OSRAM SYLVANIA Teams Up With Relationship Experts To Shed Light On How To Be A Valentine's Day Superhero

Whether you are newly dating someone or are in a long-term committed relationship, being a Valentine's Day superhero can often seem to be a daunting task.  This year, OSRAM SYLVANIA, a leading company in the lighting industry, has partnered with relationship experts Laurie Davis, Founder of eFlirt and author of Love @ First Click: The Ultimate Guide to Online Dating, and Thomas Edwards, Jr., Founder of The Professional Wingman, to offer some mood-setting tips.

OSRAM SYLVANIA's is the perfect side kick for setting the mood for a romantic evening with its LIGHTIFY portfolio of indoor and outdoor lighting products that can be controlled and automated via an app from your mobile device.  From changing lighting color to dimming to simply switching lights on and off, combining LIGHTIFY's features with these tips from Davis and Edwards, who are also a married couple, can make for a super Valentine's Day:

Tips for the Ladies from Laurie Davis

#1 When you change the body language between you and your partner, it creates a different mood and connection.  This Valentine's Day, instead of watching a movie on the couch together, grab cooking utensils and make dinner together!  Top of the night by slow dancing in your living room.

#2 Teenage traditions are still fun even when you're in a committed relationship and well past those teen years.  Thomas and I still ask each other out on proper dates.  Even though I know he will say yes, it helps build anticipation and reminds us to make each other feel young even when we've been together for ages.

#3 Think of your partner first if you are the one planning Valentine's Day.  While they might not be the most romantic fare, hamburgers really make Thomas happy.  I'll pick up greasy burgers and a nice bottle of red wine, and I'm always guaranteed a smile and a light-hearted mood for the rest of the night.

#4 As we all know, color can affect your mood and emotions dramatically.  Use LIGHTIFY smart connected lighting kits and app to set the color of your LED lights in your home to match the mood you want to be in.  On Valentine's Day morning, I'll want blue lighting to help us wake up and be alert, but then I'll switch to red lighting that evening when I want to evoke passion.

Tips for the Gentlemen from Thomas Edwards, Jr.

#1   Enhance the five senses.  Your partner can become fully immersed in the environment when each sense is stimulated, allowing them to feel the emotions that come with each sense and associate those emotions with you.

#2  Hearing music can put your partner in almost any mood, from relaxed to seductive to loving.  For our living room dances, Laurie and I will turn off the lights or change them to a soft red with the LIGHTIFY Flex RGBW and dance to a soundtrack that I carefully curated, highlighting our favorite songs since we've been together.

#3  Scent is very powerful because one whiff can tap into millions of memories.  If you and your partner have specific romantic memories tied to smell, it can really amplify the mood.  One day, Laurie noticed I was wearing cologne I used to wear when we started dating.  It made her reminisce about the early days of our relationship, which brought a smile to her face.

#4  Surprisingly, what you wear can be another way to help set the mood.  When you wear something that looks good on you, you will project confidence, alluring your date even more.  It's the subtle touches on Valentine's Day, those favorite cufflinks or that new necklace, that can take it from any normal night to a truly special one.

"The most important thing to remember this Valentine's Day is to have fun and enjoy your partner's company first and foremost," noted Davis.  "And keep the romance going after Valentine's Day too!" added Edwards.

As these relationship experts both mentioned, LIGHTIFY can help you set the mood with lights on -- flirty, fun, relaxed -- or off.  Check out this fun video to see how LIGHTIFY can set the perfect lightscape and help make you a Valentine's Day Superhero:

How Do You Make the World Brighter?

Major Romeo Alip

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the sight of bell ringers next to a red kettle stationed around the community for The Salvation Army has become an iconic image tied to the holiday season.  The funds raised during The Salvation Army's annual kettle campaign are used to implement change for those in need throughout the year helping to make the world a brighter place.  This has been going on since 1891, when Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee placed a kettle at a ferry landing with a sign reading "Keep the Pot Boiling" with the goal of raising money to provide all of San Francisco's destitute and poverty stricken with a free Christmas dinner.  123 years later using a kettle to raise funds to support those in need is a holiday tradition that now assists The Salvation Army in helping more than four and a half million people in the United States each year with a variety of services between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Additionally, the change placed in Salvation Army kettles enable the organization to continue its efforts year round to help those who may otherwise be forgotten.

While an old-fashioned kettle is an important part of enabling The Salvation Army to make the world a brighter place new technology also is a tool that aids its mission.  Alex Paguibitan is a soldier of The Salvation Army who invited SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting along one of his Red Kettle drives to show what it is like to help those who are less fortunate during the holiday season. Alex uses SYLVANIA's SilverStar® ULTRA headlights in his Salvation Army van.  Much of his commute is spent in the dark when improved visibility as a result of whiter, brighter headlights adds precious seconds to a driver’s reaction time making for a safer ride for him, his passengers and other vehicles and pedestrians that may be around him.  Check out Alex's story in this #LightShift video:

To help make one lucky A Geek Daddy Blog reader's life a little brighter, SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting is providing us a pair of  SilverStar® ULTRA headlights, the same one Alex uses in his Salvation Army van.   For a chance to win these headlights you must be a US resident over 18 years old and enter prior to 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday December 31, 2014.  All valid entries will be assigned a number and the winning number will be randomly generated.  You may enter in one or all the following entry manners for a maximum number of 3 possible entries:

UPDATE: Congrats to Stephanie M. from Ohio who won the Sylvania  SilverStar® ULTRA headlights

ENTRY 1:  Visit The Salvation Army website and tell us one of the ways the funds donated in the kettle campaign are used to help others in an e-mail to thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com.  E-mail headline should be: LightShift Contest.  Please include your name and mailing address in your e-mail.

ENTRY 2:  Tweet a #selfie picture of you making a financial donation at a Salvation Army kettle, donating items at a Salvation Army thrift store, or making a purchase at a Salvation Army thrift store to @Geeky_Dad with the hashtag #AGeekDaddy. 

ENTRY 3:  Leave a comment on this blog post explaining how you are going to make the world a brighter place in 2015.

E-mails will only be used to contact the winner and deleted following the selection of a winner.  The selected winner must reply back upon being notified of their selection with the make, model and year of their vehicle so their prize can be fulfilled. 

SYLVANIA SilverStar^® ULTRA headlight bulbs have whiter and brighter light for more clarity. They provide additional side road and down road visibility compared to standard halogen headlight bulbs. They help drivers identify and react sooner to road hazards like debris, animals, disabled vehicles or pedestrians. Just how bright are SYLVANIA SilverStar® ULTRA bulbs?  By providing up to 50% greater brightness compared to worn standard halogen bulbs they can increase visibility down the road by up to 40% and peripheral visibility by up to 50%.  This can equate to as much as 50 to 100 feet more visibility at night - so you can see farther, wider, and better.  Because headlights dim over time, by as much as 20%, it is recommended they be checked once a year and replaced every couple of years.  Always replace your headlights in pairs to ensure an evenly distributed beam pattern.

For more information about SYLVANIA SilverStar^® ULTRA headlight bulbs visit
www.sylvania.com/auto.  Click here for additional SYLVANIA LightShift stories.

For more information about The Salvation Army visit  www.salvationarmyusa.org/

DISCLAIMER:  A Geek Daddy Blog will be responsible for selecting the winner of this contest, but Weber Shandwick Public Relations is responsible for fulfillment and delivery of the prize.  By participating in this contest you waive any liability towards A Geek Daddy Blog or its publisher that may arise from your involvement with this promotion. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. No P.O. Boxes are allowed as mailing addresses. A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive any financial compensation for hosting this promotion only the prize that is being awarded to one of our readers for this contest was provided for its participation.  A Geek Daddy Blog is hosting this contest as a benefit to our readers. Weber Shandwick provided the content relating to SYLVANIA SilverStar® ULTRA bulb in this post.