Merchandise Monday: A Nightmare on 34th Street

Colorful leaves are scattered all over the ground, the sky is gray and there’s a chill in the air. That can only mean one thing: it’s time for Hinda’s annual round-up of Halloween(ish) merchandise! The only nightmare here is the thought of having to pick which of these items is the best – they’re all so great! Treat yourself to a few of these and have a happy and spooky Halloween!

Acu-Rite® Digital Weather Station with Forecast/Temperature/Clock/Moon Phase

Plan your trick-or-treating with confidence using this handy tool! Keep track of moon phases, weather forecast, temperature and more with the wireless weather station. Using patented Self-Calibrating Technology, the weather station provides your personal forecast of 12- to 24-hour weather conditions generated from a wireless sensor in your backyard, giving you the most accurate weather forecast available for your exact location. 

Eureka® Lady Bug Girls 30-degree Sleeping Bag

No creepy-crawlies here! She’ll be snug as a bug in a rug this fall when she cozies up in the Lady Bug sleeping bag! It’s constructed of a durable polyester taffeta shell and liner with a Number 5 non-locking self-repairing zipper. It features a double layer off-set multi needle quilt construction and is rated for a temperature of 30-degrees F. Includes a stuff sack. 

LEGO® Duplo® Super Heroes Batcave Adventure

Everyone’s favorite superhero, Batman™, is always ready for Halloween! Enter the Batcave and get ready for some exciting adventures! Park the Batwing and get to work with all of the amazing Batman gadgets, but watch out – Catwoman is sneaking about! Kids will develop creativity and building skills with this iconic, easy-to-build set featuring lots of extra bricks for extended play.

Namco Bandai Games Pac-Man™ and The Ghostly Adventures for PS3® and Xbox® 360

Pac is back in an all-new experience for a whole new generation of fans. The story begins as the menacing ghosts escape from the creepy Netherworld to invade PacWorld. These frightening ghosts cause nothing but trouble wherever they go! Pac and his two best friends, Spiral and Cylindria, rise to the challenge of protecting their home in a big, bustling, bonkers world of action, adventure and just plain wackiness! 

Razor® Jr. Monster Kix™ Scooter

Turn your little tyke into a little monster with the spook-tacular new Razor® Jr. Monster Kix™. The extra wide deck and 3-wheel frame help young riders stay on their feet as they build coordination and balance, while the detailed hand grips kick start young imaginations for some monster role play! 

Razor® Jr. Zombie Kix™ Scooter

Get ready for an outbreak of infectious fun and laughter with the all-new Razor® Jr. Zombie Kix™. Designed for little monsters still building their coordination and balance, this awesomely spooky ride lets kids play the starring role in their very own park or playground zombie invasion. But beware – this scary scooter is tons of fun long after Halloween is over!

Merchandise Monday: Great Gifts!

There are only 23 shopping days left this holiday season, but before you start stressing, Hinda is here to help you cross a few gifts off your list – and add a couple finishing touches to your own wish list, as well! We’ve added quite a few new items this month – as we do every month – that would make great gifts for anyone on your list!

adidas® Stretch Climaproof Wind Men's Jacket

Stay warm and dry all season long! The Stretch Climaproof Men's Wind Jacket features a self-mock with contrast zipper welt, front and back yoke and front panel for shaping, side panels for shaping and contrast adidas brandmark on back neck. It’s made of 95 percent polyester / 5 percent elastane with hydrophilic finish.

Apple® 13” MacBook Pro with Retina Display 2.4GHz, 4GB

Get ready for the Mac experience you’ve been waiting for – released just in time for the holidays! When you pack over 4 million pixels into a display the results are positively stunning – your eyes can’t discern individual pixels. A spectacular 2560x1600 resolution lets you see more of your high-resolution images and text is so sharp, you’ll feel like you’re reading a printed page!

Calvin Klein, Coach®, Gucci Assorted Fragrances

Don’t feel “Guilty” for keeping these fine fragrances for yourself! The Calvin Klein Women’s Mini Set includes .5-ounces each of Eternity, Euphoria, Obsession and Eternity Aqua. Also recently added to Hinda’s fragrance assortment are the Coach Signature Women’s 1.7-ounce and Gucci Guilty 1.6-ounce for men and women.   

Gran Turismo 6, Mario Party: Island Tour and Pac-Man™ and the Ghostly Adventures

Stock up on classic games for the holidays! Hinda just added the latest installation of Gran Turismo for PS3®, the hot new Mario Party release for 3DS™ and a remake of the video game favorite, Pac-Man, for  3DS, Xbox® 360 and PS3. Surprise the gamer in your life with one of these great titles!

Polar® Loop

The Loop from Polar® accurately tracks and distinguishes between activities such as gentle walking and running. It's the first waterproof activity tracker that can be worn during swimming. The Loop sends friendly messages through the user’s phone when he or she has been sitting for too long and offers the option of adding heart rate monitoring to workouts, providing a complete view of daily activity.

TaylorMade® SLDR Fairway Wood

The PGA Golf Show next month means new clubs are out now – including this new addition from TaylorMade! The new cut-through Speed Pocket flexes with more efficiency – a design that promotes increased ball speed, lower spin and allows further-forward CG. Features Fujikura Speeder 77 graphite shaft and FCT Lite Grip .600.

Could You Gamify the Workplace?

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Not too terribly long ago I ran across this article from Fast Company about how video games are infiltrating every aspect of our lives. The article covers everything from wellness to education. What really caught my eye was the way some corporations are using video game elements into their employee's everyday lives.

Most of the examples come from technology companies. The article first talks about IBM employees. When they have conferences, instead of spending a lot of money on travel and hotels, each employee has a virtual avatar that represents them in an online conference. The employees use these characters (that are slowly being able to look very similar to the employee) as methods of engagement with other employees across different offices...and continents. This video-game like environment helps make these events more engaging while cutting overall costs simultaneously. 

A second example came from Sun Microsystems. The company has actually developed video games as part of their employee training. Using titles like Dawn of the Shadow Specters and  Rise of the Shadow Specters, employees engage in a fictional world whose inhabitants reflect the same values as the company. Not only does this make training more engaging, it communicates company values in a fun way.

Not every company will have the resources like the two named tech giants to create a corporate video games. Very few do. Even still, there is a takeaway for everyone.

You don't have to have video game developers at your fingertips to make everyday work more engaging. Using the same basic game mechanics used in video games, there are ways to make work more engaging and fun. Using the same sort of points-style system games do, rewarding points is one way to start.

"Level Up" Your Engagement

Even "leveling up" could be applied to a company recognition program. There is a big emphasis on "badges" when it comes to loyalty programs and location-based services. The same concept could be applied inside the office. For reaching certain milestones, point-wise or some other clearly communicated metric, an employee could earn some sort of badge or "level-up" style of recognition. Zappos uses this concept inside their offices using license plates. A rookie Zappos employee is presented with a paper copy of a license plate with their name on it. After their tenure continues and they mature in the company, they eventually get normal metal license plates. From there on out, the employee receives stickers for however many years they've been there.

The above Zappos example is used in a "Years of Service" program but the concept could be applied in other styles of programs. There's a lot we could all learn from simple game mechanics.

What do you all think? Will work eventually be gamified?