Maybe this has happened to you: you’re sitting in your office and suddenly you hear some commotion at one of your team member’s desks. Someone starts singing Happy Birthday. And there you are with that uncomfortable feeling in your gut, wondering what, or more importantly WHO, you forgot…

Imagine if you could rectify the situation immediately; maybe even have a card signed,  sealed, and in your hand as you join in for those last bars “…to youuuuuu.”

A few of us at Baudville have been there, and not just belated for Birthdays or Anniversaries—but also unprepared to give a much deserved thank you, an on-the-spot pick-me-up, a perfectly-timed congratulations, or a high five when a team member goes above and beyond.

It’s for all those “oh no!” moments that we created the Survival Kit. All you do is fill your tin with the three sets you know you’ll need the most and you’re ready for any occasion that takes you by surprise!

We created nine different sets that cover every possible recognition moment. Each individual kit is filled with 12 note cards (two each of six designs), six buttons, six write-in coupons, three mint packs, and a 25-sheet pad of peel & stick notes. In all, your Survival Kit includes 156 notes and treats!

Our Birthday Set ensures you celebrate that special day right on time:

Encourage those everyday wins on your team with our Make a Big Deal Set:

Cheer on your team when they reach for the stars with our Teamwork Set:

Commemorate years of service on a moment’s notice with our Anniversary Set:

When your team members rock it out, be ready to recognize them with our You Rock Set:

Congratulate big days, little days, and every day in-between with our Congrats Set:

Looking for the right words that say “great job” in a fun way? Try our Recognition Check Set:

If you need a little ha-ha in your rah-rah-rah, our Office Humor Set saves the day:

And, really, who doesn’t need to show appreciation? Never miss an opportunity with our Thank You Set:

If I were going to create my perfect Survival Kit, I’d fill mine with a Thank You, a Big Deal, and an Office Humor Set. Or maybe a Recognition Check, a You Rock, and a Teamwork Set?  But then there are all of those special days, so maybe I need a Congrats, a Happy Birthday, and an Anniversary Set. Heck, I might just order three Survival Kits and get them all!

Have you decided which three are your favorites? Order your Survival Kit (or kits) today! 

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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for four years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 19 years. Before becoming a professional writer 12 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer! 

Friday September 21 is World Gratitude Day 2012! Make the day all about saying thank you for the people you appreciate. Who are you grateful for? Let them know! It’s often the people we appreciate the most who hear “thank you” from us the least. Let’s change that! Use one of these ideas to express thanks and gratitude on World Gratitude Day.

Send an ePraise.  Free, easy, and fast, ePraise are a great way to say thanks on World Gratitude Day. Select your ecard design from over 100 different options and type a personal note to the recipient. You can even schedule the card to be delivered at the date and time of your choosing.



Mail a Thank You Card. Even though the volume of mail being delivered has dwindled, everyone still loves to receive a card in the mail! Drop a card in the mail today with your personal note, and your recipient will feel both appreciated and surprised!

Give a Thank You Gift. Giving a personal gift is a great way to express appreciation! Choose a gift that will be meaningful to the recipient, whether it’s an item for their favorite hobby, a book by a favorite author, or a gift card to their favorite restaurant. If you’re looking for ideas, shop our Thank You Themes.



Say Thanks in Person. It’s wonderful to give someone tangible appreciation in the form of a gift or a note card, but we shouldn’t underestimate the power of saying thank you face-to-face. Seek out the coworker or neighbor and use these four tips to give a sincere thank you.

At a loss for words? We’ve put together over 25 positive feedback phrases and 101 Ways to Praise to help you start writing. We have tips for writing a great thank you note  in our Recognition Resource Center, too.

Next Thursday September 27 is National Thank You Day! Keep the thanks flowing by acting on one of these ideas for that holiday, too!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.

By now, colleges and universities are back in the swing of things. For most Michigan colleges, students are already into their second week of class! Although it may seem like school just got started, Student Affairs professionals and student workers have been hard at work on campus for weeks! Resident Assistant and Orientation Leaders were on campus long ahead of the start of classes to help freshmen, and new and returning students transition into the new school year. I know from experience that it is an exhausting but fulfilling job!

Now that students are moved into campus, take the time to thank your student leaders. By letting them know you appreciate their efforts, they’ll be more likely to help out in the future – and recruit additional help for next year! Here are a few ideas for thanking your student leaders:

Have a pizza party. Nothing gets through to a college student more than food! Invite your entire team to a pizza party and spend time socializing and reminiscing of the pre-school fun. Take a moment before diving into the food to verbally thank all their efforts. 

Send a card. Even in our digital and email-prominent society, a tangible card delivered in the mail still makes a big impression! Write a personal thank you card to each student you worked with. For an extra special treat, include a $5 gift card to a campus coffee house or iTunes. 

Choose a Character Pin. Appreciation is most memorable and effective when it’s personal to the recipient. That’s why I love Character Pins. There are so many options, you can find a pin that “perfectly” describes each member of your team. Spend some time reading all the stories, and choose a pin that fits each student. Present the pins at a staff meeting and read the stories aloud. This will be a moment your staff will remember!

Special delivery. When I was in college, my roommate and I requested tons of catalogs so we would receive regular mail at our dorm. Having something in our mail box was always a treat! Give your students the same feeling by sending a small package through campus mail to them. Choose a gift from our You Make a World of Difference or Leading by Example themes to thank them for being a leader.

School swag. Encourage students to show school pride by thanking them for their help with school swag. Order travel mugs, lanyards, or t-shirts from the university bookstore to give each student. Include a short note that thanks them for their individual contribution, too.

How does your university recognize and thank student leaders on campus? Tell us about it in the comments!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.

Those who know me will not be surprised at all by this story. Crazy things happen to me all the time. Last week I was definitely ripe for some sort of debacle, as I’d been sailing fairly calm seas since I single-handedly demolished our garage door back in March.

It started during a toasty-warm lunch hour, when I headed out to pay my mortgage, with my check and payment stubs on my passenger seat filled out and ready to go. About halfway to the bank, I opened my sunroof to soak up some rays. And, then, when it got a little too hot, I lowered my window. This immediately created a tornado effect and all of the papers on my seat began to dance and flutter. I quickly sprang to close the window, but not before the check I had neatly endorsed was whisked through the open space. All I could do was watch through the rearview mirror as it made its hasty escape.

My first hope was that it had been run over hundreds of times after landing on the high-traffic road. Then I decided it didn’t matter, even if it wasn’t, because no one would likely be able to cash it anyway.

Then it dawned on me: all of my personal and banking details were on that check. Even though the check itself was probably useless, the information on it wasn’t. ::sigh::

I called my bank and we talked through some options, including the possibility of closing my account and starting over. ::::double sigh::::    

When Friday evening rolled around, I had the weekend on my mind, and not my forthcoming identity-protection worries. As I sorted through our household mail, a hand-addressed letter caught my attention (after all, we don’t get much of that anymore). I ripped it open, and there it was: my check—sans a single tire tread or evidence of any distress. It turns out that my check had quite an adventure, bypassing semis and SUVs and landing gently in the parking lot of a local logistics business.

The young man who found it chose not to ignore it, or just throw it away (so that I would never have the peace of mind of knowing it was safely discarded), or actually use it for ill-gotten gains. Instead, he and one of his coworkers took the time to put it in an envelope and send it back to me.

It probably didn’t take all that much time; but consider this: we speed to work in the passing lane, we try to pick the fastest-looking grocery line, we sometimes threaten our safety and others’ in the pursuit of multi-tasking. Everything in our lives is quick, quick, quick. Which makes it all the more overwhelming to me that a stranger would slow down and perform an act of kindness like this.

And that made me slow down, too, and think about opportunities I might have to do something kind for one of my fellow humans. Because, even though we sometimes forget, we really are all in this together, aren’t we?

What will you do today, big or small, to help out a friend, coworker, or stranger? Get inspired with our Random Acts of Kindness eBook. Click here to download it!

We love a good story. Tell us about an act of kindness that you’ve given or received!

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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for three-plus years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 18 years. Before becoming a professional writer 11 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!  

I talk a lot about handwritten thank you notes on the Recognition at Work blog, and we have many articles on the topic in our Recognition Resource Center. When you talk and write about something so much, it can be easy to forget about the magnitude of its impact. In most of my articles, I instruct readers to write a thank you note to an employee or co-worker. Baudville is the place for daily recognition after all!

Recently, I was reminded that a thank you note can be a powerful tool for customer retention, too. Within the past week, I learned of two unique instances of organizations using the thank you to leave a positive impression on a customer.

First, I had the privilege of speaking at the Greater Ann Arbor Society for Human Resource Management  chapter last week at their monthly luncheon with a friend from Credential Check. During the presentation, my co-presenter shared that all of his sale representatives do A4s after sales visits. (If you work in an office, you’re probably familiar with the A4 paper size, approximately 8.5” x 11”.) Every sales representative is required to write an A4 thank you note after a customer visit before they even drive out of the parking lot! Sales reps have stationery and stamps in their car, so the letter gets mailed immediately, and the customer gets wowed.

Also last week, my dad had an outpatient procedure at a local hospital. Thankfully, everything went well and my parents had all good things to say about their experience. The icing on the cake, however, was when they received a thank you card in the mail from one of his nurses. The card was simple, it said thank you for letting us care for you, and was personally signed by the nurse. The simple gesture of a thank you note made an impact on my parents who told the whole family about it over the weekend.

Have you ever received a thank you note from a company who just wanted to recognize your business? How did it make you feel about the company?

Now imagine how your customers would feel if you sent them a thank you note after a large order, or included a personal note in their shipping box. How would your business grow? Think about the referrals and word of mouth marketing you’d receive!

This week, give a handwritten thank you note a try! Grab your own A4, stationery, or mini note cards (my personal favorite), and take a few moments to write a sincere thank you. I guarantee your card will have a lasting impact!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.