[caption id="attachment_3233" align="alignleft" width="150"] The People Have Spoken![/caption]

The people have spoken! The Daily Record’s 2018 Reader Rankings are in and JMRConnect has been voted a top Baltimore PR Agency by readers. More than 1,400 nominations were collected during the nomination period in March.

[caption id="attachment_175" align="alignleft" width="150"] How strategic PR helps private equity firms raise money[/caption]

 What private equity firms need to tell their story While the private equity market remains robust, it’s no longer a given that firms will make the kind of money they did just a few years back. In the fourth quarter of 2012, U.S. private equity activity hit a lofty high—with 1,070 deals closed to the tune of $190 billion, according to PitchBook. Fast forward to mid-2016, though, and it’s slower going. The 719 second-quarter deals, worth $135 billion, marked a one-third drop in volume. Yet in the quest to survive and thrive, the value of media attention often goes overlooked. That’s understandable, given that the phrases “private equity” and “public relations” imply diametrically opposite spheres.Since public listing or trading never enters the picture, does it really make sense for private equity firms to seek attention? The answer, it turns out, is ...”

[caption id="attachment_3150" align="alignleft" width="150"] Employee Advocacy with CEI: JMRConnect's award-winning platform[/caption]

Converting brand excitement into sales: building your business through employee advocacy

Who speaks for you in the marketplace? If it’s your ad agency, you’re at least getting the word out. But you can go much further by getting the people who work for you to carry that same message, only in a less scripted way your current and potential customers will instantly find more authentic.

Imagine for a minute that your sales team had the ability to exponentially amplify visibility for case studies, whitepapers, blogs and other strategic content with prospects and partners through a simple click of their mouse?

That is the power of employee advocacy programs that make it easy and rewarding for people to share brand-approved messaging and content on social media, which, per an Inc. article, results in a 5x increase in web traffic and 25% more leads. That might sound like a point of debate, until you consider this: Only 15 percent of people trust recommendations from brands, while a whopping 84 percent trust recommendations from people they know, and employee advocacy programs that make it easy and rewarding for people to share brand-approved messaging and content on social media,

 

[caption id="attachment_3219" align="alignleft" width="150"] WebRTC for real-time communications[/caption]

WebRTC is a free, open project that provides browsers and mobile applications with Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities via simple APIs.

WebRTC also represents the latest evolution in the world of real-time communication. WebRTC reuses many of the protocols and standards that were analyzed in the previous articles (Media transfer in Unified Communications – SDP Protocol, RTP, RTCP and Jitter Buffer) to create real-time communications between different devices. Other standards, such as TURN / ICE / STUN, have been also used by WebRTC. We will discuss these standards later in this article.

The complexity of using these standards is hidden behind a simple set of Javascript APIs, which...

[caption id="attachment_3216" align="alignleft" width="150"] According to a study in Mountain Marketing Group, an ad featuring a custom vanity number had a response rate of 30% or better.[/caption]

How many times have you needed customer support and couldn’t for the life of you find a company number? Or are you just frustrated and exhausted by the constant ping of a chatbot that can’t really solve your problem? You’re not alone.

There is still a big contingent of consumers who want to talk to a real human. And if you’re a small business that offers a service, you need to be available to help if the going gets tough. For some customers, solving problems online or through messenger apps simply isn’t enough. So if you’re a new startup, an emerging business, or an established company looking for a refresh, you’d be wise to jazz up your phone number.

A custom vanity toll free number isn’t just an assurance that your customer base or potential new customers can reach a real person, it’s a fantastic marketing tool.

[caption id="attachment_3211" align="alignleft" width="150"] NexusTek Cloud Services[/caption]

Buyout activity is booming for American small businesses, and the prices being paid are at or near records for companies up to $50 million in value, brokers say.

Many small-business owners are fielding more cold calls asking if their companies are for sale, and owners who do put their businesses on the market are often receiving multiple bids. "I'm excited because now we have more capital, more access, more people," he said, "and we can really tactically execute on the vision" to become a national leader in what has been a regionalized industry.

[caption id="attachment_3208" align="alignleft" width="150"] NexusTek Cloud Services[/caption]

 Businesses have options

Thursday, September 13, 2018 — As cloud technology has grown, new options are available for businesses besides traditional locally-hosted information technology solutions. How should a business decide what cloud technologies to adopt, as well as when to keep or develop resources in-house?

James Hwang, chief operating officer of NexusTek, a cloud technology, managed IT services and cybersecurity consulting firm based in Denver, says a business must not rely just on cloud security, but must consider physical aspects of security when using these services, such as, “how is it encrypted, what levels of encryption are there and who has the roles and roles-based access.” A third issue to consider is what access specific users have and who does the logging when the products or data are accessed.

[caption id="attachment_3205" align="alignleft" width="150"] ZINK Zero Ink[/caption]

Zink Imaging, based in Billerica, is counting on a renewed interest in instant-print photos.

In 2015, one of the last vestiges of the once-great Polaroid Corp. was “teetering on the brink of insolvency,” recalls Chaim Piekarski.

That vestige, Billerica-based Zink Imaging, had raised nearly $150 million to commercialize a new version of instant color photo printing, developed in Polaroid’s research labs. What made this new process different was that it didn’t rely on traditional film or ink cartridges. Its name, Zink, referred to “zero ink.” It was a moment when 400 million Instagram users were uploading 40 million photos every day, but consumers hadn’t... 

[caption id="attachment_3172" align="alignleft" width="150"] Acquiring distress assets[/caption]

How Second-movers Can Identify When a Failing Business Venture Merits Investment? For the aware and open-minded entrepreneur eyeing the purchase of distressed assets, it is critical to identify and understand the factors behind the target company’s demise. Due diligence can solve the riddle as to why a company failed, and provide answers to questions such as:

  “Mobile Wallets Help Sales,” Said No Retailer Ever.  Jack Connors, as Head of Commerce Partnerships at Google, leads Google’s merchant partnerships for Android Pay and helps merchants use mobile payments as a way to address a broader set of business objectives. His message, delivered during his keynote presentation at the 2017 Mobile Payments Conference,  is especially invaluable for merchants who may have implemented one or more mobile pay options in their stores, but just aren’t getting the returns they hoped for.

Connors got the audience’s attention by showing that he understands the frustrations many merchants feel trying to keep up with all the latest mobile payment offerings only to find that customers barely use it. He then made the case for why Android Pay is different from the myriad of other mobile payment options. First, for every smartphone owner walking into a store, there’s a nearly 82 percent chance that they’re using an Android phone, according to Gartner’s latest projections on worldwide smartphone sales. “And, Android Pay is pre-installed on 90% of those phones via carrier relationships,” said Connors. So, even if you’re a merchant whose marketing department has an affinity for Apple Pay, PayPal, Square or perhaps your own mobile wallet, keep in mind the reality that the vast majority of your customers already have Android Pay on their phones, so half the battle... 

At the 2017 Mobile Payments Conference in Chicago, one of the most memorable presentations was moderated by Brett King, founder of Moven and host of the BREAKING BANK$ radio show on Voice America. On the panel was Travis Dulaney, Co-founder & CEO of PushPayments and Dan Gonzalez, VP of payment industry relations at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The main topic was faster payments. And, more specifically, when and how can the U.S. can get from where it is currently to the frictionless Utopia many other countries are now enjoying? Read More ➢

[caption id="attachment_2988" align="alignleft" width="130"] Turbomachinery International magazine[/caption]

Lean, Premixed, Prevaporized (LPP) combustion technology converts liquid fuels into a substitute for natural gas, which can power most combustion devices while yielding emissions comparable to that of ordinary natural gas. By allowing a wide range of otherwise liquid fuels to be vaporized into a clean burning natural gas substitute to power gas-fired turbine electric systems, LPP Combustion’s patented technology reduces both costs and emissions.  LPP Combustion’s Clean Shipping entry centered on its patented fuel-processing technology that allows a range of light liquid hydrocarbons to be used in place of liquid natural gas (LNG) in low-emissions gas turbines for shipboard power generation.

Because LPP Combustion skids enable clean use of readily storable liquids in gas turbines, they...

Danielle Fugazy reports on substantial changes in the private equity industry have occurred in the last few years. PE firms are quickly adapting to compete with other PE firms and with strategic acquirers for capital and deals. Interesting look at NewSpring Holdings in Mergers & Acquisitions’ Special Report on Private Equity >>>

 Brett King, host of BREAKING BANK$, the First Global Fintech Podcast, will broadcast live from the 2017 Mobile Payments Conference (MPC), being held August 28 – 30, 2017, at the Swissotel in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to hosting the popular podcast, Brett King is also a four-time bestselling author, a renowned futurist and keynote speaker, and the founder of Moven. MPC 2017 attendees will hear about the latest developments in faster and real-time payments adoption, as King interviews interviews Dan Gonzalez, vice president of payment industry relations for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Travis Dulaney, co-founder and CEO of Push Payments, on Tuesday, August 29th at 1:10 pm CST.

According to Dan Gonzalez, vice president, CRSO Industry Relations, “Payment system change requires a consensus-driven approach to accommodate the views and behaviors of the many financial institutions,...

  Yorktel recently announced that its mobile telehealth kit, FeatherMed has won the MedTech Breakthrough Award for “Best Overall Telehealth Solution.” MedTech Breakthrough, if you’re not familiar, is an independent organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market. “FeatherMed is a niche product that fills a gap in the Telehealth market for a lightweight, portable unit to manage telehealth encounters on the fly in remote locations. FeatherMed is our latest example of Yorktel’s continued focus...

 Lately there’s been much hand wringing over the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule, which went into effect this month. Enacted by President Obama and initially challenged by the Trump administration, the new rule asks brokers to avoid conflicts of interest when giving retirement advice. The rule is non-compromising regarding the legal and ethical role wealth managers must fill in looking out for the best interests of their clients. As wealth managers ready themselves to adopt and adjust, this is where quality management software comes into play as a timely and powerful ally.

But what exactly is QMS? What does it do? And how will it help wealth managers rise to the compliance challenges posed by the new rule? Answering the Qs of QMS...

  Public relations agencies and teams, says Paula Bernier, must 1) address artificial intelligence and machine learning; 2) influencer marketing; and 3) focus on millennials. Sarab Kochhar, director of applied research for the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, writes that, “Researchers and practitioners in the field of public relations should explore how AI and ML are helping organizations automate campaigns and create new and stronger connections with customers leading to hyper- personalized experiences,” in the report “Top Three Trends That Will Drive Public Relations Research in 2017.”

As Kochhar mentions, influencer marketing is another trend impacting businesses, consumers, marketing, and public relations. Influencer marketing is important because influential individuals can help or harm a company’s brand, can greatly increase brand awareness, and can even drive conversions.

“Wharton Marketing Professor David Bell says that brands looking to create a presence in the digital space quickly realize that the way to get to their audience is through...

Marketing professionals take note: YouTube's website is getting a big makeover. Business Insider reports that starting Tuesday, you'll be able to preview the video site's new design by signing up here. It'll eventually roll out to everyone. Neal Mohan, YouTube's product boss, announced the change at the Collision tech conference in New Orleans.

The update is based on Material Design, Google's home-grown design language in Android, Chrome, and (full story)

[caption id="attachment_2781" align="alignleft" width="150"] Employee Advocacy and Social Selling on LinkedIn[/caption]

LinkedIn is now connected to Microsoft business software. The B2B social media platform now boasts more than 500 million registered users, Microsoft said Monday, up from 467 million in October, when LinkedIn released its last quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company. Microsoft’s $26 billion acquisition of the Mountain View company, announced in June,

The SF Gate reported that Microsoft is adding links between its business-focused software and LinkedIn, the biggest move yet to make use of the company’s largest-ever acquisition.  LinkedIn now boasts more than 500 million registered users, Microsoft said Monday, up from 467 million in October, when LinkedIn released its last quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company.

[caption id="attachment_2917" align="alignleft" width="150"] Winner: BEST MARKETING TECHNOLOGY[/caption]

Public Relations has many industry honors, among which one of the most prestigious is The Holmes Report SABRE Awards. On February 16th in Chicago, as part of its In2 SABRE Awards Summit, The Holmes Report named JMRConnect CEI the 2017 North America In2 SABRE Awards winner for Best Marketing Technology. The program targets the most innovative PR and marketing agencies, highlighting new and innovative ways brands are utilizing employee advocacy, social engagement, and other channels to connect with and influence target audiences at a time where...

 

 Many people in financial services see social media as a simple broadcast platform, where messages, blog posts and other featured communications stick to a billboard as though they were press releases or boilerplate content that’s better than nothing. Others see it as a “time suck” that takes away from the serious work of doing business the old-fashioned way. But a number of recent studies show that social media produces potent results beyond the misconceptions, as it helps financial professionals fill sales pipelines, construct new ones and recruit fresh prospects.

A 2016 study by the asset management firm Putnam Investments, which surveyed more than 1,000 financial advisors, reached this conclusion: “Advisors ARE social.” The Putnam Social Advisor Survey found that 85 percent of advisors use social media actively—up more than 10 percent from the 75 percent tallied in 2014. Read More»

BALTIMORE, MD - (Jan 18, 2017) -  JMRConnect (www.jmrconnect.net), a multinational public relations (PR), corporate and influencer communications agency, today announced that The Holmes' Report has named it a 2017 North American In2 SABRE Awards finalist in four categories: Best Agency Disruption; Corporate/B2B; Employee Engagement; and Marketing Technology. The nominations reflect the effectiveness and utility of JMRConnect CEI (connect. engage. influence.), the agency's social engagement, employee advocacy and content marketing platform, as well as the results achieved by JMRConnect client, Yorktel.

Through CEI, companies can empower their biggest supporters to act as word-of-mouth brand ambassadors; content is sent directly to them through CEI and they share with the click of a button. CEI is customizable and user-friendly, and enables PR and marketing to engage employees, activate them as brand advocates, organically augment the credibility and visibility of content, and push approved corporate messaging to employees for multi-channel socialization to wider population. Read More »

 

 In today's Wall Street Journal, the Logistics Report highlights "Same-day delivery service USPack Logistics acquired two delivery companies to expand its reach to 27 states."

  Most companies that operate contact centers acknowledge the importance of enabling customers to contact them via multiple channels. Yet, a large number of these same companies use separate contact center and UC platforms and providers, which leads to communication silos among their channels. In a recent study conducted by Nemertes Research, for example, only 16% of those surveyed indicated they were currently integrating their communication channels. And, while 24% said they had plans to unify communications in the future, 60% had no plans. Not surprisingly, the minority of companies that already had a unified communications (UC) strategy in place enjoyed several benefits, including:

 

 USPack Logistics (www.gouspack.com), a NewSpring Holdings portfolio company and leading same-day courier and transportation company, today announced that it has completed the strategic acquisitions of Best Courier and Delivery Services and JS Logistics. Best Courier and JS Logistics are the seventh and eighth acquisitions for USPack, the third and fourth under NewSpring Capital, after most recently acquiring Parsippany, NJ-based Flash Courier, and Alexandria, VA-based Washington Courier in March 2016 and September 2015, respectively. The St. Louis Post Dispatch covers the news...

In Banking Strategies, published by the Bank Administration Institute, Breakthrough Technology Group CEO, Jeff Kaplan, details the business case for small and mid-size banks to move to managed private cloud environments. Managed private clouds offer dedicated and isolated environments for each customer, even as they provide complete visibility and remote control over the environment. They deliver the benefits of the public cloud with the security and flexibility of a private data center. For example: If a bank has a customized security requirement, such as a dedicated virtual firewall, a private cloud provider can accommodate this request. Compare that to a public cloud environment, where customized services and accommodations are limited because the provider must keep in mind the other tenants on its platform.

What’s more, banks face increased scrutiny and auditing requirements and must ensure they can be met in a cloud environment, too. With a private cloud, specific reports and visibility can be built in to satisfy compliance requirements—which may not be the case in a public cloud environment. In addition...

Whether you’re working primarily in commercial, residential or security integration, it’s more important than ever to find new ways to generate steady streams of income as product margins continue to shrink.

Although that seems like common knowledge for many who read CI and sister publications CE Pro and Security Sales and Integration, a panel of experts at the Total Tech Summit in Atlanta said not everyone has realized the need for recurring revenue—and too few do it well.

Yorktel earned CI 2015 Integrator of the Year honors by developing a recurring revenue model few others in the industry could even envision. The company generates about half of its annual revenue from service contracts, often leading with service in its pitches to customers of all sizes. (continue reading)

  When evaluating prospective service providers, ask: Whose cloud contact center software is that?  Today Enghouse Interactive announced an enhancement to its Contact Center Service Provider (CCSP) solution, a provisioning portal. The portal can be used by service providers to ease the administrative tasks involved with provisioning cloud contact center tenants, and by end user customers to control day-to-day tasks like managing agent names, extensions, skill assignments, queues, routing rules, working hours, and holiday and operational calendars. One of the key differences between CCSP and other multi-tenant cloud contact center solutions on the market is that service providers purchase and deploy CCSP in their own data centers. The service provider, which could be a telco, cable company, VAR, or other type of technology reseller, purchases a fully supported product (in this case, CCSP) then creates a contact center as a service (CCaaS) offer.

This type of product is often called a "white label" solution as it allows the service provider to apply its own brand and identity to the CCaaS offer. The service provider often combines the CCaaS with other services, such as (continue reading)

For those not familiar with converged infrastructure, it’s important to understand that it is not a technology. Rather, it is an approach to data center management that seeks to minimize complexity and compatibility issues among servers, storage systems and network devices while reducing infrastructure costs and the overall foot print.

Recently, Business Solutions' editor, Mike Monocello, spoke with Travis Sales, president of Breakthrough Technology Group, LLC., a provider of secure private cloud, connectivity, and managed IT solutions. With more than 20 years’ experience and expertise in virtualization technologies, Sales was the perfect candidate to answer his converged infrastructure questions. Click here to read Travis' insight on why data center growth is driving demand for converged infrastructure, and how BTG helps clients and MSPs capitalize on its many benefits.

 

When thousands of patriotic motorcyclists arrive in the nation’s capital for the annual Rolling Thunder “Ride for Freedom” over Memorial Day weekend, another wheeled vehicle will be in the mix. A state-of-the-art mobile medical clinic will glide into town on 18 wheels, meant to draw attention to the medical care and health challenges of military veterans in rural or remote communities — particularly female vets.

The cause is shared by Rolling Thunder organizers, who have long called for improved benefits for veterans, and continued vigilance about the fate of prisoners of war and those still missing in action. The big “concept vehicle” — outfitted with the same medical and diagnostic tools of a stationary facility — will be situated on the National Mall, not far from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on Sunday and open to curious visitors.  The hospital-grade clinic is a joint project of DMS Health Technology, a health care equipment provider, and TrillaMed, a hospital supply company owned and managed by a trio of combat vets who served as U.S. Army Airborne Rangers. The two companies have a new mission. KEEP READING >>>

 PC Magazine: As follow-up to its initial story, part 2 of PC Magazine's coverage addresses how Reg CF is only one side of the equity crowdfunding coin, which also includes something known as Regulation A+ (Reg A+). To start, equity crowdfunding means online investors actually get a stake in the start-up or SMB as opposed to traditional nonprofit crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which are easy ways to lose your money.  Reg CF and Reg A+ are part of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which has been reworked and updated over the past several years to address the crowdfunding economy and encourage new forms of protected, regulated start-up and SMB funding and investment. Reg CF is Title III and Reg A+, which went into effect in 2015, is Title IV.

Jeff Koeppel, Of Counsel with the Law Offices of Kirk Halpin & Associates, P.A, advises public and private companies on private equity and debt issuances, corporate governance, contracts, deal structuring, joint ventures, and other corporate and securities matters. He said as this space matures, Regulation Crowdfunding will be particularly helpful to mature small businesses with a financial track record and a solid local presence seeking to raise a small amount of capital. Maybe it's hiring new employees or expanding to new local retail locations, or maybe a manufacturer wants to expand the factory floor or buy new equipment.

"These are the folks whose bank line of credit was cancelled in the last financial downturn or who don't want to pay the rate being charged. It may be a local music store, dry cleaner, or even an auto repair shop that just needs a few hundred thousand dollars to open a store in another neighborhood," said Koeppel, who also spent three years at the SEC as a Senior Attorney-Advisor in the Division of Corporation Finance...KEEP READING

Mostafa Razzak, JMRConnect's Principal talks with Jennifer Schiff about business strategies for social media engagement.

“Keep your finger on the pulse of industry-specific conversations and engage with thoughtful questions and helpful answers,” says Mostafa Razzak, principal, JMRConnect, a public relations & influencer communications company. “Do not patronize or waste people’s time by stating the obvious or making comments that show you haven’t paid attention to what they’ve written or the message they’re trying to convey.” CLICK HERE to read the full article and insights from other industry experts.

  Congress has passed an appropriations bill to fund increased medical care for military veterans–particularly women–a burgeoning contingent of the vet population. The fiscal year 2017 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, passed May 19 by the Senate, proposes to increase VA appropriations to $74.9 billion–an increase of $3.2 billion over last year.

The bill also contains language that presses the VA to improve health care for female veterans by considering the launch of a mobile health care pilot program. These provisions come a year after Congress commissioned a study on the barriers women veterans face in the VA health care system, which found that 72 percent of the female vets don’t use their nearest VA facility for primary care because it lacked women’s health services. KEEP READING >>>

This is Part One of a two-part explainer on the now government-regulated crowdfunding investment market. Part Two discusses how Regulation Crowdfunding differs from Regulation A+, and the future of equity crowdfunding. The crowdfunding revolution is upon us. Regulation Crowdfunding, also known as Regulation CF (Reg CF), is officially open for start-ups and small to midsize businesses (SMBs). Entrepreneurs with a rock-solid business plan can now raise between $100,000 and $1 million over a 12-month period—and not just from accredited investors. One MAJOR caveat...click here to keep reading

 Shaping Influence: It's not enough to just have great content any more; much like it was with data, great content needs to be used effectively to get the most out of it. Technavio recently examined the market for content authoring tools worldwide, and revealed four big points that were set to shape this market for the next several years, up into 2020. There were some big changes to come, and with these changes, opportunity. A market that's set to clear $126 billion in 2020, e-learning content can come from a lot of places, and schools and universities are actively looking for e-learning content in a bid to augment current offerings. E-learning covers a host of formats...Click Here to read more >>>

 Redmond Channel Partner's Scott Bekker takes a look at the impact of cloud on the Microsoft Managed Service Provider Community. MSPAlliance CEO, Charles Weaver, commented that, "We're seeing a lot of MSPs get into things like identity and access management, a service line that would have been really rare 10 to 15 years ago. But today with cloud that's a very hot growth sector." Click here to read the full story.

 Congressional staffers influence, research, craft and write legislation that could have a huge impact on your association, nonprofit or corporation. So, it goes without saying, building a relationship with the right Hill workers for your industry is key. But how do you do it in a way that not only gets you in front of the people you want, but leaves behind the right impression to get your issue moving? Here’s what they said in Congressional Quarterly's Connectivity>>>

 "The 2016 Mobile Payments Conference in Chicago is where industry leaders gather to separate fact from fiction," said Marla Ellerman, Mobile Payments Conference executive director and publisher of Mobile Marketing & Technology. "This year's conference will examine the many new mobile commerce platforms, services, solutions, and standards that continue to enter this exploding market."...It is being widely believed that blockchain technology, in particular, could revolutionize payment systems. Banks and tech companies are seeking to tap its potential. BNY Mellon recently said that blockchain could “significantly shake-up payments” by making transactions near-instantaneous. Click here to read the full story >>>

In this insight-filled interview with Joe Arena, the Senior Vice President of Advanced Services at video managed service provider Yorktel, we dig into what a video communications assessment project looks like, the components businesses should take into consideration when performing an assessment and how to take remote workers and external stakeholders into consideration when planning your approach. Listen here >>>

Capital One, Google, Discover, FIS Global, Worldpay, Hewlett Packard, NEC, Accenture Digital, GfK Financial, McKinsey & Company, Aite Group, and Zooz Executives Among Presenters at 2016 Mobile Payments Conference in Chicago.

 2016 has been dubbed “the Year of the Customer.” In a recent issue of CUSTOMER magazine, Jacki Tessmer, VP of Service Provider & Cloud Strategy for Enghouse Interactive, details how, through offering Contact Center as-a-service, carriers, multiple-system operators (MSO) and other service providers have the unique opportunity to create new, recurring revenue streams while helping their business customers manage an effective customer experience program. Click here for the full story >>>

 The IMA announced the launch of its Mid-Atlantic Chapter, and the appointment of JMRConnect Principal, Mostafa Razzak as the Region’s Chairman and Executive Director. With more than 1,000,000 professional members worldwide, the Internet Marketing Association is the industry’s fastest growing organization. The IMA Mid-Atlantic Group will serve as an open platform for business and economic development; education and skills training; and as an interactive forum through which to network, share best practices and collaborate. Click here to continue >>>

 Telehealth video consultation sessions are in the midst of an explosion, growing from 19.7 million in 2014 to a projected 158.4 million per year by 2020, according to the latest research from market intelligence firm Tractica. To learn more about the key drivers and implications behind this trend, check out this Q&A with James Custer, Yorktel’s Telehealth Director of Products and Operations.

Very interesting article from Corporate Tech Decisions magazine on the varying factors that must be addressed to create a viable Next Gen Workplace. Multiple, real-time technologies must work together seamlessly for this experience to become a reality. Click here to read the full text >>>

Yorktel's new webcasting and streaming media service for the enterprise, Yorkcast, has received some very significant attention over the past few weeks. Most recently, Wainhouse Research Analyst, Steve Vonder Haar, and Gina Narcisi of SearchUnifiedCommunications.com covered this news in great detail. Insightful coverage from both Steve and Gina. Read TechTarget's story, 'Move over, live video; enterprises need streaming video services', and here for Wainhouse. 

Sheila McGee-Smith of McGee-Smith Analytics, addresses the evolution of the Enghouse Interactive portfolio, and the role that Zeacom is playing in the company's growth. A great read in No Jitter >>>

Wainhouse Research Analyst, Andrew Davis, interviews Ron Gaboury, CEO of Yorktel, to find out how this experienced, multinational UC&C, cloud, and video managed services provider is responding to massive changes happening within the industry. Click here to read the interview.

NJ Biz editor, Tom Zanki, speaks with BTG CEO, Jeff Kaplan, and Yorktel VP, Greg Douglas, about the inherent risks with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. Click here to read.

TECH & TRADING: REIGNING IN ROGUE ALGORITHMS, SPEED & DATA:  Technology continues to change the dynamic of the financial markets. This session explores the following: What regulation is emerging around dark pools, high frequency trading and rogue algorithms? How do dark pools fragment the markets? What stops are in place to thwart against rouge algorithms and flash crashes? How are exchanges managing around market events? What are the concerns around kill switches? How are traders reducing latency?  READ MORE >>>

 

ZDNet's Heather Clancy talks with Jeff Kaplan, CEO of Breakthrough Technology Group, about Private Cloud and the end-user compute needs of today's business.

Clancy notes that, "For obvious and legitimate reasons, many technology solution providers with a history in the traditional IT services world are centering their cloud integration and migration initiatives on private cloud infrastructure.

There are two big reasons: first it allows them to leverage existing expertise and skills, and second, many of their existing clients are reluctant to jump right into the public cloud. For some of those businesses, it's simply a matter of audit requirements. Others are concerned about the lack of management visibility that they might have within a public cloud environment, still others are seeking better isolation across a shared infrastructure."

Read More >>>

Independent takes midsize gamble on Woodbine Play.

Jason Lane and his team at JBL Energy Partners are about to take another leap, launching their most ambitious move yet on 3,800 acres in the Woodbine Play just north of Houston.  After years of land deals and joint ventures, Lane’s company will serve as the operator on a series of wells planned for Leon County. Drilling on the first well is expected to begin in early February. Read more >>>

 

ICSC received commitments from some of the most prominent and respected business executives in Asia to present at its 2012 Retail Real Estate World Summit in Shanghai on Sept. 11 through 14.

The executives that have agreed to speak at the event include Michael Riady, CEO of the Lippo Group; Scott Price, CEO of Walmart Asia; Seck-Guan Pua, chairman and CEO of Perennial Real Estate; Peter Lau, chairman of Giordano International; Albert Hui, director of corporate strategy with New World Development Company Ltd.; Guo Geping, president of China Chain Store and Franchise Association; Neel C. Raheja, president of K Raheja Corp.; Kumar Tharmalingam, CEO of Malaysia Property Inc. and Richard Vogel, senior vice president of Ivanhoe Cambridge China. Read more >>>

InfoSec Institute conducts executive Q&As with Route1's CEO, Tony Busseri, and the CEO of the MSPAlliance, Charles Weaver. The Institute is best source for high quality information security training, and has been training Information Security and IT Professionals since 1998 with a diverse lineup of relevant training courses. Read the interviews >>>

Garrett Nenner has spent the last two decades deeply involved in both the sell-side and buy-side worlds. Now at broker MomentumTradingPartners, Nenner has learned to combine technological savvy with human logic. Read More >>>

Route1 Inc., a digital security and identity management company, today announced that the Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command has notified the Program Manager for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) that an Interim Authorization to Operate (IATO) was recently granted for the "Unclassified DEFIMNET MobiKEY Secure Remote Access Solution" on the Unclassified NMCI Enterprise. READ MORE >>>

Platt's Commodity News examines Buccaneer Energy's intensive exploration drilling in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The company plans three exploration wells later this spring to delineate its Kenai Loop gas discovery on the Kenai Peninsula.

Drilling will begin when a 3-D seismic survey at the field is completed, company CEO James Watt told the Resources Committee of the state Senate.

Buccaneer now has one well producing 5,000 Mcf/day of gas in the field and plans to increase its production to 15,000 Mcf/day day later this year, Watt said.   Buccaneer also plans more drilling, including two wells at an offshore prospect in Cook Inlet with a jack-up rig due to arrive in June, a third offshore well at a third offshore prospect later in the year, and another onshore prospect in the southern Kenai Peninsula area, Watt told the legislators....Watt said Buccaneer will be using the Endeavour jack-up rig that is owned jointly with Singapore-based Ezion Holdings, and that will be brought to Cook Inlet from Singapore in June.

Buccaneer is also close to closing a deal to acquire leases in the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in the Inlet from Pioneer Natural Resources.

 

Garrett Nenner, Managing Director at Momentum Trading Partners, speaks with Phil Albinus about how regulators, including the SEC and the CFTC, are struggling to keep up with -- and keep a grip on -- the warp-speed world of high-frequency trading. Fearing that the markets are dangerously out of control, regulators are considering some severe measures to slow down high-speed traders. Read More >>>

Oil & Gas Journal reports on Buccaneer's acquiring a 25% operated working interest in the two main productive leases in the former Cosmopolitan Unit in Alaska’s Lower Cook Inlet from Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc.  Cosmopolitan is an undeveloped oil and gas discovery in 50 ft of water just off Anchor Point on the Kenai Peninsula. Buccaneer said the acquisition will hike the company’s proved and probable reserves in Alaska 79% to 31.1 million bbl of oil equivalent.

Australia's Buccaneer Energy has teamed up with a privately owned US company to purchase an undeveloped oil and gas field in Alaska's Cook Inlet for an undisclosed sum, it said in a statement Thursday.

Under the terms of the deal, Fort Worth, Texas-based BlueCrest Energy II will acquire a 75% interest in the Cosmo field, with Buccaneer taking a 25% stake and assuming operatorship of the project. The acquisition is due to be settled on March 30, 2012. Click here to read story in Platt's

Garrett Nenner, Managing Director Global Trading at Momentum Trading Partners speaks to equities trading in today's volatil markets on Canadian Business News Network. Click here to watch video clip...

Momentum Trading Partners' co-founder, Lionel Mellul, offers insight on China and the European markets to Paul R. La Monica. Read full story...

Lionel Mellul, co-founder of Momentum Trading Partners, which works mostly with large institutions and has clients on both sides of the Atlantic, says the rally that began this morning was not driven by real conviction. In fact, it may have some of the same panicky characteristics we saw on the way down earlier this year. Click here to read Lionel's thoughts, which he shared with Avi Salzman, Barron's...

Garrett Nenner, managing director for global markets at Momentum Trading Partners LLC in New York, which handles large equity orders for clients through human traders, said Pipeline breached the trust of its users.

Click here to read the full story

 

Australian-owned Buccaneer Energy said Thursday its subsidiary, Kenai Offshore Ventures LLC, has executed a binding purchase agreement with Transocean Offshore Resources to acquire the Adriatic XI jack-up rig and move it to Alaska.

The rig will be modified to deal with Alaskan offshore conditions and moved to Cook Inlet in April or May 2012, Buccaneer spokesman Dean Gallegos said. The first well to be drilled in the Inlet will be Buccaneer's Southern Cross prospect, which is in about 50 feet of water. Read full article from Platt's here...

Executives from ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing, BG Group, Direct Energy, Encana, NW Natural, Marathon Oil, GDF Suez, Sempra LNG, Clean Energy Fuels, Qatargas and Westport Innovations Among Leaders to Convene at October Conference...In a recent interview conducted by the Energy Exchange's Director of the North America Gas Summit, Monika Gonda, Robert A. Hefner III, author and GHK Company owner and founder, lauded the event as a long overdue voice for the industry.

“We need to come together as you have organized in the North America Gas Summit, because it has got to be the entire natural gas industry that must finally come together and be sold on the development and the advantages of the transition of America to natural gas.”

Troy Wolverton identifies Zodiac as threat to traditional game consoles. "Zodiac Interactive, a company that provides software to pay TV operators, has developed a game service that cable TV customers will be able to access through their existing set-top boxes.

Three Lessons From AT&T's Top Solutions Provider:  Breakthrough Technology Group was named AT&T’s Top Revenue Producing Solution Provider. In addition to this accolade, BTG recently earned the MSPAlliance Green IT Certification.

CRN Magazine, in its 2011 "Need to Know" feature, profiles Zeacom as one of the top global Unified Communications vendors.