Mediaboss Marketing

At a United Synagogue Youth convention around 10 years ago, Talia Salzman was sitting on her best friend Frank Schiffs lap, when one of their counselors joked, You guys are going to get married someday.

The two teens had known each other since elementary school. They met as students at Yavneh Day School in Los Gatos, when Salzman was in fourth grade and Schiff was in second; she had made fun of him by calling him Frankenstein.

Later, during their middle-school-year bus rides from the South Bay to Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, they became close friends. But it was strictly platonic: Salzman was two grades ahead of Schiff, and was beginning to date.

So even though Schiff did harbor some feelings for his friend that could be described as romantic, their mutual response to the USY counselor was, No way!

Eventually, that changed.

Schiff, 26, from San Jose, is an account executive at Quantcast, an internet marketing firm. Salzman, 27, from Saratoga, is a doula and Lamaze instructor. They live in Alameda.

The two remained close throughout high school, mostly through USY, and through most of college (though there was a two-year period when they werent in touch at all). So when Schiff reached out after a long absence, Salzman was overjoyed to hear from him. When they were on breaks from college, theyd see each other; often Salzman would have parties and invite Schiff and whoever was his girlfriend at the time.

But things took a turn when Salzman was home from grad school and Schiff home from college. She was recently out of a three-year relationship, and as soon as she saw Schiff, she noticed something different: She no longer saw a boy; she saw a man.

They stayed up talking until 4 a.m. The same thing happened the next night, and the next.

We had never hung out together in our 20s as single people before, so on that first night, there clearly was a different vibe in the air, said Schiff. And while we could have broken the friendship barrier, we had been friends for almost 15 years. I didnt want to go back to college and not see her for another extended period of time. The timing wasnt right.

By the time they returned to their respective schools, they were falling in love even though they hadnt even shared so much as a kiss.

It wasnt hard for me to picture our lives together after that weekend.

On Valentines Day 2013, when she sent him a text wishing him a happy one, he joked about someday putting a ring on it.

That summer, Salzman was planning a trip to Israel to attend a friends wedding, and told Schiff she was going to stop to visit him in Baltimore (where he was attending Johns Hopkins University) on her way back.

Several hours after her arrival, he asked if he could kiss her. It wasnt hard for me to picture our lives together after that weekend, he said.

Frank is the person that makes me feel like the world is a good place and that its so important to be a good person, Salzman said. She also appreciated how when he saw she was unhappy working a corporate job, he encouraged her to do what shes passionate about, which meant becoming a doula.

Talia has always struck me as very genuine and a good-hearted person, said Schiff (whose uncle is Adam Schiff of Burbank, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee). Shes really funny and down to earth and able to talk endlessly. Of course Im attracted to her beauty, but at the core of our relationship is our deep friendship, and that binds me to her for life.

Both felt they should live and travel together before marriage, so after a year of living together, they planned a trip to Costa Rica for the fall of 2015.

Before leaving, Schiff visited Salzmans parents to ask for their blessing; he brought along a cubic zirconia ring (not wanting to risk losing a diamond) on the trip.

On their first day, while admiring Arenal, a live volcano, Salzman was so busy photographing it that she was caught totally off-guard when she turned around to find Schiff on bended knee.

They married March 26 at Congregation Beth David, with a reception at the San Jose Womens Club.

Rabbi Philip Ohriner asked both sets of parents to give the couple a special blessing, which they did between the ketubah signing and the ceremony.

The reception was marked by a flash mob that the bride had planned and choreographed (she spent much of her bachelorettes weekend teaching it to her friends) surprising the groom and a slideshow not only featuring slides of them as children, but as children together.

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Childhood best friends hit reset for romance as 20-somethings - Jweekly.com

Photo by Alan W Silberberg

Not only is the cyber attack surface area ever widened, but so is the reach of digital marketers into you and your organization with each set of connections. Whether it is through tracking for ads, geo targeting or things like beacons, proximity awareness or previous visits in browsers to other digital outlets; persistent tracking that comes along with digital marketing is part of the cyber security and reputation security landscape for all of us.

So what happens when something that was not online; suddenly appears and re-arranges the alchemy of search results for you, for your company, or group? Is there a response plan? Have you any clue of what to do? Or is it something you never could imagine happening in a million years, and suddenly you need to call an expert to fix it for you? You have to apply cyber security and reputation security tactics and strategy; along with a digital marketers approach to putting the delicate alchemy in your favor.

But what happens what someone/some group intentionally puts fake or false information out there, and tries to tie you in some way to something nefarious or illegal or immoral; but in which you have nothing to do with the situation at all?

Or when some legal documents get dumped on the internet or when a video camera gets hacked or a "hot mike" situation with a recording device? All of these factors can instantly re-arrange the alchemy of search results; and sometimes bring media, legal or political attention that is totally unwanted or unmerited.

Nation state generated attacks thru social media, fake news and or "leaks" can be devastating to an individual, a company or an organization. The short term effects can overwhelm even the biggest companies and government organizations. The long term effects can lead to bankruptcy, loss of time, money, intellectual property, and even criminal situations.

Same is true for non nation state but well funded attacks and digital crisis that are intentionally caused. Same is true for attacks coming from really pissed off former employees, vendors, opponents. The age of artificial intelligence is creating a permanent situation where long forgotten documents are proving long made allegations, and making it so really nothing is hidden anymore. The cost of projecting such attacks is rapidly decreasing thus making it easier and easier for non nation state players to create nation state like attacks.

Multiply this on a scale factor depending on the size of your organization or group. Ignoring the needs of either cyber security or reputation security is asking for trouble. Ignoring the combined needs is asking for a search related disaster, in addition to whatever other problems might be caused by either cyber or reputation breach.

Prepare, Plan, Attribute. Respond. But this only works if one looks at cyber security and reputation security as one - if kept separate, then one failure on either side of the equation will alter this delicate alchemy.

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Reputation is Cyber Security is Digital Marketing - HuffPost

Jul 23, 2017

While it's impossible to predict with certainty the trajectory of any evolving technologyafter all, none of us has a crystal ball to gaze into the futurehere are a few thoughts about where the IoT market might be headed, based on an online survey that Ayla Networks conducted in March 2017:

IoT 2.0 is well on its way. The IoT has progressed a long way in its transition from a novelty to a mainstream tool. More than half of our survey respondents said they already have IoT-enabled products on the market. Among those who don't, more than one-third work at companies planning to start IoT projects within the next 12 months. And experienced IoT implementers are increasingly looking beyond simple IoT connectivity to concerns about what to do with IoT data and how to scale their connected product offerings.

The benefits of the IoT will be well understood, while risks and challenges will be reduced. Comparing those looking back from the perspective of having launched IoT products with those looking ahead from the sidelines, it's clear that going through the IoT implementation process leads to a more positive perspective. In general, we predict that jumping into the IoT will be a good bet for the vast majority of manufacturersas well as the customers they serve.

Do-it-yourself IoT might not be dead, but it will continue to lose steam for most IoT implementations. In our survey, few respondents planned to depend entirely on their own internal resources to build their IoT solutions, and even fewer planned to hand over 100 percent of their IoT implementation to an outside party. The vast majority chose a mixed implementation, combining home-grown and outsourced resources. This realization points to the fact that in the classic build-or-buy question, the answer is "both."

Another point that emerged from our survey is that IoT technologies and expertise delivered in a specialized IoT platform will continue to be important for the foreseeable future.

Who Took the Survey? A total of 355 people responded to Ayla's online survey. Slightly more than half (53 percent) fell into the IoT-experienced campanswering "yes" to the question, "Are any of your products already IoT-enabled?"with the respondents answering "no" or "I don't know" making up our IoT newbies group.

Respondents work in industries including telecommunications; consumer electronics; industrial automation; smart home; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); health care; utilities; lighting; automotive; financial services; aerospace; education ; and government. Their job functions spanned C-level and other executives through product management, hardware and software product development, IT, systems design, business development, technical support/service, marketing and sales.

Rod McLane is the senior marketing director at Ayla Networks, located in Santa Clara, Calif. You can contact him at rod@aylabetworks.com.

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The State of Internet of Things Product Development - IOT Journal

Email and mobile are still viewed as separate digital marketing channels, but email marketers need to increasingly begin thinking about mobile, as the majority of Americans now engage with their inbox via smartphones.

Email messages opened on a mobile device have nearly doubled over the past five years, according to a report released this week by data and email solutions provider Return Path. Return Path analyzed more than 27 billion email opens between May 2016 and April 2017 using the companys email tracking solution, Email Client Monitor, and geolocation tool, Geo Email Monitor.

Fifty-five percent of emails analyzed during the study period were opened on a mobile device -- an increase from 29% identified in a similar study in 2012. Almost 80% of mobile email opens occur on iOS, quadruple the number of mobile opens on Android devices.

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Emails opened on an internet browser, on the other hand, have dropped 26% over the past five years. Whereas webmail accounted for 37% of email opens in 2012, only 28% of emails are now opened on an internet browser. Almost six out of every ten webmail opens occur on Gmail, a significant increase from 6% in 2012. Gmails growth has come at the expense of Yahoo, according to Return Path, as Yahoo webmail opens have declined from 37% in 2012 to just 5% during the study period.

Desktop email opens have likewise declined as mobile engagement has increased, dropping from 34% in 2012 to 16% today. Interestingly, both desktop and webmail email opens increase slightly during the workweek. Similarly, mobile opens rise to 60% of all email opens during the weekend.

Mobile technology has transformed the way consumers engage with their email accounts, so it is imperative that email marketers consider this when developing their email strategy. Mobile optimization is critical to ensure messages display correctly on any screen theyre opened on, as is A/B testing.

Email marketers may also want to consider tightening up their email content so that it is shorter, more precise, and easier to read on a handheld device.

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Majority Of Emails Read On Mobile Devices - MediaPost Communications

Flintstone gummies have been a staple of every childhood. The candy that is supposedly good for you is a small nostalgic highlight. But the attitude towards supplements they develop far deviates from the health benefits they purport.

Unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, vitamins among other supplements such as herbal extracts and weight loss supplements are easily available over the counter at grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide. And for most consumers, there is no hesitation in purchasing these supplements; after all, they might not look like Fred and Barney, but theyre pretty much the same thing right?

What they have in common is that they are all completely useless. A study from the International Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that multivitamin supplements (MVM)are completely unnecessary for ones health and stated that ...although in the long run MVMs may slightly increase the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, in the short run they produce little harm or no harm, and thus negative consequences will not be discernible by individuals taking them.

However, since the publication, one claim has drastically changed. Negative consequences in the short run have become discernible. More than 20,000 emergency room visits a year can be traced back to dietary supplements. Many of these visits include children taking adult supplements, likely due to confusing adult pills for their own pills. But these pills shouldnt be in peoples homes in the first place.

Pseudoscience and irresponsible advertising keep unwitting customers hooked. For example, at the first sign of a sniffle and a sneeze, many people reach for their nearest Vitamin C supplement, sold by companies with snappy names like Emergen-C. But Vitamin C has never been proven to have curative effects on the common cold. In fact, far from preventing a cold, overdoses of Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and nausea. But the damage of their initial marketing had already been done, and Vitamin C has become a staple ineffective home remedy for the cold.

And these dangers only encompass some of the most common types of supplements. The irresponsible marketing and lack of regulation propagate more nefarious supplements such as SARMs, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators. The name itself is scary. The supplement is a muscle building, fat burning compound touted to be a legal alternative to steroids. But the health concerns of SARMs rival those of steroids. While the FDA has officially banned SARM compounds such as Oscarine from supplements, the volume of companies that evade the FDA by producing such supplements coupled with internet sales and grassroots marketing make them difficult to pindown.

Ultimately, the culture around supplements needs to change. America is one of the greatest users of unnecessary dietary supplements. Instead of eating a balanced diet, the convenience of a pill is appealing. But this convenience can come at a very real and grave cost. Supplement companies need to be more responsible about the manufacturing and marketing of their products. And while the FDA doesnt do much for the former, they can start to enforce stricter marketing standards. Hopefully, this will incite more personal caution in taking such supplements and avoid significant costs and risks to human life.

Batlanki is a neuroscience sophomore from Flower Mound. Follow him on Twitter @RohanBatlanki.

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If the FDA refuses to regulate supplement production, at least regulate their marketing - UT The Daily Texan