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Edited Transcript of BNFT earnings conference call or presentation 1-May-19 9:00pm GMT
Thomson Reuters StreetEvents May 3, 2019
Q1 2019 Benefitfocus Inc Earnings Call
Charleston May 3, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Benefitfocus Inc earnings conference call or presentation Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 9:00:00pm GMT
* Jonathon E. Dussault
Benefitfocus, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer
* Michael Bauer
Benefitfocus, Inc. - IR
* Raymond Alexander August
Benefitfocus, Inc. - CEO, President & Director
* Brian Christopher Peterson
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - Senior Research Associate
* Daniel Harlan Ives
Wedbush Securities Inc., Research Division - MD of Equity Research
* James John Stockton
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Director & Senior Equity Research Analyst
* Kevin Kumar
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division - Associate
* Nandan Girish Amladi
Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division - Senior Analyst
* Nina D. Deka
Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division - Research Analyst
* Ross Stuart MacMillan
RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division - Co-Head of Software Sector
* Steven Paul Halper
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division - Analyst
Greetings, and welcome to the Benefitfocus First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host, Michael Bauer, Senior Director of Finance and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.
Michael Bauer, Benefitfocus, Inc. - IR [2]
Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and welcome to Benefitfocus' First Quarter 2019 Earnings Call. We will be discussing the operating results announced in our press release issued after the close of market today.
Joining me today are Ray August, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jonathon Dussault, our Chief Financial Officer. Ray and Jonathon will offer some prepared remarks, and then we will open the call up for a Q&A session.
Before we begin, let me remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements such as second quarter and full year 2019 guidance and other predictions, expectations and information that might be considered forward-looking under federal security laws, including statements about our positioning for the future. These statements reflect our views as of today only and should not be considered as representing our views of any subsequent date. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including our continuing losses and need to achieve GAAP profitability, the fluctuation of our financial results, the immature and volatile market for our products and services, recruitment and retention of key personnel, risks associated with acquisitions, the need to innovate and provide useful products and services, our ability to compete effectively, cybersecurity risk and a changing regulatory environment that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. For a further discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our actual results, please refer to our annual report on Form 10-K and our SEC filings.
During the course of today's call, we will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. You can find important disclosures about those measures in our earnings press release.
I'll now turn the call over to Ray.
Raymond Alexander August, Benefitfocus, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [3]
Thank you, Mike. Good afternoon, everyone. There are 3 key points to take away from today's call. First, for the sixth consecutive quarter, we are delivering on our commitments. For the quarter, total revenue was at the high end of our guidance, and we exceeded our profitability guidance. We are well positioned for accelerated growth in the second half of 2019.
Second, we have grown the number of lives on our platform with more than 25 million consumers now connecting through the Benefitfocus Platform. Our pipeline for lives growth is stronger than ever. Our key metric of net benefit eligible lives increased from 11.8 million at the end of the prior year to 15.5 million lives at the end of Q1.
And third, we expect average revenue per user, or ARPU, to expand throughout 2019. Expanding ARPU is one of our top strategic objectives, and we are delivering on this in multiple ways: by adding new product offerings on the platform; by improving interactions with consumers in the moments that matter; and by expanding BenefitsPlace access through our medical carrier customers. We are set up very well for growth in the back half of the year.
All of these factors move us towards our goal of being the benefits platform that connects buyers and sellers. Our strategy is resonating, our ecosystem is flourishing and our market position is strengthening. We have 3 strategic priorities: growing our platform, advancing our market leadership and strengthening the core of our business.
Let's start with how we're growing our platform. We continue investing in our sales engine by executing on our diversified growth strategy, by driving high-quality pipeline expansion and future lives growth, by improving our go-to-market capabilities and by expanding our broker presence. We ended Q1 with over 300 Premier Brokers, up from roughly 100 at the time of our Q4 earnings call at the end of February.
Our decision playing field for all brokers is paying off. As we explained in our last call, while the renegotiation of the Mercer agreement will have a short-term impact on our 2019 revenue, we are confident in the longer-term value of expanding our influence with this critical segment of the ecosystem. In fact, we have meaningful broker-driven pipeline that we would not have had without making this pivot. Our expanding group of Premier Broker partners is helping us quickly scale, better penetrate the large employer market, and we believe, drive BenefitsPlace product adoption over time.
BenefitsPlace is a key driver of ARPU expansion, and in Q1, our momentum continued to strengthen. As highlighted at our Investor Day, we have multiple levers to drive BenefitsPlace growth and use our 5P model to measure progress against our growth strategy, adding lives and increasing ARPU. As mentioned, we ended the quarter with 15.5 million net benefit eligible lives. The integration of the acquired Connecture commercial software assets added approximately 2 million net benefit eligible lives on the platform.
In 2018, initial access to BenefitsPlace was only offered to certain large employer customers. This meant that less than half of our net benefit eligible lives had access to BenefitsPlace in 2018. This is now changing. In Q1, we broadened our reach by successfully enabling BenefitsPlace for a key medical carrier customer. We believe this carrier deal will significantly expand ARPU. Going forward, we are focused on bringing BenefitsPlace to medical carrier customers, specifically Blues plans.
Carrier interest and demand to provide more benefit options to their members is high. The pipeline for BenefitsPlace down market is robust. Both are partially fueled by our recent acquisition of certain assets of Connecture's commercial software solutions business.
During the quarter, we continued to grow our BenefitsPlace product offering. We've made significant progress against our TAM expansion goals that were showcased during Investor Day in December. In Q1, we became the first benefits platform in the industry to add personalized auto and property insurance to complement our health, wealth and lifestyle categories. We signed 2 of the 3 largest group personal auto insurers: MetLife and Liberty Mutual. We also signed Bristol West Insurance, which is part of the Farmers Insurance Group. This is a significant expansion of our opportunity as last year, over $200 billion of net premiums were written for private passenger auto in the United States.
We also introduced Toggle, another Farmers Insurance company for renters' insurance. By adding personalized auto and property insurance to our existing categories in BenefitsPlace, we are quickly enhancing the value of our platform, doing exactly what we said we would do.
In Q1, we added 9 other BenefitsPlace suppliers, including our 11th L&A carrier, MassMutual, and 4 new specialty suppliers, which brings our total to 28. We continue to expand our inside sales and Premier Broker footprint to help HR leaders best serve their multigenerational workforces with relevant products. This was a focal point at One Place. In March, we hosted our most successful One Place event with attendance 40% higher than last year. For 2 days, our ecosystem and prospects collaborated and learned. On day 3, we helped put our knowledge into action and hosted the industry's largest open enrollment planning session with 89 employers, which represented millions of consumer lives. Feedback has been terrific, and the vast majority of employers who attended One Place are engaged in the buying process with us.
The Benefitfocus Platform has unmatched engagement and participation. Our open enrollment experience last year proved that voluntary benefits participation among our employers with access to BenefitsPlace was materially higher than the industry average. We fully expect this to be the case this year and will drive accelerated revenue growth in the second half of the year.
Now let's turn to our second priority and discuss how we are advancing our market leadership. We are accelerating the network effect of our platform and demonstrating to the market our continued constructive disruption and improvement of the sector. At One Place, we launched multiple solutions that improve the consumer experience and reduce complexity. The key announcement was the launch of BenefitSAIGE, our artificial intelligence engine that provides automated wisdom throughout our platform.
BenefitSAIGE is truly disruptive. It takes the guesswork out of benefits. It leverages our massive amount of health care, carrier and payroll data. BenefitSAIGE uses data analytics and user preferences to identify smart moments to help consumers select the benefits that are most relevant and a chatbot to assist them 24/7, 365. And it provides dashboards and key metrics to HR executives. This means better enrollment tracking, benefits adoption, measurement and industry benchmarking.
At One Place, we also announced the enhancement of the consumer benefit experience with the launch of our next-generation mobile app, enabling a year-round contextual conversation, making it possible to shop 52 weeks of the year for voluntary benefits and creating the Benefitfocus Wallet, which lets consumers buy benefits quickly with flexible payment methods in addition to payroll deductions.
Our goal is to create and enable the next generation of benefits offerings. To help achieve this, in Q1, we introduced Innovation Place, our new startup partner program designed to find the best and most innovative suppliers in the market today. In the first quarter, we onboarded our first test company which is focused on women's health and fertility, and we are actively looking for additional innovators to join the program.
Now let's turn to our third priority, strengthening the core of our business. In Q1, we executed well against our stated financial commitments and remain on track to generate free cash flow for full year 2019. Revenue was at the high end of our guidance range with our high margin software services revenue growing double digits in the quarter. We exceeded our profitability guidance and compared to the prior year period, expanded our gross margin by over 250 basis points and our adjusted EBITDA nearly 700 basis points.
Our multiyear investment in data has been a key driver for improved profitability and has deepened differentiation resulting in higher customer satisfaction. This is critical for the benefits ecosystem as data accuracy impacts medical insurance and payroll files. When these files are incorrect, the impact and cost to the ecosystem can be significant.
To measure data accuracy, the industry uses first-pass yield, which queries if data is correct on the first transmission. The industry average for first-pass yield is approximately 95%. This means that in a 10,000-person firm, 500 people will have incorrect data. Given our investments, Benefitfocus is proud to demonstrate our first-pass yield of 99.6%, driving confidence in our brand.
We are pleased with our solid start to 2019, and we are entering our selling season with a solid foundation, a strong pipeline and demonstrated results, adding lives and expanding ARPU opportunities. We have strengthened our sales engine and have delivered innovation that enhances our leadership position. We will continue to grow our platform and drive shareholder value.
Before I conclude, today I am also announcing that Jonathon Dussault, our CFO, has decided to leave Benefitfocus for personal reasons. I want to thank Jonathon for his many contributions to Benefitfocus. Jonathon will remain with the company through the end of August and ensure an orderly transition of his responsibilities. Under Jonathan's leadership, he and his team have been instrumental in our business transformation, 6 quarters of execution and strengthening our financial fundamentals. We wish him well in his future endeavors. We will begin our search for his permanent replacement immediately.
I am pleased to announce beginning June 1, Lou Anne Gilmore will be appointed our interim CFO. Lou Anne is currently our VP of Corporate Development and led our activities related to the Connecture acquisition. She brings over 35 years of executive finance experience and was previously CFO for a $5 billion division at CSC and VP of Development at Lumeris, a Medicare Advantage provider. I've worked with Lou Anne for almost 20 years. I have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead our finance team. I look forward to sharing updates with you in the future.
With that, I'll hand it over to Jonathon.
Jonathon E. Dussault, Benefitfocus, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer [4]
Thank you, Ray. My decision to leave Benefitfocus is not easy. I want to thank Ray personally for his partnership and also express my appreciation to the entire Benefitfocus team. I'm proud of the accomplishments of the finance team, and I'm confident that Benefitfocus is poised to continue the successes that I've been a part of over the last couple of years.
I'll now review the details of our first quarter financial results and then provide guidance for Q2 and fiscal 2019.
Turning to Q1. It was a solid quarter for Benefitfocus. Our teams executed well, and our results met or exceeded our targets. Total revenue for the quarter was $68.3 million, an increase of 10% compared to the first quarter of 2018. This is at the high end of our prior guidance range and was driven by software subscription and BenefitsPlace revenue.
As indicated at our Investor Day, to better map our financial reporting with our platform strategy and how we manage the business, in 2019, we will no longer provide revenue by employer and carrier segments. We will continue to provide updates in our financial performance by revenue types. Total software services revenue was $53 million, an increase of 10% compared to the prior year period and reflects contributions from both subscription and BenefitsPlace. Total professional services revenue was $15.3 million, an increase of 8% over Q1 2018.
GAAP results for the quarter include gross profit of $35.4 million, representing a margin of 52%; software gross profit of $36.4 million, representing a margin of 69%; and an operating loss of $9.1 million, contributing to a net loss per share of $0.44. This reflects an increase in G&A expense resulting from deal costs associated with the secondary offering of shares that were owned by Goldman Sachs and Mercer, the implementation of new lease accounting rules and our recent Connecture acquisition.
Non-GAAP gross profit totaled $36.4 million or a 53% non-GAAP gross margin. This compares favorably to the 51% non-GAAP gross margin in Q1 2018. Non-GAAP software gross profit was $36.9 million or 70% non-GAAP gross margin. This is up from the 68% non-GAAP gross margin in Q1 2018. Similar to prior quarters, the over 190 basis point improvement in non-GAAP software gross margin and the over 250 basis point improvement in consolidated non-GAAP gross margin reflects the combination of our purposeful shift towards higher-margin subscription and BenefitsPlace transaction revenue, improved operational efficiencies driven by our focused data investments and increased automation which benefits both our software and services line item and our platform inherent operational scale.
We also continue to drive consistent improvement in our adjusted EBITDA results. Q1 adjusted EBITDA was $3.6 million or 5% of revenue. This exceeded our guidance and compares favorably to the negative 2% of revenue in Q1 2018. Our adjusted EBITDA was positively impacted by our recurring revenue growth, our gross margin expansion, increasing operational scale and the timing of certain investments. Non-GAAP net loss was $6.7 million, which compares favorably to the $8 million net loss in the year-ago period.
Moving to the balance sheet. We ended Q1 with cash and cash equivalents of $144.2 million, which is down from $190.9 million in the prior quarter and reflects the acquisition of certain commercial software assets of Connecture and the use of cash in the quarter. Total deferred revenue increased $1 million sequentially to $46.9 million. The primary driver of the increase was related to the Connecture acquisition, which offset the ongoing shift away from our traditional large carrier service contracts and our strategic focus on driving repeatable transaction-based revenue.
On to the cash flow statement. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure that we define as cash provided by or used in operations plus purchases of property and equipment, was negative $23.4 million
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expectations and reflects the timing of working capital, seasonality associated with Q1 pay periods, our One Place user conference and the timing of 2018 bonuses. Importantly, we remain confident in our ability to generate free cash flow for the full year 2019.
Now let's move to the guidance. For the second quarter of 2019, we are targeting total revenue of $66.5 million to $68.5 million. Embedded in our Q2 revenue growth are headwinds for Mercer, timing of professional services revenue and the second half weighting of enterprise go-live and BenefitsPlace revenue. From a profitability perspective, we expect adjusted EBITDA of negative $5 million to negative $3 million, a non-GAAP net loss of $15 million to $13 million and a non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.46 to $0.40 based on 32.6 million basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.
As Ray highlighted, we are confident in our ability to accelerate our revenue growth and margin expansion in the second half of the year. For the full year, we are reiterating our existing 2019 revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlook. This includes total revenue in the range of $301 million to $309 million and adjusted EBITDA of $15 million to $20 million. We also expect non-GAAP net loss of $27 million to $22 million, which represents a non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.83 to $0.68 based on 32.5 million basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.
In closing, our team executed well in Q1, and we are entering our selling season with a solid foundation and strong pipeline. We are confident that by executing on our 3 strategic priorities of growing our platform, strengthening our core and advancing our market leadership, that we are well positioned to add lives, expand ARPU and drive shareholder value.
With that, we are now ready to take your questions. Operator, please begin the question-and-answer session at this time.
(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Brian Peterson from Raymond James.
Brian Christopher Peterson, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - Senior Research Associate [2]
So I wanted to start on the 2019 outlook. You were reiterating that it looks like that implies a second half ramp in revenue growth. Can you help us understand what gives you the confidence in that ramp?
Yes. Thanks, Brian. We're actually really proud of our results so far. As an overall business, we're executing exactly what we said we were going to do. We had 6 consecutive quarters of meeting or exceeding all of our targets. And as a company, we're much stronger today than we ever had been before. If you look at our overall cash position, our accelerating revenue growth, the fact that we have 70% software gross margins this quarter, our growing EBITDA, from a financial standpoint, we feel very, very good. If you take a click down and look at our overall business fundamentals and the way we model our businesses, the number of lives times ARPU, we've grown our number of lives by 31%, and our organic lives are also accelerating compared to the year-ago period, 14% versus 13%.
So we're seeing really strong growth in our lives, both organic and inorganic. And what's most important is every one of those lives represents the BenefitsPlace opportunity for us to add more value to the consumer and monetize the opportunity. The really cool thing about our model now is we now have leverage in both ends of the model where the compounding effect comes in and where we both have the lives and the average revenue per unit.
From an ARPU perspective, we have more products than ever before. We have a really good sense on what's going on with the consumer experience of the whole range of products as we look at that. So we feel very, very good, well positioned for the back half of the year, and we're exactly where we thought we would be. As I look at the second half of the year, there's 3 main things that we look at to give us confidence from the back half.
The first is our overall business growth. So just a reminder, a year ago, in Q1 2018, we reported the signing of UTS, which represented over 200,000 net benefit eligible lives on our platform. That revenue will begin to feather in, in Q2 and full in Q3 and Q4. So we're seeing a ramp-up in our MRR due to that very significant customer. As we look at the other factors in the back half of the year, we see the number of lives critical. Our Q2 selling season is really important to us, and we feel really good about the pipeline. We really feel good about what we're seeing in the marketplace. In fact, if you look at a year ago, we had just announced our broker strategy. Today, we have over 300 Premier Brokers who we're partnering with out on the field to add lives to our platform. And we're working hand in glove with them. And when you look basically a year ago, we didn't have any of that. So that's really helpful, and that will prove to be very helpful as we look at lives expansion.
And the last is ARPU growth. If you look at our full year, Q4 is when the vast majority of people enroll in our platform. When they enroll on our platform for specialty products, that's when we receive our revenue. We have way more products available today than we did a year ago period. We understand the consumer buying habits, and we're using that to position us very well for the back half of the year. So all those different factors gives me high confidence in the second half of the year and beyond.
Got it. And just for a follow-up, Jonathon, it's been a pleasure working with you. I am a little surprised by the news. I don't know if there's anything more you can share. And Ray, any time line on when you think about naming a permanent replacement?
Yes, yes, yes. I'm really sorry to see Jonathon go. We really enjoyed working together. He accomplished a lot in our 2 years together, consistent performance. We've transformed this company. So it's a new place in terms of our overall strategy and financial performance. One of the things we're really proud about Jonathon is he's leaving our finance function much better off than when he joined it. We have strong leaders in place. We have a strong finance team. And as we go forward, we'll be able to build on that foundation and add a new CFO to the overall mix. At some level, as the CEO, I'm excited about hiring my first CFO to work closely with that individual. And I'm sure that individual will have the kind of impact that Jonathon had on our business. But we're going to miss Jonathon. And yes...
Thanks, Ray. Appreciate that. Brian, thanks for the commentary. As you guys can imagine, decisions like this are not easy to come to. But with that said, I'm very committed to ensuring that there's a very seamless and successful transition in the short term with Lou Anne beginning on June 1. As Ray mentioned, our partnership between Ray and I has been very strong. It will continue to be that way. But very importantly, as I look ahead for the company, I'm very confident of the strength of the finance team, the strength of the fundamentals of the business and importantly the strength of the strategy. But I believe in the strategy and look forward to seeing the continued success of the company.
Our next question is from Ross MacMillan from RBC Capital Markets.
Ross Stuart MacMillan, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division - Co-Head of Software Sector [8]
I just wanted to touch on the organic net lives. I think those were about 200,000 this quarter, which I think would be down even excluding the UTS deal in the cost. So if we kick it out of last year, this will be down. And I think this is the second quarter in a row that you've been down year-over-year. And I know that Q4 and Q1 are not key to the selling season, but I wondered if you could just talk to your conviction on why that is as we go into the peak season. And then also, any color on how we should think about -- what is the plan on that benefit eligible lives exiting this year? Do you have like a number, a range that you could share with us in terms of where you look to end up for the year?
Ross, just to paint a picture, if you look at our full year, we have 4 seasons in which we operate our business. In the first quarter, our typical focus is bringing new products onto our platform for our consumers to purchase and also releasing new enhancements, which allows us to improve the experience in the upcoming OE season. Q2 is really a focus on selling, adding lives to our platform, and that continues into the beginning of Q3. At the end of Q3, we then begin the open enrollment process. And Q4 is when we do the vast majority of our open enrollment, which drives our BenefitsPlace revenue.
If you look at Q1, Q1 is typically a very slow period for lives growth in our industry. If I compare our results, we added 2.2 million lives on our platform, over 25 million lives now, a part of the Benefitfocus family, over 15 million net benefit eligible lives. That's an increase of 31%. Every one of those lives, regardless of where they come from, is an opportunity for us to expand ARPU and offer BenefitsPlace products.
If I click down on that, there's 2 million lives that were brought to us through the Connecture acquisition, which we'll be monetizing throughout the end of '19 and into '20. But there's 200,000 net benefit eligible lives that we added in Q1. If you compare that growth, a year ago, we added 13% net benefit eligible lives. This year, we added 14% year-over-year.
So our net benefit eligible lives continue to grow, and that's even when you take into account UTS, which has over 200,000 net benefit eligible lives. So we feel very good about our lives growth. And especially when you take it out -- when you take UTS out over the previous period, what we're really excited about, all the lives we're getting from the Connecture acquisition, too, because we believe that produce a value for the consumers and everybody on the platform.
As we look at going into Q2, the busiest part of our selling season, one of the things that gives us a lot of optimism and focus is the fact that we're now partnering with 300 different Premier Brokers. A year ago, we were just getting started with our brokers. And the fact we tripled the number of brokers that we're working with just from our last earnings call. So working together with these brokers, we believe that will be a catalyst to lives growth both in Q2 and Q3 as we go forward.
Ross Stuart MacMillan, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division - Co-Head of Software Sector [10]
That's helpful. So that trend line of teens growth, that's -- you said, I think, 14%. That could be the way to think about maybe your baseline for lives growth?
Raymond Alexander August, Benefitfocus, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [11]
Yes. Because of the trending in our seasons, it's always important for us to look year-over-year because there's such a vast difference in what happens between the seasons, and so that's how we look at it.
Jonathon E. Dussault, Benefitfocus, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer [12]
Yes. And Ross, the only thing I'd add there, too, is if you think about the model and our focus and emphasis on adding lives and driving ARPU and taking the 2 into account, the lives are an important part of driving that engine. But as we drive the ARPU expansion through BenefitsPlace, you can see how the buildup can occur to get to our long-term target to 20 plus percent sustainable growth.
Yes, yes. Okay. Maybe one just follow-up. Just on Mercer, just so we understand that in terms of the seasonality. You mentioned, Jonathon, that some would come out in Q2. I wondered if you could just maybe be a bit specific on kind of the weighting of how that Mercer revenue comes out the model this year.
Yes, sure. So there's a couple of things going on in Q2 from a revenue perspective. We mentioned the headwinds of Mercer. There's also just some intra-year timing of professional services between the quarters, some of which land later in the year than in Q2. And of course, we've talked in the past about the larger enterprise deals like UTS with the longer implementation processes than a typical smaller direct-to-employer deal. All of that plays into Q2 and then the second half of the year.
But specific to Mercer, clearly we have the terms of the new commercial arrangement, which we've talked about in prior discussions, that we're feeling that in Q2, the headwind that we're making that strategic investment there for the long-term benefits [of increasing] that we strongly believe will occur. There's also some variable accounting noise in Q2. You may recall last year Q2, we had some incremental revenue come in with that variable accounting associated with Mercer, creates a tough compare this year, year-over-year. And that's another reference point as you think about the Mercer impact in the quarter.
Okay. Is Q2 the quarter on a year-over-year basis you have the biggest headwind from the Mercer changes that we think [it's a big] component?
Yes, yes.
Our next question is from Jamie Stockton from Wells Fargo.
James John Stockton, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Director & Senior Equity Research Analyst [18]
I guess maybe to start with, if we could talk about the sales leadership change. Given Jonathon leaving, I'm sure that people are going to kind of focus on both of these to some extent. I guess I would ask if you could give us some color on kind of how deep the bench is within kind of sales management. I mean I know you guys have named Peter Allen as kind of the new head of sales. But underneath him, can you give us any color for what the team looks like there, how stable it's been, how good you feel about the ability to execute on the selling season with the kind of leadership changes there? That'd be great.
Yes, thanks for that. As we look at Rob transitioning out of our company -- I'm very sad to see Rob go, really enjoyed working with him as part of our overall transition. And he was a great asset to our company. And if I look at what Rob did, he went for a much bigger job and became the CRO of a publicly traded company, which is about $2 billion of revenue, several thousand salespeople with a global footprint in over 40 different countries. And that was what Rob aspired to, is to work for a large global organization. So wish him very well. He'll do a terrific job for them.
As a company, one of the things that we're really proud of is just the number of executives that we're attracting to our company, lots of people. A material number of vice presidents and directors have joined our company since last year. That really speaks to the attractiveness of Benefitfocus and the attractiveness due to our strategy and our financial position. Having strong leaders in place to join our company enables us to be well positioned for any management changes.
So in Rob's case, within -- very quickly, within days, we appointed Peter, who had joined our company. And Peter is an extremely strong individual. Peter has led a very, very significant sales organization, been the CEO of a publicly traded company and has a vast, deep knowledge and understanding on how to drive a significant sales force at scale. So what Peter has done is he's inherited a very strong organization from Rob.
One of the great things Rob did was he created this multidimensional sales model to deliver on our strategy. And in every single part of the business, we have a very strong sales leader in place. Peter has come in and immediately taken that to the next level, working with those teams, prosecuting the deals that we have out there and is just moving in with a high rate of momentum. And really excited about the work he's doing, and given the fact that I have worked with Peter in the past, that I have the utmost confidence in his ability. And I'm seeing his knowledge and his skill really have a strong impact already in just a few weeks he's been in that role.
Okay. And then maybe just one other question. On the Connecture business, I think you guys kind of implied that it would contribute mid-single-digit growth this year, so maybe $12 million or $13 million. From a revenue standpoint, I guess is that still -- now that you kind of have ownership of that business, you probably have a little more time to grind on the numbers. Do you feel like it's still a solid assumption? Maybe can you talk about the cadence of that? Are you basically not getting a lot in Q2 because of purchase accounting adjustments or something like that but you're having to stomach the brunt of the expenses anyway? Just anything on that would be great.
Yes, we're really excited about what we're we seeing with the Connecture assets that we acquired. As we talked about, we're adding 2 million lives to our platform. We see those to be highly synergistic where every one of those lives is a heartbeat or an individual that we can improve their lives by offering to them BenefitsPlace products. Overall, the amount of software assets that we also acquired and deep customer relationships are going to prove beneficial for us.
One of the great assets that Connecture has is their core technology will be part of the marketplace that we will have for individuals. Typically, Benefitfocus has group marketplaces for both carriers and employers and individual marketplace, and a good example of that is our partnership with USAA where USAA uses our individual marketplace to provide benefits to the association members at USAA. We see that as a real strategic and an important launch point for us where we can monetize individuals on our platform as well as the groups that we're providing.
Just to give you an example, on our platform today, our 25 million plus consumers on our platform, traditionally about 3 million of those individuals terminate from their place of employment in a given year. In the past, those 3 million lives, they would go off and they would leave the Benefitfocus family. And if we're lucky, they'd come back through a Benefitfocus employer. With the individual marketplace that we'll be rolling out and leveraging the Connecture technology, we'll be able to capture all of those 3 million lives, put them into an individual marketplace and whether they're being part of the gig economy or retiring or going on to their next endeavor, it will allow us the opportunity to provide products to them to improve the lives of those individuals wherever they are in the overall life cycle.
Another great part -- another great advantage of Connecture is when we combine our assets and the Connecture assets, we serve 75% of the Blues plans in the U.S. The Blues plans, as you know, insure about 1/3 of the medical population in our country. And having those deeper and richer relationships with the Blues will only drive improved performance for us and improve revenue opportunities for us and improve value for those companies. So we really see the benefits of Connecture to be synergistic where we'll be able to provide BenefitsPlace products, we'll be able to stand up the individual marketplace, and we'll also be able to get closer to the Blues plans. So it's been a very positive acquisition.
Is there any commentary on the actual revenue contribution this year?
Yes. So our expectations are consistent with our points when we had our Q4 call. We'll be [softening] in Q1. Obviously, we have 1 month's worth of contribution, consistent with expectations. And we're still feeling comfortable with what we discussed previously.
Our next question is from Nandan Amladi from Guggenheim Partners.
Nandan Girish Amladi, Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division - Senior Analyst [25]
So as you grow out your broker network, how dependent are you on -- for the growth and the lives metric on brokers versus your own direct sales efforts to both carriers and enterprises?
The way we look at brokers on our network is not either/or. If you look at the value stream and what's happening in the benefits world today, brokers are the primary seller of solutions to the ultimate employers. They provide guidance. They provide wisdom. They provide recommendations on platform. And the data that we've seen is that north of 80% of the time, our broker recommends the Ultimate platform.
In the past, when our company was not working closely with brokers, they still are a part of the equation and it became a headwind for us in the past years. So you really can't look at it as with brokers and without brokers. We reorientated our entire sales force to -- on every single deal where there's a broker involved, we work with that broker to prosecute the opportunity, make sure the employer has the benefit of all the knowledge of us and the broker to provide the best solution for their company.
So we really see it as an exponential increase of our ability to drive lives and our ability to drive the overall solution. And if you think about it, we have 300 Premier Brokers that we're working with today. Every one of those people is out on the street every day working with their prospects, with their customers. So it really provides a tremendous amount of leverage for us.
We're really focused on making sure that we give the brokers exactly what they need to be successful. The way we look at it, for brokers, we need to make sure that their customers are highly satisfied but we also have solutions to serve the brokers. We work closely with them. We plan with them. And next week in Chicago, we're having our first ever Broker Place where brokers from around the country are coming together with us, with the leadership of Benefitfocus. And we'll be talking about how do we plan for this selling season, how do we work together to drive more products and to their customers, to make sure that they're successful going forward. So they're part of the family and they're essential to what we do.
The next question is from Chris Merwin from Goldman Sachs.
Kevin Kumar, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division - Associate [28]
This is Kevin Kumar on for Chris. How should we think about the magnitude of increases in the participation rate for BenefitsPlace in 2019 versus last year's just given the introduction of a lot of newer products and broadening of the platform?
Yes. As we look at BenefitsPlace and participation, from our perspective, there's a couple of different ways to look at it. So this year, in the same period, we had 9 different BenefitsPlace products that we offered -- 9 different companies that offer BenefitsPlace product to our consumers. Today, we have 43, 11 BenefitsPlace L&A carriers, and that's the who's who list of companies that we're really proud to be associated with. So we have a tremendous amount of more products that we offer to the market.
The other thing that we look at is, based on our 1-year data set we have now, so for the past year we've been doing this, we went through the Q4 selling season, is we have very accurate and specific analytics on buying behaviors of individuals, what they buy, what they don't buy, what the trade for the cohorts are. And we've actually built an entire suite of something we call BenefitsPlace Insights, which is part of our BenefitSAIGE artificial intelligence suite. And that gives us information on what people need, what they typically buy.
And as part of BenefitSAIGE, we have something called Smart Moments in which it allows us to reach out to a consumer on we call a moment that matters. So if a child is 26 years old, we have a notification and an e-mail sent to the individual to remind them that you're aging out of your parents' insurance policy and you better go select another medical product, or if somebody who's beginning to drive or somebody who just had a baby. All of those moments that matter is a point of interaction for us and a point of differentiation where we could contact that individual and really drive participation.
So if we look at more products, more lives, insights and consumer buying that we're really focused on and when you add that to One Place, we rolled out an entire suite of products where we're investing in the consumer experience, whether it's in the next-generation mobile app. We take all of those things together, and we feel very good and very confident about the activity that we're going to see the back half of this year. And we believe we'll see growth not only in placement, a lot of products with our customers, more products but also increase in participation rate.
And I would -- it's also important to add that if you look at the participation rates on our platform, that we're 2x to 4x the industry average. So even before we did all those stuff, we're seeing a whole lot of increase in participation versus what others are saying.
Great. That was helpful. And then a follow-up regarding the profitability beat. You noted timing of certain investments drove a portion of that beat. Can you talk a bit about what investments got pushed out?
Yes. There's a slew of things across the organization that really are just between Q1 and Q2. Some of it just ramped up with some staffing investments that we're making across the organization. And you'll see that, Kevin, come in, in Q2 where our guidance on EBITDA is probably likely a little bit lower than expectations. And some of that has to do with the timing of those investments coming into Q2.
(Operator Instructions) The next question here is from Steve Halper from Cantor Fitzgerald.
Steven Paul Halper, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division - Analyst [33]
Just a quick balance sheet question. What was the reason for the sequential decrease in the property and equipment line from the December quarter, about from $70 million down to $27 million? Is that something to do with the right-of-use assets?
Yes. I think if you factor in the combination of Connecture and the adoption of lease accounting, we had a fair amount of activity in our balance sheet here in Q1. And so it's a combination of those factors that's going to contribute to really all of the variances that you see on the balance sheet.
Our next question is from Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities.
Daniel Harlan Ives, Wedbush Securities Inc., Research Division - MD of Equity Research [36]
Yes. Just a more strategic question. [You said this] but maybe more directly. What do you think, if we go through the next 6 to 9 months, is maybe the biggest challenge but down the other side maybe the biggest opportunity? Maybe you can just hit both of those things.
Yes. No, thanks for that. We see it all as opportunity and making sure that we're focused on the opportunity and mitigating any risks that we have. But Dan, what we're really excited about is 25 million consumers on our platform and our opportunity to help provide them and improve their lives, providing products to their family and driving increased activity with every single life on our platform.
One of the things I talked about in the prepared comments is if you look at BenefitsPlace, last year in BenefitsPlace, we only targeted BenefitsPlace opportunities towards employers. This year, we're also going to work with medical carriers and offer BenefitsPlace products to them. And as we talked about in the past, there's actually more net benefit eligible lives with the medical carriers than there is in the large employer marketplace.
So we had a very transformative deal this quarter in Q1, which we -- we're working with a Blues plan, and the Blues plan is now offering BenefitsPlace products to all their members. It's this kind of opportunity which doesn't impact net benefit eligible lives at all in the short term, what it does is it creates an ARPU catalyst where we expand the revenue for this carrier and their customers.
For the carrier, this is a situation where they win. They're now offering a robust set of benefits to everybody in their company, and we see this as something that we're going to expand. And we're working with many Blues plans around the U.S. with opportunities. So we're really excited about expanding ARPU opportunities and product opportunities to all these Blues plans that we work with. And with 75% market share of the Blues plans, we have deep, rich relationships with many of them. So we see that as just a great opportunity.
Our next question is from Nina Deka from Piper Jaffray.
Nina D. Deka, Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division - Research Analyst [39]
Can you describe your go-to-market strategy on your plan to expand further into medical carriers such as Blue Cross that you just mentioned? [Will you add more] people? Or will you get to leverage existing teams?
Yes. No, thanks, Nina. As we look across our platform strategy, we are very focused on every role in the entire benefits value chain, whether it's our associates, whether it's consumers, whether it's employers, medical carriers, brokers, specialty providers and other sellers. And one of the great things that we're seeing is with the strong leadership that we have in our sales organization, we have a team focused on working with these medical carriers to expand this opportunity. We actually added to that talent pool with the Connecture -- with the Connecture asset where we brought over many people who know the medical carrier segment. So that gave us capability both in sales, service and development.
One of the really exciting things that's happening, however, is the network effect of our offering. So by virtue of the fact that people are hearing about BenefitsPlace, it's creating opportunities for brokers. Brokers are then going back to their medical carriers and voluntary providers and say, "Hey, you have to be part of BenefitsPlace." We're actually seeing RFPs coming out from employers asking about the BenefitsPlace products. And when we take that with these 300-plus brokers, this network effect is, in some ways, in addition to our expanded sales force that we have serving the medical carriers with the addition of the Connecture team. We have brokers selling for us, employers selling for us, and so the medical carriers see that and they want to be part of the Benefitfocus family. So the network effect is in full speed, and it's helping us sell our solutions.
This concludes the question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back to Mr. Ray August for any closing comments.
Yes. Thank you, and thanks, everybody, for joining our Q1 earnings call. In summary, we have demonstrated 6 consecutive quarters of strong performance. We've grown significantly the number of net benefit eligible lives on our platform by 31%. We're well positioned for future accelerated revenue growth and ARPU expansion in the second half of the year. We're really pleased with our solid start to 2019. And as we enter our selling season, we have a very strong foundation for future growth. So this concludes our call.
This concludes the teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.
What Is mDR's (SGX:A27) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Rocketed?


With just two weeks until This Unruly Mess I've Made hits store shelves, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis release their DJ Premier-produced single.
This Unruly Mess I've Made is due out February 26 and features guest appearances by Anderson .Paak, Ed Sheeran, KRS-One, DJ Premier, YG, Chance The Rapper, Leon Bridges, and so many more.
Take a listen to "Buckshot" below.


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mouse LD50 intraperitoneal > 800mg/kg (800mg/kg) Journal of the Indian Chemical Society. Vol. 58, Pg. 269, 1981.


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The school was founded in 1991 and currently has 95 students (preschool through 8th grade). It is licensed by the PA State Board of Private Academic Schools. The Head Teachers are state and Montessori certified.
Montessori Children's Community offers children the opportunity to learn through an interdisciplinary curriculum that is based on a broad and complete course of academic study. Based on each child's level of individual readiness, the school's curriculum includes everyday living skills, large and small motor skills, sensory development, reading, grammar, creative writing, spelling, handwriting, basic and advanced mathematics, geography, history, science, Spanish, computer education, art, music, and physical education. Following Dr. Maria Montessori's philosophy, the Montessori Children's Community provides carefully prepared learning environments that will stimulate your child's intellect, and encourage optimal learning.
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text:
The Gig Economy Workers Who Power the Scooter Ridesharing Craze for a Pittance
People are hoarding electric scooters and going into other people's homes to retrieve them.
by Sarah Emerson
May 15, 2018, 3:00pm
Bird scooters in San Francisco. Image: Sarah Emerson
When electric scooter startups Bird, Lime, and Spin zipped through San Francisco, they split the city in two. "Scootergeddon" has become a proxy war for the fight between The People and the kind of disruptive tech startups that have come to define the city—mostly resulting in the tactical destruction of scooters, and a few ad hoc rules meant to keep the companies in line.
The beef boils down to this: Rent-by-the-minute wheels seem harmless, even beneficial; able to serve transportation deserts, and carbon friendlier than taxis. Yet many San Franciscans perceive them as a nuisance, even a physical threat. Meanwhile, the trio of startups (plus their poorly behaved riders) has done little to engender the community's good will.
But as sides jockey for dominance, one group has gone largely unnoticed: the gig economy laborers.
This type of workforce promises people freedom while denying them rights to minimum wage, freedom from discrimination, or reimbursement for expenses. Technically, they're not employees—Bird, for example, classifies these workers as independent contractors—but without them, scooter ridesharing in its current state would cease to exist.
Each company pays independent contractors to charge and repair their thousands of scooters. (In San Francisco, Bird alone has more than 1,600 scooters.) They advertise on employment websites like Craigslist and WayUp, and require people to rescue low-battery scooters, re-up them with special chargers, and replace them in select locations. "If you know how to charge your phone, you can make money charging Birds," the company says on its website, but chargers who I spoke to claim it's not so simple, and that Bird, in particular, has woefully neglected those doing its most vital work.
"In one case, the scooter was in an open driveway, about five feet away, easily accessible to the public," one Bird charger told me, asking to remain anonymous because of the startup's rules against chargers disclosing non-public information.
"So I walked up, and as I reached for the scooter, a neighbor pops his head out the window and shouts, 'What are you stealing!' It happens almost all the time."
They'd tracked the scooter's location through the app, which uses GPS to broadcast which are ready for "capture." Often the scooters are parked on private property, and several Bird chargers told me the company has zero guidance on what to do in these situations.
When this person reported the incident to Bird's help desk, asking for a shirt or hat to identify themselves in the future, "[Bird] simply said that they are working on getting us 'swagged out.'" (Bird declined to comment on the matter.)
Bird told me that it doesn't ask chargers to enter private property. But according to chargers, the company doesn't ask them not to, either, since the app shows all scooters that are ready to be charged, regardless of location.
Another Bird charger who I spoke to, who also requested anonymity, twice had their home entered by other chargers who took the scooters they had inside.
"First a guy came to the door and coerced my elderly father into letting him in," they said. "Apparently, the guy told him he had the right to come in and get scooters, and it sounds like he threatened to call the police."
The second time, a charger had possibly followed a "ghost image," or lagging GPS signal for a scooter that had already been charged and released, making it appear as if the scooter was still inside the house.
When they contacted Bird's help desk, a representative simply said to remove the pilfered scooters from their app. (Bird chargers get access to additional app features that itemize the scooters they're servicing, and log information such as battery life and barcode.)
"I was really shocked by the whole thing," they told me. "I work jobs that involve going onto private property. There's a lot of effort into getting permission first, and even then there are close calls. I'm really afraid at some point [a Bird charger is] going to get hurt."
When I raised these issues to Bird, the company seemed unconcerned, and attributed the "bugs" to the service's popularity.
"We're a young, small company and there may be minor bugs as seen with any new, highly used, GPS-powered app, and we're regularly working to fix any glitches," Bird spokesperson Kenneth Baer told me in an email.
Bird has raised $115 million in funding, and was founded by Travis VanderZanden, Uber's former VP of Global Driver Growth. It currently employs more than one hundred people, according to Baer, and recently claimed to have clocked 95,418 rides in thirty days in San Francisco. The company continues to expand, and has also launched in Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Nashville, Atlanta, and Scottsdale.
Bird offers its chargers $5 to $20 per scooter. Bounties depend on their location (harder-to-retrieve ones are worth more), and how many scooters are available at that moment. Contractors can make $20 to $30 per hour, says Harry Campbell, founder of The Rideshare Guy website who reviewed the pros and cons of being a Bird charger. (Bird claims that it personally meets all of its chargers. But some chargers who I spoke to said they were only vetted over the phone. "Basically, 'Are you interested?' Great, here's your charger," one said.)
Whether this ends up being a profitable trade depends on a few things—it helps to have a car, for instance, since Bird lets people charge up to 20 scooters, and it's better to be in the general vicinity of "nests," or designated drop-off points, as Bird prefers chargers to distribute scooters early in the morning.
The Pokémon Go-style approach of finding and capturing scooters has essentially pitted contractors against each other, several told me, prompting awkward and sometimes hostile showdowns.
"The 'Bird hoarder' problem is out of control," another charger who also requested anonymity told me. "They stash them and wait for other chargers to mark them as missing, and wait until the bounties increase. It is unfair for other chargers who waste a lot of time and gas trying to find the Birds that are still on the map."
On the "Bird Scooter Chargers" Facebook page, which claims to be community-run, there are many more examples of charger-on-charger rivalry.
Even Bird riders are hoarding scooters—in their homes, at work, in classrooms—not knowing they're GPS tracked.
"We have heard some reports of this," Baer told me. "It is very important to us that scooters are available to customers who want to use them. We're working hard to ensure scooters are available and not being removed from the streets when they shouldn't be."
The chargers who I spoke to claim that Bird's help desk is insufficiently dealing with these problems, with one person describing their responsiveness as "selective." Some are also frustrated by the cutesy nicknames used by support representatives: Tweety Bird, Owl, Parakeet, Penguin, Dorsal Finch.
"There is no accountability," a charger told me. "They know who we are and we chargers have no idea who we are talking with."
"It's the basic tech support desk," another charger said. "They're great for tech support. Beyond that, eh."
Right now, Bird and other scooter companies represent just a tiny percentage of the gig economy, but that doesn't exempt them from criticism. On-demand ridesharing is known for often relying on an exploitative labor model—one that was recently litigated in the California Supreme Court, but remains the beating heart of companies like Uber and Lyft.
Bird exemplifies the "weird binary state of gig workers," Aleksandr Felstiner, a labor lawyer with the firm Levy Ratner, P.C., told me in an email. "[The workers] are often totally free to do what they want, including work or not work, as much or as little as they want, until they activate the app, at which point they often have specific duties and not much flexibility in how to do them."
Things like stolen and destroyed scooters are probably a loss that these companies can afford to absorb. Chargers may come and go, but as one of them put it: "Without us, they could not function."
Tagged:san franciscoSan Diegobird scootersElectric ScootersridesharingscootergeddonTechSilicon Valleytransportationlimespingig economyMotherboard

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The annular ligaments of the toes are the annular part of the fibrous sheathes of the toes.  These strong transverse bands of fibrous tissue cross the flexor tendons at the level of the upper half of the proximal phalanges of the foot.

Ligaments
Lower limb anatomy
Toes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Church Initiative, Inc. ("Church Initiative"), a nonprofit ministry, operates several websites including the Church Initiative Leadership Store. It is Church Initiative's policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating our websites.
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Wide angle of channel made to get around cross beam.
Close up of channel that was made to get around cross beam with CAT 5 cabling.
Installed jack plate over channel temporarily until customer can have channel plastered over.
Sometimes when you are pulling cables you come across cross beams. Sometimes this is easy to get around, especially when the walls are up, or if you were aware of their presence and you are able to place the jack in an alternate location.
Sometimes you just cut out your hole for your low voltage mount, try to snake the wire up or down the wall and find out that your snake is not making it all the way past the drop ceiling.
In those cases you can measure how far your snake is making it up and down the wall and make a small channel. Snake the wire from one side of the channel up (or down) then bring it around the beam and snake the cable the rest of the way. Many times you can get away with a blank electrical plate as a cover. I did not have any blank electrical plates so I used a single hole plate with some white tape to cover the hole (a blank would have required me to make the hole bigger to accommodate the depth of the blank which I do not think was worth it, when the customer can either get a blank plate themselves for about $1, or have someone come and plaster up the hole when the complete the painting.
Snaking wire thru wall with minimal damage.


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Hurricane Irma and Harvey were two of the most destructive storms in US history. Their damage hit multiple states throughout the South and South Atlantic. The cost of recovery will be hundreds of billions. Despite the setback, residents have already begun reconstructing their homes and livelihoods. To assist, gazelleindex.com (which is powered by EuQuant, pronounced U-Quant) sought advice from an experienced FEMA representative regarding how small business owners should apply for disaster assistance from FEMA. Below are the questions we asked and the answers we received.
Question: Is there recovery help from FEMA if the hurricane damaged my small business?
Question: Where should I go for information regarding what disaster assistance is available and how to apply for it?
Answer: First of all, the best place to go to find information regarding what you should do if businesses or farms were affected by the hurricane is the FEMA disaster relief site. The site contains information on the kind of assistance offered by FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and the Farm Services Agency. The FEMA helpline is 1–800–621–3362. Additional information for farmers and ranchers is available at US Department of Agriculture extension service. The application for disaster assistance is state specific, so be sure to select the state in which the damage occurred to your business.
Question: What type of aid is available? Are there types of losses that are not covered?
Answer: Business and farm loans are available at low-interest rates to repair or replace damaged property not covered by insurance, and to provide working capital. FEMA does not award grants. It does not matter what the damages are, as long as they are disaster-related.
Question: What must I do to apply for assistance?
The process is similar, like residence, individuals with small businesses must apply online or by phone. DisasterAssistance.gov or 800-621-3362.
Business owners should also go to the Small Business Administration sba.gov and fill out their application.
The low-interest loans do not have upfront fees and processing costs.
Question: What are the different ways to register for assistance?
Question: How long does it typically take to get aid?
It depends on how soon the inspectors can get to your property. Sometimes the business insurance companies take a longer time to do inspections than do the FEMA inspectors.
So, it is essential that as soon as the inspectors assess the damages, you go ahead and apply to the SBA. Once the application is submitted, it usually takes 7 to 14 days, depending on the size of the disaster.
Question: Are there things I can do to speed up the process, such as documents that I should gather?
Answer: The required documents are indicated during the application process.
Question: What should I do if I lost everything in the flood, including documents?
Answer: The different agencies are usually are very cooperative during a disaster. When you register for disaster assistance, either online or by phone, you will need the following to complete your application.
Routing and account number for your checking or savings account (this allows SBA to deposit disaster assistance funds directly into your bank account).
Question: Any other tips or advice you can provide that would be helpful?


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var g = typeof window === 'undefined' ? global : window;
// Make this module a true singleton
module.exports = g.__RAPTOR_PUBSUB || (g.__RAPTOR_PUBSUB = require('./raptor-pubsub'));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Aoife Duffin Embodies A Girl Half-Formed
Irish Words Affecting and Harrowing
By: Susan Hall - Apr 21, 2016
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing
Adapted for the stage by Annie Ryan
Based on the novel by Eimear McBride
Directed by Annie Ryan
Performer: Aoife Duffin
Baryshnikov Arts Center and Irish Arts Center
Produced by The Corn Exchange and Cusack Projects Limited
Photos by Mihaela Bodlovic
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing emerges from a bleak yet hopeful life in Ireland. The younger sister of a boy who has brain cancer is left to her own devices by a mother who is absorbed with the boy. The father, unable to cope, has left home. The Girl thrives despite sexual abuse and neglect. Her life is bracketed by her brother's.
At the start the Jerome Robbins Theatre is pitch dark. From the intense blackness of the stage, the young Girl is captured by a single spotlight. As she struggles to emerge, the light widens. Without props and with no walls to divide space, light is used to distinguish areas. Sinead Wallace's lighting design not only captures a meadow and a stand of trees, but the rooms of a home. She even uses lighting as makeup. The Girl's face is smoothed out and reflective after she emerges from the water of a lake. Two craggy dark lines are created to suggest despair.
Wallace is only one of many superb talents who have mounted this one woman show. Annie Ryan shaped a novel into a harrowing and compelling performance piece. She directs so unique voices are given to nameless characters who exist outside time. No names. No dates.
The Girl's voice is smooth and often innocent. It is crossed with the adults. Mama's is at times tender but more often a high-pitched screech. The seducing Uncle speaks with a raspy edge.
It is Aoife Duffin's monumental and yet simple evocation of 'Girl' in shattered and sacramental language that stands out. She speaks not only for herself, but for her mother and uncle. She talks sometimes in second person about her brother, who has a fixating cancerous tumor. Sometimes she is reporting the scene around her. At other times she inhabits Mama and Brother. Each character in her wide range is treated with sensitivity.
The language is so thick and evocative that sometimes gesture and subtly defined space is not enough to locate the action. This is a minor glitch in the overall power of the play.
Duffin uses her own voice to unleash dialogue. Her twisted body shifts and abrupt movements of hand and limbs help us imagine the Uncle and Grandpa. Her peopling of the stage is both an auditory and visual masterpiece.
Mixed with the sacramental blood of sex, violence and surgery are the visceral cries of pain and of survival. Shattered language mirrors the Girl's mental state. A Girl Half-formed is an astonishing evening of theatre, extending Bloomsday deeper into the Irish heart through the miracle of the country's language. With 'Dia is muire phult' we are invited in.
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Snakeskin (engl.: Schlangenhaut) bezeichnet:

 Snakeskin (Film), neuseeländischer Film von Gillian Ashurst aus dem Jahr 2001
 Snakeskin (Lied), Single der australischen Band Gyroscope aus dem Jahr 2007
 Snakeskin (Musikprojekt), Musikprojekt des Musikers Tilo Wolff der Band Lacrimosa
 Snakeskin-Gletscher, Gletscher an der Ostseite der Supporters Range in der Antarktis


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Gloria Estefan – Greatest Hits (1992) {2002, Reissue, Hi-Res SACD Rip}
SACD Rip | ISO / DSD / 1bit / 2.8224MHz | FLAC Tracks / 24bit / 88.2kHz | Stereo & Multichannel
Single Layer SACD | Full Scans Included
Total Size: 3.81 GB (ISO) + 3.17 GB (FLAC Mch) + 1.12 GB (FLAC Stereo) | 3% RAR Recovery
Label: Epic | US | Cat#: ES 86729 | Genre: Pop
In 1984, Gloria Estefan started off as the lead singer of Miami Sound Machine. By 1987, after scoring four big hits from their first major U.S. album, they became Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, and by 1989, after even bigger success, it was simply Gloria Estefan. This greatest-hits collection covers the years 1985 to 1992, featuring most of the pop confections that propelled her to the top of the charts and to international stardom. Among the hits included are her three number ones: "Anything for You," "Coming Out of the Dark," and "Don't Wanna Lose You," as well as other Top Ten hits including "Conga," "Words Get in the Way," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," "Can't Stay Away from You," "Here We Are," and the single mix of "1-2-3." There are a few glaring omissions, however. "Bad Boy," her second Top Ten hit, was left off, and that is unfortunate because the hit version was a remix of the original album version and is extremely difficult to find on CD. Other omissions include "Dr. Beat," "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)," "Oye Mi Canto," "Live for Loving You," and "Can't Forget You." To round off the set are four new recordings, including the album's first single, "Always Tomorrow," the Jon Secada-penned "I See Your Smile," the irresistible Latin-flavored dance track "Go Away," and the semi-tepid holiday tune "Christmas Through Your Eyes." This is a good collection from a great artist that could have been a great collection had they included all the hits. ― Allmusic
01. Conga – 04:15
02. Words Get In The Way – 03:27
03. Can't Stay Away From You – 03:57
04. 1,2,3 – 03:35
05. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You – 03:58
06. Anything For You – 04:02
07. Here We Are – 04:54
08. Get On Your Feet – 03:39
09. Don't Wanna Lose You – 04:09
10. Coming Out Of The Dark – 04:05
11. Christmas Through Your Eyes – 04:55
12. I See Your Smile – 04:37
13. Go Away – 04:20
14. Always Tomorrow – 04:55
SACD-ISO | SACD-FLAC-STEREO | SACD-FLAC-MCH
LMA_GlEs.1992.GH.2002_SACD-FLAC-MCH.rar
LMA_GlEs.1992.GH.2002_SACD-FLAC-STEREO.rar
LMA_GlEs.1992.GH.2002_SACD-ISO.rar
Author Your_SACDPosted on October 15, 2020 Categories PopTags Gloria Estefan
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Senior Salesforce Business Analyst - Miami area - $90k-$110k posted 18 days ago.
Salesforce Service Cloud Administrator posted 21 days ago.
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Whether you are looking to throw away large household items like broken appliances or old furniture, or are just trying to clean up your home or yard, junk removal companies in Kinderhook are here to help de-clutter your space quickly and efficiently. No license is required to perform junk removal in Kinderhook so XRefer takes care to partner with companies that have experience, perform background checks on employees and don't overcharge.
The average cost for ¼ truck junk removal in Kinderhook is $118. Pricing for ¼ truck junk removal in Kinderhook includes 80 to 120 cubic ft.
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The average cost for ¾ truck junk removal in Kinderhook is $340. Pricing for ¾ truck junk removal in Kinderhook includes 300 to 360 cubic ft.
The average cost for full truck junk removal in Kinderhook is $485. Pricing for full truck junk removal in Kinderhook includes 420 to 480 cubic ft. Additional fees may apply for refrigerators, freezers, paint, tires, ac units, pianos and a few other large or hazardous items.
What Can Kinderhook Junk Haulers Take Away?
Before you even call a junk hauler in Kinderhook you want to write down specific questions that will help you make an educated choice in hiring the right specialist to remove your waste.
2. Estimate process. Do you charge by portion of junk truck filled up or by weight? Can I send pictures to get a more accurate estimate over the phone? For the most accurate estimate for the cost of junk removal in Kinderhook an on-site review at your home or office is the only way to go, as customers typically underestimate the volume of garbage. Most haulers charge by the portion of the truck that is used, and that is very hard for homeowners to conceptualize.
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XRefer will make sure you only work with reputable and experienced expert junk haulers in Kinderhook who will get rid of unnecessary clutter from your home or office. Get started now, haulers are ready to provide a quote, have the experience and knowledge in handling all types of waste and are available in your area.
There's a high demand for Kinderhook junk removal. Call or request a quote right now!
Serving: Rensselaer, Sand Lake, Egremont, North Greenbush, Clermont and throughout Kinderhook.
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We are all "Fighting Gravity" every day of our lives. As we move through time and become seasoned individuals, "Fighting Gravity" becomes a difficult challenge. Standing up straight, gaining no extra weight, exercising three days a week minimum and keeping your sense of humor makes aging not for sissies.
We don't need another fitness book trying to make us into 30 year old, body beautiful, human specimens. What we do need is a humorous self help fitness book for the 65% of people who don't exercise. We do need a logical, easy equipment free, positive approach to "move it or lose it". How do we begin a fitness program that is safe, relatively pain free and still have a good time. The motto here is "Just Suit Up and Show Up". Draft your friends who will stick by you during this glorious but sometimes trying experience. Learn to exercise at work, in your car or truck, while on vacation or on your bed. Use objects around the house like stairs, front door or water bottles to promote fitness.
Collect points and a "Yea for You" each time you do something positive. The end result will be a new you, feeling and looking better, taller, improved breathing and stronger muscles. You will earn an "Extended Warranty" on your body parts. "Fighting Gravity" is the book you will want to give to your friends, family members and other loved ones to motivate them to fight gravity with you.


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From Upgraded Bridging Systems to an Extended Range of Surveillance and Cybersecurity Solutions: CNIM's Latest Innovations for the Armed For
PARIS-Wednesday 6 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- As a leading player in Defense & Security in France and internationally, the CNIM Group presents on its booth H 267|Hall 5A its innovative systems and equipment for the Projection and Protection of the Armed Forces.
In the face of changing threats and capacity needs, CNIM is offering tailored crossing solutions, while its subsidiary Bertin Technologies continues to expand its range of products in the field of optronics and CBRN threat detection.
Bertin now offers a broader range of Surveillance solutions following the acquisition in 2017 of Exensor, world leader in the supply of sensors and networks for sensitive sites protection.
Bertin IT complements this offer of Protection of Armed Forces and Governments with reliable and efficient cyber intelligence and cybersecurity solutions.
Eurosatory 2018 will be the occasion for Bertin to launch several solutions for the protection of ... Read more »
Views: 41 | Added by: uaeonlinenews | Date: 06.11.2018
STCPartners Becomes Andersen Tax & Legal in France
SAN FRANCISCO-Wednesday 6 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Four years after becoming a member firm of Andersen Global, Paris-based STCPartners has officially adopted the Andersen trademark in France debuting as Andersen Tax & Legal. The firm was one of the very first member firms of the global organization that helped drive the initial expansion into Europe in late 2013 and is led by Managing Partners Hervé-Antoine Couderc, Delphine Bariani and Pierre Bouley. Andersen Tax & Legal in France is a law firm specializing in private equity and offering tailor-made and innovative services to its clients.
"Many of us share a common history and we felt a natural closeness beginning with our very first exchanges. Working with likeminded individuals is essential for our firm and for our clients, who will thus be able to benefit from seamless and consistent services of the highest quality in numerous economic centers around the world," remarked Her ... Read more »
GSMA Comments on the Agreement on European Electronic Communications Code
Europe Passes Up Opportunity To Demonstrate 5G Leadership
BRUSSELS-Wednesday 6 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The European Commission, Parliament and Council have reached a political agreement on the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC). In the GSMA's view, this agreement is a political compromise that fails to confront long term challenges for the European telecommunication sector and could hinder deployment of 5G networks in Europe, weakening the region's competitiveness and harming European citizens.
In particular, these setbacks include:
Investment uncertainty: the GSMA is disappointed that the agreement does not deliver sufficiently on the ambition to provide a strong, pro-investment regulatory reform. The GSMA believes that only such an assurance would allow the industry to make the necessary investments that would ultimately benefit consumers.
Lack of harmonisati ... Read more »
Views: 40 | Added by: uaeonlinenews | Date: 06.11.2018 | Comments (0)
GSMA and W20 Announce Call to Action to Close Digital Gender Gap Ahead of G20 Summit
New Recommendations Call On G20 Member States to Promote Digital Inclusion for Women
LONDON -Wednesday 6 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As part of its role within the W20 (Women 20) group1, the GSMA has backed a series of recommendations to promote digital inclusion for women to be presented to the G20 member states later this year. The GSMA is Topic Chair of the Digital Inclusion theme within the W20, which is advising the G20 on issues around gender equality and the economic empowerment of women, supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG #5 (Gender Equality).
"The GSMA has been privileged to help shape the W20 recommendations, which will provide an actionable roadmap for the G20 nations to drive gender equality policies around the world," said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. "These recommendations underline the importance of closing the digital gender gap by removing barriers to access an ... Read more »
FLIR Launches Next-Generation Black Hornet 3 Nano-UAV
Latest Black Hornet Enables Operation in GPS-Denied Areas
WILSONVILLE, Ore.-Wednesday 6 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) today announced the Black Hornet® 3 nano-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use by global militaries, government agencies, and first responders. The Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS) is already the world's smallest combat-proven nano-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), and FLIR's next generation Black Hornet 3 nano-UAV adds the ability to navigate in GPS-denied environments, enabling the warfighter to maintain situational awareness, threat detection, and surveillance no matter where the mission takes them.
The Black Hornet PRS has been fielded by over 30 nations over the past seven years and continues to represent the cutting-edge in the combat nano-UAS space, enabling small combat units, SWAT teams, and first responders with immediately available intelligence, tar ... Read more »
Year of Zayed Celebrated in a Short Film Featuring Renowned Businessman and Philanthropist Dr B. R. Shetty
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.-Sunday 10 June 2018 [ AETOS Wire ]
In attendance of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE's Minister of Culture, Abu Dhabi witnessed the premiere of 'Estimrariya', a short film that pays tribute to the legacy of the father of the nation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Written and Directed by Ullas R Koya, the six-minute short film, Estimrariya, which means Continuance in Arabic, features noted businessman and philanthropist. Dr B. R. Shetty plays the role of an elderly Arab citizen teaching his granddaughter (Gamila Yassin) about virtues inherited from the late Sheikh Zayed.
Dr. B. R. Shetty, Chairman, NMC Healthcare and Finablr, said, "In the Year of Zayed, there isn't a better way for me to express my gratitude to the merits the late Sheikh Zayed brought upon this nation, which I have called home for 45 years. He was the symbol of kindness and tolerance, the founda ... Read more »


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O'Neill and Allan stitch up another huge land grab
Philippine's President Duterte and his Agriculture Secretary want to plant 1 million hectares of rice in Papua New Guinea by 2023
PNGExposed | 22 February 2018
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Agriculture Minister Benny Allan have promised the Philippines government at least one million hectares of land in Papua New Guinea for Filipino farmers to grow rice, according to media reports.
The 1 million hectares [10,000 square kilometres] will be leased to Filipino companies and thousands of Filipino farmers and agriculture graduates are expected to head to PNG, according to the country's Agriculture Secretary, Emmanuel F. Piñol.
The Philippines government says the 1 million hectares of rice is just its initial five-year target. That means by 2023, over 2% of the total area of PNG could be in Filipino hands.
Information on the rice growing deal first started to emerge after a meeting between Prime Minister O'Neill and President Duterte, at the APEC summit in Vietnam in November last year .
More details of the deal were agreed between Agriculture Minister Benny Allan and Piñol in Manilla earlier this month.
The deal is expected to be finalised in Port Moresby early next month with a delegation led by the Philippines Agriculture Secretary set to travel on March 7.
Initially a team of 22 Filipino farmers will come to PNG to start the development of a 100-hectare demonstration farm within the Seventh Day Adventist College compound outside Port Moresby. The Philippines government hopes that President Duterte will visit the demonstration farm when he attends the APEC Summit in November.
The whole land grab has been developed on the back of APEC and is a perpetuation of the false narrative that PNG's customary land is idle and must be 'freed up' for foreigners to bring development.
The truth is, customary land already supports an economy worth as much as K40 billion a year, far bigger than the resource extraction industries the government obsesses over. Customary land also provides jobs for 3 million farmers and supports a rural population of 7 million. Customary land is set to become even more important in the future, with PNG's population set to grow to over 13 million by 2050.
Meanwhile, opposition to the rice deal is beginning to emerge in the Philippines . Local farmers there say the plan is "an insult" to them and Filipino farmers were fully capable of producing all their countries rice needs locally. They say the plan is "very anti-farmer as well as against the poor", sentiments that will resonate equally in Papua New Guinea.
Original source: PNGExposed