reusable Grocery Bags

Everyone likes to bring snacks to work. They’re what help get us through the day! Reusable tote bags and grocery bags are great for bringing snacks and other small odds and ends into the office. These make great gifts for not only your employees, but also trade show or conference guests.

Reusable bags allow people to carry around pamphlets and promotional products they get while attending events. Additionally, people are starting to use these regularly for all types of shopping trips to avoid getting disposable grocery or shopping bags.

Stone Paper Notebooks

There’s no such thing as too many notebooks or too many journals. While paper made from wood isn’t sustainable, paper made from stone is.

Not only is stone paper made from a more abundant resource, but it also prevents the use of dozens of other natural resources. In fact, stone paper reduces the amount of water used in production by 60 thousand liters and prevents 900 kg of carbon dioxide emissions. All-in-all, stone paper is incredibly environmentally friendly.

It’s also important to note that stone paper works just as well as paper made from wood pulp. It’s tear resistant, waterproof, and smudge proof, making it a great sustainable alternative.

Preparing for the 50^th Annual Earth Day

Earth Day takes place on April 22^nd. Celebrate this year by giving your employees or clients a sustainable and fun gift. It will mean twice as much right now while everyone is cooped up at home to receive something thoughtful and good for the planet.

The Skylight staff is working remotely and still open for business. If you have questions or would like to place an order, simply give us a call at 410.879.8401 or visit the website. We look forward to serving you!

How to Help Your Employees Tackle Remote Work

Right now, people across the globe are working remotely. They’re screen sharing, calling in for meetings, and making sure deliverables still get to clients and customers on time. While working remotely can sometimes feel isolating, it doesn’t have to be miserable or uncomfortable for your employees - and there’s no better time to show how much you appreciate them than during this time of uncertainty.

Help Them Create a Productive Work Space

One of the biggest misconceptions of telework is that it’s easy to work from your couch in pajama pants every day. While that usually works for a couple of days, it doesn’t lend itself well to long-term productivity.

Creating a separate space away from the couch, TV, or bedroom can make it much easier to focus on the task at hand and get work done efficiently. So what makes a good work space? Generally, a desk or dining room table set up with all of the office must-haves is the best bet. 

This is a great time to provide your employees with some company-branded items to show them your appreciation. Some favorites for creating an effective workspace include:

• Wireless Headphones for Conference Calls
• USB Hub for Charging Devices
• Large Journal for Keeping Notes at Home

Consider setting up a group chat for your employees where they can share their tips for productivity, too. Putting everyone’s brain power together is a great way to help your whole team improve their ability to work remotely.

Encourage Your Employees to Engage in Self Care

As plugged in as we are as a society, it’s hard not to hear about what’s happening 24/7. But it can quickly take a toll on your employees’ mental health. Additionally, many people may be feeling isolated during this time.

Make sure you’re supporting your employees by encouraging them to take care of their physical, emotional, and mental health. It’s important to continue exercising and getting fresh air. Technology also makes it possible for people to spend time with loved ones virtually, even if they can’t currently visit in person.

Recommending that your employees take time to socialize and encouraging socialization during the work day can go a long way for improving mental health while we wait for everything to return to normal. 

Help Them to Stay Positive

You don’t have to limit gifts to your employees to items that encourage productivity. In fact, there has never been a better time to provide them with items like stress balls or coffee cups. It’s also a good time to send some funny non-virus related memes out to elicit a smile or a laugh from everyone. 

We’re all in this together as a global community right now, and the easier we make it on each other, the happier we’ll all be in the long run. Make sure that your employees know that you appreciate them and their continued efforts even when they can’t physically make it into the office. 

At Skylight, we care about our clients and want to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself, too. Make sure that you’re staying in contact with the people you care about and getting fresh air regularly. Please also know that if you have questions about our products or an order, we’re still available via phone at 410.879.8401.

Coronavirus Canceled Your Event: What Do You Do Now?

Coronavirus Canceled Your Event: What Do You Do Now?

COVID-19 has officially been named a pandemic and is affecting businesses across the globe. Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and Broadway have all canceled upcoming events - and they’re not the only ones. Many organizations are canceling trade shows and conferences as well in order to prevent the spread of this flu-like virus. While this is an important step in containment, there’s no question that it’s difficult for businesses.

What Are Your Next Steps?

If you were supposed to exhibit at a trade show or conference, a cancellation can be stressful. It can also feel like a lost opportunity to make important.connections with potential clients and business partners.

However, just because you aren’t able to attend the trade show doesn’t mean you can’t still connect with the attendees, especially if you’ve already purchased branded items for the event. Below are a few ways you can make up for the lost time.

Send Promotional Products to the Guests 

If you contact the organization that was hosting the trade show, you should be able to get access to the guest list. Instead of sitting on all of the items that you ordered for the show, send them out to each of the companies on the list.

This is a great way to initiate contact with them while commiserating about the fact that the event was canceled. Include a personalized note to each of the companies letting them know that you’re sorry you weren’t able to get together this time but that you’re looking forward to the next industry event and you’d be open to connecting in the meantime.

Offer Discounted Services or Vouchers

If sending your promotional products to all of the guests isn’t something that’s feasible for your business, consider sending out a voucher or coupon instead. You can put together a “special bag” or kit of the items that you were originally planning on giving out and send an email letting the companies know that these will be available specifically for them next time. 

You could also let them know that you value their business and they can get their bag sooner by setting up a no-strings-attached call to discuss a potential partnership. Just make sure that the offer is genuine and don’t set any expectations other than a quick call before sending out their products.

Contact Skylight 

If you’ve already purchased items through Skylight for your event or trade show, we’re here to help. We can work with you to figure out the best solution to still distribute your promotional products to companies who were supposed to attend the event.

We care about our clients and want to make sure that you can still get the most out of your event, even if you aren’t able to physically attend. Our goal is always to provide top-notch service and to give our clients personalized attention in stressful situations. 

If you have questions or need to discuss your recent order, give us a call at (410)-879-8401 or contact your sales representative.

5 Ways to Prevent Juice Jacking

When you’re out and about and your smartphone battery starts to get low, seeing a public charging kiosk comes as a sigh of relief. But don’t get too comfortable, because this convenience might come with a heavy price: a cyberattack referred to as juice jacking. Here is what you need to know.

What is juice jacking?

Juice jacking is a type of cyber attack where hackers plant malware in public charging ports. People who plug their smartphones, laptops or tablets into these ports can have that malware installed on their devices, allowing hackers to obtain sensitive information. 

How does juice jacking happen?

On all smartphones and devices, the USB used to charge the battery also streams data. You can see this in effect when you plug your phone into a laptop and are prompted to “trust this device.” A user with malicious intent can take advantage of this and turn public charging kiosks outlets into data transfer ports.

Here are 5 ways you can avoid becoming a victim of juice jacking.

Keep your device fully charged. Whether you’re at home or at the office, make sure you have a convenient charging station and leave your phone plugged into it. This way you’ll always know where your phone is and be 100% ready to go when needed.

Bring your own charger. Toss a charger into your briefcase or purse and plug into a wall outlet while you’re out. This way you know the USB port has not been tampered with.

Get a power bank. A power bank is essentially a rechargeable, portable battery with a USB port in it. It allows you to plug in your devices anywhere without needing a wall outlet. These lightweight batteries are extremely convenient to have when you’re on the go. 

Use a USB data blocker. USB data blockers (also referred to as “USB condoms”) connect charging cables to a power source and blocks the exchange of data. It works in a similar way as a power-only USB cable, which does not have the wires necessary for transmitting data, only power. 

Lock your phone before you charge it. If you need a fingerprint, passcode or PIN to unlock your phone, chances are you’re safe. Typically, USB ports aren’t able to sync to a locked phone.

At Skylight Creative, we care about our clients and their privacy. Our goal is to provide top-notch customer service, innovative ideas, and high-quality products to help our clients exceed their marketing objectives. 

We’ve been a leader in the promotional products industry since 1977 and pride ourselves on delivering personalized services. Located in Bel Air, MD, we have access to over 750,000 promotional products and can help your business with anything from awards to corporate apparel. 

For more information, contact us at (410)-879-8401 or visit our website www.skylightcreativeideas.com to see all of the products we have to offer.

How Does a Thermos Container Work?

Thermoses are great for those who pack their lunch for work. They are designed to maintain the temperature of the liquid inside, whether it’s hot or cold. Want to keep your soup or morning coffee hot during your morning commute? How about a cold cup of orange juice you want to enjoy once you’ve settled into the office? A thermos is the perfect solution, but have you ever wondered how it’s able to maintain temperatures? Here’s how a thermos container works! 

Heat Transfer

Before we get into how a thermos container works, let’s begin with how heat transfers. Heat is the random motion of matter particles, or internal energy. The more particles move, the hotter an object is. Heat transfers in three ways: conduction, convection, and radiation.

●     Conduction: The flow of heat that follows physical contact. If you touch a hot stove, your finger will get burned as a result. When we touch an object to test its temperature, we are feeling the temperature of our skin rather than the temperature of the object.

●     Convection: Heat transfer caused by the motion of a liquid or gas. When boiling water in a pot, the water at the bottom heats up faster. Hotter fluids have lower density, so they rise up. The hot water at the bottom will rise to the top and the colder water falls to the bottom. This repeats, evenly distributing the heat to all of the water.

●     Radiation: Heat transferred by electromagnetic waves. When the waves are absorbed by an object, the object heats up. Radiation doesn’t require a medium for heat transfer to occur and is the method the sun uses to heat the planet.

How Does This Relate to the Thermos Container?

A thermos works by minimizing the amount of heat transfer that gets inside due to radiation and conduction. Surprisingly, convection isn’t a part of this because it keeps the temperature even. This means that the liquid inside will be hotter at the top and colder at the bottom. Thermos containers are technically known as a vacuum flask. 

This is because it’s made up of a bottle inside of a bottle which is separated by a vacuum. This vacuum minimizes conduction because it eliminates direct heat contact with the contents inside the thermos. A hot liquid will still radiate hate, but thermoses are coated with a silver surface that helps prevent electromagnetic waves from getting through.

Contact Skylight Creative Ideas Today for Your Custom Thermos!

Looking for a custom thermos with your brand and logo printed onto it? Skylight Creative Ideas, Inc. can help! We have been a leader in the promotional products industry since

1977. Our goal is to provide top-notch customer service, innovative ideas, and high quality

products to help our clients exceed their marketing objectives.

Located in Bel Air, MD, we have access to over 750,000 promotional products and can help

your business with anything from awards to corporate apparel.

For more information, contact us at (410)-879-8401 or visit our website www.skylightcreativeideas.com to shop for your thermos and see all of the other products we have to offer!

4 Must-Have Office Desk Essentials

Your office desk is essentially your home away from home. It acts as a workspace, lunch table, medicine cabinet, and anything else you need to use it for throughout the workday. People typically spend more time at their office desk than they do at home, so it’s important to make it your own. Here are four must-have office desk essentials for any employee! 

Office Jacket/Blanket

No matter what the weather is outside, it seems as though the office is always freezing cold. A jacket or blanket that you keep at the office will keep you cozy and able to work comfortably. This doesn’t have to be a formal blazer. In fact, it can just be a hoodie, sweatshirt, or even a blanket that you keep stored specifically for those chilly office days.

Hygiene Products

It’s good to keep emergency hygiene products just in case you need to freshen up at any given time or aren’t feeling well. Whether a surprise meeting arises halfway through the day or your coworkers decided on a last minute happy hour after work, store some hygiene products to give you the opportunity to freshen up. This could be a portable toothbrush for after lunch, mouthwash, deodorant, bandaids, tissues, and more.

Pens

You should always have pens handy on your desk because you never know when notes will need to be taken. You may get calls throughout the day that require you to write important information, so having pens handy is great so that you won’t forget any important notes. When you have meetings, you can simply grab a pen and notepad to jot down important highlights rather than having to transport your entire laptop to the conference room.

Stress Balls

The work day can bring a variety of stressful situations. Whether a project deadline is quickly approaching or a client is unhappy with your work, a lot of curveballs can be thrown at you within the work day. Keep some of that stress away by keeping stress balls on your desk that you can squeeze when you start to feel frustrated or overwhelmed. Stress balls come in all different shapes and sizes to match the decor of your desk or your personal interests.

Contact Skylight Creative Ideas for Your Promotional Product Needs!

Skylight Creative Ideas, Inc. has been a leader in the promotional products industry since

1977. Our goal is to provide top-notch customer service, innovative ideas, and high quality

products to help our clients exceed their marketing objectives.

Located in Bel Air, MD, we have access to over 750,000 promotional products and can help

your business with anything from awards to corporate apparel.

For more information, contact us at (410)-879-8401 or visit our website www.skylightcreativeideas.com to see all of the products we have to offer!

Calendar Tips: Get Organized in 2020

The new year is right around the corner, so it’s a great time to get organized and decide what you’re going to accomplish in the upcoming year. Calendars are great ways to keep both your work and personal life in order without getting overwhelmed. Here are some great tips for using your calendar to get organized in 2020!

Color Coding

Looking at a calendar full of tasks that need to be done can be discouraging. Color coding is the perfect way to break up your tasks and organize them by category. You may red for work-related tasks, blue for personal activities, and green for any priority tasks. When you separate your tasks into groups, they become a lot less intimidating.

Time Blocking

Rather than creating a long daily to-do list, consider creating time blocks instead.Often times, we write unrealistically to-do lists that are nearly impossible to complete in one day. Time blocks designate a certain amount of time to specific tasks, which gives you a better idea of what can be accomplished. 

You may block out an hour of time in the morning to sift through emails, a two hour period to handle business calls, and a designated lunch hour. Organizing time versus organizing tasks can help increase focus and minimize distractions.

Optional Calendar

An optional calendar helps you plan for the unexpected. This calendar consists of tasks and activities that aren’t mandatory. This could be anything from a birthday party to a class you’ve always wanted to take. These are things you want to get done, but aren’t exactly necessary. Creating an optional calendar gives you a list of possibilities if your schedule ever frees up at the last minute.

Unstructured Time

One of the most important things to do when organizing your 2020 calendar is to incorporate unstructured time. Often times, we get so wrapped up in our lives that we forget we need time to rest. Overworking yourself will not only leave you exhausted but can have negative effects on your health as well. 

Always incorporate 2-4 hours of unstructured time into your calendar to give you time to unwind. Whether you want to relax, meditate, write, or stretch, this time is meant to relieve stress and ease your mind.

Contact Skylight Creative Ideas Today for Your 2020 Calendars!

Skylight Creative Ideas, Inc. has been a leader in the promotional products industry since

1977. Our goal is to provide top-notch customer service, innovative ideas, and high quality

products to help our clients exceed their marketing objectives.

Located in Bel Air, MD, we have access to over 750,000 promotional products and can help

your business with anything from awards to corporate apparel.

For more information, contact us at (410)-879-8401 or visit our website www.skylightcreativeideas.com to see all of the products we have to offer!