Briefcase

Ottawa salsas score two Scovie awards

An Ottawa company’s picante sauces are among the hottest things going, judging from results of a recent contest.

MyHotSauces.com LLC landed two winners in the annual Scovie Awards, sponsored by Fiery Foods & BBQ. This year’s contest drew more than 600 entries in 62 categories.

Both winners for MyHotSauces.com came in salsa categories:

  • Hot salsa: Monty’s Party Picante-Medium Hot, first place.
  • Unique salsa: Monty’s Party Picante-Black Beans & Corn Mild, third place.

MyHotSauces.com, owned by Monty Fritts, wasn’t the only operation with Lawrence ties to score Scovies.

Buffalo Wild Wings, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based chain that has a bar and grill in downtown Lawrence, won six awards, including the contest’s grand prize in advertising and marketing for a Teriyaki Brand Sauce poster.

Workplace

Happy holidays, boss: Here’s a fine cup o’ joe

Giving at the office — especially a holiday gift for the boss — can lead employees into a minefield of potential inappropriate presents, hurt feelings, fiscal waste and pointless gestures.

But gifts at work need not be a nervous experience, according to Ajilon Professional Staffing, part of Swiss-based staffing giant Adecco SA. Among its recommendations:

  • Avoid gifts connected to a certain holiday or religious tradition. Not everyone observes Christmas, Hanukkah or the seven days of Kwanzaa.
  • Keep humor in check. Avoid anything that could be construed as a racial, sexual or religious joke.
  • Don’t feel pressured to spend lavishly to impress. A card or kind act — say, grabbing a cup of good coffee or a cookie — expresses thoughts just as sweetly.
  • Hew the fine line between thoughtful and fanny-smooching. An extravagant, over-the-top gift for the boss looks like what it is — an effort to suck up to a superior.

According to a recent Maritz Poll of 1,002 adults, 28 percent of workers plan to buy their bosses a gift this holiday season, up from 24 percent last year.

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