Healthy Vending Options can Benefit your Business

On a typical afternoon at 3 p.m., hunger strikes my cubicle, and the siren song of the office vending machine gets harder and harder to resist. The sweet notes of candy bars and comforting coo of carbohydrates can occasionally overpower my better judgment.

Many vending machines offer dismal choices in terms of healthier options. Our wellness committee recently contemplated how we can make better choices as an office when it comes to vending machines.

We came up with three highly-feasible options:

1) Dress up like a robot, wait in the break room until someone attempts a not-so-healthy food purchase and yell, “Danger, Will Robinson!”

2) Dress up like a mother from the ‘50s and proclaim, “A moment on the lips, forever on the hips” when a co-worker reaches for a bag of chips.

3) Contact the company that stocks our vending machines and see what healthier products are available.

We opted for number three, mainly because the price of the costume rental required of the other two put us off budget.

It turns out there are several healthy items with which the machines can be stocked. Now that we are on our way to a healthier vending machine, I don’t have to cower under my desk in the afternoon when I hear the call of my not-so-fiendish friend in the break room.

October Walk to Raise Money for ALS Association

As part of the Chamber’s wellness program, I, along with fellow Chamber staffers, will participate in the Central Indiana Walk to Defeat ALS sponsored by the ALS Association Indiana Chapter on October 4.

The Chamber’s wellness committee identified this walk as a great opportunity to support a great cause (the money raised goes to the ALS Association which works to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and to motivate our staff to get walking. As team captain I’m attempting to get as many staff members to participate as possible.

Sure, it requires raising money and walking two miles on a Saturday morning, but those who participate receive wellness points towards a wellness day off of work. Though a day off should serve as adequate motivation, I’m ready to go above and beyond. I’m contemplating an “Eye of the Tiger”-esque motivational CD for all who sign up to participate. The walk also offers an excuse to get out of weekend housework. “Honey, I can’t mow the lawn/rake the leaves/clean the gutters today, as I’m committed to doing my part to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease."

With so many similar opportunities around the state, participating in a charity walk as part of a your workplace wellness program is a great way to get out of the office, get moving, and get involved in a worthy cause. 

Business Sponsorships Not Just For Little Leaguers (and They’ll Get You Noticed)

From a very early age, most of us were exposed to corporate sponsorships, usually in the form of sports. We proudly wore the name of a local business across our chest as we played tee ball or flocked after a soccer ball like ducklings following their mother.

Though we might not have considered the ramifications of what we wore, we served as tiny advertisers for the business community and owning an “Iggy’s Ice Shack” T-shirt undoubtedly reminded us where we had to go to get that snow cone for which we longed.

Off the baseball field and in the business world, sponsorships of conferences and seminars are a great way to hit your target audience. You sell safety products? Why not grab the attention of an entire conference of safety enthusiasts by sponsoring registration bags for the 2009 Indiana Safety and Health Conference and Expo?

You’ll be surprised how a room full of adults will clamor over a tote-bag with your company’s logo on it like children for a lump of sugary ice.

If you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities with the Indiana Chamber, contact Jim Wagner.