Category: Business Birthday Cards

The Day the Company Birthday Cards Went Missing

This is a story about the missing company birthday cards. You know I love greeting cards and better than that, I work for a greeting card company. You spend a third of your life (give or take) at your job and you should enjoy what you do. How much happier can someone be than to work with something they love? Well, you could get wonderful company birthday cards. We do have a lot of company birthday cards hanging around, but sometimes the mischief fairy misplaces the greeting cards on you.

It was a beautiful sunny day for my birthday two years ago. I was having that “it’s my birthday and I feel wonderful” kind of feeling. You know, that everyone’s going to treat me great and I will just eat it up kinda feeling. I danced downstairs and my husband had breakfast on the table and I got personalized birthday cards and wishes from the family. What a great day it’s going to be.

I trekked off to work and smiled at the traffic. I knew I would have a pile of greeting cards on my desk, including the company birthday cards. The owner, the president, the manager of my department and the supervisor all sign birthday cards. Then they come around and personally wish you well.

I walked in smiling at everyone. Nobody said Happy Birthday, and there were no birthday cards on my desk. What was happening? I didn’t know how to react. The president went by and said “Good morning, Dolly.” No “Happy Birthday?” No shaking my hand? How should I handle this? I didn’t want to pout like a child, but this was a really big let down. We are never too old to want people to remember our birthdays. It is a monumental occasion in a person’s life. My smile drooped a little, but I made it through the day and went home to the people who love me. They remembered how important my birth was. Oh well, I still love greeting cards.

The next day when I went to work, there was a stack of business birthday cards on my desk. There they were…all the birthday cards from my coworkers. There was the “Happy Birthday, Dolly.” There was the handshake. I told everyone that yesterday was my birthday. The company had written it down as the seventh and my birthday is the sixth. Of course, we all laughed and they changed it so they didn’t make that mistake again.

My faith in human nature was restored. My smile is bright again and all is well at the greeting cards company.

An Employee Birthday Card Finally Made This Worker Feel Appreciated!

Employers may wonder whether it is a good idea to send employee birthday cards to their workers. I’d like to relate the tale of the first time I received one of these birthday greeting cards and how much it was appreciated.

To begin with, let me state that my previous employment history consisted of less-than-stellar circumstances. It started in high school when I was employed as an indoor helper in a large garden center. The store micro-manager would stand with his hands on his hips analyzing my floor sweeping technique, occasionally snatching the broom himself to show me the “right” way to sweep the floor – from the perimeter to the center of the store in a symmetrical pattern. You can trust that he never cared enough to give me an employee birthday card!

Then there was the summer job I held in college at the office headquarters of a large grocery store chain. The executive that I worked under spoke to me three times all summer and called me “Byron” instead of “Brandon” each time. And finally, there was the rather sadistic pharmacist I worked for whose only interaction was to thrust a feather-duster into your hands if he saw that you didn’t have any work to do for all of five seconds, or to run outside screaming and shaking his fist at you if you returned from deliveries after 32 minutes when he thought that you should have been back after 28.

After these experiences, you can imagine my surprise and delight when I received a personalized birthday card on the occasion of my first birthday with my current employer. The employee birthday card was signed by my manager as well as all of the members of the executive committee. And best of all, everyone got my name right! What I learned is that my company gives birthday cards as a classy way to show appreciation to their employees. So I would say to any employer that it is well worth the time, money and effort to send employee birthday cards. Your thoughtfulness is likely to be paid back many times over.

Birthday Cards Help Celebrate an Unforgettable 50th Birthday

My 50th birthday will be remembered forever and not only because of the birthday cards I received! We have a tradition in our office of taking out the “birthday girl” on all major milestone birthdays. There is a group of 15 or so people who belong to this special birthday gathering. We go to the same restaurant year after year to celebrate, gossip, drink and generally have fun.

My 50th birthday started out rather routinely except for the excessive “over the hill” gag jokes which included Depends, a silly cane, and some not-so-nice gags I won’t mention (I often say “with friends like mine, I don’t need enemies!”). I did receive some lovely happy birthday cards though and I enjoyed reading through each of the greeting cards my friends gave me.

Soon after dinner arrived, I noticed my friend Dolly looking at me with bug eyes, face turning red and not saying anything. I continued to look at her with a blank stare until the woman next to her said, ”Oh my gosh, she’s choking!” Not even thinking, I jumped up, grabbed her from behind and started doing the Heimlich maneuver. It was not working and I felt her going down to the floor. Getting panicky, I thought if she falls on the floor it’s over. I gave one last frantic squeeze and out popped the lodged piece of steak. Dolly sat down and I collapsed in my seat thinking I was going to have a heart attack due to the adrenaline rush and die on my 50th birthday!

Well needless to say, this event has been mentioned every year since my 50th as my birthday draws near, and in every birthday card I receive from Dolly. It will be my most memorable birthday ever, not because of the happy birthday cards I received, but because both of us survived the ordeal. In the future, please just send the personalized birthday cards and skip the excitement! My heart’s getting too old to handle it!

Birthday Cards Temperature: Cold or Warm?

Are business birthday cards more like business cards or more like birthday cards: discuss amongst yourselves.

But seriously, if you get a birthday card from someone with whom you do business, let’s say a vendor, are they sending you an advertisement or genuine focused-on-you good wishes? Do you care? It’s great to have your personal special day remembered and acknowledged with a birthday card. Whether they’re personal birthday cards from friends and family or business birthday cards from associates, you can’t help but feel good that these people think of you highly enough to send birthday cards.

With that said, I do note the differences in the styles of business birthday cards. There are so many different types of birthday cards available, some casual and others more formal, and the styles of the greeting cards can sometimes make a difference in how well the sentiment is acknowledged by the recipient. If I get a greeting card picturing a cartoon tow truck hauling a smashed sedan, I don’t feel all warm and fuzzy when I open it to see “Joe’s Garage” reminding me of their location and phone number and, by the way, “Have a nice birthday!” If I get a birthday card, from let’s say my doctor or financial advisor, and if it pictures something actually nice to look at and maybe wishes me good health and success, it does give me a bright “maybe you really do like me” feeling.

When my co-workers and company executives take the time to handwrite little personal notes to me on employee birthday cards, that really does give me a warm and fuzzy feeling! And, not to forget one birthday card that I especially like – my favorite local restaurant sends a lovely birthday card every year, with a wonderful discount coupon enclosed! Guess where I like to enjoy my birthday dinner with family and friends? There’s that warm and fuzzy feeling again!

Personalized Birthday Cards – Better Late than Never

Even in the electronic era that we live in today, it’s hard to deny the warm feeling that personalized birthday cards bring. It’s a treat to get a piece of mail that doesn’t require a trip to the bank. I always look forward to my birthday for this reason; I get to come home and see brightly colored greeting card envelopes addressed to me. It is exciting to see who remembered my birthday (and who didn’t), and on rare occasions, birthday cards will come from people I haven’t spoken to or really even thought about in almost a whole year! These days, my birthday cards hardly ever contain cash anymore, but the beautiful sentiments inside make up for that.

Last year, I was so upset at my friend Anthony. We basically grew up together, first meeting in middle school. We remained friends all that time, playing video games, going for drinks, trips to the zoo, everything. For my 23rd birthday, I got nothing from Anthony; no birthday card, no phone call, not even an email! I was very upset with him, though I knew at the time that it was a petty thing to get upset about. I know he didn’t forget; my birthday is the title of one of his favorite songs! I wrote him an email message that had some subtly scathing undertones and got no reply. I couldn’t believe it!

A few days after my birthday, my best friend Rhonda threw me a surprise party at her house. I was so shocked and so happy! Anthony was at the party and told me that the reason he didn’t reach out to me on my birthday is because he was afraid he would spill the beans about the party. I still gave him a little grief about it, but the joke was on me all along. Anthony gave me a personalized birthday card with a heartfelt note inside. “Better late than never!” he said to me as he handed over the birthday card. He was right, that was the best birthday I have had to date. I took Anthony outside, threw him off the balcony and laughed.

Birthday Cards Can Say More Than Happy Birthday

Corporate birthday cards are a part of my daily life because I work at a greeting cards company.  I love each and every birthday card we sell and lately, I’ve been comparing every birthday card I see in stores to our own premium quality greeting cards. Every time I go to a stationery store to buy a birthday card I cannot help but notice that most of the birthday cards are not as high quality as ours.  I compare everything from the greeting to the designs to the foils and the envelopes, and in my mind, GalleryCollection.com birthday cards always prevail.

Of course, the purpose of sending a birthday card is to wish someone a happy birthday.  But besides that, the quality of the card can send another message.  To me, one of the most important features on any birthday card, but especially corporate birthday cards, is the paper the greeting card is printed on.  Thick and beautiful paper says so much about the high standards of the company producing the birthday cards.  Sending recycled paper cards or greeting cards printed on FSC certified paper also sends a message to the person you are sending the greeting card to that you care about keeping our planet as healthy as possible. That is perhaps the most important message we can send to anyone, but saying “Happy Birthday” with a quality, unique birthday card design also says quite a lot whether it is on a personal or business-related basis.

Birthday Cards Picked by Those People

Are you one of those? You know…one of those greeting card people? I think you know the kind I’m talking about. The ones who say: “I just have to pick up a few birthday cards. I’ll be back in 5 minutes!” Then they leave someone waiting patiently (or maybe not so patiently) in the car while trying to find that perfect greeting card among thousands at the local stationery store.

That’s when it hits you – all of those choices! Should I pick birthday cards with balloons or gift packages? Flowers or scenic views? What about the verse? Simply stated? Humorous or serious? Maybe I shouldn’t get a verse and just go for one of those blank greeting cards. That would be more personal, no? I’m sure I could come up with something intelligent to say, or is there some level of poetic genius expected? Oh and I almost forgot, I need to pick up business birthday cards for a few people I work with. This could take some time.

After much thought, I decide to play it safe and go with the brightest, most colorful birthday cards I could find with simply stated verses. Nice contrast I thought. Wait a minute, what do I see here? A greeting card sale! I must have missed that on the way in. I can’t pass up a sale on greeting cards, now can I? Back to the drawing board I go.

In the meantime, approximately 30 minutes later and counting, my significant other is still waiting or is that him stomping through the entrance? He just doesn’t get it. Choosing the right personalized birthday cards is not easy. I need to convey the right message to the right person in the right way. It could make or break a friendship and possibly means the world to the person that receives it! So I admit, I lied when I said I’d be back in 5 minutes. I suppose I should also admit that I too am one of those.

Birthday Cards and Good Company

Every year we get those cheery reminders that the little odometer inside of us just went up one. Those reminders are commonly known as birthday cards. Some of those birthday cards contain balloons, cakes, streamers, sailboats, palm trees, etc. and they all have meaningful or funny sentiments.

I am probably in the majority when I say that when my birthday comes around I would rather it pass without being noticed, especially at work. However, I cannot help but be thankful that my fellow employees are nice enough to remember my birthday and take the time to send me their best wishes in birthday cards.

One of the special birthday cards I receive is from our Chairman of the Board and our President. I do enjoy the personal touch that gets put into the birthday cards. I am not sure how many companies send out company birthday cards to their employees but I believe they serve an important purpose in further recognizing employees.

Out of all the birthday cards that I receive each year, the only birthday cards that I have kept are the company birthday cards from my employer. It may be that I feel those birthday cards are special because they are the ones that you do not really expect to receive.

This blogger celebrates his birthday on September 18th. You can feel free to send me birthday cards as a reminder that my odometer went up one again.

Birthday Cards Can Be the Best Birthday Present

It may sound weird to you, but I’m not a person who likes to receive actual birthday presents. Birthday presents cards, however, are quite another matter. I guess I’d better explain.

As a child, and most definitely as a teen, I knew exactly what I wanted (and what I just had to have) for all gifting occasions, especially for my “focus-only-on-me” birthdays. I didn’t need any prompting to produce my list, with detailed descriptions. As an adult, I realized that my children’s homemade gifts and homemade birthday cards were more loved than the finest jewels. I also found that I’d rather select my own clothes than to go through the agony of surreptitious return or the embarrassed wearing of things that looked hideous on me, in an effort to not hurt someone’s feelings. The more birthdays I’ve had, the more I realize that I don’t need anymore knick-knacks or trinkets in my life. Also, if I come across something that I do really want in my life, I’ll gladly buy it for myself.

None of this means that I want my birthday to be forgotten. Quite to the contrary, I want my birthday to be remembered and acknowledged by lots and lots of people. I start watching for my personal birthday cards several days in advance. The first birthday card to arrive always makes me feel like I’ve won a lottery prize. I tend to reread each of the birthday cards multiple times. I line up the birthday cards at home on my fireplace mantel and I line up the greeting cards at work atop my cubicle; the more birthday cards, the merrier.

When I get birthday presents cards (that is, birthday cards that picture one or more beautifully wrapped gift packages), it’s like getting the delight of opening that tempting package without disturbing the fancy wrapping (like “having your cake and eating it, too!”). To me, the best birthday presents are birthday cards, and plenty of them, because the greeting cards represent the very richest of presents – the warmth and goodwill of family, friends and business associates.

A Birthday Card Can Save a Friendship

I can’t remember where I learned this old Nigerian quote, but it came to mind recently when a friend sent me a birthday card. The quote is as follows: “Hold a true friend with both of your hands.”

My friend has been besieged lately with some complicated personal issues. We have been friends through more birthdays than I would care to say. In all of those years, I tried to be a good friend, but I did not necessarily always remember to send her personal birthday cards. After all, in today’s world what does it take…three minutes to dash off an emailed happy birthday? I mean, we’re all terribly busy, but the truth is that seeing a greeting card envelope in the mailbox brings a smile to anyone’s face. The extra effort really isn’t such a hassle if you keep assorted birthday cards on hand.

I realize now that I wasn’t holding this precious commodity of friendship with both hands. Shame on me! All it takes is the foresight to keep a box of birthday cards at the ready. My dear friend never neglected me, even though I’m sure she noticed my neglect, or mentioned my omission, even though I am sure I would have found a way to express my disappointment if she ever forgot my birthday card.

I guess what I want others to get from reading this is that when you never want to lose something as important as a true friendship, you need to hold it with both hands.