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~What Not to Do In Front Of Your Instructor Part Two~
Posted by Kyli Ring on Sunday, October 19, 2014 Under: Education
Instructors deal with numerous students on a daily basis. Whether teaching skilled equestrians or beginners, those who teach this sport are always amazed by the various positions the student can put their body in. So for everyone's enjoyment we have recreated (though slightly exaggerated) some of the most common mistakes most instructors see and deal with on a day to day basis.
Chicken Wings. This eye sore is typically coupled with piano hands (see previous article) and should be avoided at all costs. You are not flying so don't do it.
I'm Trying Too Hard Pose. Your instructor said to sit straight not stick your chest towards the heavens! This position creates nothing but tension in you and your horse. Sit back, relax, put your shoulders back, and relax. Do not do this.
Old Western Movie. I said sit back not lay down on your horse and hold him back. This is the other extreme after an instructor gripes at a student for the Trying Too Hard Pose. Leave this to the Hollywood cowboys this position is not allowed in any instructors arena.
Turtle Turtle. No, you are not turtly enough for the turtle club so stop trying. This position tells your instructor that you are tense all over and possibly quite nervous. However, for your horse's sanity and your instructor's sanity, straighten up and breathe. It will be safer up there if you listen to your instructor.
Pain. Lots of Pain. So you have conquered the first few steps of riding. By now you know to sit on your bum and keep your weight back now your instructor is attempting to teach you how to post the trot without injuring yourself. This. This right here is asking for serious pain. Trust us you do not want your horse to trip while you are over posting. Smaller is always better when learning to post.
Your Bellybutton Is Where Now? If your instructor has ever said "pull straight back towards your bellybutton" and you pull out to the side and past your torso, even past your hip, you will get an odd look. If you have a bellybutton back there then I suggest you tell your instructor before you get on the horse so they can amend their statement and say "pull straight back". This position is done when the reins are too long and you have to go that far before having contact. It twists your body and gives your horse confusing signals. Shorten your reins and have a conversation with your horse.
The Overachiever. Heels to the ground toes to the sky is a common saying from instructor to instructor and this is not what they mean. Stretch your leg down to get your heels down and a deeper seat do not by any means stretch them forward. Find the right balance, just enough pressure but not too much.
Ballerina Toes. Those students who are/have danced or done gymnastics make instructors cringe. Toes are only to be pointed during dance class not during your riding lesson. This is usually caused by the student not having flexible ankle muscles, the stirrups being too long, or the students leg is tense and coming up in the saddle.
Bucking Bronco Button. Your instructor said to lightly squeeze with your leg not to move it back and squeeze the horse's flanks. Unless you want to learn to be a rodeo rider never do this on any horse you come across.
In : Education


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Posted on July 21, 2017
Second Issue of Flourish
We've just taken delivery of Flourish, the annual update of Interfaith Glasgow. This is the second issue that we've had the privilege of designing for one of our long standing clients. This issue builds on the design style established in the first issue with a few minor tweaks.
We must say that we're over the moon with the finished product… and more importantly, so is our client!

subset: commoncrawl


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- Little Liza Jane
- Who's My Pretty Baby
- Zousan (Little Elephant)
- Little Bird, Little Bird
- Three Little Birds
- What Goes On
- Pom Na Tu Ri (Springtime Outing)
- Buckeye Jim
- Peace Like a River
- Los Pollitos
- Winter's Come and Gone
- Little Wing
- Lily Pond
- The North Wind
- If You Listen
- Down in the Valley
- Grassy Grass Grass
You Are My Little Bird
4.4 12 5 1
Rooted in tradition but with her own distinctive, breezy style, Elizabeth Mitchell offers a fresh, lively folk album that'll please little ones and their music-loving caregivers alike. As on her collaborative disc with Lisa Loeb, Catch the Moon, You Are My Little Bird focuses on the winsome sound of Mitchell's voice, backed by acoustic instruments, hand percussion, and harmonies from friends and family including her husband Dan Littleton and young daughter Storey Littleton. True to the album's folksy nature -- and its release through the lauded Smithsonian Folkways label, home to Pete Seeger and Ella Jenkins -- the song list includes tunes by Seeger (the irresistibly sweet "Little Bird, Little Bird," plucked on a banjo) and Woody Guthrie (the spare yet lively "Who's My Pretty Baby," outfitted with a Bo Diddley beat). From there, Mitchell tries her voice at non-English tunes such as the Korean "Pom Na Tu Ri (Springtime Outing)" and the Spanish "Los Pollitos (The Little Chicks)," which she says in the extensive liner notes that she discovered on a Folkways album by Suni Paz. From there, the adventurous singer introduces young fans to Vashti Bunyan (the singsongy "Lily Pond"), the Velvet Underground (a gently pulsing "What Goes On"), Gillian Welch (the blues-tinged "Winter's Come and Gone"), and Bob Marley ("Three Little Birds," which incorporates just enough youthful voices to add color without being cloying). With its decades-spanning repertoire and homespun arrangements, You Are My Little Bird plays like a soundtrack to a Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell-Littleton house - which, by the sound of it, would be a pretty nice place to spend the day.
Product Details
|Release Date:
|Smithsonian Folkways
Album Credits
Performance CreditsElizabeth Mitchell Primary Artist,Guitar,Percussion,Piano,Vocals,Wurlitzer
John Sebastian Harmonica,Autoharp
Warren Defever Bass,Bass Guitar
Dan Littleton Banjo,Guitar,Percussion,Drums,Harmonium,Hammond Organ,Viola,Vocals,Wurlitzer
Miggy Littleton Percussion,Vocals
Jean Cook Violin,Vocals
Charlotte "Coco" Constan Vocals,Background Vocals
William "Boogie" Constan Percussion,Vocals
Annika Enzien Vocals,Background Vocals
Gabi Geujon Vocals,Background Vocals
Kirsten Jacobson Flute,Vocals
Hermina Littleton Vocals
Athena Miros Vocals,Background Vocals
Fenner Osmond Friedman Vocals,Background Vocals
Daniel Littleton Banjo,Guitar,Percussion,Drums,Harmonium,Viola,Vocals,Hammond B3
Storey Littleton Guitar,Vocals
Technical CreditsWoody Guthrie Composer
Happy Traum Liner Notes
Bob Marley Composer
Lou Reed Composer
Neil Young Composer
Warren Defever Producer,Engineer,Audio Production
Justin Guip Engineer
Anthony Seeger Liner Notes
Elizabeth Mitchell Arranger,Producer,Audio Production,Song Notes
Gillian Welch Composer
Micky Jones Composer
David Rawlings Composer
Ida Pearle Artwork
Vashti Composer
Mickey Jones Composer
Tommy Brown Composer
Hugh Musick Liner Notes
Customer Reviews
Average Review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
You Are My Little Bird based on 0 ratings. 12 reviews.
I purchased this for my 2 year old daughters pre-school class for Christmas and all the children loved it they listened to it 3 times the first day. After the raving review from my little girl I bought her the same thing and she loves it and is already singing along. So sweet and cute. I love the music and recommend to all moms. Warning, you will sing along!
Wonderful choice of material, going beyond the typical and produced with a delightful simple tone that encourages everyone to join in the singing. It makes you smile over and over. Everyone, from toddlers through the grandparents, loves this recording.
You can stand it, your big kid will like it and your toddler can learn the words. It also has a great cover or two that you'll recognize and songs from cultures around the globe. Good cd to have save for a road trip to surprise the kids into silence for a while.
as a parent, this album is very pleasant to listen to, and I find myself singing the tunes all day, even when it's not playing! The songs are simple, and basic enough for children to learn and sing along with, yet provacative enough for adults to enjoy. I play to get this album for all the parents of young ones on my Cristmas list.
We are huge Elizabeth Mitchell fans. I've been a fan since my 10 year old nephew was a baby. You don't need kids to enjoy her music, but having kids makes it that much better. Whenever our little one is hysterical in the car all we have to do is pop in You Are My Little Bird. Within seconds of recognizing the beat of Little Liza Jane she is calm. On a recent trip she became hysterical on the plane. All it took to calm her was a few verses of Little Liza Jane. I can't recommend this album (or any by Mitchell) enough.


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The difference you make…
Funding from Government and Charitable Foundations, sponsorship investment from local business and corporations, and
donations from individual donors make Centre for Autism Services Alberta programs and services available to children, youth, and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and their families possible. Your support provides funding that allows individuals with autism the opportunity to reach their full potential; you help empower families, change outcomes, enrich lives, and foster independence, while promoting inclusion, through your partnership. The Centre has provided hope and support to children, youth, adults, and families affected by ASD in the greater Edmonton area since 1997.
*We are currently seeking funding to offer Quest for Independence to non PDD-eligible individuals.
The Centre is the only service provider in Alberta that is internationally accredited in Behaviour Consultation Services (ASD – Children and Adolescents) – Commission of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).
Our Canadian Registered Charity Number: 872923995RR0001 (Incorporated in Edmonton, Alberta, CA (1997)
Ways to Give
Individual donations can be made to the Centre directly, or through Canada Helps.
Canada Helps
Simply click on the link to make a general donation or a contribution to a fundraising campaign or event in support of a Centre for Autism Services Alberta programs or service.
Donate at Centre
Donations in support of Centre for Autism Services Alberta programs or services can be sent to:
Centre for Autism Services Alberta
4752-99 Street, Edmonton, AB T6E 5H5
or contact our office at 780.6600.ext 229
If your business or corporation would like to become a sponsor or partner, please contact our community investment
team at the address below.
Corporate Sponsorship & Community Investment
Corporate partnership makes a difference; your support means a lot to children, youth, and young adults with autism, and their families.
Contact: Deborah Allard Usunier, Executive Director, at 780.488.6600 ext. 236 for complete information.


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I've been looking at websites and HTML since 1993 when I worked for Academic Computing Services at Tufts University. I've written for PC Magazine, PC Week, eWeek, worked at big companies and various startups. In a past few years I've been doing consulting and programming at UrbanPixels.
Ask me! I'll try to answer as best as I can. If I can help you and you like to show your appreciation, please send me an Amazon.com gift card. Any amount is appreciated.
Click here to ask me a question.


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The first biggest investment you will make in your life is your home, after that it's your car. We treat our cars as we would our families, making sure that they have everything they need, giving it a good clean once a week and taking it out for a drive to blow off the cobwebs. We hope it never happens, but sometimes, through no fault of your own, you get into a fender bender or something dramatically worse. It's at this point that you need to do what's best for your baby and get it back to its former self. You need a specialist body shop, but which one do you choose and what do you need to look out for?
Shop Around.
Initially everything boils down to cost, but you must assume because it's cheaper that it's going to be better. Shop around and look for not only a good price, but also a body shop which has a good stellar reputation. The word-of-mouth as we call it, is usually your best indicator of the quality of a body shop and its work. Remember, yours is a specialist car and so you should be looking for a specialist body shop, who won't cut corners on your car and be dictated to by an insurance company.
Ask Questions.
When you choose your body shop for smash repairs in Melbourne try to find one that will assist you with the confusing claims forms, help with non-fault accidents and provide the use of a rental car, so you can continue on with your life while they repair your car. Don't be afraid to ask questions and inquire if they provide a written warranty on their work and in some cases you will find business that will offer up to a three year guarantee on all their repairs and paint. Make sure that the body shop has all necessary insurance so that when you leave your car there to get fixed, in the event anything happens you are covered.
Insist On The Best.
Always ask about what materials and what parts they are going to use. Are they going to use spurious parts or genuine parts from the manufacturer. Insist on the best and check if they repair the car to the insurance company specs or the manufacturers specifications. The difference in quality is noticeable and if the frame of the car is to be straightened ensure they have the best equipment available and are able to colour match exactly to your cars original paint. Ask about how many coats of paint they will apply and also about coats and refinishes.
Best of all, follow your gut feling. If the shop is busy then you can assume people go there because they are the best at what they do. If the body shop is clean and uncluttered, then this might reflect the type of work they will be doing with your car. If you ask lots of questions and they get upset or don't answer fully then this might be your cue to look somewhere else for your repairs. Check if their technicians are fully trained and make sure they provide you with complete customer satisfaction.


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But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran!
Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.
Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.
"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.
Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions.
Ellison will take the official oath of office along with the other incoming members in the House chamber, then use the Koran in his individual, ceremonial oath with new Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers' belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself," said Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert.
One person unlikely to be swayed by the book's illustrious history is Goode, who released a letter two weeks ago objecting to Ellison's use of the Koran. "I believe that the overwhelming majority of voters in my district would prefer the use of the Bible," the Virginia Republican told Fox News, and then went on to warn about what he regards as the dangers of Muslims immigrating to the United States and Muslims gaining elective office.
Yeah, but what about a Koran that belonged to one of the greatest Virginians in history? Goode, who represents Jefferson's birthplace of Albemarle County, had no comment yesterday.
Love, Etc.
Engaged: Waldorf's own Benji Madden, to Aussie starlet Sophie Monk, both 27. The Good Charlotte frontman (whose brother/band-mate Joel just split from Hilary Duff), proposed to his gal on Christmas Eve in Australia, his rep said. Monk, who appeared in "Date Movie" and "Click," visited Madden's home town in October and hasn't yet been quoted trash-talking Charles County
Hey, Isn't That...?
Redskins Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts toasting 2007 with an assortment of well-dressed ladies and lots of Veuve Clicquot in a reserved lounge at the new downtown restaurant Posh. Portis topped off his casual-chic look with hat and sunglasses, all the better to be picked out in the crowd.
Shimon Peres lunching at Teatro Goldoni yesterday after attending Gerald Ford's funeral. The former PM of Israel, with three dining partners and scads of security, lingered for 261/27 hours over white wine, steamed vegetables and grilled shrimp.
On washingtonpost.com
Poor Kevin Federline! On New Year's Day he got body-slammed in a Miami wrestling ring by WWE champ John Cena. And Britney's ex is getting clobbered in our 2006 Reliable Source year-end poll as well.
We nominated K-Fed as one of the most memorable Washington gossip stories of '06 for his announcement at Verizon Center last month that we can't call him K-Fed anymore. But as of last night he was trailing contenders like Cynthia McKinney, Mary Cheney and TomKat. Still not too late to have your say: Check out our poll -- voting ends tonight. You can also join our live Web chat at noon, or e-mail us at email@example.com.


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About Us
Our English school in Cambridge is housed in a large, converted Edwardian house with a modern extension. It is located in the peaceful, residential area of Newnham, just a 10-minute bus ride from the centre of the city, allowing your students to make the most of your visit. The school has its own gardens, perfect for working or socializing in the fresh air, as well as having BBQs in the summer. We offer a comprehensive range of English courses, including IELTS and Cambridge Exam preparation. Cambridge is a historic yet busy city, with lively arts and music scenes as well as a huge range of shops, pubs and restaurants
- Intensive English (2 weeks, 20 weeks, 24 weeks, 32 weeks)
- General English (2 weeks, 20 weeks, 24 weeks, 32 weeks)
- Vacation English
- CLIL Methodology
- Kaplan's Teacher Training Course
- Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) Preparation
- English for Business
- Cambridge Intensive CAE
- IELTS Exam Preparation - Intensive
- IELTS Exam Preparation - Supplementary
- Cambridge FCE Exam Preparation
- Student Residence
- Student residences are specially selected apartments, hostels, and dorms that provide a fantastic living experience. Enjoy a more independent lifestyle and the social aspects of living with new friends.
- Homestay
- Join our homestay program and live with a British family during your time in Bath. Share meals with your hosts and practice your English outside of school in a relaxed and informal situation.


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Been to MTvM? It's the new MTV site, MTV Music. After you stop slapping your forehead over what a silly name that is, go check it out because it's actually a really great site! As of right now - I say now because we all know how these things go - it's a hub soley for music videos. No ads, no commercials before videos play, and best of all, they're all embed-able! The site's squeaky clean, and there's something like over 20,000 videos on there. To put things into perspective, you've only seen about 3,000 music videos in your life.
To celebrate this website mostly working, here's the two best videos ever.


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If you don't have comm you don't have anything.
This will enhance communications between groups by using HF single sideband ground wave propagation to add security and functionality to your comm plan.
Here is an excellent video from You Tube user MeOnTech. He concealed a 2 meter band j-pole antenna on his balcony in a flower pot. Way to go!
This video will give you an idea of what the bands will be like in an actual emergency.
Everyone will want to talk at the same time, and it will take some practice to make any real communications traffic out of what we call a pile up. This operator has a unique situation in that every time he gets on the air he has to deal with a pile up. But this is what it will be like when we have a failure of civility in our country.
To try to ease the pain in a real emergency we have band plans that will help to get the emergency traffic to the most people.
Oathkeepers band plan:
AmRRon band plan:
This one used to be free but their costs are going up like everyone else's so they now charge $6 for a digital version. It's worth the money because there is much information that most of us have not thought about in planning for emergency communications.
Click this link for a nice ham radio bands chart:
Are you looking for Solutions for America in Distress
You are in the right place to find out about what is really going on behind the scenes in the patriot movement in America, including solutions from Oathkeepers, Anna Von Reitz, Constitutional Sheriffs, Richard Mack, and many more people who are leading the charge to restore America to freedom and peace. Please search on the right for over 4600 articles.
You will find some conflicting views from some of these authors. You will also find that all the authors are deeply concerned about the future of America. What they write is their own opinion, just as what I write is my own. If you have an opinion on a particular article, please comment by clicking the title of the article and scrolling to the box at the bottom on that page. Please keep the discussion about the issues, and keep it civil. The administrator reserves the right to remove unwarranted personal attacks. Use the golden rule; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Do not attempt to comment using the handle "Unknown" or "Anonymous". Your comment will be summarily deleted. Additionally we do not allow comments with advertising links in them for your products.
Friday, February 27, 2015
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That Cinderella Moment/
Every Spashionista wants to have that Cinderella moment, the one where the handsome prince places the glass slipper on her foot and it's a perfect fit. I've had that moment, complete with handsome prince, every time I visit my friend Matthew Bretherick's shoe store. As you can see from the photo I'm a frequent visitor. Everything you see below has served me better than a coach and footman ever could - and these definitely did not turn into a pumpkin and mice after midnight.
Matty is currently the manager of a Shi by Journeys store at the Galleria Mall in Franklin, Tn, but we met several years ago while he was managing the Shi at the Opry Mills Mall. In an outlet mall filled with bargain shoe stores how do you get customers to bypass them and buy from you? How do you see to it that your store is always busy and your profits up? How do you go from managing an outlet mall store to managing the one Nashville's upper-crust and their stylists frequent?
The answer is deceptively simple. Treat your customers as if they are the most important person on the planet, because if you're in sales they are. Of course, Matty is not just a terrific salesman, he is also one of the most generous, open-hearted people I know. It doesn't matter to him that I'm old enough to be his mother and in a wheelchair, we are thick as thieves.
The ritual is always the same. We hug and catch up on life for a few minutes then Matty disappears into the back. He returns carrying many shoeboxes filled with styles he thinks I will like and can wear. After my third or so visit not only does he remember my shoe size and favorite color, he knows my left foot is wider so it's the one I favor when trying on shoes to check for good fit. He also understands my feet don't work well in barely-there flats and I can't wear sandals or impossibly high heels - but those grey ankle boots pictured above are a dream to wear. If he doesn't have my size in a color I want he'll check for fit with a different color and have the ones I want shipped to my house. The red Frye boots are an example, and that's important to me because I find it especially difficult to find boots that fit properly. I paid full price for those boots four years ago and have never regretted it. I'd say the photo represents a near 50-50 split of full-priced and sale-priced footwear.
There's the infamous white oxfords from Fashion Friday: American and Proud! and Red, White and Blue.
So what's the big deal? If you're a Spashionista and are lucky enough to find a Matty to help you find shoes that are not only stylish but fit you properly you are investing in clothing that works well and goes a long way towards making you look great with very little effort. If you live anywhere near Franklin, Tn it's worth you while to go see the real Matty (but, be warned, only I get to call him "Matty". You have to call him Matthew. If you call him "Matt" his Mother will not be pleased!). If not, let me know if you've found someone in your life that has proven to be your fashion angel.


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This beautiful sphere is covered in crystals! Hang it up anywhere for a spectacular decoration. You can also use this on the tabletop! Just flip it over and place it on any table for a beautiful decorative centerpiece! ShopWildThings specially designed this unit to use either way. 12" Round. Hanging Chain is 12" Long.
This item has a sort of "flower" pattern to it that you can see well in the close up photo.
This is a chandelier decoration and does not include a light kit. So many of our customers just want these to hang anywhere and do not want the electrical cords. If you do want to use an electrical cord kit and light bulb, we sell them here - Light Cord Kit. The center of the chandelier already has the hardware needed to hold the light kit in place. You might also consider using our LED lighting to insert on top of these. They are very easy. You just slip an LED Disc on top of the fixture and turn it on. FIND THE CORDLESS LED LIGHT DISCS HERE


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By Andrea M. Jones
The three dark shapes ripple—not the fur so much as the bodies, undulating across the landscape like figments of a wave. I feel like I'm seeing the wind itself: a phenomenon usually visible only by its effects is glancing back at me across its shoulder. Having lived here fifteen years, I've only seen one badger, once. I often find their holes in the pasture, though—fresh-dug evidence of industry powered by stocky limbs and a predatory appetite. They hunt gophers, excavating narrow pipes of burrows to pits full of shadow.
The badgers manage to be simultaneously plump and flattened, their broad forms parting amber-colored bunchgrasses taller than them. The trio shimmers up the slope, headed for the fence line. My brain anticipates a break in their rhythmic gait. Fences, by design, interrupt movement. Even birds flutter and land, borrowing the taut strands as aeries from which to drop onto unsuspecting insects. Deer and elk stop and mill uneasily before jumping or bowing to nose under and, either way, I wince. The leaps don't always clear the top strand, and passing under, which begins in forced genuflect, proceeds with a cruel raking by barbed wire and ends in an ignominious squat.
The badgers ripple smoothly under the wire and for a second my mind sputters, its expectations defied. I'm surprised at my own surprise, that the low-slung animals, still moving uphill and no longer looking back, are indifferent to a demarcation so obvious to me.
Andrea M. Jones lives with her husband on a high ridge in central Colorado, where she hikes, rides horses, and gardens during the short growing season. She is the author of the essay collection Between Urban and Wild: Reflections from Colorado. In addition to writing literary nonfiction, Andrea works as a freelance indexer and blogs at www.betweenurbanandwild.com.


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Karl Dubost proposed : > Authors and Web developers, wishing to use XML on the > Web, are encouraged to create quality control > preempting publication. The draconian error handling > rules of XML push Web developers to have a strict > quality control process before publishing. Every > inputs by user in the publishing workflow will have > to be properly checked and validated. I really don't think this comes within our aegis at all. We are the HTML working group -- what gives us the right to advise others on the potential benefits or pitfalls of XML ? Philip TaylorReceived on Thursday, 2 August 2007 10:12:00 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Thursday, 29 October 2015 10:15:25 UTC


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Ep 14, Simon Wright with Gatehouse
Simon Wright is the owner of Gatehouse, a London-based internal communications agency. They help organizations, leaders and managers engage, motivate and inspire their people. Very recently, they released their State of the Sector 2016. In its eighth year, the State of the Sector is the definitive survey of the internal communication and employee engagement landscape. And it's completely free to download.
In this episode, Simon discusses some of the key findings in this year's report, along with a few inconsistencies that are reported by communicators. For example, many communicators cite the importance of training managers to be better communicators, however, few have any plans to do so. You can follow Simon on Twitter at @gatehouseSW and the agency at @gatehouse.
ICology is available on iTunes as well as many other platforms and apps. Or you can listen to the media player above.
Episode Transcript
Chuck: Welcome to ICology, the podcast dedicated to interesting people doing interesting things in the world of internal communications. If internal comms is your passion, then this is your podcast. Listen in. We've got a great episode ahead. Every year, Gatehouse, which is an internal comms agency in London, they produce a State of the Sector for internal communication and employee engagement. And from my standpoint, and from what I've known about it, it's a true must-read for internal communicators, but I've discovered a lot of people aren't aware of it. And I've been hounding Gatehouse since really the last of 2015, about this year's report, knowing it would be coming out in early 2016, and now it's here.
What's so great about the report is that it's a valuable snapshot of the current sentiment that exists in internal comms, the channels being used, their effectiveness, but also the challenges that internal communicators feel that they're facing, and way more than even that. So because the report comes out annually, what's so great about it is the chance of benchmarks, and go back and see previous years what the IC world used to look like, and also to evaluate how things have changed. So for today's show, we've got Simon Wright, owner of Gatehouse, on to talk about the 2016 State of the Sector report. Simon, welcome to ICology.
Simon: Thanks very much, Chuck. I'm glad to be here.
Chuck: Glad to have you on, and as I said, I'm a huge fan of this report. So first off, kudos to you and your team for not just creating it, but also sticking with it, producing it every year, as I said earlier, to help create that benchmark. But before we get into the State of the Sector, why don't you talk a bit about Gatehouse so that listeners understand who you are and why you've produced this State of the Sector report.
Simon: Sure. Gatehouse, we've been around now for about 10 years and we're based out of London. I'm one of the co-founders along with my co-director Lee Smith. We set up the business in 2006. We're just fast approaching our 10 year anniversary, which we are very excited about. The purpose of Gatehouse, back in those days, there was very little dedicated support for organizations in the area of internal communication /employee engagement, and we recognized that there was a need for that. On the back of that need, Gatehouse was born.
Since then, we've been developing the business very much around five key areas of growth: research audits, which is where the State of the Sector lends its heritage to; the strategy and planning, which goes into developing any form of communication piece and which we're going to hear quite a bit about when we talk about the State of the Sector today; the creative services team, which restore the funky cool stuff, the bit which I'm extremely jealous of and my colleagues when they create these amazing pieces of work and hopefully the State of the Sector report itself is testament to that. We do some really good training. We work with some great organizations, helping them become better at engaging their people and helping their teams and line managers become stronger communicators internally. Finally, and quite importantly, we help people find resources, and we help people with their interim placement needs.
I think Gatehouse, we started out…I suppose research was where it all began, but in those 10 years we've turned to a full service agency, covering so many different areas. Going back to that moment nine years ago — and I was recounting it to my team earlier this month when we were putting the finishing touches to the report — when Lee and I first came up with the idea of doing State of the Sector, nothing like this was in existence. There was no form of measurement of the industry. It was still such an immature industry, so for people to be measuring it, it was a completely new thing.
We conducted the first study, and it was just so funny when you look at the results now and you look at the results back then, we ask how much of your role is dedicated to internal communication, now we see people responding. 94% of our respondents say it's what they do, it's their main role. Back then, it was well below 50%. So we've seen such a seismic shift in the importance of internal communication, and I think it's been exciting for us to be able to follow that and to be able to record some of that journey through State of the Sector.
Chuck: So let's start digging into this. For this year, talk about some of the methodology, how you guys collected the data, who responded, where were they were from around the world and so forth, including some of those unique markets.
Simon: Sure. This year was actually the largest number of respondents which we've had. Again, I suppose part of that is the maturing of the industry as we get more people who are dedicated in this field. So we had over 300 organizations responding, many of which were very large corporates, so the highest proportion of significant sized businesses and organizations responding, which was great, wonderful from our point of view. And we got responses from over 70 countries.
Chuck: That's amazing.
Simon: It was totally amazing. It blew our minds when we were looking at it. Obviously, we're a UK based company, so you'd expect the lion share to come from the UK. But you know why only 52%, just only a fraction over half, of the respondents were UK? A big growth in the US, in North America. Historically, we've had minimal representation from our cousins overseas. But 14% of respondents were coming from North America. A similar number, a little bit more — 16%, from mainland Europe. So that means a big slug of people, 20% or so, are coming from the rest of the world. We even had one response from an organization in Afghanistan. Internal comms is really making its way around the world.
Chuck: I think what's great, too, is you talked about the size of the organizations, and I just did some quick math in my head that north of 80% of the respondents or organizations were 1000 or more employees. So that should be a good representation to anybody reading the report that it's not just super-small organizations responding, but it's also not just these big, giant behemoth corporations responding. It is a good mix of companies all throughout. As you put in your report, there was really no surprise at what communicators…because these are communicators answering these questions. They describe that the role and purpose of internal comms…why don't you just review those top three for the audience?
Simon: The top three — "enabling employees to understand the strategy, vision, and values" was number one. We had 86% of the respondents saying that this is pretty critical to their role, and that was the number one response, but just one point below that, we had corporate announcements. The corporate announcements piece was interesting because although they're sitting below the "enabling employees to understand the strategy and vision" piece, historically that's been the number one area. They've normally been perceived as the post box of the organization.
This year we've seen a shift to them being a lot more strategic. Internal communicators are potentially coming of age, and they're starting to take the whole role as becoming a lot more critical to organizations. That whole ownership of the strategy piece is quite an amazing achievement. It's obviously a natural home for most of your listeners. They'll be thinking, "Yeah, that's what I do," and I think that's great to hear and great to see, that we're seeing such a rise in the number of people who are recognizing that as being the key area of what their team is involved in.
A similar number were also rating employee engagement as being a key part of their role. And again, I think that's really interesting because we've been seeing a shift over the last two or three years as communicators are coming of age, the move away from engagement being where it's been historically within HR [inaudible 00:08:59] moving to the internal communications space. And I think it's getting very much more a blurring of lines between what is communication and what is engagement. I think that's a real testament to the fact that communicators are getting ownership of the engagement area.
Chuck: And there were, at least when I read through it, there were a few surprises that caught me off guard. One of them was around only two thirds of communicators are involved in actually developing and launching new technology. I thought that was…wondering why that number, I felt like it should have been higher. Even probably more problematic than that was fewer believe they were a long term strategy and vision for internal communications. Did these surprise you or were there others that when you guys got the results back, that really caught you off guard?
Simon: Chuck, this report was full of surprises, and I think what you just highlighted there are a couple of interesting ones, the developing and launching new communication technologies. We can make some thoughts and some recommendations and some insights around why we think that might be the case. Some of it is because many organizations have been investing quite heavily in the past, so developing and launching new communication technologies might not be the key areas that they're involved in going forward. Or it could be the fact that IT still has a stranglehold on that area. That bit, we're not too sure of. I think it's probably a mix between those two areas. I think it will be interesting to see, because as we go further through the report, you'll see that the rise of electronic channels is just unstoppable; it really is driving fast-forward.
As we repeat this survey again next year, it will be very interesting to see how those figures change. But I think the other point you mentioned there — and I think you really hit a critical point — is around the planning piece about how poorly some of our colleagues have been maintaining communication plans and planning in their areas, where we're seeing such a rise in the importance of the function. I think we're starting to see a concern, and I think it's going to become a growing concern, that we're not having the tools we need in place in order to be able to offer that level of credibility and support which people would be expecting from an organization, as professional as internal communications is becoming.
Chuck: Yeah, and I do think that's one of the glaring inadequacies that came out, basically with communicators is the lack of planning. And this is very apparent whether it's the annual plan, dashboards, even strategies and campaigns. I saw that in here, it said only half of respondents said they had written an annual communications plan. Why do you think that is, because imagine other functions at a business not having a plan. Imagine operations not having a plan, or essentially finance, a budget is a plan. So why do you think communicators aren't planning?
Simon: Good question, isn't it? I mean why aren't they planning and I think there are potential hints as to why that might be the case through other questions and other bits of data which we are collecting. You picked up on the point, the lack of the long term vision and strategy and plan; 51% saying they don't have this in place. And quite rightly so, that is quite worrying. But as we look a bit further, we see one of the big issues, one of the biggest barriers to success of communication at the moment, is a lack of resource within the internal comms team. It is putting two and two together. Whether we're making four or whether we're making some other number altogether, I'm not entirely sure at this stage, but we're thinking internally here, that the lack of resource could be the cause for the lack of planning. I don't think it's so much a case of not having the skills, not having the capability, because we're seeing that from some of the other responses, which we've been getting.
For instance, the IC team are viewed by senior leaders as trusted advisors. You've got over 70% of people saying they are, so clearly they've got the professionalization there. But perhaps it's a simple lack of resource to be able to have the time and effort to focus on it.
Chuck: Now, one of the things that I think people are probably tired of me saying, but I still like to say it over and over is that communicators don't have a content problem; they have a context problem. And one of the data points that stuck up to me was a report found that only 27% of communicators felt employees had a good understanding of leadership decisions, but then earlier we talked [inaudible 00:13:49] talked about it, that IC recognizes the importance of making leaders more visible and accessible. So they're making them visible and accessible, and yet they don't feel employees have a good understanding of the decisions leadership is making. So what are communicators missing in that gap, do you think?
Simon: So it's a difficult one to answer, which is why I'm sort of hesitating a little bit in responding, but the challenge we see…I mean we see this a lot when we're working with organizations as well. We've got this very finite resource already established as there's a lack of resource in the first instance. There's this demand of being a trusted advisor, so you've got these people working very, very closely with senior leaders, and that tends to be where most of the effort is given over to. The focus is very much on that leadership part. And I think the impact of that is that — and again this is something else which we come onto later on — we get some really fascinating insights into how effective senior leaders are at engaging their people. We're starting to see that area, almost the frozen middle, the line managers, the area which are actually critical to ensuring that communications work.
I mean it's great having electronic channels, it's great having twin channels, it's great having all that good stuff. But if your line manager area is not working to the capacity he should be, you're going to always struggle with getting the context right, getting it beyond more than just being the good intention piece. And I think for me that was probably one of the most worrying trends which we found in this report. That's probably one of the highlight areas for me.
Chuck: And we all know that there's all kinds of challenges out there to internal communications. There's technological barriers, people barriers, structural barriers, all kinds of things. But what were some of the top challenges that communicators cited in your report?
Simon: Yeah, it's kind of building on the last answer there, Chuck, to be honest. I mean I think the lack of higher manager skills is the number one area as to being a barrier to internal communications being a success. So you've got almost 60% of respondents saying that's their number one problem area. But you know what? It only features mid-table when we ask them, "What is your priority for next year to fix?" So only a third of respondents are saying, one in three people are saying it's an area to fix, but almost two thirds of respondents are saying it's an issue.
That's a really worrying observation for me. You've got this glaring problem child, which is the frozen middle, that area of line manager communicators who are just not able to be effective at what their communication responsibilities are. More often than not, there's nothing more than the fact that nobody's ever really shown them or taught people how to become a communicator as you get promoted up through your career. You take on more responsibilities.
Normally you're getting those promotions due to your technical competence, and all of a sudden you're given this range of other things you're expected to do, but there's little effort in giving around training and guidance to help people through that. And I think that's what this is showing. That, for me, is clearly a real problem area, and it is the number one barrier to success.
Chuck: Let's start getting into some of the channels, and this is really where communicators can start taking real quick action item. One of them is you talked a little bit to kick off with the face-to-face side of things. You guys look at both overall use, how many people are using them, but then which ones communicators feel are most effective. So what were some of the highlights from the face-to-face channel results?
Simon: Yeah, face-to-face is always going to be scoring highly in terms of effectiveness, and it is. I don't think many people would disagree with us that face-to-face channels are the most effective of all the channels which you can have in the armory of our toolkit. And they are being used by many organizations. Conferences and seminars for managers and senior leaders in use by over 90% of organizations; that's actually an increase from some of the previous year's surveys which we've been doing, where they've been cutting back on that, and I suppose possibly down to costs. But we're starting to see a rise in that, and there's similar levels of effectiveness with 85% of people believe them to be effective. So that's great news to be able to see those sorts of results.
On the other end of the spectrum, we're seeing things like employee forums which are in use by a lot of organizations, but not particularly effective. I think that could be for a whole host of reasons, because legislation in many countries will insist employee forums exist, but are they good as communication tools? And then in other countries and other jurisdictions, you're going to find that legislation isn't as stringent. When they're putting it in place, they're being put in place for much more communications-based reasons, and that's where you're seeing the strength in those. You've got a whole range of different channels there which are producing different results. All in all though, there's nothing which scores below 60% in terms of being an effective channel within the face-to-face. I think we can remain confident that it is a hardworking and well-used channel.
Chuck: And then from an electronic standpoint, it will probably be no surprise to anyone when they look at this that email, internet, and videos were the most used from a frequency standpoint, but which ones did communicators find to be most effective from the electronic side of things?
Simon: This one's really interesting, the electronic channels, because the people who are using them, the number of respondents who use the channels, is really mixed. You've got central emails, which is 98%. Almost 100% of organizations are using central emails. And it's a love and hate channel. It's often referred to as the "mama" channel: you love it or hate it. Whenever we test people with what's the most popular communication channel, it's normally always email. And when we test people what's the least popular communication channel, it's normally always email.
You've got this amazing channel which has its love-hate position, but it's just constantly going to be used, and I'd be amazed if that ever changes. I'll be surprised if that ever drops in the near future from being the top one. But I think the more interesting ones are around internal apps. That's quite a fascinating one for me. Only 35% of respondents are using it, but for those organizations that do use it, it's regarded as one of the most effective channels they've got. So you've got this emerging channel which hasn't yet raised itself into the front line of communication channels, but where it does work it's working extremely well. I think we're going to see a big rise in that.
The other area was around videos. I think videos are becoming more and more mainstream. It's not necessarily people getting big expensive, glossy, production-based videos. It's more self-shot, shot on your phone, shot at your desktop, those kind of produced films which are making it in the video grade now.
The final one which I'll speak on is the social media channels. Now, we're seeing a massive rise in those, and I know we'll come onto that a little bit later, but social media is on the rise predominantly down to one channel, and that's Yammer. And I think that's down to the fact that Microsoft now owns this and it's packaged with a lot of their services they provide. So many organizations we talked to, both in our professional capacity as consultants but also in a survey like this, they're using Yammer, they're adopting it, it's in place. There are other channels, too, but it's clearly Yammer, is the front-runner there. But is it working? Is it effective? That's a big question mark at the moment.
I know five or six years ago when we were in the early days of running this research, and I was standing up in a presentation saying social media is the one to watch. I said fast-forward five years' time, it's going to be the dominant channel. We'll we've fast-forwarded five years' time, and it's hardly moved at all. It's in more places, but in terms of its effectiveness, it isn't really cutting it, which I think is interesting.
Chuck: That's a good segue, because like you said, compared to past years' reports, social has been on the rise, especially from that enterprise social network standpoint, like Yammer you talked about. But I think what was interesting is that many of the communicators still feel like their organizations are behind in adoption. Do you think this is a reality for them, or do you think they feel like everyone else is more advanced or further along than they actually are?
Simon: I think a lot of communicators are looking at social media, and it's again back to the point I was saying about Yammer, and seeing it's a critical tool to have, it's going to revolutionize the way we do communications in our organization, it's going to replace the internet, and I disagree. I think what social media is, it's an additional channel. It's just part of the mix. It's useful, by no doubt is it a useful tool, but it's not in the foreseeable future going to become a key, fundamental channel in the same way that internet has in the past and the same way email currently is. I think you're going to see a continued rise in adoption, simply because of the fact it's now available very, very easily, and so many organizations are just getting it almost free of charge or included within packages they've already purchased. So it's a natural expectation to see it being rolled out and adopted. But will it be used? Will it become a central part of the communication mix? I'm not so sure about that.
Chuck: And I think next, again going back to when you guys started doing this, mobile probably wasn't even an option for a lot of companies, but the adoption here looks to be lower than I thought it would be. And even with an app, looking at people who scored it as "We used it and it's effective" or "We used it and it's not very effective", those numbers are below 20%. Why do you think that mobiles…is it struggling? Or has it not quite caught on with the right organizations yet, with mobile apps?
Simon: Yeah. I think some of this is looking at the data, and the way to interpret some of the data. Mobile apps, we still predict, are going to have a huge future. That said, I did say the same thing about social media five years ago, and that hasn't quite worked out the way I thought it would do. But I do think the mobile app market is the area to really focus on in terms of the electronic channels. What you're seeing here, though, is some of the stats suggest low effectiveness. I think that's down to the fact that it's used by such a few number of the organizations responding. Where they are using it, its effectiveness is rated highly, but we're seeing the results are a little bit skewed because so few organizations are currently using it.
What I'll also go on and say, though, is we were very surprised, because we asked questions around how employees currently are accessing their internal channels, and we've been asking those same questions for the last three years. Personal mobile devices, using your personal phone, bringing your own device, we had 43% of responses in 2015. In 2016, it's 43%. We saw no change at all. I was very surprised by that because I think bringing your own device is definitely the way this is going to go in the future. Will I be set in 12 months' time still being surprised because it hasn't moved? I think that would be a shame, because I think bringing your own device is the way of driving this forward. I don't think it's about companies issuing their employees with certain device types. It's about having tools which work on multiple device types and enable employees to be able to access it when they want to and how they want to. I think that's the future of those channels.
Chuck: And I think there's even a natural bias for some communicators. They automatically start to think with mobile that, "Oh, our employees will never put an app on their own phone." Well, there's a lot of employees who want that communication in one place. They're happy to put their email if they have it on their phones, so an app is a natural progression. I agree with you. It's surprising that that number hadn't changed, but I think that as more and more organizations not just launch it, but figure out how to launch it and how to take advantage of it, that will get better. But what I also like about the report here is that we don't forget about our old friend print, and so many communicators have been trying to kill it off for years. I'm still a big fan of it even though they seem to question its effectiveness. From your perspective at Gatehouse, does print still have a place in internal comms?
Simon: I think it definitely has a place. I think it will be a sad day when we take these questions out of the report. They've been in their since day one. They've been amended slightly, but when we ask the question about how many people are using posters, well over 90% of organizations still use posters. They have a role to play. They are that single very, very quick hit of information as you pass by, as you walk by. They are a part of that core set of channels, in my opinion.
Employee magazine is quite interesting because that scores really highly for those organizations that have it, but so few organizations use them now. This is print-based employee magazines. So only 45% of organizations are actually using print-based employee magazines, but you know it hit almost a 70% effectiveness rate, which I think is a great testament to their channel. There's a wonderful channel which we always include here called "postcards", and I don't know why we include it still, but I think that's pretty much hit the rock-bottom. Nobody uses it. It has low levels of effectiveness, but you know what, Chuck? I just love the idea of doing postcards as a communication channel, so it's going to feature my surveys for the next 10 years.
Chuck: To sort of sum up our review here, let people know where they can go to download this report, but I also want to find out from you. What do you think is sort of the one biggest takeaway for communicators from this year's report?
Simon: Well, I'll answer the second question first, Chuck. Well, there are two big takeaways for me, and it's going back to one of the really early questions about the priorities and the challenges which internal communicators are facing. The number one challenge which communicators are facing is this issue with line manager training and the ability for line managers to be able to communicate effectively. And that's down to, as I was saying earlier, a lack of training, the lack of skills that those groups have, but so few of us are looking to fix that issue. It's way down on the table in terms of priority areas to fix. Two in three of us say it's an issue, but only one in three of us is going to do anything about it, which I think is really worrying.
The second big takeaway for me is the fact that, again going back to the challenges we are facing. The third main challenge we are facing is the lack of resources we have on our team, and I think that impacts everything down to the professionalism, the ability to be able to maintain strategy documents, and be able to ensure the maturing of our teams. It's our third biggest challenge, but you know what? It was the lowest priority area, so none of us are going to fix it. One in 10 of us are going to be looking to fix that as an area. We're not going to try to fight for more resources, and I think that's such a shame, because we're making such great strides in so many different areas, but we can only do that if we've got the team behind us to help us be effective. And we've got the skills and the resources to be able to respond to the business needs. They're my two big takeaways.
Answering your other part of that question as to how to get a hold of that report, we are free of charge. Anybody is very, very welcome to have a copy. You just need to go and visit our website, gatehouse.co.uk, and you'll be directed onto the State of the Sector page there. So that's the easiest way for you to get hold of a copy. Of course, any of your listeners will be very welcome to contact me directly, Chuck, and drop me an email. You can find my details on the website.
Chuck: That's fantastic. So again, thank you, Simon, for that, and I think it's a great review. Like I said for me, it's a must read. As soon as it comes out, I read it, I evaluate it, and begin sharing it because I want as many communicators to get their hands on it as possible.
What is a final piece of parting advice you want to share with our listeners? So we obviously have internal communicators who listen. We also have business owners and sales people. We have HR individuals that listen, but what's sort of a final piece of advice you think would sort of "rock their world", so to speak?
Simon: I'm not sure it's going to rock their world, but this is a piece of advice that Lee, my co-founder, and myself learned quite early on, when we first set up Gatehouse. And that piece of advice is "decide and do". So often, we spend a long time thinking about things and planning and planning, and just not doing anything. And it's really core to the DNA at Gatehouse that we decide, then we do, and stick by that decision. So decide and do, that's my advice.
Chuck: That's very American of you.
Simon: When we came up with it sitting in a bar in the JFK airport on our way back from those trips to the States having met some very inspirational people in New York.
Chuck: Decide and do, I like it.
Simon: And Lee and I were saying, "We need to be a bit more like some of our American colleagues." Decide and do.
Chuck: Well, Simon, I want to thank you again for being a guest on ICology. This has been great, obviously sharing the results from the State of the Sector, but also your insight and advice. ICology is a listening post for communicators. It's a place for them to hear stories from professionals like you, Simon, who can inspire them to be better communicators, because I think we can all be better communicators. Please follow ICology on Twitter @LearnIcology. We are 14 episodes in with many more to come, including an ICology website this year. It will be a place to go and listen to past episodes, but also much, much more. If internal communications is your passion, ICology is your podcast. Thanks for listening.


text: 003_mg_9934 Published January 27, 2017 at 588 × 392 Left to right: Former Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne, former Oklahoma quarterback J.C. Watts, former OU Coach Barry Switzer, 1978 Outland Trophy winner Greg Roberts of OU, 2016 Outland winner Cam Robinson of Alabama, 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska, 1971 Outland winner Larry Jacobson of Nebraska and Billy Sims, Oklahoma's 1978 Heisman winner, gather before the Outland Trophy Presentation Banquet on Jan. 11, 2017, in Omaha. Photo by C41 Photography. Advertisements


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Hey blog world... I've really enjoyed blogging...mainly because I think it is a great way to write what God is doing but also to read and learn more about other ministries. I've been so blessed in my life with a godly example...My Dad has been a personal witness for Jesus and is not ashamed of the gospel. He has been in ministry for around 30 years and has wisdom and passion that has not gone down with his age. I think about that a lot.
How does a person maintain their passion and desire for God?
I'm reminded of memories growing up being in the store and it would take longer to get out of the store because my dad would get to know people and find a way to bring up Jesus. I know...i know what you're thinking..."Well that is crazy, nobody wants to be confronted or talked too in the store about God!" or "That might offend them!" yeah...as a kid I thought that as well. But as I look and see the "trendiness" of churches and the focus upon convenience, perfect accomodations, pretty lights, etc. I am not sure people are truly hearing the gospel of Jesus. Sure, it is great to have nice stuff, but if there is not clear communication of the cross and repentance then people will go to hell. It is simple as that. When are we going to hear the cross?? What about brokenness and revival? I sure want God to move in this country. Lord help us.
I don't know...i'm just throwing ideas out there. The Jesus I see is not one that looks at how comfortable his life can be, but giving of Himself even sacrificing His life so that others can be saved! Are we reaching for more souls or reaching for bigger crowds?
Hmm...back to growing up. I just am so blessed to have seen my dad, brothers and mom desire to see people come to know Jesus. I just talked to my mom last night and their church is buying CD's explaining the gospel in a relevant way to pass out to the University in town. God continues to show me that it is simple...reach people with Jesus.
Now the method of evangelism must be always be changing and creative, but if the end result is just to have people show up to church, then we are filling our churches with lost people that do not know they are lost.
anyways, I am only 23, just have a bachelors degree...so I do not have it all figured out!!! But what I do know is that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That is what I want to be about. Reaching people for Jesus...
Any wisdom on this is appreciated?


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SOLVE Cleanup: Few Oddities, Cleanest Oregon Coast in Years
Published 09/20/2015 at 6:44 PM PDT - Updated 09/21/2015 at 1:14 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff
(Oregon Coast) – UPDATED: Thousands hit the beaches of Oregon today – as well as various rivers around the state – to help with the SOLVE Beach & Riverside Cleanup. Over 5,000 dedicated volunteers came out, collecting an estimated 55,000 pounds of trash and marine debris were collected from over 110 project sites including beaches, rivers, neighborhoods, parks, and natural areas throughout Oregon and the coast.
The oddities found this year were few and far between, and in fact SOLVE zone captains are reporting far less trash than usual.
This event was also part of the International Coastal Cleanup and National Public Lands Day. Among the other projects in conjunction with the Cleanup: invasive, non-native plants were cleared from nearly three acres of natural area.
The most common items found during the event were tiny bits of plastic, cigarette butts, fishing rope, glass bottles and plastic bottles. Some areas reported also finding some clothing and shoes left behind by visitors.
Interesting items found by volunteers included a large discarded barbecue at Seaside, a remote controlled airplane near Humbug Mountain State Park, and over 500 pounds of construction material in Yachats,
Overall, the unusual stuff was not that unusual nor big in numbers. No refrigerators or other large objects as are often found. In Rockaway Beach, two kitchen chairs were brought up. Seaside had a large number of liquor bottles, and one metal object a few feet long.
In the Newport area, a fair amount of homeless camp stuff was found, such as blankets and tarps.
In the Netarts area, zone captain John Andersen said what all the other beach captains were saying: there was sizably less garbage than usual. Some even said this was the least amount they had hauled off in a long time.
"I think Oregonians are just taking better care of their beaches," Andersen said.
Andersen said the spring cleanups yield more junk now, with storms apparently bringing in more stuff than visitors to the Oregon coast leave during the summer.
At the Nadaka Nature Park Cleanup in Gresham, neighbors joined together to remove invasive English Ivy and Himalayan blackberry from this beloved natural area. Dozens of students and community volunteers helped remove debris from the Applegate River in Jacksonville and learned about the impacts of littering. At Stub Stewart State Park, volunteers put on their hiking boots and scoured over 20 miles of trail, removing trash and giving back to their community.
The Beach & Riverside Cleanup began in 1984 as "The Plague of Plastics" after Oregonians, Judie Hansen and Eleanor Dye, were inspired to rid the state's beaches of litter. In the first year alone, volunteers removed 26 tons of trash. Three decades later, the event has expanded to include inland litter cleanups and watershed restoration projects across the state and has served as a cleanup model that has spread across the nation and throughout the world.
Today, the success of this event is due in large part to the dedicated coordinators and beach captains that step up to lead projects throughout the state. More Oregon coast below:
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Halloween Mud Bash - Slingin' Mud In MainePosted in Events on June 24, 2015
The Halloween Mud Bash is an October tradition at Barnyard All Terrain, which is located near Livermore, Maine. Saunter into the 120-acre facility during the Bash and you'll see scores of 4x4s of all sizes and modification levels intermingled with a number of people in costume.
What is Barnyard All Terrain? Well, it's a mud-oriented facility nestled in the rolling countryside of rural Maine and is surrounded by farmland and woods. As a matter of fact, the property used to be farm, hence the name. Barnyard materialized in 2007 due to the popularity of mud racing in the area. Barnyard All Terrain President Dave Lovewell says that racing used to be held in the farm's cornfield on Sunday afternoons. Incidentally, the farm has been in the Lovewell family since the late 1700s. Soon, the racing got so big that they decided to create a track. From there, things took off. Nowadays, Barnyard features a Hill 'n Hole track, single-lane high-speed track, two-lane deep-mud track, 5-foot-deep Bounty Hole, and more. In addition to the tracks, the facility has a large camping area, available food, 4x4 wash-down capabilities, and more. It's also laid out in such a way that spectators can see all the racing from one convenient location. Throughout the year, Barnyard hosts approximately four big events. For 2015, the list includes a Throttle King Qualifier, a 4th of July weekend event called Firecracker 4x4, a Trucks Gone Wild event, and of course the aforementioned Halloween Mud Bash. Dave is into it. "I love the sport. I love the people that participate in the sport," he says.
When we walked into Barnyard on the first day of the two-day Halloween Mud Bash, we were almost immediately complimented on our Halloween costume. That was interesting because we weren't in costume. Folks in Maine have a sense of humor. It must be the defense mechanism to handle the long winters. And speaking of long winters, mud racing ain't happening in the winter months, which is the direct opposite to, say, the Southeast, which spools up mud activities in the wintertime due to the cooler temperatures. It's during the long winter when folks in the extreme Northeast use their time wisely and get some serious wrenching done on their rigs. And for some, the length of winter gives them time to create some amazing custom rigs. During our time at the Halloween Mud Bash, one of things that we thought was cool was the wide variety of rigs. There were a number of daily drivers, but there was also a number of rockin' heavily modified rigs, including mega trucks. Yes, there are mega trucks in Maine. It's not just a Southeast thing.
If you're looking for a unique event that's populated by friendly people and scores of cool 4x4s, check out the Halloween Mud Bash or any of the events at Barnyard All Terrain. More info can be found at barnyardallterrain.com.
Saturday's deep mud racing seemed to be the most popular at the Halloween Mud Bash judging by the number of rigs. It consisted of seven classes of competition, and it was cool to see licensed, daily driver/trail rigs like this Land Cruiser slinging mud.
October in Maine can be a tad frosty, and it was exactly that at the Halloween Mud Bash. It was cold enough for morning frost, but the mud didn't freeze. A warming fire greeted racers at check-in.
Sean Poulin's rear-engine 496ci-powered rig was all fired up as it attempted to exit the Bounty Hole.
It was interesting to walk through the pits and check out the tech. The owner of this Ranger did what many mud-runners do and mounted the radiator in the bed of his truck to eliminate clogging.
Go-fast mud rigs were tearing it up during Saturday's deep mud racing.
If you like to pitch your 4x4 in mud, the Barnyard has you covered. If not, there's plenty of room in the spectator area to sit comfortably and watch other folks get their 4x4 muddy.
There were four classes of Hill 'n Hole racing on Sunday. This fast, popular, straight-line racing contained more jumps than mud.
Neal Gagne owns Top Notch Fabrication in Lewiston, Maine, and his '86 Chevy 1500-based rig sports a 505ci engine, Dr. Steves Transmssion Clinic-built TH400, SCS T-case, Detroit-locked high-pinion Dana 60 front axle, spooled 14-bolt rear axle, triangulated four-link suspension with FOA coilovers, hydraulic steering, and modified BKT 12.4x24 tires. The rig is seen here in action in the Hill 'n Hole competition.
Peter Gund's homegrown rig is named, well, Home Grown. It's packed with a 548ci V-8, TH400 transmission, NP205 T-case, 21⁄2-ton Rockwells, four-link suspension, Overtime CNC Performance shocks, and modified 14.9x24 BKT tires.


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Epoxy Coating
Definition - What does Epoxy Coating mean?
An epoxy coating is the use of epoxy compounds as coatings or paints. It is generally two parts, which are mixed prior to application and consist of an epoxy resin that is cross-linked with a coreactant or hardener.
Epoxy coatings are formulated based on the end product's performance requirements . When properly catalyzed and applied, epoxies produce a hard, chemical and solvent resistant finish. It is the specific selection and combination of the epoxy and hardener components that determine the final characteristics and suitability of the epoxy coating for a given environment.
Corrosionpedia explains Epoxy Coating
Epoxy coatings are created through the generation of a chemical reaction that uses an epoxide resin and polymine hardener. When these two chemicals are combined, the result is a process known as curing, which can take between several minutes to several hours and turns the liquid epoxy coating into an extremely strong and durable solid, often with strong mechanical properties, as well as resistance to high temperatures and chemicals. Because of these properties, these materials provide significant advantages over one-component coatings.
Epoxy coatings are formulated with optimum levels of a hardener for a given level of epoxy resin. The ratio differs from product to product. The use of an improper hardener may result in an undercatalyzed or overcatalyzed product. Many epoxy coatings require a specified induction time to fully compatibilize the epoxy resin and the hardener. Lower temperatures and/or high humidity generally require longer induction periods. Water-based primers require sufficient curing prior to top coating. Otherwise, discoloration, low gloss and possibly delamination result.
Epoxy coatings are popular because they provide a quick-drying, tough and protective coating. Unlike traditional heat cured powder coatings, epoxy coatings are quick and easy to apply, making them ideal for a number of applications. For example, they are typically used on concrete and steel to give resistance to water, alkali and acids. Metal cans and containers are often coated with epoxy to prevent rusting.
Epoxy resins are also used for floor application. Their low volatility and easy water clean up make them useful for factory cast iron, cast steel and cast aluminum applications, and reduces exposure and flammability issues associated with solvent borne coatings. They are usually used in industrial, automotive and marine applications. Furthermore, fusion bonded epoxy powder coatings are extensively used for corrosion protection of steel pipes and fittings used in the oil and gas industry, portable water transmission pipelines (steel) and reinforcing bars.


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Bar & Waiting Staff - The Canbury Arms, Kingston
- Recruiter
- Pearmain Pubs
- Location
- Kingston Upon Thames
- Salary
- Competitive hourly rate + excellent tips
- Posted
- 10 Sep 2019
- Closes
- 08 Oct 2019
- Sector
- Bar & Pub jobs, Bar and Floor Staff, Bar Staff, Restaurant, Catering & Hospitality jobs, Waiting Staff
Full & Part time Bar and Waiting Staff for the Canbury Arms, Kingston
We are looking for experienced bar and waiting staff (full or part time) to join our team at the Canbury Arms, Kingston. We have just completed a major refurbishment of this glorious pub and have just opened our door and are looking for lovely people with previous bar and waiting experience to join us. This is a permanent position and not suitable for summer holiday and short term work.
We offer:
- Competitive hourly rate + excellent tips
- Flexible shifts and hours
- 50% off peak discount on food throughout the company
- Free staff meals on shift
- Cycle to work scheme
- Contributory pension scheme
- Generous recommend a friend bonus scheme
- Career development, 1st class training and support to progress your career
- Opportunities to move between pubs
- Friendly and fun working environment
The ideal person will have a friendly, outgoing personality with excellent communication skills and enjoy delivering great service to our customers.
A minimum of 2 year hospitality experience is preferred and you must be available for a key shift over the weekends. Most importantly you will be confident in talking to our customers and enjoy working as part of a team in a busy food led environment.
The potential here is enormous, whether you are just looking to work a few hours a week behind a bar or waiting-on or would like to kick start your full-time career in hospitality management, we're sure you'll enjoy working with us. If this sounds like your kind of job, we'd really like to hear from you.
The Canbury Arms is our eighth pub, we are part of Pearmain Pubs, a small group of independently owned 'smart pubs' located in Surrey and Middlesex. Each of our pubs has been carefully chosen and sympathetically restored, with quality interiors and beautiful gardens, casual enough to be comfortable, smart enough to feel special.
Apply for Bar & Waiting Staff - The Canbury Arms, Kingston
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A poem sent to Rooki & Me/
Real Magic
by Pat Seger
A dog
there in the clouds,
can you see it?
a magnificent creature
larger than life.
Unable to discover
the earthly whereabouts
of that canine.
Maybe a miniature,
something more suited
to my experience as a caregiver.
A companion
chosen sight unseen
from words in black and white.
We would
travel the world together
sharing all manner of adventure.
Offering healing
in exchange for
hikes and sticks.
I said goodbye
as he was laid beneath rocks
close to his clouds.
Now there is Roo
outwardly defeated as I
when Orville found me.
It is my turn now
to have patience
to nurture.
Restoring our health
one step, one stick
at a time.
Towards a moment
when we are no longer broken
and dream again.


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Quilling Poppies and Daisies Flowers
There are almost 1000 shapes in this frame to make these flowers and leaves.
Teardrop shapes to make white daisies and marquises shapes to make poppies flower and leaves.
Each poppy flowers has almost 70-100 marquises shapes depending on the size of the flower.
To stick these assembled flowers and leaves to the hardboard i used Silicon rubber solution rather than normal fevicol.
Now here is my work, do comment how is it.
Take a closer view of poppy and daisy flowers.
Look at these beautiful white daisies.
Do comment :))


text: Steiner Ranch Community completed in June 2013 Ask A Question Print View all Austin Area Communities SIMILAR COMMUNITIES The following nearby communities are similar to Steiner Ranch Sq. Ft. Bedrooms Bathrooms Sign Up for Updates, Special Deals & Invites First Name * Last Name * E-mail address * Zip Code Why we need zip? To comply with real estate laws in some states, we require your Zip Code to determine your state of residency before we can respond to your request. * Catch * required information COMMUNITY INFORMATION Driving Directions Local Interests Photos FLOOR PLANS SCHOOLS About Steiner Ranch Known as the land between the lakes, this scenic community is located in the legendary Texas Hill Country just minutes from downtown Austin. Steiner Ranch features single family homes by the area's most reputable builders and amenities for every active lifestyle. Priced from the $200,000s to over four million. Driving Directions Local Interests Photos


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Official publication prepared jointly with Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the United States Naval Observatory's Nautical Almanac Office. Designed in consultation with other astronomers of many countries, it provides current, accurate astronomical data for use in the making and reduction of observations and for general purposes.
Other related products:
Almanacs and Navigation Guides products collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/almanacs-nav...
USACE Navigational Charts resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/almanacs-nav...
Other products produced by the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/927
Astronomers and other scientists would enjoy this publication.
Product Details
- Ephemeris
- Almanacs


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So this was the night. After having clipped out the recipe for "Emergency Spaghetti" from some now-forgotten magazine years ago — the recipe itself an excerpt from a cookbook called The Seducer's Cookbook published in 1963, according to the explanatory paragraph — after having taped it into a small, journal-type notebook that I had since moved cross country and all but forgotten about, and just rediscovered, I'm finally making Emergency Spaghetti.
…Only, with fettucine. Fresh, saffron pepper fettucine that sells for $3.99/lb at Agata & Valentina in the Upper East Side, also known as only $2.83 for more pasta than two people could possibly eat in one sitting, to be exact. (Who can say no to that?)
Paging through the notebook, I realized that I had every single ingredient — garlic, E.V.O.O., fresh parsley, white wine, salt/pepper, red pepper flakes — except for the base pasta, which was the perfect excuse to finally try one of the fresh made (and cheap!) pastas that I've been oggling at Agata & Valentina for months now.
Really high expectations never end well, and with the case of Emergency Spaghetti, which turned out okay. Scale of 1-10: 6. I realized that I have a lot to learn about cooking fresh pasta — the fettucine cooked faster, absorbed more water and was generally much more delicate than its boxed/dried cousins.
Still, a nice, if super simple, sautee of some of the other ingredients, all turned into the the pasta, with the addition of some fresh spinach, tomato and more olive oil — it's worth a repeat. Really simple. Just so glad to check that one off the list.


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There's more to St. Patrick's Day than watered down green beer! Set those Irish (or honorary Irish) eyes a' smiling on our array of eye-popping, green-hued recipes.
Kick up your heels for Ireland's annual celebration of the patron saint, Saint Patrick, this March 17th, but before you do, you may want to fuel up with some emerald and four-leaf clover inspired appetizers, dips, drinks, and desserts…
Mini pretzels get the lucky leprechaun treatment when they're dipped in fresh minty, Wilton Green Candy Melts, sparkled with candy confetti, and perched on lollipop sticks. Arrange your sweet treasures on wax paper with enough room between each pop so they don't touch and solidify together.
You can have a quiche any old day of the week, but this egg pie has a little bit of added luck thanks to a flaky 4-leaf clover design. You can either use a clover-shaped pan or make 4 teardrop shaped individual quiches and serve them together. Fill your buttery quiche crust with frozen spinach, fresh eggs, half-and-half cream, cream cheese, diced onion, and a mixture of grated gruyere, cheddar, and parmesan cheeses.
Irish eyes and tummies will be smiling at the sight of these gloriously shamrock topped fudge, chocolate mint brownies! Peppermint and chocolate combine for a taste reminiscent of those absolutely addicting Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies for a decadent fudge brownie topped with a mouth-watering layer of thick pepperminty buttercream frosting.
You might think that all cheese dips need to be heart-stoppingly filled with creamy cheese, but they don't. This healthier dip takes it's lucky gold hue from yellow heirloom tomatoes, and that's not all. This pot o' salsa is jam-packed with fresh chopped onion, lime, cilantro, yellow bell pepper, garlic, chives, and diced jalapeño pepper. For the shamrock chips, cut spinach tortillas into shamrocks using a cookie cutter. Brush with light oil and salt and bake for 5-minutes.
This bowl of luck tastes a lot like pistachio, and you know what? That's perfectly fine with this Irish lass. This simple, no churn required ice cream recipe calls for simple ingredients like condensed milk, whipping cream, pistachio flavoured pudding, and green food colouring. It makes a frosty, creamy green treat for celebrating St.Patrick's day or really any day. Don't forget to add crushed pistachio nuts and chocolate syrup or shavings.
No, put down that unsatisfying Mickey D's green shake and listen closely. Not only is this adult-version of the Shamrock Shake completely vegan-friendly…it's made using vanilla coconut milk ice cream and canned coconut milk…it also contains a wee bit o' peppermint schnapps! Really, you can add as much as you like for that frosty, windswept pepperminty flavor, it's a holiday after all. Blend the mixture until smooth and creamy and pour into a tall glass. Top with coconut whipped cream (yes, that's vegan too) decorative sprinkles, and a pair of green straws.
The smell of fresh-out-of-the-oven butter biscuits will have little leprechauns running for your kitchen, from far and wide. All it takes is a few cups of flour, shortening and buttermilk, baking powder and soda, a dash of salt, softened butter, and a few emerald-hued sprigs of parsley placed strategically in the center of each biscuit. They'll bake right in and, voila, look just like lucky shamrocks! Serve your batch of biscuits warm with a hearty Irish stew.


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The New Zealand Walks for Wimps series provides essential information about short, relatively easy hikes around New Zealand. Today's walk is the short and easy Greenpoint Reserve right near the bottom of the South Island. Click on the map markers and links on the right for more great easy NZ walks!
Nearest town: Bluff, about 5 minutes drive South
Type of track: there and back
Official distance: maybe 1km each way
Official time: 30 mins return
Jenny's time: a little over an hour
Toilets: nearest ones are in Bluff
Tips: This path crosses an active train track, so be careful! Go at low tide if you want to see the shipwrecks and lots of birds.
Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain Track
Knuckle Hill and Kaihoke Lakes
Punakaiki - Pororari River Loop
Routeburn Track and Key Summit
For me, the word 'shipwreck' tends to invite all kinds of dramatic visions – of exciting, raging storms and enormous waves, of castaways, deserted tropical islands, and romantic rescues by courageous strapping young sailors. You know, that sort of thing.
I'm sure anyone who's actually been in one doesn't feel this way about it, but to me shipwrecks are evocative; full of mystery and lost stories and potential treasure troves, not just of valuables but of information about the past.
I guess maybe this is the archaeologist in me. I love objects – imagining who used something, thinking about how and why and when and where and what their story was has always fascinated me. I never really enjoyed history class, where the focus was on the political and economic side of things – the 'who invaded who, and why' always bored me to tears – but I'll spend hours in a museum poring over all the myriad of fascinating things they have, many of which I've never seen in my 21st century life.
So when I heard about Greenpoint Reserve I was intrigued. There's a ship graveyard here, where numerous fishing and oyster boats as well as former tugs and passenger boats were driven onto the sand banks at high tide and left to rot. One of these boats even used to patrol the subantarctic waters south of New Zealand looking for seal poachers, newly wrecked ships, and castaways!
Some of the ships are still visible at low tide, and if it's low enough and you don't mind getting your feet a bit wet and mucky you could go right up to them and investigate. Either way, their rotting skeletons add an unusual twist to this short walk.
And as a bonus, at low tide there are plenty of wading birds here. I saw oystercatchers, a group of shags (cormorants) sitting on a rock, a heron or two, and a group of one of my favourite New Zealand birds, the royal spoonbill.
Greenpoint Reserve is a super easy, short walk, but you could spend a long time here looking at the birds and the shipwrecks, and with its views across Bluff Harbour it's a great place for a picnic!


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Brazil on top form in lead up to World League debut
Moscow, Russia, June 3, 2013 – In preparation for their 2013 World League debut, Brazil and Russia played each other in two friendly matches over the past weekend on the home courts of the Dynamo Moscow Club. Brazil won both matches, taking the first on Saturday with a score of 25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23 and the second, 25-20, 25-20, 19-25, 25-17.
On June 7, Brazil will
face home team Poland at the Torwar Hall in Warsaw in the first pool A match of
the season. Russia will also be gearing
up for its home match against Iran scheduled to take place in Kaliningrad the
same day.
In his assessment of the two matches in Moscow, Brazil's libero Mario Jr. said, "These friendlies are important preparation at the beginning of the World League. The games helped us a lot and I think the team will be ready for next week when we start the long walk that lies ahead."
His team-mate Dante was also pleased with the performance of the Brazilian team in the friendlies held this weekend. "The team is well prepared. The team is focused, well-structured and we are creating a game format with the new cycle that begins now. The two friendlies were very good for our team. We played against a selection that is heavy on serve and blocking. We won both games and we are now at full strength to begin the World League," said Dante.
Sunday's friendly match also provided an occasion to formally congratulate the winner of the "Share you story! Share your moments!" sweepstakes, carried out through the FIVB Heroes programme.
Liza Koloskova from Russia, submitted the winning essay which outlined her views on the question, "Which FIVB Hero did impress you the most and why?" Citing FIVB Hero from Germany, Laura Ludwig as her favourite player, Liza wrote, "She is the one who inspires me to work hard towards a successful future. Due to her and all the FIVB Heroes I hope to maybe win an Olympic gold medal myself someday."
At the end of
Sunday's match, Liza had the opportunity to meet FIVB President, Dr. Ary S.
Graça F° and other players.
Click here for more information on the 2013 World League
The 2013 World League schedule can be found here


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5 Big & Bold Easter Dessert Recipes!Save Recipe
Hi Bold Bakers!
Are you ready for Easter Sunday?
If you are looking for some Big & Bold Easter Dessert Recipes to make your Easter celebration even more special then you will love my Easter dessert ideas. Each one is cuter than the next.
Small Batch Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes are a must for Springtime. This recipe is from Ireland and it's the best I have ever made in my 13+ years as a professional baker. Also any dessert dressed up this cute can't be passed up. Get my Small Batch Carrot Cake Cupcakes recipe!
Small Batch Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
These Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes taste like a Brownie but they look like a Cake; it's the best of both worlds! You'll love their rich chocolatey flavor and how you can make them in small batches for any event. Get my Small Batch Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes recipe.
Chocolate Easter Eggs
Enjoy Homemade Chocolate Eggs filled with Cheesecake and another sweet surprise! They are way better than anything you can buy in the store, and although they look impressive, they could not be easier to create. This recipe is No-Bake and so easy for you to create such a lovely dessert for Easter or for any time. Get my Chocolate Easter Eggs recipe.
Baby Chick Vanilla Cupcakes
Spring must be the cutest season when it comes to baking! My point being there are many great things happening in Spring that you can replicate in a dessert and/or baked good. Case and point would be my adorable Baby Chick Vanilla Cupcakes! Get the Baby Chick Vanilla Cupcake recipe.
Chocolate Mousse Pots with Strawberry Carrots
This is a simple and amazing dessert for Easter featuring lovely, thick Chocolate Mousse. I'll show you how easy it is to make it BIG & BOLD into an impressive dessert for your Easter or any special event! Get my Chocolate Mousse Pots with Strawberry Carrots recipe.
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Hi Bold Bakers! I'm Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I'm passionate about sharing my years of experience to show you how to make game-changing baking recipes with over-the-top results! Join more than 1 Million other Bold Bakers in the community for new video recipes every week!
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Search over 1,000,000 properties worldwide and 550 airlines worldwide.
Search over a million flights, hotels, packages, and more
No Expedia cancellation fee to change or cancel almost any hotel reservation.
While it might be tempting to drive your rental car as fast as it will go up some of the steepest urban hills anywhere to see if it will bounce over the crest - la Steve McQueen - we would never advise driving recklessly. And, in any case, why wouldn't you want to drive slow and take in one of the most beautiful cities in North America? For a truly unforgettable experience, drive your rental car across the Golden Gate Bridge on your way to Point Reyes National Seashore for a break from the city hubbub. Whether you choose to pick up your rental car at the airport or from one of the many car rental companies in town, you will find some useful information below to help you get the right rental car for the right price. Expedia.com makes it easy for you to book your next San Francisco airport car rental. We work with the best San Francisco International car rental companies in the region, bringing you the best car rental rates and a wide variety of SFO car rental classes including economy, compact, midsize, full-size, convertible, van, luxury, full size SUV rentals. Our partner car companies offer different pick-up and drop-off options. If you are ready to book your car rental, follow the links on this page to view more information and details on your next San Francisco International, and SFO car hire.
Find the best car rental prices in San Francisco with Expedia. With last minute travel options, and a broad selection of top rental car agency partners, and you are sure to find the best car rental rates in the country.
Find additional SFO rental car pick up locations and enjoy the best car rental deals available anywhere. Find the most convenient SFO airport car rental locations when convenience and easy access are the name of the game!
From a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to a relaxing day spent touring the peninsula, there's much to see in "The City by the Bay." While San Francisco has excellent public transportation options, if you really want to see the city and the surrounding Bay Area on your own time, you'll need a San Francisco car rental to get around.
Exploring San Francisco
Steer your luxury rental car from Alamo along the Embarcadero to get a good look at the city's waterfront. Stop at the Ferry Building Marketplace for a meal or to do a little shopping, followed by visit to Fisherman's Wharf, located at the eastern tip of the city proper. You may end up spending hours at the wharf, which is home to numerous attractions and the Aquarium of the Bay. Also in the vicinity are the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, as well as Ghirardelli Square.
If you'd like to see other parts of the Bay Area, rent a car in San Francisco and then steer south along I-280 to the peninsula. Look into a fuel-friendly Hertz car rental to make the most of your Northern California vacation. Head west on Highway 92 to play on the beaches of Half Moon Bay, or keep going south to visit the Bay Area's horse country in Portola Valley. Alternatively, steer your San Francisco rental car about 50 miles north on I-80 to Napa, better known as Northern California's wine country. Explore the beautiful vineyards, do a little wine tasting, and stop for some window shopping at the Napa Premium Outlets.
Book with Expedia.com
Your trip to the Bay Area is one you'll remember forever. Make sure you can get around on your own time by reserving a cheap car rental in San Francisco from Expedia.com ahead of time. We provide the best prices on rental cars in San Francisco, as well as flights to San Francisco, ensuring you get to The City by the Bay on time and in style. If you still haven't worked out a place to stay, look through our plethora of San Francisco hotels. Whether you're looking for a quaint bed and breakfast or a ritzy four-star extravaganza, and Expedia.com will ensure you get the room you want at a price you can afford.