Enhanced offering will deliver deeper, real-time, public Reddit insights to customers

Sprout Social, an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, today announced it entered into an enhanced partnership with Reddit, where Sprout users will gain access to deeper and more valuable real-time Reddit data for insights into public conversations and customer activity along with brand and industry trends.

With more than 100,000+ active communities and 70+ million daily active users, Reddit is full of rich communities and public conversations that, when tapped, can provide organizations with the consumer insights and knowledge they need to gauge brand health, implement more proactive care strategies and build better products.

“Reddit has always been a central community for a wide and diverse range of conversations and we’ve seen it have an increased impact on brand outcomes in recent years,” said Justyn Howard, CEO of Sprout Social. “As social insights become essential to remaining competitive and driving innovation across an organization, this expanded offering will provide increased value to our users and their understanding of their businesses and customers.”

The more in-depth offering will be available to all Sprout customers by this summer.

Growth planned in event technology, including platforms and AI

Bishop-McCann, a worldwide leader in the meetings, incentives, and events industry, is doubling down on its commitment to staying at the forefront of event technology by adding industry veteran Todd Moritz to its newly created role of Vice President of Event Technology. With more than 20 years of experience in the event industry that spans event technology, multichannel marketing, and program management, Moritz will be essential in bringing forth new solutions from a rapidly changing technology landscape that addresses evolving client and company needs. 

Moritz was previously Vice President, Event Technology and Strategy at Opus Agency where he was instrumental in developing and implementing innovative technology strategies for some of the world’s largest brands. Moritz received the 2021 Trade Show News Network Outstanding Show Pro Award and was named a 2022 BizBash Industry Innovator.

“Technology is changing events, making it a more seamless, engaging, and meaningful experience. Technology also has the power to enable teams to do more with less and rapidly improve the bottom line. I’m thrilled to bring a sharpened focus on technology solutions at Bishop-McCann, so we can better serve our clients and our team,” said Moritz.

“Technology, especially in the events industry, is evolving exponentially,” said Rob Adams, Bishop-McCann CEO and Co-Owner. “We view technology as a catalyst to creating impact for our clients, company, and our industry. Having Todd as part of the Bishop-McCann leadership team will be a key differentiator to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the event technology landscape.”

Bishop-McCann has received various accolades for its work in the meetings, events and incentives industry. For the past 16 years, MeetingsNet has named Bishop-McCann to its CMI 25 list, which highlights the largest and most influential corporate, full-service meeting and incentive travel management companies in North America. Northstar Meetings Group has awarded Bishop-McCann with its Motivation Masters award, which showcases the impact of its incentive programs. In 2023, Cvent recognized Bishop-McCann with top honors at its event technology industry conference, Cvent CONNECT, naming it Partner of the Year for its technology-forward approach.

Update Empowers Users to See, Secure, and Shield Their Data

Annual report summarizes email marketing metrics from 2 billion emails sent by associations in 2022 and 2023

Higher Logic, the industry-leading, human-focused engagement platform, announces the release of its 2023 Higher Logic Thrive Association Email Benchmark Report. The annual report summarizes email marketing metrics from approximately 1,500 organizations and nearly 2 billion emails sent in 2022 and 2023, specifically by associations located in the United States, Australia and Canada. 

“With new email requirements and data privacy regulations, the email marketing landscape continues to shift. By publishing this report, our goal is to provide association marketers with a valuable resource that allows them to evaluate their current email marketing program, so they can improve their email communication effectiveness moving forward,” states Rob Wenger, co-founder and CEO of Higher Logic.

Key insights from the 2023 Association Email Benchmark Report include:

• Higher Logic customers continue to see an above industry standard deliverability rate with an average of 98.6%.
• Average open rates increased from 34.4% in 2022 to 38.18% in 2023 – a metric likely due to residual effects of Apple Mail Privacy Protection features.
• The day of the week with the highest average click rate in 2023 was Wednesday.
• Messages sent as part of automated marketing campaigns had higher open and click rates than individual email sends.
• Messages sent with dynamic content (I.e., content targeted to the recipient’s interest) had higher open and click rates.
• Messages sent to segmented lists have lower unsubscribe rates.

In addition to exploring average email metrics and influencing factors, the 2023 Association Email Benchmark Report explores current trends such as new email requirements from Google (Gmail) and Yahoo (Yahoo Mail), data privacy regulations passing across the US and AI.

Businesses and organizations can now connect with Deaf users in real time, directly in Teams and Zoom with Sorenson Express for VRI 

Sorenson, the leading provider of inclusive communication services for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard-of-hearing communities around the world, today launched Sorenson Express, integrations for Microsoft Teams and Zoom Video Communications, Inc.  Sorenson Express is an on-demand American Sign Language (ASL), Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) service for businesses that use Microsoft Teams or Zoom in their enterprises. Sorenson Express for VRI seamlessly integrates interpreters as active video participants into Microsoft Teams or Zoom video meetings and can integrate an ASL interpreter into video meetings on-demand.

Sorenson Express is the first B2B, ASL interpreting service to provide an integrated app experience with Teams and Zoom. The costs associated with Sorenson Express for VRI are undertaken by the business, not for the employee or consumer. This demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and workplace parity for Deaf, hard-of-hearing employees and customers on behalf of employers and businesses. Sorenson remains focused on advancing technology that advances workplace and market parity.

"At Sorenson, we are dedicated to delivering innovative, accessible and inclusive language services that give people the option to communicate in their preferred language and to form genuine connections," said Jorge Rodriguez, CEO of Sorenson, which connects some 140 million conversations each year. "We are excited to extend our mission to make video calls more accessible to Deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals with our innovative products and services. As a leading global language services provider, we are proud to drive this important effort and anticipate further collaboration with Microsoft, Zoom and other video communications platforms that will find Sorenson Express critical for their organizations."

Sorenson Express for VRI helps businesses facilitate smoother remote meetings for Deaf professionals, enhance communication between Deaf and hearing colleagues, and support stronger relationship-building within diverse teams. Key benefits of using Sorenson Express include:

• Convenience: Hassle-free way to access interpreters at a moment's notice
• Inclusivity: Expands communication opportunities between signed and spoken languages
• Accessibility: Sorenson Express can bridge gaps whenever there's a sudden need for an interpreter that wasn't possible to schedule.
• Cost Efficiency: On-demand ASL interpreters provide greater workplace parity for Deaf employees and greater market parity for Deaf consumers.
• Compliance: Sorenson Express meets federal compliance guidelines and provide greater workplace parity for Deaf employees.
• Multilingual Capabilities: Sorenson Express provides interpreting between ASL and both English and Spanish.
• Diversified Workforce & Suppliers: The integration of Sorenson Express with Microsoft Teams and Zoom supports businesses in their efforts to promote inclusivity and embrace the diverse skills and perspectives that Deaf employees bring to the workplace.

impact.com, the world’s standard, leading partnership management platform, announced today the appointment of Dale Lynch as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective February 1. Lynch will oversee the company’s worldwide financial planning, accounting, legal, and corporate development.

Lynch brings more than 34 years of executive-level financial and strategic leadership expertise from multinational publicly traded companies. The lead behind two significant initial public offerings (IPOs) at MarketWise and U.S. Silica Holdings, Lynch will lead impact.com’s global finance operations and strategic initiatives as a key member of impact.com’s executive team.

“Dale is an incredibly talented and seasoned CFO with a proven track record of financial and operational success in the SaaS technology and services industry. We are excited to welcome him to impact.com,” said David A. Yovanno, CEO of impact.com. “I am confident he’ll be instrumental in helping impact.com achieve its goals as we focus on the next phases of growth and cement our market leadership as the global standard platform that creates, manages, and scales organizational partnerships of every type.”

Prior to joining impact.com, Lynch served as CFO of the leading SaaS digital marketplace ShiftMed. There he scaled the fast-growing startup in preparation for its IPO while establishing the company’s executive financial leadership team and leading its financial planning and analysis (FP&A), data analytics, capital markets and investor communications, and finance and revenue management operations.

Prior to ShiftMed, Lynch served as CFO for MarketWise, a SaaS software and technology-enabled digital subscription company. In his role, Lynch rebuilt the company’s financial and business operations and drove its enterprise value which ultimately led the company to a $2.9 billion IPO in 2021.

During his tenure, Lynch also served as Executive Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer for Farmer Mac and led U.S. Silica Holdings through its $850 million IPO in 2012. Earlier in his career, Lynch served in a variety of roles that included Allied Capital Corporation, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch.

“impact.com is an incredibly vibrant company where I see raw economic potential and market horsepower. I am honored to join impact.com as it continues to take bold action to meet its next chapter of transformation and growth,” said Lynch. “This is an incredible opportunity and a critical time where, as a part of the collective impact.com leadership team, I look forward to helping drive superior financial and operational support that will enable the company to further scale and grow.”

Lynch graduated magna cum laude from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He also holds an MBA magna cum laude from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.

Impact PMPs allow advertisers to easily activate deals to support minority-owned publishers and their communities during Black History Month and beyond.

OpenX Technologies, Inc., one of the world’s leading omnichannel supply-side platforms, today announced the launch of Impact PMPs, turnkey deals that integrate donations to nonprofits at no additional cost to the brand. Powered by Givsly, the leading purpose-driven marketing solution, OpenX’s Impact PMPs allow advertisers to easily activate deals while supporting charitable causes of their choice. 

As the importance of social responsibility for brands continues to rise, 90 percent of consumers report that values are important when choosing a brand, and 81 percent of millennials expect companies they purchase from to make charitable contributions.

Through OpenX’s partnership with Givsly, deals activated through an Impact PMP will automatically include a five-percent donation of gross media spend to associated nonprofits of the buyer’s choice. Buyers can select pre-built deals timed to moments such as Black History Month or traditional advertising events that are less commonly associated with charitable causes, such as Sunday’s big game.

How it works:

• Simple execution: Target pre-built audiences with relevance around different interests, events, behavior, and more.
• Greater control: Select from pre-built auction packages from the library or activate custom IDs and automatically donate to one or more of 400 directly integrated nonprofits.
• Higher quality inventory: Execute these pre-built packages on TAG-certified, premium, omnichannel inventory across publishers.
• Elevated social impact: Give back to people and planet with no additional investment.
• Meaningful measurement: Track not only campaign results but also the specific impact to the community.

"We have partnered with Givsly on several of their Responsible Media solutions and have seen promising signs that these solutions increase campaign performance without disrupting our current way of doing business,” said Ed McElvain, EVP, P3 at Mediahub. “This latest announcement of the Impact PMPs with OpenX only amplifies our ability to make sure we are positively impacting our media buying while also reinforcing values that are important to our clients."

In addition to the Impact PMPs, Givsly offers creative formats that incorporate a donation when people take certain actions to engage with advertising. Creative adjustments can be made to the Impact PMPs to drive higher performance in campaigns, with such creative achieving double the click-through rate, an 18 percent higher video completion rate, and a nine percent increase in CTV engagement.

“Across the business, OpenX is invested in delivering outcome-based solutions. When it comes to media responsibility, too much of what we see in tech and media is virtue signaling, and provides little monetary support to important issues,” said Amanda Forrester, VP, Marketing at OpenX. “Programs like OpenX’s Impact PMPs will allow advertisers to direct funds toward organizations that support minority publishers, women, LGBTQ communities, and underrepresented communities — in an effort to make a real change.”

Advanced Email Protection Helps Stop the Latest Malware, Phishing Scams and Malicious Links Across Gmail and Outlook Webmail Services

Bitdefender, a global cybersecurity leader, today launched Email Protection, a powerful new feature that scans and identifies potentially dangerous content such as phishing attempts and online scams, in webmail accessed from any device. Email Protection allows users to extend one of the world’s best endpoint protection technologies to webmail services and currently supports Gmail and Outlook. 

Email continues to be the top attack vector for cybercriminals. According to Statista, unique phishing sites increased from 147 thousand in 2020 to over 1.35 million in 2022; and the FBI’s 2022 Internet Crime Report stated that phishing was the top complaint filed in the U.S. - 80% higher than personal data breach, the second most filed complaint. Following suit, Bitdefender Labs reported that one in five (23%) financial and bank themed spam emails analyzed were phishing attempts.

Initial access is gained by users clicking on malicious links or attachments. Once a system is compromised, threat actors gain control to steal personal information, finances, extort, or demand a ransom.

As consumers continue to access email across multiple devices, providing full protection from threats has become increasingly difficult - often requiring manual configuration and updating email security solutions on every device that accesses each inbox.

Email Protection safeguards consumers’ inboxes as malware and phishing scams continue to rapidly evolve. Set-up for each webmail account takes a few moments and is incredibly easy to use. Once activated, Bitdefender scans all incoming email and clearly marks each safe or unsafe, helping users from falling victim to malware or scams.

“Cybercriminals always look for the path of least resistance and opportunities for user error when compromising devices; that’s why initial attacks through email remains the preferred method,” said Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations, Consumer Solutions Group at Bitdefender. “Our new Email Protection feature extends Bitdefender’s world-class cybersecurity to popular webmail services helping secure inboxes that can be accessed from anywhere using any device. A true game changer for the always-on digital lifestyle.”

Key Features and Benefits

• Powerful email protection – After set-up, scan for malicious emails in real-time over Gmail and Outlook webmail services across any device used to access the accounts.

• Clear tagging of suspicious content – Emails are immediately tagged with distinct labels (Safe or Dangerous) reducing the risk of accidentally clicking malicious content.

• Simple email management and reporting – Manage inboxes (including pausing and removing protection) and reporting (number of emails scanned, clean vs malicious over last 30 days) directly from the Bitdefender user interface.

• Easy set up – Set up email protection just once to secure your mailbox in about a minute or less, with just a few clicks.

Availability

Bitdefender Email Protection is available now at no additional cost for new and existing Bitdefender Premium Security, Premium Security Plus, Ultimate Security, and Ultimate Security Plus plan holders.