Monday, December 26, 2016

Boxing Day

Resultado de imagen de boxing dayWhy is it called Boxing Day? by Stephen Moss

The first thing to say about Boxing Day is that its origins have nothing to do with boxing, or with putting used wrapping paper into boxes, or with boxing up all your unwanted presents, or indeed with football, horse racing, hunting, shopping, going for icy mass swims in the sea, or any of the other activities that now characterise the day after Christmas and act as an antidote to the languor that descends on households at around teatime on Christmas Day. The origins of Boxing Day lie not in sport, but in small acts of kindness.

It is generally accepted that the name derives from the giving of Christmas “boxes”, but the precise nature of those boxes and when they were first dispensed is disputed. One school of thought argues that the tradition began in churches in the Middle Ages. Parishioners collected money for the poor in alms boxes, and these were opened on the day after Christmas in honour of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast day falls on 26 December.
Resultado de imagen de alms boxes

Some suggest the tradition is even older than that, dating back to the Christianised late Roman empire, when similar collections were supposedly made for the poor in honour of St Stephen, but the evidence is sketchy. All we can say for certain is that at some point St Stephen’s Day became associated with public acts of charity.

It was no accident that Good King Wenceslas, who was actually a Duke of Bohemia in the 10th century, risked life and limb on a freezing winter night to feed some wretched peasant who had chosen a most inclement evening to gather winter fuel. His fabled act of generosity took place on the Feast of Stephen, on which day it was a Christian’s duty to help those less fortunate than oneself. Or, as the somewhat laboured words of the hymn have it: “Therefore Christian men be sure, / Wealth or Rank possessing, / Ye who now will bless the poor / Shall yourselves find blessing.”
Resultado de imagen de victorian boxing day
The problem in terms of dating when the Feast of Stephen became the day for alms-giving and box-opening is that the Good King Wenceslas hymn, which was written by John Mason Neale, dates from 1853. As with most things to do with Christmas, it was the Victorians who fleshed out the meaning of Boxing Day. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the 1830s. Neale clearly recognised the association of the day in the public mind with charity, and in 1871 St Stephen’s Day was designated a bank holiday. What had previously been an amorphous tradition now, thanks to the structured minds and myth-making tendencies of the Victorians, became a seasonal necessity.

As part of this seasonal beneficence, some employers in the Victorian period gave Christmas boxes to their staff. In large households, after serving their employers on Christmas Day, domestic staff were allowed time off on Boxing Day to visit their own families, and went off clutching Christmas boxes full of leftover food. That at least is the suggestion, though there may be an element of Downton Abbeyish wishful thinking here. Scrooge’s attitude (pre-reformation) to Bob Cratchit’s paid holiday on Christmas Day – “A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December” – may have been more representative.Resultado de imagen de victorian boxing day free images

  What is undeniably true is that the practice developed of people giving Christmas boxes – commonly a small gift or some money – to tradespeople who had provided them with good service in the course of the year. The Victorians may have given the name to Boxing Day, but this tradition predates the 19th century. It was certainly prevalent in 17th-century England, as the entry in Samuel Pepys’ diary for 19 December 1663 attests. “By coach to my shoemaker’s and paid all there,” he reports, “and gave something to the boys’ box against Christmas.”

The tradition of giving Christmas boxes to tradespeople was still extant a generation ago but is now disappearing – a reflection of our increasingly atomised and anonymised society, and of the move away from a social structure based on deference and patronage. For better or worse, Christmas really isn’t what it used to be.

Boxing Day is primarily a British tradition, and the UK has exported it to Australia, Canada and New Zealand (in each of which it has become primarily a shopping and sporting day). The term is little used in the US, and 26 December is not usually a federal holiday, though it is this year because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. The 26th is a holiday in western Europe, but most countries designate it the “second day of Christmas” rather than Boxing Day.

Just to complicate matters, eastern orthodox Christian countries celebrate St Stephen’s Day on 27 December. They do not associate it with Christmas boxes nor, coming from the chillier parts of Europe, do they plunge headlong into frozen seas and lakes. They go to church, eat and drink copiously, and watch the telly instead. How very sensible.
                                                                                                        The Guardian

Monday, December 19, 2016

International Human Solidarity Day 20 December




International Human Solidarity Day is:

  • a day to celebrate our unity in diversity;
  • a day to remind governments to respect their commitments to international agreements;
  • a day to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity;
  • a day to encourage debate on the ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals including poverty eradication;
  • a day of action to encourage new initiatives for poverty eradication.

Song: Solidarity (Angelic Upstarts)

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Why is Tuesday 13 a Bad Luck Day?

Resultado de imagen de Tuesday 13
Tuesday the 13th: A day of bad luck and misfortune in SpainBy - PUBLISHED -13 Jan, 2015

TODAY is Tuesday the 13th and in Spain that is the equivalent of the UK’s Friday the 13th, bringing with it the usual superstition of bad luck.

Although Friday is more traditionally regarded as a day to beware, the Spanish regard Tuesday with far greater wariness.
The exact origins of fear towards either day remain unclear but several theories have been put forward.
Firstly, Tuesdays were seen as being dominated by the influence of Mars, the god of war, as etymologicallymartesstems from his name.
The superstition is also strengthened by historical events such as the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade on Tuesday April 13 1204 and its fall to the Ottomans on Tuesday May 29 1453.

There is even a saying that goes ‘en Martes ni te cases ni te embarques ni de tu casa te apartes’, meaning ‘don’t marry, go on a boat, or leave your house on Tuesday’.

Just as reoccurring patterns have this day of the week unpopular, the same has happened with the number 13.

The Western world commonly regards the number 13 as an unlucky one, to the point where hotels often omit it from room doors and floor numbers while some airlines do the same with aisle numbers.

There were 13 guests invited to dinner in Valhalla and Loki, seen as the Viking god mischief and chaos or as the god of evil and spirit of death (depending on which scholar you ask), was its 13th guest.

This parallels of course with Jesus Christ’s last supper in which Judas was the 13th guest and was responsible for betraying Christ, enabling his crucifixion.

For some it goes beyond superstition and becomes a real phobia called ‘Trezidavomartiofobia’ (fear of Tuesday the 13th), which leads to an uncontrollable fear that causes the sufferer to attempt to spend the day at home and avoid contact with others.

So for the love of all that is good and holy, take care on this cursed day and make sure not to go on any boats.
 
                                                                                                                      From  theolivepress

Monday, December 12, 2016

Future Continuous


FORM


 NOTE: Remember the Stative Verbs Rules

ACTIVITIES
1 
2 
3 AGENDAWEB 

(Almost) Everything about Christmas



Christmas Fun, Games and Activities

Lots of fun Christmas things to do including Christmas Activities, Games and things to make and eat!

  • Online Advent Calendar (opens big)
  • Decorate an Online Christmas Tree
  • Build an Online Nativity Scene
  • Make a Magi (build your own Wise Men!)
  • Christmas Cracker Jokes (they're bad!)
  • Christmas Karaoke (on another site)
  • Watch it Snow all Year! (on another site)
  • Email Santa
  • Christmas Pictures to Download and Color-in
  • Color-in Nativity Scene Craft Kit
  • Nativity Scene / Christmas Story PowerPoint Graphics
  • Christmas Recipes
  • Spot the Differences
  • Christmas Word Searches
  • Christmas Crossword
  • Christmas Quiz
  • Christmas Memory
  • Christmas Sortable Puzzle
  • Table Talk for Christmas App/Game
  • Site Visitor Map (where the site has been seen)
  • Christmas Browser Themes
http://www.whychristmas.com/fun/

RELATIVE CLAUSES


Sunday, December 11, 2016

Adverbs of Frequency



ACTIVITIES
Exercise 1 
Exercise 2 
Exercises (agendaweb) 

Value Propositions

Useful Value Proposition Examples (and How to Create a Good One)
By: Peep Laja


Value proposition is the #1 thing that determines whether people will bother reading more about your product or hit the back button. It’s also the main thing you need to test – if you get it right, it will be a huge boost.

If I could give you only one piece of conversion optimization advice, “test your value proposition” would be it. [Tweet It!]

The less known your company is, the better value proposition you need. When I reviewed a bunch of websites, the conclusion was that missing or poor value proposition is one of the most common shortcomings.

What exactly is a value proposition?

A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. It’s the primary reason a prospect should buy from you.

In a nutshell, value proposition is a clear statement tha explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation (relevancy), delivers specific benefits (quantified value), tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation).

You have to present your value proposition as the first thing the visitors see on your home page, but should be visible in all major entry points of the site.

It’s for people to read and understand
Value proposition is something real humans are supposed to understand. It’s for people to read. Here’s an example of what a value proposition is NOT supposed to be like:
Revenue-focused marketing automation & sales effectiveness solutions unleash collaboration throughout the revenue cycle

Would you be able to explain to your friend what the offer is and how they’d benefit? Didn’t think so. Unfortunately it’s no joke. Such meaningless jargon-propositions are abundant. Avoid blandvertising at all costs.

Use the right language

Your value proposition needs to be in the language of the customer. It should join the conversation that is already going on in the customer’s mind. In order to do that you need to know the language your customers use to describe your offering and how they benefit from it.

You cannot guess what that language is. The way YOU speak about your services is often very different from how your customers describe it . The answers are outside of your office. You have to interview your customers to find it out, or use social media.
What the value proposition is NOT

It’s not a slogan or a catch phrase. This is not a value proposition:

    L’Oréal. Because we’re worth it.

The value proposition is usually a block of text (a headline, sub-headline and one paragraph of text) with a visual (photo, hero shot, graphics).

There is no one right way to go about it, but I suggest you start with the following formula:

    Headline. What is the end-benefit you’re offering, in 1 short sentence. Can mention the product and/or the customer. Attention grabber.
    Sub-headline or a 2-3 sentence paragraph. A specific explanation of what you do/offer, for whom and why is it useful.
    3 bullet points. List the key benefits or features.
    Visual. Images communicate much faster than words. Show the product, the hero shot or an image reinforcing your main message.

Evaluate your current value proposition by checking whether it answers the questions below:
  •     What product or service is your company selling?
  •     What is the end-benefit of using it?
  •     Who is your target customer for this product or service?
  •     What makes your offering unique and different?
Use the headline-paragraph-bullets-visual formula to structure the answers.

How to create a winning value proposition?

The best value proposition is clear: what is it, for whom and how is it useful? If those questions are answered, you’re on the right path. Always strive for clarity first.

If your value proposition makes people go “hmph?”, you’re doing it wrong. If they have to read a lot of text to understand your offering, you’re doing it wrong. Yes, sufficient amount of information is crucial for conversions, but you need to draw them in with a clear, compelling value proposition first.

Research by MarketingExperiments says that the key challenge companies have is identifying an effective value proposition, followed by communicating it clearly.

What makes a good value proposition:
  •     Clarity! It’s easy to understand.
  •     It communicates the concrete results a customer will get from purchasing and using your products and/or services.
  •     It says how it’s different or better than the competitor’s offer.
  •     It avoids hype (like ‘never seen before amazing miracle product’), superlatives (‘best’) and business jargon (‘value-added interactions’).
  •     It can be read and understood in about 5 seconds.
Boosters for your value proposition
Sometimes it’s the little things that tip the decision in your favor. If all major things are pretty much the same between your and your competitors’ offer, you can win by offering small value-adds. I call them boosters.

These things work well against competitors who do not offer them. Boosters can be things like

  •     Free shipping
  •     Fast shipping / Next day shipping
  •     Free bonus with a purchase
  •     Free setup / installation
  •     No setup fee
  •     No long-term contract, cancel any time
  •     License for multiple computers (vs 1)
  •     (Better than) Money-back guarantee
  •     A discounted price (for a product)
  •     Customizable
You get the idea. Think what small things you could add that wouldn’t cost you much, but could be attractive to some buyers.

Make sure the booster is visible with the rest of the value proposition.

For further information:http://conversionxl.com

Brand Values

  • Definition:

The premium that accrues to a brand from customers who are willing to pay extra for it.

  • Examples:


  • Adjectives to describe your brand's personality 
      (what you want, what your customers may want) 

 Adorable • Adventurous • Appealing • Artistic • Athletic • Attractive • Bold • Breathtaking • Bright • Business-like • Busy • Calm • Capable • Caring • Casual • Charming • Cheerful • Chic • Classic • Collaborative • Colorful • Comfortable • Conservative • Contemporary • Convenient • Cool • Creative • Custom • Cutting Edge • Daring •  Delicate • Delightful • Detailed • Dramatic • Dry •  • Earthy • Eccentric • Efficient • Elegant • Elevated • Enchanting • Endearing • Energetic • Ethereal • Excellent • Exciting • Exuberant • Fabulous • Familiar • Fancy • Fantastic • Fashionable • Festive • Fierce • Flirty • Formal • Fresh • Friendly • Fun • Functional • Futuristic • Glamorous • Graceful • Historic • Honorable • Impressive • Industrial • Informal • Innovative • Inspiring • Intense • Inviting • Lively • Majestic • Modern • Natural • No-nonsense • Nostalgic • Novel • Old • One-of-a-kind • Organic • Playful • Pleasant • Powerful • Predictable • Professional • Quaint • Quirky   • Radiant • Rebellious • Relaxing • Reliable • Retro • Revolutionary •  Romantic • Royal • Rustic • Scholarly • Secure • Serious • Smart •  Sophisticated • Stable • Stimulating • Striking • Strong • Stunning • Stylish •  Tasteful • Tranquil • Trustworthy • Unconventional • Unique •  Urban • Versatile • Vintage • Wild • Witty • Youthful


Popular Terms
The premium that accrues to a brand from customers who are willing to pay extra for it.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-values.html

Definition
Popular Terms
The premium that accrues to a brand from customers who are willing to pay extra for it.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-values.html