Ten Ways to Start a Sharepoint Project the Right Way

1. Establish a vision for SharePoint

Some of the questions that need to be answered when establishing the vision would be:

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- What will SharePoint mean to your organization?
- What is the best way to implement it so it provides the maximum value to the organization?
- Should it be an intranet, extranet or a collaboration platform?
- Should users create their own communities or should they be restricted?
- Will the document management features be useful for automation workflow and document handling?
- Can Dashboards be of any use to your user community? Etc.

2. Establish a Business Case before you plan the infrastructure spend

We have seen many a times that IT organizations invest a lot on building servers, hardware, network storage etc. without considering the overall business case for the SharePoint platform. Some of the questions that are necessary to be answered include:

- Who are the users of the intranets, and what are their profiles?
- What business units need the support of the intranet?
- What are the different types of scenarios that need to be supported by the intranet?
- Should the intranet support cross departmental processes?
- Can the intranet be paving way to create paperless processes?
- How can you reduce time and cost spent in managing the processes? Etc.
All of this in totality [with or without the large infrastructure spend] will make the SharePoint project focused and successful.

3. Sell the SharePoint idea to as much business units/departments etc

Sell the SharePoint Portal idea to as many people as possible to create awareness among them. This is very important for users to accept the new environment, and seamlessly fit into to the overall intranet environment. Some of the ways in which you can promote the idea would be:

- Create awareness workshops to focused groups of audiences in your organization.
- Create Proof of Concepts of different functional sections of the intranet, and use it as a mechanism to sell the idea.
- Provide the users with some hands on experience by creating Pilot projects for the SharePoint intranets, and exposing the users to the applications.
- Project the benefits in terms of increase in productivity, reduction in costs, ease of use etc. to different kinds of audiences within your organization.

4. Start a grass roots organization for supporting the Portal

Identify the important user profiles - which would include Contributors, content editors, content authors, administrators, end users, approvers etc. from as many of the business units and geographies as possible. Have champions for the various sites based on the interest level, and the ability to spend time and contribute effectively towards the development of the Intranet.

5. Create Processes for Content development, publishing and administration of SharePoint Intranet

Content is king in Portals. Establish content development, review and publishing procedures for all types of content and make sure relevant and interesting content gets to the site. Do not make the process too elaborate or you will lose all the volunteers for content development or publishing. The processes must be developed by giving importance to the different governance considerations, policies and procedures around security, data exposure and other aspects. Including administrative strategies for backup and recovery, intranet maintenance etc. upfront during the design process would save a lot of time later on.

6. Involve the users to make the intranet more usable and also useful

It is not enough if the intranet has been implemented in your organization. It is very important that the users find it useful and usable and spend enough time on the intranet on a day to day basis to carry out their daily tasks. The intranet implementation must be aligned to provide the users what they ask for and meet up with their expectations in one way or the other. The intranet will be an utter failure if it does not provide the necessary features, functionality and most importantly tools that would help them carry out their day to day activities at a faster pace. One of the ways in which user involvement can be achieved includes creating surveys, and gathering information on the tools, functions and features that the users would like to have on the intranet. The bottom line is - for whatever it takes; keep the users happy for it is they who decide the success or failure of the intranet implementation.

7. Plan on implementing powerful search capabilities

Most of the users come to the intranet to find information that they will not find elsewhere. If the information exists and is not findable, then it would serve no purpose than to disappoint the user. A Powerful and flexible search is a must in your intranet implementation which would allow the users with the capabilities to target information using different parameters and queries and find the right kind of information in a short span of time. Microsoft SharePoint search provides flexible APIs that can be used to improve and customize the search to meet your information requirements.

8. Democratize the intranet

Apart from allowing the users of the intranet to interact between themselves and with external users of the organization, it must also provide for an "Architecture of Participation". I.e. the users must be equally capable of contributing to the content of the intranet without the dependency on any other user roles in the organization by encouraging user communities. SharePoint by default is a self service capable platform which allows the users to carry out most of the tasks with minimal development and administrative interference.

9. Mirror the outside world

Almost all the users are well aware of the tools and utilities like Instant messaging, Blogging, wikis, link sharing, social community applications like Orkut etc. that the World Wide Web provides. They know the benefits and the usage of the tools and use them almost on a daily basis. When these tools are implemented in the organization's intranet in the context of the collaboration and communication of users within the organization, it would add more value to the users, as well as the organization as a whole. 10. Keep the Content fresh and up to date. A Portal is not a static web page. It is like a daily newspaper. People get fresh content with new feature updates on a regular basis.

SharePoint is a platform for business which is web based and can be used to create powerful business Solutions. Up until now SharePoint was positioned and implemented with a narrow focus of being a just Platform for Intranets that are front-end heavy and a simple system for limited document sharing and forms automation solutions. SharePoint Server is and will be a bigger platform encompassing solutions for Web enabled Applications, Extranets, Intranets, Document Management, Business Intelligence and Complex Workflow.

Therefore SharePoint needs to be leveraged and internally marketed in as such a way that represents the true capabilities it presents the next generation web enabled organization. A well-planned solution based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 will promote better collaboration, content management, knowledge discovery, and business processes across your organization while being secure, cost-effective, and manageable for your IT department. To satisfy this broad set of goals, it is important to identify key stakeholders across all relevant disciplines and include them in your planning team.

Ten Ways to Start a Sharepoint Project the Right Way

OptimusBT, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner is a global leader in providing Business solutions that are primarily sharepoint based and utilize existing client infrastructure. For over 5 years, OptimusBT has paved the road when implementing complex, global sharepoint solutions in the areas of Sales, Finance, Procurement, Manufacturing, Human Resources, and others across industry segments around the world.

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The Chief Architecture Officer

The first page results for Chief Officer on Google include:

Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Petty Officer Chief financial Officer Chief Happiness Officer ()

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The next page continues with chief procurement officer, chief security officer, chief operational officer and chief risk officer or chief talent officer are also in use probably to be found a few pages further...

But what about the Chief Architecture Officer?

Architecture is the engineering-art of building and transposed to the business world (business architecture, enterprise architecture, information architecture, what have you) this is about who your organization is built by people, systems, infrastructure, etc.

We continuously build teams and have "constructive" meetings whereas there are also situations where one team is not aware of what the others are doing; what results is double work, half finished projects and contracts all over the work-place where people no longer understand each other.

Understanding is something where language is involved and speaking one language where people from different cultural backgrounds (sales, ICT, human resources, marketing, customer service, operation, distribution) understand each other is a challenge that most organizations have to solve. But are often incapable of.

The language of architecture offers such a format where stakeholders in the process can build each with their background but towards a single construction. "A pattern language," written by the architect Christopher Alexander is one example in the world of physical buildings. But it should also be possible to develop such a language in the business world. If people would only agree on a few guidelines...

Recently I learned about a bank who appointed a risk officer whose job it was to see whether the profile of a new business (development) would really fit the risk-return profile of the company. These things have never been an issue, but it is one of the first activities of architecture; the check whether business activities fit the profile of the organization.

I don't think that a company should introduce roles or function of architects, like business architect or information architect, or enterprise architect... as long as what is being build fits what is needed. That your organization is supporting the right business in an efficient and effective way.

The Chief Architecture Officer... something to consider?

The Chief Architecture Officer

© 2009 Hans Bool

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Is Disney a Magical Purchase?

With the NHL, NFL, and NBA seasons ready for a new year, the large conglomeration of Disney (DIS) looks to boost guidance for its many enterprises during the fall to winter seasons. As a Dow component, Disney has helped propel the recent rally by recently reaching a 52 week high in aims of a very favorable market according to recent trends. However, with a recession looming should you be involved in such a company who basis a lot of its products on consumer expenditures?

The answer to this question simply is yes. It is true that the economy should be headed for a recession in the near future, but it does not necessarily mean that shares of Disney should fall. Recognized as one of the premier brands to both children and adults, even if income of consumers will fall as usually accustomed too during times of slow economic growth, the mass-branding Disney has propelled with its ESPN and ABC brands along with its origin television, movie, and theme park basics should have no problem attracting customers. The real growth however, should be apparent and incredible in the next few quarters. With three of the major four sports beginning this season, along with new premieres on ABC as well as other Disney affiliates, profits should rise to new levels signaling strength in this industry. As incomes have not fallen significantly yet, and employment still remains incredibly high, margins should surprise future and current shareholders as a net positive more than anything.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

Some investors may be hesitant to believe such sentiments, but by looking at current trends of how Disney tends to perform during the months from October to April, the signs almost all lead to positive indicators. Except for 2001, which may have been the result of a total derail, shares of Disney have tended to rise each of these months signaling from about a decade signaling strong capital gains for investors. If such a trend was not reason enough to believe in Disney, when looking a fundamentals, there is almost no other company that can match Disney's production. Posting positive margins on almost all levels each quarter each year along with a strong dividend ratio and PE ratio relative to its peers, the fundamentals for Disney should not be a negative detriment to any investor who studies this equity. It may be true that some of these margins may reduce in terms of percentages once the recession hits, but I believe that by April of 2007 any impact will be negligible in terms of investors warranting strong capital gains. Thus, I would strongly advise buying Disney at its current price but to be wary of keeping your shares past next April.

Is Disney a Magical Purchase?

Dennis Biray presents advice on all kinds of topics ranging from finance and investing to fitness to sports. For more information email him at dbiray@gmail.com, or to view other articles written by him visit http://www.biraynetworks.co.nr

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Disney Princess Party Facts and Trivia

There have been lots of Disney Princesses over the years, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Jasmine, and many others. In recent years it's become popular to have Disney Princess parties featuring party decorations and supplies with all the princesses. Disney has released lots of such party supplies with the Disney Princess theme. This party theme makes a great theme for girl's parties, birthday parties, slumber parties, Halloween parties and just about any other party occasion you can think of, even just a party for the sake of having a party. If you can think of an occasion to have the Disney Princess party then you have a reason to use that theme.

disney movies

The Disney Princesses come from the Disney Movies. Some of them are really classic movies. Sleeping Beauty and Snow White were made way back in forties and fifties. Both are cartoon movies based on classic fairy tales. Sleeping Beauty was a princess put to sleep with her entire kingdom for hundreds of years until a prince from another kingdom discovered her and kissed her thus breaking the spell on her. Snow White is a very beautiful princess with a jealous stepmother who is also a witch. Her stepmother was so jealous of her that she tries to have her killed. Snow White survived and went to live with the seven dwarfs in the woods. Eventually her prince charming cam along and married Snow White saving her from the evil stepmother.

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More recent movies from Disney have featured exotic locations and unusual princesses. Ariel was a mermaid who sought the help of the evil Ursula to get legs so she could walk on land and meet with her human prince. Ursula turned the tables on Ariel and she almost lost her prince and her life, but in the end her prince helped save the day. Jasmine was an Arabian princess and daughter of a rich Sultan. She fell in love with Aladdin and lived happily ever after. If you do the research you'll find the stories behind all the Disney Princesses and have lots of party fun.

Disney Princess Party Facts and Trivia

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies (http://partysupplieshut.com), using proper etiquette, and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free coloring sheets, printable games, and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes (PartyThemeShop.com) to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.

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Microsoft Dynamics GP Requisition Management in Business Portal Solution for Large Corporation

As the replacement to eRequisition, completely rewritten in Microsoft .Net platform as Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics GP Business Portal family of modules, requisition management in Business Portal version 3.0 should fit large corporate business purchasing department requirements. Being hosted in Business Portal, it doesn't require you to purchase Great Plains user licenses for each BP user - instead you purchase low cost BP user licenses. Let's review RM business logic:

o Approval Hierarchy. If you read BP RM manual, you probably get a bit confused as it doesn't go to very detailed level and doesn't have FAQ section. Important point in our opinion is the fact that in order to be able to create new purchase request (also referred as requisition), business portal user should be in approval hierarchy as the user (not as a member of the role). What is not mentioned, however is the scenario when you have all your employees, who is entitled to submit requisition in approval hierarchy on the same level (meaning that approval hierarchy is not a binary tree, but the tree with one branch to many leaves)

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o Requisition life cycle. Typical scenario is when you have your end user or regular employee to submit requisition request to replace his old and obsolete computer with newer one (dual processor, LCD monitor, 4GB of RAM type of PC). You should not expect your employee to be professional purchaser, so vendor is not known at this time together with inventory item number, proposed price, inventory location where computer system should be received. When requisition is submitted by your fellow employee, it goes to the table of let's say department manager, who simply places cost restrictions and approves this requisition passing it over to - at this time again vendor and your inventory item ID is not yet known. OK, now it is on the table of professional purchasing folk (let's say ex-military negotiation maestro). This new key player sends out requisition request to potential vendors, collects bids and selects the best offer for purchase order - at this time vendor should be identified, plus item id preferably inventory account number. This steps transforms requisition into legitimate purchase order

o Purchase Order goes to Microsoft Dynamics GP automatically, when you, as Purchasing Agent, scenarios accepts two ways - if you are in the role or creating purchase orders or the user who can place purchase orders

Microsoft Dynamics GP Requisition Management in Business Portal Solution for Large Corporation

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com help@albaspectrum.com, 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving GP customers remotely in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Kansas City, Denver, Rhino, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Seattle. Local service is available in Texas: downtown Houston, Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land, Galveston, Katy, Dallas, in Illinois: downtown Chicago and suburbs: Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook, Winchester, Morris, Minooka, Plainfield, Romeoville, Schaumburg, Elk Grove, Lombard, Downers Grove, Lisle, Ottawa, LaSalle, De Kalb, Plano, Crystal Lake, Montgomery, Oswego, Elgin.

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Everyone on Board: Cruises For The Whole Family

Many people still have the image in their minds that a cruise is an adventure for adults, and that it is not suitable for kids. However several cruise lines are working on changing that perception by offering special activities and facilities for kids of all ages on board their ships. If you get excited by the idea of taking a fun cruise to some exotic location, just imagine how much more excited your kids will be with the idea. It could be an unforgettable adventure for the whole family.

While you, as the parent, enjoy the cruise activities you are interested in, like relaxing by the pool, enjoying a massage or working out in the fitness center, you can have the peace of mind to know that your kids are well taken care of, and safely playing in designated areas under careful supervision. And when night falls and it is time for the children to go to bed, you can still enjoy the pulsating nightlife offered on every cruise ship.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

In the mean time, in another part of the ship, you will be far from your kids' minds as they are having fun with new friends in the children's centers or playing in the kids' swimming pools or are being engaged in various activities designed to entertain and engage them. Certified staff will be keeping an eye on them and will lead them in recreational and educational activities.

If you have teenagers, you can rest in the knowledge that there will be plenty for them to do too. Most cruise ships offer teen centers, dance floors and bars serving non-alcoholic drinks. There are often jukebox stations, soft serve ice cream machines, video game and television rooms and other places designed to help teenagers feel independent and relish the cruising experience. The teen market is a fairly new area for cruise operators, but it is something that is fast gaining momentum.

A cruise vacation might sound expensive at first, but keep in mind that usually most of the amenities and activities on board are included in the price of your ticket, so kids will not be bugging you all the time for extra money. You can pre-pay for all their beverages, food and room service is often available free of charge, and all their activities are included. Obviously there will be some things that cost money, like video game arcades, but those are expenses that you can control. Now go ahead and find a cruise line that will offer the activities your family is looking for and have a vacation of a lifetime.

Everyone on Board: Cruises For The Whole Family

For more cruise vacation tips, information and news, please visit us at http://www.cruisevacationinfo.com, where you will find out more about taking kids on a cruise [http://www.cruisevacationinfo.com/cruise-vacations/cruising-not-just-for-grown-ups-17]

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Vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida and Live the Magic of the World

When you arrive in the Orlando area (whether by airline, train or car) you are welcomed into a world of parks, water parks, resorts, studios and much, much more. There is something for everyone - including concessions for guests with disabilities.

Planning Your "Magic Your Way" Experience

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

When you start to plan your trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, you have many things to take into consideration. Walt Disney World is larger than the island of Manhattan in New York City with 4 theme parks (the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney's Hollywood Studios), 2 water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon), ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, golf courses, a campground, and the Downtown Disney entertainment venue with Cirque du Soleil, House of Blues, Disney Quest and more.

Planning is very important so that you can take advantage of everything that you want to do. Here are some key considerations:

• When to go
• Where to stay
• How to get there
• Admission tickets
• Package deals

Extra Magic Hours

Extra Magic Hours are available to guests staying on Disney property. On property guests are given the privilege of visiting the theme parks and water parks up to an hour before and three hours after the general public is allowed inside. There will be certain attractions that open early or stay open late in each park which lets the on-property guests. Because the EMH vary, check to see what will be open during your time. You can do this by calling 407-824-4321 or by checking on DisneyWorld.com prior to your visit. This is something special so be certain to take advantage of it while you are on the Walt Disney World Resort property.

Guest Services

Throughout each theme park and water park venue you will see signs that read "Guest Services". This is the place where you can visit to set up dinner reservations at a specific property restaurant, get a daily schedule for in park shows, cash a check, leave your packages to be forwarded to your hotel, set up a golf tee time, get a spa appointment, and get answers to general questions. Be certain to take advantage of these services when you need to do so. The Guest Services Cast Members are friendly and very knowledgeable.

Park Tickets

There are many different types of Walt Disney World park tickets and passes and you should pick the one that best suits you and your family. Do you research before you arrive at the parks to save yourself some time and confusion.

You can buy your tickets prior to your tip by going online or calling 407-WDISNEY. Your tickets can be mailed to you or you can pick them up when you arrive at your Disney resort (or the theme park Guest Relations windows if you are not staying on site).

You can purchase tickets when you arrive at any theme park entrance, at the Disney character Outlet Stores near Walt Disney World, at on-property hotels, and in Downtown Disney. Package deals usually include park passes.

Dining

Some package vacations have dining plans included and those will be noted in your personal Walt Disney World Resort package when you get it. There are many places to eat inside Walt Disney World. Each theme park has several well known eateries and some of these require advance dining reservations. You can make your reservations ahead of time 180 days so if you know a special place where you and your family want to eat, go ahead and book before you arrive.

Your Dream Vacation Come True

Walt Disney World is more than just a vacation destination. To most people it is a wonderful, magical world filled with magical places from stories we have all heard all of our lives. Don't miss out on one of the most magical times of your life. Come to Walt Disney World in Florida and you will return again and again.

Vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida and Live the Magic of the World

Herb likes to write about Disney World. Please check out his website that contains information on the Disney World Vacations as well as other Disney World Information.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

User Friendly Website Designing

Today all companies have launched themselves on websites. The requirement for a nice website design is important to attract the online customers worldwide, so as to expand the business growth of an organization. Designing a nice website attract customers as people are interested in user-friendly websites that is intuitive, informative, efficient, offer services & products they required. The websites should be created in such a way that users should be able to revisit the site again from time to time. This increases promotion capacity of a website & its return on investment. A good website can be termed as perfect only when it meets the requirements of the objectives and goals of an organization.

We the website designing company offers world class web designing & development services, dynamic websites, Flash Sites, e-commerce site, Ajax sites, Web based applications, Logo / letterhead, Presentations etc.

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We deliver high quality web solutions and website services through our motivated and technically sound specialist teams which focused on exceeding clients' expectations every time. Our website designing services will get the results that client always demands. Our websites are customized, clear and clean to your needs. Keeping in mind the details & requirements of our client; we developed the website, giving them the top priority according to the intended market. We have served Entrepreneurs and Corporate houses, who want to ride the web by launching Web Portals such as Communities and Social Networks. We also deal with Enterprise Information Portals, Business Intelligence Portals E-Commerce Portals & Travels Portals.

We, at website designing company handle all aspects of your online store. We also offer an engaging and robust e-commerce store front, well populated by descriptions and product images, response management through email and chat support, multiple payment options and logistic managements.

We offers to our client an affordable web designing and web development package according to the requirement of the features & functionality of the website samples.

We mainly emphasis on viewing speed, visual quality, ease of navigation and hundreds of others factors that makes your web presence best.

User Friendly Website Designing

Our quality and fantastic web site designing company offers innovative website designing samples to create your dream website design at the lowest cost in India.

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Top 10 Reasons to Use a Content Management System (CMS)

Put content creation into the hands of content managers -- where it belongs. This will speed up the deployment of new ideas and concepts, and keep web sites from becoming stale and out-dated. Speed the creation and maintenance of web sites using page templates and web components (surveys, FAQs, calendars, image galleries, etc. -- standard features in a good CMS.  Take advantage of Web 2.0 and social media. Your enterprise CMS will provide everything you need to stay current (message boards, blogs, RSS etc.), all in one integrated package. Host web sites for others. Point Dynamics CMS offers an "on-demand" solution with a "zero-downtime" network guarantee. An enterprise class CMS will have built-in, role-based security that allows non-IT staff to easily grant or restrict access to web pages and documents on intranets, internets, and portals. An affordable solution with a built-in document management component will lower hardware costs by eliminating servers and disk space previously needed for uncontrolled document growth and storage. A solution that has both Web Content and Document Management with built in role-based security, limits legal liability and ensures an easy and smooth Disaster Recovery process. You can free-up IT resources by removing the burden of web site creation and maintenance; your IT staff can work on other projects that have been delayed/placed on the back burner due to a lack of resources. Create professional portals that are interactive and personalized, prompting return visits, repeat business and loyal customers. ROI can be measured in hard dollar cost savings as well as those immeasurable "soft" benefits. This includes, but is not limited to:
Decreased time to "market" resulting in increased sales. Expanding products/services reach via WEB 2.0 tools. Decrease in costs for web site design, creation, and maintenance. Increased productivity and improved process efficiencies. Dramatic reduction in paper/storage costs. Increase in brand awareness. Efficiencies gained by placing business groups at the helm and letting them communicate their own message online.

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Top 10 Reasons to Use a Content Management System (CMS)

You are probably wondering how well your non-technical staff will be able to build and maintain websites using a content management system, Point Dynamics CMS is an easy to use WCM, but we also have training tools to ease the transition. Visit http://www.pointdynamics.com to request a demo or trial of Point Dynamics Enterprise CMS.

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SharePoint - The New Face of Your Enterprise Architecture

Business Users today have to operate on tens, if not hundreds of applications, as part of their daily routine to run through their quota of work, moving from one silo to another to another, and if that isn't enough, the increased application access and password complexity, making it absolutely hard to maintain focus on their core jobs. Add to that, a lack of interoperability between these systems, and a lack of a truly integrated experience, and you've just defined virtual hell. Not to mention, the virtual nightmare that it is, for the IT departments, to manage and maintain these varied platforms and applications on a day to day basis.

In a world where the focus has moved from "one solution for all " to "doing one thing, and doing it right", vendors are building software solutions that meet some specific need and Enterprises, in an attempt to stay current, and to give their employees the best-of-the-breed software end up bringing in a myriad of applications and platforms within their environments. The result: "Virtual Hell".

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Positioning of SharePoint as a Business Platform

SharePoint Features and Benefits

- Provides out of the box collaboration features like blogs, wikis, discussions, project management, document libraries, lists etc., that are easy to use and allow information workers to share and manage contents.
- Allows building applications that are supportable, extensible and easily maintainable by business users
- Workspace templates along with the collaboration tools can be used to manage specific information about projects, IT, HR etc.,
- Advanced Document management capabilities with support of content types allow information workers to easily create documents, fill information and share them securely.
- Can be a single platform for Intranet, Extranet and Internet with support for hosting to provide applications and software as service
- Supports collaboration both within the internal users, external users, and anonymous users of the Enterprise.
- Supports out of the box reporting dashboards, KPI web parts etc. that can be used to build mash ups and integration with backend systems
- Offers a component, the Business Data Catalog that allows for integration of LOB systems with SharePoint, and surfacing the data from within these disparate systems, right into SharePoint.

SharePoint is a great platform for building robust and flexible Enterprise 2.0 solutions that are extensible and secure, and leverage Web 2.0 in a holistic fashion to empower business users, and help organizations become more agile, efficient and productive, all in a seamless and secure fashion. Common areas where Enterprise 2.0 solutions prove particularly useful are IT helpdesk, Active Directory user provisioning and profile management, eProcurement and the like. Well designed Enterprise 2.0 solutions virtually become key strategic assets for any organization's business performance.

SharePoint - The New Face of Your Enterprise Architecture

OptimusBT, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner is a global leader in providing Business solutions that are primarily SharePoint based and utilize existing client infrastructure. For over 5 years, OptimusBT has paved the road when implementing complex, global solutions in the areas of Sales, Finance, Procurement, Manufacturing, Human Resources, and others across industry segments around the world.

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Disney Vacation - Tips for Affordable Disney Vacation Ebook Reviewed

We have reviewed Beth Hayward's ebook on how you can have an affordable Disney World vacation. We have given it a "thumbs up". She is a former Disney employee and best selling Travel Author who obviously knows her stuff.

disney princess dress up

In her ebook, she gives great information which will help people definitely plan an affordable Disney World vacation. Beth teaches you not only how to save money at Disney, but also the best Restaurants and attractions to visit at Disney World so you can enjoy your vacation.

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Included are money saving tips and other strategies such as:

The "shortcuts" to theme parks and attractions to bypassing most of the crowds. There are several of them. Eat at downtown Disney. It is much cheaper and the food is just as delicious as in the theme park. What places not to miss such as the Hoop-Dee-Doo Dinner show at Pioneer hall and Downtown Disney Pleasure Island. Buy souvenirs in downtown Disney and you will pay anywhere from 10 - 75% less than the Disney World theme park. The one attraction Downtown attraction that Beth would recommend is Disney Quest. It is a five story high, state of the art, interactive playground for kids and for adults. There are 250 attractions there. Disney World has a toll-free number. Who would have known? You can bring certain foods into Disney World... but some you can't. Beth tells you which ones are allowed. Disney World also offers a "Magical Express" shuttle and baggage service. That way, you don't have to wait for your baggage at the Airport. It can be delivered directly to your hotel. Which line you should stand in for the rides ... the left or the right. Beth says it matters!

She also gives you 9 easy steps to save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars at Disney World... definitely making it an affordable Disney Vacation.

Disney Vacation - Tips for Affordable Disney Vacation Ebook Reviewed

To get more information on this subject, visit [http://www.top-10-gift-ideas.com/E-book-reviews.html]

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Intranet 2011 - SharePoint Intranet Design and Implementation

Intranets have come a long way since they were first created. Starting as static informational pages and merging into self-service and enterprise information portals, to the consolidated enterprise workspace platform that is known today. When developed and deployed correctly, companies can use intranets to their full advantage - creating a collaborative and social intranet environment for employees to share and manage knowledge and ideas with governance.

The big question on everyone's mind today is, 'what should I expect my intranet to do now that it is 2011 and the technology has vastly improved?' Settling for a sub-par intranet, even if it is cheap, will not necessarily give you the results you are looking for. Intranets are designed to provide your organization with an array of services to increase collaboration, productivity, and efficiency.

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Social tools and applications will allow organizations to better connect with employees and allow employees to better connect with each other. Such tools will also make it easier to recognize and acknowledge employee achievements. Also, organizations can now have a dynamic workplace equipped with the business oriented work tool and on-the-go access with mobile devices. This provides a flexible platform that will allow organizations to channel their overall goals and objectives. Intranets should also act as a self-service platform that is focused on delivering tools, applications, and information that is easily accessible to various departments and allows for collaboration. Companies can also easily manage enterprise content that is user generated using taxonomy in a digital environment.

The hope is that with intranets progressing the way they are, that formal infrastructures will integrate daily tasks and informal structures with workforce enhancements and enterprise 2.0 technologies. This will help formulate organizations that collaborate, organize, manage knowledge, foster ideas, learn, participate, innovate and work seamlessly together. This brings us to the trends and features to watch for in 2011. Intranets now provided more enhanced features for employees. Users can easily create profiles highlighting areas of interest, awards, expertise, etc. Users can also manage tasks more efficiently on a single interface that is faster and allows for greater productivity, this can also be customized to suit their needs.

Users can also easily collaborate with others using wiki's, blogs, forums, and RSS feeds just to name a few. The possibilities are really endless and having a great SharePoint intranet design will garner more participation.

Then there is the actual technology aspect of the intranet. Thanks to new technology and devices, organizations can now easily access documents and information, or upload data for others to access, 24/7 with mobile devices such as the i Pad, iPhone, and Blackberry just to name a few. The user experience has also been greatly improved with streaming audio and video. With digital dashboards, integrating capabilities from legacy systems, reporting systems, databases, etc. are accessible through a single interface.

Organizations now have an armament of tools to help meet business objectives and goals faster and more efficiently with more focused policies and procedures. Companies can now align employees to the company culture and objectives with greater emphasis on understanding and sustained development. Other improved features for content management include taxonomy based on user generated content, internationalization to improve content relevance based on language selection, translation management, and better search features.

Intranets in 2011 should be equipped with these top five features: enterprise search, mobility, social, task-oriented, and usability. These should seamlessly integrate with ageless key features and intranet functions including team sites, project portals, knowledge and community-based wiki's, content publishing, my sites, social networking, help and support tools, and manager tools. These and many other timeless intranet features allow for organizations to carry out the best practices, maintain good governance, and allow for collaboration.

All of these features are great, but knowing how to use Intranets to their full advantage is key. The information architecture plays a big role in the user acceptance of the intranet within the organization. The architecture must provide a consistent experience to all users at all times. Common categories also should be established so they can be easily and quickly accessed - HR, Company News, etc. Future company and cultural changes should also be taken into consideration as well as potential growth to include social networking, content management, collaboration, and governance policies. Intranets also need to be mobile so that users can access information on-the-go 24/7. With this, mobile technology also needs to be taken into account. Establishing support features geared toward mobile users is also critical. Otherwise mobile access will not be able to reach its full potential.

Intranets should also equip organizations with social business tools that assess and identify the social networking maturity of the organization. As different organizations have different needs and maturity levels, finding the balance of requirement and employee access is critical. A couple of things that have enhanced social networking are social profiling and tagging - they enable users to identify attributes that will help in improving their social visibility and network across the organization. Also providing for social taxonomy allow people with similar interests, problems, and expertise to find each other. Social tools also help in enhancing idea and talent management.

Intranet 2011 - SharePoint Intranet Design and Implementation

OptimusBT, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner is a global leader in providing Business solutions that are primarily Sharepoint based and utilize existing client infrastructure. For over 5 years, A leader in SharePoint intranet design and implementation, OptimusBT has paved the road when implementing complex, global sharepoint solutions in the areas of Sales, Finance, Procurement, Manufacturing, Human Resources, and others across industry segments around the world.

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How To Create The Perfect Disney Princess Room

There's Snow White and Cinderella, Aurora (better known as Sleeping Beauty) and Ariel, there's Aladdin's Jasmine and the Beast's Belle. Role models for your little princess are everywhere she looks. Which is why it only makes sense to give her a bedroom that makes her feel like fairy tale royalty.

At the Heart of It All: The Bed

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At the core of every princess's private chambers is her bed. A bed for a little princess might be (or look like) be a four poster bed, maybe a canopy bed, maybe both. Custom theme beds can be designed to look like anything you wish, and it is nowhere more apparent than in a princess themed bedroom.

Long flowing fabrics, plush pillows, satiny bedding, frilly lace borders - all of these help complete the image of bed fit for a princess. But with a custom theme bed, the fantasy doesn't stop there. For that bed can be placed behind a drawbridge inside a magnificent flower and vine covered castle or it can be placed inside a splendid horse-drawn carriage (pumpkin shaped or otherwise).

Whether you select a princess castle bed, a horse-drawn carriage bed, or a custom theme bed of some other design, the fact remains that your little girl will be elated to bed down at night and will wake up each morning feeling like the queen-in-waiting that she is.

Colors for a Princess Themed Bedroom: Pretty in Pink

Though purple and gold are considered royal colors, they would be better used as accents in a room dominated by the color that dominates most little princess's fantasies - pink. A pink castle bed, for example, will make any little princess's eyes sparkle. Pink bedding, pink window coverings, pink lighting fixtures, pink carpeting, and pink supplementary furniture all only complement and complete the picture.

Then consider using white highlights throughout the room to neutralize the impact of all that pink.

Murals Make it Easy

Both on the walls of the bedroom as well as on the walls of the custom theme bed, painted murals are an easy way to incorporate a wide array of fantastical elements into your little girl's fairy tale world. From her dashing prince or knight in shining armor to her animated attendants to all the extravagant accoutrements of a perfect princess fantasy, a simple brush and paint make magic-making easy.

Furniture for a Princess Themed Bedroom

A little princess always has to be looking her best, so an ample wardrobe and dressing table with mirror are the two essential furniture elements to add to any princess themed bedroom. You could go ahead and furnish each of these pieces separately with no trouble, but another option is to have a wardrobe and dressing table built in to her custom theme bed.

How To Create The Perfect Disney Princess Room

Interior designer Joanna Means brings to every custom theme bed she designs her love of children and a desire to help bring their fantasies to life. For many years, she has designed fantasy princess theme beds that her husband, master carpenter Johnny Means, then builds to masterful perfection. With their custom castle beds, custom horse and carriage beds and other fantasy themed beds, Joann and Johnny have brought delight to little girls all over the world, which is why they created Sweet Dream Children's Interiors, http://www.sweetdreambed.com

Every last one of the fantasy princess beds at Sweet Dream Children's Interiors, http://www.sweetdreambed.com can be customized to fulfill your requirements as a loving parent without sacrificing any fulfillment of your little princess's desires. Together with their craftsmanship and design expertise, you will be able to set the stage for a fairy tale storybook adventure every bit as special as your little girl.

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Coca-Cola - A Value Stock?

There has been much talk lately about Coca-Cola and its potential as a value stock - as it now spots a dividend yield of 2.6% (which is the highest dividend yield since the late 1980s) and a P/E or less than 21 - right at the bottom of its five-year low. Moreover, the current price of approximately a share is also near the bottom of its nine-year range - (nine years ago, the last former great CEO of Coke, Roberto Goizueta, was still at the helm of the company). Sure, Coke has had its own set of problems, but it is a great company, they would argue - and heck, Warren Buffett is also an owner of Coke shares.

Don't get me wrong. I really like Coke as a company. Its brand is as American as can be, and yet over 70% of all its sales are derived from outside of North America. The country with the highest consumption per capita of Coca-Cola is Mexico. According to Interbrand.com, the brand name of Coca-Cola is worth approximately billion and is the world's number one brand name. Who could forget the famous declaration of Coke's patriarch, Robert Woodruff? When the United States made the decision to enter World War II, he placed his hand on his heart and famously declared that he would "see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents wherever he is and whatever it costs." Of course, it didn't hurt that Woodruff's friend, General Dwight Eisenhower, was a great promoter of Coke as well. By the time the war ended, hundreds of thousands of fighting men and women became a fan of Coca-Cola for the rest of their lives.

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Under the leadership of Goizueta, Don Keough, and Doug Ivester, Coca-Cola emerged as a growth and must-own stock during the late 1980s and up to the mid to late 1990s. Keough was the great motivational speaker, while Goizueta was unmatched in his ability to "manage" the stock price and the Wall Street analysts who covered the non-alcoholic beverage industry and Coca-Cola. Goizueta had a habit of watching the stock price of Coca-Cola on an intraday basis on a computer in Coke's headquarters. When Warren Buffett was buying shares of Coca-Cola back in 1988, he and Keough figured it out by watching the action of the trading and tracing those purchases to a broker based in Omaha. Ivester, a former accountant, could have been regarded as a great financial alchemist. Under the financial leadership of Ivester, Coca-Cola bought out many of its bottlers and named the entity as Coca-Cola Enterprises. The bottler went public in November 1986.

When Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) went public, Coca-Cola (the company) owned 49% of its outstanding shares. Because of this, Coca-Cola had the ability to raise syrup prices at will (the former agreement mandated that Coca-Cola only adjusted its price to match inflation for its syrup in the North American market) - thus squeezing the profit margins of the bottler but increasing its own revenues and profits. The stroke of genius was this: Because of the fact that Coca-Cola only owned 49% of CCE, it did not have to consolidate any of its financial statements with CCE. At the time, not one single analyst totally understood this relationship. Year-after-year, the company delivered. Goizueta carefully (personally) managed all the information that came out of Coca-Cola. He would personally call Wall Street analysts. Any analyst that dared to question him openly or disagree with Coca-Cola's earnings projections would be rebuffed. One such analyst was Allan Kaplan from Merrill Lynch, who at one point wrote a note to his clients observing that Coca-Cola may be depending on Japan for too much of its profits. When Goizueta found out about the note, he responded angrily with letters to both Kaplan and his bosses at Merrill Lynch. Kaplan was banned from attending analyst meetings at Coca-Cola for more than a year. From that point on, analysts knew not to mess with Goizueta and Coca-Cola.

Keough officially retired in 1993 while Goizueta passed away in October 1997 - succumbing to lung cancer. Ivester succeeded as CEO but behind the scenes, the company was in disarrays. People loyal to Keough and to Ivester clashed - with the former group bearing the brunt of the hardship. The current CEO, Neville Isdell (who was loyal to Keough and the only true competitor for the top job back then) was sent into "exile" to Great Britain to head up a bottler. According to a recent Fortune article, "The biggest problem [with Ivester], though, was his tin ear. Ivester was high in IQ but terribly short on EQ. A self-made, stubborn, very shy son of North Georgia millworkers, he had gotten where he was through brains and hard work. He resented Keough's grandstanding, say people who knew him well, and never fully appreciated the importance of Goizueta's almost daily chats with directors. (Ivester declined to comment.) Before long, head-down and full tilt in a turbulent market, Ivester had alienated European regulators, executives at big customers like Wal-Mart and Disney, and some big bottlers, including Coca-Cola Enterprises (on whose board sat Warren Buffett's son Howard). As he raced to put out fires, he became increasingly isolated from his own board of directors. One person was keeping in touch with them, though, even in his retirement--Don Keough."

By December 1999, Ivester was out as CEO, after board members Warren Buffett and Herbert Allen told him that they have lost confidence in his leadership. If anything, the next CEO Doug Daft fared even worse than Ivester. Daft, an Australian and who ran Coke's Japanese operations, did not have a clue about the culture in Atlanta. In a sort of retaliation for Ivester's handling of Keough's loyalists, he also made many of Ivester's favorite executives leave the company. He also looked for quick fixes - for example, by trying to boost Coca-Cola's profitability by simply reducing headcount. By May of last year, Daft was out as CEO, and Neville Isdell - a former darling of Keough - came out of retirement to run Coca-Cola.

Described as "charismatic," Isdell may be the best man for the job, but it is still too early to see what he can do at this stage to revitalize the brand. Under the leadership of the trio of Goizueta, Keough, and Ivester in the 1980s and much of the 1990s, the shares of Coca-Cola were a must-have and Coca-Cola was regarded as a growth stock. Please also keep in mind, however, that the run of KO during that time also occurred in the midst of the greatest bull market in U.S. stock market history.

Again, readers should recall that I have always contended that we are still in a secular bear market - a bear market not unsimilar to the 1966 to 1974 secular bear market. While indices such as the Dow Industrials, Transports, the S&P 400 and S&P 600 have recovered nicely since the cyclical bear market bottom in October 2002, large caps such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, or even GE have never really covered, and it is my belief that large caps will continue to underperform once the bear reasserts itself sometime this year. The dividend yield of 2.6% may or may not help, but who would want to hold a "value stock" once the Fed Funds rate is greater than its dividend yield (as of right now, the Fed Funds rate is 2.5%)? I really do not see deep value here. While a P/E of 20 is at the low end of its five-year range, it is interesting to note that Warren Buffett started buying his shares of Coca-Cola in 1988 when the P/E was only 13 (with a market cap of less than billion) - and analysts at the time were proclaiming the stock to be expensive! S&P currently projects a fair value of Coca-Cola at , so there is really not a great margin of safety here.

While I believe Coca-Cola is a very strong brand and should be a part of every investor's long-term core holdings, I do not believe it is a good time to buy at this point. The growth in the stock price of KO was neither due to luck nor coincidence - it was due to Goizueta's shrewd management of the stock price, Keough's salesmanship of the company, and Ivester's financial genius - along with a roaring bull market more than anything else. Despite the lack of leadership in Coca-Cola during the last seven years, part of the old dream of KO being a growth stock has still hung on - for far too long. For KO to be an attractive stock once again, this author will need to see a more compelling valuation, such as a stock price of to a share. At some point, however, I believe KO may be a glamour stock once again (as it still has a lot of potential in China and India where only a total of about 850 million cases of Coke finished products were shipped in 2004, compared to 20 billion cases for the entire world), but not until some of the weak hands have been shaken out from the stock.

Please let us know your thoughts and opinions. Is KO a buy, hold or sell?

Coca-Cola - A Value Stock?

Henry To, CFA, is co-founder and partner of the economic advisory firm, MarketThoughts LLC, an advisor to the hedge fund Independence Partners, LP. Marketthoughts.com is a service provided by MarkertThoughts LLC, and provides a twice-a-week commentary designed to educate subscribers about the stock market and the economy beyond the headlines. This commentary usually involves focusing on the fundamentals and technicals of the current stock market, but may also include individual sector and stock analyses - as well as more general investing topics such as the Dow Theory, investing psychology, and financial history.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

Disney Vacation Club - Can You Buy a DVC Resale If You Take a Disney Vacation Club Tour?

Did you go to Walt Disney World recently? Maybe you took a timeshare tour with the Disney vacation Club. If that's the case, you may be wondering if you can still buy DVC resale after taking the tour with the Disney folks. Rest assured, it's totally up to you what you decide to do next.

Once you go on a Disney DVC tour, you are permanently assigned to the DVC guide (Disney refers to their salespeople as "guides") that took you on the tour. So if you do eventually decide to purchase Disney Vacation club points directly from Disney, you will work with that same guide to take care of the purchase. Of course, this is assuming that he or she is still working for Disney Vacation Club at the time. Naturally, you would be assigned to someone else if that salesperson is no longer available.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

Also, if you didn't hit it off with that DVC guide and would prefer to work with someone else, I am sure that can be arranged as well. The sales process is really the only time you deal with this person though, so don't worry too much if they didn't become your best buddy. Once you become a DVC owner, you will deal with Member Services to make reservations and plans for your vacations.

If you do decide that you would rather save some money on purchasing a Disney timeshare, you are still able to go ahead and buy a DVC in the resale market. While working with Disney directly is very convenient, there is some significant savings to be realized by purchasing DVC points from an owner who wants to sell.

Disney Vacation Club holds up its resale value better than many timeshares, but if you shop carefully you should still be able to save at least 20 to 25% by purchasing resale. Sometimes you may be able to save even more than that, but keep in mind that Disney actively exercises Right of First Refusal (ROFR) when they feel that resale prices for their timeshare resorts are dropping too low. This is one way in which they hold their value.

Still, it is often worth the gamble to submit a bid for a lower priced Disney timeshare and take a chance that it might pass ROFR. This is especially true if you have no immediate plans to vacation at Disney World and can therefore take your time to find the best deal. One of the major advantages of purchasing directly from Disney is that you can book your DVC reservations before your purchase has even closed, but if you won't be traveling within the next 11 months, then it might be worth your while to wait.

Disney Vacation Club - Can You Buy a DVC Resale If You Take a Disney Vacation Club Tour?

If you are just getting to know Disney Vacation club, you might want to enjoy some Disney timeshare rentals at the various DVC resorts at Disney World, Hilton Head, Vero Beach or Anaheim before you decide whether the DVC is the right choice for your family's future vacations.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

Benefits of SharePoint to Business

With the growth of companies, SharePoint is emerging at a rapid speed each day. As a company grows, it becomes difficult to manage the documents, files and their position. SharePoint Development stores the documents and files and allows sharing it on a main site.

SharePoint is basically a web based management system that enables employees to collect and configure resources through a common platform. It allows a company to create resources like project portals, extranets and team websites.

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SharePoint is a product by Microsoft and is used to build up information portals in the company. The portal allows people to connect with the information presented in the organization.

SharePoint is being implemented by over 18000 organizations all across the world. Some of the main benefits offered by the product are as under:

Allows you to share work from a central place Allows you to create and store content using document library. Provides revision control and access control in the document library Allows you to create reports on a regular basis all through the organization With the help of portals on portals on Extranet, Intranet or Internet sites, one can connect with other individuals in the organization in spite of their location by creating information. Helps you to control the complete business processes of a company Enables you to plan and examine the performance of a procedure Allows every individual to participate in decision making process of the organization Provides search element to find the necessary information and data within a short span of time Helps in easy creation and maintenance of the sites. Any type of site can be crated, varying from document libraries, survey sites, departmental sites, meetings sites, and discussion boards as per the requirement of a company.

The various services offered by Microsoft SharePoint Development include:

Web Part development SharePoint Site Development SharePoint Portal Development Business Process Development Document Management System Learning Management System Workflow Integration Backup Systems SharePoint Branding SharePoint Consulting Advanced Search Solutions SharePoint Excel Services

One of the biggest troubles faced by any business is to manage the files and documents that are stored in different formats and at different places. SharePoint provides a centralized portal with credentials in Ms Office format. They can be accessed by everyone, without any compatibility issues.

To sum it up, every business has a certain amount of information that needs to be kept safe and readily accessible. SharePoint has been developed to serve this purpose.

Benefits of SharePoint to Business

For any help on sharepoint, check out the info available online; these will help you learn to find the sharepoint training!

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Control Purchasing Costs by Enforcing Contract Compliance

As the economy picks itself back up off the floor, many companies and government agencies are turning toward more structured processes and tools to help them control maverick spending.

Budgets are tightening and more diligent approval processes are driving many toward stricter guidelines when it comes to supplies and services. Managing operational budgets through spend management and contract compliance will continue to help control purchasing costs across the enterprise.

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Executive management is repeatedly tasking the organization to cut costs in order to save jobs and continually looking to the purchasing director for new ways in controlling discretionary spend and driving the enterprise toward global sourced contracts. Unfortunately, these same purchasing directors are losing staff and are tasked to work more efficiently with less people. This can be very difficult to accomplish without the right tools in place.

As part of this effort, the organization must put more accountability on the departmental managers to ensure their employees are adhering to these new guidelines. With procurement tools in place, contracts can be disseminated easily to the organization as a single entry point for most, If not all, purchase requisitions.

With advances in internet technology, online bidding tools are now becoming more accepted and utilized to replace the old bid in the mail process. This type of solution allows online contracts to be created in a compatible procurement tool to present to the entire enterprise. If integration is in place, this can be accomplished with little human intervention, once the contract awards have been completed.

In summary, purchasing managers and their respective management teams should look at procurement and sourcing tools to help control purchasing costs. Strategically, these costs are easier to contain if the organization is able to seamlessly convert awarded bids to online contract portals and enforce accountability at the departmental level.

Control Purchasing Costs by Enforcing Contract Compliance

As budgets tighten it is even more important to Control Purchasing costs across the enterprise!

Find our more about e-procurement at http://gravitygarden.com/procure-to-pay/!

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Disney Princess Spotlight - Belle

Belle is one of the most beautiful of the Disney Princess characters and first appeared in the Disney animated feature film 'Beauty and the Beast' that premiered on November 13, 1991.

disney costumes

Like many of Disney's fairy tales, the story of Beauty and the Beast was originally based on the traditional fairy tale titled 'Beauty and the Beast' by the French author Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and later abridged and republished by French author Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The story of Beauty and the Beast is centered on a beautiful woman that is kept in a castle by a monstrous beast.

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Beauty and the Beast was the first and only animated feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and received Academy Awards for Best Music for Original Score and Best Music for Original Song for the song 'Beauty and the Beast' featured during the famous ballroom dance sequence with Belle and the Beast. The film is one of the best known animated Disney films and its success has seen the adaption to a long running stage musical and other media adaption's featuring Belle in storybooks, comic books, video games, 'Disney on Ice' shows and direct to video releases that have included 'Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas' and 'Belle's Magical World'.

Belle is a true beauty, she is sweet natured and intelligent and has long brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a sparkly yellow ballroom gown and often is shown holding the rose that is the symbol of love throughout the film. Belle remains a favorite Disney Princess that little girls love.

Disney Princess Spotlight - Belle

Characters 'n' Toons is an online character toy store and is a leading authority on character toys and entertainment. Characters 'n' Toons has a large selection of character toys, bedding, gifts, games, backpacks, collectibles, party supplies, products and merchandise that includes Disney Princess toys and Disney Princess bedding featuring Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Jasmine from Aladdin, Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and all the Disney Princesses and Disney characters adored by children.

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Eid Al-Adha - Commemorating A Rite of Faith

Regarded as one of the holiest places on Earth, Makkah is literally visited by thousands upon thousands of Islamic faithfuls who believe in the teachings of the great prophet Mohammad. Muslims believe that every person who can afford a trip to Makkah should make the journey at least once in their lifetime to pay homage to their creator and honor the teachings of Islam. It is no secret however, that at least a few people die each year on the way to Makkah simply due to the place being overcrowded at the height of the season. As tradition demands that making this trip is of paramount importance, believers of the faith take this risk as a part of life and consider it a blessing to spend their final moments in these holy grounds.

Eid al-Adha is a much-awaited religious festival for Islamic believers worldwide. This event also known as the Festival of Sacrifice is celebrated by Muslims all around the world every year. The story behind this festival is one which is familiar to both Christian and Islamic believers. It is the story of Abraham who is said to have heard the voice of God (Allah) command him to sacrifice his son to show his devotion to God. Although he was saddened by the thought of sacrificing his own flesh and blood, Abraham was determined to show his faith towards his God and was prepared to go ahead.

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At the last minute however God, knowing that Abraham was prepared to carry out his orders had commanded him to spare the boy and sacrifice a lamb in his place as an offering. Delighted, Abraham had done so and was able to win the confidence of God and keep his son as well. Even today, Muslims around the world sacrifice various domesticated animals such as goats, camels, cows and sheep to symbolize this traditional practice of religious sacrifice. Every year, the end of Hajj marks the arrival of the Eid al-Adha Festival, which is to be celebrated mid-November of 2010. This festive season also encourages you to spend extra time with family and friends and is a time to reconnect and share as well.

Eid Al-Adha - Commemorating A Rite of Faith

Raffles Makkah Palace is a one-of-a-kind hotel in Makkah which offers the discerning traveler a variety of useful amenities. This flagship Makkah hotel is located at the heart of the city and boasts exceptional service.

Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.

DISNEY ENTERPRISE

How to Find Disney Items - Besides the Parks and Disney Store

If you're a really big Disney fan like I am, you probably have more than a few items with their characters or from their parks in your house. You might have a few souvenirs that you picked up the last time you were in Orlando (or Anaheim) visiting the parks. You might go into the Disney Store often when you go to the mall, to see what new items they have. But let's face it. Between their store and the parks (which you can only visit while on vacation), there doesn't seem to be much of a choice on the merchandise you can get.

disney dvd

If you're really into everything Disney though, or even just like one specific character, I have very good news for you. You can get Disney items at more than 165 stores. Really. Not only that, but you can get almost anything you can think of that has anything to do with the parks, the characters, the movies, and more.

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Don't believe me? Well, I'm sure you know that you can get Disney clothing, games, movies, posters, toys, etc. That's true...and you can find them at a lot of places. But you can also get more interesting items, such as borders for a child's bedroom, or a shower curtain with your favorite character on it. You can even get light fixtures and rugs with your favorite characters on them.

The next question is - where can you get these items? The question is more like, where can't you find these items? When you think Disney merchandise, you might only think of the Disney store, but most stores carry these types of items. Just to name a few, Macy's, Kmart, Target, and Wal-Mart all carry items that have your favorite characters on them.

What's even cooler is that there are specialty stores that sell these items as well. For example, there are stores that sell just rugs, and they have selections of rugs both with the characters on them, and others that are by the Walt Disney Signature Company, but are more sophisticated. There are stores that sell stationary, and they have a selection of stationary, labels, and invitations with your favorite characters on them. There are even stores that sell Disney checks!

How to Find Disney Items - Besides the Parks and Disney Store

So how do you easily find stores that sell Disney items? Well, here is a list to get you started with over 165 stores, and this list gets bigger by the day.

DISNEY

How to Find the Ideal Candidate For Your Call Center

The call center industry is known to have one of the highest employee turnover rates. This staggering figure is as high as 40% annually. On average an agent will stay on the job for six months. It is also estimated the cost to replace an employee ranges between ,000 and ,000, according to a study by The Robert Francis Group. These costs include advertising, screening, hiring process, training, and can take anywhere from two to three months to get the agent proficient. This figure does not take into account lost revenue or customer service due to these vacant positions and on-the job training for the inexperienced agent.   

That is a lot of money spent year after year. I have been in some call centers where they are just trying to fill the seats and little prescreening is done ahead of time. The thing to keep in mind is that not everyone is cut out to be on the phones all day. It takes a special person with the right skills. These employees are measured on every aspect of their day; from how many calls they handle, talk time, off the phone work, breaks, lunches and so on. The call center agent in most cases is the link between the company and the customer. This job requires people with excellent communications skills, as not all customers calling in are happy customers.
 
So what can be done to alleviate the revolving door syndrome? Using assessment tools prior to hiring. ExpressScripts a provider of pharmacy benefit management services has several call centers who work with patients and providers with prescriptions drugs. They employed the services of PeopleAnswers to help them figure out how to retain employees.  Per a documented case history at PeopleAnswers web site, over a 12 month period the company was able to reduce their call center agent turnover by 39%.  
 
PeopleAnswers DNA Profile analysis is quite unique. What their program does is first develop profiles of existing employees to determine the type of person that not only matches the requirements of the job position, but one that is in alignment with the culture of the organization. Prior to any interview, a candidate through an on-line portal will take the assessment. The analysis indicates if the candidate is a match for the position, strengths, weaknesses, areas for coaching, what type of career path can be expected and how well they will fit in. This is also a great development and coaching tool for existing employees.
 
Can the cost of a program like this be justified? Well, if you had a call center with 100 agents using conservative numbers of 20% turnover, ,000 to hire and train; the annual cost to the company is 0,000. Reducing turnover 39% or 8 people would result in a savings of 0,000, which would probably pay for this type of service. And it doesn't have to be limited to the call center. This tool can be used for every position in the organization. Imagine the impact that would have on the bottom line.

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You can read other case histories and learn more about the program at PeopleAnswers' website.

How to Find the Ideal Candidate For Your Call Center

Linda Hogan, managing partner of PTel Inc. has been in the call center industry since 1993. PTel Inc. provides a variety of products for managing call centers. PTel's call center knowledge and Centrex expertise is a valuable resource for many organizations. Linda spends a great deal of time training call center supervisor and managers understanding call center metrics and management. For more information about the company and products, visit http://www.callcenterstore.com or http://www.ptelinc.com or email linda@ptelinc.com

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Why You Should Stay at the Magnificent Mile Hotel

Chicago is quickly becoming one of the hottest cities in the United States for both business and tourism. In many ways, it is threatening to surpass New York and Los Angeles with its mixture of cool culture and hip style. While it has come from humble beginnings as a Midwestern town that survived a long history of natural disasters and tragedy, modern Chicago is home to a wide variety of shopping, night life, and entertainment that is worth making a trip to see. Also, Chicago is a center of world trade and business, with companies like Abbott Laboratories, CareerBuilder, Morton Salt, and Playboy Enterprises based within the city limits. The best place to stay in the city to take advantage of all these attractions is at the Magnificent Mile hotel, located in the downtown area, where a host of luxurious amenities help guests on all budgets fall in love with the Windy City.

The Magnificent Mile is a portion of the famous Michigan Avenue that has become the cultural hub of the city due to its proximity to both business and entertainment offerings. The phrase was coined almost seventy years ago by Arthur Rubloff, a real estate developer credited with building up the skyline of the city. In Rubloff's time, the Magnificent Mile was already home to some of the most exclusive and prestigious establishments in Chicago, which is a trend that has continued into the twenty first century. The Mile is close to major Chicago attractions such as the Sears Tower, Wrigley Field, and Millennium Park, and The Loop financial district and "Gold Coast" are just a few streets away, as is Rush Street, the home of Chicago nightlife.

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Seasonal attractions that are meant to delight and inspire are some of the most charming and can't miss features of the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is adorned with thousands of tulip plantings to commemorate the start of spring, which are replaced by lush garden displays for the summer months. In the fall, the Mile is home to the Lights Festival, a ravishing parade of electric floats that rivals the famous electrical parade in Disney Land. And on December 31, there are few other cities in the country that have as joyful and exciting New Year's celebrations as Chicago puts on down the length of the Mile.

The proximity to all these attractions and seasonal delights is what makes the Magnificent Mile hotel the absolute ideal place to stay in the city, whether you are traveling for business or pleasure. Aside from its prime location, the Magnificent Mile hotel features a luxurious boutique atmosphere, giving it a unique character that radiates class, style, and elegance. Additionally, the hotel offers many amenities that business travelers and tourists alike can appreciate, such as room service, free coffee, fitness center access, laundry services, and ample parking, as well as attractive hotel deals. The hotel also features a restaurant and bar inside its perimeter, as well as several function rooms, making it an ideal spot to get together with old friends or colleagues during your trip.

If you haven't seen Chicago and all it has to offer yet, then you need to plan your trip today. From sophisticated business offerings to wonderful family attractions, The Second City is the ultimate destination. When you do come to visit, be sure to book your stay at the Magnificent Mile hotel. It is the best way to get close to action so you can meet this great city in style!

Why You Should Stay at the Magnificent Mile Hotel

Andy West is a writer on a variety of topics, including travel. You are sure to be impressed by the hotel deals at the Magnificent Mile hotel.

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Self Identity - A Key to Teaching Children

Self identity and individuality is essential in helping a child learn. In the learning process a child must be confident. All children are different, and learn in different levels at different speeds. Each child is unique. Teaching a child about who they are, and that they are special is crucial in development of the confidence a child needs to learn.

It is helpful for children to learn their names and to know that their name is special and that they are uniquely made. With this in mind, Paul LaRue had an idea, and decided to pursue it. He thought, "what if children's identities were reinforced by the characters that they love to hear and watch on TV?"

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Knowing that a child's world is also a musical world, Paul pitched his "big idea" to Veggie Tales, a Christian based organization that produces DVD, TV shows and music CDs for children based on characters that are vegetables. The producers of Veggie Tales decided that the idea was a perfect fit for them, and the very first PERSONALIZED CD for children by national cartoon characters was born.

Veggie Tales is known for teaching basic morals like honesty, integrity, being truthful and trustworthy through their music and DVDs. Now the same songs were recreated, only now, the characters are singing directly to the children BY NAME! Needless to say it was quite a challenge to have the performers record over 1,000 names with the proper inflections to fit seamlessly into the music, but they did it, and it worked!

The first CD was a Sing a Long CD and is interactive. Young children delight in singing and moving to this CD. Veggie Tales is also known for their very SILLY SONGS. Almost written with intellectual humor that adults can even enjoy, Silly Songs is geared for older children. Within a year of the first CD release, a second personalized CD featuring the Silly Songs had also been prepared. In 2009, the first personalized Veggie Tales DVD was released featuring clips from Veggie Tales movies.

LaRue was thrilled with the projects and the CDs were a huge success. Now armed with this success, He has successfully approached producers of The Wiggles, Barney the Dinosaur, Sesame Street, and yes, even Disney. Personalized CDs have now been produced and are available for the Wiggles, Barney the Dinosaur, Elmo and Friends, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and the Disney Princesses.

All of the CDs teach wonderful things that kids should know, and all the characters teach these values by singing and speaking to the child directly by name. The Princesses for instance teach little girls about the importance of manners and etiquette. This makes an outstanding rare addition to the numerous Disney Princess toys and Elmo toys that are available.

These CDs are not sold in retail stores. Since each CD and DVD has to be individually prepared and burned (there are now over 1600 total names available) individual distributors each with special equipment are required to produce and sell the CDs. Sales generally take place in Mall Kiosks, fairs and festivals, and of course online.

Self Identity - A Key to Teaching Children

Make Life Good Enterprises is a licensed manufacturer and distributor of Veggie Tales, Elmo, Barney, Mickey Mouse, and Disney Princess PERSONALIZED music. HEAR THEM DEMONSTRATED! http://makelifegood.com/id81.html

Barry Draper is the founder of Make Life Good Enterprises.

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Upcoming Technologies

Use of Internet has been changing the way people do nearly everything from consuming media to performing research to maintaining relationships to communicating. Along with its effect on business has also been similarly wide ranging. And today, for critical data, Internet based computing, or cloud computing is introducing major changes to the way work is done. Cloud computing is a general term for things over the internet delivering hosted services. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platformas a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service.

Cloud integration provides with significant benefits. Regardless where you are, you may have access to data in the cloud through your PC or smartphones. All you require for that is an internet connection and a web browser. With the right tools, you can have access to your data in the cloud in no time and it will still remain with your desktop, laptop, or smartphone.

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Cloud computing comes into mind only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing is based on subscription based or pay per use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.

Cloud computing is further laid into three segments- Infrastructure, Platform and Software.

(IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service. Just like Amazon Web Services that provide virtual server instances with unique IP addresses and blocks of storage on demand. Customers use the provider's application program interface (API) to start or stop or get access and configure their virtual servers and storage. It is sometimes referred to as utility computing.

PaaS

Platform as a service in the cloud is a platform of the software and development tools provider's infrastructure. Developers create applications on the platform of the providers over the Internet. PaaS providers use APIs, gateway software installed on the customer's or computer website portals. Currently there are no standards for interoperability or data portability in the cloud.

SaaS

In the software as a service cloud model, the vendor supplies the software product and hardware infrastructure and interacts with the user through a front-end portal. SaaS provides with very broad market for services. Services can be anything from Web based email to database processing and inventory control. The end user is free to use the service from anywhere because the service provider hosts both the application and the data.

The idea is not new, but this form of cloud computing is getting new life from Amazon, Sun, IBM, and others who at this instant offer for storage and virtual servers that IT can access on demand. Enterprise's may replace parts of the data centre influenced by utility computing.

Upcoming Technologies

So the one who will be enormously affected by a paradigm shift in the computing industry would be the software industries, hardware manufacturers and internet service providers and how the industry will pointedly be revised with utility computing. For more news of upcoming technology happenings, please visit latest technology news.

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Textile Industry in Singapore

Any textile industry needs Harmonized System Codes (HS Codes) that are a government-synchronized structures used to categorize products and their equivalent tariffs. Before exporting the textile goods one needs to settle on these codes that apply to it.

Textile industry in Singapore is more likely to become accustomed to repositioning operations to manufacture centers in low wage countries. If the nearby location is chosen benefit is sure to come. Funds in the local industries have started growing high. The important global textile traders of Singapore have started working hard for competence expansions and up gradation. The quality of the products of textiles industry in Singapore is high as it focuses on the suppliers in terms of cost, quality and efficiency rather than the suppliers offering shorter lead for market immediacy.

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Textile industry in Singaporeis a race and the up-and-coming conquerors shall be the companies who will definitely be able to convey large amount from incorporated organization through enterprise and other endeavors. The increase in exports of textiles from developing countries is no doubt a good sing. Following are the future facets of the textiles industry in Singapore:

Multifunctional textiles Intelligent textiles Eco-textiles E-textiles Customized textiles Textile industry in Singapore has certain rules called SINGAPORE FASHION RULES, which were commenced by Textile & Fashion Federation of Singapore (TaFf). These rules enable TaFf to display the local innovative talents and assist them to gain acknowledgment both locally and internationally. This is done to remind the consumers that Singapore Fashion designers have everything that is needed to compete with foreign brands.

Textile industry in Singapore has launched a landmark program for their creative designers. In 2005 a program called ACCESS USA started as a part of TaFf's continuing labors to help the local designers to get adapted into the USA market. This program assists the local creative designers to tactically instigate and expand their business in the USA. This is a 24 months Program to provide support and backing to the preferred efficient creative designers from Singapore Fashion Week and promote them into the USA market. An US consultant is appointed according to this program. His task is to help out those chosen designers to organize their collections and advertising promotional resources as well as to assess and advise the appropriate sales area for those selected designers.

Textile Industry in Singapore

She is a textile technology consultant and for more information on textiles and other industries in Singapore she recommends http://www.buysingapore.com. BuySingapore is a business portal featuring manufacturers directory [http://www.buysingapore.com/biztype/sell.html], importers directory and also offers b2b and international trade leads for listed companies.

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Favorite Disney World Resort Pools

A major part of any Orlando vacation is relaxing and swimming at a Disney Resort pool. When picking your Disney Resort, you may focus your attention on finding a great pool for your whole family. Here is a list of the most popular pools at the Walt Disney World Resort, selected from the guests that visit Disney.

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Best Overall Pool - Hands down, Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort is picked for the best pool at the Walt Disney World Resort. This 3 acre pool area includes a pool with real sand and a tube area where you can just relax in a tube and bask in the sun. This pool also has the best water slide at Disney World. The water slide is a huge pirate ship!

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If the pool area gets too busy, you can even relax in a chair or hammock on the beach overlooking a beautiful lake. In the evening, you can enjoy a swim in the pool and then a campfire sing along or movies on the sandy beach. This pool area has fun for everyone, which makes Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort the most popular pool at Disney World.

Best Pool for Adults - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort takes the prize for best pool for adults. This pool area is naturally beautiful with a waterfall and beach entry. The hot tubs are a little more private compared to the other Disney Resorts. Plus, you can see the animals right from the pool. What a fun way to enjoy an afternoon swim!

Best Pool for Teens and Preschoolers - One of the Disney Moderate Resorts called Disney's Coronado Springs Resort gets the most votes for best pool for teenagers and preschoolers! Let's start with the teenagers. Disney's Coronado Springs Resort has alot of fun amenities all in the same pool area. You can grab a snack at the poolside bar, play some sand volleyball, ride a Jaguar water slide, and then play some video games. All of the teen favorites in one area!

This resort also got the most popular pool for preschoolers. The pool features a pyramid with a waterfall trickling down the pyramid. There is also a kiddie pool and Dig Site playground, just for preschoolers. The Dig Site is a playground and sand pit for the little ones to dig up artifacts and bones. This is a perfect area for the little ones and teenagers.

Pool with the Best View - Disney's Polynesian Resort was one of the most popular pools at the Walt Disney World Resort and came in right behind Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort for the best overall pool. Since this is such a great pool, we made up a category for this pool. So, the Disney Resort pool with the best view is Disney's Polynesian Resort. This fun pool features a huge erupting volcano and beach entry. There is also a separate water jet area for the little ones to play. Just feet away from this pool is the sandy beach that overlooks the Seven Seas Lagoon and Magic Kingdom. You can see Cinderella's Castle right from the pool. This is a great pool to enjoy in the evening. You can relax at the pool and watch the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes Fireworks!

These are the favorite Disney World Resort pools for your next family vacation.

Favorite Disney World Resort Pools

Allison Jones is a travel agent at Destinations in Florida Travel, based in Florida. She has been planning Disney World and Orlando vacations for over 15 years. She is an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, Masters College of Knowledge Graduate, Disney College Program Graduate, and past Disney Cast Member. She is also certified as a Universal Studios Specialist. She has contributed to several books including Insider's Guide to Disney World, Preschoolers Guide to Disney World, Insider's Guide to Disney Cruise Vacations, and Honeymooners Guide to Disney World.

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Disney Princess Spotlight - Snow White

Snow White is one of the dearest Disney Princess characters and was the first Disney Princess when she first appeared in Walt Disney's animated fairytale, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' that premiered on December 21, 1937 was later released to theatres on February 4, 1938. The film was the first animated feature film in history.

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Like many of Disney's successful animated feature films, the story of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was originally based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm titled 'Snow White'. The Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm were German academics and they too were responsible for many popular fairy tales that include 'Cinderella', 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'Rapunzel', 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Hansel and Gretel', 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Golden Goose' and 'The Frog Prince'.

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Snow White is a beautiful princess and she has black hair and wears a red bow in her hair. She wears a dress that has yellow skirt and blue bodice with red features on her shoulders. The story of the film is centrally based of Snow White's wicked stepmother, the Queen's jealousy and when asking the Magic Mirror 'who is the fairest one of all?' and it replies 'Snow White', the Queen orders her to be killed. On fleeing from the Queen's evil attempt to kill her, Snow White befriends seven dwarfs each named Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey and Bashful. Her voice throughout the film is performed by Adriana Caselotti.

Snow White remains one of the most loved and sweetest Disney Princesses and is a character that will always have a valued place in the history of animation and storytelling.

Disney Princess Spotlight - Snow White

Characters 'n' Toons is an online character toy store and is a leading authority on character toys and entertainment. Characters 'n' Toons has a large selection of character toys, bedding, gifts, games, backpacks, collectibles, party supplies, products and merchandise that includes Disney Princess toys and Disney Princess bedding featuring Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine from Aladdin and all the Disney Princesses and Disney characters adored by children.

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Thousands Visit Third Largest Unsupported Dome in Europe

In Malta you will find a different church for every day of the year. These range from windswept cliff-top chapels to lofty city-centre cathedrals, and from Gothic fortress-churches with an adjoining graveyard, to ultra-modern structures that wouldn't be out of place in the Starship Enterprise. In Malta you will also find an underwater chapel although admittedly it started out as one of the aforementioned cliff-top chapels that got a little too windswept.

In short, the Maltese like their churches and one of the examples that gives them the most pride is the magnificent Mosta Dome. This architectural masterpiece is distinguished by the grandeur of its 67 metre high cupola and neo-classic façade embellished by iconic columns, closely based on Rome's Pantheon.

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The Mosta Dome is the third largest unsupported dome in Europe. Also known as the Rotunda of Santa Marija Assunta, it is dedicated to the Assumption. It was built between 1830s and 1860s around Mosta's previous parish church. When the Mosta Dome was completed, the old church, which was now inside the new church, was demolished. This ingenious method was established so that the pious villagers would never be bereft of a church to attend. The diameter of the dome measures 37 metres across and the structure was designed by the Maltese architect Giorgio Grongnet.

The church escaped destruction in the Second World War when an afternoon air-raid on the 9th of April 1942 saw a 200kg bomb piercing the dome and landing squarely in the middle of the church where 300 people were gathered in prayer. The bomb failed to explode and everyone escaped harm. A replica of the bomb is now on display in the church.

The church also has the largest mechanical organ ever installed in Malta. It was built in Italy by the famous organ builder Pacifico Inzoli. It was installed in 1885 and contains around 2000 pipes.

It is no wonder that each year, this magnificent masterpiece is visited by thousands of tourists, who are awed by the beauty of the paintings, altar, marble floors and the structure in itself.

So if you happen to be in Malta, you must visit this architectural masterpiece, which has stood proud for nearly 200 years.

Thousands Visit Third Largest Unsupported Dome in Europe

Malta Travel Guide - 101Malta.com - 101 Things To Do In Malta - is a free online Malta Holiday Guide that takes an honest look at the many, many things you can do whilst in Malta and Gozo, ranging from the adventurous to the relaxing and from the culinary to the cultural.

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