15 New Year's Resolutions as Suggested by Amplivox

This post lists some of Amplivox Sound Systems resolutions for the New Year. Fifteen is a lot, hopefully we can keep most of them!

1. Continue giving back (Click here to see blogs labeled "Amplivox Cares")

2. Keep up on World Events (The Tale of the Chilean Miners and a Brilliant Marketing Move, Earthquake Preparation Drill: US ShakeOut)

3. Keep Learning things new about what I do. To do this I will find great blogs and books to read and good people to learn from. Also going to trade shows (like the Grainger Total MRO Solutions Trade Show) to keep up to date with new products and technologies.

4. Work on Weaknesses, Strengthen Strengths. Doing this well will help you increase productivity. Amplivox strives to continue to produce and develop new innovative digital audio products and integrate new technologies into our lecterns, podiums, and wide range of portable PA systems.

5. Be more prepared for the unexpected. (Using Portable Sound Systems in Emergency Planning)

6. Avoid pitfalls and potential dangers in my industry and try to avoid them: Technology making old people irrelevant, Top 10 Ways to Fry your PA Speakers,

7. Strive to Achieve maximum customer satisfaction by listening and responding in a timely manner.

8. Journal what happens in life. It can be fun to look back and reminisce things you normally would have forgotten if you hadn't written down. It is also a good place to vent and clear you mind.

9. Exercise more/Play more sports. Maybe do a Triathlon (click on the link to read about Amplivox Sound Systems supporting Ironman Triathlons, Amplivox Sound Systems suggested for Sports/Recreation Market)

10. Stay up to date in Politics. With big changes in health care coming our way the next few years, it is important to stay informed with political happenings. (Click on the politician's name to see how they have supported Amplivox: Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Bob Dold, Mark Kirk)

11. Manage stress well -- Check back to our blog to see tips to live stress free.

12. Be more Environmentally Friendly (Click here to read 7 Tips for Going Green, Amplivox Going Green Efforts)

13. Become a better public speaker. A great way to build confidence in the public speaking arena is to join a local Toastmasters.

14. Be more positive -- "I'd rather be positive about everything and always wrong than be negative about everything and always be right."

15. Follow 1-14! Most resolutions do not get kept. Only 61% last a month, and only 46% after the six month mark.

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Leave a comment!

AmpliVox Vision

Here at AmpliVox we continue to strive for excellence, whether it be through our customer service or quality products. Here is a quick quote from AmpliVox CEO Don Roth:

“Amplivox wants to continue to develop new products, digital audio products, and digital integrated systems. In addition to a controller systems for training and educational environments, we want to fulfill a variety of presentation needs. Amplivox has grown dramatically in the last 3 years, even in the midst of an economic depression. We have been successful and I attribute that to strong belief in customer service support and precise sales applications, a belief that we will meet every challenge of new products, systems, people and environments.”

Amplivox has launched over 25 new products and systems over the last few years. We will continue to develop quality products and provide excellent customer support.

Interesting Links:
Top 10 Reasons Amplivox Beats the Competition
What's New from Amplivox
Amplivox Launches Website made Exclusively for Resellers
Amplified Classrooms
Amplivox Goes Green

7 Easy Tips for Living Green

Green living is about finding a lifestyle which causes no permanent damage to the planet. It's about living in harmony and balance with other living inhabitants of our world. Going green these days may be easier and less expensive than one might think. There are many ways to “live green” but here are some easy and inexpensive tips you might find useful:

- Recycle: The old standard still works. This is a painless and easy way to help the planet. A glass bottle, for example, is said to take 4,000 years to decompose and blend back into the environment. By recycling we eliminate this process completely.

- Use your Dishwasher: Surprisingly, research has shown that using your dishwasher instead of washing your dishes by hand saves energy. A dishwasher uses less water than you would if you washed everything by hand. You should stay away from pre-washing your dishes in the sink, set your dishwasher on the lowest heat level, and avoid using the rinse function and automatic air dry. It may take a little longer to dry but costs you nothing and saves energy.

- Shut Down and Unplug Electronics: Turn off your computer when it’s not in use and use power strips for phones and other electronics so you can turn them all off easily. Making small changes like these in your life will reduce your energy bill.

- Tree-Free Home: Eliminate unwanted trash and save money by investing in cloth napkins. Replace paper towels with cloth towels or napkins, read books, magazines and newspaper from your local library, and reuse paper products where ever possible.

- Buy Only What You Need: Avoid unnecessary waste by purchasing only what you know you’ll use.

- Buy “Green”: Focus on buying appliances that focus on saving energy. Also if possible choose a utility company dedicated to renewable energy. Amplivox Sound Systems  does a great job producing environmentally friendly solid wood lecterns as well as portable sound systems. Click here to see the video on our Environmentally Friendly Packaging Peanuts. Our signature Pinnacle Podium is made from recycled plastics as well.

- Avoid Commercial Cleaning Products: Statistics show that we dump approximately 32 million pounds of harmful toxins down the drain every year. Can you imagine what kind of damage this is doing to the environment? Believe it or not, you can make your own cleaning solution from a mixture of vinegar, salt and baking soda. It is easily absorbed into the environment and it will save you money on all those expensive household cleaners.



A Great Example of Going Green:
ISRAEL: Still reeling from the devastating forest fire that recently ravaged northern Israel, the country is gearing up for Christmas celebrations by showcasing a tree made from recycled bottles. The eco-friendly display in the port city of Haifa was built with 5,480 recycled water bottles donated by locals.


What did we miss? What do you do to help the environment?

Related Links:
YouTube Channel: AmpliVox Sound Systems 
Amplivox Goes Green
Will it Float? AmpliVox Lectern Edition
Amplivox Environmental Efforts
Forbes.com Covers Amplivox Going Green
Amplivox Reintroduces the Greener Pinnacle Multimedia Lectern

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Important Life Lessons: How to Treat your Customers Right

Customer service has always been the cornerstone of any reliable business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in new customers, but if the customers don’t return, your business will not be
profitable for long.

Amplivox Sound Systems CEO Don Roth has this to say:
“Customers are our partners. Just as suppliers are partners, you can’t have a business without satisfied customers. We treat them first class. The value of a customer determines the level of performance of a business. I have always felt from day one that we should focus on integrating marketing, general management, meeting customer needs, understanding their attitudes and goals and how they use products together. We will continue to build products and systems that meet needs.”

Here at Amplivox we try to give customers the best experience we possibly can. Customers can take advantage of one or all of our services. When you call 1-800-267-5486 you will speak to a customer service representative not a recording. Our website also offers live chat and ask a question features, that allow you to get quick responses to questions or concerns you might have.

AmpliVox is proud to support the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. We recently donated one of our pink podiums in support of the fight against breast cancer to the U.S. army in Iraq.

Customer Service Tips:

• Know who is boss
• Be a good listener
• Identify and anticipate needs
• Make customers feel important and appreciated
• Help customers understand your systems
• Appreciate the power of “yes”
• Know how to apologize
• Give more than expected
• Get regular feedback
• Treat employees well

For a more in depth explanation please visit The Ten Commandments of Great Customer Service

Interesting Links:
The Pink Podium Plays Golf
Famous People Having Trouble In Front Of Microphones
A Peak Inside the Amplivox Time Capsule
Potpourri Post

Important Life Lessons: The AmpliVox Business Philosophy

“Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.” - Niccolo Machiavelli.

To be successful in business and life it’s important to know what can limit you or get in your way of reaching your full potential.

Our CEO Don Roth shares his business expertise and personal life experiences:

“To be successful, you need to be a passionate zealot in what you do. You need to believe fervently in what you do to be successful. Business can’t be done half heartedly, it must be done full out. You need to be prepared. You need to prepare yourself just like athletes do: make sure you have great position, be in great shape, and know the game. The same goes into business.

I spend a lot of time analyzing what I need to do to get better and see how we can improve our team and relationships. There is nothing you can’t do. You will find a way to accomplish your goals. You need to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, you can push yourself to do more than you thought. An example is putting a limit on the number of pushups you can do. If you set the bar at 50 and stop when you get there, you may never know that you can do 100...Business is like a team, the better your team works together, the better the performance will be.”

At Amplivox Sound Systems, we try not to limit ourselves in selling our portable sound systems and sound lecterns. We constantly look for ways to improve ourselves and implement innovative ideas on how to get things done. One way we have done this is through customer service: we now offer Live Chat Customer Service and make sure when you call our 800 number you talk to a real live person.

If you have any questions or wish to contact us, please call (800) 267-5489 or send us a message.

Do you have the Winter Blues? Blog on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Dark gloomy weather slows down the brain. Dreary, dismal days without the sun may do more than dampen our spirits. They might just impact the cognitive skills of those who battle depression. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), more commonly known as winter depression, affects as much as 9.7% (in New Hampshire) to as little as 1.4% (in Florida).

Here are a couple symptoms you may be experiencing and possible treatments.

Symptoms of SAD may consist of:

• Difficulty waking up in the morning
• Tendency to oversleep as well as overeat
• Lack of energy
• Difficulty completing tasks
• Withdrawal from friends, family, and social events
• Morning sickness.

If you are experiencing some of these symptoms there are many different treatments for winter-based SAD:

• Including light therapy
• Medication
• Ionized-air administration
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy
• The hormone melatonin.

Interesting Facts: In many species, activity is diminished during winter months. Food was scarce during most of human prehistory and it is argued that SAD is an evolved adaptation of a hibernation response in some remote ancestor.

Higher latitudes seem to have a direct relation to cases of SAD. While Florida only experiences about 1.4%, the northern states such as Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and the New England states surpass 9%. Countries such as Finland and other Nordic countries have an estimated 10% or more of their population affected by SAD.

Teacher Feedback on Amplified Classrooms

Recently you many remember seeing our blog post about the benefits of a classroom amplified with a sound system. I started a discussion on Classroom 2.0 (a discussion board for educators) and thought the following quotes were worth sharing:

• Robert said, "Most of the classrooms at my school have them. Most of the teachers prefer them. They usually have 2 mics one for teacher and one to share for students..."
• Joanne said, "We used this in our classroom and the results were amazing. The students behaved better and we were able to directly pinpoint it to the use of the mic/speaker. Cost is definitely an issue, just like anything else. Classrooms with students with special needs are able to get the resources more than a classroom with out students with special needs, but where there is a will there is a way."
• Mitch said, "I have used sound systems for over 30 years. There is actually much greater opportunity to modulate your voice with a sound system than when you are trying to make sure the person in the last row can hear you. Have your teachers (and students) observe comedians, newscasters, and Discovery Channel narrators. With just a little thought and practice, an amplified voice can add a whole new dimension to a presentation."

Recommended Products for Classrooms:

• Roving Rostrum Portable Podium/Sound Lectern
• Compac Infrared PA Audio System
• iPod Portable Sound System
• Digital Audio Travel Partner

Here's our video on the benefits of an amplified classroom if you missed it:

The nice thing about an Amplivox Portable Sound System is that it can be used for a variety of purposes. Some classroom systems are stuck in the classroom permanently: Amplivox systems are portable systems that can be battery-operated and used in a variety of school events: recreation (physical education and sports), school assemblies, teacher meetings, ESL classrooms, and any other setting where you want your voice to be heard loud and clear.

For more information, please visit our website or call us at (800)267-5486.

Related Posts:

-Portable sound systems and lecterns recommended for schools and universities

-How Amplified Speaker Systems in Classrooms Benefit Everyone

-Amplified Classrooms: Proven to Help Education and Loved by Teachers

-School Listening center boom box//Cassette Player and Recorder

Dealer Spotlight: Kiefer Auction Supply

We here at Amplivox Sound Systems sell our quality sound systems and lecterns direct to the consumer and also through many resellers and dealers.

One of our dealers is Kiefer Auction Supply, out of Fergus Falls, MN. Here are some videos they made featuring Amplivox products, specifically the Half-Mile Hailer, the Belt-Blaster Personal PA System, and the Audio Portable Buddy Personal PA System. Thanks for the mention!

Amplivox Congratulates the 2010 Stanley Cup Winning Chicago Blackhawks

At the beginning of this summer, the Chicago Blackhawks NHL team won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961!

The picture to the left is several Amplivox employees celebrating the Blackhawks' historic win in style.

If you didn't know, Amplivox Sound Systems is located in Northbrook, IL, about 30 minutes due north of the city of Chicago.

Below are a couple of pictures showing other ways Chicago celebrated their team:
















Click on the following link to see recommended Professional PA Sound Systems for Sports fans and Recreation Officials.