Outsource Marketing Solutions blog

South of France!

For the third consecutive year Razzett tal-Hbiberija is organising the Ability Challenge, a week-long event which takes place in a foreign location every summer.

This year it will be the breathtaking South of France that will host a group of 30 participants between the 11th and 18th August 2008.  

The Ability Challenge is not just any regular challenge.  The participants have various levels of physical abilities and amongst them are some who have a physical disability such as Spina Bifida, Polio, Hearing Loss, and Lower Limb Amputation.  Five teams will embark on this challenge and each team will include a person with a physical disability as well as five non-disabled individuals of different age, sex and physical strength.
 
Each participant has taken the commitment to attend all training sessions which have begun in May 2008 in preparation for the event.  Participants are presently undergoing supervised training at the Iasis Fitness Centre gym and indoor pool, as well as organised outdoor training such as abseiling, climbing, canoeing and trekking around the island.  In the meantime, participants have been raising funds to cover their participation costs in order to make this event possible.

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Screen This

WASHINGTON, DC -- 10/03/07 -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today announced that the agency has awarded $52.3 million worth of contracts to deploy security technology piloted at airports and mass transit facilities in recent months, moving to quickly bring enhanced screening equipment to the nation's travelers. 

Newly procured technology includes: advanced technology (AT) X-ray; automated explosives detection (auto-EDS) for the checkpoint; bottled liquid scanners; passive millimeter wave; and a cast/prosthetics screening device.

Primolicious

Primolicious is the cozy online gathering place for the Disability Community where Partners with common interests and challenges connect, share and support one another. Visitors also become well informed on a wide variety of disability-related categories by perusing the latest News and Resources.  On Primolicious you can find fellowship, enjoyment, involvement, solace, entertainment, acceptance, hope and encouragement.

Check out their Squidoo lens.

No Barriers 2007

Sacramento, CA, June 25/PRNewswire/ --" The No Barriers USA Board of Directors announces final plans for NO BARRIERS FESTIVAL 2007, a five-day event, which will showcase and share the cutting-edge techniques and technologies that enable people with challenges to live as actively as possible and to break through their own personal barriers. Over six hundred attendees are expected to participate. 

No Barriers USA is a not-for-profit organization, which assumes that each person, regardless of age, state of mind or physical condition, has a thirst for adventure and a hope for the future that is worthy of igniting..."

For all the details on the No Barriers USA 2007 Festival

This is a press release, distributed by PRNewswire on an event that is happening in Sacramento, California, USA. I got it this morning courtesy of my Google Alerts and here it is on the blog.  Why? Because it's newsworthy, people will read about it, they'll search for it - people who are probably the perfect readers for this blog but might not know that it exists.

The whole point of a website (blog, lens or microsite) is to drive traffic (preferably targeted traffic) to your site. 

Keeping it updated is key but linking it to relevant sites and featuring topics of interest to your targeted reader is important, too.

Nashville Airport Using Scanner On Passengers With Prosthetics

I'm headed to Nashville for the PrimeFare East meeting at the end of the month. 
I'm hoping to see the CastScope in action!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Nashville's airport is a pilot location for a new X-ray machine that screens passengers with casts, braces or prosthetic limbs more efficiently.

The CastScope, a portable X-ray machine, scans the prosthetic or covered area for weapons or explosives in a few seconds.

Since the metal in such appendages typically sets off the metal detectors, travelers are currently patted down, checked for trace explosives and scanned with a handheld metal detector.

Nashville International Airport is joining Ronald Reagan Washington National and Tampa International airports as a pilot location for the new process, which is optional.

In related news....

QRSciences Holdings Limited (QRS) today announced that its 24.4% owned associate, Spectrum San Diego, Inc, has entered into contractual negotiations with the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) for the manufacture, deployment and maintenance of the CastScope screening system at US airports. The group advised CastScope is a portable device utilising backscatter X-ray technology to screen casts, support braces, heavy bandages and prosthetic limbs, allowing quick and non-invasive identification of prohibited items or potential security threats.

CEO Mr Kevin Russeth noted this was a pivotal moment for Spectrum and CastScope, as the interest from the TSA translates into the first significant commercial sales of the product.

Yeah! Virgin America Gets Approval!!

This might seem like it has nothing to do with O&P (except for those of us who have to fly around the country to various O&P meetings) but, it is my blog and I've been waiting for this FOREVER and I'm inviting you to join the love fest. 

If you want to be among the first to know when Virgin America starts selling tickets - click here .

Full story, keep reading

"...Now that the company has been formally approved, the next step will be to seek a waiver to start selling tickets. The company is planning a mid-summer launch.

Virgin America’s first flights will be between its home base of San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK). The airline also plans to serve Los Angeles (LAX), Washington/Dulles, San Diego and Las Vegas within its first year of operations.

The airline expects to serve as many as 10 cities within a year of operation and up to 30 cities within five years of service. Additional cities under Virgin America’s consideration include: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Hartford (YEAH!!), Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Portland, Ore., Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Jose, Calif., Sarasota, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and West Palm Beach...."

AbilityTrek 2007 lens

I just finished the AbilityTrek 2007 lens on Squidoo.

This is going to be an unbelievable trip around the world.  If you're a cyclist, you should seriously think about joining Dan on his USA leg (no pun intended!)

www.abilitytrek.org

Do these guys ever sleep?

Race Recon just revamped AbilityTrek 2007's entire website.  It looks fabulous.

Race Recon has to be one of the most interesting/unique/cutting edge companies around.

What do they do? 

They "maximise (they're from Australia - I didn't spell it wrong) performance, exposure and safety for high performance athletes & adventurers.

Their vision is to be acknowledged and regarded as the world´s leading independent high-risk & high-performance management team, consistently recognised for pushing the limits of human performance."

Expedition management and logistics - say if you wanted to cycle your way around the world....like Dan Sheret - you'd call on Race Recon to help make it all happen.

Golf Tour of Vietnam!

Vietnam calling

When you think about golf, Vietnam isn't exactly the first place that comes to mind, but a Seattle man organizes golf tours to the Southeast Asian country.

Tom Kramer, 58, who goes by "Saigon Tom," first visited Vietnam in 1998 as videographer; producing videos for Seattle-based Prosthetics Outreach Foundation. He started the golf tour business in 2002. He said there are 12 courses in Vietnam, many of them resort courses by name designers.

Kramer's company is offering a Thanksgiving tour. More details are available by visiting www.vietnamgolftours.com.

My Hero

George Hobica is a man on a mission. 
His mission is to save you money when you travel.

George Hobica is my hero.
If you've never been to his site. Go there now.  It could save you a TON of money. You'll want to click on Fare of the Day.  Sometimes he finds mistakes the airlines make - and lists 0.00 - yes, ZERO - dollar fares.  They don't last long, someone always figures out when a mistake was made but still...zero dollars??? 

Frommer's Podcast: Inside Airfare with Airfarewatchdog

By The Frommer's Staff
August 11, 2006

Listen to part 2 of host David Lytle's interview with George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, for an informative conversation about airfare costs and strategies for finding the best deals. George reveals the best dates and times to find the best fares and how to plan your flight research to maximize your savings. Part 2 of 2.

To listen, please visit www.frommers.com/podcast .