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Sonichem Launches Project to Transform the Automotive Industry with Bio-Based Plastics

Sonichem

A consortium led by sustainable technology innovator Sonichem has been granted nearly £600,000 in funding from Innovate UK ’s 'Resource efficiency for materials and manufacturing' (REforMM) program. The funding will accelerate the development of the proprietary Sonichem ultrasound technology and the production of renewable, cost-effective alternatives to petrochemicals commonly used in the production of plastics, resins, and composites within the automotive industry. The cutting-edge CARMA (carbon-neutral agroforestry-derived resins to materials for automotive applications) project will apply Sonichem’s ultrasonic processing technique to automotive applications for the first time. The patented breakthrough approach converts sawdust, the biomass by-product from forestry operations, into high-quality lignin. This renewable material will then serve as the basis for bio-based platform chemicals, creating green alternatives to conventional petrochemical-derived materials currently used to produce various vehicle components. This transformative initiative is being undertaken in collaboration with technology innovation catalyst CPI, the National Composites Centre (NCC), Scott Bader, SHD Composites and Polestar, with each industry leader contributing its own specialized knowledge and expertise. In particular, CPI will support scale-up of the Sonichem technology; Scott Bader will pioneer the development of high-performance, sustainable composite resin formulations; and the NCC, SHD Composites and Polestar will together explore the potential of these novel materials for automotive interiors applications. The CARMA project aligns with the UK Government's focus on resource-efficient, sustainable industrial materials as it aims to significantly reduce the UK’s reliance on imported composite materials, which currently amounts to approximately £250-260 million per year. The newly awarded funding from Innovate UK will enable the international consortium to establish a robust and renewable lignin supply chain within the UK and accelerate the formulation of sustainable plastics and resins that contribute to steering the automotive industry toward a net-zero future and enhancing the country’s bioeconomy. Adrian Black, CEO of Sonichem, said: “We're extremely pleased to have the backing of Innovate UK's REforMM programme for this strong industrial consortium. This funding is a catalyst in our quest to offer the automotive industry a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-derived plastics. With Sonichem's ultrasound technology and the collaborative expertise of our partners, we are set to make strides toward a net-zero future and strengthen the UK's bioeconomy.” David Fishpool, Verification Manager at the NCC, said: “Creating a sustainable future is at the core of our mission. The National Composites Centre is proud to be part of this transformative initiative to accelerate the development of sustainable, cost-effective alternatives to petrochemicals in the production of plastics, resins, and composites for the automotive industry. Our role in this project underscores our commitment to driving innovation and sustainability in the materials sector. We eagerly anticipate contributing our expertise to this vital effort today, for a greener tomorrow.” Steven Brown, Group Sustainable Technology Manager at Scott Bader, commented: “Scott Bader is pleased to be part of this exciting project, and we look forward to working with our highly regarded industrial and technology partners to accelerate the valorization of abundant and sustainable biomass towards high-performance materials.” Nick Smith, Technical Director at SHD Composites, said: “SHD Composite Materials Ltd. is very excited to be working with Sonichem on the next generation of sustainable resins wholly sourced from UK feedstocks as part of our ongoing commitment to reduce the ecological impact of our products. These materials have the potential to be a game changer in the high-value composites market.” Read more about this trailblazing partnership on the new Sonichem website. About Sonichem Sonichem (formerly Bio-Sep) is an award-winning clean tech company dedicated to pioneering green chemical production through innovative ultrasonics. Our proprietary technology transforms low-value woody biomass into valuable green chemicals, with applications spanning bio-based materials, resins and composites, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and more. This sustainable solution is currently being showcased at our industrial-scale pilot plant, with plans in place to build a commercial biorefinery. About CPI CPI catalyzes the adoption of advanced technologies and manufacturing solutions to benefit people, places, and our planet. We’re a pioneering social enterprise that accelerates the development, scale-up and commercialization of smart AgriFoodTech, energy storage, HealthTech, materials, and pharma innovations. Through our incredible innovation experts and infrastructure, we look beyond the obvious to transform healthcare and drive towards a sustainable future. As a trusted partner of industry, academia, government, entrepreneurs and the investment community, we connect the dots within the innovation ecosystem to make great ideas and inventions a reality. We believe by working together we can build a better collective future, and as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, we facilitate access to world-class organizations to deliver transformation across industries and landscapes. Creating lasting global impact from the North of England and Scotland, we invest in people and disruptive technologies to invigorate economies, create circular supply chains and make our world a better place. About the NCC The National Composites Centre (NCC) is the UK’s world-leading composite research and development facility, where innovators come when they need to make things lighter, stronger, smarter and more sustainable. Its key focus areas are composites, digital engineering, hydrogen and sustainability. With access to 'beyond' state-of-the-art technology and the best composites engineering capabilities in the world, the NCC collaborates with customers to solve the most complex engineering challenges of our time. Part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the NCC works across all manufacturing sectors and has forged strong links with aerospace, energy, defense, space, construction, infrastructure, auto, rail, marine and biomedical fields. It works with organizations across the board from micro enterprises and SMEs to disrupters, the supply chain and OEMs, providing businesses with a de-risked environment to design, develop, test and scale their ideas and get them to market fast. For more information, visit https://www.nccuk.com/ About Scott Bader Scott Bader is an employee-owned global manufacturer of advanced composites, structural adhesives and functional polymers. Established in 1921, we have a century of expertise in manufacturing high-quality, innovative products for a variety of markets around the world. Scott Bader now employs 800 people across seven manufacturing sites and 18 offices worldwide. Scott Bader is committed to expanding its global reach, with recent ventures including North America, India, Japan and Australia, while continuing to build on its reputation for innovation, outstanding quality and technical expertise. About SHD Composites SHD Composites Group operates through four manufacturing sites in the UK, Europe and USA, and is a well-established industry supplier of high-quality structural and tooling prepreg materials. Accredited to AS9100 Rev D and ISO 9001:2015, SHD prides itself on its quality, service and responsiveness to local customer needs. © 2024 kdm communications limited Contact Details Editorial contact for further information or follow-up Alex Rowthorn at kdm communications limited, St Neots, UK +44 1480 405333 ideas@kdm-communications.com Fax +44 1480 477833 Company Website https://sonichem.com/

January 30, 2024 09:55 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Locality and Canela Media Join Forces To Amplify Hispanic Political Engagement

Locality

Locality, the industry’s preeminent local video solutions provider, today announced a partnership with Canela Media, the leading technology and innovation-driven digital media company for the Latino community. Locality will act as the Hispanic-media company’s exclusive political ad sales arm and oversee political campaign engagement strategies targeted toward Hispanic audiences this election year. The synergy of Canela Media's trust and credibility within Hispanic communities and Locality's expertise in political and streaming advertising promises a groundbreaking approach to local political outreach. This collaboration will facilitate reach among the U.S. Hispanic audience through Canela Media’s streaming inventory while leveraging Locality’s industry prowess and capabilities to sell digital inventory for political campaigns. This collaboration acknowledges the growing and important Hispanic population of eligible voters in the upcoming November 2024 election. According to Pew Research, over 36.2 million Hispanic Americans will be eligible to vote, constituting 14.7% of all eligible voters, an increase from 13.6% in 2020. “We are thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with Locality, a collaboration that enables political advertisers to establish meaningful connections with the growing and influential Canela Media audience. Recognizing the crucial role of engaging with U.S. Hispanic voters.” Andrés Rincón, Senior Vice President of Sales at Canela Media, emphasized, "Canela Media’s expansive reach and scale uniquely position us to connect with over 50 million U.S. Hispanics through our comprehensive OTT/CTV and online offerings.” “We’re excited to join forces with Canela Media to help transform how political advertisers are reaching underrepresented communities,” said Stacey Perry, Vice President of Political Streaming at Locality. “This partnership comes at a time when it’s more important than ever to reach Hispanic voters across all communities. By combining our political media expertise with Canela Media, we’re coming together to ensure local political advertisers can connect with Hispanic communities across all media avenues and keep them educated during this election cycle. About Locality Locality is the industry's preeminent local video solutions provider, committed to addressing the evolving needs of advertisers by unlocking the power of local and driving dollars to the local video marketplace. Locality brings together the best talent in both broadcast and streaming helping brands tap into the mindset of the local consumer and precisely reach optimal markets, nationally. Having served more than 1,500 ad agencies and 4,500 advertisers, to date, Locality offers the best premium inventory that the industry has to offer to help brands optimize their spend and target audiences at scale. Our team resides in 11 office locations across the U.S. designed to strategically service 100% of DMAs. For more information, please visit www.locality.com. About Canela Media Canela Media is a leading technology and innovation driven media company offering brands a complete ecosystem to connect with multicultural audiences starting with its free streaming platform service, Canela.TV enriching the new generation of U.S. Latinos with free access to unique, culturally relevant content which includes a unique blend of music programming through Canela Music featuring emerging and established Latino artists, Spanish-language Children's content through Canela Kids and sports content through Canela Deportes. As part of Canela Mediaâs proprietary data solution offering, Canela Connect is centered on an OTT first approach that helps identify U.S. Hispanic audiences in English and Spanish language OTT platforms providing unprecedented OTT scale for advertisers to reach U.S. Hispanics. Moreover, Canela Media's large scale in premium Spanish-language sites, combined with the company's proprietary data, provides in-depth knowledge and understanding of how to establish meaningful and culturally relevant connections with the new mainstream Hispanics across the U.S. and Latin America. For more information, please visit http://www.CanelaMedia.com. Contact Details Kite Hill PR for Locality +1 973-722-7881 julia@kitehillpr.com

January 30, 2024 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

BrightSign Elevates Partner Ecosystem with the Announcement of Bright Alliance

BrightSign

BrightSign, the provider of the most advanced, capable, and trusted digital media players and operating system, today announced Bright Alliance, a global program that affirms the company’s commitment to empowering its partner ecosystem. Bright Alliance is a comprehensive support system designed to enhance technical, sales, and marketing efforts for CMS partners, fostering mutual growth and generating business opportunities. Organizations — from retailers, to restaurants, to public spaces, to financial institutions — have a desire to create immersive experiences and connect with consumers in new ways. To achieve this vision, organizations need engaging content, reliable hardware and software, and an ecosystem of partners to attract, engage, and captivate audiences. Bright Alliance provides CMS partners with structured resources, including marketing, training, and technical assistance to promote, sell, implement, integrate, and support the latest BrightSign products. Bright Alliance means elevated engagements that spark new possibilities for CMS partners— all with reliability, longevity, and security at the forefront. By giving CMS partners the support they need, BrightSign is committed to maximizing the potential of every touchpoint, empowering businesses to bring to life their visions for connecting with consumers. The Bright Alliance program is set to formally roll out in Q1. “The work we do alongside our partners is one of the best-kept secrets in the digital signage and immersive display industries. This dedicated program is a chance to align with partners on the needs of the industry, communicate the value of our work together, and provide support to bring visual and immersive experiences to life,” said Misty Chalk, vice president of sales, Americas, at BrightSign. “Consumer attention is finite, and experiences are everything. So, organizations must define their unique digital signage journey to meet the needs of their audience.” BrightSign will be available to discuss the Bright Alliance program at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2024 at Booth #6M280. Follow BrightSign on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X to stay up to date on the company’s latest news. About BrightSign® BrightSign LLC, the global market leader in digital signage media players, is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, with offices in Europe and Asia. BrightSign manufactures media players and provides free software and networking solutions for the commercial digital signage market worldwide, serving all vertical segments of the digital signage marketplace. From entry-level BrightSign LS players to BrightSign XC players offering state-of-the-art technology and unsurpassed performance, BrightSign's products are known for their signature reliability, affordability, ease-of-use, and market-leading technology. For more information, visit BrightSign. Contact Details Racepoint Global +1 617-624-3221 brightsign@racepointglobal.com Company Website https://www.brightsign.biz/

January 29, 2024 03:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

The best generative AI solutions of 2024

AIport

January 25, 2024 — Ever since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in the fall of 2022, generative AI (GenAI) solutions have continued to disrupt industries with their surprising and never-before-seen features. Many of the generative AI solutions we hear about today are based on large language models (LLM), which allow them to successfully communicate with end users. Every such model has to be pre-trained on vast amounts of data and then fine-tuned using a variety of different methods. As we’re approaching the end of January, let’s look at the list of the most noteworthy of these models and explore the generative AI solutions they power. Compiled by the AIport newsletter team, this list is by no means exhaustive, but it is a review of what we believe are the LLM-based generative AI solutions and tools that are likely to make headlines this year. GPT (OpenAI and Microsoft) Expectedly, the first LLM on our list with some of the highest expectations this year is at the core of ChatGPT from OpenAI. GPT wasn’t the first LLM out there (there had been others like BERT ), but it was certainly the first one that resulted in a market-ready GenAI product. The original GPT model (Generative Pretrained Transformers) had 170 billion parameters, while the latest version, GPT-4, boasts over 1.75 trillion. The model’s applications are far and wide, being the basis not only for ChatGPT, but also Microsoft’s Bing Chat, which is now part of the Copilot infrastructure. While ChatGPT remains arguably the most impressive text-producing GenAI tool, Bing Chat (unlike ChatGPT) has internet access, making it ideal for web browsing. In addition, the same core GPT model is being utilized by other entities — from Panasonic Connect in Japan, OCBC Bank’s ChatGPT in Singapore, and KPMG’s KaiChat in Germany to the UK government’s upcoming GOV.UK chat. Notably, GPT is also a vital part of OpenAI’s DALL-E suite — a solution that generates images based on descriptions from text. PaLM and Gemini (Google) The next one on our list is Google’s PaLM (Pathways Language Model). The model, boasting 540 billion parameters, was first successfully tested in the spring of 2022. A year later, PaLM 2 was announced and subsequently integrated into Bard — Google’s GenAI chatbot — becoming available to test users around the world. Bard is considered among the finest solutions for productivity, having internet access like Bing Chat, but being less about navigating the web and more about answering burning questions. Bard was seriously bolstered at the end of last year with Google’s highly anticipated launch of the multimodal LLM, Gemini, which had been trained on images and audio/video files, not just text. The jury is still out on how far this update will take Bard, but the expectations are very high indeed. LLaMA (Meta, Microsoft, and Hugging Face) LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) from Meta was released in February last year. However, the 65-billion-parameter model was leaked online as a downloadable torrent only a week later. While the model did not lead to any ChatGPT-like products at Meta, another AI company — Hugging Face — picked it up and released Hugging Chat. Offering internet access, this GenAI solution has been praised as “the first open source alternative to ChatGPT” with a snarky sense of humor. Not to be outdone, Meta partnered with Microsoft to produce LLaMA 2 in July of last year. Following that, the company announced a beta release of Meta AI at the end of September — a GenAI chatbot, currently available in the US, that can “provide real-time information and generate photorealistic images” from text prompts. This solution is expected to reach Meta users across the rest of the globe later in the year. Claude (Anthropic) Our next LLM is made by Anthropic, and it’s named Claude. Founded in 2021, the company along with its language model may be a less familiar name to most non-geeks. But this is likely to change in 2024. That’s the case not only because the latest version of the namesake GenAI chatbot released last year can now process long PDF files of up to 75,000 words, taking moments to summarize entire books. But also because this has already caught the attention of both Google and Amazon who are keen to invest $2 and $4 billion respectively. While Claude doesn’t offer internet access, its processing power, namely input character memory, outpowers every competitor by a wide margin, including ChatGPT. And the company is said to be working on yet more handy features as we speak. HyperCLOVA X (Naver) HyperCLOVA X is both the LLM and the namesake GenAI chatbot released by the South Korean search engine giant, Naver, last August. Boasting over 200 billion parameters, the LLM is being used mainly for AI-assisted web browsing, much like Bing Chat. While HyperCLOVA X doesn’t speak English, the chatbot’s proficiency in Korean is impressive, having learned 6,500 more Korean words than ChatGPT. In addition to answering user queries, HyperCLOVA X has been designed to offer AI assistance to businesses across numerous sectors — from finance to gaming. Naver is also presently working to make HyperCLOVA X multimodal, following in the footsteps of Google’s Gemini, so another big international headline is likely on the way. Pangu (Huawei) Last spring, Huawei, one of the global tech leaders, unveiled Pangu — an LLM with 1.085 trillion parameters in over 40 natural and programming languages. This LLM now powers the Chinese company’s GenAI assistant called Celia, which resides within Huawei’s HarmonyOS 4 operating system. Supposedly, Celia has already outperformed both Siri and Google Assistant as a phone-based virtual assistant in terms of prompt execution accuracy, such as finding specific photos and documents stored on a device. And as more Huawei smartphones are being churned out, Celia is expected to reach more global users this year with further refinements to the Pangu model. In addition, Pangu is available through Huawei Cloud for commercial use. According to a statement from the company’s leadership, the newest Pangu 3.0 utilizes hierarchical architecture, allowing it to be quickly fine-tuned for a wide range of downstream applications (including Huawei’s autonomous vehicle solutions ), which we’ll surely see more of in 2024. MiLM-6B (Xiaomi) Next up is another Chinese company, Xiaomi — one of the largest phone manufacturers in the world. The company made an entry into the LLM race last summer with its MiLM-6B, a lightweight model created for mobile devices. Boasting 6.4 billion parameters, MiLM-6B has reportedly outperformed rivals in its category and achieved notable scores from evaluation platforms like C-Eval and CMMLU. Xiaomi’s leadership has been vocal for some time about integrating LLMs into its smartphones. It appears that the company’s virtual assistant, Xiao AI, has now finally become a fully fledged GenAI chatbot, generating over 11 words per second. By this metric, despite operating locally on the phone, Xiao AI has matched the performance of some LLMs running on cloud computing services. It’ll be interesting to see whether Xiao AI gets assimilated into the company’s other products, as the rumors suggest, including the recently announced Xiaomi SU7, an autonomous-enabled electric sedan. YandexGPT (Yandex) The final entry on our list is an LLM named YandexGPT from the Russian search engine Yandex. The namesake GenAI solution with 100 billion parameters was beta-released in May last year. The more recent release of YandexGPT2 has demonstrated a 65% improvement in response quality, with a 1.5-fold increase in training data. Interestingly, this GenAI solution was tested and scored enough points to enter a Russian university. YandexGPT was also integrated into Yandex’s flagship virtual assistant named Alice, as well as the company’s smart speakers. Furthermore, the LLM has allowed the company’s e-shoppers to view summarized customer reviews in one place. With YandexGPT at the core, the company now also offers visual GenAI solutions, YandexART and Shedevrum, that can generate images from text, much like Open AI’s DALL-E. Currently, the LLM is also being merged with Yandex Search to offer the end user something similar to Bing Chat and HyperCLOVA X. It’s likely that we’ll see a new announcement pertaining to this development later in the year. New kids on the block Apart from the above entries on our list, several brand new LLMs along with their GenAI solutions are expected to arrive any day from other big players. Among them are Samsung from South Korea, Tencent from China, as well as Amazon and Apple. In fact, Apple already has an internal AI chatbot for employees, but its much-talked-about AppleGPT based on the company’s LLM, Ajax, is said to be around the corner. Amazon began to offer a service for building AI chatbots called Lex a while ago, but more notably, the company recently announced its upcoming GenAI solution tailored for commercial use. Japan doesn’t intend to be left behind either — at least three major LLM initiatives are currently being played out. Among them is a joint project between Fujitsu, RIKEN, Tokyo Tech, and Tohoku University who are developing a series of LLMs using one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, Fugaku. In addition, both NTT and SoftBank are reportedly in the final stages of developing their “homegrown” LLMs. While much remains unclear and covered in mist (or is it gray goo 😉), one thing is certain — 2024 is going to be the most AI-intense year we have seen yet! If you enjoyed this listicle, visit AIport for more exclusive insights into the latest tech trends, with a focus on the global ML landscape. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Contact Details NettResults PR Nick Leighton +1 949-478-5880 nick.leighton@nettresultsllc.com Company Website https://aiport.substack.com/

January 25, 2024 09:53 AM Pacific Standard Time

Start the Year Investing in Yourself

YourUpdateTV

Following a busy holiday season, now could be the time to shift from shopping and gift giving to setting the stage for a financially rewarding future. In the new year, you can reflect on how you have been managing your finances, set a strong tone for the year ahead, and even start investing as a first step towards your future goals. The team behind Plynk, an app designed to help people manage and grow their money through investing, spoke with customers about how to begin investing at their recent “Investing Dollar Store events in Austin and New Orleans. Maya Sudhakaran, Plynk’s Head of Growth and Acquisition, and the rest of the Plynk team were able to connect with customers on important strategies to manage financial stress from the start of the holidays through the new year– and highlight the tools that can help. An example of one of these tools is Plynk, which can help you kick off investing with just $1, and has tools like automatic contributions, a sign-up bonus*, and expert ratings to support your investing journey. Maya Sudhakaran conducted a media tour discussing why the new year could be a great time to start investing. She emphasized how a small investment (even a single dollar) can help prepare for a brighter financial future. Topics that Maya discussed during her media tour included: How you can start investing with as little as $1. First steps that someone could take if they are thinking about investing. How the Plynk app works. Ways that even small investments can help set you up for a successful financial future. For more information, visit plynkinvest.com Keep in mind that investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money. *Limited time offer. Terms and conditions apply. The Plynk® app provides access to two different types of accounts, brokerage and crypto. Brokerage accounts and related information and services are provided by Digital Brokerage Services LLC (DBS), member of FINRA, opens in new window and SIPC, opens in new window. 499 Washington Boulevard, Fidelity Internal Information Jersey City, NJ 07310. Crypto accounts and related information and services are provided by Paxos Trust Company (Paxos), a New York State-Chartered limited liability trust company (NMLS #1766787). The information herein is not intended to serve as a basis for any investment decision or recommendation. Digital Brokerage Services LLC does not provide financial or investment advice, and you should conduct your own due diligence and alaysis based on your specific needs. © 2024 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. #1128006.1.0 Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

January 23, 2024 02:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

Logitix Launches Ticketing Integration with Tessitura – Confirms Partnerships with Tessitura Organizations Across Multiple Arts Sectors

Logitix

Logitix, the leader in expanding new marketplaces for arts, sports, and entertainment venues to sell more tickets, today announced that the integration with their partner, Tessitura Network, is complete. Since initiating their partnership in January 2023, Logitix has facilitated hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales for Tessitura-powered performing arts centers, symphony orchestras, theaters, and dance companies. The innovative partnership between Tessitura and Logitix has transformed how performing arts organizations handle ticket sales. This integration equips them with advanced tools for optimizing ticket distribution, maximizing revenue, and reducing speculators. Ticket sales via the Logitix-enabled marketplaces have led to new audiences for the arts organizations. Through Logitix’s Open Distribution integration, Tessitura venues can now effortlessly distribute their tickets electronically across multiple marketplaces without compromising the availability of tickets on their primary sales platform. This seamless integration, accessible directly from their main user interface, empowers venues to tap into broader markets and distribution networks, ultimately boosting ticket sales. This system enables venues to gather valuable data on ticket buyers and pricing while the marketplaces conveniently handle ticket fulfillment. “When I joined Logitix as an advisor, this is exactly the type of partnership I envisioned to help performing arts organizations improve their ticketing strategies,” said Jack Rubin, Co-Founder and 20-year CEO of Tessitura, who joined Logitix as Strategic Advisor in 2022. “This is just the beginning. Tessitura has an impressive network of performing arts organizations that will benefit from Logitix technology. Rubin added, “Strategies like dynamic pricing don’t always mean higher ticket prices for the consumer. Logitix will help match supply and demand, and sell at the optimum date-driven price, whether lower or higher. Or, the client can specify a price or price range. Consumers benefit, and the organizations seamlessly sell tickets in more places. With the challenges that arts organizations face, this is a no-risk approach to drive more sales.” Registrants to the INTIX ticketing conference in Las Vegas on January 29 - February 1, 2024, can attend a Logitix-moderated session on New Distribution, New Revenue, New Audiences, and New Tools. Lisa Middleton, VP of Marketing and Communications for the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, is one of the presenters, along with leaders from Opry Entertainment Group and LA Galaxy. Segerstrom Center is a longstanding member of the Tessitura community and a partner of Logitix. Logitix is a leader in multichannel ticket distribution, data, and pricing. The company’s proprietary software, distribution tools, and analytics open new sales channels for theaters, performing arts centers, and other users of Tessitura’s unified CRM and transaction system. Channels include well-known ticket exchanges that attract millions of customers each year. Additionally, real-time data insights automate dynamic pricing decisions to address changing ticket demand and meet customers where they are. Tessitura community members interested in exploring Logitix’s solutions can email info@logitix.com. About Tessitura Tessitura is a nonprofit technology company dedicated to helping arts and culture organizations thrive. CRM lies at the heart of our mission and our technology platform so organizations can take a holistic approach to building customer engagement. Ticketing works hand-in-hand with fundraising, membership, marketing, education and front of house. Intuitive tools turn data into action. And features like fully integrated payment processing, contactless scanning and seamless digital solutions mean our community is poised to rebuild a successful, sustainable future. We work with over 750 organizations in 10 countries. For more information, visit www.tessituranetwork.com. About Logitix Logitix is the preeminent monetization engine and ticketing platform for the live event industry, combining optimized pricing, distribution, and inventory management with real-time insights to help sellers and buyers respond to a rapidly changing market environment. The Logitix vision is to automate the entire ticket life cycle and provide data-driven insights to serve the diverse needs of its clients. The company is backed by ZMC and is privately held. For more information about Logitix, visit Logitix.com or find them on LinkedIn. Contact Details Eric Nemeth nemeth@ericpr.com Company Website https://logitix.com/

January 23, 2024 08:42 AM Eastern Standard Time

The Media and Democracy Project Submits Letter to The New York Times Urging Reinstatement of Public Editor

Raynor Ave.

The Media and Democracy Project (MAD) on Sunday, submitted a letter to The New York Times urging its leadership to reinstate a public editor. From 2003-2017, the news organization had a public editor, “to be responsible for supervising the implementation of proper journalism ethics at that publication. These responsibilities include[d] identifying and examining critical errors or omissions and acting as a liaison to the public.” In 2017, the position was eliminated, and the NYT explained that the role was no longer necessary because the Times’ “followers on social media and our readers across the internet have come together to collectively serve as a modern watchdog, more vigilant and forceful than one person could ever be.” The Times also created another avenue for feedback, making its articles open to public comment in their Reader Center. The letter from the Media and Democracy Project reads in part: “The intentional move by The New York Times to rely on social media for public feedback in 2017 has been a failure… Turning the job of a public editor over to social media and the Reader Center has devolved into grievance, with shocking comments and trolling, often of no value to the public or the newspaper. A public editor's job is not only to provide constructive criticism and direct contact with journalists and editors, but also to open a window to the public as to how the newsroom functions.” MAD asserts that the Times needs a public editor to uphold proper journalism ethics, reinvigorate meaningful, responsive communications with subscribers, and importantly reset the news industry standard as a liaison with the public. The organization is encouraging others to contact the NYT to support the reinstatement of the position. A copy of the letter is available here. The Media and Democracy Project: MAD is a non-partisan, all-volunteer, grassroots organization focused on strengthening a free and independent media in the public interest. MAD aims to improve our national discourse so that American voters can engage in informed decision-making. As part of that goal, MAD has an interest in the responsibility of journalists and media to report fully, accurately, and fairly on the electoral process and the outcome of elections. Additional information is available at www.MediaAndDemocracyProject.Org. Contact Details Raynor Ave. Aaron Alberico +1 202-744-0786 aalberico@raynoravenue.com Company Website https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/

January 22, 2024 04:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

Goodway Group Honored for the Fourth Time, Secures No. 3 Spot on Ad Age’s 2024 Best Places To Work List

Goodway Group

Goodway Group, a leading data-driven and technology-enabled digital media and marketing services firm, has earned the third spot on the Ad Age Best Places to Work 2024 list. For the first time this year, in addition to the usual overall ranked listings, Goodway Group has received the distinction of being listed among the top companies for the eastern region and digital agency categories. The evaluation process included an in-depth analysis of company policies, programs and benefits with a significant emphasis on employee feedback, highlighting the importance of employee perspective in the ranking. Central to Goodway’s philosophy is a culture of accountability and continual innovation. In their work every day, Goodway employees live out the company’s core values, which include empathy for clients, a commitment to excellence and a focus on personal and professional growth. The company champions employee wellness and development, offering monthly breaks from internal meetings for personal development activities such as live learning sessions and a variety of self-paced learning resources. Additionally, Goodway actively monitors employee engagement and team health, adapting and evolving based on feedback. This is further enhanced by the Goodway Council, a peer-nominated group that provides a direct channel for employee input, ensuring the company remains responsive to talent needs. “As an award-winning remote workplace built on innovation, we’ve structured Goodway to nurture it from the inside out,” said Kandi Gongora, Chief Transformation and People Officer at Goodway Group. “By fostering employee well-being and personal growth opportunities, we empower our team to fully focus their talents on driving better business outcomes for our clients. Our people-first mentality creates an uplifting infinity loop that leads to both engaged employees and happy clients and enables us to push boundaries in a fast-moving industry. Making Ad Age’s Best Places To Work for the fourth straight year tells us our internal culture already stands apart – and it motivates us to keep elevating our employee experience ever higher.” In addition to Goodway Group’s inclusion on Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2024 list, the agency has also been recognized for Newsweek’s 2023 Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® list and Google’s 2023 Premier Partner of the Year for Workplace Excellence. Goodway Group was also featured on the Inc. Best Workplaces 2023 list among the top American companies that have excelled at creating exceptional workplaces and company culture. Ad Age Best Places to Work 2024 honors 50 companies that did a standout job over the past year as the ad business met with the challenges of an unsettled economy, changing media market and a continued tight talent pool. The winners — top companies with 200 or fewer employees and top companies with more than 200 employees — reflect the highest overall numerical scores based on an analysis of questionnaires submitted by employers and survey responses from their employees. “The 2024 Best Places to Work winners demonstrate the value of giving employees competitive pay and benefits and designing optimal workplace practices to ensure great talent can do its best work,” said Dan Peres, president and editor-in-chief of Ad Age. “Companies will face more challenges in the new year against an uncertain economy, but winning workplaces know that taking care of employees drives business success.” Ad Age produced Best Places to Work 2024 in partnership with Best Companies Group, a research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work. The competition was open to agencies, ad tech firms, data and research firms, brand or corporate marketing departments or groups and in-house agencies of marketers. About Goodway Group Goodway Group is a leading data-driven and technology-enabled digital media and marketing services firm with teams in the U.S. and the U.K. Our diverse team of digital strategists, media practitioners, technologists and data scientists have won the most prestigious awards for innovative marketing technology, impactful work and inclusive remote-first places to work including being honored as a multiyear Ad Age Best Places to Work, AdExchanger’s Best Use of Technology by an Agency Award and three MarTech Breakthrough Awards. The firm deploys deep expertise across both consumer and B2B marketing, including brand-performance advertising, retail media and commerce, and advanced analytics using proprietary digital programmatic technologies, data, analytics methodologies, and consultation. Goodway Group is an independent and remote-first media and marketing services firm with a 90+ year history. Find Goodway Group online at Goodwaygroup.com. Contact Details Kite Hill PR for Goodway Group +1 973-722-7881 julia@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.goodwaygroup.com/

January 22, 2024 10:43 AM Eastern Standard Time

How Minuteman Press Franchise Owner Ray Ochoa Turned a First Order for Sales Flyers Into a Branded Building Project for SoCalGas

Minuteman Press International Inc

Ray Ochoa has owned the Minuteman Press franchise in Torrance, CA since November of 2016. Before buying the business, Ray was no stranger to the printing industry. Ray shares, “I’ve been in printing all my life. I graduated from Don Bosco Technical Institute located in Rosemead, California, which was part of five-year program combined with high school. We spent half of each day on academics and the other half on vocational training. After completion of the program, I went straight into the workforce.” Throughout the course of his career prior to Minuteman Press, Ray worked all over Los Angeles, Texas, and Atlanta for large printing companies that worked with big businesses. Ray says, I worked my way up from press operator to sales to several levels of management. One of my jobs was doing sales for an entertainment print company doing theatrical printing, banners, posters, and printing for home entertainment. We had clients like Sony, Warner, and Paramount.” First Order Leads to Bigger Business Ray’s hard work in his previous career paid off when out of the blue, one of his clients from the entertainment industry called with a rush project for a friend of his. They hadn’t talked in years but they remembered Ray from his outstanding service. Ray says, “I get a call from my contact to see if I could help with a rush printing job for SoCalGas. They needed super-fast turnaround for sales sheets. I didn’t hesitate and fulfilled the order that same day.” Turning around that small print project of 2,500 sales flyers same day lead to the larger month-long project which included painting and large format graphics for the SoCalGas ERC (Energy Resource Center). SoCalGas happens to be the nation’s largest gas distribution utility. They service 21.1 million consumers for the past 150 years and are a subsidiary of SEMPRA Energy. Ray says, “You never know where that next big client will come from. The client was impressed with our quickness and efficiency, and this kick-started everything that was to come between the partnership of Minuteman Press and SoCalGas.” As the business relationship grew, so did the scope of the orders. Ray says, “The team at SoCalGas is so busy and they come to me to turn printing around on a dime. I was used to working with entertainment companies and ad agencies with short timeframes, and so I carried that with me to Minuteman Press. We have fast service, quick turnaround, and can handle high-level commercial printing.” Today, in order to service the SoCalGas marketing division with top quality, fast turnarounds and very competitive pricing, Ray and his team consider themselves an extension of the marketing team. He says, “When we hear of a potential project coming our way we purchase the paper right away and communicate with SoCalGas that we are ready to, willing and able to jump!” Ray continues, “We have delivered through so-called client emergencies, dilemmas, and timeframe issues, even if it means stepping out of our comfort zone. When SoCalGas needed a shipping container to be painted and have vinyl graphics added and installed, I managed the whole project including lining up the painters. They have come to trust me to get the job done, and it is very gratifying to keep delivering for their team.” 30-Day Project Sparks Record Sales Month It is no surprise that when SoCalGas needed to complete a 30-day project in lightning fast time, they turned to Ray Ochoa and Minuteman Press in Torrance. Ray shares, “They came to me with a huge project. There’s a push here in California for companies like SoCalGas to be carbon free by 2030, creating a big push for electric energy. SoCalGas has initiated a process where they add hydrogen to natural has, which is an intermediate step before going green.” Ray continues, “With that said, SoCalGas has its headquarters in downtown Los Angeles but has facilities all over Southern California, including their Energy Resource Center (ERC). As a result, they built a carbon-free hydrogen home – otherwise known as H2 Home – and they tasked me with doing all of the prep work, painting, and graphics installations.” For this project, Ray acted as the project manager in addition to handling all of the printing later on. He says, “I was there every morning at 7:30 am for their construction meetings, listening to everything that was happening. We went in there and prepped/painted all of the equipment and even the rooftops. We carefully measured each piece of equipment and then had graphics installed on every single piece that was built to those measurements.” The completion of this project not only helped Ray achieve a record sales month, it also has created even more business afterwards. Ray explains, “This initial project was 30 days and we had tight deadlines so they could hold their grand opening for the facility. Since then, we have also printed a lot of collateral materials for SoCalGas. They had a special request to have their marketing materials printed on FSC paper that is 100% recyclable, and we got it done. We’ve also done graphics for their trucks as well as a 200-ft. banner.” When asked for the keys to his relationships with clients like SoCalGas, Ray says, “It’s all about customer service… understanding what is needed, when it’s needed and delivering it to them without exception! You are that problem-solver and you need to build that reputation as a trusted business partner.” “When it comes to doing business, there are three keys: 1. We are in the happy customer business; 2. We need to make a profit; 3. We want to have fun doing it!” -Ray Ochoa, owner, Minuteman Press, Torrance, CA Additional Quick Questions and Answers On doing business in Torrance, CA: “Torrance is a big city with a rather large footprint. We are a beach city with restaurants, manufacturing, and attorneys, etc. The three primary ways I’ve grown my business are through marketing, building my reputation, and cultivating personal relationships.” On products and services: “High-demand products are all of the different kinds of signage – pullup banners, vinyl banners, window clings, large format, and stickers.” On support from Minuteman Press: “I graduated from that five-year program in 1985 and have been in printing since that time. What I liked about Minuteman Press the most was FLEX – from order entry to reports, it’s such a valuable tool. I also liked the capped royalties and the local support. If I need help, my RVP Dan Byers or anyone on the team at World HQ is there.” Advice for Others: “1. Customer service – this is the most important. 2. Follow the Minuteman Press system. Also, maximize the capabilities of FLEX. 3. You are there to serve and to help. Buyers are trusting you. If they pick the wrong vendor, they can lose their jobs. Mistakes happen, so make up for them, and say ‘this is what I’ll do for you.’ Clients may sign off on the proof but you have to look beyond that and make things right when needed.” For more information on Ray Ochoa’s Minuteman Press franchise in Torrance, CA, visit https://www.minutemantorrance.com. Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com. Contact Details Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

January 22, 2024 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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