Here are some ways eImagine does our part to be Green:

1. Providing a recycling can for employees to recycle aluminum cans, plastic bottles, steel food cans, etc. 
   
   
2. Collecting aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House 
   
   
3. Recycling packaging and shipping boxes 
   
   
4. Mailing in used printer ink cartridges to be recycled 
   
   
5. Shredding/Recycling used printer paper 
   
   
6. Turning off lights and computers when leaving the office at the end of the day 
   
   
7. Making multiple cups of coffee per K-cup (if only the K-cups themselves could be recycled…) 
   
   
8. Riding our bikes to work (ok so only one or two of us do this, but it’s a start) 
   
   
9. Carpooling to the office, when going to offsite meetings, or going to lunch when possible 
   
   
10. Drinking out of reusable water bottles for water and ceramic coffee mugs for coffee/tea  
    
    

If you want to start a recycling effort at your company, read my blog post for tips: Is Your Company Being Green?

The Taste of Carmel wasn’t like any of our usual community service events that we participate in each year. We mainly focus on events/fundraisers that help find a cure and we also participate in a Habitat for Humanity build every year. However, we are always looking for new ways to show support for our local community. The Taste of Carmel did just that; we were able to show our support for a local elementary school.

Attendees of the Taste of Carmel were able to “sample” 38 local restaurants; I put sample in quotations, because the samples were pretty big portions.  We all walked away from the event stuffed! There was also a silent auction, live entertainment, and a photo booth.

Although the restaurants enticed people to participate in this event, the main focus was Orchard Park Elementary (OPE) School. Did you know that OPE is a Title I school, and that more than 40% of the students that attend OPE are on the free or reduced lunch plan? The Taste of Carmel was designed to help these students and enhance school programs. Some of things this fundraiser will support this year include: building a walking track for the students, assisting teachers with classroom purchases, providing scholarships, providing interactive school programs, and supporting families and students in times of need.

The Taste of Carmel event helped to raise over $20,000 with 100% of the proceeds benefitting OPE elementary students, and it broke all kinds of records! The 2012 event had the highest attendance (700+), most restaurants (38), and most money raised compared to previous years.

This was my second time attending the Taste of Carmel and I have to say it has more than doubled in attendance and restaurants participating in the event. This year I went to the Taste of Carmel with a few of my coworkers, and we had a blast! We are already planning to go next year!

I am in charge of the recycling initiative at eImagine Technology Group. This consists of promoting recycling efforts, keeping my coworkers informed of what can and can not be recycled, and delivering bags of recycling the recycling center.

Since eImagine provides soft drinks for their employees, the recycling bin fills up quickly with aluminum cans and other recyclables. I can’t even imagine throwing all these cans away! Although recycling can be intimidating at first, it can be rewarding knowing that you did your part. We all have to do our part to preserve the environment.

If you want to help start a recycling effort at your company, here are a few tips to consider:

1. Create a recycling plan to present to upper management. As long as you have a plan in place for what you want to do…who could say no to recycling?



2. Request the purchase of a recycling bin and trash bags. It is important that the recycling bin has the recycling symbol on it so that employees know that it is for recyclable items and not trash.



3. Locate the nearest recycling center and research what type of items they will accept. Chances are there may be a recycling center in your office complex.



4. Keep your coworkers informed of your recycling efforts and what items they can and cannot recycle. The last thing you want is to be sorting through the recycling bin to discard trash or other items that your recycling center will not accept.



5. Make regular trips to the recycling center. Don't let the recycling pile too high till it becomes overwhelming!



6. Ask for help and get coworkers involved. Taking turns delivering the recycling to recycling center helps share the workload and makes recycling easier for all.

With the anticipation of the arrival of the new version of Microsoft SQL Server coming out in 2012…Microsoft asks, which new features of SQL Server 2012 are you most excited about?

Although there are tons of new features that improve security, availability, business intelligence, and integration with other Microsoft applications, the feature I am most excited about is improved formatting with the introduction of a new T-SQL function called FORMAT(). Formatting dates and currencies can be done in current version of SQL, but not very easily. You can attempt formatting using SQL Server’s STR(), CAST(), and CONVERT() functions, but they often produce undesired results and complex queries.

I started out as a Microsoft SQL Server girl, but was then hired by a company that programmed in PHP with a MySQL database. After leaving that job and getting hired on by a Microsoft partner, eImagine Technology Group, I was back to using SQL Server again. The one thing that I missed most about leaving MySQL was the ability to easily format dates and times; with Microsoft SQL Server formatting dates became frustrating. I missed how easy it was to format dates like I was able to with MySQL.

Finally Microsoft seems to have caught on to developers' frustrations, and decided to improve formatting in the SQL Server 2012! We will now be able to format dates, times, and currencies easily with the FORMAT() function.

The FORMAT() function will accept 3 values: value, format, and culture (optional): FORMAT(value, format [,culture])

Date formatting Examples:

Currency Formatting Examples:

This T-SQL FORMAT() function is the feature I am most excited about with the upcoming release of Microsoft SQL Server 2012. What is yours?

There is an ongoing debate between web developers/programmers as to which is better suited for a website layout: CSS or table-based? Although tables can seem like the easy way to go since we [developers] are all familiar with tables and how they work, there are several reasons why CSS may be a better option.

Here are my top 8 reasons, why you should use CSS to create the layout for your website.

1. Separation of Content and Layout - Allows for more organized code that is quick and easy to update. A change to one CSS file updates the entire website.
2. Provides an Alternative to Javascript Rollovers - CSS allows you to create vertical and horizontal menu structures and rollovers without the use of JavaScript.
3. No Spacer GIFs - When using tables for a layout structure, spacer GIFs are sometimes used to correct spacing issues. CSS doesn't require the use of spacer GIFs, because white space is easy to adjust.
4. Faster Page Loading - Table-based layouts tend to use more code which makes the page take longer to load, because the web browser has more code to read. Using CSS may help your page load faster.
5. More Complex Layouts - A CSS layout is more flexible than a table-based layout. You can create more complex designs when you are not constrained by the grid-based layouts that tables create.
6. Easy to Update/Maintain - This goes along with point #1. The separation of the design and the content makes it easy to update and manage. Less code on the content pages makes it easy for developers to read and a CSS file is easy to make changes to that quickly update the entire website. If another developer is editing the design, it is easy for them to find the style that needs to be updated.
7. Design Consistency - When every page links to the same CSS file the design should be consistent throughout the website.
8. Job Security - Since CSS does come with a learning curve, it is a staple to know how to use it. Not everyone is good at CSS; you have to work at it.

Thinking about redesigning your website? We did! What a great way to celebrate eImagine’s 13th anniversary, with a fresh redesign of the company’s website. Great thought and planning went into the redesign of our site. Our marketing team decided that the big, bright, orange buttons had to go; we wanted the new design to have a clean, fresh look all while improving usability for both our visitors to find what they are looking for and our marketing team to efficiently make updates to the content of the site.

Sceen Cap of Old Website Design

When planning for the new website, we wanted to make it obvious as to what we do for our clients, what type of clients we serve, and who we are as a company. This required a reorganization of the website navigation, in which we also took careful consideration as to how to preserve the old links so that visitors with links to the old navigation structure would be redirected to the new pages. We tried to make this transition as seamless as possible. We also required Social Media to be a larger part of our website. We put social media icons in the header so that they are readily available. We hope this will get our visitors more involved by subscribing to the blog feed or following us on the social media networks that we are highly involved in, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Linked-In.

In addition to our new design we also created an online job application, so that job candidates can submit their application electronically as well as attach their resume and cover letter. Having an excellent knowledge-base in Microsoft CRM allowed us to integrate this new online job application so that info is inserted and maintained in our internal CRM application. Since we are constantly hiring, we needed a faster, more efficient way for people to apply for jobs. This will also help our HR department out, which will save them time with data entry and allow them to focus on what matters most, helping you find a job with the right fit at eImagine.

Another feature that was important to the new website design was compatibility. The layout of the new website design was created using CSS and is compatible in multiple browsers. We wanted a visitor who is using IE to have the same experience as a visitor who is using Firefox or Chrome, etc. This design should also allow for quick changes to the layout if necessary.

Although there was a time-crunch to get the new website launched on our October 17th anniversary date, we were able to pull enough resources and dedication together to launch the new website on time. Along with the website changes, we have also redesigned our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages to match the new style of our company website.

70-488 Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance

For years, test makers have found ways to trick test takers into choosing the wrong answer. Microsoft Exams settle for no less. Microsoft certification exams can be tricky especially when you are being quizzed on 3 applications that all contain the same type of operations such as configuration, deployment, security, etc. This chart alone won't get you an "A" on your certification, but it should help you to see a quick overview of SQL development and maintenance applications and what they do or what operations they can perform, so that you are not answering questions for the wrong application on your exam.

If you are planning on taking Microsoft Exam 70-448: Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance then this chart is for you! Download the PDF version.

Has your company ever needed to send a personalized email or newsletter to several customers or employees at one time?  Sending individual emails would take forever! Using the BCC field to send the emails is impersonal and could cause your emails to get blocked, especially if you send an email to too many people at once. You should use the CRM Mail Merge feature to use your already stored contact info to send personalized emails with little effort.

1. Create a Marketing List or Use an existing Marketing list. I am using an existing marketing list called ETG Employees.
   
   
2. Double click the Marketing List to open the Details dialog box.
   
3. Click on Marketing List Members to view all of the members in the marketing list.
   
   
4. Click the Mail Merge Icon ( ) to start the Mail Merge.
5. Select the mail merge type: E-mail.
6. Start with a: Blank document.
7. Select data fields: click the Data Fields button.
   
8. Verify that all of the Data Fields that you need to access in your email are selected. We will use Salutation, Email, First Name, Last Name, and Job Title.  Click OK once you have selected the checkbox in front of the fields that you need.
   
9. Click OK again to launch the Microsoft Word download file.
10. Save the Word file on your desktop and double click to open.
    
11. Click the Enable Editing button and then the Enable Content button.
12. On the Add-Ins tab click the CRM button.
    
13. A Mail Merge Recipients dialog box should display.  Verify that the checkboxes are selected for the users you wish to send an email to and the OK button.
    
14. The Mail Merge Wizard should open up in the panel on the right hand side.
    
15. On Step 4 of the Wizard, click the Greeting Line link.
    1. Select the greeting or type in your own in the dropdown box. I typed in “Hello ”.
    2. Select the format of the greeting and whether you want a “,” or “:” after the greeting.
    3. You can also preview the greetings by clicking the right and left arrows under preview to see the greetings for all of your contacts.
    4. Click OK.
    5. Your document should now display: «GreetingLine».
       
16. Continue typing your email message. You can even paste in images. Use the More items… link in the Wizard to add other fields from CRM to your email message. Here is an example of what it may look like when you are done:
    
    «GreetingLine»
    
    You are the best «Job_Title»!
    
    Sincerely,
    
    Laura
17. In the Wizard click the Next: Preview your e-mail messages link. Click the  << or >> buttons to preview each email.
18. Click Next Complete the Merge Link. This will send out all of your customized emails through Outlook.