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Nevada retailers sold more than $1 billion in medicinal and recreational cannabis over a single fiscal period, state officials announced today.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) and the Nevada Department of Taxation published findings that exhibit $1.03B in taxable cannabis purchases in the fiscal year 2021, running from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
For an idea of what the projections as mentioned above look like side-by-side, gross cannabis sales for the prior 2020 fiscal year amounted to $684.5 million.
The majority of the cannabis purchases, nearly $800 million, were generated from Clark County. Notably, this is where the popular tourist attraction Las Vegas is located. Another $135 million of cannabis was generated in Washoe County. Geographically, this is where Reno is located. Reno is the principal city in that area. The remaining $78 million came from other counties in Nevada.
Ten percent of tax revenue from recreational cannabis commerce supports pubic education funding, as designated under a law that Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed beforehand.
‘This is what the people of Nevada expect due to the legalization of recreational cannabis,’ the governor stated in a press release about the new sales metrics. ‘Education remains one of my uppermost priorities, and I’m proud to see secured tax revenue from cannabis sales directly funding our scholars and schoolhouses.’ Earlier this summer, Sisolak also signed a law to legalize cannabis consumption lounges (i.e., cannabis cafes) in the state.
The governor of Nevada also committed to advancing equity and justice in the state’s cannabis legislation. In 2020, for instance, he pardoned approximately 15,000 people who were convicted for ‘basic’ cannabis possession.
That work was made possible under a decision the governor began unanimously approved by Nevada’s Board of Pardons Commissioners.
Meanwhile, other states across the nation have been praising cannabis sales, and the tax revenue yielded as cannabis markets continue to grow. Pun intended.
For instance, Illinois cannabis retailers have sold $1 billion worth of legal recreational cannabis products in 2021.
Earlier this summer, Maine recreational cannabis commerce broke another sales record. The lobster roll state generated upwards of $10 million for the first time since the launch of the adult-use market in the Fall of 2020.
Arizona scraped up roughly $21.5 million in medicinal and adult-use cannabis tax revenue this summer. AZ officials published a website that allows people to more easily monitor how the cannabis industry is evolving.
Last month, California received about $820million in adult-use cannabis tax revenue throughout the 2020-2021 fiscal year, state officials projected. That’s 55 percent more cannabis earnings for state coffers than was generated in the prior fiscal year.
A new scientific study on sales metrics in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington discovered that cannabis sales ‘have grown more throughout the COVID-19 pandemic than in the two years before.
In July, three states witnessed record-breaking sales for recreational cannabis.
According to Michigan’s regulatory body metrics, Michigan cannabis sales shattered another record this summer with more than $170 million in cannabis sales. There were $130 million in adult-use sales and $43.5 million in medicinal cannabis sales.
During the pandemic, a litany of states allowed cannabis retailers to remain open for business. Moreover, governors and lawmakers in a slew of markets declared cannabis businesses to be essential services. Some municipalities issued emergency orders permitting curbside pickup, delivery services, and more flexible policies to promote social distancing.
Meanwhile, New York lawmakers are projecting that cannabis tax revenue will help keep the state’s budget intact as cigarette sales continue to plummet over the coming years. The reason cigarette sales are down is an obvious one: because everyone smokes cannabis now.


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Hot rods and cool cats hit West End
Monday, August 3, 2009, 7:31 pm
- Revellers at Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival 2009.
Thousands of revellers from around Australia and internationally cruised to the 10th Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival in West End last weekend.
Organisers say it is the largest celebration of vintage cars and fashion, rockabilly music, lowbrow art, and tattooing in the Southern Hemisphere.
The four-day event sold out its late night performances on Friday and Saturday nights.
The celebrations culminated in the all-ages hot rod show on Sunday, where vintage and customised car lovers young and old could get a taste of yesteryear.
The festival included some of the premier rockabilly acts in the world, Marti Brom – based in the US, Australia’s The Satellites, and Johnny Law and The Pistol Packin’ Daddies.
Other attractions included the vintage markets – racks full of retro-inspired and period pieces picked apart by fashionistas, rockabilly CDs and records, to the downright odd.
Old-fashioned hair lacquer was available for that slick, Grease lightnin’ look, pinstripers were set up to detail vehicles, and festival-goers could get inked inside an authentic pink and white 1959 caravan, at Mimsy’s Trailer Trash Tattoo. The van, which is based in Archerfield on Brisbane’s southside, headed to Greazefest for the second year in a row, bringing with it a collection of vintage pin-up and sailor tattoo designs for visitors to survey.
Greazefest is proof that, more than half a century later, the music, style and flavour of the 1950s is clearly still alive, and not just for those who lived through it.
Children under the age of 10 danced to youth psychobilly group, Checkered Fist, whose members are aged between 12 and 16, and surveyed the classic Cadillac’s and custom vehicles with as much awe as their parents.
Full vintage regalia was worn by mostly a 20- to 30-year-old demographic – all far too young to have experience the 1950s firsthand.
Festival director Lori Lee Cash calls herself a ‘kustom kulture’, which means she follows the trend of customising everything, from cars, to your own body, to give a sense of individuality. She is an 1950s expert and says while a revival in interest in the decade began in the 1980s, the movement has grown significantly since then and the Greazefest event with it.
“A lot of people look back on the 1950s because it was a time of great celebration after the war, and people were spending money on cars and style, and so there was a boom in innovation,” she said.
“It was a decade of excess, but not greed like the 1980s – it was design excess, fashion, cars and home design became extreme.
“We’re not cashing in on a fad – we stay true to the roots of the culture and it’s just about immersing yourself in it.”
She says the festival is very popular with younger crowds.
“The people in their 40s who love this culture, they’ve mostly outgrown getting dressed up but still love the music,” she said.
“Those in their 20s haven’t done it yet – it’s exciting and it gives them an identity.”
First-time Greazefest-goer Stephen Smith says he was ‘blown away’ by the dedication of some of the visitors, who were completely immersed in the look of the culture, which began with the vehicles of the 1950s.
“It was crazy to see all those cars in such immaculate condition and all the customised detailing,” he said.
“The music, and the fashion – the art and it all, kind of just seemed to revolve around the cars, first and foremost.”
Ms Cash says you do not have to be a bona fide rockabilly or hot rod fan to swing by.
“Just come in and enjoy the culture – I want to keep things open and let it carve its own path,” she said.
The festival will be held for July 30 to August 1 next year.
Click here to view a gallery of images from Greazefest 2009.

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Everywoman has announced the entrepreneurial women who are finalists for the 2016 NatWest Everywoman Awards Iris Award Category.
The Iris Awards, the technology category for the NatWest Everywoman Awards, is designed to showcase women who have started a business which uses technology in a new and innovative way.
The 2016 finalists are:
Fiona Hudson-Kelly from Rugby, Warwickshire for Smart Assessor, a platform allowing assessments for work such as apprenticeships to take place through smartphones and mobile technology. More than 200,000 students and 9,000 tutors already use the platform.
London based Kate McLaughlin from We Got POP, a company providing workflow technology for production crews of TV and film enabling better communications between agents, crew and artists. Pinewood Studios is a lead investor in the firm.
Amber Vodegel from Godalming, Surrey for Health & Parenting, a company providing healthcare monitoring applications. Its leading application ‘Pregnancy+’ already has over 10m downloads and is translated into seven languages.
In its 14th year, the NatWest Everywoman Awards has recognised 22 finalists, including entrepreneurial women from industries such as manufacturing, design, technology and arts.
The awards aim to showcase great women across different industries to provide role models for other women who have considered being an entrepreneur.
Everywoman co-founder Maxine Benson said: “The ambition, success and humility of our finalists make them all strong accessible role models for other women and girls considering starting their own business. Gender has never been a barrier to great ideas or initiatives and this year’s finalists bear that out. We live in one of the best countries for entrepreneurship and there is no better place for enterprise to flourish, as our finalists prove. We wish them continued success and good luck!”
The rate at which women are leading startup businesses is lower than men, and Deloitte research has found if there was more help targeted towards women entrepreneurs in the early startup stages, an additional £100bn would be contributed to the UK economy over the next 10 years.
The winners of the NatWest Everywoman awards will be announced on December 7, and is also hosting awards for women in technology – the FDM Everywoman in technology awards.


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OpsChain Supply Chain Manager on Nightfall, a Layer 2 Ethereum blockchain co-developed with Polygon by EY, one of the Big Four accounting organisations, has been deployed.
OpsChain Supply Chain Manager is one of the first apps for businesses to monitor supply chains that Nightfall and the two companies have released as part of its beta release today.
In order to function, OpsChain will enable businesses to generate tokens that are either fungible or non-fungible (NFTs). These tokens will be used to represent assets and goods that can be tracked on the Nightfall blockchain, rather than coins. Users of OpsChain will save money and time by avoiding the main Ethereum blockchain altogether and instead transacting on a layer above it.
Using Nightfall’s ZK-proof technology, which makes blockchain transactions quicker and cheaper while simultaneously guaranteeing privacy, OpsChain makes use of OpsChain. In other words, the actual transactional data is encrypted.
According to EY, the Nightfall OpsChain blockchain-based tracking and management solution will enable firms to monitor and manage their supply chains.
It’s a major step forward to manage complicated processes beyond the borders of a company.” “EY OpsChain Supply Chain Manager dramatically broadens the use cases accessible to customers,” stated James Canterbury, partner and EY blockchain leader.
Even while blockchains have long been lauded by supply chain professionals, the absence of anonymity in blockchain transactions has prevented their widespread implementation. While Polygon Nightfall ZK proofs are used by EY, they believe that the product is suitable for the supply chain software industry because of its ability to protect the privacy of sensitive data.


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The arrival of American Girl boutiques in Canada should provide a boost to Indigo Books & Music Inc. and may even reduce the amount of its book offerings.
Indigo will offer the popular dolls, accessories, books and services starting in the spring of 2014 at its Yorkdale mall location in Toronto and at the Chapter’s store on Robson Street in Vancouver.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“We believe this will be a very big draw,” Bob Gibson, an analyst at Octagon Capital, said in a report. “We believe they will be hugely successful, but because these are big ticket items, we don’t believe they will initially be in every store.”
Indigo CEO Heather Reisman said the American Girl brand will likely be offered in more stores across Canada, but didn’t specify the amount or locations.
By the end of fiscal 2015, Mr. Gibson suggested there could be as many as 15 American Girl boutiques in major urban locations.
The analyst noted Indigo superstores have sales per square foot of below $300. As a result, he suggested the company could eliminate low-volume book space to make room for American Girl boutiques.
If his forecasts play out, Mr. Gibson expects American Girl could provide Indigo with as much as $30-million in additional revenue and $3-million, or 12¢ per share, in net income in fiscal 2016.
By applying a peer group average P/E multiple of 17.6x to these incremental earnings, the analyst estimates American Girl could add $1.76 in share value.
He rates Indigo, which reports Q2 results on November 5, a buy with a $12.25 price target.


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Latest Self-care Stories
Pro-inflammatory foods include fried foods, sodas, refined carbohydrates, and red meat.
As the U.S.
According to a new study in the journal Biological Psychiatry, going through one or more stressful events the day prior to eating a single high-fat meal can decrease the body's metabolism and possibly lead to weight gain.
Celebrity fitness trainer and former World Super Middleweight Champion, Danny Musico, has formed a promotional partnership with Aqua Health Labs for their flagship product, PhytOriginal, a revolutionary
Katerina Alba’s research at the University of Huddersfield could help to improve the quality of some of the most popular emulsion-based food products – such as butter, mayonnaise, yoghurt and fruit drinks – and she is starting to gain an international profile for her work.
MeriWellness, a Delaware County Nutrition and Wellness Counseling Center located in Springfield, PA is offering their Top 3 Tips for staying healthy this season to celebrate their first summer
Corbin Relies On Carbohydrates, Proteins and Hydration for Running Performance Missoula, MT (PRWEB) July 10, 2014 “Montana Made” triathlete and Ironman
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Kristen Yarker, MSc, RD, a specialist in child nutrition and feeding, has recently released her expert strategies for how parents can use
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Rubber prices spiralled lower across Asia this week on news that a major state-owned trader in China, the top consuming country, has ceased all physical trading of the commodity.
Cash prices in Thailand have plunged to their lowest since 2016, while futures traded in Tokyo are on course for their worst week since early August. The slump came after Chongqing General Trading Chemical Co, the largest commodity trading firm in western China, stopped dealing in rubber and asked suppliers last Friday to terminate executions of all unfinished contracts.
“It’s creating short-term panic in the market,” said Yium Tavarolit, a 20-year veteran of the industry and former head of the International Rubber Consortium. “This will likely further delay the revival of rubber prices.”
The industry has been buffeted by a series of headwinds, from oversupply that pushed producers to limit exports in an effort to prop up prices, to drought, flood and disease that has hurt the trees needed to produce latex. Futures prices in Tokyo, Singapore and Shanghai are more than 60% off their peak reached eight years ago.
Chongqing General Trading Chemical, a unit of a massive state-owned consortium that operates and trades everything from department stores, hotels and automobiles and has over 100,000 employees, issued a notice last Friday disclosing the trading halt, according to people familiar with the situation.
The impact on shipments is likely to last until the end of the year, and market participants are waiting to see how the move will affect Thai producers, said Gu Jiong, an analyst at Tokyo-based brokerage Yutaka Shoji.
The slump could stoke buying interest from dealers and tyremakers, especially with futures trading below physical rubber prices, he said.
Source: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)


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How to get around is a question that plagues millions of city dwellers as global hubs increasingly face problems caused by transport and traffic. VCs have been pouring millions into innovative solutions such as e-bikes and e-scooters to help alleviate the strain, but there is one area that has remained relatively untapped: the sky.
Volocopter is leaning into the sky's potential with the first closing of its Series C, which brought in €50 million (around $55 million). The capital will fund the commercial launch of VoloCity, an electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a range of 35 kilometers and an airspeed of up to 110 kilometers per hour. Airborne personal transport appears to soon be reality, creating a world free from the daily grind of traffic jams—a revolution in urban commuting that will have us whizzing across the skies at the tap of an app.
The round was led by Chinese auto giant
Geely Automobile Holdings, who will take a minority stake in Volocopter and work with the business to launch its air taxis in China. Volocopter founders Stephan Wolf and Alexander Zosel, meanwhile, will jointly continue to be the company's largest shareholder.
The latest round values Volocopter at between €200 million and €250 million and brings the business' total funding to €85 million, per TechCrunch, with the second closing of the Series C expected to take place around the end of the year. Volocopter secured €25 million from investors including
Daimler and German entrepreneur
Lukasz Gadowski in 2017.
Competition for urban air supremacy has commenced as startups, tech giants and aerospace incumbents race to bring similar products to the market.
Uber unveiled a reference design for its Uber Air service earlier this year, and Airbus has been testing its own flying car, which would be capable of transporting both passengers and automobiles.
And it isn't just big names that are reaching for the sky. Fellow German aviation startup
Lilium closed a $90 million Series B from
Obvious Ventures in 2017. Across the pond, Northern California-based
Joby Aviation raised $100 million in an
Intel Capital-led round last year for its eVTOL aircraft.
Volocopter does have one edge on its competitors. Its latest investor, Geely, already made its first foray into the realm of flying cars when it bought Boston-based
Terrafugia in 2017. Back on the ground, the investor owns stakes in a whole host of auto companies including
Volvo, black taxi maker London Electric Vehicle Company and British sports-carmaker
Geely was subject to controversy last year when it reportedly became the biggest investor in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler, accumulating a near 10% holding worth around €7.3 billion. The German government is said to have expressed concern that Chinese businesses could exert too much influence over European economies through foreign investments. And with several stakes in the transportation industry, Geely is in a good position to conquer not only the roads, but also the sky.
Featured image courtesy of Volocopter


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Technologies are designed to make our jobs easier and save time, yet when they are misused, the strangest things happen. In a disturbing occurrence that occurred in the United States, a woman killed her own boyfriend after discovering that he was cheating on her with another woman using Apple air Tag. Apple's latest innovation Apple Air Tag was created with the primary purpose of ensuring that users never lose their valuable items that have been misplaced, but the company could never have imagined that the technology could be exploited for such a horrific crime.
The woman lived in the state of Indiana, according to sources cited in a USA Today investigation. Gaylyn Morris (26 year old) is believed to have used the tracking device she planted on Andre Smith's (her boyfriend) car to find him down at a pub in an Indianapolis shopping centre. In a police complaint, she later admitted that she used an AirTag to track down her partner, whom she spotted in a bar with another woman.
Reportedly When she saw him with another lady, she became enraged, and the two of them got into a heated argument that went violent. According to a witness both of them were immediately asked to leave the pub for causing disturbance. and after that, she hit the victim with her car and ran him over leaving him to die on the streets.
According to another witness, Morris grabbed a beer bottle and tried to hit Smith's new partner but the latter intervened and that caused Morris to lose her temper.
This isn’t the first time when Apple’s new innovation Air Tag caused such a fuss. AirTags are a one-of-a-kind threat as an abuser might utilize Apple's network's exact precision to locate a victim's location more precisely than any other medium. This is why Apple had to implement anti-tracking tools for AirTags in iOS to prevent them from being abused by iPhone users but it seems like the company now has to take important measures to stop such incidents from occurring.


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Apple complies with China’s instruction to remove New York Times app from store
ACCESS to the New York Times has been further restricted in China after Apple removed both the English and Chinese apps from its online store at the request of Chinese authorities.
The New York Times’ websites have been blocked in the Chinese mainland since 2012, after it published a report detailing the wealth of China’s top leadership and their relatives.
It is common for Chinese authorities to ban digital sites and companies that it believes spread rumours or promotes illegal services or threatens national security.
Apple refused to unlock a terrorist's iPhone for the FBI, but obeyed the Chinese government's orders to censor news. https://t.co/bPxnXfpRDJ
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) January 5, 2017
Neither Facebook or Google operate in China. The Wall Street Journal’s Chinese-language site has also been blocked since 2014. In 2014 LinkedIn launched a Chinese-language service on the agreement it would censor sensitive content if the government requested it to.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said the Times app has been banned from the online store “for some time”. According to Sainz, Apple was informed by Chinese regulators that the app was in violation of local regulations.
He added that Apple would make the app available when the situation changes.
The Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy told the Journal: “The request by the Chinese authorities to remove our apps is part of their wider attempt to prevent readers in China from accessing independent news coverage by the New York Times of that country—coverage which is no different from the journalism we do about every other country in the world, including the United States.”
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Originally posted on September 1, 2008 @ 11:54 pm
A week ago I blogged about Psystar’s attempt to distribute Mac OS discs with its Macintosh clones–a move that has gained the ire of Apple and has merited a lawsuit against the company.
Now it’s Psystar’s turn to use legal measures. The company is charging Apple with restraint of trade, unfair competition as well as other violations of antritrust law. All of this is contained in a hefty 54-page complaint that has been filed at that Northern California Division of the US District Court. The decision to file a countersuit is to maintain their argument that there is a market for third-party Macintosh clones, only that Apple has put many legal and technical roadblocks that prevent companies from taking advantage of the demand.
Psystar’s claims actually have some weight and it will be interesting how the US district court will decide on this in the future.


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Meetings and events have become an increasingly important part of a hotel’s business mix but now that sustainability is on the corporate agenda it’s no longer enough to simply offer high-quality facilities
A survey of international meetings and event buyers published by leading meetings and events exhibition show IMEX in 2009 revealed that 80% of respondents acknowledged taking environmental considerations into account in their work, while 79% said they would deliberately avoid venues with a poor environmental record. Furthermore, when asked which green practices they had applied to meetings and events they had organised, “selecting a hotel for its environmental programmes” came second to “using recycled conference material”.
A year later, professional association Meeting Professionals International (MPI) reinforced the growing importance of sustainable events in its FutureWatch 2010 study, which found that 76% of European and 63% of US meetings planners reported that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a focus for their organisations.
This doesn’t surprise Stephen Powell, senior vice-president worldwide sales at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). He believes offering a sustainable-meetings product, or compliance with a recognised green standard, is becoming a ranking criteria for venue selection. “Our customers want to know about our green products and policies, because it has become a consideration for their individual meeting attendees, as well as a requirement by many of the supply-chain partners and customers of the hosting organisation,” Powell says.
At the Willard InterContinental Washington DC, for example, a wide range of sustainable meeting options are available to meet the demands of eco-conscious event planners.
Apart from the property’s energy efficiency and its community initiatives—the hotel sources 100% of its energy from wind power and its employees are involved in many charitable efforts—the Willard has incorporated a full range of green considerations into its event packages, from preparing seasonal, organic, locally-grown food to using glass water pitchers instead of bottled water, china rather than disposable place settings and decorative potted plants not cut flowers. It also offers delegates the opportunity to become involved in local environmental and social projects—an increasingly popular option for team-building—such as national park clean-ups, tree-planting activities or working with disadvantaged youth.
Another hotel group offering an impressive variety of green meeting options is Starwood Hotels and Resorts. In June 2010, Starwood introduced sustainable-meeting guidelines at each of its North American properties, and it continues to roll out the plan globally. Its programme features five core components, including paperless meeting planning, sustainable meeting services, sustainable food and beverage practices, impact assessment tools and socially conscious activities, such as community or conservation volunteering.
“There's already a strong sensitivity toward sustainability concerns from meeting planners and they appreciate the programmes we've put in place,” says Sandy Swider, Starwood vice-president for global citizenship. “We think the next generation of meeting planners and attendees will simply expect green practices and sustainability initiatives as a given for meetings and facilities.”
Transparent reporting drives demand for green meetings
Asia-based Robin Lokerman, CEO of the institutional division of global meetings organiser MCI, which specialises in planning sustainable events for professional associations, identifies risk avoidance as key to driving the trend for more sustainable meetings. His work is focused in the Asia Pacific region, where he points out that many clients are reporting their sustainability performance to the public; this transparent reporting means that businesses that show no or little improvement in their CSR efforts will be more likely to be ignored by investors. “It’s our job to help our clients realise better performance in their CSR activities, so we put pressure on our suppliers to help us deliver our clients’ sustainability objectives,” he says.
Lokerman believes hotels that engage in sustainable business practices have a significant opportunity to build stronger, more profitable models through efficiency measures. “Green commitment from CEOs is finally trickling down to the meetings department,” he adds. “Increased consumer and governmental pressure on corporates to be more responsible will drive meeting planners to progressively analyse and choose more sustainable hotels to host their events.”
Spotlight on Intel Developer Forum, Beijing 2011
International software giant Intel is typical of where big business is heading with respect to developing green meetings and events strategies, and using venues with strong sustainability credentials is key.
One of the technology company’s most important events is the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), which takes place at various locations across the globe, most recently in April in Beijing, China. In fact, Intel’s commitment to green meeting practices was recognised in 2010 when IDF 2009 San Francisco received the Green Meetings Silver Award from the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) and IMEX, one of the highest accolades in the world for sustainable events.
“In Beijing, Intel used the China National Convention Centre, specifically for its state-of-the-art energy efficiency, which features solar-powered lighting and natural air ventilation, and water conservation practices. Natural ventilation at CNCC is anticipated to save 380,000 kWh of energy per year, while the collection and storage of 7,000 cubic metres of rainwater is used to irrigate the garden on the lower level.
In selecting its hotels for delegates, IDF looked for properties employing certain sustainable practices, such as recycling, linen reuse, room occupancy sensors and green-certified cleaning agents. It also gave preference to hotels located within walking distance of the conference venue. In addition, many of the selected hotels had water-conserving fixtures and used recycled-content paper.
With respect to the conference itself, IDF Beijing 2011 demanded certain services from its organiser and the venue, including the provision of water coolers with filtered drinking water (saving on the disposal of 100kg of plastic bottles), the recycling of paper, cardboard and carpet, and the minimisation of printed materials by providing an online programme and pocket-sized guide. It also requested energy-efficient LED lighting and audio-visual equipment, the recycling of name badges and the installation of reusable staging features and pod-style booths.
“A couple of years ago, event sustainability was a nice-to-have for companies when shopping around for event venues,” explains Lou Cozzo, Intel’s head of corporate event marketing. “Today it’s quickly becoming a requirement. Intel has started to integrate minimum requirements for sustainable events into our RFPs [requests for proposal] and contracts. Our agencies and the venues where we work, including hotels, are quickly realising that they need to have smart programmes in place that support sustainability in order to do business with us.”
How does Cozzo think hotels are performing in terms of their sustainable meetings service? “I believe hotels have come a long way. Most of the major hotel chains are implementing linen reuse programmes to reduce water usage, most can track energy usage all the way down to an individual sleeping room, while others have implemented waste diversion programmes that include back-of-house recycling. It is not all that apparent so you have to ask; you’d be surprised what hotels will do if you only ask.”
The sustainable meetings community is growing
Guy Bigwood, MCI Group’s sustainability director, is the current president of the GMIC. As such, he’s at the sharp end of CSR policies of both his clients and suppliers. “It’s rare to be approached by leading international or European-wide organisations about planning their meetings and events, and not be asked for our sustainability credentials and processes,” he says.
Software giant Oracle is one such company that has developed procurement procedures to ensure that any potential meetings or events hosts have the right sustainability credentials. “Oracle has standard RFPs that require vendors to submit their sustainability qualifications,” explains Paul Salinger, Oracle’s vice-president of marketing and soon to be president of GMIC. “Contract language also holds them to any practices and measurements they need to deliver.”
MCI has a growing list of clients that run events about sustainability, and they demand the most sustainable, responsible and ethical services and facilities. The company has organised more than 60 such meetings in the past three years for organisations such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), The Global Compact, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen COP15 (Conference of Parties 15) and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). “Meetings about sustainability are booming, and will continue to expand,” Bigwood says. “The EWEA conference a few years ago was attended by less than 3,000 people; now it welcomes more than 10,000 delegates.”
The COP15, held in Copenhagen over two weeks in late 2009, was an inspiring example of how a large international event can be run to the highest level of sustainability. Attracting more than 33,500 participants from government organisations, media and business worldwide, it occupied nearly 77,000m² of conference space, comprised over 2,500 official meetings, required 300 tons of food for 200,000 meals, and saw the consumption of 350,000 glasses of tap water and 250,000 cups of coffee. So successful was the organiser, the Danish Foreign Ministry, in its efforts to raise the bar on event sustainability that the experiences of COP15 has formed the basis of the Sustainable Meetings Protocol, which now serves as a model for green events.
The COP15 followed the BS8901 sustainability management system standard for events—established by the British Standards Institution, it defines key requirements, such as venue selection, supply chain management, procurement and operating procedures—and reported “triple bottom-line” results of social responsibility, economic prosperity and environmental protection using GRI guidelines (link to GH financials feature). The main achievements of COP15 included offsetting 100% of its over 72,000 tons of carbon emissions, encouraging 93% of participants to take public transport to and from the event, using 75% organic-certified food and beverage, sourcing 40% of food within a 100-mile radius of the event and saving €532,000 by not giving gifts and investing it in the education of 11 international students instead.
Raising the standards in green events
Companies such as MCI and Intel are honing their green meetings knowledge and skills through associations with a growing number of agencies specialising in sustainable events. These include Portland, Oregon-based MeetGreen, which was closely involved in the launch of the GMIC, and UK’s Positive Impact, which helped develop the BS8901 and is contributing towards the creation of the first international meetings and event standard ISO20121, scheduled to be published in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games. “It will really set the standard for sustainability in the international events industry,” says Positive Impact’s consultant Rebecca Saunders.
Like BS8901, ISO20121 will focus on event management and strategy, for example requiring identification of key sustainability issues such as venue selection, operating procedures, supply chain management, procurement, communications and transport. There is also a new sustainable-meetings standard being developed in North America, Apex, which provides a clear list of criteria so hotels looking for advice on improving their sustainable credentials have strong guidance.
In October, Rezidor’s Radisson Blu in Krakow, Poland, became the first—and so far only—hotel to gain BS8901 accreditation. Standards are only as good as their acceptance by the industry but, says Michael Luehrs, MCI’s sustainability services manager, “the smart hotels will apply the new standards and become leaders in adopting these practices and even seek certification”.
How hotels perform
So how are hotels performing on driving sustainable events forward? Last year, global software company Oracle conducted 38 pilot projects around the world with notable differences from region to region—even among hotel chains.
The findings indicated that Europe and Asia are more ahead in terms of in-room sensors and water conservation, for example. Meanwhile, it revealed that franchisees seem to lag behind owner-operated properties that share the same brand.
The study also revealed the difficulty in comparing hotels on green meeting credentials because it is so dependent on destination infrastructure and hotel ownership. However, it added that those brands and independent properties that were able to provide end-of-meeting or end-of-year sustainability reports stood out as the greenest.
When organising events, MeetGreen has specific requirements regarding guest rooms, catering and meeting spaces. “We ask the hotel to share any credentials it has earned, such as LEED, Green Globe, Energy Star or another certification,” says its director of sustainability, Shawna McKinley. For larger events, the agency may also require post-event measurements to substantiate recycling and delivery of linen-reuse programmes, and documentation of purchased items in order to confirm recycled content and environmental credentials of cleaning products or bathroom paper, for example.
“What is really important is to get property-specific information and measurable and verifiable data, rather than looking just at corporate HQ programmes,” McKinley continues. “The former is really where the rubber hits the road, even though corporate philanthropy, which often falls into the latter, is laudable.”
These words are echoed by managing director of UK-based Seventeen Events, Andrew Williams: “Measurement is also vital to act as a reputational defence against criticism,” he says. “All too often groups starting to make small changes in the right direction can come under fire for not moving quickly enough. The best way to protect your business from this kind of PR attack is to back up your case with facts and figures. This allows you to state transparently what you are doing now and what you hope to achieve in the future.”
The future is green
While some in the industry would suggest sustainability has taken a back seat during these uncertain economic times, resulting in what McKinley calls a “static period”, others see practices that reduce, reuse and recyle as cost-saving and so more attractive in leaner times. Overall, however, the evidence suggests that the future of events and meetings is green, a trend that will become even bigger as the recovery kicks in.
We will see more government organisations, associations and businesses following in the footsteps of visionary companies such as Intel and pushing sustainability higher up the meetings and events agenda. Hotels will need to make sure they can provide the services and facilities to meet, and ideally surpass, these new demands; if the hospitality industry does not, it will be in danger of losing its share in the meetings and events industry.
Ian Whiteling is joint editor-in-chief of the global meetings and events web channel MEETINGS:review meetingsreview.com


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United States DOJ Investigates Crypto Price Manipulation
The United States Department of Justice has announced that the agency has opened a criminal investigating into cryptocurrency price manipulation, including Bitcoin (BTC). Bloomberg has reported that the Department of Justice is working with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) to identify illegal trading. One of the main focuses of the investigation is into what is known as ‘spoofing’. Spoofing is when cryptocurrency traders create an illusion in the marketplace by placing large orders on the books without actually placing the trades. In order to keep the trades from being placed, they are usually placed strategically above or below the market price of the cryptocurrency being traded. Spoofing can lead to the market moving towards or away from a specific price.
Having the ability to influence the price of a coin (price manipulation) can give traders the ability to illegally move the price in the direction that best suits their trading intentions. The investigation is also looking into wash trading which is when traders trade with themselves to give the market a false sense of demand. The DOJ’s investigation is only in the early stages, but so far Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) seem to be the main focus of the investigation. Emerging markets such as the cryptocurrency market can lead to inexperienced investors to blindly jumping in without understanding the potential risks involved with a mostly deregulated marketplace. Many cryptocurrency exchanges are still not even registered with the SEC or CFTC.
John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas who studies price manipulation, stated that the limited oversight of the cryptocurrency markets makes it an ideal target for these types of attacks. “There’s very little monitoring of manipulative trading, spoofing and wash trading,” Griffin said. “It would be easy to spoof this market.” The fact the Department of Justice is stepping in may be seen as a distraction for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors but in the long run, should make the markets more transparent and safe for retail investors.


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Sensory attributes of beer are directly linked to perceived foam-related parameters and beer color. In a study published in the Journal of Food Science, researchers developed an objective predictive model using machine learning modeling to assess the intensity levels of sensory descriptors in beer using the physical measurements of color and foam‐related parameters.
The researchers used a robotic pourer (RoboBEER) to obtain 15 color and foam‐related parameters from 22 different commercial beer samples. They then conducted a sensory session using quantitative descriptive analysis with trained panelists to assess the intensity of 10 beer descriptors.
The results showed that the principal component analysis explained 64% of data variability with correlations found between foam‐related descriptors from sensory and RoboBEER, such as the positive and significant correlation between carbon dioxide and carbonation mouthfeel, correlation of viscosity to sensory, and maximum volume of foam and total lifetime of foam.
Using the RoboBEER parameters as inputs, an artificial neural network (ANN) regression model showed high correlation to predict the intensity levels of 10 related sensory descriptors such as yeast, grains and hops aromas, hops flavor, bitter, sour and sweet tastes, viscosity, carbonation, and astringency.
The researchers concluded that “the use of RoboBEER to assess beer quality showed to be a reliable, objective, accurate, and less time‐consuming method to predict sensory descriptors compared to trained sensory panels. Hence, this method could be useful as a rapid screening procedure to evaluate beer quality at the end of the production line for industry applications.”Abstract


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Hotel bed tax could yield €3m for arts
Dublin city lord mayor Brendan Carr’s plans for a hotel room tax could yield €3m a year for art initiatives in the capital.
The projection is based on PwC’s European cities hotel forecast, which shows room rates are expected to reach €130 a night by next year. At his inauguration this summer, Carr proposed a 1% hotel room tax, to be used to support arts and cultural events in the city. The levy is imposed by many European and American cities.
The forecast for average room rates in 2017 is well up the rate of €77 a room five years previously, posting the fastest rise in hotel charges in European capitals over the past five years at 69%. The 1% tax could net the city council an estimated €2.94m a year.
Dublin had the highest growth for revenue per available room (revpar) in Europe last year, up 23.3%. The main driver was room rates, which rose by 17.5% to €111 a night in 2015, compared with the €77 rate of 2010.
Occupancy rates are also rising, climbing to 81% last year. This has fuelled a rise in average room rates to €112, according to the latest Crowe Horwath hotel revenues survey. That suggests the city hotels have weekly gross room revenues of €5.65m before banqueting and bar takings. The tax would provide the council with a €56,500 weekly income boost. Dublin occupancy rates rank second in Europe and just behind London.
The room tax has been rejected by Tim Fenn, chief executive of Irish Hotels Federation, who says that hotels are achieving only viability and cannot sustain any further tax burdens. The federation has launched a campaign to retain the special 9% “hospitality sector” VAT rate introduced five years ago to boost the sector. Since then, nationwide room rates have risen by 26% while inflation has barely reached 3% over the same period.
Asset values of hotels have also soared in recent years, with many doubling in price over the past three years. In 2012, Blackstone, a US private equity group, bought Dublin’s Burlington hotel for €67m and spent a further €20m on improvements. It put the hotel on the market earlier this year — and DekaBank, a German asset manager, is reported to buying the hotel for €180m.
There are planned schemes to build a further 13 hotels in Dublin in the next few years, adding about 3,500 new rooms to the capital.
This summer a new sustainable tourist tax was introduced in Spain’s Balearic Islands. The charge applies to each holidaymaker, aged 16 or over, and the money raised goes towards the protection of resources on the islands.
The cost of the “eco tax” will vary depending on the hotel’s star rating.
Hotels with a one- to three-star rating attract a €1 charge while guests in four- and five-star properties pay a €2 daily levy or tax.


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In less than five weeks, thanks to a group of dedicated Target experts, the company will be introducing customers to their new and improved self-checkout registers, allowing customers to have a fast and pleasant checkout experience, while enabling employees to have more time to assist guests on the sales floor while they shop.
The launch of this series of self-checkout registers are an improvement upon the self-checkout registers implemented in 16 stores last year for testing. The original registers were designed with older technology, resulting in a slow checkout process, repeated malfunctioning, and 40-60 minute restarting session following a glitch. Customers want a self-checkout option, and Target recognized how important it is to provide customers with its convenience by improving upon the models in the 16 pilot stores, with plans to expand further to more stores nationwide.
Target pulled together a team of 10 specialists from security, infrastructure, solution delivery, engineering, support operations and the support team, working strategically, together building a better solution in just five weeks. The team chose a more innovative, seamless operating system, including new hardware with advanced memory levels and exceptional overall performance. Target experimented with more than 2,000 automated tests and manual tests on the new registers, mimicking customer transactions. The registers proved to be a success as none of the test cases failed, transactions took a half of a minute less than it did on the original models, and a restart time of only 6 minutes compared to the near hour-long wait with last year’s versions.
Early this month, new software was installed into the self-checkout registers at Target stores in Minneapolis, where Target headquarters are located. The first trial run of the newly-designed registers processed over 600 transactions with not a single error.
Kelly Hanson, a senior group manager on the Target Technology Services (TTS) team mentioned that failure has nothing to do with the team meeting certain deadlines or not, but instead she stated, “Failure would be not making the right decision at the right time for our company and guests. Luckily, because this amazing team of partners refused to give up, self-checkout is coming to Target this year.”
Target plans to integrate the self-checkout registers in 39 stores nationwide over the next few months rolling out to 500 more stores each year, starting in 2015.


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McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) announced the first increase in US franchise fees in over 30 years, but this news is unlikely to move the needle. While the 100 basis point increase is worth 20% in theoretical revenue gains in the US segment, some important details should be considered. The first is that the new fees only impact new restaurants. Existing franchisees won't have to pay the new fee; only those wishing to open a new restaurant or buy an existing company-owned store. That cuts down drastically on the potential impact, but there is more.
McDonald's U.S. footprint has been declining, so the new fee will unlikely do much to spur growth. The company added new stores for the first time since 2014 in 2022 and is expected to add more this year, but not enough to significantly boost revenue by fee alone. The company targets 400 new US stores, about 2.95% store growth, which makes store count growth the bigger story.
Regarding store count, the company expects to add at least 1,500 net locations this year, with most opening in China. That's worth nearly 4% in system-wide store count growth, and emerging markets will see the most substantial gains. There are about 5,000 McDonald's in China, compared to 13,500 in the US, making it and other emerging markets an explosive opportunity. Store count in China could more than double and not match that of the US, and China is a larger addressable market providing a longer runway for growth.
The Analysts Like the Cut of McDonald's Growth Outlook
As tepid as the outlook for restaurant growth is, analysts continue to buy into the McDonald's story. Marketbeat.com is tracking 28 analysts with current ratings that have a consensus of Moderate Buy with a price target that is trending higher. The price target implies a 20% upside at the midpoint and a 2.5% upside at the range's low end, suggesting the stock is deeply undervalued.
Among the most recent analyst activity is an upgrade from Wells Fargo. Analysts at the firm upped the stock to Overweight, citing a wall of worry, near-term catalysts, revenue and margin upside. Assuming the next earnings reports align with the outlook, the consensus should continue to trend higher and lead the market if a price-action rebound doesn't form soon.
The next major catalyst for MCD share prices will be the Q3 results scheduled for release in late October. The company is expected to post a solid 11% top-line gain, which may be a cautious estimate. The analysts have been lowering their estimates for revenue and earnings since the last report despite outperformance and a solid outlook for business.
Institutions have been buying MCD shares over the past year. They've bought at a pace of nearly 2:1 versus sellers and have over 67% of the stock holdings. Aside from the growth outlook, the reasons are the beta and yield. Shares of MCD pay better than the S&P 500, have a more stable growth outlook, and trade with nearly half the volatility. Considering the risk facing the broad market, it’s not a surprise to see institutional money flowing into a stock with these qualities.
The Technical Outlook: McDonald's Pulls Back to Support
The price action in MCD is pulling back to support. The sell-off could continue, but the market is near a critical support level with favorable indicators. MACD, stochastic, and RSI suggest the market is oversold at current levels and ready to resume the uptrend. If so, a bottom should form soon and lead to another rally. Critical support is near current levels; a move below $269 could lead to another $10 decline or more.


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Forecasts for the economy and interest rates are highly uncertain given the events last week.
Uncertainty has increased by the events of last week. Chairman Powell pivoted from the former Fed view of current conditions under which they have been conducting monetary policy in the past two years. He has eliminated the use of the term “transitory” in describing inflation fundamentals. He now admits that inflation is not all a function of supply chain disruptions and recovery from the pandemic induced shut down of sectors of the economy. There are systemic pressures on pricing that will last longer than the Fed had thought. As a result, the Fed may increase the size of the monthly taper of bond purchases from the $15 billion first announced.
PROBANK AUSTIN ADVISOR - DECEMBER 6, 2021


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The Wall Street Journal reported on September 3, 2015, that Amazon (AMZN) is acquiring Elemental Technologies for an all-cash deal of about $500 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the last quarter of 2015.
Elemental Technologies provides software solutions for video delivery to multi-screen devices. The company has 700+ media customers. These include OTT (over-the-top) applications for various media companies such as ESPN ScoreCenter (DIS) and HBO GO (TWX). Elemental also provides video content delivery services for 4K Ultra HD television sets.
Elemental will integrate its services with AWS (Amazon Web Services). Amazon Web Services is Amazon’s technological platform that provides cloud computing infrastructure.
According to the Adobe Digital Index (ADBE) Q2 2015 Digital Video Report, the share of connected TV devices used for TV Everywhere has increased from 10% in 2Q14 to 21% in 2Q15. That’s a rise of approximately two times from 2Q14, as you can see in the above graph. The share of iOS, Browser, and Android platforms for TV Everywhere has fallen slightly from the second quarter of 2014.
The rise of different platforms or connected TV devices for viewing television indicates that viewers are moving to multi-screen devices for viewing television instead of the conventional television set. In light of this, the acquisition of Elemental Technology could bode well for Amazon.
Significance of the acquisition
It’s important to note that Netflix (NFLX) is an important customer for the Amazon Web Services (or AWS) cloud infrastructure platform. A majority of Netflix’s video streaming services run on Amazon’s cloud computing platform. At the same time, Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service competes with Netflix.
The Elemental Technologies acquisition could give Amazon significant bargaining power over Netflix.
You can gain a diversified exposure to Amazon by investing in the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF (IWF), which holds 1.97% of the stock.


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DETERMINED to give Nigerians the best cars in all segments, Toyota Nigeria Limited has introuced the all new Rush SUV into the market. This is coming 22 years after Toyota Rush was first introduced in some other markets.
February 08, 2019
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The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) recent notice on the use of cannabidiol (CBD) products serves as a warning to employees in DOT-defined safety-sensitive positions. While the DOT has always had clear regulations strictly prohibiting the use of marijuana for truck drivers, school bus drivers, train engineers, pilots, transit vehicle operators, and the like, the increasingly widespread use of CBD products created a gray area with regard to testing. This notice makes clear that CBD use does not excuse a positive drug screen and therefore safety-sensitive employees may want to be wary of using CBD products.
DOT’s Notice on CBD Products
On February 18, 2020, the DOT issued its “DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance Notice,” on the use of CBD products by safety-sensitive employees who are subject to the DOT’s drug-testing regulations. These products include the increasingly popular CBD alternatives available on the market today. In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) (Pub. L. No. 115-334), which legalized industrial hemp at the federal level. The DOT’s notice observes that “hemp” has been removed from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Therefore, hemp-derived products containing up to 0.3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant, are not controlled substances.
With that as background, the DOT notice emphasizes the following three points for both employers and safety-sensitive employees with regard to the use of CBD products:
- The Department of Transportation requires testing for marijuana and not CBD.
- The labeling of many CBD products may be misleading because the products could contain higher levels of THC than what the product label states. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not currently certify the levels of THC in CBD products, so there is no Federal oversight to ensure that the labels are accurate. The FDA has cautioned the public that: “Consumers should beware purchasing and using any [CBD] products.” The FDA has stated: “It is currently illegal to market CBD by adding it to a food or labeling it as a dietary supplement.” Also, the FDA has issued several warning letters to companies because their products contained more CBD than indicated on the product label.
- The Department of Transportation’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation, Part 40, does not authorize the use of Schedule I drugs, including marijuana, for any reason. Furthermore, CBD use is not a legitimate medical explanation for a laboratory-confirmed marijuana positive result. Therefore, Medical Review Officers will verify a drug test confirmed at the appropriate cutoffs as positive, even if an employee claims they only used a CBD product.
Though not law, this notice may give employers needed and appreciated guidance on the use of CBD products and how the DOT will enforce their use by employees in safety-sensitive positions. The DOT will not test for CBD, but the notice warns safety-sensitive employees against the use of highly-unregulated products containing the substance.
Key Takeaways for Employers
The increasing popularity of CBD products has sparked inquiries in almost all industries, but especially by those DOT-regulated employers that employ safety-sensitive employees. This notice may give those employers some clarity on safety-sensitive employee use of CBD products.
Importantly, CBD products are not illegal, and neither is their use. CBD products are those products that contain less than 0.3 percent of THC, and therefore do not fall within the legal definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Products with less than 0.3 percent of THC should not trigger a positive drug screen, and the DOT does not test for CBD oil.
However, CBD use is not an excuse for a positive drug screen. As the notice explains, CBD products are highly unregulated and may contain more than 0.3 percent of THC, even if their labels indicate the contrary. This means that the use of CBD products could trigger a positive drug test for THC, and any such test result will be treated as would any other result that is positive for THC. Employers may want to make their employees aware of the notice, as employees may not seek out the notice of their own accord.
The legalization and use of recreational and medical marijuana, and cannabis products, such as CBD, continue to present unique issues for employers. Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor state legislation and will post updates on the firm’s Drug Testing blog as additional guidance becomes available.


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Reading Up On FourSquare
Foursquare's Valuation Is Getting Chopped in Half
Once the heir apparent to Facebook and Twitter, the location app is raising a "down" funding round after years of slow growth.
If ever there was a startup that seemed like a can't-miss bet to build the next billion-dollar app, it was Foursquare. From the beginning, it was social, local, and mobile, that holy trinity of totem words parodied on Silicon Valley for being a mandatory part of every pitch deck. Its launch at SxSW in 2009 set the bar for a buzzy debut. It had the backing of blue-chip VC firms like Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz; a pedigreed founder, Dennis Crowley, who had sold his previous startup to Google; and the love of early-adopter types and journalists, the same constituencies that helped make Slack a breakout hit. ...... Foursquare will take between $20 million and $40 million at a valuation of $250 million, a haircut of more than 50 percent from the one attached to its last round of funding, in December 2013. ...... Down rounds are typically punishing for founders, reducing both the value and the size of their stakes in concert. Frequently, doing one triggers "anti-dilution" mechanisms designed to protect early investors by carving up founders' equity still more. ....... Foursquare's move primes it for an acquisition, with Microsoft, current investor, and Apple being the most likely buyers. ..... grew steadily, and now claims 55 million users, several obstacles prevented it from attaining the kind of mass popularity enjoyed by Instagram or Twitter. ...... Expecting users to "check in" everywhere they went turned out to be asking too much of them, but making check-ins an automatic process raised privacy concerns. ...... while it never escaped its early-adopter niche, Foursquare did manage to amass an enviable trove of location data.
Foursquare's location data is way more powerful than people realize
The technology that makes Crowley’s magic trick possible is a computer brain the company has been building since the early days of the iPhone called Pilgrim. According to Crowley, Pilgrim “is the thing” that separates Foursquare from not just competitors like Yelp but every other app in the App Store. And now he wants it powering every other app on your phone. .......
Foursquare is in a period of crucial transition. Since basically inventing the location check-in concept on mobile phones in 2009, the app has slowly faded into relative obscurity....... To date, Foursquare has raised over $120 million dollars in venture capital and reportedly turned down acquisition offers from the likes of Facebook and Yahoo. ..... A feature like Trending this Week, which collects aggregated and anonymized foot traffic data from Foursquare’s users, wouldn’t have been possible without Pilgrim. “We have this real pulse of a city now,” Foursquare head of engineering Andrew Hogue told Tech Insider in a recent interview. "We know where people are going.” ....... Since Pilgrim went online in early 2014, the company has started “finding interesting things to do with the data” it collects, Crowley says. It already licenses data to Twitter, Pinterest, Yahoo, Microsoft, and others to enhance their location features (Foursquare used to power location tagging in Instagram before it was replaced by Facebook’s own tool.) In the last year, Foursquare has started offering business analytics with its foot traffic data, which Crowley describes as “an incredibly lucrative market." ........ banks that give small business loans pay Foursquare to know if a business actually exists and isn’t a scam. .....
In September, Foursquare accurately predicted Apple would sell 13 million iPhones during the iPhone 6S opening weekend based on its foot traffic data around Apple stores........ “We had all these people from financial institutions saying, ‘What data do you have that we don’t have?’” Crowley says. The answer is Pilgrim. ...... “We have this superpower,” he tells me from across a conference room table in Foursquare’s New York City headquarters. "We have this awesome thing that we built, and it only lives in two apps — Foursquare and Swarm." ...... It’s an engine that runs in the background and records every time a phone with Foursquare or Swarm installed stops moving. When it stops moving, Pilgrim tries to figure out where exactly you are, if you’ve been there before, or if there’s anything going on in the area you might be interested in, like a happy hour at an oyster bar. It has to decide if you're stopped at a traffic light, walking down the street, or entering a coffee shop. Pilgrim makes these decisions millions of times per day. ..........
The biggest misconception, he says, that still exists about Foursquare is that it’s reliant on manual check-ins. Pilgrim has made it possible to check in without taking your phone out of your pocket. And Foursquare knows more about where its users are going than ever before......... "Can you make a game that’s different if you’re playing it in a coffee shop versus if you’re playing it in a bookstore or a bus station?” Crowley asks. "Can your exercise app be different if you went to a burger place for dinner yesterday or if you’ve been going to salad places for the last three weeks? Can the app that you use to hail a car be different if it can recognize that you’re in an unfamiliar city?" ........ Crowley says that it's this hyper-contextualized, location-aware approach that makes Foursquare different from competitors like Yelp, which still feels very much like a digital phonebook. ..... With Pilgrim, Crowley thinks Foursquare has technology that’s applicable in nearly any app. ..... "If we fast forward five years into the future, this is how apps talk to you,” he says. "The app will recognize when it’s time to tell you something about the world and it will wake up and tell you that.”
Foursquare has an amazing 'superpower' called Pilgrim that could finally let it take over your phone
Foursquare accurately predicted iPhone sales by analyzing foot traffic to Apple stores around the country.
Foursquare’s Value Will Be Cut by More Than Half in a New Funding Round
Foursquare is close to finalizing a funding round that will value the company at about $250 million — less than half of what investors thought the company was worth two years ago. .... at least one new investor will participate in this round; previous investors include DFJ Growth, Microsoft, Silver Lake Partners, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. ........7 tech giants most likely to buy Foursquare
In 2013, Foursquare raised $35 million in a round that valued the company at about $650 million...... a “down round,” which will reduce the value of stakes held by previous investors, as well as employees with equity. ...... last summer Crowley said the company had 50 million active users. ..... Crowley has also spent the past few years talking up the company’s data assets, accumulated via its users’ travels. That data could theoretically be valuable to a big platform company like Microsoft, which has already invested in Foursquare, or Twitter, which is already using Foursquare to power its location function. And if Foursquare forges ahead as a standalone company, it will try using that data to build up new revenue streams.
With word that Foursquare is reportedly raising another down round of financing, it seems logical to bet that the company is reaching some kind of end game...... We can assume its attempt to monetize all its location data hasn’t progressed very well, so profitability is likely a fantasy. And its IPO dreams probably died long ago. ..... Foursquare “has also talked to potential buyers” and that a deal might happen in place of a new round. ...... Microsoft uses Foursquare to power some of its location features. Microsoft has to be right at the top of any acquisition talks. ...... in the case of Google, there’s a bit of a delicious twist. Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley sold his previous location-based startup, Dodgeball, to Google in 2005. Google shut it down in 2009, and Foursquare was, in part, an attempt to show Google what an opportunity it had bungled. ....... If Facebook did make a play, it would really be for the employees. ...... The main debate around Mayer is how long she will be sticking around. And as for Yahoo, many investors would like to see it sold for parts. Even if Mayer wanted Foursquare, it seems unlikely the board would let her spend any more money on an acquisition that might create a little buzz but do nothing to enhance the bottom line. ...... Back in October, Apple Maps started pulling in Foursquare data. ... Buying Foursquare for less than $500 million would seem reasonable for a company that shelled out $3 billion to buy Beats. ...... Amazon buying Foursquare would probably make about as much sense as Jeff Bezos buying a newspaper. ...... Twitter probably has the shallowest pockets of the group.
Foursquare CEO Crowley: “We Do Location Better Than Anybody Else”
Company has evolved from a social "check-in" app to a location intelligence platform for enterprises.
Foursquare has come a long way from its early days as a social “check-in” app. Along the way, the company repositioned its app as a Yelp competitor; now the company is substantially focused onFoursquare Raising Round To Capitalize On Data Business
“place insights” and “location intelligence” for enterprises. ....... Earlier this year, Foursquare introduced its advertising platform, “Pinpoint.” Foursquare works directly with advertisers and makes media buys through exchanges (on both the desktop and mobile) and then measures offline actions (e.g., store visits) after ad exposures. This model is radically different from selling ads to local restaurants and bars — even check-in ads to brands — which is where the company began. ...... banks can use the data to determine business credit-worthiness based on foot traffic patterns. ..... Foursquare’s data is much more accurate than its competitors’ because the company has first-party data from 50+ million global users, whereas most of the location data many of Foursquare’s mobile marketing “location intelligence” platform competitors rely on comes from ad calls, which are often inaccurate. ...... “Everyone is drafting off someone else’s data,” except Foursquare. ..... the company disregards and discards “about 80 percent of the location data” it sees from exchanges because of inaccuracy and poor quality. ..... Crowley asserts that many mobile marketing companies are unable to disambiguate business locations in malls or areas of high population density (e.g., urban centers). “We’ve spent years figuring out where people are; and we can do this quickly at a high degree of precision and speed.”
The current investment environment has led many startups to pack on the pounds to prepare for leaner days potentially ahead. At this juncture, the rewards of getting the money you need to grow outweigh the optics of a decrease in valuation. ..... the fact that Foursquare — once one of New York’s hottest startups — is raising another financing round at a lower valuation than its previous one is significant. Down rounds tend to show both a more conservative interest in the company’s core business, and potentially slowing growth for the startup.Former FourSquare COO Evan Cohen Checks Into Lyft As New Director Of East Coast Operations
Foursquare, essentially, has to find a new way to impress investors with strong growth — which requires some rejiggering......... This isn’t the first “down round” for Foursquare. The team raised capital at a reported $650 million valuation in 2013, beneath the $760 million price tag it had in 2012. In total, the company has raised $162 million in venture financing and debt. ...... For the most part, the split appears to have been unsuccessful. ...... its Pinpoint mobile advertising service ...... it has more than 55 million people registered for its service, with more than 2 million businesses claiming locations. It has more than 170 employees based in New York, San Francisco and London ...... If it wants to spin up the data side of its business into a full-fledged empire, it’s going to take cash to craft sales teams, build products and, yes, pave runway enough to get it flying. ....... over 40% of its total revenue comes from powering other platforms’ location services. ...... Foursquare’s data contributing to the Bing platform’s location and context layers on both Windows 8 and Windows Phone. ...... any company that wants to translate GPS coordinates into an actual venue could pay Foursquare for its data. ...... Foursquare’s data could power hyperlocal advertising or marketing pointing to businesses just a few feet away. Search results, news feeds, and more could be personalized through an understanding of location. ....... As Foursquare spent its time splitting its app in two, other social networks replaced Foursquare, by making it easier to share what you’re doing in the moment. Foursquare originally powered Instagram’s location engine, but Facebook eventually made the shift to handling that itself, with locations essentially ending up a feature — not a separate application. It also removed its playful Mayor feature, and later had to re-add it to appease its user base in June this year. .......
All this distills down to a missed opportunity for Foursquare, which found itself experimenting with new kinds of social networking tools while new networks slowly chipped away at its user base. While the company was certainly experimenting, it apparently was not enough as the app slowly lost popularity. So, inevitably, Foursquare had to find a new way to show the company is valuable and get financing to grow — even if it has to shave off its valuation in the process.
Cohen left his position as chief operations officer at Foursquare in June of 2014. He was one of a number of executives to exit the company over the past year and a half and did so shortly after Foursquare split its product asunder and launched the check-in app Swarm. ...... Cohen brings more than 20 years of operations experience to Lyft, according to a company blog post out today. He was the VP of strategy and operations for the social networking site Bebo (and then AOL after the acquisition) prior to his position at Foursquare. ...... Lyft recently announced it had a projected $1 billion gross run rate and said it was growing by 20 percent month-over-month – including a reported “triple market share” growth in New York City.Foursquare dives deeper into data with new ad platform
When Foursquare decided to split its apps a year ago, followers of the location-based service scratched their collective heads. ...... A year later, with revenue growing at triple-digit growth, the privately held company knows it made the "absolutely right decision," Crowley says. ...... The split was necessitated by Pilgrim, technology introduced in August 2013 that makes it possible to "check-in" to a location without taking a smartphone out of one's pocket. The functionality was made possible when 6-year-old Foursquare passed 6 billion check-ins, allowing Foursquare software to determine the exact shapes of more than 60 million venues. ...... Pinpoint, a social-advertising platform unfurled in April 2015, took things even more forward. The platform combines Foursquare's location-intelligence technology tracking 7 billion check-ins and 55 million customers with GPS information from apps and publishers to sketch an accurate digital portrait of consumer behavior — from how often they frequent a store to affinity for certain brands. Samsung, Coors, AT&T, Jaquar Land Rover and FedEx are among Foursquare's business partners. ..... Pinpoint is available through both of Foursquare's apps, as well as 100 million other mobile users in the U.S. with non-Foursquare apps. ....... "Foursquare was ahead of its time (with location-based services), but Yelp and others came along and stole its thunder," says Hyoun Park, chief research officer at Blue Hill Research. "It has found a new niche with the combination of location and data analytics." ...... Foursquare used such an approach to accurately predict initial sales of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, as well as revenue from Black Friday and all-day breakfast sales at a select McDonald's.


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Less than six months after its debut, Ford lightning Motor Company revealed that reservations for the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck have topped 160,000.
Since the vehicle’s debut, the American automaker has been accepting $100 refundable reservations. Ford lightning received 20,000 reservations on the first day, 44,000 by the end of the second day, and 120,000 by the end of June, indicating a strong degree of consumer interest.
Nearly 75 percent of those customers were new to ford lightning, according to CEO Jim Farley during a second-quarter earnings call in June.
He went on to say that about 40% of respondents planned to trade in their internal combustion engine truck, indicating “a transition a little bit faster to full-size truck [battery electric vehicles] than maybe our optimistic predictions,” he said.
In response to the reservation numbers, the automaker said that it would invest an additional $250 million and hire 450 people to boost the ford lightning yearly production capacity. Customers will be able to purchase the trucks in April 2022.
The Lightning, which will come in four trim levels, is an important aspect of the automaker’s plan to convert a larger amount of its fleet to electric vehicles. Ford is joining younger contenders in the pickup truck sector, such as Rivian, which came off the production line with its first R1T truck in September. The Ford F-150 is the top most popular truck in the United States. Ford lightning sold 787,422 F-series trucks in 2020, according to the company.
The Ford lightning base model will cost $39,974, while the mid-series XLT variant will cost $52,974, both excluding taxes.


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AUSTRALIAN SCIENTISTS SHOW PET LOVERS ARE HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER
February 20, 2015
Love Your Pet Day (20th February) celebrates mutual benefits of pet ownership But experts worry pet numbers will decline if regulations continue to tighten.
Sydney, Australia –Whether it’s a dog or cat, fish or bird, owning a pet has been shown to give health benefits to their human owners, according to Australian pet experts on Love Your Pet Day this 20th February.
Love Your Pet Day is observed worldwide and reminds pet owners to focus some special attention on their non-human partners. Pet owners are encouraged to thank their little friends and treat them to something special, such as their favorite food, an extra walk in the park, a visit to the office, or even a pet massage and fur trim. Research shows that Aussies who love their pet are likely to be repaid with a happier and healthier life.
The latest research into human-animal interaction shows that pet ownership might improve patient survival after a heart attack1, help with stress and reduce blood pressure2. Dog ownership has also been shown to encourage over two hours of extra physical activity every week3. There is even scientific evidence of the positive psychological benefits of pet ownership4. Overall, a wealth of research shows how pets can improve the physical and emotional health of children and adults of all ages.
Australian universities, in partnership with the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition and Mars Petcare, have for decades conducted globally recognised research into the positive benefits of pet ownership.
Dr Kersti Seksel, veterinary specialist at the Sydney Animal Behaviour Service, said: “Pet owners often mention the care and affection they give their pets and the sense of wellbeing they receive from having pets in their lives. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that can help humans stay physically and emotionally healthy from childhood well into old age.”
Experts are concerned that changes in society such as more people renting homes and restrictions on walking dogs in public areas may reduce the number of pets in Australia.
Dr Kersti Seksel explained, “Pets need attention and the right environment to have a happy life. As we become busier and live in more built-up areas with restrictions on where pets can live and go, the number of pets in Australia may fall. As a country, Australia needs to remain pet friendly so current and future pet owners can experience the many advantages of having a companion animal in their lives.”
For those who don’t have pets, Love Your Pet Day is the perfect time to consider owning a pet, either by adopting from a rescue organisation or buying from a reputable animal breeder.
The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, owned by Mars, has been a leading scientific authority on pet nutrition and wellbeing for fifty years. In 2013 alone, Waltham published 39 peer reviewed scientific papers. One revealed that structured interaction with dogs can help people with dementia.
More information and interview requests contact:
- Levine et al., (2013) Pet ownership and cardiovascular risk: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation 127:2353–2363 (available here)
- Friedmann et al., (2013) Pet's presence and owner's blood pressures during the daily lives of pet owners with pre- to mild hypertension. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, Volume 26, Number 4, December 2013, pp. 535-550(16) (available here)
- Christian et al., (2012) Understanding the relationship between dog ownership and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Pediatric Obesity. doi: 10.1111/j.2047-6310.2012.00113. (available here)
- O’Haire, M. (2010) Companion animals and human health: Benefits, challenges, and the road ahead. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 5(5), 226-234. (link)
Notes to Editors:
Mars Petcare Australia
Mars Petcare is the world’s leading pet food and veterinary care business that strives to make A Better World for Pets® every day. Mars Petcare believes that pets make our lives better and that pet ownership brings joy and benefits which should be accessible to everyone. Mars Petcare has a number of leading brands including PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, DINE®, ADVANCED®, OPTIMUM®, SCHMACKOS® ROYAL CANIN®, EUKANUBA® IAMS®. Key specialty brands include the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition®, a leading scientific authority on pet nutrition and wellbeing. Mars Petcare has more than 37,000 Associates worldwide.
The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition
The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition is a leading scientific authority in pet nutrition and wellbeing and has been advancing the frontiers of scientific research into the nutrition and health of pets for over 50 years. Located in Leicestershire, England, the renowned state-of-the-art science institute focuses on the nutritional and behavioural needs of pets and their benefits to humans, enabling the development of innovative products which meet these needs in a practical way. In collaboration with the world’s foremost scientific institutes, WALTHAM has pioneered many important breakthroughs in pet understanding and nutrition and leverages this knowledge through Mars Petcare brands to make a better world for pets.


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Founded in 2016 by two engineers, Angers-based startup Delivagri launched a website and then a mobile application to optimise access to the best prices of agricultural commodities. The startup’s turnover exceeded €20 million last year.
Delivagri is developing a new kind of agricultural trade, 100% digitally. Atlantic France’s startup buys and sells agricultural raw materials and supplies. It manages all the logistics of the trade and relies on efficient in-house algorithms, developed by its teams of computer scientists, to offer the best prices.
An app to digitalise the trading of agricultural raw materials
The company, which employs 22 people and plans to recruit 10 more in the coming months, has become, in just a few years, a major player in the national agricultural landscape. The mobile app allows farmers to consult agricultural commodity prices directly from their tractor. Its ambition is to optimise farmers’ access to the best offers for the collection and supply of cereals and other agricultural raw materials, such as wheat straw, fertilisers, maize flour or liquid manure.
Delivagri offers a different model of agricultural trading, complementary to traditional trading, based on the collaborative economy. The startup can send raw materials anywhere in France, and respond to all markets: from the most common products to niche markets. Currently, Delivagri works with 3,000 customers, but 30,000 farmers are registered on its platform to identify market opportunities.
A growth target of 65% for 2022
In 2021, Delivagri achieved a turnover of over €20.5 million. Last spring, the young company surpassed the 600,000 tonnes of products marketed since its creation in 2016 and plans to reach 1 million tonnes by the end of 2022.
The startup forecasts a growth of over 65% in 2022 and is now developing its activities in other European countries including Spain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.


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Posted 10/30/2013 at 4:07 PM
Posted 4 years ago
Imagine the stunned expression on the faces of the people opening the boxes that contained their Dell Latitude 6430u Ultrabook, brand new business notebooks: The unmistakable, sickening smell of cat urine.
Furthermore, those opening the package containing their brand new 6430u Ultrabook made it known that theirs smelled like a cat’s litterbox.
The Dell user forum has reports that go back as far as June, concerning this matter.
“We do have a root cause and the problem is fixed. I hope to post details in the Dell forums this week or next at the latest” posted Andrea Huspeni — SteveB at Dell (@ SteveBatDell), October 30, 2013 .


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During the opening ceremony outside Moscow,Vladimir Putin said :
“We will support such projects in the future for sure”
“Mercedes cars will be popular with Russian consumers for sure”
The high-end Daimler brand, which also assembles commercial vehicles in Russia, will produce sedans and SUVs at the new plant. The automaker plans to produce 25,000 vehicles a year for the Russian market and employ about 1,000 people.
German economy minister Peter Altmaier said the new factory is “proof that Russia and Germany can develop their co-operation”.
“Of course, we should resolve our political problems, we must make sure that conflicts end. But at the same time, we should develop economic relations”
Vladimir Putin’s is known to be a lover of Mercedes-Benz cars.His retired Armoured Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard was his official car for many years before settling for the new Russian-made Armoured Aurus Senat limo a.k.a Bunker on wheels.


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Lady Gaga Gets Sandwiched Between Gigi and Bella Hadid in Cute #VSFashionShow 'Gram
Ever since it was revealed that Lady Gaga would be taking the stage at the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show earlier this month, we've been eagerly anticipating her performance—and the time is almost here.
She took to Instagram today to share a photo of herself after arriving in Paris for the annual event, and it doesn't disappoint. In the snap, the "Perfect Illusion" singer is sandwiched between model sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, both who are set to walk in this year's show. Mother Monster rocks the lingerie brand's signature pink robe, fishnet tights, and major platform booties, while the Hadid ladies wear matching outfits made up of black graphic tank tops, sleek bomber jackets, white jeans, and black boots. The trio puckers up as they pose side-by-side for the cute photo.
Lady Gaga seemed quite excited about the moment, and captioned the picture: "
with my angels! @gigihadid @bellahadid #VSFashionShow."
VIDEO: 10 Unforgettable Looks from the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
To see it all go down, watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show when it airs Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.


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JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., has become an exclusive tyre partner with Hyundai Motor India for its highest selling SUV, Creta.
While the former is Indian tyre industry major and the pioneer of radial tyre technology in the country, the latter is one of the largest car manufacturers in the country.
According to VK Misra, Technical Director, JK Tyre and Industries, “We are proud to further strengthen our partnership with Hyundai India for one of India’s best-selling SUV’s Creta. Through this collaboration, we aim to provide supreme quality tyres with cutting-edge features to complement the ride quality for the customer.”
He added that JK Tyre’s best-in-class technologies in radial tyres and tyre testing mechanism will ensure safety of customers driving Creta in multiple terrains.
He expressed confidence that this association will further strengthen their market presence and they look forward to a continued and reinforced partnership with Hyundai Motors.
Hyundai Motor India, said, “All New CRETA has been a benchmark SUV ever since it was launched in March 2020. Offering customers exceptional performance, unparalleled comfort & convenience as well as opulent aesthetics, All New CRETA continues to be the customers’ brand of choice.”
It added that its partnership with JK Tyre to offer All New CRETA with UX Royale 215/60 R17, continues to carry forward this SUV’s premium offering with superior handling and driving dynamics.
JK Tyre has joined hands as a tyre partner for Hyundai India’s exclusive membership club ‘Hyundai Mobility Membership’. Through this association, members of Hyundai Club across the country can avail exciting offers on JK Tyre’s products including their Smart Tyres range.
(With inputs from Automotive Lead Research Team)
If you like this article from Automotive Lead, please feel free to share this in your social media platforms to help your contacts to understand more on this subject


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Bra and micro miniskirt on the Delhi Metro
The internet is buzzing about a collection of videos shot on the Delhi Metro. You make the choice for the proper factors. On the Delhi Metro, a girl was seen sporting a miniskirt and a barely there bra. On the same metro, a few passengers snapped photos of the woman, posted them online, and uploaded them. There was a commotion online as a result, with some people approving of her attire choices and others fiercely objecting. Additionally, according to a subreddit on the Internet, Uorfi Javed’s fashion statement served as inspiration for her attire.
A DIY bra and a skirt were both on display when the girl was seen on the metro. On social media, there are numerous images and videos of the girl that were evidently taken on various days (as seen by the various colors of their clothing).
#DelhiMetro and #DelhiMetroGirl have earned their spot on the Twitter trending list thanks to conversations and retweets.
It’s safe to say that opinions on this girl’s wardrobe on the internet are mixed. The internet was divided on her dress, with some calling it “shocking” and others likening her to Uorfi Javed.
“People fall for this garbage by following this fad and become popular on Instagram. One person commented, “I can’t fathom being in a car like this with my parents or my 12-year-old brother.


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Freeborders' new CEO is helping the company pump up its profile among big banks as it continues to make inroads into China.
The 7-year-old San Francisco company is the largest U.S.-based IT outsourcing firm in China and helps retail and manufacturing companies like J.Crew, DuPont and Target complete software application work there. But its success is slower than the company expected in 2004, when Freeborders began focusing on growing its business on technology and financial services clients.
Co-founder and former CEO John Cestar, now Freeborders' chairman, said the company expected to double its annual revenue to $30 million to $40 million by the end of 2005 and grow its 400-person headcount to 1,400 with 1,000 of the hires in China.
This year, Freeborders is on track to bring in revenue between $26 million and $30 million and employ about 500 in China and 575 total, said Jean Cholka, who took the CEO post in May and expects the firm to reach profitability by year's end.
The trouble was, many big banking clients in particular, were using Indian-based firms for their outsourcing needs and were slow to warm to China, which many perceived as less secure for sensitive financial data. And while San Francisco firms knew of Freeborders, Cholka said, "within New York, nobody's ever heard of us, and financial services are in New York."
Still, Freeborders has picked up some big-name clients, including Bank of America and Citigroup, in the last couple of years. And to reassure them of security, the company invited outside auditors to inspect its internal processes, winning several international certifications along the way.
Placing some of their operations in China, said Cholka, affords banking clients "diversification, risk mitigation" should anything happen to their operations in India.
To get the word out in New York, particularly among financial analysts, Freeborders hired a new marketing director, Joe Gutierez, last month.
And to increase its staff in China, where recruiting and retaining employees can be difficult due to the sheer number of job openings, Freeborders may add offices in Beijing and Xian to its existing location in Shenzhen because they have high concentrations of colleges and recent graduates looking for jobs.
email@example.com / (415) 288-4931


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Proposals for a draconian new European Union copyright directive have been rejected by MEPs today. But the battle over tougher laws to counter online copyright infringement will continue in September when...
The EU and ASEAN represent more than 1 billion people and 25 per cent of global economic power
The leadership team must be trained out of passive and active bias
A draft bill proposes tough penalties on firms that breach the ban on Huawei gear
And it only took them three years
Online fraud in the business world is growing more sophisticated - and expensive.


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The estimated count of participants is calculated by multiplying the normalized participant interest generated on platform with a regional multiplier. Organizers can update the count here. Interested Going. Request a Booth Save Share. About Users Reviews 10 Travel Deals. InterNext Jan
CES Reinstates Innovation Award for High-Tech Sex Toy - toutesannoncesgratuites.com
According to the company's founder , Lora Haddock, in an open letter, they not only were accepted to show, but were declared a CES Innovation Awards Honoree in the Robotics and Drone category. Bustle reached out to CES for comment, but did not receive an immediate response. Haddock immediately responded to CES and the Consumer Technology Association CTA , their parent company, asking what the reason as for their award and place and at the show being revoked. According to Haddock's statement , CES pointed to a line in their terms of service for the awards, saying :. Haddock was confused. In a statement to TechCrunch, the CTA confirmed that the toy — which was formerly known as Vela — was in fact mistakenly accepted.
CES will include special sex-toy section at annual tech exhibition
The Consumer Electronics Show has returned the Innovations award it rescinded from female-led sex toy company Lora DiCarlo earlier this year, following accusations of gender bias in the tech industry. They went on to apologise to LoraDiCarlo and said that the mistake prompted some "important conversations" about the show's policies. The decision quickly sparked gender bias claims, particularly as previous years had seen exhibits of female sex dolls and displays from a VR porn company allowing men to watch pornography in public as consumers walk by.
During a luncheon event in New York City, the Consumer Technology Association CTA — the trade organization behind the event — announced a variety of new policies, from changes to the dress code to efforts to encourage diversity and inclusivity within the technology industry. But changes to the show itself will make a more visual impact: following controversy last year around a sex toy that won an award at the show only to have it revoked , the group will this year allow for the inclusion of sex tech and will even allow it to win awards, said Karen Chupka, Executive Vice President of CES. The change is also meant as a reflection of changing norms in society. But suggestive clothing?