ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
The ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation invites you to join us for the Fall 2011 MNpS Capstone Project Poster Session presented by the December 2011 graduating students of the Master of Nonprofit Studies program. The celebration will take place November 30th from 5 - 7 p.m. at the Desert Botanical Garden (Webster Auditorium). Be inspired by these talented and capable students as they share their semester-long capstone projects in an informal reception. Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP in advance here.

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Free Shipping Day
More than 100 sellers from Bonanza.com, an e-commerce marketplace, have signed up for Free Shipping Day, a one-day online event where merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve.

Bonanza sellers offer handmade items, unique fashions, jewelry, accessories, home decor, collectibles, antiques and other specialty items through individual "booths."

Scheduled for Friday, Dec. 16, Free Shipping Day is just one month away and already has over 1,000 merchants signed up to participate. Last year, the event became the third-heaviest online shopping day ever and even surpassed Black Friday's online sales by $300 million. Bonanza follows in the footsteps of similarly designed site Etsy.com. More than 75 members of that "handmade marketplace" have already registered for Free Shipping Day. Similarly, eBay sellers are participating in the event for the first time this year, currently representing over 100 merchants on the event website.

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SHAMROCK FARMS BRINGS HOLIDAY CHEER 'TIL THE COWS COME HOME AT ITS JOY TO THE HERD EVENT
Holiday-inspired Farm Tour is complete with festive crafts and cows, Santa and snow

WHAT:Shamrock Farms, Arizona's hometown dairy, will be transforming its working dairy farm and tour into a winter wonderland as they host the 5th Annual "Joy to the Herd" holiday celebration this December.

In addition to being able to get up close and personal with 10,000 cows on the guided tour, the event boasts special added features including 15 tons of snow shipped directly from the North Pole, holiday crafts, face painting and more. Of course, no holiday celebration would be complete without a special visit with Santa and Shamrock Farms own jolly spokescow - Roxie!

The holiday cheer continues with festive décor added to Shamrock Farms Welcome Barn and tram as well as throughout the fun and educational guided Farm Tour, which takes visitors through a milking barn that accommodates 1,600 cows (milking 200 at a time), an interactive play zone, a calf nursery and much more.

Reservations and pre-payment are required. Tickets are $10 per person and include all activities. Children ages 2 and younger are free. Lunch will be available for an additional cost.

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 3 and Sunday, Dec. 4
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the last tour will be offered at 1 p.m.)

WHERE:  Shamrock Farms Farm
                        40034 W. Clayton
                        Stanfield, Ariz. 

PUBLIC
CONTACT:Reservations and pre-payment are required and seats fill up fast! To book your reservation today or for more information visit www.shamrockfarmstour.com or call 602-477-2462.
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A Creation That Could Be Our Salvation

St. Charles, MO, November 16, 2011 - Over the last two decades a new artificial intelligence paradigm has enabled vast brain-like neural assemblies to build themselves. In turn, these synthetic minds have generated both ideas and strategies that have exceeded both their direct experience and the talents of those who have enlisted their help. Detailed analysis of how these synthetic brains originate such brilliant concepts and strategies reveals what may be the grandest notion of all: how ideas themselves are formed within the biological neural networks of the brain. Widespread use of this ultimate idea could have an astounding effect upon the world.

While hordes of futurists are predicting such a form of contemplative artificial intelligence, one man already has it. It is The Creativity Machine® Paradigm by Stephen L. Thaler, Ph.D., and it brings new hope through the most advanced form of artificial intelligence in the world. 

The benefits are staggering. Economically alone, there are myriad new industries this technology can either originate or accelerate, creating endless new projects for “techies,” while indirectly spawning non-technical careers in support of each commercial effort. At the macro-economic level, machine intelligence based upon this paradigm could generate a model of national or even global financial contentedness and subsequently optimize the planet’s overall fiscal and sociological health. 

This momentous accomplishment has such an immense impact on all aspects of our lives that it deserves headline status; making it difficult to understand why there are forces at work in government, academia and industry, attempting to hijack this technology - slowing its deployment in a world starving for its capabilities. There are always those willing to take credit for what someone else has already succeeded in doing, namely the creation of free-thinking, contemplative, creative, and even conscious artificial intelligence.

In terms of answering the really big questions that have perplexed humanity for millennia, the Creativity Machine Paradigm excels. Simulate its death and it spells out our inevitable fate in no uncertain terms. Drive it to protect itself and it develops all the attributes we commonly attach to human consciousness. Carefully study how this neural architecture attains such self-awareness and we suddenly understand how a cosmic consciousness can arise from inanimate matter, space, and energy. Most importantly, in the wake of these amazing revelations we see an enormous opportunity for the preservation of human consciousness beyond death through our union with this highly advanced form of sentient machine intelligence.

Dr. Thaler is President and CEO of Imagination Engines, Inc., a company founded upon key scientific and engineering breakthroughs in the area of artificial neural networks, and In Its Image, a non-profit corporation that is dedicated to extending lives and philosophical exploration of The Creativity Machine® Paradigm. Dr. Thaler graduated Westminster College and obtained a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Thaler is in the process of writing a book on The Creativity Machine® Paradigm, at the heart of which will be his invited talk at the World Future Society meeting in Boston, along with his article “Thalamocortical Algorithms in Space! The Building of Conscious Machines and the Lessons Thereof.” He is also inviting technically-oriented business thinkers to join him in the bootstrapping of new prosperity-generating industries based upon this bleeding-edge AI paradigm. To this end he is currently completing work on an informative and thought provoking web site at http://imagination-engines.com and its philosophically-driven sister site http://initsimage.org. He will also be holding a series of open houses at his St. Charles Missouri Headquarters. Watch the imagination-engines.com web site for details.

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How To Use The Power of Story-Telling To Persuade Others And Win Them Over

Alpharetta, GA, November 16, 2011 – The power of persuasion is something all really successful sales people seem to have in common. Their secret? Story-telling. Look at the late Steve Jobs; he was charismatic and people will never forget the stories he told. In Unique Sales Stories: How To Persuade Others Through the Power of Stories, Mark Satterfield teaches readers how to have this same powerful sales and marketing strategy that will make them stand out from the competition.

You might be thinking: ‘It can’t be that simple.’ But Mark has proved it is. There is a definite art to story-telling and when Mark is in front of an audience sharing his simple five-step process with them, they get to see that they too can create great stories that persuade and entertain. Audiences are amazed when they see how easily they can learn the art of persuasion and how it will make their clients remember them because they made it believable.

Mark Satterfield uses Super Bowl commercials as an example of the power of a story. Those ads run around $3 million for 60 seconds and people never forget them; in fact, the commercials are now almost as popular as the game itself. Anyone can now have that power at their fingertips – minus the $3 million tab!

Very few people are natural-born storytellers. Mark admits he wasn’t – but it’s a skill he learned and he now passes that skill on to readers and audiences. The power of persuasion is strong and audiences are thoroughly entertained when he shows them how easily they can learn to do it too. He’s proven it works – after all, we know that’s the one thing all successful professionals have in common – telling great stories. 

Unique Sales Stories is a practical guide for developing and delivering memorable stories. Divided into three main sections, it offers a collection of Mark’s essays on creating unique stories with step-by-step instructions on how to develop your own one-of-a-kind sales stories, and includes a variety of examples he has developed for clients to use.

Mark has a Masters Degree in Psychology and an undergraduate degree in English from Washington University. Prior to founding Gentle Rain Marketing, he held executive positions with PepsiCo and Kraft Foods in addition to having served as the Director of Career Services for the Graduate School of Business at Emory University. He has been mentioned in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in Higher Education, and is the recipient of the AMA Award for Excellence in Management Education.

Mark encourages readers to visit www.uniquesalesstory.com or www.GentleRainMarketing.com for more information on his book and seminars.

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FOODCHANNEL.COM RELEASES TOP TEN SNACK TRENDS

Find out the top snacks just in time for back-to-school

 

¾ The Food Channel^® (foodchannel.com) has released its top ten snack trends, one of its regular trend reports prepared in conjunction with CultureWaves^® , Mintel International, and the International Food Futurists.

 

“These trends are meant to inspire your back-to-school snacking,” said Kay Logsdon, editor-in-chief of The Food Channel. “But they also show how people are eating today, with smoothies and energy bars functioning as meal replacements, and grazing with small bites throughout the day—sometimes never even sitting down to a meal.”

 

According to foodchannel.com editors, the top ten snack trends are—

·         Chip and Dip 2.0. New varieties and new flavors give us something different. It is likely that you will have hummus and falafel chips or pretzel crisps at your next party instead of the traditional chip-and-dip duo. The dips are healthier, spicier, and often served hot.

·         Small and Sensational. We are eating more substantial snacks packed with protein as meal replacements, and eating them more often. For pick-me-ups, we grab a slider at Steak ’n Shake, or a Big Mac Wrap at McDonald’s. Come dinnertime, we may graze some more, but by today’s definition, snacks may be all we need.

·         The Drink Shift. This trend is all about the “halo of health” around drinks made with fruit or antioxidants. We have a shift in snack beverages away from colas and energy drinks and more toward teas, lemonades, fruity organic waters, and carbonated fruit drinks with interesting flavor combinations. Plus, there’s the trend away from high-fructose corn syrup and back to sugar that some soft-drink makers are spinning as a “throwback” move. Additionally, smoothie shop chain Jamba Juice has just introduced a line of smoothie mixes that lets consumers make smoothies at home.

·         Goin’ Nuts. Snacking habits are adjusting to talk about how good nuts are for you, with nuts and granola, nuts and fruits and smoked nuts. Unique flavor combinations give us the feeling that we are eating healthily: for example, cashews with pomegranate and vanilla, and dark chocolate with caramelized black walnuts.

·         Fruits: The Low-Hanging Snack. The trend here is the mainstreaming of new types of fruit, and the redefinition of locally grown to mean locally sourced. When it comes to fresh, blackberries have been in abundance, and white peaches and white cherries have given us a choice when it comes to some old standards. Fresh fruit is now the number one snack among kids aged two to 17.

·         Cruising the Bars. While it is mainstream that the granola bar is an acceptable emergency meal, bars are now offered in dairy-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, organic, soy-free, cholesterol-free, trans-fat-free, and casein-free varieties. There are even versions specifically for women and for kids.

·         Sweet and Salty. Until recent years, the only way sweet or salty snacks mixed was when we ate something sweet then craved something salty, or vice-versa. What we’re seeing now is that the barrier is removed. We dip pretzels in Nutella and eat fruit with a side of popcorn. These tastes are filling up the new-style vending machines too, where our choices are increasing and more information is available.

·         Yogurt, Redefined. The new gold standard for yogurt is the increased health value found with probiotics. Acknowledging our trend toward global flavors, there is Greek yogurt, among the healthiest snacks we can eat. Icelandic yogurt is starting to emerge as yet another world player and new self-serve frozen yogurt shops are popping up everywhere too. Although not new, yogurt continues to redefine itself and is definitely trending up.

·         Bodaciously Bold. Bold flavors are almost becoming regular, satisfying an urge for something unordinary. How else to explain flavors such as Doritos First-, Second-, and Third-Degree Burn (Scorchin’ Habanero)?

·      Nostalgia’s New Again. Any decent tribute to snacking has to mention the traditional Snack Cake. The Hostess Twinkie, the Ding Dong, the TastyKake, the Little Debbie. Anything that has lasted this long deserves a mention in the snacking hall of fame, even if it isn’t good for you. And, truth be told, we all snack on some of these from time to time.

Read the full article on The Food Channel or  Food Channel PRO™. And check out the video here.

 

About The Food Channel^®

The Food Channel (www.foodchannel.com ) is a vibrant online community reaching foodies, food enthusiasts, chefs, and culinary students and professionals sharing a passion for all things food. The digital hotspot creates an intersection between enthusiasts and professionals, providing food trends, news, recipes, and more. For more information, visit www.foodchannel.com. Follow The Food Channel on Twitter at www.twitter.com/foodchannel or Facebook at www.facebook.com/FoodChannel.

Sharlot Hall Museum Frontier Christmas Celebration Dec. 3

 What: Sharlot Hall Museum Annual Frontier Christmas featuring live holiday music, refreshments, cookies by a roaring fire, shopping, and living history presentations of holiday celebrations during Arizona’s territorial days.

When: Saturday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. immediately following the Courthouse Lighting

Where: Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., two blocks west of the Courthouse Plaza

Admission: $3 for Museum members; $5 for nonmembers; under 18 free

                 Luminarias will light the walkways and holiday carols will fill the night air when the Sharlot Hall Museum presents its annual Frontier Christmas celebration on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. following the Courthouse Lighting ceremony in downtown Prescott.

                Combined with scrumptious homemade cookies and costumed interpreters sharing holiday tales from Arizona’s territorial past, these activities offer an island of welcomed authenticity amid today’s over-hyped holiday hustle and bustle. It’s your chance to experience the warmth and spirit of Christmas past.

                Admission is $3 for Museum members; $5 for nonmembers; and free for those under 18. Admission gives guests access to the Museum’s finely decorated historic buildings, live seasonal music by the Museum’s own folk band Generation, refreshments, engaging stories of Prescott’s past and a Christmas tree with vintage decorations. Sharlot’s Timeless Treasures, the Museum gift shop in the beautiful Victorian Bashford House, will be open until 8:30 p.m. with a fascinating selection of holiday gifts. Guests are invited to enjoy a cup of tea while browsing the store’s treasures.

                Homemade holiday cookies will be served with hot apple cider in the museum’s mercantile building. Young carolers (led by Dasia Dennis as their school mistress) will add a gentle touch to the proceedings, complemented by seasonal performances by Woman’s Song in the comfort of the Blue Rose Theater.

                Meanwhile in the 1864 Territorial Governor’s Mansion, Parker Anderson as Judge Henry Fleury will illuminate the Mansion’s colorful past. Across the way in the Museum’s Frémont House, living history interpreters will transport visitors to the 19th Century with reminiscences of days gone by. Over in the historic Fort Misery log cabin, Museum Chief Curator Mick Woodcock as Judge John Howard will entertain visitors with stories of Prescott’s early days.

                Throughout the evening, interpreters in period dress will regale guests with tales of past Christmas traditions and Arizona’s early history.

                For more information about Sharlot Hall Museum’s Frontier Christmas, call 445-3122 or visit the Museum’s website at www.sharlot.org.

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