Author Thomas Treece worked a variety of odd jobs ever since his first newspaper route at the Monroe Evening News. Some of those jobs included clothing store salesman, department manager, grocery store stock boy, factory worker, motorcycle shop manager, telethon host, and public speaker. After coming full circle, Treece wound up exactly where he started: at the Monroe Evening News, working as a columnist. In But What Do I Know? Vol. I (From Carrier to Columnist) ($23.99, paperback, 978-1-60477-341-5; $35.99, hardcover, 978-1-60477-342-2), the writer waxes nostalgic and offers his perceptions and thoughts -- in a collection of essays and columns -- on his life journey from carrier to columnist.

The creativity and talent of the Fashion Institute of Technology's top graduating design students will be on display when their designs are presented at the college's annual end-of-year runway show, FIT on the Catwalk. Garments created by select students about to receive the BFA degree in Fashion Design will appear on the runway in two shows on April 27, one at 4:30 pm and another at 7:30 pm. Both shows will take place in the John E. Reeves Great Hall at FIT, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street.

The young designers will vie for awards from Cotton Incorporated, the lead sponsor of the fashion show. One student in each of five categories will receive $1,000 for the best use of cotton in a garment. Additionally, Kate Betts, Patricia Field, Lisa Smilor, Erica Sonner, Zang Toi, and Robert Verdi will act as judges for other awards to be given to students for their designs. Awards will be given at 6:45 pm at a Chocolate Reception taking place between the two shows.

The St. Louis Airport Marriott Hotel has announced the completion of a $3.5 million renovation designed to accommodate business travelers more comfortably.

Sophisticated business and leisure travelers are relishing the opportunity to combine work and relaxation in the 177 innovative rooms of the Lambert Airport hotel. Located within the prestigious Marquis Tower, each Executive Room showcases revolutionary technology and captivating design elements amidst ultra-luxurious furnishings, presenting an unsurpassed guest experience.

BlogHer, Inc. (www.blogher.com), one of the top women's online networks and the Web's number-one guide to blogs by women, today published an exclusive audio interview with author, entertainer and activist Calpernia Addams to bring her unique perspective on body image to the ongoing "Letter to My Body" initiative. This is BlogHer's third exclusive podcast in support of the campaign, which is designed to inspire self-esteem, realistic body perception and open discussion on body image amongst women.

ResearchBuy has launched the fastest way in the world for buyers to source, collaborate and report on custom market research. ResearchBuy™ estimates market research buyers can save up to 30% of the time and effort in buying custom research and working with researchers. The solution includes a management console, workspace function for collaboration and strong reporting. This new application also delivers a low cost marketing channel to thousands of researchers who want to grow their business and find new global research buyers.

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) February 15, 2007 –- The healthcare industry’s annual conference focused on retail initiatives, Healthcare Retail ’07, (www.HealthcareRetail07.com) announced today that Brian Baum, President of U.S. Preventive Medicine®, will be among its featured speakers. Healthcare Retail ’07 takes place on April 12 & 13, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.

Baum serves as President of Dallas-based U.S. Preventive Medicine®, where he leads the Company’s efforts in developing preventive services and partnering with hospitals and health systems across the country. He is also a frequent guest on CNN and CNBC business programs. U.S. Preventive Medicine®, formed in 2004, is working in partnership with leading health systems and physician groups around the country to form The U.S. Prevention NetworkTM, the first national healthcare network focused exclusively on prevention. The network encompasses Centers for Preventive Medicine®, hospital-run franchises where consumers can access a comprehensive suite of clinically appropriate diagnostic tests and sophisticated imaging studies.

If ranking 44th on the PROFIT 100 in 2006 was a sign that Optrics Engineering was a rising force on the Canadian entrepreneurial scene, then advancing to 39th in 2007 signals the Edmonton-based corporation is on track to connect a burgeoning global market of IT administrators and engineers with only the very best vendors of network management and security hardware, software and services.

"Finding ourselves a PROFIT 100 company in 2006 was a pleasant surprise but certainly a consequence rather than a goal," says Bording Ostergaard P.Eng. CEO, "and the result of focused effort to be a leading pioneer in online IT sales and consulting. Our success has come as much from simply trying to keep up with all the companies that have chosen to reach out to us for our expertise in addition to our ability to deliver true leading-edge IT solutions."

INSafe, a division of the Indiana Department of Labor has selected Safety Management Group to deliver safety training through the state's INSafe Small Business Training Scholarship Program.

The training scholarships are limited to employers that meet the established criteria, have 250 employees or less. Priority consideration is given to employees of woman-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses and public employees.

"By partnering with Hoosier organizations such as Safety Management Group, information and resources concerning workplace safety and health training are made more readily available to working Hoosiers. INSafe is pleased to be a partner with Safety Management Group for Hoosier workplace safety and health," Deputy Commissioner of INSafe, Sean M. Keefer stated.

Just 5% of employers calculate the return they get for their investment in healthcare benefits, according to the Employee Benefits H.S.A. Healthcare Research 2007 [http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/item/2676/23/5/3. The research, which was published in June 2007, found that a further 22% of UK employers do not know how much they spend on health care staff perks such as private medical insurance, health cash plans, employee assistance programmes, health screening, income protection and well-being initiatives.

In 2003, Suzanne Hansen wrote a second edition of a book that helped one of her sons come up with ideas for dates that wouldn't "break the bank." Hansen's "Charles' Guide to 101 Romantic Fun Dates for Under $20" has since garnered a number of positive reviews and built a corresponding website, www.101RomanticDatesUnderTwentyDollers.com, with several dating tips.

"When I started writing the book, I ran a contest for 101 date ideas before the internet had really taken off," said Hansen. "When I started the site, I wanted to have a way to reach more people and that lead the reprinting of the book."

Sterling Pacific Lending, Inc dba Sterling Pacific Financial , a leading trust deed investment firm, has prepared a new guide for financial professionals to help them evaluate trust deed investment providers on behalf of their investor clients.

Offered at no charge to CPAs, financial planners, investment advisors and other financial professionals, "Nine Things to Consider When Evaluating Trust Deed Investment Resources" provides a list of factors to consider when matching a trust deed investment provider or deal with a specific client.

Radiophone Engineering Inc., a provider of mission-critical communications products and services to defense, public safety, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, entertainment and retail customers since 1948, has just been honored by Motorola with a #1 U.S. sales growth award for 2008.

Under the leadership of its president, John W. George, Radiophone Engineering has won Motorola's prestigious Pinnacle Club Award for Sales Excellence for six consecutive years. The Pinnacle Club award is earned by only the top 5 percent of the roughly 1,000 U.S. Motorola Channel Partners. 2008 is the first year, though, that Radiophone has finished in the top spot. The award was presented in May at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., by Mark Moon, Sr. Vice President, Motorola Government & Commercial Markets, Americas, and Kelly Kirwan, Vice President, Motorola Government & Commercial Markets, North America.

"Winning Motorola's Pinnacle Club award alone is an incredible accomplishment and shows that your company is one of the best amongst a large number of high-performing Motorola Channel Partner organizations," Mr. George said after receiving the award. "Finishing on top of this already elite group is nearly beyond words … really a dream come true. I have to give all the credit to my amazing team that makes it happen every day, and of course, I have to thank all of our loyal government and commercial customers we have the honor to serve."

For more information on Radiophone Engineering, please visit http://www.radiophonewireless.com.

London, UK (PRWEB) December 18, 2006 -– A new financial website has been launched in the UK, helping homeowners to find a secured loan: AdvanceStart.com is a free guide with which everyone can compare loan offers and understand differences between them.

Secured loan plans in the UK need to get compared in order to find the best offer that matches an individual's needs. A secured loan is a particular type of loan where the borrower guarantees the repayment with their personal property.

The money borrowed with a secured loan can be used for all types of things since there is no restriction on it. However due to the diverse nature of the loans market in the UK, one should pay careful attention when choosing a loan plan, since there is an associated risk to the property you are using as a guarantee.

In this current financial climate, making savings, however significant are increasingly becoming a high priority for many of the public. That's why Castle Cover Insurance has decided to include a number of money saving tips on its website to help those who might need financial guidance in this economically turbulent time. As more and more online financial sites look to offer impartial advice on such issues Castle Cover has decided that it many people will benefit from frugal tips listed on their site, especially those over 50 for which the majority of the advice is aimed at.

Faction Media, a full-service digitally-led marketing agency based in Denver, announced that their client, Johns Manville, is the winner of an international internet design award, the WebAward, from the Web Marketing Association. Recognized as the Best Web site in the Construction Industry category was the Faction Media-created www.SpecJM.com. The company also received a Standard of Excellence Acknowledgement for another Faction Media-created site, www.JMHomeowner.com, in the Manufacturing category.

Sigma Micro, the trusted provider of end-to-end technology and services for multichannel direct retail, announced today an expanded suite of new business services for direct retail clients including advanced reporting, analytics, creative marketing and web design, as well as product fulfillment and call center services through its sister company Stark Bro's Fulfillment, the leader in outsourced Third-Party Logistics.

The full suite of services is designed to provide direct retail clients with resources for driving sales and gaining operating efficiencies at fractions of the cost of an in-house investment. With an expanded team of creative marketers, web designers, and the business intelligence professionals behind Controller+ and SigmaCommerce enterprise software products, Sigma Micro will allow clients unprecedented access to its 26 years of retail expertise.

A recent study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology exposed that the process of incorporating effective testing and quality assurance processes during application development reduces the overall project cost by up to 50%. Intellisys Technology, LLC, an industry leader in application testing, with over a hundred projects under their belt wants to get the word out, and decided to do it using a pop culture influence, and the BugBusters."

"The work weve been doing all over the world has one single powerful commonality," stated Raju Iyer, Principal of Intellisys Technology, LLC. "An experienced QA team reduces IT spending. We all felt that this important discovery needed something more colorful than a typical IT message."

Twenty years in a kayak launches a lot of memories – and Outdoor Odysseys wants to hear them all.

To help celebrate its 20th year on the water, the San Juan Islands sea kayaking adventure company will post customers favorite moments from their Outdoor Odysseys’ kayak trip on a newly-created blog – The Memory Logbook. Blog posters will earn $20 off on a day trip, good from May through September.

After 20 years of paddling and camping in and around the San Juan Islands, owner Clark Casebolt and his staff have logged many fond memories and funny stories – tales that kept surfacing during discussions on how to commemorate the anniversary. Realizing that guest stories and anecdotes would make the best tribute, the Memory Logbook was launched.

SpectraSensors, Inc., the leading supplier of a moisture analyzer and CO2 and H2S sensors for Natural Gas Pipeline applications announced today, May 15, 2007 that it has acquired Integrated Information Technologies (IIT), a leader in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and other Software Products for Natural Gas Pipeline Industry.

"This acquisition of IIT will greatly enhance SpectraSensors ability to provide complete solutions for gas quality measurement while adding capability to provide software solutions for data acquisition, monitoring and control in critical process monitoring applications," states George Balogh, CEO of SpectraSensors, Inc.

The San Diego Criminal Defense Law Firm of Ramos & Associates has re-designed and augmented their comprehensive website www.sandiegocrimedefense.com.

The site overhaul implements a new look and structure designed to assist more residents and visitors of San Diego County and surrounding Southern California regions with helpful legal information and resources.

The new design provides a more user-friendly interface and is adjusted to accommodate the migrating trend toward larger screen size resolutions.

Author Thomas Treece worked a variety of odd jobs ever since his first newspaper route at the Monroe Evening News. Some of those jobs included clothing store salesman, department manager, grocery store stock boy, factory worker, motorcycle shop manager, telethon host, and public speaker. After coming full circle, Treece wound up exactly where he started: at the Monroe Evening News, working as a columnist. In But What Do I Know? Vol. I (From Carrier to Columnist) ($23.99, paperback, 978-1-60477-341-5; $35.99, hardcover, 978-1-60477-342-2), the writer waxes nostalgic and offers his perceptions and thoughts -- in a collection of essays and columns -- on his life journey from carrier to columnist.

The creativity and talent of the Fashion Institute of Technology's top graduating design students will be on display when their designs are presented at the college's annual end-of-year runway show, FIT on the Catwalk. Garments created by select students about to receive the BFA degree in Fashion Design will appear on the runway in two shows on April 27, one at 4:30 pm and another at 7:30 pm. Both shows will take place in the John E. Reeves Great Hall at FIT, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street.

The young designers will vie for awards from Cotton Incorporated, the lead sponsor of the fashion show. One student in each of five categories will receive $1,000 for the best use of cotton in a garment. Additionally, Kate Betts, Patricia Field, Lisa Smilor, Erica Sonner, Zang Toi, and Robert Verdi will act as judges for other awards to be given to students for their designs. Awards will be given at 6:45 pm at a Chocolate Reception taking place between the two shows.

The St. Louis Airport Marriott Hotel has announced the completion of a $3.5 million renovation designed to accommodate business travelers more comfortably.

Sophisticated business and leisure travelers are relishing the opportunity to combine work and relaxation in the 177 innovative rooms of the Lambert Airport hotel. Located within the prestigious Marquis Tower, each Executive Room showcases revolutionary technology and captivating design elements amidst ultra-luxurious furnishings, presenting an unsurpassed guest experience.

BlogHer, Inc. (www.blogher.com), one of the top women's online networks and the Web's number-one guide to blogs by women, today published an exclusive audio interview with author, entertainer and activist Calpernia Addams to bring her unique perspective on body image to the ongoing "Letter to My Body" initiative. This is BlogHer's third exclusive podcast in support of the campaign, which is designed to inspire self-esteem, realistic body perception and open discussion on body image amongst women.

ResearchBuy has launched the fastest way in the world for buyers to source, collaborate and report on custom market research. ResearchBuy™ estimates market research buyers can save up to 30% of the time and effort in buying custom research and working with researchers. The solution includes a management console, workspace function for collaboration and strong reporting. This new application also delivers a low cost marketing channel to thousands of researchers who want to grow their business and find new global research buyers.

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) February 15, 2007 –- The healthcare industry’s annual conference focused on retail initiatives, Healthcare Retail ’07, (www.HealthcareRetail07.com) announced today that Brian Baum, President of U.S. Preventive Medicine®, will be among its featured speakers. Healthcare Retail ’07 takes place on April 12 & 13, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.

Baum serves as President of Dallas-based U.S. Preventive Medicine®, where he leads the Company’s efforts in developing preventive services and partnering with hospitals and health systems across the country. He is also a frequent guest on CNN and CNBC business programs. U.S. Preventive Medicine®, formed in 2004, is working in partnership with leading health systems and physician groups around the country to form The U.S. Prevention NetworkTM, the first national healthcare network focused exclusively on prevention. The network encompasses Centers for Preventive Medicine®, hospital-run franchises where consumers can access a comprehensive suite of clinically appropriate diagnostic tests and sophisticated imaging studies.

If ranking 44th on the PROFIT 100 in 2006 was a sign that Optrics Engineering was a rising force on the Canadian entrepreneurial scene, then advancing to 39th in 2007 signals the Edmonton-based corporation is on track to connect a burgeoning global market of IT administrators and engineers with only the very best vendors of network management and security hardware, software and services.

"Finding ourselves a PROFIT 100 company in 2006 was a pleasant surprise but certainly a consequence rather than a goal," says Bording Ostergaard P.Eng. CEO, "and the result of focused effort to be a leading pioneer in online IT sales and consulting. Our success has come as much from simply trying to keep up with all the companies that have chosen to reach out to us for our expertise in addition to our ability to deliver true leading-edge IT solutions."

INSafe, a division of the Indiana Department of Labor has selected Safety Management Group to deliver safety training through the state's INSafe Small Business Training Scholarship Program.

The training scholarships are limited to employers that meet the established criteria, have 250 employees or less. Priority consideration is given to employees of woman-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses and public employees.

"By partnering with Hoosier organizations such as Safety Management Group, information and resources concerning workplace safety and health training are made more readily available to working Hoosiers. INSafe is pleased to be a partner with Safety Management Group for Hoosier workplace safety and health," Deputy Commissioner of INSafe, Sean M. Keefer stated.

Just 5% of employers calculate the return they get for their investment in healthcare benefits, according to the Employee Benefits H.S.A. Healthcare Research 2007 [http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/item/2676/23/5/3. The research, which was published in June 2007, found that a further 22% of UK employers do not know how much they spend on health care staff perks such as private medical insurance, health cash plans, employee assistance programmes, health screening, income protection and well-being initiatives.

In 2003, Suzanne Hansen wrote a second edition of a book that helped one of her sons come up with ideas for dates that wouldn't "break the bank." Hansen's "Charles' Guide to 101 Romantic Fun Dates for Under $20" has since garnered a number of positive reviews and built a corresponding website, www.101RomanticDatesUnderTwentyDollers.com, with several dating tips.

"When I started writing the book, I ran a contest for 101 date ideas before the internet had really taken off," said Hansen. "When I started the site, I wanted to have a way to reach more people and that lead the reprinting of the book."

Sterling Pacific Lending, Inc dba Sterling Pacific Financial , a leading trust deed investment firm, has prepared a new guide for financial professionals to help them evaluate trust deed investment providers on behalf of their investor clients.

Offered at no charge to CPAs, financial planners, investment advisors and other financial professionals, "Nine Things to Consider When Evaluating Trust Deed Investment Resources" provides a list of factors to consider when matching a trust deed investment provider or deal with a specific client.

Radiophone Engineering Inc., a provider of mission-critical communications products and services to defense, public safety, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, entertainment and retail customers since 1948, has just been honored by Motorola with a #1 U.S. sales growth award for 2008.

Under the leadership of its president, John W. George, Radiophone Engineering has won Motorola's prestigious Pinnacle Club Award for Sales Excellence for six consecutive years. The Pinnacle Club award is earned by only the top 5 percent of the roughly 1,000 U.S. Motorola Channel Partners. 2008 is the first year, though, that Radiophone has finished in the top spot. The award was presented in May at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., by Mark Moon, Sr. Vice President, Motorola Government & Commercial Markets, Americas, and Kelly Kirwan, Vice President, Motorola Government & Commercial Markets, North America.

"Winning Motorola's Pinnacle Club award alone is an incredible accomplishment and shows that your company is one of the best amongst a large number of high-performing Motorola Channel Partner organizations," Mr. George said after receiving the award. "Finishing on top of this already elite group is nearly beyond words … really a dream come true. I have to give all the credit to my amazing team that makes it happen every day, and of course, I have to thank all of our loyal government and commercial customers we have the honor to serve."

For more information on Radiophone Engineering, please visit http://www.radiophonewireless.com.

London, UK (PRWEB) December 18, 2006 -– A new financial website has been launched in the UK, helping homeowners to find a secured loan: AdvanceStart.com is a free guide with which everyone can compare loan offers and understand differences between them.

Secured loan plans in the UK need to get compared in order to find the best offer that matches an individual's needs. A secured loan is a particular type of loan where the borrower guarantees the repayment with their personal property.

The money borrowed with a secured loan can be used for all types of things since there is no restriction on it. However due to the diverse nature of the loans market in the UK, one should pay careful attention when choosing a loan plan, since there is an associated risk to the property you are using as a guarantee.

In this current financial climate, making savings, however significant are increasingly becoming a high priority for many of the public. That's why Castle Cover Insurance has decided to include a number of money saving tips on its website to help those who might need financial guidance in this economically turbulent time. As more and more online financial sites look to offer impartial advice on such issues Castle Cover has decided that it many people will benefit from frugal tips listed on their site, especially those over 50 for which the majority of the advice is aimed at.

Faction Media, a full-service digitally-led marketing agency based in Denver, announced that their client, Johns Manville, is the winner of an international internet design award, the WebAward, from the Web Marketing Association. Recognized as the Best Web site in the Construction Industry category was the Faction Media-created www.SpecJM.com. The company also received a Standard of Excellence Acknowledgement for another Faction Media-created site, www.JMHomeowner.com, in the Manufacturing category.

Sigma Micro, the trusted provider of end-to-end technology and services for multichannel direct retail, announced today an expanded suite of new business services for direct retail clients including advanced reporting, analytics, creative marketing and web design, as well as product fulfillment and call center services through its sister company Stark Bro's Fulfillment, the leader in outsourced Third-Party Logistics.

The full suite of services is designed to provide direct retail clients with resources for driving sales and gaining operating efficiencies at fractions of the cost of an in-house investment. With an expanded team of creative marketers, web designers, and the business intelligence professionals behind Controller+ and SigmaCommerce enterprise software products, Sigma Micro will allow clients unprecedented access to its 26 years of retail expertise.

A recent study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology exposed that the process of incorporating effective testing and quality assurance processes during application development reduces the overall project cost by up to 50%. Intellisys Technology, LLC, an industry leader in application testing, with over a hundred projects under their belt wants to get the word out, and decided to do it using a pop culture influence, and the BugBusters."

"The work weve been doing all over the world has one single powerful commonality," stated Raju Iyer, Principal of Intellisys Technology, LLC. "An experienced QA team reduces IT spending. We all felt that this important discovery needed something more colorful than a typical IT message."

Twenty years in a kayak launches a lot of memories – and Outdoor Odysseys wants to hear them all.

To help celebrate its 20th year on the water, the San Juan Islands sea kayaking adventure company will post customers favorite moments from their Outdoor Odysseys’ kayak trip on a newly-created blog – The Memory Logbook. Blog posters will earn $20 off on a day trip, good from May through September.

After 20 years of paddling and camping in and around the San Juan Islands, owner Clark Casebolt and his staff have logged many fond memories and funny stories – tales that kept surfacing during discussions on how to commemorate the anniversary. Realizing that guest stories and anecdotes would make the best tribute, the Memory Logbook was launched.

SpectraSensors, Inc., the leading supplier of a moisture analyzer and CO2 and H2S sensors for Natural Gas Pipeline applications announced today, May 15, 2007 that it has acquired Integrated Information Technologies (IIT), a leader in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and other Software Products for Natural Gas Pipeline Industry.

"This acquisition of IIT will greatly enhance SpectraSensors ability to provide complete solutions for gas quality measurement while adding capability to provide software solutions for data acquisition, monitoring and control in critical process monitoring applications," states George Balogh, CEO of SpectraSensors, Inc.

The San Diego Criminal Defense Law Firm of Ramos & Associates has re-designed and augmented their comprehensive website www.sandiegocrimedefense.com.

The site overhaul implements a new look and structure designed to assist more residents and visitors of San Diego County and surrounding Southern California regions with helpful legal information and resources.

The new design provides a more user-friendly interface and is adjusted to accommodate the migrating trend toward larger screen size resolutions.