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The Groom’s Playbook: Expert Tips for a Stress-Free Wedding

BriteCo

While it’s common for brides to plan and replan their wedding day, grooms have worries of their own. So if you’re about to take the plunge and you want to make sure your wedding goes off without a hitch, check out this guide to nailing your role as the modern wedding groom. Dos and Don’ts of Being a Groom No two weddings are the same, but these dos and don’ts are fairly universal. Dos The modern wedding groom should always: Offer Your Thoughts You may not be as particular as your partner, but that doesn’t mean they should make all the decisions. It’s your big day, too, and putting too much on them can lead to burnout. Plan Ahead Don’t leave anything to the last minute. Get everything done as soon as possible so that the big day goes without an issue. Nail Your Vows This is your moment to express why everyone you love is gathered in one place. Write something meaningful and practice it a few times ahead of time. Don’ts A modern groom should always avoid: Drinking Too Much Do your best not to go off the rails with the booze, or you may be hearing about it at family parties for the rest of your life. Taking On Too Much Responsibility It’s your big day, and you’re going to be busy no matter what you do. Delegate some tasks to your best man and maybe some groomsmen to lighten the load. Sweating the Small Stuff Problems will inevitably threaten your wedding day, but most of them aren’t as bad as they might seem. Be ready to brush them off as minor bumps in the road, and enjoy the day. Wedding Day Tips for the Modern Groom Take a look at some wedding tips that should prove useful to any modern groom. The Look Your look for the big day should be exactly what you and your partner want it to be, not necessarily what’s in vogue. You should sport a fresh haircut and a suit that fits. Accessories Groom accessories can add more to your appearance than you may think. Consider quality cufflinks, a unique tie, a colorful pocket square and personalized socks. The Ring The groom’s ring usually doesn’t get much fanfare, but there are some great-looking options that won’t eat too much into your wedding budget. Make sure you think about how your choice looks next to your partner’s. You may also consider a rubber or silicone ring if you work with your hands, as metal rings can sometimes cause serious injuries. Groom Hacks Here are a few tips to consider for your big day: Cool down after your shower and before dressing to avoid excessive sweating. Throw on some baby powder to keep you dry. Bring some extra deodorant, just in case. Avoid messy foods that might stain your suit. Stay hydrated! It’s also a good idea to bring some moist towelettes you can use in case of an emergency stain. Better safe than sorry! Choosing Groomsmen Selecting the people you want by your side at your wedding can be tricky. A good rule of thumb is to match the number that your partner anticipates will be in their wedding party. So make a list of family and friends you’d like to include and start the deliberation. Wedding Budget Refining your wedding budget can be stressful, but remember that your primary focus should be enjoying your big day, not spending a certain amount. You can plan a wedding on a budget. Start with an amount you’re hoping to spend and a list of needs, wants and reaches. From there, the picture will become clearer. It’s Your Wedding, Too! Many grooms will happily take a backseat when they’re planning their wedding, but there’s nothing wrong with giving your input and making the day reflect your vision of the perfect wedding. Hopefully, these tips can help you do exactly that. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only. Contact Details The Groom Club contact@thegroomclub.com Company Website https://thegroomclub.com/

January 09, 2023 01:26 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Uno Pizzeria and Grill Celebrates National Pizza Week with $6 Pizza Deals

UNO Pizzeria & Grill

Participation and availability may vary by location and cannot be combined with other offers. Check with your local location for details. Uno Pizzeria and Grill, the iconic pizza purveyor, has lined up an historic week of pizza deals in honor of National Pizza Week (January 9-16 th, 2023). The restaurant offers multiple varieties of pizza and each one is unique to its style. All are hand-made from-scratch starting with the dough. The deals will feature their iconic Deep Dish pizza, Chicago Thin Crust pizza and their new Detroit style pizza which debuted this year to pizza lovers’ overwhelming approval. The pizza deals will be centered around a $6 offer (limited-time pricing). The deals are as follows: On Tuesday 9/10, the restaurants will be featuring an individual Deep Dish cheese or pepperoni pizza for only $6 (limit 5). On Wednesday 9/11, customers can get an individual Chicago Thin Crust cheese or pepperoni pizza for only $6 (limit 5). On Thursday 9/12, they will be offering their newest pizza style option, Detroit style pizza, for only $6. Regular size cheese and pepperoni will be the two options available (limit 2). Other pizza offers will available during the week. “We offer long-standing favorite pizzas with our Deep Dish style pizza and our Chicago Thin Crust pizza. We now have introduced our new Detroit style pizza to rave reviews from guests. All of our pizza varieties are made with fresh ingredients and the dough for all styles is still made by hand every day in the restaurants. We also offer fantastic gluten-free and vegan options. We are very proud of all of our awesome pizza styles. Guests can indulge in old favorite like our iconic Deep Dish or come and try the new member of our lineup – Detroit style pizza. It’s a perfect opportunity to satisfy your pizza craving.” Said Erik Frederick, CEO of Uno Pizzeria and Grill. About UNO Pizzeria & Grill Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation includes approximately 80 company-owned and franchised UNO Pizzeria & Grill restaurants located in 18 states, and the District of Columbia, India, and Saudi Arabia. UNO is all about connecting people over pizza – from its famous Chicago Deep Dish, which UNO invented in 1943, to its Chicago Thin Crust, to its gluten-free and vegan pizzas. The Company also operates Uno Foods, a consumer packaged-foods business which supplies supermarkets, airlines, movie theaters, hotels, airports, travel plazas, and schools, with both frozen and refrigerated UNO branded products. For more information, visit www.unos.com. Contact Details Chris Dellamarggio +1 339-613-7641 cdellamarggio@unos.com Company Website https://www.unos.com/

January 09, 2023 11:10 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Million-Dollar Owner Mike Geygan Retires & Reflects on 31-plus Years in Business After Selling Minuteman Press Franchise in Lebanon, Ohio

Minuteman Press International Inc

Minuteman Press in Lebanon, Ohio, has been sold by retiring owners Mike and Karen Geygan to new owners Frank and Melissa Hiti. The longtime design, marketing, and printing center has been operating for over 40 years, and Mike and Karen are retiring after owning the business for over 31 years. All of the staff have been retained and will keep working to serve Minuteman Press clients in the community. Minuteman Press in Lebanon is located at 101 Dave Avenue, Suite E, Lebanon, OH 45036. New owner Frank Hiti says, “We are really excited to take over a business that has such an outstanding reputation in the community. As business buyers, we are blown away by the strong foundation that Mike and Karen Geygan built with Minuteman Press in Lebanon. This business is a well-oiled machine thanks to their hard work. Everyone has been so welcoming to us as new owners, and we will continue the path that Mike and Karen set by being a fixture in our community and make sure our business takes care of our customers.” Frank continues, “I am an engineer by trade, with a business degree. I spent my entire career in automotive manufacturing doing sales, engineering, project management, and procurement. I climbed the ladder but I always had that desire to be an entrepreneur. I felt I was in a good position to find the right opportunity and the right business to purchase. Everything I’ve experienced in the last few weeks since purchasing Minuteman Press has been even better than I expected. The support has been phenomenal from our local field rep Ryan, our team here in Lebanon is simply fantastic, and it’s so much easier to hit the ground running thanks to the strong customer relationships that Mike and Karen Geygan built. They earned their retirement and it’s been a win-win situation all-around.” History of the Business When Mike and Karen Geygan first purchased an existing Minuteman Press franchise in April of 1991, they took over a business that needed some work. Mike reflects, “We bought a 12-year-old shop and we needed to upgrade our equipment and clean things up, so that’s what we did. We liked the business model and the industry, and I really wanted to be involved in my community. Lebanon, Ohio is a rural town, and it just seemed like a unique place to own a business.” At the time, Mike worked in industrial sales and he liked that Minuteman Press wanted to him “to focus on running the business, not running a press.” He continues, “We looked at small businesses, other franchises, and another printing business. With printing, I liked that I would be selling to customers who could become repeat clients and order more from us. I also found the business hours and employee structure to be appealing, and with Minuteman Press, the royalty cap was a huge plus.” On that point, Mike shares, “Minuteman Press is a franchise that really cares about our success as franchisees. I feel that we get more help and support for the limited royalties we pay than other franchises who don’t have a cap. It’s not just about the dollars, it’s about the work they put in. They adapt and stay current, and the tech team is really cutting edge with everything they put into FLEX.” Another thing that really stands out to Mike after 31-plus years is the fact that he has always been able to run his business in a rural town like Lebanon in the way he wanted that best fit his community. “I always liked that Minuteman Press was hands-off in the sense that we could do what we needed for our business. We can do what works for us in our marketplace and go in the directions we want to go with our products and services as well as our pricing. They never asked me to charge $5.99 for a Big Mac because that’s what New York is charging.” Mike also credits his wife Karen Geygan for really solidifying the business from the financial side of things. “Karen worked on the financial side of the business and made sure everything was handled in that area. Her contributions over the years have been invaluable to our bottom line.” Growing to a Million-Dollar Business From 1991 to 1998, Mike, along with his wife Karen and his staff, were able to steadily build the business. They first joined the President’s Million-Dollar Circle in 1998 and they continued to hit that impressive milestone every year for the next 24 years (with the exception of 2020). Mike shares, “The biggest thing for us early on was growing through word of mouth referrals. At that time, I found that most printing companies in our area were not ‘good printers’ in the sense that their quality wasn’t great and they didn’t meet deadlines. We stepped in with printing that looked better and was always on time, and as a result we developed an extremely good reputation.” Mike continues, “We grew significantly based on those two key areas of quality and service. After 31 years, I can’t think of one customer that we lost because we dropped the ball. It’s all about communication. We talk to our customers, and we are honest with them. If we need to fix something or deliver on a tight deadline, we find a way to get it done.” He adds, “I have found that the shops that are the most successful operate with a sense of urgency. You have to be proactive. If a job needs to be delivered Friday, get it done early in case a machine goes down, paper or supplies don’t show up, or an employee is out unexpectedly. Don’t wait until Friday morning. The quicker you know something is wrong, the easier it is to find a solution. That is what’s always worked for us.” “We went from 100K in yearly sales when we first started to about $1.3 million per year. We got very comfortable and now it’s time to retire.” -Mike Geygan Today, Minuteman Press in Lebanon is a digital print shop with six full-time staff and two part-time staff. Mike shares, “We specialize in digital printing and do a good amount of mailings. We are in a rural town and so we do a lot of saturation mail for local school districts and other clients such as a large HVAC company and an addiction treatment facility. We also saw that during the pandemic, our community needed products such as large format printing, labels, posters, and signage.” Speaking of the pandemic, Mike says, “We were fortunate enough to be cushioned from serious impacts in 2020. In 2021, we found ourselves back at 2019 levels, and in 2022, we were up 20% over 2021 sales.” With new ownership coming in, Mike sees ripe opportunity for growth. “We have a nice foundation in place but I also see room for growth in wide format, apparel, and automation mailing. There are a lot of studies that show print is more effective than other forms of marketing. I think it’s important to mix in different ways of marketing and use print, internet, and social media channels.” Selling the Business When asked what it was like to work with Minuteman Press International to sell the business and secure his exit strategy, Mike shares, “I first had the thought of selling in March of 2022. I was turning 63 in July, I mentioned to my Regional VP Gary Nowak that we were starting to think about selling the business. My original intent was to retire by 65, and conventional wisdom told me that it would take some time to complete the sale. We were not intending to sell this year and weren’t ready to actually list the business for sale.” Mike continues, “Gary informed me in early July that he had potential buyers who he was already in contact with, and I figured there was no harm in meeting with them. As it turned out, the meeting with the buyers went well, and we ended up getting an offer fairly quickly. By September, the agreement was signed, and the sale was completed in November of 2022.” From his perspective, Frank Hiti says, “When we started looking to buy a business, I came across a business for sale ad from Minuteman Press. Gary Nowak reached out to me and as we were discussing a couple of different opportunities, we were introduced to Mike Geygan. We liked what we saw on our end with Minuteman Press in Lebanon and now during the transition, we are absolutely thrilled with how things are turning out. We bought the right business for us from great people in Mike and Karen Geygan.” “Our attitude was that if we get a good offer for the business, we would sell, and if we didn’t get an offer we were comfortable with, we wouldn’t sell. We really liked the buyers Frank and Melissa Hiti. We sold the business at a good time for us at a price we were comfortable with before we needed to sell, and while things were going well.” -Mike Geygan Mike shares the following three keys to selling a business: 1. Have clean financials. It’s important to be properly prepared for any questions and document requests, and to know your numbers. 2. Run a solid business and invest wisely. My dad was a financial planner, so in addition to running our business, we took care of ourselves on the personal investment side. That really adds up over the years, so be smart about how you invest and start early. 3. A business where the owner is doing everything is worth less to buyers. The company needs to be transferrable to new ownership. Delegate responsibilities to your team, and cross-train your employees. The more they know, the more valuable your business will be at the time of the sale. Final Reflections & Advice for Others As Mike and Karen transition to retirement, he reflects on what he’ll miss most. “Everybody says it’s the people that make the business, and that’s so true. We love our customers and our employees; they are like family to us. I also love being involved in the community and served on many local boards. Because we deal with such a broad variety of customers and organizations in the printing business, I was one of the people who knew everyone and so everyone would come to me. I simply loved being able to help and connect others.” He adds, “Our customers are happy for us, and I am very impressed with our local Minuteman Press field representative Ryan McIntyre who is helping with the transition, as well as the new owners Frank and Melissa Hiti. I know the business is being left in great hands.” Mike’s final piece of advice for others is this: “There are three functions that have to happen in order to be successful: 1. Find the business; 2. Get the jobs out on time; 3. Get customers to pay for your products and services. When you are small and just starting out, these functions may fall to the owner. However, if you want to grow, you need to delegate responsibilities and develop a company, not a monument to the owner. Remember, it’s a team effort.” Minuteman Press in Lebanon, Ohio, is located at 101 Dave Avenue, Suite E, Lebanon, OH 45036. For more information, call 513-932-4222 or visit their website: https://minuteman.com/us/locations/oh/lebanon/ Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com Contact Details Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

January 09, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Research results reveal UK dinner time deadlock

Teach Your Monster

● Nearly 8 in 10 parents struggle daily to get their child to eat healthily ● A quarter admitted that they had given up even trying to get their child to try new things ● Just 14% of parents manage to get 5 fruit or veg into their child’s diet daily ● A massive 75% are cooking multiple meals to keep everyone happy ● Almost half said they feel like they have wasted food Nearly 8 in 10 struggle to get their child to eat healthily, according to research commissioned by developers behind a brand-new game. Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating encourages 3 to 6 year olds to try new fruit and vegetables in a fun, tactile and engaging way using the five senses; touch, smell, hearing, sight and taste - A method that has been shown to help kids build a much better long-term relationship with food. Getting children into healthy eating habits can feel like a never-ending battle, with new research showing that two-thirds of parents end up arguing with their child over mealtimes an average of twice a week. While parents were desperate for their children to be more adventurous and eat a wide variety of meals, 83% said they ended up cooking the same meals for them over and over. Dreams of their children enjoying cottage pie, curries, soups or even a Sunday Roast have gone out of the window, with many reporting that their child would turn their nose up at anything new – causing 50% of parents to feel embarrassed by their child’s diet. Mealtime anxiety was something experienced by most of the parents polled with 67% saying they often had arguments with their kids, 57% negotiating over how much of something they will eat, and 18% of parents saying they often felt upset that their child wouldn’t even try the meal they had cooked for them. To help directly tackle these challenges not-for-profit educational games company, Teach Your Monster has launched a brand-new game. Combining top-quality game design and essential learning, Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating is a fun-packed game for children that makes trying a rainbow of fruit and vegetables a little less scary and a lot more exciting. Children create their own monster in the game, and guided by Bub and friends; they embark on a journey to explore different foods using all five of their senses. The game features more than 40 fruit and vegetables from various cultures, including many everyday staples such as apples, potatoes, and peas. Research behind the game also revealed that children react very well to fun, upbeat music that they can sing along to. As a result, Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating includes several unique songs written in collaboration with Simon Panrucker, celebrated children's songwriter from Cartoon Network shows Clarence and The Fungies. “Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating is all about getting kids excited about fruit and vegetables and helping them develop a better relationship with food for long-term benefits. The game views fruit and vegetables through the eyes of a child. The more familiar children are with foods, the more likely they are to eat them – and this game develops familiarity around sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch, helping children become a little braver to try new fruit and vegetables,” said Antonio Gould, executive director at Teach Your Monster. Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating is released worldwide on January 9th 2023, and is available to download for iOS devices via the Apple App Store, Android devices via Google Play and Kindle devices via Amazon for £2.49. Children can also play for free via any compatible web browser at www.teachyourmonster.org/adventurous-eating Teach Your Monster’s debut single & music video, ‘Bub Loves Food’, is released globally on all major streaming platforms on January 6th 2023. ENDS Teach Your Monster: Adventurous Eating Press Pack - https://tym.st/ae-press-pack About Teach Your Monster Teach Your Monster is a non-profit organisation funded by the charity, The Usborne Foundation to deliver educational learning games for kids. Teach Your Monster is behind the multi award-winning and BAFTA nominated phonics and reading game, Teach Your Monster to Read along with newly released, Teach Your Monster: Reading for Fun and Teach Your Monster: Number Skills. Teach Your Monster works with leading academics to create magical, fun-filled learning games that kids love to play again and again. The games help children tackle a diverse range of learning challenges in new and exciting ways, from numeracy to nutrition. For further information visit www.teachyourmonster.org About The Usborne Foundation The Usborne Foundation is a charitable fund established by Peter Usborne and his two children, Nicola and Martin, to support selected charities, mostly in the area of early literacy. Peter Usborne is the founder and managing director of Usborne Publishing now one of the world's leading children's book publishing companies, which has made books for early readers one of its most important specialisations. Peter has been especially interested for a long time in finding some way of harnessing children's natural fascination with computer games to some useful purpose. Nicola Usborne worked for many years for Scholastic Inc in New York, where she was responsible for developing an educational software program for reading for American schools, as well as a New York Times bestselling 'transmedia' book-with-online-puzzles series, The 39 Clues. Martin Usborne has undertaken extensive research on children's games for children's television programme development. Contact Details Sarah Swain +44 7932 656891 Sarah.swain@mydaspr.co.uk Company Website https://www.teachyourmonster.org/

January 09, 2023 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Jollibee Group in Forbes List of World’s Best Employers for 3rd straight year

Jollibee Foods Corporation

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Media OutReach - 6 January 2023 - The Jollibee Group, Asia’s fastest growing restaurant company, has been recognized by Forbes as one of the World’s Best Employers for a third consecutive year. This recognition affirms the brand of care that Jollibee commits to its employees across the globe, which continues to contribute to a rising perception of the company as a world-class employer of choice. For the third straight year, the Jollibee Group figures on Forbes’ list of the World’s Best Employers in 2022. The Jollibee Group is not only the highest ranked Philippine-based company in the listing but also the highest ranked restaurant company in the world. The highest-ranking restaurant company and Philippine-based company on the Forbes 2022 global list, the Jollibee Group has continued to rise up the rankings since it was first included in 2020. The Company’s rank rose to 106th this year, a significant jump from 239th and 256th positions it enjoyed in 2020 and 2021 respectively. "We are honored and grateful to receive this global recognition, which validates our company's commitment to providing excellent care to our employees. By incorporating a People Agenda into our business strategy, we can capitalize on our people's strengths and provide them with opportunities for growth and development," said Jollibee Group President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong. Forbes and its market research partner Statista polled 150,000 employees from 57 countries to assess companies based on their image, economic footprint, talent development, gender equality, and social responsibility. Respondents were also asked how willing they were to recommend their own employers to family and friends. The final list includes the 800 companies with the highest total scores. Evolved People Agenda “To support the business as we repositioned the Jollibee Group for post-pandemic growth, our People Agenda had to adapt. While we continued to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of our employees, we needed to focus on strengthening organizational capabilities, enhancing our talent development and succession, and creating new ways of working built around speed, agility, and collaboration,” said Arsenio Sabado, Jollibee Group Chief Human Resources Officer. “Critical to the success of our People Plans is Employee Communications that keeps our leaders and employees up-to-date as our growth strategies evolve, and keeps everyone aligned with our mission of serving great-tasting food, and bringing the joy of eating to everyone. This deep sense of purpose and love for our brands are the intangibles that endear us to our employees and to their families, our communities, and ultimately to our customers,” he adds. The Jollibee Group also adopted a hybrid model for office-based employees after more than two years of remote work, where they are onsite for two days and on remote work the rest of the week. This arrangement is part of Jollibee Group's work reentry strategy which takes a more human-centered approach to redesigning new employees' work-life experiences. Aside from being recognized among the World’s best Employers for a third straight year, the Jollibee Group was also recognized by Forbes as one of the World’s Most Female Friendly Companies in 2021. It is also the first-ever Philippine-based company to be recognized with the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award (GEWA) in 2020. “We dedicate these awards to all our teams whose passion for excellence and commitment to our values have contributed to the continued growth of the Jollibee Group. The continued development of our employees and their welfare will remain our top priority as we acknowledge that our people are our biggest competitive advantage,” said Mr. Tanmantiong. About Jollibee Group Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC, also known as Jollibee Group) is one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world. It operates in 34 countries, with over 6,300 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, the People's Republic of China, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Korea, India, and Australia. Jollibee Group has eight wholly owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Smashburger); four franchised brands (Burger King, Panda Express, and Yoshinoya in the Philippines, and Tim Ho Wan in certain territories in China); 80% ownership of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; 60% ownership in the SuperFoods Group that owns Highlands Coffee; and 51% ownership of Milksha, a popular Taiwanese bubble tea brand. Jollibee Group, through its subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) owns 90% participating interest in Titan Dining LP, a private equity fund that ultimately owns the Tim Ho Wan brand. It also has a joint venture with the THW Group to open and operate THW restaurants in Mainland China. Jollibee Group also has a business venture with award-winning Chef Rick Bayless for Tortazo, a Mexican fast-casual restaurant business in the United States. Jollibee Group was named the Philippines' most admired company by the Asian Wall Street Journal for ten years. It was also honored as one of Asia's Fab 50 Companies and among the World's Best Employers and World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes. In 2020, Gallup awarded the Jollibee Group with the Exceptional Workplace Award, making it the first Philippine-based company to receive the distinction. Jollibee Group has grown brands that bring delightful dining experiences to its customers worldwide, thus spreading the joy of eating to everyone. To learn more about Jollibee Group, visit w ww.jollibeegroup.com Contact Details Media Contact Katz Bernardo +63 917 878 0718 katz.bernardo@pulsephil.com

January 06, 2023 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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CES 2023 Sneak Peek with Mario Armstrong

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details News Media Group, Inc. Karl Wayne +1 334-440-6397 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

January 06, 2023 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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CES 2023 First Look with Carley Knobloch

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details News Media Group Karl Wayne +1 561-602-5626 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

January 06, 2023 06:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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NuggMD releases landmark 210k-record patient study on medical cannabis trends

NuggMD

As legal cannabis continues to enjoy broad, bipartisan support among the general public and as more states legalize the substance for either medical or recreational purposes, a recently released landmark study sheds new light on the conditions for which patients seek medical cannabis and how those conditions vary by geographic region, age, and gender identity. The study, the 2022 Cannabis Conditions Report, was conducted by NuggMD using more than 210,000 anonymized patient records, among the largest data sets of its kind. NuggMD is a telemedicine provider that helps patients obtain medical cannabis cards in 22 states. It conducted the study in order to add more facts to the prevailing dialogue about the addition of medical cannabis to a treatment regimen. The full report is available here. It was first reported by Marijuana Moment, one of the nation’s leading trackers of developments and news in the cannabis industry. Concurrent with its Conditions Report, NuggMD also released the details of a complementary survey of more than 500 current medical cannabis card-holders. Importantly, 68 percent of respondents said they have ceased or reduced other pharmaceutical treatments since incorporating medical cannabis. More than 80 percent of respondents said they are comfortable discussing medical cannabis with their doctors, and more than 94 percent said cannabis provides to them moderate or total relief of the conditions for which they sought treatment. "The evidence here is clear: medical cannabis works. It provides relief for a wide variety of conditions. More importantly, it's giving patients an alternative to dangerously addictive, often deadly pharmaceuticals. More than a century of disinformation and propaganda peddled by cannabis foes does not change these facts,” said Alex Milligan, co-founder and chief marketing officer of NuggMD. Analysis: Inconsistent standards limit access and create unreliable data Still, a significant barrier to access is how states limit the qualifying conditions for which a patient may be recommended medical cannabis. In some states, legislators have expanded their regulations to include more qualifying conditions or to allow physicians to recommend medical cannabis in broad terms, such as for treatment of a “debilitating medical condition.” Other states continue to unjustly prohibit their residents from accessing this form of healthcare. Of note, the states that allow physicians to determine the qualifying condition saw a higher rate of patients reporting “other condition” as a reason they were seeking medical cannabis. Based on that datapoint, NuggMD believes that states with fewer qualifying conditions are either deterring patients from seeking the medication they need or reducing the accuracy of available data by forcing patients in need of medical cannabis to select a comorbidity rather than the primary ailment for which they were seeking an evaluation. A majority of patients in the study listed multiple conditions, which can be expected as many conditions exist co-morbidly. “From a policy standpoint, one piece of low-hanging fruit for lawmakers is more consistency to the qualifying conditions under which states approve medical cannabis licenses for patients,” said Milligan. “The current status quo does not promote equal access to care or the evidence-based evaluation of medical outcomes, which are both cornerstones of other areas of healthcare.” The report was authored by NuggMD's Alexandra Arnett, a University of Maryland School of Pharmacy candidate for a Master of Science in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics. Medical review was provided by Dr. Brian Kessler, MD, Pain Management & Sports Medicine, with analysis, editing, and fact-checking conducted by NuggMD's Tyler Elson and Deb Tharp. About NuggMD NuggMD is the nation's leading medical marijuana technology platform, serving patients in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. They've connected over 1,000,000 patients face-to-face with their new medical marijuana doctors via their state-of-the-art telemedicine platform. They believe every human being has the right to explore the benefits of medical cannabis and are fully committed to helping each patient explore every option in their journey to wellness. For further information, visit NuggMD.com. Contact Details Andrew Graham andrew.g@getnugg.com Company Website http://www.nuggmd.com

January 05, 2023 02:11 PM Eastern Standard Time

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UNC Men’s Basketball, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Carolina Performing Arts launch “Artists Are Athletes / Athletes Are Artists” campaign

Carolina Performing Arts

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Men’s Basketball, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Carolina Performing Arts have partnered to announce a new campaign: “Artists Are Athletes / Athletes Are Artists.” To launch this initiative, the organizations are releasing a video featuring renowned Ailey dancer Michael Jackson, Jr., as well as Caleb Love, the Tar Heels’ versatile junior guard. The video, set to a stirring original score, uses dramatic cinematography to showcase the power and virtuosity of the two video leads. “We launched this collaboration to demonstrate the parallels between our prestigious athletic programs and one of the most iconic dance companies in the world, coming together at our country’s oldest public university,” said Alison Friedman, the James and Susan Moeser Executive and Artistic Director of Carolina Performing Arts. “Greatness comes in all forms of artistic and athletic excellence. This runs through the fabric of Carolina, and we want to illustrate this union in a visual way.” The video makes use of two Carolina landmarks: the Dean E. Smith Center and Memorial Hall auditorium. These iconic venues, both located in Chapel Hill, make the ideal backdrop for the video’s precision sequence of graceful spins and gravity-defying leaps. “When I arrived on Carolina’s campus, I was amazed by the passion for athletics,” said Friedman, who took the helm of Carolina Performing Arts last year after two decades working in Beijing and Hong Kong, making her mark with artistic cross-cultural exchanges. “I knew we had to juxtapose the leading artists Carolina Performing Arts brings to Carolina’s stages and classrooms with the athletic prowess the University is known for to help broaden the audience and appreciation of both artistic and athletic excellence.” “Basketball and dance have much in common. Both are physically demanding requiring strength, agility and skill, and allow us to express ourselves as artists, as individuals and within teams and groups. I encourage our great fans to support Carolina Performing Arts and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as enthusiastically as you do our Tar Heel basketball team,” said Caleb Love who led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship game last season. “It’s a thrill to leap into the world of Carolina basketball through this video highlighting the skill, grace and power that athletes and dancers have in common,” said Ailey dancer Michael Jackson Jr. “This exciting collaboration will move and connect fans of basketball and the arts, sparking conversations between two sets of passionate audiences. What better way to start our national tour and fulfill Alvin Ailey's belief that ‘the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.’” The video will premiere at the upcoming UNC Tar Heels Men’s Basketball game vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 7, 2023, and will roll out on all partners’ social media platforms the same day. About Carolina Performing Arts Carolina Performing Arts is the leading multi-arts presenter in the American South, housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our public service mission is to spark curiosity and inspire members of our campus and community to discover and more deeply engage with the world. We collaborate with artists from across the globe — the Bolshoi Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Tony Bennett, Big Freedia, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra to name a few — to create performing arts experiences in partnership with our community. In under two decades, CPA has presented thousands of performances and master classes by more than 450 artists from 56 countries and territories, commissioned 69 new works and hosted 48 world and U.S. premieres. Our performances, outreach, and campus partnerships have reached hundreds of thousands of patrons, students, and faculty. Students comprise 25% of our annual audience on average — one of the highest percentages in the nation among our peer major university presenters. We also open our venues to others to explore, create and celebrate their own work. For more information, visit carolinaperformingarts.org About Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” grew from a now‐fabled March 1958 performance in New York that changed forever the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, recent posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor, and guided by Judith Jamison beginning in 1989, the Company is now led by Robert Battle, whom Judith Jamison chose to succeed her on July 1, 2011. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents – as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms - promoting the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. In addition to being the Principal Dance Company of New York City Center, where its performances have become a year‐end tradition, the Ailey company performs annually at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark where it is the Principal Resident Affiliate, and appears frequently in other major theaters throughout the United States and the world during extensive yearly tours. The Ailey organization also includes Ailey II (1974), a second performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School (1969), one of the most extensive dance training programs in the world; Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs, which brings dance into the classrooms, communities and lives of people of all ages; and The Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which began with the opening of Ailey’s permanent home — the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, the dance capital of the world — named The Joan Weill Center for Dance, at 55th Street at 9th Avenue in New York City. For more information, visit www.alvinailey.org. About Carolina Men’s Basketball The University of North Carolina is a member of the NCAA Division I and Atlantic Coast Conference. Seven-time national champions. Won NCAA Tournament championships in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017 (the Helms Foundation declared the 1924 team national champions). Won 32 ACC regular-season championships (12 more than any other school) and 18 ACC Tournament championships. Played in a record 21 Final Fours, including at least one appearance in nine consecutive decades beginning in the 1940s. Ranks No. 1 in NCAA Tournament wins, No. 1 in ACC victories and No. 3 in all-time wins. Produced more first-team All-ACC selections (79) and U.S. Olympians (14) than any other school and the second-most first-round NBA Draft picks (54). Tar Heels have won 36 NBA championships as players, more than any other college’s alumni. Twelve Naismith Hall of Fame players and coaches. Eleven Tar Heels have won National Player-of-the-Year honors in 13 seasons. Prominent players include Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo, Charlie Scott and Bobby Jones, Tyler Hansbrough, the ACC's all-time leading scorer, and Vince Carter, Brad Daugherty, Walter Davis, Phil Ford, Antawn Jamison, Bobby Lewis, Larry Miller, Mike O'Koren, Sam Perkins, Lennie Rosenbluth, Kenny Smith, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace. Jordan was named the Greatest Athlete of the 20 th Century by ESPN. Jordan is one of 39 Tar Heels who have earned 63 first-team All-America awards. Tar Heels have won 10 first-team Academic All-America honors. Six Naismith Hall of Fame coaches, including Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Frank McGuire, Larry Brown, George Karl and Ben Carnevale. Smith won 13 ACC Tournament titles, took teams to 11 Final Fours and won 879 games, the all-time record when he retired. Williams won three NCAA titles, nine ACC regular-season championships and three ACC Tournaments and led UNC to five Final Fours. Williams retired following the 2020-21 season with 903 victories, the third-most Division I wins in NCAA history. Former Tar Heel captain Hubert Davis became the program’s first Black head coach in 2021, led UNC to the NCAA East Region title, becoming the fifth individual to lead his team to the national championship game in his first season as a head coach, and won two National Coach-of-the-Year awards. About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 112 master’s, 66 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 15 schools, including the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 356,000 alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and 161 countries. More than 188,667 live in North Carolina. Contact Details Jana Jackson +1 415-405-5102 Jana.jackson@unc.edu

January 05, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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