| CSI
Contract Specialties,
Inc.
your link to workplace news
July
2010 | |
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 Imagination is more important
than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we
currently know and understand, imagination points to all
we might yet discover and create.
- Albert Einstein
Click
image for Charles Alan Tuxedo
Chair |
| in the
know |
| IdeaPaint all
over your office walls
 In 2002, a group of Babson College
entrepreneurship students ran out of room on their
whiteboard. They had spent hours brainstorming new
business possibilities, and the sudden space crunch
threatened to cramp their creativity. Instead, it
sparked a new idea: Why not make paint that turned walls
into giant whiteboards? The ideas kept popping: you
could paint chairs, doors, tabletops, playrooms, entire
corporate offices. Any surface could be a canvas for
inspiration. The company would be called IdeaPaint.
The risk: Finding the right formula
was more than half the battle. For three years, former
classmates Morgen Newman, John Goscha and Jeff Avallon
sought help from specialty paint and chemical coating
laboratories. Two labs claimed it was impossible.
Whiteboards are made using high-intensity ovens.
IdeaPaint needed something that could be applied with a
roller in a single coat. That wasn't going to happen,
the scientists said.The young entrepreneurs refused
to believe it. "Our joke was, if we could put a man on
the moon, we can make dry-erase paint," says Newman,
25.Then they
found CAS-MI Laboratories in Ypsilanti, Mich., where the
scientists were willing to give their plan a shot and
even cover some of the development
costs.With the
help of $1 million from family, friends and a few angel
investors, the group spent the next four years
fine-tuning their recipe | | |
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| news @ CSI |
| In2Design
In this month's issue of our
newsletter, we are featuring one of our new manufacturers
"In2Design". In May we began representing In2Design, a
leading and technologically advanced Canadian manufacturer
offering a full range of innovative freestanding furniture
solutions for corporate, educational and institutional
environment. In2design's focus is to bring to market
exceptional products that are recognized for their quality,
function and value - and has successfully worked with
architects and designers; on several large projects within
both the corporate and educational segment in the United
States.
 Rolflex is one of In2Design's product
lines. Combining a dramatic North American lifestyle
with clean European principles, Rolflex is highly attractive
to image-conscious businesses because it projects a sense of
warmth and confidence. North American wood fascias project a
sense of familiarly, but horizontal grain keeps the overall
look modern and clean. Chrome pulls instead of aluminum also
add an element of North American style and glamour. The
proportions are very North American. Rolflex has a sense of
presence but its footprint is actually comparable to
cubicle-type systems. However, because of the open concept
design, you can increase the number of employees per square
fool and make office floor plans more productive. Rolflex 's
desk-glide feature gives creative teams the freedom and
flexibility toadjust workspaces on the fly. This ability
tomake constant adjustments is critical because no installers
are required tomake changes.
 Two desks can be pushed together to
create a large conference table for sharing plans or outputs -
or they can be pulled apart to create an open space for
gathering. You can easily push the desk where you want it, but
because of its solid construction - which is a Trademark of
In2design - it won't roll away if you lean against it.
Built-in wire management channels discreetly handle
cables tomaintain a clean aesthetic in technology heavy
environments. The channels also provide enough freedom
that you can push or pull the desk the full length of the
glide without having tounplug anything. Wrap-around storage is
accessible from the seated position, which is an attractive
ergonomic feature for task-intensive users. In fact, the
cubic storage per suite is more than many comparable products
on the market.
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| Healtcare News @
CSI |
Patrician Furniture Introduces Demure
CasegoodsInspire a
more calming and nurturing healthcare
environment  Patrician Furniture introduces an elegant
collection of casegoods designed to inspire a more calming and
nurturing healthcare environment. The Demure collection,
designed by progressive innovative engineers at Fredricks
Design, LLC, offers dynamic application capabilities with
exquisite selections for a configurable storage and seating
solution. Demure invites distinct individuality through
product variation, creating room environments as different as
the people who use them. Demure was shown in Patrician's
eleventh floor showroom during the NeoCon World's Trade Fair
at Chicago's Merchandise Mart, June 14-16, 2010 and received a
termendous reception.
 Demure creates a custom designer
experience with multiple configurations for an endless
spectrum of design possibilities. This stunning collection
includes a wardrobe, dresser, bedside table, guest center and
bench that offer a multitude of options to meet the needs of
any healthcare environment. Each patient room can have the
surroundings it needs to help patients get better. With the
choice of stowable seating, interior storage selections and
multiple drawer configurations, Demure enables every
healthcare facility to create a room environment that will
specifically fit the needs of their patients, whether they are
children, recovering from surgery or first time parents. The
variety of configurations helps ensure a relaxing environment
where patients and families can heal.
 Each piece in the Demure collection is
designed to offer a variety of solutions usable across many
environments. The wardrobe features additional seating that
can be used when guests arrive, and stored inside the unit to
maximize the use of space. The storage area in the wardrobe
has the option of a hanging bar or shelving system perfect for
housing items for short or extended stay. The beautifully
designed dressers and side tables offer multiple drawer
options for storage of blankets, clothes and other personal
items. The Demure bench is designed with an option for a
drawer or shelf that can be used for additional storage for
patients or their families. The additional storage can be used
to keep purses, backpacks and other items off the
floor.
 The customizable side panels allow Demure
to be completely custom designed for a relaxing ambiance in
any patient room. The optional panels are backlit with an LED
lighting system to heal the mind, body and spirit while
achieving a soft glow on the floor to provide way-finding
light to help patients, caregivers and visitors better
navigate the room.
The collection
wonderfully executes design aesthetics while integrating asset
protection corners and antimicrobial solutions. The top edge
has a perimeter channel to help control spills. To further
promote a healthy environment, Demure has medical grade
cleaning surfaces and an ultra seamless design, helping to
ensure a healthier patient stay.
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| tips
& tools |
4 Career
Networking Tips That Work
 Many of us look at networking the way we
look at going to the dentist. We know we're supposed to do it,
but we really don't want to. So we put it off until, one day,
something goes wrong and we have no other
choice.The way
networking is usually presented makes it seem incredibly
unappealing. It defies our natural tendencies: it seems
insincere and sycophantic, and for introverts in particular,
it seems to require becoming a whole new person--one who is
fearless and gregarious, and who never encounters an awkward
silence.
But networking isn't really
about forcing yourself out the door to attend networking
events where you'll present your elevator speech and hand out
your business card to as many people as possible. It's about
developing genuine relationships with people who will be there
for you even when you don't need them. So how do you do
that?
1. Become the type of person other
people want to meet. This is the key message of "Guerrilla
Networking," by Jay Conrad Levinson and Monroe Mann. This
strategy may be particularly appealing to introverts, who can
be put off by traditional networking tips that seem to require
being outgoing. "Why
work your butt off to meet people when you can put that same
energy into becoming an interesting person within your field,
and then benefit again by having the same people you want to
meet ... come up to you?" the authors ask in their
book."Meeting people
can do nothing for you if you yourself have nothing
interesting to offer," they add. (If the idea of networking
makes you anxious, check out "Networking Tips for Shy
People.") Some of
their networking tips take time to achieve--you can't become
an expert in your field or attain media exposure
overnight--but others you can implement immediately. Offering
to help people, smiling, and sending an email are easy for
anyone to do.
2. Be more interested in other people
than you are in yourself.
Almost everyone is much more interested
in themselves than they are in you. And almost everyone, given
the chance, will talk about themselves rather than really
listening to you. So set yourself apart by following Dale
Carnegie's time-tested advice from "How to Win Friends and
Influence People": become genuinely interested in other
people. There's
something truly interesting about everyone. That being said,
what do you do if you can't find that something about the
person you're talking to? Move on. The beauty of effective
networking is that quality is more important than quantity.
You don't have to click with or be friends with everyone.
(Social networking can be a valuable job-search tool and a
serious liability. Find out how to keep Facebook from ruining
your job prospects in "6 Career-Killing Facebook
Mistakes.")
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Bill Meyer
Contract
Specialties, Inc. (CSI)
phone: 904-220-0221 or
800-808-8274
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