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Goodway Group Named a 2023 AdExchanger Programmatic Power Player

Goodway Group

Goodway Group, a leading data and tech-enabled brand performance digital marketing services firm, has been named to AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Players List 2023. This marks the third time that Goodway Group has been recognized by AdExchanger as one of the best agencies in the business, and once again takes its place among the industry’s leading agencies, tech providers and strategic partners this year. Goodway Group deploys deep expertise across consumer and B2B marketing and is focused on growing its full-service retail media practice, honing in on CTV/video, total search planning and brand-performance advertising, as well as leveraging its proprietary digital programmatic technologies to expand its already robust data and analytics capabilities. In 2022, Goodway Group saw a 41% YoY growth. It was a pivotal year for the company with a number of key milestones including two strategic acquisitions of growth marketing agency Tuff and martech and data consulting company Canton Marketing Solutions. Goodway Group also expanded service offerings into retail media networks, fostered strategic partnerships and acquiring key talent. Goodway Group has also widened its brand-direct client base and works with notable brands including Dollar General, Staples, Kubota, New York Jets and MyEyeDr. “We are honored to be recognized by AdExchanger for the third time as a Programmatic Power Player,” said Jay Friedman, President of Goodway Group. “This recognition reflects our steadfast commitment to our clients and their changing needs in the current landscape. As the industry evolves, we know how much our clients need a digital media partner they can trust to deliver solutions that achieve meaningful results and position them ahead of the curve. We are an agency built for the modern marketer and remain dedicated to helping our clients reach their goals and strategically navigate through the complex challenges they face today.” As part of Goodway Group’s focus on establishing strategic partnerships, the agency became The Trade Desk’s inaugural partner in its Certified Service Partner Program in 2022. In Q1 2022, the agency enhanced its award-winning technology stack with the launch of Passport One,™ which aims to address brands’ first-party data needs in a cookieless future by providing a privacy-forward proprietary database to reach customers, to enhance existing first-party data and create new opportunities for closed-loop measurement. Goodway Group, and other companies selected by AdExchanger to be featured on this year’s Programmatic Power Players list, were chosen from hundreds of submissions received from across the globe. AdExchanger’s editors evaluated each entry based on the strength and breadth of its offerings, its documented case studies, and client references. Goodway Group's inclusion on the list is just the latest industry recognition for the growing agency. Its diverse team of digital strategists, media practitioners, technologists and data scientists have won the prestigious awards for innovative marketing technology and inclusive remote-first workplaces, including multi-year Ad Age Best Place to Work Awards, an AdExchanger Best Use of Technology by an Agency Award and three MarTech Breakthrough Awards. 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 UK. 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 multi-year Ad Age Best Places to Work, AdExchanger’s Best Use of Technology by an Agency Award, and two 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 or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Goodway Group. Honestly Smart Digital. Contact Details Alexandra Morrison +1 214-604-9658 alexandra@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.goodwaygroup.com/

May 18, 2023 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Hong Kong Startup SleekFlow Successfully Integrates GPT-4 to Drive Customer Interactions: SleekFlow AI Enables Businesses Achieve Customer Service Management and Sales Automation

Sleekflow

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 18 May 2023 - The launch of ChatGPT has led to a surge in the adoption of Generative AI in business applications, with many businesses leveraging Open AI's state-of-the-art language model to enhance their customer service, sales, and marketing strategies. SleekFlow, the SaaS omnichannel social commerce platform backed by Tiger Global, has announced the successful development of SleekFlow AI, a transformative business solution that is powered by GPT-4 technology. The startup has taken the lead in developing SleekFlow AI to assist professionals in enhancing their communication skills, maximizing their knowledge base, and developing context-aware AI-powered chatbots that deliver spot-on solutions every time. Hong Kong Startup SleekFlow Successfully Integrates GPT-4 to Drive Customer Interactions: SleekFlow AI Enables Businesses Achieve Customer Service Management and Sales Automation SleekFlow's GPT-4 Powered AI WhatsApp Chatbot Offers Personalized Recommendations and Natural Conversations for Enhanced Customer Service in Highly Customized Industries SleekFlow has developed a highly intelligent WhatsApp chatbot, integrating Azure OpenAI's GPT-4 model. With the ability to quickly respond to common customer inquiries and recommend personalized products or services based on the conversation analysis, the chatbot provides reliable and accurate responses using businesses' uploaded knowledge base as its sole information source. The customized chatbot can recognize and respond only to specific categories of questions and automatically escalate the issue to human agents for complex queries, delivering comprehensive customer service. Unlike ordinary chatbots that provide stilted answers, SleekFlow's chatbot engages in natural conversations and handles complex queries and emotions, providing personalized responses 24/7 to enhance customer experience and service efficiency. SleekFlow's founder and CEO Henson Tsai emphasized, "SleekFlow's R&D team has always focused on addressing market demand and customer pain points as the main axis for product development. The introduction of AI is particularly useful in highly customized industries, such as insurance, banking, as well as beauty and retail. For example, insurance customer service often involves a large volume of complex provisions. The GPT-4 chatbot can analyze the conversation content and insurance policies to recommend the most suitable insurance plan for customers, saving time on training human agents while ensuring responses are in accordance with the training content. The chatbot can also mark citations to enhance enterprise and customer confidence and trust. Similarly, in the beauty and retail industry, the chatbot can provide personalized product information and recommendations based on customer skin concerns, greatly improving the customer service sales process." Empowering Businesses to Deliver High-Quality Customer Service and Boost Efficiency with AI-Driven Human Agent Support SleekFlow AI provides multi-level assistance to human agents to deliver high-quality customer service. When the all-in-one omnichannel communication platform receives customer inquiries, SleekFlow AI instantly generates answers from its internal knowledge base and delivers precise recommendations to human agents based on the conversation, saving time on searching and integrating information to shorten response times. Additionally, SleekFlow AI enriches response content by providing each human agent with a dedicated AI editor, effectively avoiding grammatical errors and delivering a professional brand image. Furthermore, SleekFlow AI can translate, simplify, lengthen or even reorganize content, and apply different contextual awareness to ensure consistency and control customer service quality, ultimately reducing complaint incidents. Streamlining Business Operations Management with AI to Achieve Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement from Talent Training to Customer Sales SleekFlow AI offers businesses a powerful solution to break down language barriers and centralize customer service management. With its excellent language abilities, SleekFlow AI can instantly translate customer inquiries, enabling businesses to provide customer service without having to outsource overseas. Moreover, SleekFlow AI can understand and adapt to different cultural norms and communication styles, bridging cultural gaps and helping businesses expand their global reach. In addition to its customer service capabilities, SleekFlow integrates AI into its workflow to optimize internal business management. SleekFlow AI can generate concise reports from long chat threads, summarizing customer inquiries and team responses for internal recordkeeping, streamlining handover procedures and saving time on report production. The platform also allows businesses to upload documents to the database and use SleekFlow AI to assist in employee training. By quickly answering questions from a vast amount of text, SleekFlow AI enables businesses to efficiently train professional talent and shorten the learning cycle for new employees. "Over the past year, SleekFlow has experienced explosive growth, with our enterprise customers increasing sixfold, accumulating over 5,000 customers in 120 regions worldwide," says Tsai. "At the same time, we continue to optimize the platform to help businesses upgrade their customer service quality, increasing their sales converted with chat threefold and boosting the online to offline (O2O) sales by 18%. I believe that AI will be an indispensable part of business in the next three years and become the driving engine of various industries. SleekFlow AI helps businesses start using AI at a lower cost. To stay ahead of the times, you need to seize the opportunity now. We hope this upgrade will attract more enterprise customers to SleekFlow, making it the primary choice for enterprise AI transformation and driving further growth." For more information, visit https://sleekflow.io or access the full media kit (including visual assets) here. SleekFlow With our omnichannel social commerce platform, SleekFlow empowers the future of social commerce. We transform the way of business by merging chat and sales and building an unstoppable ecosystem of chat commerce. Our AI-powered Omnichannel Conversation Cloud enables a comprehensive customer journey across major social and messaging services like WhatsApp*, Facebook, Instagram, SMS, live chat, or whatever your clients prefer. We streamline the whole commerce process with social and sales all in one to breakthrough your sales growth limits. Our customer engagement solution allows businesses to enhance cross-departmental collaborations, manage all interactions with customers, blast out automated campaigns, and send payment links in chat. Conversions through conversations have never been easier. Headquartered in Hong Kong, SleekFlow raised its 8M USD Series A funding round in 2022 led by Tiger Global Capital with participation from AEF Greater Bay Area Fund, which is managed by Gobi Partners GBA and Transcend Capital Partners. Contact Details Global Head of Marketing, SleekFlow Joy Liu j.liu@sleekflow.io Brand Communications Strategist, SleekFlow Sharon Cheng s.cheng@sleekflow.io Company Website https://sleekflow.io

May 18, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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SONGTRADR SOLIDIFIES POSITION AS GLOBAL MUSIC LEADER WITH TIKTOK COMMERCIAL MUSIC LIBRARY PARTNERSHIP

Songtradr

Today Songtradr announces its Commercial Music Library partnership with TikTok, the world’s leading destination for short-form mobile video. As a certified Subscription Sound Partner helping brands build comprehensive strategies for advertising on TikTok, the arrangement to supply music for TikTok’s Commercial Music Library reinforces Songtradr’s position as the global leader in music solutions for business. The TikTok Commercial Music Library enables businesses, organizations, and creators access to pre-licensed, rights-safe music for both organic content and paid advertising. The Library spans genres, regions and styles with songs sourced from independent and emerging artists as well as top-tier music houses, allowing brands to enrich their storytelling and engage audiences in new and inspiring ways. For brands who prefer to create their own music for TikTok, Songtradr’s music agency MassiveMusic is also a badged Custom Sound Partner, streamlining the process of planning, creating, and driving a brand’s total sonic strategy for digital platforms. This makes Songtradr the only TikTok Marketing Partner to offer an end-to-end suite of music services covering every music need – from commercial music licensing, custom composition and sonic branding, to creative activation and music supervision. With teams in 16 countries, Songtradr has helped brands like Fenty Beauty, Kate Spade, L'Oréal, Chevrolet, and Motorola create unforgettable campaigns that have generated billions of views. This new expansion of the Songtradr-Tiktok partnership will help unlock the breadth of Songtradr’s services for even more businesses. For more information about Songtradr’s products and services, visit songtradr.com/landing/tiktok-sound-partner. ABOUT SONGTRADR: Songtradr is the world's largest full-stack B2B music platform helping brands, content creators, and digital platforms find their voice and connect with audiences through music. Whether with a classic song or a trending tune, a global music strategy or a sonic identity, Songtradr helps translate ideas into powerful, ROI-driven solutions that always hit the right note. The company’s fully integrated suite of products and solutions simplifies the process of finding, licensing and managing music across all formats. The result reduces cost and complexity, increases consistency and compliance, and elevates the full potential of music catalogs for users and rights holders alike. Contact Details Jive PR + Digital Lauren Arnold lauren@jiveprdigital.com Company Website https://www.songtradr.com/

May 17, 2023 02:39 PM Pacific Daylight Time

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Peer To Peer Network Proudly Announces Payment Made To Tech Developers For MOBICARD 2.0 Release, Plans for Enterprise Capabilities in Version MOBICARD 2.0 Are Underway

Peer to Peer Network

Peer To Peer Network aka MOBICARD™ INC. (OTC: PTOP) (“PTOP”), a pioneering technology company specializing in digital business cards, is delighted to announce that it has come to a new agreement with the technology team thanks to a shareholder agreement with the developers by one of our shareholders “Glen”. The New agreement reads as follows: (last name redacted) “Glen agrees to compensate MOBICARD 2.0 developers $5,000 each (a total of $10,000) to move the development of MOBICARD™2.0 towards completion. Developers guarantee all functionality stipulated in the contract, emphasizing the ability to generate revenue. Upon completion and launch of MOBICARD™2.0 into the Apple and Android app stores, Glenn agrees to compensate the last and final payment of $5,000 to each developer (total of $10,000). If Glen fails to compensate at any point, the terms of the original contract (MOBICARD™2.0) between Nicholis Santana, Jay Wallace, and Peer To Peer Network will still hold.” Through this initiative, the tech development team moves up the date upon which the release of the fully functional MOBICARD™2.0 apps will be released to the app stores. Both developers have been paid the next installment of a total of $10,000, and are now on a mission to get the fully functional apps into the app stores. PTOP still plans to launch the MOBICARD™1.5 apps first in order to work out any bugs or issues prior to the fully marketable launch. This new agreement will recognize the developer’s outstanding performance and commitment to excellence and this will include competitive financial pay incentives as mentioned, performance based bonuses, and career advancement opportunities. By offering these rewards, PTOP aims to inspire continued innovation and ensure the teams dedication remains at the forefront of technological advancements. “We deeply appreciate the unwavering dedication and expertise of our tech development team,” said Joshua Sodaitis, Chairman & CEO of PTOP. “They have been instrumental in driving the development forward even after months of no pay. This payment initiative is a testament to our shareholders commitment to fostering a rewarding and collaborative work environment, as we strive to revolutionize the digital business card landscape. With this payment, we can ensure that PTOP is given apps that work properly and give us the ability to generate revenue. This will enable us to get on the path to profitability. The MOBICARD™2.0 tech development team comprises a diverse group of talented individuals, including software engineers, developers, UX/UI designers, and quality assurance professionals. Their collective expertise and collaborative efforts have been instrumental in the ongoing development, and improvements of PTOP’s MOBICARD™2.0 digital business card platform solutions. “We are happy to be able to receive this payment as a testament to the work we have already put into MOBICARD™1.5, this new agreement gives us the ability to know that we will be compensated for our time and effort. I know that both Jay & I are happy to gear up for a spectacular launch of MOBICARD™2.0 in the near future,” exclaimed Nicholis Santana of the tech development team. As an industry leader in the digital business card space, PTOP continues to leverage cutting-edge innovation to provide a secure, user-friendly, and feature-rich platform for seamless transactions. Through ongoing collaboration and the recognition of the tech development team’s contributions, MOBICARD™2.0 is poised to launch sooner and to strengthen its position as a frontrunner in the digital business card industry. Like us @MobiCard on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @freemobicard PTOP A new phase is coming soon. Contact Info: Joshua Sodaitis, Chairman & CEO MobiCard, Inc. 45 Prospect Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: 1-617-481-1971 Email: info@freemobicard.com Investor website: www.ptopnetwork.com Safe Harbor Statement: This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company invokes the protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategies, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include those set forth in our filings at www.sec.gov. The company is no longer a fully reporting SEC filing company. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact Details MOBICARD™ INC. info@freemobicard.com Company Website https://www.freemobicard.com/

May 17, 2023 10:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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PRConnect Launches Blockchain-based Solution to Verify the Syndication of Press Releases

PR Connect

PRConnect, a leading content syndication and amplification service provider, today announced the official launch of PRVerified, its blockchain-based verification system for the syndication of press releases. Participating in the launch are leading online content publishers including 24-7 Press Release, iCrowdNewswire, KISS PR Brand Story Newswire and News Direct. PRVerified will provide readers with ready access to both the syndicated copy of the press release and the original source copy. The initial hash of the release is posted on the blockchain and can be rehashed through an intuitive, single-click interface to check for a match. The immutability of the blockchain enables PRConnect to achieve this level of irrefutable verification at the point of syndication. "PRConnect and its newswire partners are excited about developing and launching this innovative solution for press releases," said Wing Yu, CEO of PRConnect. "For over fifty years, the press release industry has relied on self-certified reports to convey that press releases are being distributed intact. With blockchain technology, we can now provide greater transparency into the content syndication process while giving all participants the tools to verify that press releases have been distributed in a tamper-proof manner." PRVerified is NCVP-compatible using the recommended SHA-256 one-way cryptographic hash function to tokenize the original instance of the press release. Rather than storing the hashes in a private database, PRVerified leverages blockchain’s inherent transparency and decentralization to store and share the hashes. After carefully considering various blockchain networks for reliability, sustainability, speed, transaction price, and overall environmental impact, PRConnect has chosen to post all of its hashes on the Peercoin blockchain. PRConnect partnered with the Peercoin Foundation to conceptualize and analyze the commercial viability of PRVerified and to design, develop, test and optimize the blockchain components of the application. "PRConnect’s latest initiative is perfectly aligned with our mission at News Direct to use technology to reimagine the way that press releases are distributed," said Gregg Castano, founder and CEO of News Direct, a leading wire services with over 1,000 clients worldwide. "We are thrilled to partner with innovators like PRConnect that are using blockchain technology to build trust and generate more visibility for our clients," said Qamar Zaman, founder of KISS PR which helps brands and content marketers bring stories to life on major news media sites. “We are excited to be part of a revolutionary technology that is long over due in this industry,” says Michael Iwasaki, founder of 24-7 Press Release Newswire. “PRConnect is leading the way with its blockchain-verification system that adds more credibility to our press release distribution company,” continued Iwasaki. PRVerified is now available for all of PRConnect’s clients and can be activated within one business day. It can also be accessed as a widget associated with the press release’s GUID and deployed on any Web2 site or Web3 dApp. In fact, PRVerified is already actively verifying releases on the 100 local media sites of the GoMedia Network. PRVerified will be a key component in an enhanced dashboard for wire services and content marketers that will be launched by PRConnect this summer. “It’s a pleasure to partner with PRConnect on this leading-edge improvement for the press release distribution industry,” said Sonia LaFountain, iCrowdNewswire COO. “This technology aligns directly with iCrowdNewswire’s re-invention of press release distribution and goal to ensure customers reach their target audience,” commented LaFountain. About PRConnect PRConnect is a leading content syndication and amplification firm that provides reliable service, innovative technology and custom solutions to help wire services and content marketers reach and engage audiences. For more information, please visit www.prconnect.com. Contact Details Wing Yu +1 650-636-5006 info@prconnect.com

May 17, 2023 08:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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More Than Just a Room: How Airbnb Can Help You Travel Like a Local -- on a Budget

YourUpdateTV

Want to travel like a local, but on a budget? Airbnb is a great option for those looking to experience a destination authentically without breaking the bank. Recently, Airbnb Superhosts, Rhonda Voo and Eric Alan conducted a satellite media tour to talk about their experience being Airbnb hosts and how it helped them connect with people and have authentic experiences. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/6OnoHquTFMg In the current economic environment, people want to travel affordably. And after years of being isolated during the pandemic, they're looking for ways to connect with people and have authentic experiences. With the pandemic finally over, this summer is anticipated to be the biggest travel season of all time. Airbnb is expecting a record 300 million people to travel and host on Airbnb this year. To prepare, Airbnb is making the most extensive set of improvements to the platform ever, starting with the introduction of Airbnb Rooms, an all-new take on the original Airbnb. They’re also launching over 50 new features and upgrades that address top feedback from our guests and Hosts across the end-to-end Airbnb experience. Introducing Airbnb Rooms Airbnb began as a way to stay in a room in someone else’s home. This original idea of sharing a home offers two unique benefits. First, it’s more affordable for guests. More than 80% of private rooms are under $100/night, with an average rate of $67/night. Second, staying with a Host is a great way to meet someone new and experience the city like a local. In the current economic environment, people want to travel affordably. And after years of being isolated during the pandemic, they're looking for ways to connect with people and have authentic experiences. Now is the perfect time to stay in a room in someone else’s home. But for even more people to try it, they have to feel comfortable staying with a Host. Airbnb Rooms, an all-new take on the original Airbnb. Guests have told us that they want to know more about who they're staying with. Every Airbnb Room features a Host Passport, which helps guests get to know their Host before booking their stay. Airbnb has also created a Rooms category with over 1 million listings, redesigned filters and added new privacy features. 50+ new features and upgrades based on Hosts and Guests feedback: In preparation for an anticipated record-setting travel season, Airbnb is improving nearly every aspect of their service, here are some of the upgrades: Host Passport - Exclusive to Airbnb Rooms, the Host Passport helps you get to know your Host before booking your stay. Simply tap the Host Passport to view a larger photo and details Hosts have shared about themselves, including where they went to school, what they do for work, a fun fact about themselves, the amount of social interaction during the stay, and much more. Airbnb Rooms category - Airbnb Rooms are easy to discover, with a new category featuring a curated set of 1 million private bedrooms. Each listing includes access to shared spaces, such as the kitchen, living room, and backyard. Redesigned filters - Redesigned the “type of place” filter to make it easy to switch between Airbnb Rooms, entire homes, or all types of places. It’s simple to view the average price for each type of place with an enhanced price filter that updates based on your choice. New privacy features - Privacy is important. All Airbnb Rooms will clearly indicate if the bedroom door has a lock. The listing page also shows whether the bathrooms are shared or private, and whether people other than the Host will be in the home during your stay. To improve our service, Airbnb took a design-driven approach. They started by storyboarding the guest and Host journey - from sign up to checking out and created a blueprint of the experience - every screen, every policy, and every interaction with customer support mapped out. Then, analyzed millions of customer service tickets and mapped them across the journey. They also reviewed thousands of social media posts and spoke with hundreds of thousands of guests and Hosts about how to improve Airbnb. To find out more about the Airbnb 2023 Summer Release and how to become a host, visit Airbnb. About Rhonda and Erica Rhonda Voo and Eric Alan are superhosts of a private room in their stunning home in LA. Rhonda and Eric are both creatives at heart, pursuing careers in art and advertising – over the years they transformed their modest home into what is now an architecturally significant landmark in LA. After raising their three daughters, they noticed there was plenty of extra room around the house and decided to open their home to guests on Airbnb. Their experience continues to be rewarding — both financially and personally, making meaningful connections with visitors from around the globe. About Airbnb Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home and has since grown to 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer one-of-a-kind stays and unique Experiences that make it possible for guests to experience the world in a more authentic, connected way. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

May 16, 2023 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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The Publisher Desk and Intermarkets Launch Ringside Intel, the News Leader in Sports Entertainment and Combat Sports

The Publisher Desk

The Publisher Desk and Intermarkets, two leading integrated audience development and growth partners for digital publishers, today launched Ringside Intel, a news and information site for sports entertainment, mixed martial arts, professional wrestling, and combat sports. Ringside Intel brings together some of the top sources for sporting news and analysis – Wrestle Newz, MMA Frenzy, Fightline, and Caged Insider – under a single banner and backed by one of the most experienced teams to cover the WWE, UFC, AEW, Bellator, and more. “As the recent acquisition of WWE by Endeavor has shown, multiple fan bases continue to converge,” said Jeff Misenti, co-founder of The Publisher Desk. “By combining some of the most respected brands into one environment, Ringside Intel becomes the go-to destination for information, news, and exclusive content for any sport in the ring.” Ringside Intel is targeted at the estimated 1.2 billion fans worldwide of WWE, TNA, and AEW, along with another 700 million fans of UFC, Bellator, and other MMA promotions. While the popularity of pay-per-view events provides a thriving place in the market, most of the audience consumes combat content online. For example, according to data from the WWE, the company alone garnered more than 7.5 billion digital and social media views in January and February of this year, up 15% from the same time frame a year ago. The recent WrestleMania 39 had more than 500 million views and 11 million hours of video consumed over the two days of the event, a 42% increase over last year. The Publisher Desk partnered with Intermarkets to add Ringside Intel to its growing portfolio of sports, entertainment, and information sites, including the company’s flagship site, Sportsnaut, the most powerful name in sports news and information. “The Publisher Desk is a top-notch partner for our mission to give combat sports and sports entertainment fans the quality content they’ve come to expect from our brands,” said Intermarkets CEO and Founder Kevin Lucido. “This opportunity fits with Intermarkets’ strategy of expanding our businesses and harnesses The Publisher Desk’s marketplace power in generating expanded growth opportunities. Backed by the combined weight of Intermarkets and The Publisher Desk, these greater joint opportunities will grow Ringside Intel as fans’ destination for all things that punch, grapple, sweat, and bleed.” This launch comes a month after The Publisher Desk acquired Forever Blueshirts, the leading source of information about the New York Rangers, and six months after Intermarkets added Bounding Into Sports, a spin-off of the popular entertainment site Bounding Into Comics, which brings Bounding's signature brand of unmatched insights and in-depth coverage to the world of sports. Ringside Intel is not affiliated with the WWE, UFC, or any other professional sports and entertainment promotions. About The Publisher Desk The Publisher Desk, based in New York with offices in London and South Florida, is a fully integrated audience development and content monetization partner to digital publishers, in addition to publishing several owned and operated sites. The company, founded in 2014, helps websites increase advertising revenues and reduce operational costs. Our team provides the proper resources, direction, operations, technology, and support for digital business, empowering sports, lifestyle & business media brands to connect with their audience and value-aligned advertisers. About Intermarkets, Inc. Founded in 1997, Intermarkets is a privately-owned company based in Virginia focused on helping digital publishing brands be successful through audience growth and monetization strategies. As one of the longest operating firms in its space, Intermarkets’ commitment to the free sharing of news and information is demonstrated through decades of working for publishers to ensure they generate the revenue they need to fund and sustain their content operations. Over the years, Intermarkets led the industry by creating new tactics, strategies, ad formats, and more. Unlike other companies, Intermarkets is privately funded, intentionally small, and prioritizes the human expertise it takes to harness tech. About Sportsnaut Sportsnaut is the most powerful name in sports. Since launch in 2014, Sportsnaut has been dedicated to covering the big and little stories in sports without an agenda. The company, and its publishing partners, provide news, opinion, rumors, and statistics for fans of the NFL, NCAA Football, NBA, NHL, Golf, NCAA Basketball, MLB, and more. Contact Details For The Publisher Desk press@publisherdesk.com For Intermarkets sschatz@intermarkets.net Company Website https://www.publisherdesk.com/

May 16, 2023 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and 14 European Partners Collaborate on Extended Reality Sharespace Project to Create Future Social Hybrid Spaces

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, a leading provider of network, communications and cloud solutions, is taking part in the SHARESPACE consortium, a 6m€ initiative funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The vision of SHARESPACE is to create future Social Hybrid Spaces (SHS) shared by humans (wearing XR glasses and mocap ) and avatars, where both are engaged in embodied collaborative tasks which model body movements and create interactions between the participants. This is made possible by capturing social sensorimotor primitives (actions involving both sensory and motor functions or pathways) through mobile connected innovative sensors. The environment is then reconstructed using novel extended reality (XR) technology. Through cognitive architecture, virtual avatars will facilitate joint-action, distance-based learning and social cohesion in the hybrid societies of the future. The aim of the programme is to expand interaction in a virtual world, with XR technology enriching key social features of communication tailored to the participants’ personal characteristics. With future deployment in sectors such as health, learning, entertainment, sport and in the workplace, the technology has the potential to revolutionise hybrid working and learning. With its ability to connect in real time any person, device, process or application, RainbowTM CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) provided by ALE and tailored for the project will allow the onboarding of avatars as a new type of endpoint, enriching the remote collaborative experience. This will bring an entirely new approach to the metaverse paradigm where real-time social interaction, ethics, sustainability are key. Sylvain Rivier, SHARESPACE coordinator for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, commented: "We are delighted to take part in this amazing project that will put Extended Reality at European users’ fingertips. With SHARESPACE, we have developed open human-centric virtual worlds with new real-time remote interactions and capabilities into Rainbow’s collaborative space. The capability to integrate human-driven or full-virtual avatars will improve the performance of human-avatar and human-robot motor coordination in complex scenarios.” The SHARESPACE consortium comprises 14 organisations across seven countries that will work together for three years. In delivering this vision, three scenarios will be developed by leading researchers and deep-tech companies with unique expertise in health, sport, and art. SHARESPACE will provide logistical, administrative and technical preparation of these real-world use cases with relevant institutions. Some examples include: • The Hospital Vall d'Hebron pain unit will provide remote assistance to people suffering from chronic back pain. Public demonstrations featuring the engagement of users and communities, utilising virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), will be presented during the World Pain Conference 2024 and 2025. • The “ peloton cycling challenge ” sport use case aims to open up new perspectives in sport training, sport entertainment and augmented virtuality in sport. Using personal, autonomous, and semi-autonomous avatars for optimised perceptual motor skills, amateur cyclists can learn how to ride in a virtual peloton. This will be showcased at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and the Tour de France 2025. • The “ shared creativity improvisation ” use case will allow artistic co-creation of an aesthetic environment intuitively produced from dancers' movements using AI avatars. This will be demonstrated at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024 and 2025. The participating academic groups, industry and clinical partners have cutting-edge expertise in all disciplines required for the successful implementation of the SHARESPACE platform, including AI, XR, mathematics and control, research ethics, psychosocial factors and technology, health psychology and cyberpsychology, and cognitive neuroscience and movement science. This also extends to expertise in wearables and mobile technologies, as well as the deployment of digital technologies in healthcare, sports, and the arts. Notes to the editor The participating academic groups, industry and clinical partners have cutting-edge expertise in all disciplines required for the successful implementation of the SHARESPACE platform. In particular, the consortium will combine expertise and research approaches from AI and XR ( DFKI, CYENS, Golaem, INRIA ), mathematics and control ( CRdC ), research ethics ( De Montfort University ), psychosocial factors and technology, health psychology and cyberpsychology ( Universitat Jaume I De Castellon ), cognitive neuroscience and movement science ( University of Montpellier, UKE ) with expertise in wearables ( LST, Ricoh ) and mobile technologies ( Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise ), as well as in the deployment of digital technologies in healthcare ( VHIR ), sports ( INRIA ), and the arts ( Ars Electronica ). SHARESPACE is a 6 Million-euro initiative funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The consortium is composed of 14 organisations across seven countries that will work together for 3 years. About Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise delivers the customised technology experiences enterprises need to make everything connect. ALE provides digital-age networking, communications and cloud solutions with services tailored to ensure customers’ success, with flexible business models in the cloud, on premises, and hybrid. All solutions have built-in security and limited environmental impact. Over 100 years of innovation have made Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise a trusted advisor to more than a million customers all over the world. With headquarters in France and 3,400 business partners worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise achieves an effective global reach with a local focus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mocap: Motion capture is the process of recording the movement of objects or people German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence in Cyprus National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology Regional Competence Centre for new technologies University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf SIA Lightspace Technologies Vall d’Hébron Research Institute Contact Details Fox Agency Katherine Skidmore +44 20 3750 6688 katherine@fox.agency Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Carine Bowen press@al-enterprise.com Company Website https://www.al-enterprise.com/

May 16, 2023 03:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Respond.io Joins Forces with WhatsApp to Assist Enterprises in Driving Growth

Respond.io

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 12 May 2023 - Leading message platform respond.io is now a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP), placing it among an exclusive group of WhatsApp BSPs worldwide. This significant milestone means that businesses can now take advantage of its advanced messaging features and capabilities to connect with their customers like never before. What’s in it for Businesses Worldwide Businesses using respond.io can now seamlessly integrate the WhatsApp Business Platform directly from Meta’s cloud servers for increased efficiency and reliability. Meta's worldwide network of servers is tactically positioned to reduce latency, resulting in faster updates and improved message delivery times. By becoming a WhatsApp BSP, respond.io now has direct access to Meta's support team. This new development enables respond.io to provide its customers with exceptional support and assistance with common requests, including WhatsApp Business verification. As an omnichannel customer communication management software, respond.io adds value to WhatsApp API's capabilities. It enables multiuser access for WhatsApp so all agents and teams can respond to a high volume of messages from one WhatsApp number. Plus, respond.io offers businesses a suite of powerful tools including an advanced automation builder, detailed analytics on team and agent performance, and seamless integration with custom messaging channels and over 5,000 applications, including CRMs and e-commerce platforms such as Hubspot, Salesforce, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and more. Now, businesses will be able to manage all their conversations and WhatsApp Business Accounts on respond.io. This includes managing their WhatsApp business profile, message template creation and approval, and WhatsApp conversation charges, all from a single interface. Respond.io also enables businesses to comply with WhatsApp's policies and regulations, such as collecting customer consent to receive messages from a business. From offering multiple chat entry points, like ads that click to WhatsApp, QR codes and chat links, to obtaining opt-ins as part of an automated conversation, respond.io removes the friction in customer communication. A Commitment to Advanced Messaging Solutions Respond.io believes that instant messaging is the future of customer communication, and is committed to delivering the most advanced and effective messaging solutions to businesses across the globe. WhatsApp is a key channel for respond.io as it is one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world. With over 2 billion active users across 180 countries, it has become an essential channel for businesses to engage with customers. As of today, respond.io helps thousands of medium and enterprise customers worldwide unlock the power of instant messaging to deliver great customer experiences, build brand loyalty and drive growth and revenue. Among others, it empowered 200 agents at the Indian social media platform Sharechat to chat with 50,000 content creators using a single WhatsApp number and enabled Yoho, Hong Kong’s leading e-commerce platform, to grow its customer base by almost 10% in just four months by dramatically improving its sales and support experience. "Empowering businesses to communicate seamlessly with their customers is our top priority as a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider. Our platform offers a personalized, conversational experience that fosters stronger relationships. By continuously expanding our capabilities, we enable businesses to achieve their goals and stay ahead of the curve. This collaboration with WhatsApp unlocks tremendous potential, allowing us to remain at the forefront of the latest trends to keep providing businesses worldwide with exceptional business messaging solutions." Gerardo Salandra, CEO of respond.io. Its new status as a WhatsApp BSP will better equip respond.io to help businesses improve the efficiency of their messaging operations, as well as boost customer satisfaction and retention for steady business growth. Interested clients can try the messaging software for free and get an account on the WhatsApp Business Platform in minutes by signing up on respond.io. About respond.io Respond.io is a customer conversation management software that enables companies to respond to messages from any channel from one centralized dashboard by teams of all sizes, thus making communication with customers easier, faster, and more satisfactory. Over 10,000 companies from 86 countries, including British Airways, Klook, Decathlon, Roche and Bigo use respond.io. The platform processes 120 million messages per month, beating three of its main competitors combined. In 2022, respond.io raised $7 million in Series A funding, led by Headline Asia with participation from AltaIR Capital, Smart Partnership Capital, Sterling Oak Group and Calendula Ventures. The company is headquartered in Malaysia. Contact Details Localization Project Manager Polina Usynina +60 17-229 9406 polina@respond.io

May 16, 2023 02:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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