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QX Global Group Acquires Management Consulting & Advisory Services Firm Chazey Partners

QX Global Group

Together QX Global Group and Chazey Partners will provide end-to-end Business Transformation, Digital Services & Intelligent Automation, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) for Fortune 1000 companies and public sector organizations, including higher education, across the globe. QX Global Group, a Top 100 Business Process Outsourcing company, announced the acquisition of an 80% stake in Austin, Texas-based Chazey Partners, a world-class management consulting and advisory firm specializing in business and digital transformation. The Chazey Partners team brings decades of experience in implementing and operating world-class business support and shared services organizations around the globe, with expertise in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Together, QX and Chazey Partners will work to deliver innovative solutions that cover transformative consulting, digital services, and business process outsourcing, customized to meet each client’s specific needs. “At QX, we have always focused on enabling transformation of our client’s businesses using our unique 3P approach of people, process, and platform, and we are thrilled that the addition of Chazey will allow us to help organizations solve their most significant barrier to growth – digital adoption and business transformation at scale, said Frank Robinson, Group CEO of QX Global Group. “Adding Chazey furthers our vision to provide integrated, end-to-end solutions to help our customers take advantage of the latest operating models and emerging technologies. I am also delighted to officially welcome Phil Searle onto QX Global Group’s Board as Chief Transformation Officer.” Chazey brings to the QX Global Group management consulting and advisory services with a global reach. Founded in 2006, Chazey Partners has demonstrated consistent and significant growth, with global representation in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ireland, Turkey, and India. Chazey’s consultants provide advice, support, and implementation expertise, covering strategy setting, business case production, program management, process optimization, technology enablement, training, and change management. “ Since founding the company, we have significantly expanded and evolved Chazey’s solutions to help numerous businesses and public sector organizations achieve operational excellence by transforming their business operations,’’ said Phil Searle, CEO and Founder of Chazey Partners. ‘’With QX, we have found a shared passion for empowering our clients to achieve world-class performance. By joining forces with QX, we will augment our near-shoring and offshoring capabilities by opening new Centers of Excellence (COEs) in India and Latin America. This is an exciting new chapter for Chazey Partners, our employees, and our customers.” The partnership of both trusted brands comes at a time when enterprises across the globe are adjusting to the post-pandemic world. In this environment, Chazey Partners is at the forefront of offering needed transformation solutions, helping enterprises optimize business operations and adopt the latest technologies for sustained growth. The QX-Chazey partnership will enable all clients to achieve a faster return on investment and add more value to their customers and employees. Barbara Hodge, Global Digital Editor at the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON), said, “This marks an exciting and timely development in the shared services and outsourcing space. SSON has collaborated with Chazey Partners for many years, and I am pleased to see such a highly respected group in the field of business transformation push forwards in extending its services to provide enterprise customers with the more holistic solutions they need right now. Adding Chazey Partners’ transformation capabilities to QX Global Groups’ BPO services, drives an end-to-end solution that connects consulting, digital and business process outsourcing. This aligns perfectly with the move to integrated business services, digitalization – driven by intelligent automation – and data analytics, that we are seeing across the shared services landscape. It’s also consistent with service providers moving to a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for business transformation and digital needs. I am delighted at this news and look forward to engaging with the new partnership.” For QX Global Group: Corbett Keeling, London, and J. Sloan & Co, Dallas, Texas, provided corporate finance and transaction advice for QX Global Group; BDO LLP provided Due Diligence support across all entity geographies; legal support was provided by Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. For Chazey Partners: Sett & Lucas acted as transaction advisor, and Jackson Walker LLP provided legal support. About QX Global Group QX Global Group is a leading provider of business process management services. With over 17 years of accounting and recruitment process outsourcing experience, we help our clients unlock business value by improving process efficiencies and automation in the accounting and recruitment functions to enable business transformation. We have offices in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and India. About Chazey Partners Chazey Partners is a practitioner-led, global management consulting and advisory services firm. We bring real-life, practical, hands-on experience, empowering clients to strive for world-class performance, through Business Transformation, Shared Services, and Intelligent Automation. We help businesses and public sector organizations achieve operational excellence in the provision of mission-critical business services, including Finance, Human Resources, IT, Procurement, Contact Centers, Marketing, and Facilities Management. For over sixteen years, Chazey Partners has helped clients implement successful service delivery solutions; in the US & Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, and Asia. Contact Details QX Global Group Vishal Kurani +44 20 8146 0808 vishal.kurani@qxglobalgroup.com Chazey Partners Leigh Knowles +1 855-692-6229 LeighKnowles@chazeypartners.com Company Website https://qxglobalgroup.com/

February 14, 2022 09:55 AM Eastern Standard Time

The Botanist Debuts First-Ever Tv Commercial, “The Spirit of Community,” at Super Bowl LVI In Support of Local Restaurants and Bars Nationwide

YourUpdateTV

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin introduces its first-ever television commercial, “The Spirit of Community,” debuting at the Super Bowl, to drive awareness for local bars and restaurants who continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), the campaign urges all Americans to take action to help the IRC in its efforts to refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and promote positive change for the industry. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/ud_lZY0ZiMA The Botanist hails from Bruichladdich Distillery on the Scottish Isle of Islay, one of the few distilleries in the world to be B Corp certified. The distillery believes in using business as a force for good, putting people and purpose in line with profit. The Botanist’s ongoing partnership with the IRC is rooted in its people-centric values, a demonstration of how its community extends far beyond Islay and into the bar and restaurant industry in the U.S. The goal of “The Spirit of Community” campaign is to raise awareness of the critical support still needed for the 500,000 independent restaurants and bars that remain at risk of closure – 90,000 of which initially closed during the first year of the pandemic. Through the campaign, The Botanist and the IRC are mobilizing Americans to show support for the bar and restaurant community in this continued time of hardship. “Local bars and restaurants across the U.S. have been supporting The Botanist since our first distillation on Islay over a decade ago,” said Ian McLernon, President and CEO at Rémy Cointreau Americas. “Thus it was natural for The Botanist, a brand that is an integral part of the community on the island of Islay, to leverage our first-ever TV commercial to help support the community of hospitality staff working at local bars and restaurants across the U.S. during their time of need. Now more than ever, we must do what we can to save the establishments we know and love. Our hope is that our campaign’s debut at the Super Bowl helps amplify the vital message of our partners at the Independent Restaurant Coalition.” The Botanist is proud to bring its community-focused spirit to life through its first-ever commercial debuting on the biggest night in television. The 30-second spot will urge Americans to take action and support their favorite local bars and restaurants. Created by documentary film production company Blacksmith & Jones, the commercial features real-life bar and restaurant staff, amplifying the continued need for support and encouraging viewers to get involved. “Local bars and restaurants are the fabric of our communities across the country. These beloved establishments are still facing potentially insurmountable hardships,” said Tom Colicchio, Founding Member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “Our industry is on life support right now, and the only way to avoid massive closures is for swift action to be taken by our elected officials. We are grateful to The Botanist for recognizing the spirit of our community and using their platform to help raise awareness of our industry’s struggles during a monumental event like the Super Bowl.” “Hospitality is at the heart of every independent restaurant and bar,” explained Erika Polmar, Executive Director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. “While you will surely be welcomed with a warm smile as you’re seated in your favorite corner booth, beneath the surface restaurant owners continue to struggle with nearly two years of losses and little financial assistance. Hundreds of thousands of restaurants are at risk of closing permanently, threatening widespread job loss, a massive supply chain disruption, the loss of community gathering spots, and the destruction of family-owned businesses. It’s partners like The Botanist who are helping us fight to keep those businesses and dreams alive.” The Botanist’s “The Spirit of Community” creative will air in 18 TV markets nationwide and digitally across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Botanist chose to run the ad in some of the America’s most influential food and drink cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, and Miami. The campaign teaser is live now on YouTube. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVG15dSOCjY. To learn more about how to get involved to support your favorite local bars and restaurants visit saverestaurants.com. About Karen Grill: Karen Grill is The Botanist Islay Dry Gin Brand Ambassador. A beverage industry professional in Los Angeles for 12 years, Karen is originally from New Jersey, where she began her career in hospitality at 15. Karen has spent time behind some of Los Angeles' most notable bars and has competed in several bartending competitions throughout her bartending career, earning herself numerous national and global bartending titles. Named Zagat's '30 Under 30' Culinary Game Changer in 2016, Karen is committed to the education and support of the national bartending community in every capacity. About The Botanist: Founded in 2011, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin is distilled and hand-crafted at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the first and only Islay Dry Gin – a rare expression of the heart and soul of this wild Scottish isle. Hailing from one of the only B Corp certified distilleries in the world, The Botanist believes in using business as a force for good, putting people and planet in line with profit. The craft liquid is distilled with a unique combination of 22 wild Islay botanicals which are hand-foraged locally and sustainably on the island by The Botanist's professional forager, James Donaldson. The Islay botanicals are slow simmer distilled with pure Islay spring water in a unique Lomond Still, affectionately nicknamed Ugly Betty, by Head Distiller Adam Hannett. The result is a smooth yet complex gin that speaks of Islay. www.thebotanist.com | Instagram @TheBotanistGin_US |Twitter @TheBotanist_US About the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC): The Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed by chefs and independent restaurant owners across the country who have built a grassroots movement to secure vital protections for the nation’s 500,000 independent restaurants and the more than 11 million restaurant workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. About Blacksmith & Jones: Production company Blacksmith & Jones is a motion picture concern focused on story driven filmmaking. Founded by Trevor Jones and Greg Swartz, the company recently produced the documentary feature film The Water of Life. About Rémy Cointreau: All around the world, there are clients seeking exceptional experiences; clients for whom a wide range of terroirs means a variety of flavors. Their exacting standards are proportional to our expertise – the finely-honed skills that we pass down from generation to generation. The time these clients devote to drinking our products is a tribute to all those who have worked to develop them. It is for these men and women that Rémy Cointreau, a family-owned French Group, protects its terroirs, cultivates exceptional multi-centenary spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group's portfolio includes 13 unique brands: Rémy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, Cointreau liqueur, Champagne Telmont, METAXA Greek spirit, Mount Gay rum, St-Rémy brandy, The Botanist gin, and our collection of single-malt whiskies (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore from Islay, Westland from Seattle and Domaine des Hautes Glaces from the French Alps). Rémy Cointreau has a single ambition: becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits. To this end, it relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,900 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries established in the Group's strategic markets. Rémy Cointreau is listed on Euronext Paris. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

February 11, 2022 06:26 PM Eastern Standard Time

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SwingJuice Offers a BIG Promotion for The Big Game

SwingJuice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SwingJuice Offers a BIG Promotion for The Big Game Pawtucket, RI – February 11, 2022- SwingJuice.com, a lifestyle clothing and apparel brand, will be Launching their Biggest Promotion to Date to Celebrate the Big Championship Game on Sunday. For the SwingJuice Big Game Promotion, the Final Score of the Game will Dictate what the Promotional Discount Code will be. For Example, if the Final Combined Score is 60 Points, then the Promotional Discount Code will be 60% Off your purchase at www.swingjuice.com. The Promotional Code will be Live as soon as the Big Game ends until Midnight on Valentines Day Monday 2/14/22. “This is our way of adding a little more Juice to the The Big Game and for our SwingJuice Community. Can’t Wait to See how it turns out! ” said Jon Mason, Founder and Creative Director at SwingJuice. “This is Going to be Fun! The Big Game always brings excitement, so hopefully we can make an already Great Day even better” says SwingJuice CEO Steve “Dakota” Happas. For More Details on the Promotion, Follow SwingJuice on All of their Social Media Handles: Instagram @swingjuice Twitter @swingjuice Facebook @swingjuice TikTok @swingjuice ABOUT SWINGJUICE: SwingJuice is a golf-inspired clothing and apparel brand that trailblazed the philosophy that molds were made to be broken and that clothing should be a conversation-starter. SwingJuice apparel allows consumers to display their passion for sports in a more fun, unique and approachable way. SwingJuice is also a community – established through the love of golf and expanded through the passion for all sports. The staff at SwingJuice are sports junkies just like the consumers they serve and they are always dreaming up new ways to bring unique personality to the products they design. For more information, please visit www.swingjuice.com. Keep up-to-date with all of the SwingJuice news on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swingjuice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swingjuice YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/swingjuice TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@swingjuice # # # Media Contact: SwingJuice Media Contacts Jon Mason – Founder & Creative Director (781)-710-9374 jon@swingjuice.com About SwingJuice SwingJuice began as a golf-inspired clothing and apparel brand that trailblazed the philosophy that molds were made to be broken and that clothing should be a conversation-starter. SwingJuice apparel allows consumers to display their passion for sports in a more fun, unique and approachable way.SwingJuice is also a community – established through the love of golf and expanded through the passion for all sports. The staff at SwingJuice are sports junkies just like the consumers they serve and they are always dreaming up new ways to bring unique personality to the products they design.For more information, please visit www.swingjuice.com. Contact Details Jon Mason +1 781-710-9374 jon@swingjuice.com Company Website https://www.swingjuice.com

February 11, 2022 03:05 PM Eastern Standard Time

NLPC Asks Verizon to Pull Vicious Jim Carrey From Super Bowl Ad

National Legal & Policy Center

Today, National Legal and Policy Center called for Verizon to pull its controversial Super Bowl commercial featuring Jim Carrey. For what will be its highest-profile advertisement of the year – on the Super Bowl broadcast – Verizon decided to have comedic actor Jim Carrey reprise his role from the 1996 dark comedy “The Cable Guy” to promote its new 5G wireless service. From Monsters & Critics: “Something big is almost here! Your internet will never be the same,” Verizon wrote in a tweet on Tuesday with a 10-second teaser… In the teaser clip, the camera view is zooming towards an apartment door from the inside. Someone is repeatedly ringing the buzzer and banging on the door. A woman goes over to the peephole and looks out to see who is causing all that commotion. “Cable Guy!” the 60-year-old Jim Carrey yells as he comes into view through the peephole. “Who thought this was a good idea?” asked Paul Chesser, director of the Corporate Integrity Project for the National Legal and Policy Center. “Unfortunately, Carrey, to most Americans, is no longer the lovable goofball of the “Ace Ventura” films or “The Truman Show.” During the Trump administration he revealed a second career as a crass painter of brutal, disgusting depictions of the former president and his family.” Among the repulsive illustrations – often disseminated on Twitter – were images of Trump in various states of undress; having sex with Stormy Daniels; falling asleep watching porn while COVID raged; and his sons being gored by an elephant. "Regardless of how one feels about the former President, Carey’s artwork is so vulgar and over the line, Verizon should not air the add," Chesser continued. " This is who Verizon and Chairman/CEO Hans Vestberg decided should promote its powerful new wireless service, on the day of the biggest sporting event of the year – one which is intended to bring Americans together for fun and to forget the troubles of the world for a few hours." Founded in 1991, NLPC promotes ethics in public life and government accountability through research, investigation, education, and legal action. Contact Details National Legal and Policy Center Paul Chesser +1 703-237-1970 pchesser@nlpc.org Dan Rene +1 202-329-8357 danrenejr@gmail.com Company Website http://www.nlpc.org

February 11, 2022 01:01 PM Eastern Standard Time

Telos Spark Hackathon - Next Level Innovation on the Fastest EVM Can Win You 100,000 Crypto Coins(Tlos)!

Telos Foundation

The Telos Spark Hackathon centers itself on the tEVM, a Web3.0 next level Ethereum Virtual Machine that is ready to generate instant blocks at the most affordable rates. Register today and prepare to deploy your Solidity contracts on the most robust and affordable EVM to date. GameFi, DeFi, NFTs, FilmFi, literally AnyFi, bring it forward. Deploy your contracts and watch them race at speeds and rates never experienced before. Here is video proof of just how fast and inexpensive the tEVM actually is: Telos vs Fantom Telos vs BInance Smart Chain vs Avalanche vs Ethereum *Not paid for -Thank you, Sean Davis! Telos Spark began on February 7th (lasting for a minimum of 4 weeks) and is scheduled to end on March 6th. Spark Hackathon winners will be announced on March 14th, 2022. This being our initial Telos Spark Hackathon, we will not be narrowing this specific competition down into different themes. Although we have a wishlist of sorts, we unanimously decided to leave the competition open so that the innovations pave the path. Developers can Register Here. Telos Foundation is encouraging Solidity developers to bring their best tools and dApps to the tEVM and potentially win a game changing prize which could even possibly evolve into a grant (Telos has it’s Ignite Grant program running in sync to its Spark Hackathon ). Telos has worked diligently to develop the tEVM from the ground up (non-Ethereum Fork) to remedy all of the pitfalls associated with all other EVMs. We have made the tEVM ludicrously fast, implemented fixed nano-sized gas fees, made sure dApps can scale without congestion and have insulated all end users from Front Running / Mev. “This is an incredible opportunity for Ethereum developers to gain a first mover advantage on the fastest, most scalable EVM in the World and win significant prize money. The Telos EVM ecosystem is set to explode in the coming months in a similar fashion to Avalanche, Fantom and Polygon, only bigger with reduced scalability concerns - who wouldn't want to be a part of that?” Justin Giudici, Acting CEO at Telos Foundation. We’re open to feedback from the Ethereum community and would love for you to participate in helping to build towards a better user experience on Telos. You could build EVM Tools to improve the UI or Backend such as: Charts and Statistics Snapshots Airdrops Display, Collection for NFT ́s You could build dApps or Forks applications like: DeFi and DEX innovation (Pancake or similar) Staking and Lending contracts or tools (Maker, Aave, Compound or similar) Innovative NFT Minting contracts (utility, liquidity, timelock...) Ethereum Name Service Fork (yourname.tlos) MultiSig tools or vaults (Gnosis or similar) Play 2 Earn fork / concept Or just bring your cool idea! In partnership with one of our favorite dApps within the Telos ecosystem, Taikai, and our recently launched Mentor support team, we are eager to make the deployment of your Solidity contracts as seamless as possible. Taikai itself is a dApp which specializes in creating streamlined and highly organized hackathons for both the developers and the platforms, and alongside them, hosting Telos Spark will be a breeze. Our mentors are all seasoned and eager to help make the simple deployment process painless. Prizes 1st place: 100,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by the winning team. 2nd place: 50,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by the 2nd place team. 3rd – 5th place: 10,000 TLOS tokens to be sent to a wallet provided by each team ranked in 3rd - 5th place. *Think of the odds. Register now. Telos EVM The Telos EVM (tEVM) is a non-Ethereum Fork EVM that is built from the ground up. It is the most robust EVM to date and by many multiples. It is extremely efficient, compiles Solidity and Vyper in a Wasm runtime environment and has been meticulously audited. The tEVM also insulates all DeFi and NFT trades from any Front Running / MEV due to its first in first out mempool protocol, governance, and ludicrous speed. Highlights Energy efficient (currently less than.000002 kWh per transaction and moving towards below zero numbers via offsets) Fastest EVM (instant transactions - half second blocktimes) Super scalable (sustainably capable of hundreds of millions of transactions per day) Truly decentralized (in both its technical architecture and its financial structure - No ICO) Most affordable with the most stable gas fees (stable because gas fees are fixed, while said gas fees are independent and do not move linearly with TLOS coin price) Next level governance (the only layer 1 to make its governance available to any dApp or chain. It can be downloaded in the App Store - Telos Decide) ESG focused - Environmental (striving for carbon neutral), Social (Truly Decentralized - a sanctuary platform), Governance (the only platform to extend the use of its truly democratic governance platform to its entire ecosystem and beyond - Telos Decide) About Telos Telos is a 3rd generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts, providing full EVM/Solidity support as well as a fee-less native smart contract layer upon which the EVM is built. Telos performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, decentralization and end-user fairness. The network can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produces blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating frontrunning on the network), offers a fee-less native and low per transaction cost EVM (<$0.10), and a fully decentralized block producer network. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details Telos Foundation The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

February 11, 2022 10:20 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Introducing the Talent Empowerment Podcast for People Leaders

Talent Empowerment Podcast

Talent Empowerment is an innovative new podcast designed to lift up people leaders so they can lift up their organizations! Each week, host Tom Finn, co-founder and CEO of LeggUP, sits down with people leaders, talent development savants, founders, and executives from every industry to learn how they’re driving people innovation, transforming HR into People Ops, and securing organizational buy-in to disrupt the status quo. “The people development space hasn't evolved for decades. Now is the time to support HR and people leaders with modern tools to create a human-centric impact beyond compliance and module-based training,” Finn said. “Our podcast serves to replace legacy thinking with widespread innovation that truly lifts up and empowers employees.” The first episodes are now available wherever you listen to podcasts or on the Talent Empowerment YouTube channel. Listen now to hear from Nasdaq’s SVP of People Experience and Diversity, Rich Taylor, and Webflow’s Head of DEI, Mariah Driver. Rich shares his unique insights into why companies need to view employees as customers, how to create career maps for everyone in the organization, and why the terms “talent management” and “human capital” should be replaced. Mariah dives into how she fights off imposter syndrome, gained organizational trust to start numerous new DEI initiatives, and how she got scrappy to build her own tools when she found nothing satisfactory already in the marketplace. “Employees are demanding change and there are great leaders out there, like Mariah and Rich, who are not only listening, but taking action. We want this podcast to shine a spotlight on innovative people leaders and spread their ideas like wildfire,” Finn continued. New episodes will be released every week and available on every major podcast platform and YouTube. To learn more about the show, their guests, or to apply to be a guest yourself, visit www.talentempowerment.com. The first sponsor of the Talent Empowerment podcast is LeggUP, an inclusive people development platform designed to help people leaders empower their organizations through 1:1 professional coaching. LeggUP’s groundbreaking product Talent Insurance guarantees improved employee productivity, wellbeing, and retention. In fact, they insure it! Your people stay, or they pay! Boilerplate The Talent Empowerment podcast is a weekly podcast for people leaders, talent development savants or anyone with an interest in empowering their teams and organization. To learn more or to apply to become a guest, visit www.talentempowerment.com. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a chance to empower your people. New episodes are released every week. Contact Details Jenna Murrell Director of Partnerships & Programming jenna@talentempowerment.com

February 10, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Carlos Musquez Joins Catalyst Marketing Agency

Catalyst Marketing Agency

Catalyst, a Denver-based creative marketing agency, adds creative leader, Carlos Musquez, to the agency team. As executive creative director, Musquez will lead the agency’s creative culture and drive the creative direction for Catalyst’s clients, including Microsoft, Adobe, and World Kinect. “This pivotal new role for Catalyst will catapult our position as a true creative agency that is driven by strategy and known for delighting our clients,” said Catalyst CEO, Gem Swartz. “Catalyst is experiencing an exciting creative metamorphosis that brings us into 2022 with a renewed focus on exceeding our clients’ expectations with fresh, bold thinking.” Musquez joins Catalyst from ELA Advertising, a Los Angeles-based creative ad agency, after a long history at Omnicom agencies. He has created work for brands including Starbucks, TikTok, Paramount, Nestle, Logitech, Disney, eBay, Sony, Netflix, and Coca-Cola. “I’m not joining the Catalyst team to work at ‘another agency,’” said Musquez. “I am joining a team that is building a transformative creative agency. The vision of the agency’s partners, Gem Swartz and Robin Emiliani, is to build a creative agency that jolts the creativity of our clients, our industry peers, and future friends. That is inspiring. I want to be part of the journey and infuse my global brand experience and passion for delivering breakthrough creative to the team and our clients.” Musquez has been globally recognized by the Addy’s, Creativity, Effie’s, New York Festivals, Communication Arts, Art Directors Club, Clios, and Cannes. When he’s not creating, Musquez is spending time with his family, cooking, or indulging in his passion for cars and auto racing. About Catalyst Catalyst is a creative marketing agency devoted to helping you reach your most audacious marketing goals. We exist to jolt your creativity—giving you the strategy and unexpected creative direction your business needs to capture your customers' attention. Learn more at catalystmarketing.io. Contact Details Catalyst Marketing Agency Robin Emiliani +1 303-842-1189 robin@catalystmarketing.io Company Website https://catalystmarketing.io/

February 10, 2022 07:00 AM Mountain Standard Time

FreshEdge Launches New Website

FreshEdge

FreshEdge, a family of produce and specialty food companies, has launched a refreshed and expanded www.freshedgefoods.com. FreshEdge partnered with DMA Solutions (Dallas, Texas), a marketing agency dedicated to exclusively serving the fresh produce industry. The website creates opportunities for connecting with FreshEdge’s operating companies and engaging in what makes their family unique. FreshEdge now operates with 1,640 employees, approximately 700,250 square feet of warehouse space, with a fleet of more than 650 trucks, delivering fresh food to customers in 22 states. Through rapid growth and consistent execution, FreshEdge has quickly amassed a reputation for adding value throughout the fresh foods industry. “FreshEdge’s new website is a splash of freshness,” said Steve Grinstead, CEO of FreshEdge. “It also symbolizes who we are – a growing family of customer-obsessed fresh food companies who care.” Greg Corsaro, President and COO of FreshEdge, added, “The revamped website reflects FreshEdge’s value proposition of providing dependable, customized solutions with cutting-edge technology for consistent, reliable delivery of fresh food with a sense of family and trust.” “We’re excited about the unique space this new website delivers for connecting FreshEdge, its family, and our industry partners,” said Daniel Corsaro, President of Indianapolis Fruit (FreshEdge retail operating company) and participant in the development of the new site. About FreshEdge FreshEdge was formed in 2019 through the combination of Get Fresh Produce (Bartlett, IL, founded in 1982) and the IF&P Foods family of companies, primarily composed of Indianapolis Fruit (founded 1947) and Piazza Produce (founded 1970). McCartney Produce (Paris, TN) joined the FreshEdge family in November 2020 followed by Valley Produce (Knoxville, TN) in June 2021, Vine Line (Grand Rapids, MI) in October 2021, and Monteverde’s (Pittsburgh, PA) in November 2021. Collectively, these leading fresh food distribution companies have several hundred years’ combined experience serving the grocery and food service industries. In addition, FreshEdge includes two Garden Cut branded fresh-cut processing facilities, a tomato re-packer, a USDA fresh kitchen (CIBUS Fresh), and two transportation companies. Today, FreshEdge is a category leader in providing both the foodservice and retail industries with fruit, vegetables, fresh grab-n-go offerings, dairy, floral and specialty products. For more, visit www.freshedgefoods.com. Contact Details FreshEdge Greg Corsaro +1 317-981-3440 gcorsaro@freshedgefoods.com Company Website https://www.freshedgefoods.com/

February 10, 2022 07:43 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Draft2Digital to Acquire Smashwords, Creating Self-Publishing Juggernaut

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital, LLC and Smashwords, Inc., two pioneers in ebook self-publishing, today announced that Draft2Digital will acquire Smashwords. The acquisition unites the industry’s two most innovative and author-friendly publishing platforms into one, enabling the new Draft2Digital to drive even greater success for authors, publishers, and sales partners. Draft2Digital and Smashwords are key catalysts behind the dramatic rise of self-publishing over the last fourteen years. Their publishing platforms enable 250,000 authors and publishers around the world to publish, distribute, market, and manage over 800,000 ebooks and 11,000 print on demand paperback books. The combined company will operate under the Draft2Digital name and will be headquartered in Oklahoma City. All Smashwords and Draft2Digital employees are expected to join the combination. Kris Austin, co-founder and CEO of Draft2Digital, will lead the combined company as CEO. Mark Coker, founder and former CEO of Smashwords, will join the Draft2Digital management team as Chief Strategy Officer and board member. Both companies are entering the acquisition profitable and debt-free. “I’m pleased to welcome Smashwords authors, publishers, employees and partners to the D2D family,” said Kris Austin. “Early in our discussions with Smashwords, we each immediately realized we can accomplish so much more for the indie author community by working together than working as competitors. The resources we once expended creating duplicative systems can now be redeployed to ramp up our R&D investments in next generation tools to empower authors and publishers.” “I’m thrilled to join forces with Draft2Digital,” said Mark Coker. “Over the last decade, I’ve come to deeply admire Draft2Digital’s team, technology, and commitment to authors. Our shared business model is a key to our two companies’ success. We put authors first. By design, we only make money when our authors make money. This aligns our interests with the interests of our authors. Together we will lead the next chapter of the indie author revolution.” The combination is expected to yield significant benefits for authors, publishers, retail and library partners, and readers. Draft2Digital authors will gain access to the Smashwords Store and its myriad exclusive book marketing tools, including Smashwords Coupons, self-serve merchandising, Author Interviews, and the patent pending Smashwords Presales tool for book launches. Sales at the Smashwords Store have grown consecutively each of the last five years, with December 2021 sales up 20% over December 2020. Draft2Digital’s erotica authors can look forward to expanded distribution enabled by Smashwords’ proprietary erotica certification system, which allows retailers to carry erotic romance and mainstream erotica with greater confidence. Smashwords authors will gain access to new tools that simplify print and digital publishing and drive greater success. Among these tools are D2D Print, the company’s Print on Demand service for paperbacks (currently in beta, which authors can join at https://draft2digital.com/printbeta/); improved metadata management tools for better book discoverability at retailers; automated end-matter for series books; payment splitting for co-authors and collaborations; and more payment options, including direct bank deposits. Retailers and libraries served by the companies can expect greater title selection and unmatched merchandising recommendations. The new, merged company will offer retailers, subscription services, and libraries unprecedented data-driven insights into the world’s largest dedicated catalog of independently published books. This represents a unique and first-of-its-kind offering that Draft2Digital believes will improve the publishing industry. Customers of the Smashwords Store can look forward to an improved store experience and an increased selection of books from the many great authors and publishers distributed by Draft2Digital. “This acquisition is great news for indie authors,” said Joanna Penn, host of the Creative Penn podcast and bestselling author who has followed each company since its founding. “Two of the industry’s strongest advocates for indie authors are combining their unique toolsets, technologies, and energy to do more for the indie community. There are exciting years ahead!” What’s Coming Next The acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2022. To minimize workflow disruption for authors, publishers, and sales partners, the two platforms will combine their systems in gradual and incremental steps. Authors and publishers of both companies can continue utilizing their current platform of choice with the understanding that over time the authors and publishers of both companies will gain access to a common dashboard, common distribution outlets (including distribution to the Smashwords Store for current D2D authors), and an expanded suite of new and improved tools for book publishing, distribution, and marketing. Draft2Digital will broadcast a live Q&A session for authors and publishers on Wednesday, February 9 th, at Noon Central, with Kris Austin and Mark Coker, moderated by Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital’s VP of Marketing & PR. Kris and Mark will share additional insight about their plans to support the indie publishing community and welcome questions from the audience. Visit https://D2DLive.com for links and launch time, and to attend live on either Facebook or YouTube. The live broadcast will be recorded for future inclusion in the Draft2Digital podcast, Self Publishing Insiders, and will be available as a blog post at Draft2Digital.com/blog. Additional FAQs about the acquisition can be found at: https://smashwords.com/united https://draft2digital.com/united About Draft2Digital Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Draft2Digital is the world’s leading publishing platform for self-published authors and independent presses. The company offers a broad suite of free and powerful automated and self-serve tools that authors and publishers can use to build and grow their publishing businesses. This includes tools to simplify ebook and print publishing, distribution, metadata management, and marketing. Following its acquisition of Smashwords, Draft2Digital will serve more than 250,000 authors and publishers that collectively publish over 800,000 books worldwide. Visit Draft2Digital at https://draft2digital.com or follow on Twitter @Draft2Digital. About Smashwords, Inc. Founded in 2008 by Mark Coker, Smashwords was an early pioneer in ebook self-publishing. The company’s platform made it possible for writers to professionally produce, publish, and distribute ebooks at no cost. As a distributor, Smashwords was the first to open multiple major retailers and library ebook services to self-published authors, and worked in partnership with sales partners and payment processors to establish systems, standards, and professional best practices to foster a thriving ecosystem of indie-friendly booksellers and libraries. As of December 31, 2021, Smashwords was publishing 590,000 ebooks supplied by 150,000 authors, publishers and literary agents. The company was originally headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif, and most recently based in Pacific Grove, Calif. Visit Smashwords at https://smashwords.com, or follow the store at @Smashwords. For media inquiries, please contact: Kevin Tumlinson, Director of Marketing & PR kevin.tumlinson@draft2digital.com ### Contact Details Draft2Digital Kevin Tumlinson, Director of Marketing & PR kevin.tumlinson@draft2digital.com Company Website https://draft2digital.com/

February 08, 2022 10:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

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