Where Minds Meet

In the past year, we here at Cymax Stores have been undergoing renovations due to our increasing need for office space as we continue to grow. Gathering around the conference table for a meeting for the first time since the boardroom reopened its doors, we all admired the new conference table and office chairs. It turns out, while the chairs are indeed new, the conference table was not; where it once had been two-toned it now had been stained a rich black. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. It literally had breathed new life into the boardroom.

I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, the conference table is not only a place to hold a meeting; it is the focal point of the room. It’s the first thing people notice when walking in and sitting down. The image the conference table projects could further your company’s image and play a positive role in advancing your business’ success. It might be tempting to think that buying a large flashy conference table with matching trendy, yet comfortable office chairs will do the trick. However, if you want to make a good first impression on prospective clients or employees, the boardroom or conference room should look professional yet inviting.

The distinctive character and ambience of your boardroom will largely be determined by the shape of conference table. The most common shapes for conference tables are rectangular, boat-shaped and racetrack. For a classic look that will never go out of style, choose a rectangular conference table. On the other hand, the boat-shaped conference table has a sleek, contemporary vibe. If your meeting room or boardroom is smaller-sized, round, square or octagonal conference tables are good alternative choices. Regardless of the shape of the conference table, you don’t want one that is too large or too small for the space. The conference table should proportionately fill the center of the room and look balanced.

The base of the conference table also contributes to its overall look and feel, while giving it strength and stability. When selecting the type of base for your conference table, the following criteria should be met: it complements the effect you want to achieve, it is strong and durable and it is stable. Popular types of bases for conference tables are the curved plinth base, the H-shaped base and the slab base. Many kinds of conference tables also have traditional legs that lend the table a relaxed, modern appeal.

The style you choose for your conference table makes a bold statement about your business. Traditional conference tables are characterized by medium to dark finishes and architectural detailing such as decorative molding and carved legs. Contemporary style conference tables are known for its use of sleek lines and geometric shapes and can have eye-catching two-tone finishes.

First impressions are important. The type of conference table you choose for your boardroom will help your company project a positive and confident image that is so important in today’s market. You will find everything you need to create the ideal boardroom, from conference tables to office chairs, at More Conference Tables.

When the Puck Drops

So it's the end of August and with it sooner than later, the end of summer as well. No more barbeques on the patio, no more dates on the beach, and no more driving with the top down. Yes, around this time I always seem to have a certain feeling of sadness to befall me. I don’t know what it is specifically, but the sun always seems to have a cheery, happy-go-lucky effect on me. And when I wake up only to see and hear the rain (as it constantly does where I live), a depression-like mode seems to kick in. However, I remind myself that it aint all bad; after all, with the start of a new fall season brings about the one constant love that lasts with me for the next 8 months: NHL HOCKEY!!!

I understand the regular season of the greatest sport known to man (at least in my opinion) doesn’t start until October, but I can't help but get excited about the prospect of a new season and a new hope that my favourite team (the Vancouver Canucks) might finally win Lord Stanley's Cup! But the NHL season isn't quite complete with one important component: the hockey pool!

Since the NHL lockout a few years back, I've been involved in at least 3 or 4 hockey pools, but still have yet to win one. I'm not sure why that is exactly. I'm quite familiar with the rules of the game, what teams are playoffs contenders, and which players are going to 'rack em up'. I even play a fair amount of hockey as well; and although I'm no Alex Ovechkin (who'd be my first overall pick if I had the chance) I'm decent enough to show people I'm not a hockey newbie.

So why can't I win these hockey pools? I have the knowledge of the game and know how to play. Having said that, I should be a lock for at least 2^nd prize, which is usually a small cut of total pot. But alas, in the last 4 years, all I've seen is the basement of the pool and the ridicule of my friends for some of the questionable picks I've made in the past (ie – P.J. Axelson of the Boston Bruins….until this day, I still wonder what made me pick him, but what's done is done, and that pick was made at least a couple years back, meaning it's time to forget about past mistakes).

But this year I think I've found my secret weapon. And no, I'm not talking about sleeper picks (although I do have a couple up my sleeve this year, who I won't mention here). Rather Cymax Stores shall be the X-Factor that'll bring me glory. This year I think I'll be holding the draft at my place and I have the perfect idea to start making smart and intelligent picks: MoreConferenceTables.com. Here I can finally get me and my friends a nice, comfortable and organized place for our draft. No more yelling across the room for us! However, if they want the casual and often soothing ambiance of a living room, then I'm going to need some fine and dandy sofas, coffee tables, and possibly some bean bags to fully accommodate my guests, all of whom I'll be laughing at come the NHL Playoffs in late April and when they fork over the dough.

Yes, summer may soon be coming to a close. But as long as there's hockey, then I say let the rain fall down. Especially since this year I feel it in my blood that I'm destined to win my hockey pools, and my beloved Canucks will win the Stanley Cup. GO CANUCKS GO! Roberto Luongo for the win!!!!

Ruining it

All of us, at one time or another find ourselves being wowed by amazing feats, often on television, that seem to suggest their being almost beyond the scope of conceivable human ability. Almost. From vintage black-and-white Houdini footage to Criss Angel’s Mindfreak, a considerable number of people watch death-defying acts with a belief that these stunts are in fact real, legit and a testament to the trained skill of the performer.

I was one such a person until the age of 12 approximately. Around that time, an older boy that moved to our street was something of an amateur magic buff. As I became aware of his hobby, I wanted to pick his brain a little bit about just how they did it. I didn’t harbor the slightest doubt about the legitimacy of the many spectacles I’d seen over the years, save one; the bullet catch – and it was my curiosity as to just how on earth that was possible that lead to the mystique magic had for me suffering a lethal blow.

Vince, if I remember his name correctly, was eager to explain what he knew of the trick. I don’t remember much besides the wax bullet that breaks the pane of glass and dissolves, but he knew it inside and out and proceeded to debunk the mystery of every trick any of the younger kids would ask of. I wasn’t so disappointed; in fact I was infinitely (and pathetically in retrospect) more crushed when I found out pro wrestling was fake, but nonetheless it had “ruined it” for me as far as the awe with which I would watch the acts transpire from that point forward.

No one would argue that traveling cross-continent in a reinforced cardboard box would hold a candle to escaping from a mass of locked chains being dragged to the seafloor by 55 kg of dead weights. For an animate being to escape without permanent damage from the former wouldn’t be overly impressive. For an inanimate object, like any one of the thousands of home and office products available online at Cymax Stores, it’s an inherently much more risky proposition.

Accordingly, there’s no illusion of slight-of-hand in Cymax’s offering to provide a replacement product if damage, shortage or mis-shipment of any of it’s products sold to the consumer are signed for. It’s yet another example of Cymax’s commitment to quality and continued customer service, and their promise to you that they won’t disappear in a puff of smoke if your purchase does not arrive in a manner suitable to you, their valued customer.

Should your Avenue Six Mainstreet Coffee Table be irreparably gouged, you’ll receive exactly the same product in the same finish at no extra charge. The same is true if the box contains nothing more than a rabbit, top hat and cane. If one of the glass shelves of your Pulaski Accent Curio arrive cracked, you are assured of receiving a replacement shelf as soon a possible. If we could conjure it on your doorstep, believe me, we would.

Perhaps a number of Office Star Conference Tables you ordered for your Denver Office arrive with “Broncos Suck” spray painted across them and are good for nothing more than firewood. While you can’t take issue with their understanding of the AFC West, those heartless vandals have struck in vain as each one will be replaced as quickly as LaDainian Tomlinson will streak into the end zone each time the Chargers enter the red this season. No magic there – just pure talent!

In conclusion, the heights and esteem to which we hold both individuals and their deeds can, in fact, be ruined by the light of logic and inspection. Your purchase from www.cymax.com is quite another matter altogether, as no matter what fate befalls it during shipping, there’s no way your online shopping experience can be ruined when you’re shopping with Cymax.

Bored of your Boardroom? Spice it up with Office Furniture

Bored of boardroom meetings that seem to go on and on? The scene usually looks like this: The donuts and weak coffee dwindle slowly while the guest presenter repeats the same ideas as the last guy, only in about fifteen different ways. You can feel you neighbor’s breath on you because there is not enough room for everyone at the table and the presenter keeps fumbling to keep their papers from falling off the make-shift desk that’s been impractically placed in the far corner of the room. To top everything off, the projector buzzes too loudly for anyone to concentrate and the only thing that is truly keeping everyone from nodding off is their utter discomfort in the circa-1980’s office chairs. If any of this sounds familiar, your office boardroom definitely needs some sprucing up.

The best place to find good, quality boardroom tables and office chairs is at Cymax, where online shopping makes your furnishing job easy, so you can concentrate on the job that you are actually employed to do. At Cymax, you will also be able to find high quality projectors which will eliminate fuzzy pictures and the need for everyone to squint to see them. As well as projector mounts, so that you won’t have to rely on stacking the perfect amount of books underneath your old projector. Try treating your presenters with a lectern, complete with a large reading surface, a shelf, and caster wheels so that nobody has to shuffle around.

At Cymax, find a conference table that everyone will enjoy sitting at, perhaps one with a wide presentation top, a slab base and optional electronics modules. Choose from a large variety of top colors, base colors, edge colors – you can even feature three colors on one table. You can also have the option of where you would like the power and communication modules placed, so that there will not be any loose or disorderly cords hanging about the table.

Embellish your coworkers to office chairs that are comfortable, ones that nobody will complain about, no matter how long the meeting is. Adjustable ergonomic office chairs on caster wheels are perfect for boardrooms. Your staff may fall asleep, saddled in comfort, but at least they will not fidget around and get on everyone else’s nerves. If you have surprise guests or just not enough office chairs, stock up on stacking chairs that can be stored as easily as they can be brought out.

The weak coffee problem – and the side-effect of sleepy colleagues – can be rectified by a fashionable coffee maker a generous 1.5 liter capacity, pumping out enough coffee to keep the entire room buzzing with tons of constructive ideas and plenty of caffeine.

At Cymax, find lighting, hutches, storage cabinets, computer armoires, bookcases, and other office furniture to make your office as comfy as you can. You spend most of your days at work, after all, so make it as relaxing as possible for all employees and office guests. At Cymax, we also know how busy your days can be, so we make it easier for you to get what you need with online shopping that can be delivered right to your office. It’s just a day’s work for us.

Furniture Bribery and the Toppling of Nepotism

The maxim of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” has never been more true in the spectrum of career and job searching as it is today, and projects to be even more painfully relevant in the future. I have no problem with the cut-throat nature of business, just as long as I have as equal an opportunity for a close shave as does Mr. Todd’s nephew but, regrettably, that’s not the way it works most often in the corporate Fleet Street of the twenty-first century.

Sure, it stings that much more when a) you’re qualified to the eyeballs, then b) make the second interview short-list only to learn you’ve been rejected in favor of the second cousin of the receptionist whose husband ceaselessly offers the “I’m sure you haven’t taken your mulligan yet, Mr. Hardy” to keep the boss from double bogeys during Friday’s extended “power lunches.”

I suppose you could tailor your job search to anywhere you might conceivably have a familial “in”, but for me that would mean another undergrad degree or wearing a name tag and little to nothing in between. For most of us, I imagine, the scenario would be disdainfully similar. So the question is – What can you do to give yourself an edge?

I haven’t come up with much so far, but I did happen across the Bestar furniture collection in search of affordable and pleasingly functional office furniture. After a short perusal, I (sheepishly) came up with this half-baked suggestion. What about bringing along a piece of office furniture to “curry their favor” as they say?

As ridiculous as this sounds, (and it does) what’s not to suggest that a particular hiring agent might be “touched” by the thoughtfulness of your bringing a ready-to-assemble Bestar corner desk up 8 flights of stairs? Or that your promise to bring back that most fashionable Bestar computer desk when (AND IF GOSH DARN IT!!) you start training on Monday morning sways the decision to your liking? Perhaps bribery is your thing and you combine a Bestar desk or maybe a Bestar workstation with a considerable dose of unfounded flattery to rig the outcome? Hmm?

What’s that you say? You’ve always dreamed of being a purchasing officer and the accountant’s drop-dead gorgeous daughter-in-law and her philosophy degree are, however incomprehensibly, massively intimidating? You need to up the ante my friend! How about a conference table as the proverbial carrot-on-a-string dangled in front of him or her? Maybe even a pair of office tables if you sense you’re in something of a dead heat.

Fast forward; now, assuming you are indeed the new purchasing officer, there’s no need to put to waste all of your ill-gotten knowledge of conference tables. Stand proudly at the round conference table (or maybe it’s a modular conference table – you are the purchasing officer after all, right?) you’ve so tastefully brought to the office and lay out your plans to furnish the entire place in just the right mix of traditional executive office furniture, contemporary office furniture and modern executive office furniture. Then soak up the accolades…

The end justifies the means, people, the ends justifies the means.