Puerto Rico, a splendid Caribbean island, boasts of its vibrant capital, San Juan. Imbued with rich history, diverse culture, and modern developments, the capital city serves as the heartbeat of the nation. Its unique charm is exhibited through a fascinating blend of traditional Spanish colonial architecture and contemporary Puerto Rican style, all framed by the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and the radiant Caribbean sun.

History and Culture

Steeped in history, San Juan, is the second-oldest city established by the Europeans in the Americas. Founded by Juan Ponce de León in 1521, it was Spain’s most important military outpost in the Caribbean. Today, structures such as the picturesque El Morro Castillo, the San Juan Cemetery, and La Fortaleza, the oldest governor’s mansion still in use in the Western Hemisphere, serve as tangible reminders of the island’s riveting past.

Beyond structures, San Juan is also a melting pot of cultures, where indigenous heritage perfectly intertwines with European colonization relics, African influences and American modernism. This heterogeneous culture is emanated in the music, dance, art, and most notably, the cuisine, making the city a feast for the senses.

Modern San Juan

In stark contrast to the frozen-in-time colonial district, the modern San Juan is brimming with cosmopolitan amenities. Areas like Condado and Santurce are known for their high-end boutiques and trendy restaurants. The capital is not lagging in infrastructure, commerce, healthcare, and most notably, in the field of technology communications.

It’s interesting to note how technology, despite the geographical barriers, unifies and fosters connections worldwide. San Juan’s inclination towards global communication is no different. One could draw comparatives between San Juan and Sydney, another vibrant city hemispheres away. Like Technology Communications Sydney Australia, San Juan has also welcomed tech advancements and is increasing its footprint in global interactions. The development of this sector in the Puerto Rican capital mirrors the rapid expansion of technology use across the globe.

Economic Growth

The capital city of Puerto Rico is also the island’s economic hub. It sees substantial activity in the manufacturing industries, including pharmaceuticals, textiles, petrochemicals, and electronics. Moreover, San Juan’s port plays a critical role in the economy as one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean. Efforts are being made to diversify the economy and promote sectors like finance, the creative industry, and communications technology, akin to dynamic cities like Sydney, Australia.

Nature and Recreation

San Juan’s enchantment lies not only in its historical and cultural eminence but also in its breathtaking natural beauty. Blessed with cerulean beaches, verdant landscape, and lush rainforests, San Juan is a nature lover’s wonderland. Its magnificent coastlines offer idyllic settings for a variety of water sports, relaxation and adventure alike.

In conclusion, San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, offers an array of experiences catering to a spectrum of interests. Its symbiosis of past and present, traditional and modern, and culture and commerce makes the city an exciting destination to explore.

By Marsha Friedman

Whether you are the owner, manager, or public relations director of a company, chances are, youre always looking for ways to get your name in the public eye. While advertising is a great start, enhancing your advertising with publicity creates a perfect marriage of exposure for your company. What is publicity? Its non-paid communication to promote your company in a positive light using media vehicles like television, radio, magazines, and newspapers. Through publicity you build mutually beneficial relationships between your business and the public on whom your success or failure depends.

When it comes to publicity, most people believe they can write a press release, send it to a TV station, radio station or newspaper and just wait for the avalanche of phone calls. But time goes by and after they realize there arent any reporters beating down their door, they make a few phone calls to the newsroom only to discover that no one even read the press release. All of that time and work goes down the drain. Youre back to square one and you start over, but to no avail. So how do you end the vicious cycle of disappointment?

Research can make or break your pitch

Research. Plain and simple, you need to know your audience and know your media market. And research is the key to both.. So first and foremost you need to take a look at your message and ask yourself a few questionsis it newsworthy? Is it consumer-related? Does it have a local twist? Is it a visual story? What demographic am I targetinghow old is my audience and what is their target household income? The answers to these questions will help you craft your pitch and determine which media outlets you should target.

While most people go for the saturation effect, seeking radio, television and print media simultaneously, the reality is that your message might not be a good fit for all media. So that brings us back to the research table. Now its time to do a little homework and figure out where your message stands the best chance of garnering media attention.

How do I get on TV?

TV newscasts communicate to their audience through pictures and conversation. Producers look for newsworthy topics that are visual and entertaining or informative how-to segments. They want compelling conversation and pictures that will grab the viewers attention. They dont want a talking head rattling off statistics or blatantly plugging a new book.

Worried that your message isnt visual? Try this- ask yourself how youd explain your message to a child? Did that help you think of any pictures or simple words that fit your message? Those pictures or simple words can translate into graphics for a TV story. We once had a life insurance agency that wanted us to arrange local and national TV appearances for their CEO. The pitch we created offered interviews discussing the importance of life insurance and why its vital for women to protect themselves for the future. Sounds like you could sleep right through it, right? But we offered more than just the interview. We had the client prepare graphs and bullet points with short information snippets showing the mortality rate of women versus men. The TV stations turned them into graphics and voila it became a very powerful visual story that was successful for our client and the media.

Keep in mind too, that the morning, noon and evening newscasts are each geared towards a different audience. The early morning shows are usually watched by working adults and families getting ready for school. Notice how the news formats shift into more of a talk and lifestyle segment thats sprinkled with news updates after 8AM when most commuters have already left for work?

Saying Your Piece on Talk Radio

Radio talk shows engage their audience through words rather than photographs. Most radio stations are turning to local angles for interviews. So its important to figure out if your message has a local tie-in or is important to your community.

Because radio doesnt require visual props or photos, its a great fit for just about any message, so long as you can discuss your topic for a good 30 minutes. Because what youre really doing is having a conversation with the listeners, you need to be well-versed in your topic and able to handle plenty of questions. Your message should be topical too; something people want to talk about at the office water cooler or over coffee.

Radio talk shows, which are found mostly on the AM dial, also vary from morning to night. Morning shows have shorter interviews during this drive time to work. Talk show hosts dont have time for a 30 minute interview because morning shows are jam-packed with news, weather and traffic updates.

Midday shows were once known to target women, but thats changed because so many people listen to the radio at work. Now, youll find many business shows air during typical daytime work hours. After work, youll find the second drive time of the day. Unlike in the morning, listeners are more relaxed. Theyre on the way home from a long day at work and theres more time to air a 30 minute interview.

During the evening, its a mixed audience of people listening from home. And dont discount the reach of overnight interviewswhile you may think no one is listening, think again! Overnight talk shows (from midnight to 5 a.m.) are very important due to overnight jobs that bring in listeners – 2nd and 3rd shift factory workers, public service employees and many other industries that operate all night long.

Getting Yourself in Print

Print publicity includes magazines and newspapers. While they are two different vehicles, their requirements are similar to television. Your pitch needs to be newsworthy, entertaining, informative, and in some cases, even visual. Newspapers work on tight deadlines, so make sure you dont wait a week after a hot story is released to offer your expertise or an interview on the topic. Magazines, on the other hand, often have a 30 to 60 day lead time. Research the publication you want to contact and make sure they have a reporter who covers your topic or message. Its also helpful to offer quality visuals. For example, restaurants offering a recipe, a gym offering tips to a tighter tummy, even the latest trends in jewelry, can all be accompanied by photographs to support the story.

Ive Narrowed the Search, Now What?

Once you know the types of media you want to target, how do you know which TV stations, radio stations, or print publications are in your area? You can always subscribe to some sort of media list, but why would you do this when the internet is full of free media information? Some websites you may find helpful are http://www.radiolocator.com, http://www.usnpl.com, http://www.newspapers24.com, http://www.mondotimes.com and http://www.newslink.org. You can also use a basic search engine and search for your city + media, for example type in Tampa Media. Youll find a whole list of media outlets at your fingertips.

Now that youve found a list of media contacts, youre well on your way to creating a Power Publicity campaign to drive business to your company. Now that you understand why its so important to find your media niche, next up in our series, well focus on creating a powerful message. To be successful at publicity, you must create your message specifically for your target audience and then find the best media vehicle to drive your message home. Thats why pushing those standard press releases didnt work for you in the first place.

About the Author: Written by Marsha Friedman, President,

EMSIncorporated.com

. For more information contact Steve Friedman at 727-443-7115 ext. 202.

Source:

isnare.com

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By Jennifer Walter

In most cases, the centerpiece should be something very beautiful. For this reason, every guest will wish to take home the centerpiece. There is often a conversation around every table on who will win this prize.

To determine the winner of the centerpiece, it is good to device a contest in which the winner will be given the trophy. If you think of any game, it should be something which every guest will not only take pleasure in, but something which every guest will love to be part and parcel of. Below are some activities that you can use to decide who will take the centerpiece as trophy:

You can device a game in which twenty issues will be put to stake. The guests are given papers and pens and a series of twenty enquiries are asked. Ahead of putting forth these problems, the guests will be highlighted or given a clue on where the answer should lead to. The guests will tender their answers through a yell. It is then left to the person asking the questions to decide if the response is accurate or not. Whoever offers the right reply should be given the centerpiece. This game could be coordinated by an MC or a DJ. Each table is required to come up with an answer and as soon as an answer is offered from a particular table, the person with that answer from the particular table gets the centerpiece and the table is eliminated as well. The game continues for the rest of the tables until all the centerpieces are given away.

Another way to decide who gets the centerpiece is to affix a number to it. The guests will then be given a number. When the centerpiece is decided to be given, the winning number will be called and the guest with that number is given the centerpiece.

You can think of so many methods to give out the centerpiece. You can come up with something unique or extraordinary that will thrill the guestss. It could be something very simple as well as something a bit difficult. It can be a game which will resemble a contest in which whoever does it perfectly and ahead of the others gets the centerpiece. Anything innovative and interesting will be appreciated by the guests.

There are so many options open to you. You can decide to request something extraordinary from the guests. This will be made public and the guest who produces the thing requested for is given the centerpiece. But remember that it should be something that cannot easily be found.

One thing about making the activity of giving away the centerpiece is to make the game easy. Remember that your ultimate aim is that someone should take the centerpiece home. It will be uninteresting if at the end, nobody gets any of the guesses correct. In other cases, you can decide to give a centerpiece to each table. In this case, you will leave the option of who gets it to the members of the table. They should come up with their own criteria on who is winner. But this will be made known to the entire guests.

You can also think of the game of dollar bills. This is one and the same thing like music chairs. But in this game, no chairs are used. Instead, a dollar bill is handed to the guests and the music is started. At some point, the music will be stopped and whoever is found in keeping of that bill when the music stops should be given the centerpiece. You may turn it around by getting rid of the person in keeping of the bill. But remember that this option my take long to get the winner.

Something more special can be decided. You can also find out whose birthday is on that day. The person should be given the centerpiece. The longest married couple may also be given the centerpiece. Just come up with something out of the ordinary.

About the Author: Are you considering taking the wedding party throughout the whole night? If so learn from of the best ideas for a wedding spray from the wedding planning experts at bridalweddinggames.com, the free bridal wedding games for receptions.

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By Karen Hastings, Hertfordshire

Occupational therapy is an allied health profession. This term is used to refer to the wide range of professional groups that work in mainstream health care. Other examples of allied health professionals include physiotherapists, radiographers, speech and language therapists, and podiatrists. Occupational therapists are required to train at degree level and register with the Health Profession Council, which was set up by the government to ensure the safety of the public and continuing professional development of its members.

Occupational therapists are concerned with human occupation in its widest sense. They believe that people have an intrinsic drive to be active and express themselves via occupations and activities. Occupational therapists understand that occupations contribute to a person’s sense of identity and place in society. Take a moment to have a think about all the roles and occupations that make up your life, you may be a parent, or partner, you may be studying at college or working your way up the career ladder, you may be into exercising and keeping fit or you may be leading a hippy lifestyle!

Whatever, your life choices, it is likely that these roles and occupations give your life direction. For example, think about the range of activities that you do in any week, you will find that most of what you do, is related to your life roles and choice of occupations. This is because we do what is meaningful to us and what is necessary (ironing is likely to fall into the latter category!).

It is activity that keeps the mind and body functioning. Through what you do, you learn new skills and how to adapt, get to interact with other people and your environment, meet human needs and develop who you are. Activities are the things we do to work towards our goals. They are the framework of everyday life.

It is understood that if your routines are disrupted or you are deprived of occupation because of illness, stress or other problems your health and well-being will suffer. Occupational therapists help people whose usual and important routines are disrupted because of illness, stress or social problems. Their aim is to enable people to achieve as much as they can for themselves, so they get the most out of life. Occupational therapists work on any occupational difficulties and in this way are experienced life coaches. When people cannot do things which are important to them – such as getting dressed, giving a presentation at work, having a shower, working, socializing, feeling confident to go out into the community or undertaking a favorite hobby – an occupational therapist can help them in many ways, based on each individual person’s needs and lifestyle.

Occupational therapy can help you to maintain a personally satisfying routine of activities. Occupational therapy, life coaching is available privately in Edinburgh. I am an NHS experienced occupational therapist and have worked with people with mental-health and emotional difficulties of all types, using a range of psychological techniques. Occupational therapists are skilled at empowering individuals with depression, anxiety and stress to become re-engaged with life and to feel confident again. Life-coaching in Edinburgh will involve a combination of occupational therapy, NLP, hypnotherapy, and CBT techniques.

About the Author: If you feel you would benefit from occupational therapy, life-coaching or cognitive behaviour therapy Edinburgh visit karenhastings.co.uk. Karen is based in Edinburgh.

Source: isnare.com

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Britney or Bust: How to Hire the Right Celebrity for Your Advertising

by

Lou Bortone

Celebrity endorsements are a staple in advertising, with more than 20% of all ads today featuring a famous face, voice or likeness. The reason is simple: Celebrities sell. Consumers pay attention to celebrities because they are attracted to the familiar. Using a celebrity to promote your company can add awareness, credibility and star power to your business. Three ways a celebrity spokesperson can be used by your business include:

1) Advertising Celebrities can pitch your product via print, television, radio, etc.

2) Appearances and events Celebrities can make personal appearances for your business at events ranging from charity fundraisers to grand openings.

3) Media opportunities Your spokesperson can speak on your behalf on TV talks shows, or at press conferences, trade shows or other media events.

Thinhgs to keep in mind when hunting for a celebrity spokesperson include:

Define your objectives

Determine what you expect from your partnership with your spokesperson and how to best utilize their talents. Clarify your needs and expectations from the get-go.

Get-It-Done: Brooks International and Burns are a couple of many agencies who specialize in booking celebrity and sports talent. These talent brokers can help you assess your needs.

Find the right fit

It’s important that the spokesperson you hire is a good match for your product or service. The clearer the link between your company’s product and your talent, the better the partnership will work. (Think Michael Jordan and Nike!)

Get-It-Done: The Hollywood-Madison Group uses a proprietary database called the “Fame Index” to match businesses with appropriate talent. The Fame Index contains the names of 10,000 stars and uses 250 categories to match talent to businesses and products.

Plan well in advance

When deciding on a celebrity spokesperson for your business, start early. Make your plans at least 6 months in advance. The bigger the name, the longer the lead time.

Get-It-Done: Celebrity Focus and The Celebrity Source are two talent agencies who can connect your company with talent and help you navigate the celebrity maze.

Consider the costs

Talent fees and celebrity endorsements run the gamut from a few hundred dollars for a local DJ appearing at a business to literally millions of dollars for an international movie star. Catherine Zeta-Jones’ long-term endorsement deal with T-Mobile was reportedly worth 20 Million, but T-Mobile’s U.S. sales jumped 25% during the campaign.

Get-It-Done: If you’re looking for major star power, you can go with Hollywood biggies like William Morris or PMK/HBH Public Relations. On a smaller scale, many local celebrities can be contacted directly or through their management.

Make contact

Talent agencies, entertainment marketing firms and even speakers bureaus can put you in touch with potential celebrity spokespersons. Contacting talent can be easier than you might think.

Get-It-Done: In addition to some of the agencies listed above, the Screen Actors Guild provides an actor-locator service.

Other things to keep in mind when shopping for a celebrity spokesperson include:

Don’t be afraid to ask. Maybe that certain superstar is not out of your reach or budget.

Consider “B-List” stars who may be more available and less expensive.

Local talent such as home-town athletes may be your best shot.

Make sure you have an “out” clause in case your celebrity gets negative press or is involved in a scandal. (Sorry Britney!)

Lou Bortone is an award-winning writer, editor and television producer who has spent over 20 years in the entertainment industry, including several years at Fox and E! Entertainment in L.A. Lou specializes in helping businesses create breakthrough video for the Internet. Email Lou at lou@theonlinevideoguy.com or visit

theonlinevideoguy.com

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Britney or Bust: How to Hire the Right Celebrity for Your Advertising}