The Comunicano Communique for Monday April 11th, 2016

The Comunicano Communique

Today is a sad day in Philadelphia and all across the world of sports and philanthropy with the passing of an icon, Ed Snider. As someone who grew up in so many ways thanks to Mr. Snider, today is one sad day for just as it is for everyone who ever was a part of the very extended Snider/Flyers' family, but most of all for Ed's children whom I knew, grew up around and worked with.  Those who know me, know I grew up in sports from the age of 14, and so much that has followed was made possible because of Edward M. Snider. It was he who offered Ed Tepper, my first boss with the Philadelphia Wings their franchise. That was a startup pro lacrosse team in 1974. Yes, 1974, the year the Flyers won their first of two Stanley Cups. May 19th of that year is a day I will never, ever forget. Two years later, in 1976, Ed Snider along with Aaron Siegel and the late Ken Genser started something called Hockey Central, which has now pretty much morphed into Snider Hockey and other youth hockey related activities the Flyers back. Back in September of 1976, as a senior in high school, I was one of three founding employees who started Hockey Central before the first check was even in the bank. Less than two years later, while ending my freshman year in college, I was asked to run Hockey Central, being named as Executive Director, before eventually holding the title of President when I left to go west in 1988 and join the Coors Classic and eventually the Denver Nuggets. None of that could have happened if Ed Snider didn't buy into the vision of so many ideas and so much that was created that remains today. Along the way I held a few other roles and positions within the Flyers organization, including Office Manager and Manager of Amateur Hockey Affairs, plus almost always being to go-to exec for Special Projects like Bobby Clarke's Retirement Night while Ed's son Jay was President of the Team. But no matter who was at the helm, the Flyers were always Ed's team, just as Bobby Clarke was Ed's other son. RIP Ed...RIP. There's plenty of news in today's Comunicano Communique, so grab your coffee mug, tea or chai and get on with the news. By the way, don't miss the API event of the summer in Las Vegas. "All About The API"......     Snider family statement on the death of Ed Snider Ed Snider's children Monday issued the following statement:     [continue...]     Donnellon: Ed Snider invented hockey in Philadelphia Ed Snider never played hockey as a kid, never watched the game until he was well into adulthood.     [continue...]     Flyers founder Ed Snider dies at 83 Ed Snider, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded the Flyers and displayed more passion than many fans sitting in the nosebleed seats, died at 83 after a long battle with bladder cancer.     [continue...]     Why API management is enabling today's digital economy  APIs expose data for use by apps and the developers that create them. They make enterprise assets reachable by apps, and they're the tool that enterprises use to add a digital layer to their interactions with customers, employees and partners.     [continue...]     Verizon to bring back unlimited data, but only for IoT     Unlimited data plans have been creeping back into the toolboxes of some mobile operators, though usually with more stringent fair usage terms than before as MNOs try to preserve their networks from overload. T-Mobile USA and Sprint both have unlimited options, and Verizon is poised to reintroduce them too - but only for Internet of Things customers, whose usage is less threatening to network capacity.     [continue...]     Verizon report paints confused picture of IoT targets  What we expected to see from Verizon's 'State of the Internet of Things 2016' market report, compiled by Oxford Economics, were some potentially insightful projections on the number of LTE devices, and perhaps even a brief mention about the US MNO's thoughts on LPWANs such as Sigfox and LoRa.     [continue...]     Bessemer Venture on VC backed Companies Board Members In case you were wondering about the stereotypical "10 Worst VC Board Members"...  click on the image #VentureCapital #startuppic.twitter.com/oz62QsZAuh     [continue...]     Inside the heads of people who are always late, as explained by stick figures. " optimistic-people-have-one-thing-common-always-late." Intriguing. Nothing's better than the headline: "The reason people are [bad quality that describes you] is actually because they're [good quality]." I got to reading. And as it turns out, according to the article, late people are actually the best people ever.They're optimistic and hopeful: "People who are continuously late are actually just more optimistic.     [continue...]     How an Internet Mapping Glitch Turned a Random Kansas Farm Into a Digital Hell An hour's drive from Wichita, Kansas, in a little town called Potwin, there is a 360-acre piece of land with a very big problem. The plot has been owned by the Vogelman family for more than a hundred years, though the current owner, Joyce Taylor née Vogelman, 82, now rents it out.     [continue...]     VR headsets to generate $895M in revenue in 2016 Market researcher Strategy Analytics said it expects global virtual reality headset revenues will reach $895 million in 2016. About 77 percent of that value will be accounted for by newly launched premium devices from Oculus, HTC, and Sony.     [continue...]     Brands as chatty friends: Are chatbots 'the beginning of a new Internet'? Craving a taco for lunch? No need to go to your nearest Taco Bell or even download the app. You can just summon TacoBot on messaging platform Slack and even get recommendations while you place your order. Microsoft's recent chatbot PR disaster notwithstanding, brands are on the cusp of a bot explosion.     [continue...]     This Agency Is 30% More Productive Since It Started Using Chat Software to Connect With Clients Chatbots are coming to digital marketing, and they're also shaking up the agency-brand relationship. Since it starting using Slack in April 2014, digital shop R/GA has gotten 1,500 of its 1,800 staffers across 15 offices on the project-management platform.     [continue...]     57 Ways To Sign Off On An Email One day last fall, my colleague Miguel Morales received an email with a sign-off that was so strange, it has stuck in his mind for the last year. It came from Melissa Geisler, who works in digital sports programming and production at Yahoo. Below Geisler's title and above her cell [...]     [continue...]     How technology can improve the guest experience before arrival Using technology to own the digital conversation has become the most important aspect of most hoteliers' jobs. It leads to increased direct engagement with guests, an influx of guest conversion from unknown OTA bookings to real known guests, and ultimately, an increase in future direct bookings.     [continue...]     How Apple is grooming the iPad to take over the Mac As Apple's first truly new tablet in years, the iPad Pro is every bit the beast it was rumored to be. Built around a gorgeous 12.9-inch screen, it doesn't skimp on the pixels or the power. With its eye-popping 2732-by-2048 resolution and the cutting-edge A9X chip, the big iPad Pro drew a clear line in the sand between it and the Air.     [continue...]     Hidden Cell Phone Contract Perks You Should Be Taking Advantage Of There's a reason why they don't want you to know about these.     [continue...]

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