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NLPC Asks Verizon to Pull Vicious Jim Carrey From Super Bowl Ad

National Legal & Policy Center

Today, National Legal and Policy Center called for Verizon to pull its controversial Super Bowl commercial featuring Jim Carrey. For what will be its highest-profile advertisement of the year – on the Super Bowl broadcast – Verizon decided to have comedic actor Jim Carrey reprise his role from the 1996 dark comedy “The Cable Guy” to promote its new 5G wireless service. From Monsters & Critics: “Something big is almost here! Your internet will never be the same,” Verizon wrote in a tweet on Tuesday with a 10-second teaser… In the teaser clip, the camera view is zooming towards an apartment door from the inside. Someone is repeatedly ringing the buzzer and banging on the door. A woman goes over to the peephole and looks out to see who is causing all that commotion. “Cable Guy!” the 60-year-old Jim Carrey yells as he comes into view through the peephole. “Who thought this was a good idea?” asked Paul Chesser, director of the Corporate Integrity Project for the National Legal and Policy Center. “Unfortunately, Carrey, to most Americans, is no longer the lovable goofball of the “Ace Ventura” films or “The Truman Show.” During the Trump administration he revealed a second career as a crass painter of brutal, disgusting depictions of the former president and his family.” Among the repulsive illustrations – often disseminated on Twitter – were images of Trump in various states of undress; having sex with Stormy Daniels; falling asleep watching porn while COVID raged; and his sons being gored by an elephant. "Regardless of how one feels about the former President, Carey’s artwork is so vulgar and over the line, Verizon should not air the add," Chesser continued. " This is who Verizon and Chairman/CEO Hans Vestberg decided should promote its powerful new wireless service, on the day of the biggest sporting event of the year – one which is intended to bring Americans together for fun and to forget the troubles of the world for a few hours." Founded in 1991, NLPC promotes ethics in public life and government accountability through research, investigation, education, and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Paul Chesser +1 703-237-1970 pchesser@nlpc.org Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 danrenejr@gmail.com Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

February 11, 2022 01:01 PM Eastern Standard Time

Telos Spark Hackathon - Next Level Innovation on the Fastest EVM Can Win You 100,000 Crypto Coins(Tlos)!

Telos Foundation

The Telos Spark Hackathon centers itself on the tEVM, a Web3.0 next level Ethereum Virtual Machine that is ready to generate instant blocks at the most affordable rates. Register today and prepare to deploy your Solidity contracts on the most robust and affordable EVM to date. GameFi, DeFi, NFTs, FilmFi, literally AnyFi, bring it forward. Deploy your contracts and watch them race at speeds and rates never experienced before. Here is video proof of just how fast and inexpensive the tEVM actually is: Telos vs Fantom Telos vs BInance Smart Chain vs Avalanche vs Ethereum *Not paid for -Thank you, Sean Davis! Telos Spark began on February 7th (lasting for a minimum of 4 weeks) and is scheduled to end on March 6th. Spark Hackathon winners will be announced on March 14th, 2022. This being our initial Telos Spark Hackathon, we will not be narrowing this specific competition down into different themes. Although we have a wishlist of sorts, we unanimously decided to leave the competition open so that the innovations pave the path. Developers can Register Here. Telos Foundation is encouraging Solidity developers to bring their best tools and dApps to the tEVM and potentially win a game changing prize which could even possibly evolve into a grant (Telos has it’s Ignite Grant program running in sync to its Spark Hackathon ). Telos has worked diligently to develop the tEVM from the ground up (non-Ethereum Fork) to remedy all of the pitfalls associated with all other EVMs. We have made the tEVM ludicrously fast, implemented fixed nano-sized gas fees, made sure dApps can scale without congestion and have insulated all end users from Front Running / Mev. “This is an incredible opportunity for Ethereum developers to gain a first mover advantage on the fastest, most scalable EVM in the World and win significant prize money. The Telos EVM ecosystem is set to explode in the coming months in a similar fashion to Avalanche, Fantom and Polygon, only bigger with reduced scalability concerns - who wouldn't want to be a part of that?” Justin Giudici, Acting CEO at Telos Foundation. We’re open to feedback from the Ethereum community and would love for you to participate in helping to build towards a better user experience on Telos. You could build EVM Tools to improve the UI or Backend such as: Charts and Statistics Snapshots Airdrops Display, Collection for NFT ́s You could build dApps or Forks applications like: DeFi and DEX innovation (Pancake or similar) Staking and Lending contracts or tools (Maker, Aave, Compound or similar) Innovative NFT Minting contracts (utility, liquidity, timelock...) Ethereum Name Service Fork (yourname.tlos) MultiSig tools or vaults (Gnosis or similar) Play 2 Earn fork / concept Or just bring your cool idea! In partnership with one of our favorite dApps within the Telos ecosystem, Taikai, and our recently launched Mentor support team, we are eager to make the deployment of your Solidity contracts as seamless as possible. Taikai itself is a dApp which specializes in creating streamlined and highly organized hackathons for both the developers and the platforms, and alongside them, hosting Telos Spark will be a breeze. Our mentors are all seasoned and eager to help make the simple deployment process painless. Prizes 1st place: 100,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by the winning team. 2nd place: 50,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by the 2nd place team. 3rd – 5th place: 10,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by each team ranked in 3rd - 5th place. *Think of the odds. Register now. Telos EVM The Telos EVM (tEVM) is a non-Ethereum Fork EVM that is built from the ground up. It is the most robust EVM to date and by many multiples. It is extremely efficient, compiles Solidity and Vyper in a Wasm runtime environment and has been meticulously audited. The tEVM also insulates all DeFi and NFT trades from any Front Running / MEV due to its first in first out mempool protocol, governance, and ludicrous speed. Highlights Energy efficient (currently less than.000002 kWh per transaction and moving towards below zero numbers via offsets) Fastest EVM (instant transactions - half second blocktimes) Super scalable (sustainably capable of hundreds of millions of transactions per day) Truly decentralized (in both its technical architecture and its financial structure - No ICO) Most affordable with the most stable gas fees (stable because gas fees are fixed, while said gas fees are independent and do not move linearly with TLOS coin price) Next level governance (the only layer 1 to make its governance available to any dApp or chain. It can be downloaded in the App Store - Telos Decide) ESG focused - Environmental (striving for carbon neutral), Social (Truly Decentralized - a sanctuary platform), Governance (the only platform to extend the use of its truly democratic governance platform to its entire ecosystem and beyond - Telos Decide) About Telos Telos is a 3rd generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts, providing full EVM/Solidity support as well as a fee-less native smart contract layer upon which the EVM is built. Telos performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, decentralization and end-user fairness. The network can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating frontrunning on the network), offers a fee-less native and low per transaction cost EVM (<$0.10), and a fully decentralized block producer network. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details Telos Foundation The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

February 11, 2022 10:20 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Introducing the Talent Empowerment Podcast for People Leaders

Talent Empowerment Podcast

Talent Empowerment is an innovative new podcast designed to lift up people leaders so they can lift up their organizations! Each week, host Tom Finn, co-founder and CEO of LeggUP, sits down with people leaders, talent development savants, founders, and executives from every industry to learn how they’re driving people innovation, transforming HR into People Ops, and securing organizational buy-in to disrupt the status quo. “The people development space hasn't evolved for decades. Now is the time to support HR and people leaders with modern tools to create a human-centric impact beyond compliance and module-based training,” Finn said. “Our podcast serves to replace legacy thinking with widespread innovation that truly lifts up and empowers employees.” The first episodes are now available wherever you listen to podcasts or on the Talent Empowerment YouTube channel. Listen now to hear from Nasdaq’s SVP of People Experience and Diversity, Rich Taylor, and Webflow’s Head of DEI, Mariah Driver. Rich shares his unique insights into why companies need to view employees as customers, how to create career maps for everyone in the organization, and why the terms “talent management” and “human capital” should be replaced. Mariah dives into how she fights off imposter syndrome, gained organizational trust to start numerous new DEI initiatives, and how she got scrappy to build her own tools when she found nothing satisfactory already in the marketplace. “Employees are demanding change and there are great leaders out there, like Mariah and Rich, who are not only listening, but taking action. We want this podcast to shine a spotlight on innovative people leaders and spread their ideas like wildfire,” Finn continued. New episodes will be released every week and available on every major podcast platform and YouTube. To learn more about the show, their guests, or to apply to be a guest yourself, visit www.talentempowerment.com. The first sponsor of the Talent Empowerment podcast is LeggUP, an inclusive people development platform designed to help people leaders empower their organizations through 1:1 professional coaching. LeggUP’s groundbreaking product Talent Insurance guarantees improved employee productivity, wellbeing, and retention. In fact, they insure it! Your people stay, or they pay! Boilerplate The Talent Empowerment podcast is a weekly podcast for people leaders, talent development savants or anyone with an interest in empowering their teams and organization. To learn more or to apply to become a guest, visit www.talentempowerment.com. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a chance to empower your people. New episodes are released every week. Contact Details Jenna Murrell Director of Partnerships & Programming jenna@talentempowerment.com

February 10, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Carlos Musquez Joins Catalyst Marketing Agency

Catalyst Marketing Agency

Catalyst, a Denver-based creative marketing agency, adds creative leader, Carlos Musquez, to the agency team. As executive creative director, Musquez will lead the agency’s creative culture and drive the creative direction for Catalyst’s clients, including Microsoft, Adobe, and World Kinect. “This pivotal new role for Catalyst will catapult our position as a true creative agency that is driven by strategy and known for delighting our clients,” said Catalyst CEO, Gem Swartz. “Catalyst is experiencing an exciting creative metamorphosis that brings us into 2022 with a renewed focus on exceeding our clients’ expectations with fresh, bold thinking.” Musquez joins Catalyst from ELA Advertising, a Los Angeles-based creative ad agency, after a long history at Omnicom agencies. He has created work for brands including Starbucks, TikTok, Paramount, Nestle, Logitech, Disney, eBay, Sony, Netflix, and Coca-Cola. “I’m not joining the Catalyst team to work at ‘another agency,’” said Musquez. “I am joining a team that is building a transformative creative agency. The vision of the agency’s partners, Gem Swartz and Robin Emiliani, is to build a creative agency that jolts the creativity of our clients, our industry peers, and future friends. That is inspiring. I want to be part of the journey and infuse my global brand experience and passion for delivering breakthrough creative to the team and our clients.” Musquez has been globally recognized by the Addy’s, Creativity, Effie’s, New York Festivals, Communication Arts, Art Directors Club, Clios, and Cannes. When he’s not creating, Musquez is spending time with his family, cooking, or indulging in his passion for cars and auto racing. About Catalyst Catalyst is a creative marketing agency devoted to helping you reach your most audacious marketing goals. We exist to jolt your creativity—giving you the strategy and unexpected creative direction your business needs to capture your customers' attention. Learn more at catalystmarketing.io. Contact Details Catalyst Marketing Agency Robin Emiliani +1 303-842-1189 robin@catalystmarketing.io Company Website https://catalystmarketing.io/

February 10, 2022 07:00 AM Mountain Standard Time

FreshEdge Launches New Website

FreshEdge

FreshEdge, a family of produce and specialty food companies, has launched a refreshed and expanded www.freshedgefoods.com. FreshEdge partnered with DMA Solutions (Dallas, Texas), a marketing agency dedicated to exclusively serving the fresh produce industry. The website creates opportunities for connecting with FreshEdge’s operating companies and engaging in what makes their family unique. FreshEdge now operates with 1,640 employees, approximately 700,250 square feet of warehouse space, with a fleet of more than 650 trucks, delivering fresh food to customers in 22 states. Through rapid growth and consistent execution, FreshEdge has quickly amassed a reputation for adding value throughout the fresh foods industry. “FreshEdge’s new website is a splash of freshness,” said Steve Grinstead, CEO of FreshEdge. “It also symbolizes who we are – a growing family of customer-obsessed fresh food companies who care.” Greg Corsaro, President and COO of FreshEdge, added, “The revamped website reflects FreshEdge’s value proposition of providing dependable, customized solutions with cutting-edge technology for consistent, reliable delivery of fresh food with a sense of family and trust.” “We’re excited about the unique space this new website delivers for connecting FreshEdge, its family, and our industry partners,” said Daniel Corsaro, President of Indianapolis Fruit (FreshEdge retail operating company) and participant in the development of the new site. About FreshEdge FreshEdge was formed in 2019 through the combination of Get Fresh Produce (Bartlett, IL, founded in 1982) and the IF&P Foods family of companies, primarily composed of Indianapolis Fruit (founded 1947) and Piazza Produce (founded 1970). McCartney Produce (Paris, TN) joined the FreshEdge family in November 2020 followed by Valley Produce (Knoxville, TN) in June 2021, Vine Line (Grand Rapids, MI) in October 2021, and Monteverde’s (Pittsburgh, PA) in November 2021. Collectively, these leading fresh food distribution companies have several hundred years’ combined experience serving the grocery and food service industries. In addition, FreshEdge includes two Garden Cut branded fresh-cut processing facilities, a tomato re-packer, a USDA fresh kitchen (CIBUS Fresh), and two transportation companies. Today, FreshEdge is a category leader in providing both the foodservice and retail industries with fruit, vegetables, fresh grab-n-go offerings, dairy, floral and specialty products. For more, visit www.freshedgefoods.com. Contact Details FreshEdge Greg Corsaro +1 317-981-3440 gcorsaro@freshedgefoods.com Company Website https://www.freshedgefoods.com/

February 10, 2022 07:43 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Telos EVM, the World’s Fastest EVM is Offering a Propelling 12 Million Crypto Grant to Developers

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain, the most robust and advanced layer 1 platform has gone live with its Telos Ignite grant initiative. Telos Ignite seeks to finance advanced Web 3.0 development and to assist the development of projects that will create synergy and growth for the Chain. To fuel the expansion of the ecosystem, the Telos Foundation has aggressively locked in 12 million TLOS crypto tokens to support this exciting initiative over the next four years. “We’re incredibly excited to be announcing Telos Ignite and can’t wait to see all of the amazing projects that the developer community brings to the table.” AJ Dinger, Head of Business Development at Telos Foundation. Telos is a highly scalable 3rd generation layer 1 smart contract platform supporting both Solidity ( tEVM ) and fee-less native C++ smart contracts. Without any code modifications Ethereum projects can simply replicate their dApps and deploy to Telos tEVM using familiar tool sets, including MetaMask, Hardhat, Truffle, Remix, ethers.js and others. With half second block times, a sustainable transaction capacity that is in the hundreds of millions per day, fixed/independent of coin price gas fees (under $0.10 transaction), complete insulation from any Front Running/Mev, plus a fully decentralized block producer network, Telos believes it is the most robust and decentralized 3rd Generation Layer 1 crypto solution available. "The Telos team has worked hard to create the most powerful and accessible smart contract platform in existence. This grant program will help attract new, innovative dApps to the platform, allowing it to reach its full potential.” Douglas Horn, Telos Chief Architect. Telos Ignite is looking for passionate teams that want to contribute to Web3 applications and build projects that significantly impact the growth of the Telos ecosystem. There are three categories of projects where we encourage teams to apply: Ecosystem Projects: Telos is seeking projects that support the development of the Telos ecosystem through a wide range of use cases. Our key areas of focus include DeFi, GameFi, NFTs and more. This category aims to grow the Telos ecosystem by providing useful services and utility to the platform, allowing our community to experience the full breadth of what blockchain technology has to offer. Tools and Infrastructure: Telos is also looking for developers who can build support and infrastructure development tooling that other Telos developers need. Examples include Wallets, Block Explorers, APIs, Component Libraries and various other tools to support the Telos ecosystem. ESG Initiatives: From its inception, Telos has been committed to the principles of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). As part of the program, Telos is seeking to attract developers who are passionate about addressing current ESG challenges. If you have a project that you believe helps solve these issues, Telos Ignite is here to support these initiatives. “Telos Ignite enables us to bring in the projects which show off the network's speed and performance at scale we haven't seen before. We look forward to being able to prove our capabilities in a way that Solana and other projects have been talking a big game about but coming up short. An influx of new applications will enable us to do this.” Justin Giudici, Acting CEO at Telos Foundation. The Telos Ignite grant program offers several benefits to contributors: Funding in the form of native Telos tokens (TLOS) Developer tools and resources to help facilitate a streamlined development process Communication and direct support with members of the Telos team End to end support, from the building process to the technical and commercial strategy Recognition as a grant winner Registrations are now open for the first cohort of projects. The Ignite program is available to projects built on both the network's EVM and C++ Native platforms. You can learn more about the program and apply for a grant here. About The Chain Telos is a 3rd generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts, providing full EVM/Solidity support as well as a fee-less native smart contract layer upon which the EVM is built. Telos performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, decentralization and end-user fairness. The network can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating frontrunning on the network), offers a fee-less native and low per transaction cost EVM (<$0.10), and a fully decentralized block producer network. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details Telos Foundation The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

February 09, 2022 09:07 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Customer Experience Revenue in the Travel & Hospitality Industry Declined by 33% Between 2019 and 2021, According to Dash Research

Dash Network

While all industry sectors have needed to pivot and flex to address the global pandemic, few other industries have had to reinvent their processes and solutions the way the travel & hospitality market has needed to. Constantly changing restrictions and regulations have made any sort of market recovery in this sector lumpy, at best. The travel & hospitality sector has always needed to walk the line between internal operational and cost efficiencies and personal attention to the guest or traveler. According to a recent report from Dash Research, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused many travel & hospitality companies to reassess their priorities and current technology status, focusing on those that will result in even greater efficiencies as they navigate the upcoming recovery, and provide a smooth, friction-free, and positive customer experience for those traveling. Dash Research estimates that the global market for customer experience (CX)/customer engagement (CE) software and services totaled $3.5 billion in 2021, a 32.7% decline from 2019 when revenue for the sector was $5.2 billion. The market intelligence firm does not anticipate revenue returning to 2019 levels within the duration of its forecast period (2019 to 2026). Worldwide CX/CE revenue is forecast to rise moderately over the next several years, reaching $4.3 billion in 2026. “The customer journey of a traveler can be complicated and leverages many disparate technologies,” says senior analyst Sherril Hanson. “The process of researching a trip via the wide variety of channels and third-party providers, booking, paying, moving through a transportation hub, and arriving at a destination of choice has a lot of opportunities to rise to the occasion to provide outstanding CX or fall short of expectations.” Hanson adds that each touchpoint in that journey is an opportunity to build brand loyalty, trust, and positive emotions. Dash Research concludes that this is both a challenge and an opportunity for implementing CX technologies and services. While the industry will take some time to fully rebound, an exploration of CX in this sector demonstrates that it is a market primed to reap the benefits of implementing CX technologies. Dash Research analysis indicates that the key market drivers spurring the purchase of CX software platforms, applications, and ancillary services in the travel & hospitality market include the following: Demand for omnichannel interactions and self-service along the various touchpoints Changes in the nature of the travel experience and a desire for personalization Acceleration of contactless and convenience technologies Increased communication needs However, a multi-year global pandemic represents an unprecedented challenge for the travel & hospitality industry, and several key related market barriers that are tempering the growth of CX software and services include the following: Market uncertainty and budget constraints Fragmented and sometimes outdated technology stacks Labor shortages and employee burnout Consumer concern over health and safety issues Opportunities abound for the growth of CX solutions in travel & hospitality, but amidst all the current challenges, these solutions must be implemented with a keen eye toward evolving consumer behavior and attitudes, greater efficiency and convenience for travelers, timely and personalized communications, and a strong and sustained focus on employee experience (EX) in an environment of scarce labor resources. Dash Research’s report, “CX in the Travel & Hospitality Industry”, focuses on the software platforms, applications, and services that are offered to travel & hospitality companies to help them achieve excellent CX that leaves travelers feeling safe, satisfied, and eager for a return trip via all the companies that eased their journey. The report examines the current and future market issues, market drivers and barriers, and case studies within the travel & hospitality CX/CE industry. Market sizing and forecasts include segmentations by geography, functional area, product offering, and visibility to the customer. Discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the industry is responding, is also included. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website. Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700. Contact Details Clint Wheelock +1 720-603-1700 press@dashnetwork.com Company Website http://www.dashnetwork.com

February 09, 2022 06:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Draft2Digital to Acquire Smashwords, Creating Self-Publishing Juggernaut

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital, LLC and Smashwords, Inc., two pioneers in ebook self-publishing, today announced that Draft2Digital will acquire Smashwords. The acquisition unites the industry’s two most innovative and author-friendly publishing platforms into one, enabling the new Draft2Digital to drive even greater success for authors, publishers, and sales partners. Draft2Digital and Smashwords are key catalysts behind the dramatic rise of self-publishing over the last fourteen years. Their publishing platforms enable 250,000 authors and publishers around the world to publish, distribute, market, and manage over 800,000 ebooks and 11,000 print on demand paperback books. The combined company will operate under the Draft2Digital name and will be headquartered in Oklahoma City. All Smashwords and Draft2Digital employees are expected to join the combination. Kris Austin, co-founder and CEO of Draft2Digital, will lead the combined company as CEO. Mark Coker, founder and former CEO of Smashwords, will join the Draft2Digital management team as Chief Strategy Officer and board member. Both companies are entering the acquisition profitable and debt-free. “I’m pleased to welcome Smashwords authors, publishers, employees and partners to the D2D family,” said Kris Austin. “Early in our discussions with Smashwords, we each immediately realized we can accomplish so much more for the indie author community by working together than working as competitors. The resources we once expended creating duplicative systems can now be redeployed to ramp up our R&D investments in next generation tools to empower authors and publishers.” “I’m thrilled to join forces with Draft2Digital,” said Mark Coker. “Over the last decade, I’ve come to deeply admire Draft2Digital’s team, technology, and commitment to authors. Our shared business model is a key to our two companies’ success. We put authors first. By design, we only make money when our authors make money. This aligns our interests with the interests of our authors. Together we will lead the next chapter of the indie author revolution.” The combination is expected to yield significant benefits for authors, publishers, retail and library partners, and readers. Draft2Digital authors will gain access to the Smashwords Store and its myriad exclusive book marketing tools, including Smashwords Coupons, self-serve merchandising, Author Interviews, and the patent pending Smashwords Presales tool for book launches. Sales at the Smashwords Store have grown consecutively each of the last five years, with December 2021 sales up 20% over December 2020. Draft2Digital’s erotica authors can look forward to expanded distribution enabled by Smashwords’ proprietary erotica certification system, which allows retailers to carry erotic romance and mainstream erotica with greater confidence. Smashwords authors will gain access to new tools that simplify print and digital publishing and drive greater success. Among these tools are D2D Print, the company’s Print on Demand service for paperbacks (currently in beta, which authors can join at https://draft2digital.com/printbeta/); improved metadata management tools for better book discoverability at retailers; automated end-matter for series books; payment splitting for co-authors and collaborations; and more payment options, including direct bank deposits. Retailers and libraries served by the companies can expect greater title selection and unmatched merchandising recommendations. The new, merged company will offer retailers, subscription services, and libraries unprecedented data-driven insights into the world’s largest dedicated catalog of independently published books. This represents a unique and first-of-its-kind offering that Draft2Digital believes will improve the publishing industry. Customers of the Smashwords Store can look forward to an improved store experience and an increased selection of books from the many great authors and publishers distributed by Draft2Digital. “This acquisition is great news for indie authors,” said Joanna Penn, host of the Creative Penn podcast and bestselling author who has followed each company since its founding. “Two of the industry’s strongest advocates for indie authors are combining their unique toolsets, technologies, and energy to do more for the indie community. There are exciting years ahead!” What’s Coming Next The acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2022. To minimize workflow disruption for authors, publishers, and sales partners, the two platforms will combine their systems in gradual and incremental steps. Authors and publishers of both companies can continue utilizing their current platform of choice with the understanding that over time the authors and publishers of both companies will gain access to a common dashboard, common distribution outlets (including distribution to the Smashwords Store for current D2D authors), and an expanded suite of new and improved tools for book publishing, distribution, and marketing. Draft2Digital will broadcast a live Q&A session for authors and publishers on Wednesday, February 9 th, at Noon Central, with Kris Austin and Mark Coker, moderated by Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital’s VP of Marketing & PR. Kris and Mark will share additional insight about their plans to support the indie publishing community and welcome questions from the audience. Visit https://D2DLive.com for links and launch time, and to attend live on either Facebook or YouTube. The live broadcast will be recorded for future inclusion in the Draft2Digital podcast, Self Publishing Insiders, and will be available as a blog post at Draft2Digital.com/blog. Additional FAQs about the acquisition can be found at: https://smashwords.com/united https://draft2digital.com/united About Draft2Digital Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Draft2Digital is the world’s leading publishing platform for self-published authors and independent presses. The company offers a broad suite of free and powerful automated and self-serve tools that authors and publishers can use to build and grow their publishing businesses. This includes tools to simplify ebook and print publishing, distribution, metadata management, and marketing. Following its acquisition of Smashwords, Draft2Digital will serve more than 250,000 authors and publishers that collectively publish over 800,000 books worldwide. Visit Draft2Digital at https://draft2digital.com or follow on Twitter @Draft2Digital. About Smashwords, Inc. Founded in 2008 by Mark Coker, Smashwords was an early pioneer in ebook self-publishing. The company’s platform made it possible for writers to professionally produce, publish, and distribute ebooks at no cost. As a distributor, Smashwords was the first to open multiple major retailers and library ebook services to self-published authors, and worked in partnership with sales partners and payment processors to establish systems, standards, and professional best practices to foster a thriving ecosystem of indie-friendly booksellers and libraries. As of December 31, 2021, Smashwords was publishing 590,000 ebooks supplied by 150,000 authors, publishers and literary agents. The company was originally headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif, and most recently based in Pacific Grove, Calif. Visit Smashwords at https://smashwords.com, or follow the store at @Smashwords. For media inquiries, please contact: Kevin Tumlinson, Director of Marketing & PR kevin.tumlinson@draft2digital.com ### Contact Details Draft2Digital Kevin Tumlinson, Director of Marketing & PR kevin.tumlinson@draft2digital.com Company Website https://draft2digital.com/

February 08, 2022 10:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

Velocity Global becomes Official Partner of the DP World Tour

Velocity Global

Velocity Global becomes first global technology company to sponsor the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour DP World Tour to utilise the Global Work Platform from Velocity Global to enable employees to work anywhere in the world Multi-year agreement with elevated partnership status at three additional tournaments The DP World Tour today announces that Velocity Global, the world’s leading provider of global talent solutions, has become an Official Tour Partner in a multi-year agreement. Velocity Global serves as the Official Global Work Platform of the DP World Tour. Speaking about the partnership Rob Wellner, Chief Revenue Officer of Velocity Global said; “We are excited to become an Official Tour Partner and the Official Global Work Platform for the DP World Tour. Golf is truly a global game that spans national boundaries, leading to increased competition in an effort to find the best golf talent wherever it is. Finding and hiring top talent - anyone, anywhere - is at the heart of what Velocity Global provides to our customers. We give a competitive edge to leading companies to get ahead in the global marketplace. This partnership is a perfect embodiment of that work." Max Hamilton, Commercial Director of the European Tour group, added; “The DP World Tour has a truly global footprint, with 45 tournaments across 25 countries in our 2022 schedule - and in Velocity Global, we have found a partner who matches that globality. As an ever-expanding Tour, their Global Work Platform will support our business operations for DP World Tour personnel working abroad. Their footprint in golf is substantial and given our close ties to the PGA TOUR and both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour with our mixed events, Velocity Global can create synergies through its deep partnerships across golf’s biggest tours. We look forward to supporting each other in the years ahead.” As an Official Tour Partner, Velocity Global benefits from a range of marketing opportunities to grow its brand, including on-course signage and live television branding during DP World Tour events, bespoke social media content and access to tournament hospitality services. Throughout the partnership Velocity Global and the DP World Tour will develop a multi-channel content series to showcase some of the top players in the world and share their Work from Anywhere story. Velocity Global also enjoys elevated partnership status at three of the DP World Tour’s premier tournaments each season. These are two Rolex Series tournaments - the BMW PGA Championship and the DP World Tour Championship - plus the ISPS Handa World Invitational, which is an innovative mixed gender tournament run in partnership with the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. The company’s Global Work Platform TM enables employers to grow compliant distributed workforces in more than 185 countries. Serving as the Official Global Work Platform for the DP World Tour, this partnership will see the Tour use Velocity Global’s services to help its employees work anywhere in the world. With this announcement, Velocity Global is now a partner of the four leading Tours in the men’s and women’s professional game – the first global tech company to have such a presence in elite golf. The company is already the Official Global Workforce Solutions Platform of the PGA TOUR, as well as the presenting sponsor of the PGA TOUR University. Last month, Velocity Global also announced a new agreement as the Official Global Work Platform of the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. In addition, Billy Horschel, the winner of the 2021 BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour and a six-time PGA TOUR winner, is a Velocity Global brand ambassador, along with 12th-ranked Lexi Thompson and Albane Valenzuela on the LPGA Tour. Kevin Hall, a four-time APGA Tour champion, is also a Velocity Global brand ambassador. About Velocity Global Velocity Global accelerates the future of work for anyone, anywhere, anyhow. Its Global Work Platform simplifies the employer and talent experience through its proprietary cloud-based talent management technology, backed by personalized expertise and unmatched global scale. With talent solutions in more than 185 countries and all 50 United States, the platform combines global Employer of Record and Contractor Management to onboard, manage, and pay talent worldwide. More than 1,000 brands rely on Velocity Global to build global teams without the cost or complexity of setting up foreign legal entities or state registrations. Velocity Global was named a "Leader" in Global Employer of Record services by prominent analyst firm NelsonHall. Founded in 2014, the company has hundreds of employees across six continents. For more information visit velocityglobal.com. About the DP World Tour The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group, with a global schedule featuring a minimum of 45 tournaments in 25 different countries across the 2022 season. Formerly known as the European Tour, which was established in 1972, the 2022 DP World Tour schedule includes five Rolex Series events, along with four Major Championships, two World Golf Championship events and three tournaments co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR, as well as tournaments staged around the world with a minimum prize of $2million for all events solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour. The season concludes with the final Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the winner of the Tour’s season-long competition, the DP World Tour Rankings, will be crowned. DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, is the title partner of the DP World Tour, which is administered by the European Tour group. Contact Details Velocity Global Chris McGrath +1 720-650-4348 news@velocityglobal.com Company Website https://velocityglobal.com/

February 08, 2022 07:01 AM Mountain Standard Time

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