Rascal Flatts in Cincinnati

On December 11, 2007, a kick off event to remember was held at Music Hall in Cincinnati, to announce a new concept in community service. UGIVE is a non-profit organization with a mission to catalyze, excite and empower the next generation of volunteers. The focus is to help connect community service organizations and high school students together by interaction via web to match students looking for service opportunities with those groups needing the students' help.  Students can also seek funding via grants for their own service projects as well.  The organization is supported by many  people in the Cincinnati area, but has really gotten its beginning with help from two former Cincinnati Bengals, Cris Collinsworth and Hall of Famer, Anthony Munoz.

This night was not your ordinary kickoff event but was headlined by the #1 country group in the nation, Rascal Flatts. If you have read this blog before, you know that Rascal Flatts is one of my daughter's favorite groups and we have enjoyed seeing them at different venues. To have them play for a small audience of roughly 3000 people as part of this event was almost too hard to believe.

Because giving back to the community is a part of our company mission, Carson was happy to offer custom candy bar favors to give to everyone in attendance, and help promote the organization's website.

We were fortunate to get enough tickets so that any of our team members who were able to attend could do so, and we had a great turn out for the event. It was an absolutely great night in support of a valuable cause, and we are proud of our opportunity to support something so worthwhile.

               

Welcome to Manchester

In early December, we sent an order to Manchester, New Hampshire. The population of Manchester is close to 110,000 people. That makes Manchester the largest city in New Hampshire. It is also the largest city in northern New England. Manchester was incorporated as a city in 1846. The name Manchester comes from the city of Manchester in England.

In the early 1800's a man by the name of Samuel Blodgett opened a canal and lock system to allow ships into the New Jersey city. He wanted the city to become an industrial center and to create the Manchester of America. In the 1840's a number of mills opened including the largest cotton mill in the world. The mill was 900 feet long and 103 feet wide. The number of mills that opened required workers, and these people settled in Manchester. Many residents today are descended from the immigrants who settled in the 1800's.

Today Manchester has the fastest growing metropolitan area in New England. Actor and comedian Adam Sandler moved to Manchester when he was five years old and grew up in Manchester.

The Power of Chocolate

Here at Carson Wrapped Hershey’s chocolate we serve people everyday with enthusiasm to give the customers the service that they expect from us. We are always amazed at the power of chocolate and its ability to make people smile… that’s what makes working here so great.

What has been especially amazing is that chocolate transcends all people from all backgrounds…EVERYBODY LOVES chocolate.  From NASA Astronauts to musicians…

Last week we received a phone call from a very nice lady requesting a catalog, who’s son-in-law is Bruce Dickinson.  Bruce is the lead singer of a legendary heavy metal band and rather impressively also a British Airways commercial flight pilot.

If you are wondering where I am leading with this information it is merely to show that the chocolate bar has a natural way of making people happy from all walks of life, there is no level of society it cannot reach and make people smile….and the most amazing thing about being in customer service at Carson is that we get to make all those people happy with a product they already love, covered in their very own personalization EVERYDAY!   

In the words of the Great Willy Wonka … “So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

Dress As Your Favorite Wrapper Day

A few weeks ago, Carson’s Funshine Committee held the First Annual “Dress as Your Favorite Wrapper Day” which basically means pick one of our hundreds of wrappers and make a simple costume representing it. And needless to say, it was quite interesting. As I strolled in that particular morning, I glanced around the office and had to laugh, I had never dreamt I’d be so “lucky” to work with a… Fairy, a person draped in Christmas Lights and a Butterfly. Not to mention I happened to be wearing bowling shoes and a crown.

The mood that Friday was so much fun! At work, having a great time and still being productive, not a lot of people can say that. For lunch we were treated to an early Thanksgiving dinner catered from Burbanks. My eyes wanted seconds but my stomach said no… my eyes always win. After the delicious meal, we were going to have a contest to vote on the best dressed. But with the tryptophan kicking in and belts loosened, we decided that there was no reason to stand up in front of a crowd and be judged after a meal like that.

People got really creative, which is great because it just makes the experience even better. And that is one of the things you’ve got to love about Carson, the people… the crazy & creative people - myself included of course!

               

Chocolate in Northwest Ohio

September 28, 2007 was a big day for Carson in my family.  The day began with my mother, Kris Bottles, attending a career fair at The University of Toledo for Spilman, Hills & Heidebrink, Ltd. She is the tax manager there.  Spilman, Hills & Heidebrink, Ltd. had minis printed with their logo and contact info for the students.  She made a sign to sit next to the basket of minis saying “this product may contain nuts” to warn takers of the possible ingredient.  She said the minis were a hit and students kept on grabbing them.  Maybe the chocolate helped calm their nerves throughout the fair.  She used them again for the Bowling Green State University career fair and then put the extras in a basket in the front office at Spilman, Hills & Heidebrink, Ltd. where visitors to the office could see.  Apparently quite a few people have been inquiring about them.

”The minis at the Career Fairs were quite popular.  Who doesn't like chocolate?  Next time I think we might go with a flashy color to attract even more people.  The leftovers are now in our office candy jars and are proving to be even more popular!!”

Opportunity Galore

As we head into December, the Marketing department has started reviewing our data to determine our plans for 2008.  We try to start each year with a complete calendar in place.  It’s a wonderful guideline for everyone to see just what needs to be accomplished.  We sometimes have to deviate from what we thought was important to what becomes more important at the time. 

For 2008, we are excited about delving into our corporate wrapper designs and gift items.  We have created a large number of new categories for this market so now the fun begins.  We will probably spend almost 6 months of the year developing new wrappers for Accountants, Safety Managers, Company Anniversary Celebrations, Employee Birthday and much more.  If you have an idea to share, leave a comment and check back each month to see what has been added to our collections.