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The question is easy but the answer is a bit complicated. Having been associated with the recognition and incentives industry for over 25 years, I have seen paradigm shifts, economic downturns/upturns and human behavior studies which have impacted the type of awards companies have chosen to reward their employees over the years.

The idea – and the complaint – that safety and health departments operate out of organizational “silos” has been around for decades. You can trace it back to the creation of OSHA in 1971. Safety and health then became a compliance policing function in many companies. And many employers were angered at OSHA’s sudden intrusion into their operations. As a result, management put safety and health departments and personnel in a silo separated from mainstream business activity. For some employers angered at OSHA, the further distance between safety and the rest of the operations, the better. And so, in a number of business-case scenarios, began safety’s segregation – a cause of frustration, resentment and insecurity for many safety and health professionals that persists to this day.

A team co- sponsored by All Star Incentive Marketing and Rapscallion Brewing (The “Rapscallion Racers”) finished 29^th out of nearly 500 teams in the Cape Cod 192 mile Ragnar Relay held on May 8^th and 9^th.  The race began Friday afternoon at 12:45 PM at Nantasket beach in Hull Massachusetts for the All Star team and winded its way to Provincetown.  With 12 runners in two vans taking 3 legs each the team completed the relay in just over 25 hours.  Nighttime runs required safety vests and front and back lights.  There are approximately 15 Ragnar races across the country, each one with a local charity tie in.  The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, founded by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, was one of the charities that benefited this year.  Pictured here at the start of the race is Gary Galonek, one of the principals at All Star incentive Marketing and employees Tara Linton and Christine Sosik.  More at:

Finding the key to what motivates employees is something that every employer faces at one time or another.  Utilizing the framework of an existing wellness program or deciding to launch a new one as part of your motivational toolbox – is worth serious consideration.  What many research studies on wellness programs have told us thus far is that employees are more productive and motivated when they know that their employer is invested in their total quality of life (not just what happens inside the office).

National High Five Day was started in 2002 at the University of Virginia. A group of students set up shop on the main quad of the campus and gave out high-fives and lemonade.

The irony was not lost on Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.  Less than 4 years after a tornado damaged a significant portion of downtown Springfield as it ripped through Massachusetts, this recently licensed $800 million dollar resort casino project will “rise like a Phoenix from the ashes” to become the largest private development project in the City’s history.  Tuesday March 24^thsaw a host of local and state officials, MGM executives, community leaders and well-wishers gather for the groundbreaking ceremony of this landmark development.   The project is slated to be completed in 2017, and will give a desperately needed economic shot in the arm to Springfield and Western MA in general with the prospects of 3,000+ jobs once the construction stops and the ribbon is cut.  MGM president Jim Murren, one of 6 who took to the podium this morning, was glowing in his praise for Mayer Sarno and all those involved in bringing this to fruition, and looks forward to the day when Springfield and its existing attractions such as the National Basketball Hall of Fame and Mass Mutual Center are all benefiting from increased traffic that the casino will bring.  Everyone was invited to place a wish in the wishing well to be buried on the site, and Jim Murren shared his wish that he hoped he could “deliver on all of the promises” he and MGM made during the process.