DIRECTV for BUSINESS and National Restaurant Association Team-Up to Enhance the Restaurant Experience and Advance Restaurant Workers

DIRECTV for BUSINESS and National Restaurant Association Team-Up to Enhance the Restaurant Experience and Advance Restaurant Workers

Partnership also supports The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s efforts to attract, empower and advance restaurant workers from all backgrounds WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The National Restaurant Association and The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) announced today a five-year partnership with DIRECTV for BUSINESS SM . The historic collaboration represents a major effort to improve the restaurant experience, strengthen the role restaurants play in their communities and create opportunities for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce. The initiative – Experience Restaurants – will enlist DIRECTV for BUSINESS’s world-class entertainment solutions to help restaurants and bars offer a better customer and employee experience. This includes ESPN+ for Business, ESPN College Extra, local sports, news and over 80 music channels. When combined with great food and service, these popular programing options bring the restaurant and hospitality experience to life. Experience Restaurants will also directly benefit Association and NRAEF programs that advance both the industry and its workforce – currently 12 million. NRAEF programs provide culinary and management training for high school students, scholarships for advanced education in restaurants and hospitality, training for military service members joining the industry, apprenticeships and creating job opportunities for individuals involved with the justice system. […]

PayPal and Shopify See Big Business in Returns. Merchants Want to Fix the Problem Themselves

PayPal and Shopify See Big Business in Returns. Merchants Want to Fix the Problem Themselves

Thanks to Amazon, shoppers have grown accustomed to easy, free returns. That’s created a headache for small online sellers, who have been increasingly struggling to shoulder the cost. Several software and payments companies, including PayPal and Shopify, are trying to help. They offer services to help brands salvage revenue by convincing shoppers to swap out purchases or buy something else instead of requesting a full refund. Their pitch to online sellers is they need these services to better compete with Amazon. But merchants want to avoid using these services in the first place. Lately, direct-to-consumer sellers have tried another tack: figuring out how to cut down on their return rates themselves. Jones Road Beauty, a cosmetics brand launched by makeup artist Bobbi Brown in 2020, has leaned on customer data to guide shoppers toward items they’re more likely to keep.

Emergency Management in business of preparedness

Emergency Management in business of preparedness

The business of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is preparedness. A dedicated emergency management team plays an important role in the administration and execution of the program, and supporting personnel that are called to deploy. This is Cullum Miller, Nashville District Technical Services Section chief and quality assurance supervisor, reviewing a completed blue roof installation in Marathon, Florida, while on deployment Oct. 25, 2017. Miller volunteered to support Operation Blue Roof following Hurricane Irma. (USACE Photo by Patrick Moes) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 16, 2023) – When natural disasters and emergencies strike, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District stands ready to join an immediate response to help people and communities recover. Emergency Management Section Chief Jerry Breznican leads a dedicated team that includes Kevin Gatlin, Sharon Rader, Dee Rivera, and Adrienne Bostic. They are in the business of preparedness in support of emergency management missions, none more important than coordinating with the Department of the Army, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to match skillsets with appropriate requirements and taskings in the wake of a disaster or to support an overseas contingency. The emergency management team organizes and advises the workforce […]

How To Rally An Innovative Business Culture

How To Rally An Innovative Business Culture

John Jarosz is a Partner & cofounder at Sightglass where he oversees experience design, brand collaboration and experience strategy. getty When most of us think of an innovation culture, we think of a workplace where teams can “move fast and break things.” Sounds fun, doesn’t it? But as many organizations quickly learn, the process of innovation is more than just a tagline. It takes effort to ensure your innovation efforts don’t break your bank account or leave behind a bunch of broken hearts. Innovation starts with culture. All companies must innovate to survive. Most treat innovation as a series of isolated activities dedicated to a specific department or team. But you can’t throw five people in a room with a foosball table and expect innovation to happen magically. If you want to amplify growth, innovation needs to be less sporadic and less reliant on one-hit wonders. This type of continuous innovation, where the entire team is always looking for ways to improve and build on existing products and services, requires an innovation culture that inspires the whole company. An innovation culture only lives when your corporate culture allows it to thrive. The good news is that if your corporate […]

Crypto Flashes Signs Of Strength As Bitcoin Nears $25,000

Crypto Flashes Signs Of Strength As Bitcoin Nears $25,000

Bitcoin surged more than 8% over the past 24 hours to approach $25,000 early Thursday as the cryptocurrency market flashed green. The move pushed Bitcoin to its highest levels since mid-August. Bitcoin price jumped to $24,898 early Thursday before retreating slightly to its $24,530 level. That put the world’s largest cryptocurrency at levels not seen since before the collapse of FTX in November. Bitcoin Price Action Chart Blockchain research provider Lookonchain noted that several funds and institutions poured nearly $1.6 billion into the crypto markets since Feb. 10. Most of those funds flowed from stablecoins to various exchanges. Circle’s USD Coin made up a majority of the outflows, with most of the transfers coming from three digital wallet addresses. Meanwhile, roughly $77 million in Bitcoin positions were liquidated in the prior 24 hours, according to cryptocurrency analytics site Coinglass . Of that, more than $66.4 million were short positions, leading to a short-squeeze boost in the price action. On a macro scale, Bitcoin and Ethereum extended their gains slightly this week even after Tuesday’s January CPI report showed persistent , but slowing, inflation. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that FTX is close to recovering another $400 million […]

FORSHAW appoints ForeSight business manager

FORSHAW appoints ForeSight business manager

Ka Tsu In this newly developed role, Tsu will be responsible for overseeing the company’s ForeSight Inventory Management app, a tool designed to help businesses make informed decisions abut their inventory and plan for the future. According the news release, Tsu brings a “wealth of experience to FORSHAW , having spent over 19 years working in the technology industry and managing team in fast-pace, dynamic environments. He is known for his strategic thinking, leadership skills and ability to drive results.” Tsu is passionate about the potential of technology to transform businesses and he is eager to help FORSHAW customers take advantage of the many benefits the ForeSight has to offer. “We are thrilled to welcome Ka to the FORSHAW team,” Tom Forshaw IV, president and CEO of FORSHAW, said in the news release. “His experience and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow ForeSight and help businesses nationwide plan for the future with confidence. Ka is a proven leader who understands the needs of our customers and he has the skills and vision to take ForeSight to new heights.” Tsu will be reporting to FORSHAW COO Shane Dooley. “Ka’s experience in the industry is key to growing […]

What ChatGPT And Generative AI Mean For Your Business?

What ChatGPT And Generative AI Mean For Your Business?

What does ChatGPT, the “ fastest-growing consumer application in history ,” mean for the future of work? More broadly, will generative AI soon graduate from the being the latest consumer entertainment to become a significant business application and a new basis for competitive advantage? And are enterprises ready for AI, any type of AI? Digital transformation concept. getty Forrester just published a report on generative AI that tells its enterprise clients not to ignore or downplay its impact. Enterprises should start right now to experiment with generative AI, recommends Forrester, focusing on existing processes that can be enhanced by technologies “that leverage massive corpuses of data, including large language models, to generate new content (e.g., text, video, images, audio, code).” It would be “a costly mistake,” says Forrester, to ignore the potential of generative AI to enable production of content at scale, to accelerate the speed and precision of data science practices and app development, to produce synthetic data for training AI and machine learning models, and to provide new defense opportunities for security professionals. In short, generative AI presents an opportunity to augment and even automate existing work processes in IT, marketing, customer service and other business functions. […]

Shopify Stock Rally Snuffed Out On Weak 2023 Revenue Outlook

Shopify Stock Rally Snuffed Out On Weak 2023 Revenue Outlook

E-commerce firm Shopify ( SHOP ) on Wednesday reported earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter that topped analyst estimates. But Shopify stock fell as the company’s 2023 revenue outlook fell short of expectations. In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Canada-based Shopify said it earned 7 cents per share on an adjusted basis, down 50% from a year earlier. Revenue for Shopify stock rose 26% to $1.7 billion, the company said. Analysts expected the Shopify earnings report to record a loss of 1 cent on revenue of $1.65 billion. A year earlier, Shopify earned 14 cents per share on revenue of $1.38 billion. Shopify stock fell 6.6% to 49.88 in extended trading on the stock market today . In Wednesday’s regular session, shares rose 6.5%. Shopify Stock: ‘High Teens’ Revenue Growth For full-year 2023, the company predicted "high teens" revenue growth. Analysts had projected more than 20% revenue growth. Shopify sets up e-commerce websites for small businesses, and partners with others to handle digital payments and shipping. After plunging in 2022, Shopify stock had advanced 44% this year. Shopify in January hiked contract prices for merchants. The company is building a U.S. distribution network to store and ship […]

Calix Support Cloud intros small business services

Calix Support Cloud intros small business services

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that the award-winning Calix Support Cloud (Support Cloud) now offers expanded capabilities that help broadband service providers (BSPs) deliver exceptional experiences for small business subscribers. Now BSP support teams can leverage the same platform and management solution they use today to serve their residential and community subscribers (like schools) to simply and easily deliver an exceptional experience for small businesses. The new Calix SmartBiz™ managed service is purpose-built to enable BSPs to deliver critical productivity capabilities to small businesses. While small businesses account for nearly all businesses in the United States, only half stay open for more than five years. Small businesses in rural communities are often particularly challenged by limited access to world-class broadband services. With SmartBiz, BSPs can solve this problem for small businesses, helping them move beyond basic connectivity with a fully managed service. As BSPs enter this market, Support Cloud enables their support teams to ensure the delivery of an exceptional experience thanks to the expanded support and remote troubleshooting now available for SmartBiz. The rapidly growing portfolio of SmartLife™ managed services from Calix also includes SmartHome™ for residential subscribers, and SmartTown™ for communities. Support […]

Tech Innovation Is A Wicked Business Problem

Tech Innovation Is A Wicked Business Problem

getty Tech innovation is a type of " wicked problem ," a term introduced in the 1970s meaning the issue is complex with multiple interconnected factors and stakeholders—each with their own goals and priorities. Because of this, any solution proposed could help solve the puzzle while simultaneously uncovering more layers and more challenges to the initial problem. Adding our natural resistance to change, tech innovation can be a massive internal struggle for those accustomed to how their business usually operates. Having to grow your team’s skills, support the new technology and guide your customers and stakeholders through the transition without guaranteed results adds many complexities that can prevent innovation. Despite these challenges, the competitive nature of today’s environment with its changing market conditions and emerging technologies is driving businesses to constantly adapt and innovate. Coming up with innovative solutions is one piece, but adoption and longevity are a whole other set of problems that we face. The Only Constant Is Change As hinted earlier, the rapid pace of technological change is a major factor that drives the need for continuous innovation. New technologies and trends are always emerging, and businesses that can effectively leverage these technologies can gain a […]