Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:24 PM on Friday, December 28th, 2018
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Unsurprisingly for some, the League of Legends World Championship was the biggest event of the year having attracted over 74.3 million viewers, which is 2.5 million more than last year’s iteration.
The most popular esports events of 2018 have been revealed by the ESC (Esports Charts), with many old and established tournaments retaining strong interest despite the emergence of new games.
The figures, which are based on hours watched on both YouTube and
Twitch, show which competitive esports games are more popular than
others right now in terms of viewers.
League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
dominate the most watched games chart according to these statistics, all
boasting incredible numbers in various competitions.
LOL ESPORTS
The 2018 League of Legends World Championship stage.
Unsurprisingly for some, the League of Legends World Championship was
the biggest event of the year having attracted over 74.3 million
viewers, which is 2.5 million more than last year’s iteration.
Just behind that was Dota 2’s ‘The International’, which massively
grew in popularity in the space of a year – recording 52.8 million
views, seeing an increase of 9 million since 2017. In third place,
CS:GO’s ELEAGUE Major which was watched by 49.5 million across the
world.
“In my opinion, they’ve [Epic Games] realized that their game will
never be the most competitive, but it can be the most entertaining. So,
they’re sticking to their guns in that regard.”
Of course, there are a few reasons why brands are willing to bet on
programmatic AdTech despite the GDPR scare. Let’s look at 5 ways
programmatic advertising will evolve in 2019.
2019 will be the year where all disarray surrounding GDPR will be
clear. As publishers and advertisers gain more understanding of the law,
their activities will be in accordance with the regulation.
BlAdTech (Blockchain+AdTech)
is based on the principle of decentralization, and it aims to solve the
most common issues faced by advertisers and publishers. Blockchain
products have been able to tackle ad fraud by removing domain spoofing,
verifying the legitimacy of publishers and allowing transactions using
cryptocurrencies.
Another way ad fraud can be curtailed is by preventing unauthorized reselling of ad inventory. Publishers can now host ads.txt —
an Interactive Advertising Bureau-approved file on their servers that
lists all the companies allowed to sell the publisher’s inventory.
Amanda Martin, Director Enterprise Partnerships, at Goodway Group spoke to MTA on this subject:
“The maturing of programmatic AdTech will continue and most
likely intensify in 2019 with both the sell side and buy side raising
expectations and directly influencing the AdTech ecosystem. Programmatic
AdTech is going through its teenage years; while we move towards
maturity, we are still learning from our mistakes. Many facets of the
programmatic AdTech landscape have become commoditized making the
ability to differentiate oneself in the space harder. This will likely
bring about consolidation both from M&A and buyers/sellers narrowing
the number of partners they choose to work with. Transparency will
continue to be an industry buzzword, both pertaining to pricing and
methodology, black box solutions will/should face more scrutiny, and
buyers, brands, and agencies, should showcase their discretion via their
ad spend. The continued promise of TV dollars moving to programmatic
will drive innovation while programmatic audio and digital OOH will make
large strides in 2019, potentially beating TV to programmatic
saturation. Overall, choice will be the driving factor of 2019 from both
the buy and sell side of programmatic AdTech, how the industry
continues to adjust to those choices is to be determined.â€
Marketers are slowly moving to omnichannel from multi-channel marketing as they become more cognizant of their users. A digital user today owns 3.2 connected devices on average.
Advertisers therefore have to be present on smartphones, computers,
digital assistants, TVs and tablets to reach users wherever they are.
2019 is the year we will see omnichannel marketing at its peak potential.
Closing Words
We will let Will Margiloff, CEO, IgnitionOnehave the final word on AdTech in 2019. He stated to MTA that:
“Amazon’s second headquarters in NYC comes at a critical time
for the advertising business, one that can disrupt the ecosystem.
Amazon is sitting on tons of credible and relevant data, that rivals
intent data from Google and behavioral data captured on Facebook. The
platform specializes in consumers with the intent to shop, and have
created an ad strategy that caters to these needs. In 2019, we will
continue to see AdTech companies challenging the duopoly, with Amazon
leading the charge.â€
Despite the bumpy ride that’s been 2018, programmatic AdTech is set to go through a resurgence in 2019. We may not be able to see 5G gain prominence in 2019 itself, but AI, blockchain and omnichannel appear to be trends that will bring a change in programmatic advertising in 2019.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:21 PM on Thursday, December 27th, 2018
EKG: TSX-V
The heartbeat of cardiovascular medicine and telemedicine
Specializing in the software engineering of computer based
electrocardiogram (heart monitoring) management and reporting software
Software permits physician interpretations of ECGs and supports private and public payer fee-for-service billings
ECGs are electrical recordings of the heart and performing an ECG is one of the most common diagnostic tests performed
Successfully launched technologies that enable the use of new
medical devices and communication portals utilizing internet and
cellular based technologies for the recording, transmission and viewing
of ECGs
Recent Highlights
CardioComm Solutions’ HeartCheck(TM) CardiBeat and Smart Phone App Enter Final Stage of FDA 510(k) Review Read More
Market Release of HeartCheck(TM) CardiBeat and GEMS(TM) Mobile Application Set For Early 2019
Completed its response to the USA Food and Drug Administration for
additional information following the Company’s filing of its premarket
notification 510(k)
Class II medical device clearance application for the HeartCheck™ CardiBeat and GEMS™ Mobile Application
HeartCheck™ CardiBeat is the second of several planned Bluetooth-enabled ECG recording devices to be marketed by the Company
Launched 12-Lead ECG Smart Wearable Garment Monitoring Solution Read More
Announced joint partnership sales plans for the commercial launch of
its newest software release designed to support an innovative and easy
to use wireless, 12 lead ECG, vital signs, arrhythmia and ischemia
monitoring wearable smart garment manufactured by Israel-based
HealthWatch Technologies Ltd.
Company to Receive Royalty Payments from Biotricity Read More
Confirmed progress on a royalty licencing agreement with Biotricty Inc.
Royalty payment phase became active following confirmation that all
necessary clearance and software development pre-conditions have been
achieved
Royalty fees are due from the use of the ECG software Cardiocomm
developed, or any derivative products, on a per patient monitored basis
First Company to Receive Approval for ECG Product Sales Direct to Consumers Read More
CardioComm was the first company to be approved to sell an ECG
product directly to consumers in North America as evidenced by OTC Class
II medical device clearances by both the United States Food and Drug
Adminstration and Health Canada in 2012
HeartCheck ECG PEN is currently available for OTC sales on the shelves of Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart.
Completed HeartCheck(TM) Clinical Validation for Long-Term,
Self-Managed, Remote Monitoring of Atrial Fibrillation Patients
Post-Ablation Read More
Moved into routine clinical use following completion of a long-term, remote arrhythmia monitoring pilot in high risk patients.
PACE cardiologists have been prescribing use of the HeartCheck™ ECG
PEN and ECG Handheld Monitor to their patients to provide up to one year
of enhanced remote patient monitoring for arrhythmias in addition to
use of conventional but term-limited Holter and event monitoring.
Products
HeartCheck™ Pen
The HeartCheck™ PEN handheld ECG device is the only device of its kind cleared by the FDA for consumer use.
✓ Monitor For Arrhythmias Anywhere ✓ Web Access to a Qualified Physician ✓ No Prescription Required
The pocket-sized PEN allows you to take heart readings from anywhere, the moment symptoms appear.
The HeartCheck™ ECG Device
The FDA-cleared HeartCheck™ ECG device is portable, easy to use and can store up to 200 thirty second ECG readings.
Whether at home, the gym or at the office, the HeartCheck™ ECG Device
with SMART Monitoring can help detect and monitor arrhythmias from
wherever you are.
Features & Benefits ✓ SMART Monitoring ECG Interpretations ✓ Cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ✓ Easy to use ✓ Accurate heart readings in only 30 seconds ✓ Store up to 200 ECGs
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:37 AM on Friday, December 21st, 2018
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I am sticking to my original prediction – Bitcoin will hit 250k by 2022.†– Tim Draper, American Venture Capitalist, Author, Founder of Draper Associates, DFJ and Draper University
Following the ICO boom in 2017, along with Bitcoin’s all time high of
nearly $20k last December, the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry
has gone down a rocky road. As the crypto world is full of surprises,
it’s difficult to predict what’s in store for the future. Yet it’s
interesting to hear what industry insiders and some of the biggest
influencers in the space have to say about their expectations for the
crypto and blockchain industry over the next 12 months and beyond.
Cryptocurrency:
I am sticking to my original prediction – Bitcoin will hit 250k by 2022.†– Tim Draper, American Venture Capitalist, Author, Founder of Draper Associates, DFJ and Draper University
As one of the leading cryptocurrencies, Ether will see its price
reach the $500 mark by mid 2019. The fact still remains that most
blockchain projects across the world are being done in Ethereum. As its
use cases increase and improve globally, we’ll see it continuing to gain
more solid ground as a smart contract protocol.” – David Drake, Founder and Chairman of LDJ Capital
2019 will be an exciting year. We will see several great products
shipped to market, especially from our Binance Labs incubation program,
now taking place on five continents. The projects and teams who are
focused on building and achieving product-market fit will bring more
real use cases to our lives. This will open the gateway to the mass
adoption of crypto.” – Ella Zhang, Head of Binance Labs
The first legitimate national cryptocurrency will be launched, linked
to a fiat currency from a G-20 nation. This digital asset will be in
high demand for combining the benefits of a digital asset with the
stability of a government-backed currency. Mark Zuckerberg’s 2018 New
Year’s resolution to “study cryptocurrencies” will result in one being
integrated into Facebook for payments. The only question is whether they
will use an existing cryptocurrency or a new one created by Facebook.†–
Mitch Liu, Theta Labs CEO
Blockchain:
2018 was a tough year, but we have a longer term outlook for our
industry. The builders have been building in 2018, so for 2019, I think
we will see a lot of real products and real applications coming into the
market.†– Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance CEO and Founder
I have been involved in the blockchain space since 2013, actively
developing with Ethereum since January 2015. During this time I have
experienced many ups and downs. Many times I heard how “Blockchain is
over.†However, the fact is that the underlying technological innovation
continues to evolve and to get better. We have more tools today,
documentation, tutorials, and users than ever before and this will
continue to grow as the user interfaces become better and more seamless.
In 2019 we will continue to live the aftermath of 2017. ICOs have been
in winter sleep for most of 2018, following the ICO madness we
experienced, which was initiated by my ERC-20 standard. Nevertheless,
this doesn’t change the fact that ICO’s are a great fundraising
mechanism, for those projects in which a coin offering makes sense.
However, many past token projects were only using ICOs as an opportunity
to collect money without a truly decentralized and functioning token
economy in the background. We need to regain the trust that was lost,
and proposals like my Reversible ICO shows how technology can be the
transaction mechanism and the regulator at the same time. – Fabian Vogelsteller, LUKSO CEO and Ethereum developer responsible for co-creating the ERC-20 Token Standard
You’ll see blockchain companies with differentiated business models
separating themselves from the pack. For the industry to mature and gain
legitimacy, the 2018 shakeout had to happen. As you’ve seen with the
rise of the internet, e-commerce and just about every other big-thought
thing that’s happened in the last 50 years, the gold rush days come to
an end, rules get created and people settle down to do real business.
That’s why we’ve kept our focus, powered forward and invested in
building our vision for the next iteration of the web. For TRON, 2019
will be a year of many innovations. We’re the largest decentralized
content ecosystem in the world, and 2019 will be about showing people
what that means. We’re beginning the year with our first summit, in San
Francisco, where we’ll reveal big details about how we plan to integrate
blockchain with BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer technology. And we’ll follow
that by offering our 100 million monthly BitTorrent users incentives to
create and share more freely and often, delivering an economy of goods
and services within the network.†– Justin Sun, TRON CEO and Founder
2019 will be a historic year for the Blockchain industry. Malta will
issue the first license for operators in this sphere to be able to
operate in a regulated environment. Thus, 2019 will see the
materialization of The Blockchain Island, firmly putting Malta at the
epicenter of this industry. We are aware where the compass is pointing,
which is why blockchain technology will be incorporated into our
ecosystem. In turn, we will soon start witnessing change in the
landscape of how sectors as we know today operate. In fact, as a
Government, we’re looking at using blockchain technology in the public
sector to better the experience of our citizens. 2019 will be an even
more exciting year for Malta. The smallest EU member state will be
amongst the top 10 nations with a National Strategy for Artificial
Intelligence. This will open doors for the exploration of new economic
niches such as esports, gaming and Fintech. Malta’s agility and flexible
approach will ensure that we will remain innovators in the digital
economy.†– The Honorable Silvio Schembri, Malta’s Junior Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy & Innovation
We hope to see some more progress happening towards the setting up of
a true interoperability standard for optimal communication between
different types of blockchain networks. We believe that there will be
some more hybrid deployments involving the joint use of permissionless
and permissioned blockchain networks, with a focus on real world use
cases where the use of blockchain technology can truly move the needle
forward.†– Nimit Sawheny, Voatz CEO
Blockchain communities and open source communities will see their
lines blurred, as the two become synonymous with one another. Open
source has traditionally been on the cutting edge of innovation and has
garnered massive interest because of its ability to deliver security
through transparency. Decentralization is the latest cutting-edge
technology and it shares that same foundational principle of
transparency. A platform cannot be decentralized if it is proprietary,
as the organization that owns the software code ultimately becomes the
central point of failure.†– Ben Golub, Storj Interim CEO and Executive Chairman
Tokenization:
A quadrillion dollar market is unfolding, driven by the emergence of
security tokens. As currencies are tokenized, as bonds are tokenized, as
equities are tokenized, as currencies and real estate and energy are
tokenized — We are watching the birth of a quadrillion-dollar market.
Also, Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) are going to deliver over $100B
of capital into places where economic stimulus is needed in the U.S. We
are also going to see the first Dapps (decentralized applications) that
hit a million users a day sometime next year. Because we’ve now had our
“Netscape†moment, we now have scalable blockchains that have no
friction (meaning anyone can access it without having tokens) low
latency (meaning it’s fast and scalable and can be by many people) with
EOS as the first general protocol with many to come. It’s the equivalent
of when the first IPhone launched in the App Store.†– Brock Pierce, American Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of EOS Alliance
I think that the main trend will be securities tokens. The
combination of the power of a distributed ledger with more standardized
securities will open lots of doors in capital creation. Privacy will
continue to be important. There will be an increasing gap between those
with solid technology and those with weak, captive networks.†– Bruce Fenton,
Founder and Managing Director of Atlantic Financial, Board member of
the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of the Bitcoin Association
The ability to fractionalize illiquid assets will allow institutions
to offer unique portfolio positioning that suit the preferences of the
investor. Given the transparency involved in a correctly-designed token,
there will be new ways to visualize risk and returns. This will unleash
a new wave of investing that has been bottled up because of asymmetry
of information. Ultimately, tokenization will greatly flatten that
asymmetry, which is what this is all about.” – Sam Tabar, Fluidity Co-Founder
Venture Capital:
2019 is going to be another year of building. We’re squarely in the
phase in which the crypto space is developing the companies, products,
and infrastructure to support the wild valuations we saw in 2017. I
expect we’ll see more consolidation, as both companies and funds
struggle to raise capital. While this might sound gloomy, I think it’s
actually quite healthy. As technology and valuations start to converge
at rational levels again, the stage will be set for the industry to
enter the next phase of maturity.†– Arianna Simpson, Venture Capitalist and Managing Director at Autonomous Partners
We should not forget that token issuers are startups and they have an
even higher burn rate than that of traditional startups. With over $10
billion raised by those crypto startups in 2017-2018, the conversion to
fiat currencies is inevitable. In addition, all the crypto services and
talent have been twice as expensive as for traditional startups. Once
billions of dollars are liquidated to pay bills, it is normal for the
prices of the major crypto currencies to drop. This of course had a
snowball effect: the panic starts and hundreds of entrepreneurs need to
sell crypto to secure capital for product development. Even cryptofunds
whose market capitalization is $10 billion tend to have focused on
equity deals recently. They’ve liquidated part of their crypto portfolio
and hold fiat. In addition, we shouldn’t forget that the main reason
the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks exists are because of the miners.
Miners had to sell as well to maintain their facilities. They’ve
overmined Bitcoin in 2017, assuming the price would keep going up.†– Natalia Karayaneva, Propy CEO and Founder
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:55 PM on Thursday, December 20th, 2018
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————–
Understanding the programmatic advertising ecosystem
In a generation digital marketing has evolved to become the primary way many brands run their campaigns all over the world.
But none of it would be possible without the underlying technology infrastructure that has subsequently developed around programmatic advertising.Â
To practitioners the language of programmatic may well be second
nature, but for many in the sector the programmatic landscape can seem
confusing hard to penetrate.
This is the case even for experienced traditional marketers, and even
digital marketers who may understand the technology beneath owned
media, but struggle with advertising technology which sustains paid
media.
To help marketers build their expertise Oracle recently hosted a
webinar which steps marketers wanting to understand more about the
programmatic advertising landscape through all the key elements of the
programmatic landscape.
In part one of this report we look at that landscape and in part two, we describe programmatic strategies available to markets.
But lets start with the basic question, what is programmatic advertising?
Programmatic 101
Put simply it is a marketing approach that delivers the most relevant
message to the right person on the right device at the right time to
achieve a desired action.
It is optimised in real time based on data that allows the marketer
to focus on individual impressions instead of block buying advertising
slots. This is what makes it very different to traditional advertising.
Instead of static inventory with analytics derived from surveys and
panels, the programmatic approach allows advertisers to serve impression
that are both dynamic and relevant – because they are based on who is
viewing the impressions.
Importantly, as this is based on the idea of one on one advertising it also allows markets to derive one on one user insights.
Underpinning the programmatic advertising landscape are digital
platforms and exchanges which enable the buying and selling of
advertising inventory across mobile, desktop, search, display and video
advertising.
Advertisers and publishers can transact in real time just like on the
stock exchange, although the amount of transaction the ad tech sector
supports each day dwarfs the volume on a financial exchange!
Advertisers interact through what is called a data management
platform via a supply side platform (SSP) while marketers interacting
with the DMP through demand side platforms (DSPs).
These interactions are facilitated by add exchanges the middle.
Like most other forms of digital marketing, the success of these
interactions and the effectiveness of programmatic campaigns is based
upon the quality of the data.
First, second and third party data
The most valuable information for any advertiser is the first party
data which is basically the data that is proprietary to them and found
in places like the advertiser’s web site, its customer relationship
management platform or even the email data to which it already has
access.
Various platforms like Eloqua, CXD and Blue Kai allow marketers to integrate this information into their programmatic activity.
Second party data on the other hand comes from when the advertiser
has a direct relationship with a publisher and is able to use their data
as and when required.
Sometimes, however, the reach provided by the first and second party
data simply isn’t enough. Then, marketers and their agencies use third
party data is important to expand the reach of a campaign.
Third party aggregators and publishers collate data they collect in
the form of cookies from their 100s of web sites and sell it to
advertisers.
Various vendors like Nielsen, Iota and Data Logic provide the
demographic, geographic and other types of data needed to supplement the
first and second party information.
The data sets can be huge and the sheer amount of data can be
overwhelming. It needs to be managed which is where a data management
platform comes into the conversation.
A DMP is the backbone of data driven marketing. It serves as a
unifying platform to collect, organise and activate first, second, and
third party audiences data from any source including online, offline,
mobile and beyond.
Once the demand side data is aligned we can then use various DSPs
like Dataxu, TradeDesk, or Rocketfuel to work with the various
advertising exchanges to purchase relevant inventory from the supply
side.
Here’s a simple example of how this all folds together.
Imagine a campaign where a brand uses its first party data but
determines that much more reach is required. The brand then purchases
third party data that matches its specific geographic and demographic
requirements.
These two pieces of data are then combined through a DMP. And all of this comes together in a matter of milliseconds.
Imagine next that a consumer goes to a publisher’s web site. The
publisher calls its web server likely before the consumer’s page has
fully loaded. The ad server checks its rules and determines what ad it
can serve and at what price. The ad sever then instructs the consumer’s
browser to call the advertiser’s ad server, and then the publisher’s ad
server counts an impression .
The advertiser’s ad server knows it can serve the specific creative
and an impression is counted to that site. Placement, combination and
the campaign spend is logged for that impression.
And the user sees the advertisement. This all happens in real time.
Of course, this being a programmatic campaign, another consumer
viewing the same page at the same time will potentially see a completely
different ad based on the persons characteristics.
Pixels and cookies
A tagging pixel is essentially a piece of code that is placed on a
web site by a marketer and it generates a notice of visits to the page
by a browser. Pixels often work in conjunction with cookies recording
when a particular computer visits a specific page and they can be played
across the site or on certain conversion pages only.
The placement is determined by what you want to measure.
It is important to understand that different types of pixels do different thing.
Conversion pixels for instance capture conversion events. This is the
only way markers can record view-through conversions and post click
conversions. The conversion pixels are installed on the page where the
marketing goal is achieved such as a form page or a landing page.
Optimisation pixels on the other hand are installed across an entire
site and used to better identify ideal targets in prospecting and site
retargeting campaigns.
Finally, data collection pixels allow data collection companies to
anonymously identify and classify web site visitors into various
categories.
All of these pixels help programmatic vendors track the success of a
campaign. And they are used to build look alike profiles so that a
brand’s programmatic vendor can find more of its ideal audience online.
Pixels also provide rich insights into your audience such as the type
of websites they list and their interesting certain categories
So what is a cookie? Put simply it is a mechanism specified by a http
protocol that is implemented by the browser for web sites to store data
locally.
For instance cookies are used to help a site remember that a visitors
logged in rather than making them login every time they come back.
They are also important for saving shopping cart information and for tracking other behaviour online.
From a security perspective cookies can only be sent to the domain
that originally sent them. For instance only oracle.com can set
oracle.com cookies.
In part two, we will look at different programmatic strategies brands can employ in their campaigns.
Tags: adtech, tsx Posted in All Recent Posts, Good Life Networks | Comments Off on Good Life Networks $GOOD.ca – Understanding the programmatic advertising ecosystem $TTD $RUBI $AT.ca $TRMR $FUEL
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:26 AM on Thursday, December 20th, 2018
Announced the amendment of its license application to add 500K SQ. FT. of outdoor cultivation area and provides shareholders with a corporate update on the progress of the corporation and status on its various activities.
Construction of NORTHBUD’s cultivation facility is progressing on schedule and on budget. The building is soon to be completely enclosed and ready for the next phase in construction.
TORONTO, Dec. 20, 2018 – North Bud Farms Inc. (CSE: NBUD) (“NORTHBUD” or the “Company”) announced the amendment of its licence application to add 500K SQ. FT. of outdoor cultivation area and provides shareholders with a corporate update on the progress of the corporation and status on its various activities.
Construction of our Cannabis Production Facility in Low, Quebec:
The
construction of NORTHBUD’s cultivation facility is progressing on
schedule and on budget. The building is soon to be completely enclosed
and ready for the next phase in construction. Please see our website www.northbud.com/blog for videos, photos and ongoing updates.
Request for Outdoor Cultivation License:
NORTHBUD
is pursuing a standard cultivation licence under The Cannabis Act after
acquiring a confirmation of readiness stage ACMPR licence application
in early 2018.
The
NORTHBUD production facility is located on a 95-acre parcel of farmland
in rural Quebec. Under the new regulations, licenced producers can
cultivate outdoors. In collaboration with Cannabis Compliance Inc.
NORTHBUD will be amending its application to include a 1000 x 500ft
outdoor cultivation area. We anticipate this outdoor production
footprint to be operational in the spring of 2020 pending the required
approvals by Health Canada. NORTHBUD expects to begin implementation of
the required infrastructure in Q2 2019 after completion of our 25k sq.
ft. indoor production facility that is currently under construction.
Implementation
of this additional low-cost production footprint will provide NORTHBUD a
unique platform to cultivate both premium quality dried flower as well
as low cost commodity grade organic biomass to be transformed into food
and pharma grade inputs. This will position NORTHBUD to capitalize on
the highest margin market segments.
As
the consumer market develops, we believe our diverse centralized
infrastructure will provide NORTHBUD a solid, low cost, high quality
cannabis supply, which will serve as the core of our products and brand
moving forward.
The
Gatineau valley has traditionally been a fertile area for outdoor
cannabis cultivation with a growing season that typically occurs between
mid June and early October. NORTHBUD will be engaging local legacy
cultivators to acquire genetics with a track record of success in this
particular climate. Our outdoor cultivation will follow international
GAP (good agricultural practices) with the drying, trimming and
packaging to be done in accordance with GMP standards inside our
state-of-the-art custom designed cultivation facility.
About North Bud Farms Inc. North Bud Farms Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary GrowPros MMP Inc. which was acquired in February 2018, is pursuing a licence under The Cannabis Act. North Bud Farms Inc. is constructing a state-of-the-art purpose-built cannabis production facility located on 95 acres of Agricultural Land in Low, Quebec. North Bud Farms Inc. will be focused on Pharmaceutical and Food Grade cannabinoid production in preparation for the legalization of edibles and ingestible products scheduled for October 2019.
Neither
the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSEâ€) nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking statements Certain
statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking
information or statements (collectively, “forward-looking statementsâ€),
including those identified by the expressions “anticipateâ€, “believeâ€,
“planâ€, “estimateâ€, “expectâ€, “intendâ€, “mayâ€, “should†and similar
expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management.
The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect
current expectations regarding future results or events. This press
release contains forward- looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are based on current expectations and various estimates,
factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors. Such risks and uncertainties include,
among others, the risk factors included in North Bud Farms Inc.’s final
long form prospectus dated August 21, 2018 which is available under the
issuer’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: North Bud Farms Inc. Edward Miller VP, IR & Communications Office: (855) 628-3420 ext. 3 [email protected]
Tags: CSE, Hemp, Marijuana Stocks, tsx, tsx-v Posted in Featured, North Bud Farms Inc | Comments Off on NORTHBUD $NBUD.ca Amends Licence Application to Add 500K SQ. FT. of Outdoor Cultivation Area and Provides a Corporate Update $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca
Ever since the 2012 report stated that India needed thousands of new colleges and universities, it has been evident that India should instead focus on building disruptive innovations to rethink education by offering a service that is far more affordable, accessible, and convenient than the existing options.
That meant using online learning to serve people who would otherwise have no access to higher education.
In 2012, the government of India stated
that it would need to build 1,000 new universities and an astounding
50,000 new colleges by 2020 to meet expected demand as its population
and workforce continued to grow.
With over 750 universities and more than 38,000 colleges today—compared to roughly 650 universities and 25,000 colleges in 2012—the country looks unsurprisingly unlikely to meet that objective.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Surveys and sources suggest many college graduates are unprepared for the workforce. For example, according to the All India Council for Technical Education, a whopping 60 percent of engineering graduates from India’s technical colleges remain unemployed each year.
Instead of replicating systems of higher education found elsewhere,
India ought to be taking this opportunity to leapfrog the current state
of higher education.
Ever since the 2012 report stated that India needed thousands of new colleges and universities, it has been evident that India should instead focus on building disruptive innovations
to rethink education by offering a service that is far more affordable,
accessible, and convenient than the existing options. That meant using
online learning to serve people who would otherwise have no access to
higher education.
And India did initially leverage online learning by allowing its
universities and colleges to launch a wide range of online programs. But
there were two problems. First, because existing higher-ed institutions
drove the launch, their programs replicated aspects of Indian higher
education online, rather than invent new ways to serve students who had
no access previously—similar to what has happened in the United States
in many cases.
Second, the initial online programs were of widely varying quality. Some reports suggested students didn’t learn much of anything, and were certainly not prepared to tackle real-world problems.
As a result, India cracked down on all online learning, with a
moratorium on accredited universities offering online degrees in
December of 2016.
Although this halted universities from innovating, it didn’t stop
other Indian entities from innovating in online learning across the
education spectrum. Corporations continued to offer online certificates,
particularly in the coding and data analytics realms, and India’s
largest education company, Byju’s,
developed everything from next-generation interactive online simulations
to top-of-the-line animation online video lessons. India’s
higher-education system fell further behind when it came to leveraging
online learning innovations.
This past August, India dipped its toe back into the online learning regulatory waters. But just its little toe.
The University Grants Commission, the national regulatory body for
higher education that helps maintain standards and delegates funds to
recognized universities and colleges, announced
it will permit certain institutions to offer fully online certificate,
diploma and degree programs in the 2018–2019 academic year.
To be eligible, institutions must be at least five years old, awarded
a minimum score by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council,
and rank among the top 100 colleges and universities, based on a national evaluative framework,
for two of the past three years. The degree program must also mirror
pre-made, face-to-face courses that have already graduated a cohort of
students and have been previously approved by the statutory councils—in
other words, replicate the existing system.
These new rules sound like those of yesteryear’s—and that’s a problem.
By replicating a system that India’s citizens and employers already
say doesn’t produce workforce-ready graduates, it’s not clear why this
wave of online learning will work better than the last. Although the
Commission is allowing only the top 100 institutions in India in an
effort to control quality, it’s really just cementing in place the
current system of higher education.
That input-based approach to regulation,
in which the resources and processes of a class are controlled, will,
by definition, freeze innovation because it limits how programs may
deliver their services. It also ignores the question of student outcomes
at the program level, such that there will be little accountability.
There’s a better approach.
Lost amidst the changing rules and regulations is a focus on student
outcomes—and, in this case, critical measures that connect education to
the economy. (Some of these measures are outlined in a quality assurance framework
that we researched and developed.) The government of India ought to
incentivize institutions to compete on delivering what’s best for
students, while keeping costs down to increase value and promote access.
By maintaining a quality threshold, the Commission could invite many
players to enter the online higher education market and innovate around
quality and access, which could help India meet its demand to educate
more citizens for the workforce.
India could also be the first in the world to pioneer such a
progressive approach—and it could do so by first targeting the policy at
online universities, not the entire system, which would be far too
revolutionary at this stage.
The Commission ought to reconsider its choice. They can stay with the
status quo and implement piecemeal adjustments in the hope that the
outcomes match their intentions, or they can adopt a strategy of bold
innovation with robust student-outcome protocols that don’t leave
students’ success up to chance. From our standpoint, that shouldn’t be a
choice.
Michael Horn (@michaelbhorn) is an EdSurge columnist and Principal Consultant for Entangled Solutions. Brian Warren is a consultant at Entangled Solutions.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:19 AM on Wednesday, December 19th, 2018
Investment Highlights
Kenbridge property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper
17.5 (21.8 fully diluted) percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property
Kenbridge Ni Project (ON, Canada)
Advanced stage deposit remains open in three directions, is
equipped with a 623m deep shaft and has never been mined.
Preliminary Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project economics and operating costs including a NPV of C$253M and cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of copper credits.
Plans for Kenbridge include updating PEA,
advancing the project through to feasibility and exploring the open
mineralization at depth
FULL DISCLOSURE: Tartisan Nickel Corp. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:09 AM on Tuesday, December 18th, 2018
Concurrent with receiving debt financing at prime plus one and a quarter from a Major Canadian Financial Institution, it has closed the acquisition of 495 Communications, LLC , a leading advertising and content marketing company based in New York City and Santa Monica, California.
According to a third-party unaudited Quality of Earnings prepared by CohnReznick LLP in New York, as at August 31, 2018; 495’s Trailing Twelve Month revenue was reported at approximately USD$14.4M (CDN$18.1M equivalent), and adjusted EBITDA came in at USD$1.9M (CDN$3.3M equivalent).
VANCOUVER, Dec. 18, 2018 – Good Life Networks Inc. (“GLN“, or the “Company“) (TSXV: GOOD) (FSE: 4G5), a programmatic advertising technology company, announced today that, concurrent with receiving debt financing at prime plus one and a quarter from a Major Canadian Financial Institution (announced yesterday), it has closed the acquisition of 495 Communications, LLC (“495“), a leading advertising and content marketing company based in New York City and Santa Monica, California. Under the terms of a definitive share purchase agreement (the “Agreement“), GLN has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares (the “Purchased Shares“) of 495 for an aggregate purchase price of USD$15,000,000. According to a third-party unaudited Quality of Earnings prepared by CohnReznick LLP in New York, as at August 31, 2018; 495’s Trailing Twelve Month revenue was reported at approximately USD$14.4M (CDN$18.1M equivalent), and adjusted EBITDA came in at USD$1.9M (CDN$3.3M equivalent).
“I’m very proud of our company and team who have achieved nearly
every operating metric this year. From the beginning our mission,
vision, culture and values have guided our growth strategy,” said Jesse
Dylan, CEO of GLN. “With the closing of Impression X announced earlier
today and now 495 we have achieved our objective of acquiring two
companies this year. These acquisitions will be immediately accretive to
revenue.”
Under the terms of the Agreement, consideration for the Purchased Shares consists of the following:
a) US$3,500,000 in cash, payable to the members of 495 less the amount of outstanding indebtedness;
b) a cash earn-out, up to a maximum of US$5,500,000 for hitting performance benchmarks; and
c) a share/cash earn-out, to be satisfied, at the sole discretion of
the Company, in cash or through the issuance of common shares of the
Company (“GLN Shares“) up to a maximum amount of US$6,000,000
for hitting performance benchmarks, such GLN Shares to be issued at a
per share price based upon the greater of (i) the 20-day volume weighted
average trading price of the GLN Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange
(the “TSX-V“) immediately prior to the date of issuance and (ii) the lowest price permitted by the policies of the TSX-V.
The GLN Story
GLN’s technology is the engine that sits between advertisers and
publishers. The GLN Platform is built for cross device video
advertising: Mobile, In-App, Desktop and CTV (Connected Television). The
Programmatic Video Marketing Platform is powered by GLN’s Patent
Pending proprietary machine learning technology that targets and
connects digital advertisers with consumers three times faster than
industry standards, with exceptional low fraud rates among vendors
without collecting PII (Personal Identifiable Information).
The Programmatic Video Technology Platform features integrations at
the server level with both Publishers and Advertisers. Our technology
quickly finds the most valuable advertisement for every consumer.
Publishers make more money through improved CPM (advertising fill rate)
combined with a more engaged consumer experience. Advertisers make more
money by reaching their target audience more effectively. GLN makes
money by retaining a percentage of the advertiser’s fee.
GLN is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with offices
in the US and UK and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock
symbol “GOOD” and The Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock symbol
4G5.
Addressable Market: The total media ad spend worldwide will rise 7.4% to $628.63 billion according to eMarketer. 2018 Canadian Internet Ad Revenue is projected to rise by over $945 million to $7.7 Billion accord to the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Forward Looking Statements:
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs regarding future
events of management of GLN. This information and these statements,
referred to herein as “forwardâ€looking statements”, are not historical
facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without
limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates
and forecasts and statements as to management’s expectations and
intentions with respect to the Company’s acquisition and performance of
495. These statements generally can be identified by use of
forward-looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “estimate”,
“anticipate”, “intends”, “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof
or similar variations. These forwardâ€looking statements involve
numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ
materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements.
Important factors that may cause actual results to vary include without
limitation, risks relating GLN realizing on the anticipated value of
acquiring the Purchased Shares, GLN maintaining its projected growth,
and general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets.
In making the forwardâ€looking statements in this news release, the
Company has applied several material assumptions, including without
limitation that the acquisition of the Purchased Shares will generate
the anticipated revenue and expand GLN’s global reach per management’s
expectations. GLN does not assume any obligation to update the
forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results
could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements,
unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional
information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in GLN’s
filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are
available at www.sedar.com.
Tags: programatic advertising, tsx Posted in Good Life Networks | Comments Off on Good Life Networks Inc. $GOOD.ca Announces the Closing of 495 Communications, LLC $TTD $RUBI $AT.ca $TRMR $FUEL
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:37 AM on Tuesday, December 18th, 2018
Announced today that is has closed the acquisition of Impression X, Inc., a leading connected television (“CTV”) advertising technology company.
Under the terms defined by the definitive agreement, GLN has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Impression X for an aggregate purchase price of up to USD $4,500,000
VANCOUVER, Dec. 18, 2018 - Good Life Networks Inc. (“GLN“, or the “Company“) (TSXV: GOOD) (FSE: 4G5), a programmatic advertising technology company, announced today that is has closed the acquisition of Impression X, Inc. (“Impression X“), a leading connected television (“CTV“) advertising technology company. Under the terms defined by the definitive agreement (the “Definitive Agreement“), GLN has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares (the “Purchased Shares“) of Impression X for an aggregate purchase price of up to USD $4,500,000.
“This acquisition gives us more revenue horsepower during the biggest
quarter of the year in the advertising industry and a great start to
2019” said Jesse Dylan, CEO of GLN. “GLN and Impression X are highly
complementary businesses, and we are pleased to capitalize on this
unique opportunity to create a larger, more diversified and successful
company.”
Under the terms of the Definitive Agreement, consideration for the Purchased Shares consists of the following:
a) USD $500,000 in cash, payable to the shareholders of Impression X (the “Vendors“);
b) USD $400,000 in common share purchase warrants of the Company (“Warrants“),
payable to the Vendors at closing, based upon the greater of: (i) the
10-day volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s common
shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V“) immediately prior to the date of issuance; and (ii) the lowest price permitted by the policies of the TSX-V;
c) a performance earn-out of up to USD $1,000,000 in cash based on agreed-upon milestones; and
d) a performance earn-out of up to USD $2,600,000 in
Warrants based upon the greater of: (i) the 10-day volume weighted
average trading price of the Company’s common shares on the TSX-V
immediately prior to the date of issuance; and (ii) the lowest price
permitted by the policies of the TSX-V.
In partial satisfaction of the purchase price, the Company issued an
aggregate of 2,914,622 Warrants to the Vendors at closing exercisable to
purchase common shares of the Company at a price of C$0.1836 per share for a period of five years from the closing date.
“The combination of Impression X expertise and relationships in CTV
backed by GLN’s technology and world class team will allow us to capture
an even larger portion of the $31 billion-dollar industry,” stated Impression X CEO Matt Hopkins.
The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Changing TV Experience
report indicates that 56% of consumer TVs are now IP connected. The IAB
anticipates CTV ad revenues are projected to hit $31.5 billion in 2018, up 275 percent from $8.4 billion in 2015.
The GLN Story
GLN is a patent pending machine learning programmatic video
advertising technology company that does not collect PII (Personal
Identifiable Information). GLN serves millions of online video ads
daily 3 times faster than IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) standards
through multiple server to server integrations with both publishers and
advertisers. GLN is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with offices in the US and UK.
Digital ad revenue rose by 16.8%, more than double TV’s in January of 2018 according to Forbes Magazine.
GLN trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the stock symbol “GOOD”
and The Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock symbol 4G5.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Forward Looking Statements:
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs regarding future
events of management of GLN. This information and these statements,
referred to herein as “forwardâ€looking statements”, are not historical
facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without
limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates
and forecasts and statements as to management’s expectations and
intentions with respect to the Company’s acquisition of Impression X.
These statements generally can be identified by use of forward-looking
words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”,
“intends”, “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or similar
variations. These forwardâ€looking statements involve numerous risks and
uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results
suggested in any forward-looking statements. Important factors that may
cause actual results to vary include without limitation, risks relating
to the acquisition of Impression X, GLN maintaining its projected
growth and general economic conditions or conditions in the financial
markets. In making the forwardâ€looking statements in this news release,
the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without
limitation that the assimilation of Impression X will generate the
anticipated revenue and expand GLN’s global reach per management’s
expectations. GLN does not assume any obligation to update the
forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results
could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements,
unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional
information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in GLN’s
filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are
available at www.sedar.com.
