T’was the night before Christmakwanzakah and through all 50 States
No one was Spreadsheeting, not even BILL GATES!?!
All Computers were ready, both MAC and PC
In hopes that The Rain Man would soon set them free

When out in the alley there arose such a sound,
Folks shouted from windows, “Hey jerk! Keep it down!”
It wasn’t Tiger’s Escalade or the weird cast of “Glee”
T’was this Excel Rain Diva with a Gift Guide for thee!

Did you flake on Black Friday and miss Cyber Monday? Feeling like you’re falling behind already on holiday shopping? Fret no more!

In the spirit of Spreadsheeting AND due to our mutual love of giving and receiving, we thought everyone could benefit from the 2009 Excel Rain Man Holiday Gift Guide. This spreadsheet will help you determine what pimpin’ presents to procure for your rents, kiddos, spouse, coworkers, hater boss, and most importantly what to put on your own wish list!

Did we forget to mention that this is FREE?!?

The FREE Excel Rain Man 2009 Holiday Gift Guide can be found in the Tips & Tricks section of www.ExcelRainMan.com.

Please forward this Excel Rain Knowledge to your friends and colleagues!

Don’t forget to become a fan of Excel Rain Man on facebook and follow us on Twitter.

1. Gift Guide
The Excel Rain Team is pleased to present you with a free Gift Guide. There are 2 worksheets included in the Gift Guide:
– Database worksheet
– Where to Purchase worksheet

The Database worksheet serves as the gift guide. We recommend maneuvering through this worksheet with basic filtering* techniques to drill down to the “best gift(s)” for “that special person.”

PLESASE NOTE: If “that special person” happens to be your worst frienemy and the “best gift” your are looking for happens to be a mail order bag of flaming human excrement… this may not be the gift guide for you.

Anyhoo… A few things to note about the columns in the Database worksheet are as follows:

Types: Columns A-B
These are the key filtering categories that will help you sift through the data-love in no time. We recommend that you first filter on Type 1 (Activities, Entertainment, Food, Clothing etc.), as it is broader than Type 2 (Yoga, Games, Restaurant, Shoes etc.).

Cost: Column C
$: under 50
$$: 50-100
$$$: 100-200
$$$$: 100-200
$$$$+: 300+
Various: Various

The price range depends on the model or quantity of the gift. In some instances, you may find a gift in the range above or below the one indicated, but this should be pretty close. The $$$$+ does not go drastically above $300 and in most cases, these are big family tech gifts.

Age: Columns D-G
Baby/Toddler: newborn to 4
Kiddo: 5 to 10
Teen: 11 to 17
Adult: 18 and older

Again, there are some gifts that may apply not apply to an entire age range. Whether or not you let your kiddo play Scrabble for money is up to you… In the Excel Rain Household, either bring your piggy bank, or step off! In the immortal words of Chad Ochocinco, “Child please.”

Gender: Columns H-I
This is self explanatory folks. Please note that most of our gifts are applicable for both Men and Women!

Computer Image: Column J
These are items that can be found online… For those of you who cannot get out of the cubicle and are looking to reduce your carbon footprint!

Airport image: Column K
These are gifts that can typically be found in airports, for those of you who were too busy to get your shopping done ahead of time. These items can be found @ InMotion, Brookstone, Wireless Express and those amazing Tech Vending machines… Not sure what they are called, but I love them.

House image: Column L
Small businesses!!! Whether it is the product itself OR the store offering the product, this symbol lets you know that a bad-ass small business is involved… and you know how much I heart small businesses.

Flower image: Column M
This indicates potential stocking stuffers.

Item: Column N
Contains the item name… duh.

Vendor/Brand: Column O
This is the maker of the item & potentially the place to purchase it

Where to Purchase: Column P
We have included a link to the gift or potential places to purchase the gift. As always, we encourage you to help the bookstore down the street before getting your Wal-Mart on, but for the sake of ease we have included places (some big, some small) where you can find these gifts.

Comments: Column Q
Why this gift rocks!!!

Shipping: Column R
Indicates where we have found deals on shipping

Discount/Discount Code: Columns S-T
Because many of these businesses love them some spreadsheets, we have indicated where a business is offering a special discount!

The Gift Guide can be downloaded for FREE from the Tips & Tricks section at ExcelRainMan.com.

Did I lose you at “filtering”? Here is the catch, if you are unfamiliar with this aspect of Excel, you may need to quickly reference one of the FREE filtering lessons that are posted in the Tips & Tricks section of www.ExcelRainMan.com. These include classic titles such as “Gift Guide Filter PC 03”, “Gift Guide Filter PC 07” and the always-popular “Gift Guide Filter Mac 08” (older Mac versions can use this as well). I promise it’s super-easy AND you won’t need to feel guilty about procrastinating anymore as everyone’s boss wants them to brush up on their Excel Rain Knowledge… right?

Don’t forget to check out our other tips, tricks and goodies as well!

2. Small Biz Love
In addition to wanting to spreadsheet holiday cheer and showcase our EXCELlent skillz, we want to spreadsheet the love for small businesses everywhere. We have listed in the gift guide places we know where the gifts are sold… In some cases we listed some of their bigger sites for ease for you. We encourage you to buy these gifts from the local businesses and support them as much as possible.

Some of our Excel Rain Partners who have hooked you up with sweet discounts are:
Alana Norell Jewelry Designs – earthy, chill pieces that are always in style for those of us who want something unique
Barefoot Tess – this boutique offers shoes for fashion conscious divas who have shoes sizes from 11-15. Brilliant!!
Lock and Mane – online luxury hair products… with genius gift baskets.
Sausalido – ridiculous BYOB in the ‘Burgh!!!
If you know of a great gift offered by a small biz, please let us know the details and we would be happy to add them to the list.

We dedicate this Newsletter to all of the small and new businesses out there. Happy holidays!

Don’t miss out on the Excel Love!!! Submit a Request to:
– outsource your Excel work… so you can chill!!!
– sign up for Webinars & Classes for PCs and/or Macs… just put it on your bosses tab 🙂

Hook yourself up with some funky Excel Rain Man templates that are getting a ton of Rain Buzz! Check them out in the Tips & Tricks section @ ExcelRainMan.com.
Until next time,
Jen Portland

The Excel Rain Diva 🙂