Podcasts about Acuity Brands

In this episode of Restoring Darkness, Michael Colligan, Mark Baker, and Scott Wachter unpack the hidden dangers of light pollution, from LED-induced migraines to its role in societal chaos. They expose how the lighting industry's shift from bulbs to LEDs dodged accountability, while personal responsibility narratives shield systemic failures. With the NHTSA banning flashing LED vehicle lights and lawsuits looming, the trio challenges the myth that brighter nights mean safer streets, revealing a world where light might just be the spark for unrest—and a call for industry reckoning grows louder.Key Takeaways Health Hazards Emerge: LEDs are linked to migraines, seizures, and chronic issues like cancer and sleep loss, a stark shift from the industry's early focus on dark sky preservation. Systemic vs. Personal: The narrative of “turn off your phone” dodges broader accountability—lighting firms, regulators, and utilities push personal fixes over systemic solutions, burdening the sensitive. Industry Accountability: Extended producer responsibility could force manufacturers, distributors, and installers to curb light pollution, with legal parallels to glyphosate lawsuits targeting firms like Acuity Brands. Safety Myth Debunked: Bright lights don't deter crime universally—car break-ins and porch piracy thrive under illumination—while 5000K LEDs may escalate tension in riots, not calm it. Energy Efficiency Fallacy: LED mandates prioritize lumens-per-watt over total energy use or human comfort, leaving utilities off the hook and society over-lit without real gains.

It is a thrill to welcome Miral Kotb back (and for the first time on the podcast) to the Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar platform.  Miral is a prolific entrepreneur in technology development and the performing arts. In 2009, she combined her passion for dance and technology to create iLuminate, the world's first light dance technology company. Two years later, Miral and Team ILuminate made their national debut on America's Got Talent (AGT): Season Six, where they wowed the audience, Howie Mandel, and former judges Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne.  After coming in third place, iLuminate began working with iconic collaborators such as the Black Eyed Peas, Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, and Death Cab for Cutie. Miral Kotb's technology was also featured on Dancing with the Stars, The X Factor, and several award shows, including the American Music Awards, BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and Nickelodeon's HALO Awards. Fans also saw her work incorporated into Disneyland, off-Broadway, and Six Flags Theme Parks shows.   She is passionate about empowering young people to pursue opportunities in STEM/STEAM. An engaging and influential public speaker, she knows how to enlighten audiences about the creative side of technology.Miral has spoken at numerous events, including Google Zeitgeist, Google's Made with Code, On Cue, TEDx Teen, TEDx Broadway, Wonder Woman Tech, TIDE Conference, The Apple Developer Conference, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Adaptive Paths, Center for Global Brand Leadership, National Arts Marketing Project, NEXTECH, Capital One, and Acuity Brands, among others. Miral and her iLuminate team also had the honor of ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ.  Miral and iLuminate have landed a new show at The Strat Hotel, Casino, and Tower in Las Vegas! The production received rave reviews from Las Vegas Magazine, Las Vegas Weekly, and The New York Times. The show is performed daily except on Tuesdays.  On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Miral Kotb spoke about the Las Vegas show, how AGT impacted both pop culture and the Las Vegas Strip, and previewed the group's 2025 tour that has stops in Colorado Springs, Denver, Sioux City, Iowa, and Flint, Michigan.Let's connect on social media: A) BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jacobelyachar.bsky.socialB) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacobElyachar/C) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacobelyachar/D) Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jacobelyacharE) Twitter (X): https://x.com/JacobElyacharF) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JacobElyacharBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

Changes in BMS technology, including the edge-to-cloud concept, are changing the way we manage buildings. Eugene Mazo of Atrius, part of the Intelligent Spaces Group at Acuity Brands, joins us to discuss futureproofing buildings.

Javid and Robert are two guys who dive into the long, boring stuff of standards and protocols so you don't have to. Because of them, you will know which cables and wires to use for your DMX512 projects. You have the ANSI E1.27-2 Task Group to thank for setting the standards for “Permanently Installed Control Cables for Use with ANSI E1.11 (DMX512-A) and USITT DMX512/1990 Products.” Did you know that DMX512 needs a specific kind of cable? Well… now you know. Javid Butler is a lighting designer and energy engineer who holds LC, CEM, and CMVP certifications. He has contributed to the development of many lighting standards including RDM and sACN, and chaired the task group for E1.27 DMX512 cabling standards. He presently chairs the E1.68 DMX512 Compliance task group. In addition to lighting standards Javid enjoys teaching Fundamentals of Lighting. He also writes science fiction under the pen name David Pax. Robert Bell a Consulting Director for Product Market at Acuity Brands and oversees the development of the entire Pathway Connectivity product line. Robert has been awarded multiple US Patents for lighting controls and networking which have been assigned to Acuity Brands. In 1992, he won the first every Wally Russell Newcomer Award as the creator of WYSIWYG, the Emmy Award winning previsualization software. His is a regular contributor to entertainment lighting periodicals and is the author of the book Let There Be Light, Conversations with Lighting Pioneers. With roots in the Rock ‘n Roll touring world and broadcast Television during the 1990's, he spent the 2000's as a product manager for Strand Lighting and as brand ambassador for Vari*Lite. For the past 20 years, Robert has sat on ESTA's Control Protocol Working Group, the body that brought DMX, RDM and sACN forward as ANSI standards. 

CCCT sat down with Eugene Mazo GM for Atrius, Intelligent Spaces Group at Acuity Brands, that is founded on a deep, empathic understanding of the rapidly evolving pain points of operating modern spaces. From the world's largest airports to the architectural wonders of enterprise businesses and cutting-edge venues, we understand spaces are more than walls, windows, and ceilings.The realization of our strategic vision is a class of innovative solutions working in sync to revolutionize how people operate, work in, and experience spaces. Atrius is part of the Intelligent Spaces Group, a new Acuity Brands division revolutionizing spaces to sense, think, and act. Enjoy the conversation.https://atrius.com#buildingmanagement #enterprisesystems #spaces #technology #lighting #energy #projectmanagement #engineering #technology #artificialintelligence 

Highlights today include: Mercury Lighting Sold, Acuity Brands and NALMCO Collaborate to Provide Training Resources to Milwaukee Public Schoolsʹ Youth Apprenticeship Program, Get A Grip Podcast: ArchLIGHT Summit 2024, Circular Lighting Live 2024, Kahler Grand Hotel Transformed with Exquisite Chandeliers by 2nd Ave Lighting.

Special Release! It's almost September and that means the Archlight Summit is almost upon us. Lea and Cindy update Michael on what to expect this year at The Dallas Market Centre in Dallas Texas. Educational and enjoyable. Catch up with friends and colleagues you haven't seen for a while. September 17 and 18. Lea is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in Trade Show Sales, Attendee Development, and new business development, specializing for over 14 years in the commercial and architectural lighting industry. Lea joined the Dallas Market Center this past April and is focused on Attendee Development and Exhibit Sales for ArchLIGHT Summit. She is dedicated to driving exhibit hall growth by attracting high-profile exhibitors and key industry attendees, ensuring the show's success, and expanding its impact in the lighting industry. Cindy is an award-winning Independent Marketing Consultant who's been working in the lighting industry for 20 years. She has an extensive background in Event Management and Marketing in various industries including professional sports, non-profit events, and industry trade shows. She got her start in the commercial and architectural lighting industry with Acuity Brands and continues to serve as a marketing specialist for a variety of clients in architectural lighting. Cindy was contracted by the Dallas Market Center four years ago to create and manage ArchLIGHT Summit to Central Texas. She serves as the Director of Event Strategy and is responsible for exhibitor growth, association involvement, board members and overall event marketing and management. Cindy serves as the National Marketing Chair on the Women in Lighting + Design Board of Directors. 

Highlights today include: Sach Sankpal Named New President of Acuity Brands, Legrand Reports First-Half 2024 Results, Controls to the Rescue, Pharos Unveils Expert Touch 8 to Bolster Expert Product Family, LEDucation 2025 Call for Speakers Deadline.

Highlights today include: IES Sells LD+A to Sage, mate. Announces Pilot Program with Acuity Brands at Houston Methodist for Sustainable Lighting Solutions in Healthcare, Lighting Controls Podcast: Bruce Clark on CEDIA, Integration, and the Future of Lighting, IESNYC 2024 Golf Outing.

Josh is a seasoned marketing, content, and operations consultant with a wealth of experience. In his most recent roles, he served as the Digital Marketing Content and Product Marketing Manager for BlueCross BlueShield and Acuity Brands. There, he formulated strategies to engage customers and promote products effectively online. In February 2022, he departed from the corporate sphere to join a startup digital marketing company, assuming the role of VP of Operations & Accounts. Within this position, he successfully led and mentored a team of 7 copywriters, designers, and developers to help their customers succeed online. Drawing on his extensive expertise, Josh embarked on his entrepreneurial journey, founding his own business, Tripally.io, in August 2023. This venture has proven both challenging and rewarding as he utilizes his skills and experience to create something that solves a unique problem. Tripally.io is dedicated to addressing contemporary challenges in digital networking. https://www.linkedin.com/company/tripallyio/ https://www.facebook.com/tripally.io/ https://www.instagram.com/tripally.io/ www.tripally.io Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Here: www.scottaaron.net

Acuity Brands Inc's Q1 2024 earnings call, unedited

Lauren Scott of Acuity Brands and host of The Resilience Report is on the show this week giving us some significant insights into how the landscape of sustainability is evolving. We cover the new regulations and guidelines that are coming into effect as well as the need to ditch greenwashing and get into the real impact that our sustainable practices are having. Plus, Lauren sneaks in a nod to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the episode, not an easy feat! Lauren is immensely knowledgeable in this field, you are going to want a pen and paper close by for this one.

Highlights today include: Paul Tarricone to Consult with EdisonReport, Acuity Brands to Acquire Current's Horticulture Lighting Business, Don Dziubaty, Rest in Peace, ChargePoint, Blink, and Other EV Market Players Collapsing, Circadian Lighting Takes Center Stage at London's Happy Circadian Hour, GRE Alpha Engages Global Lighting and Controls to Amplify the Promotion of LED Power Supplies and Lighting Controls.

Carl Coken and Sandeep Modhvadia from Acuity Brands discuss new tools such as digital twins, machine learning and open platforms that bridge the gap between legacy solutions and emerging technologies, to reduce emissions and operational costs for these huge contributors to climate change. This episode covers how building managers can integrate automated control, organizational alignment, and sustainability reporting to fully address energy and resource allocation - from lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, sustainability programs, and more. Resources Mentioned:https://atrius.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/atrius-acuity/https://www.youtube.com/@atrius8351https://twitter.com/AcuityBrandsSandeep Modhvadia - LinkedInCarl Coken - LinkedInConnect with Us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifmaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFacilityManagementAssociation/Twitter: https://twitter.com/IFMAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifma_hq/YouTube: https://youtube.com/ifmaglobalVisit us at https://ifma.org

We're all humans, so the needs of workers are similar across the board. John Brothers has learned this from his time as VP of Talent at Acuity.On today's episode of Workplace Stories, John recounts his experience working through Acuity's cultural and business mindset shift and how that has affected the frontline workforce and beyond.Connect with John BrothersJohn on LinkedInConnect With Red Thread ResearchWebsite: Red Thread ResearchOn LinkedInOn FacebookOn TwitterSubscribe to WORKPLACE STORIES

Highlights today include: Samuel Marcus, Rest in Peace, Acuity Brands' Q3 FY2023, 2023 IESNYC Service Awards Recognize Exceptional Contributions to the Lighting Community, 2023 Q2 Pulse of Lighting Survey, Much More Than an Award, DesignLights Consortium Plans September Controls Summit in Detroit, July 2023 Energy Watch Newsletter From Bill Attardi.

Straight from Benzinga newsdesk, hosts Brent Slava and Michael O'Connor bring you the market news and stocks to watch.Subscribe to our Stocks To Watch Newsletter here : https://go.benzinga.com/sales-page-187126583617110118712659With U.S. stock futures trading slightly higher this morning on Thursday, some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are as follows:Wall Street expects McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) to report quarterly earnings at 57 cents per share on revenue of $1.67 billion before the opening bell. McCormick named Brendan Foley as CEO, effective Sept. 1. McCormick shares fell 1.5% to close at $91.85 on Wednesday.BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. BlackBerry shares jumped 11.8% to $5.60 in the after-hours trading session.Analysts are expecting Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) to have earned $3.71 per share on revenue of $1.05 billion for the latest quarter. The company will release earnings before the markets open. Acuity Brands shares gained 2.2% to $164.12 in after-hours trading.Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) reported better-than-expected third-quarter results. The company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $3.7 billion and $4.1 billion versus estimates of $3.89 billion. The company anticipates a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of $1.12 to $1.26 per share versus estimates for a loss of $1.06 per share. Micron shares surged 3% to $69.09 in the after-hours trading session.Analysts expect NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) to post quarterly earnings at 67 cents per share on revenue of $12.59 billion after the closing bell. Nike shares rose 0.2% to $113.28 in after-hours trading.Hosts:Michael O'Connor , Benzinga NewsdeskReach out to Michael at michaeloconnor@benzinga.comBenzinga Strategy Developmentpro.benzinga.comIf you have ideas for stocks we should cover or have feedback about the info or presentation, please drop us a line at newsdesk@benzinga.com or aslicoskun@benzinga.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode features an interview with Sarah Diegnan, VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop, a dynamic, visual, and actionable people analytics platform that helps companies manage and support their employees. Sarah leads ChartHop's customer journey, partnering with customers from the first moments of onboarding through successful execution of all account goals to make sure customers get the most out of ChartHop. With a background in structural engineering, Sarah's career has taken her from building cathedrals to building customer relationships. And in this episode, she discusses how to systematically design the customer journey, and how she drives value from day one, and how she creates that stickiness factor to get customers hooked on the ChartHop brand.Quotes*”You really have to think through: Who are my customers? What are they buying? Why do they need us? Why do they use us? I think sometimes we get caught in a little bit of a trap because we are the ones that have to define what value means for our product.”*”At the end of the day, your customer journey is truly project management. I mean, it's customer management at that point. And so how I've always thought about customer journey in a lot of ways is, you're building a building, Like you start by digging the ground and building the foundation. And in a lot of ways, that's not the most attractive part of the building. But if you don't have a strong foundation, you don't have anything. And so that's what I always compare to your onboarding and your implementation. And so I do think there is correlation between building a building and the customer journey.”*”I feel really strongly that the best experience that we can provide to our customers is the one that is rooted in process, and everyone follows the same process. And that's not to say that we treat everyone like a number. Every customer is gonna have their own unique style. Every customer is going to have their own unique use cases and challenges. And I welcome all of that. I want that. But the foundation has to be the same.“Time Stamps[0:52] Introducing Sarah Diegnan, VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop[4:02] How Sarah started as a structural engineer, designing a cathedral[9:47] Sarah's “reckoning” where she pivoted to Customer Experience[13:35] About Sarah's journey to Opower[24:33] How does Sarah apply her expertise to CX at ChartHop today?[29:34] How does ChartHop use KPIs and metrics to tune into CXBioSarah Diegnan is the VP of Customer Experience at ChartHop. Sarah has over 10 years of experience in customer success and operations, having served in various leadership roles at companies such as Acuity Brands, Opower, and Adura Technologies. She is a results-oriented leader with a proven track record of building and scaling successful customer success organizations. She is passionate about driving value for customers and helping them achieve their goals.Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksConnect with SarahLearn more about ChartHopConnect with Sohaib on LinkedInCheck out HGS

Highlights today include: 2023 IESNYC Lumen Awards, designing lighting June 2023 issue, New Global Workplace Study Shows Gap Between Employee Needs and Workplace Utilization, IMC, Manager of LightFair, Rebrands to ANDMORE, New Leaders Elected to AIA Board of Directors, Think like an Owner: Business Tools for Designers, Acuity Brands' ldSETTM Field-Programmable LED Drivers from eldoLED®.

Highlights today include: Shedding Light on Yazi Fletcher's Red Sky Departure: A Stormy Turn of Events, WAC Lighting and Hinkley Settle Litigations, Ira Greenberg of Keystone Technologies, Among Philadelphia Region's EY Entrepreneur of the Year Winners, Acuity Brands, Inc  introduced Design Select™, Speakeasy RGBTW, Two Weeks Until the Li-Fi Conference.

In this episode, Ethan McCarty, CEO at Integral and the chair of our upcoming Spring Seminar, discusses the event's theme of Influence at Work, and explains how communicators can leverage influence to drive results.     EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Speaker 1 (00:00): Hey, it's Elliot. Before we get to the episode, I just wanted to give a quick reminder to please hit the subscribe button. We don't publish on a regular schedule, and so subscribing will give you a heads up when there's a fresh episode to check out. And if you love the podcast as much as we love making it, leave us a rating and review, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks Speaker 1 (00:20): Has always mattered. But it seems like today in a world where everyone is empowered to spread their views, it's more important than ever. Case in point, a billion dollar industry has materialized and the main commodity sells is influence on social media. This may feel like a new phenomenon, but finding trusted, influential voices and earning their advocacy has been a page in the comms playbook forever. The ability to influence is crucial for CCOs as they work to shape the actions and opinions of stakeholders. This is why our spring seminar this year is themed influence at work, the new rules to reach and persuade those who matter most. Speaker 2 (00:59): For me personally, influence Speaker 1 (01:02): Is Speaker 2 (01:03): As much about openness to influence as it is about the ability to influence other people. And it's that quality of intellectual curiosity, but rigor and a desire to change and grow that makes influence so interesting. Speaker 1 (01:24): Ethan McCarty, the chair of the 2023 Spring seminar, knows a thing or two about influence as the founder and CEO of Integral Ethan serves leaders of communications, hr, marketing and technology at organizations global and local alike. In light of the upcoming spring seminar, we spoke with Ethan to dive deeper into the key theme of influence. I'm Elliot Mizrahi, and this is the new c c o. Speaker 2 (01:50): The theme of this year's spring seminar is influence at work, and there's a bit that follows after that, but let me just say, influence at work is intentionally a triple entendre influence is simultaneously the work that we do, the communications marketing, public relations, like our profession, like the communications profession, a design point behind it, a raison detra for it is to, uh, generate influence, to wield influence, to understand who's influencing whom to shape, to shape a kind of operating environment, right? But it's also, you know, influence at work. Many of us, pretty much everyone is contending with a world where even in the workplace, which has been virtualized for a long time, but even in the workplace, we're trying to figure out like how do I as a leader influence these people? How do I become open to their influence in reasonable and rational and strategic ways? Speaker 2 (02:52): How do I wield influence at work? Uh, particularly in a world where teams are, you know, recombinant and self-directed and all of these wonderful things, right? But then the third dimension to that triple entendre is that influence is at work upon us and in new ways, in a lot of different ways too. You know, the, the media environment in which we all operate, the, uh, the environment of, of networks being opened or closed or accessible or not privileged, uh, equitable, like we are, we are under the influence as well of a changing environment as much as we are in an industry designed to shape it. And that's why, you know, I wanted to focus on influence. There's such a tight relationship between influence and transformation in the enterprise. I mean, pretty much every organization that I encounter is undergoing some kind of transformation, whether they like it or not, and whether they know it or not. Um, some are very explicit too, you know, like we are in this stage of this transformation and we think it's got a beginning, middle, and end and, and this kinda thing. Transformation is a familiar theme at page last year, at the 2022 page spring seminar. Many of the conversations centered around that topic to see what's changed. Since then. We checked in with last year's chair, Dr. Candace Steel flipping of Acuity Brands. Speaker 3 (04:25): First, I am really super excited about this topic and I believe it's really timely At the end of the day, you know, we need to get things done and long gone are the command and control type of days. And so we can all affect change from no matter where we sit. And so the idea that we can influence better is, um, really exciting to me so that we can shape the future that we want and connect the dots with the right narrative and the right message is, is is really relevant more than ever. Cuz again, as I mentioned, I think people's attentions and values are shifting. So how do you break through? And if we think about, you know, what's happened over the past three years, many of us don't have a really good roadmap in terms of where we're gonna go next because everything's different. So I'm excited about this particular conference because we're gonna bring our energy and understand what we need to do to break through to get all these important things we need to get done. Speaker 2 (05:30): And what role does the C C O have in navigating this new world of transformation and influence? Speaker 3 (05:35): I would say the role of the C C O, at least in the last several organizations I've been a part of is, is helping the organization lead and manage through change. It's the only constant that we're gonna see for organizations that want to thrive. And I spend a lot of time thinking about how leaders can be more effective, better leaders, and allowing them to understand the rationale of what we're trying to do in terms of how we're trying to win. And, and then looking at research that helps us un tap into what, what's really going on. I, I read over the weekend an interesting paper that kind of came up in, um, maybe my LinkedIn feed from Axios hq. And they were looking at a, a report of, from a study they had done with lots of different companies and lots of different sectors, and they looked at what leaders care about and what they wanna talk about, values, vision, and what people want to hear . Speaker 3 (06:42): And it was different. And so, you know, finding and identifying what that gap is to solution around it and create long-term sustainable, um, initiatives and strategies that, um, can help connect the dots so that we can continue to win is where I spent a lot of my time. And I will say that, um, it's not as straightforward because I believe people's values have reset and reshifted over the last three years. So what would've motivated someone three years ago, pre pandemic is different and I believe people are looking at their relationships with their company is very different because a lot of people have moved, um, in the last three years. And so it's, it's a lot of listening. It's a lot of thinking about, um, what's gonna make sustainable value for leaders and associates so that we earn the right for people to come and do their best every day Speaker 1 (07:39): With the new opportunities that communicators have. New risks aren't equal. Abundance, Ethan dives into what some of those can look like. Speaker 2 (07:48): Well, I think there's, I mean there's risk everywhere and, and it's, and we are, we are one of the levers that leaders at a societal and a business level can pull to mitigate the risk. I mean, it kind of depends on what risk we're talking about. I mean, like, I think one of the, one of the gravest risks that we face right now is that we will, y you know, collectively as a profession, uh, the we in that was our profession. Not all humans, but we'll, we'll exercise our influence in ways that are at cross purposes to, uh, the benefit and progress in of society. And, you know, that's one of the reasons why I believe so much in partici and participate so much. I mean, you see me do a lot of stuff with the page society is because I think it's such an important lever to pull in the world to say like, look, the way we communicate about things becomes the thing. Speaker 2 (08:46): I mean, this is, and so if, if we communicate in times of great risk, uh, in ways that are self-serving, if we communicate in ways that consolidate power to the few, if we communicate in ways that, um, drives people apart, I mean, these are all effective by the way, strategies for, you know, these are, you know, you can do that and g and make gains, um, for your organization. We see that all the time. Or you can communicate in ways that, that bring people together that, um, and we can exercise our influence particularly, I mean like we have big brands in page, you know, with, you know, tens or hundreds of thousands of people and that, you know, that make the, you know, the evening news every day for good or for bad. And, you know, um, that, um, wielding that influence in ways that brings people together rather than drives 'em apart, I think is, is the big opportunity. Speaker 2 (09:49): And the inverse of it is the big risk. And, you know, turning over judgment to turning over your judgment to people who are, you know, small minded or the robots that they've programmed, um, is, is a huge risk. And a lot of, I mean, we, listen, you're, this is hardly breaking news, but we all know that a lot of the data that, um, these generative AI systems have been trained upon is not necessarily, you know, it's, it's not like it's, it's getting only input from, you know, ethicists, . You know, there's a lot of content from, from trolls and from despots and from whomever else that's in there, and selfish people, what have you. So there's a lot of opportunity in, um, conscious capitalism in stakeholder driven communications, in stakeholder driven management in the, um, e S G movement. And I'm not talking about, um, some woke key thi you know, like whatever I'm, I'm talking about literally saying, okay, is, are there, you know, are there models out there right now that we can, that we can observe that we can take advantage of that allow us to make some choices and direct, you know, direct our, you know, direct our choices towards what is a net positive, um, for the business that we represent? Speaker 2 (11:14): You know, like, I wanna make money. I'm an ardent capitalist, right? I want my clients to make a ton of money and there's no reason that they have to do that at the expense of, you know, the kind of global commons all the time or expense of people all the time. Like there's a, there's a whole world in which bounty is, is, you know, there's just abundant bounty and we can pursue that together. And so I think that's kind of a big risk. I know I sort of went off into a little bit of a funny spot there, but let me come back. There's, there's, there's something I want to add. And I mean, you guys are gonna have to edit the heck out of this, but there's a, uh, one of these like laws like Murphy's Law, uh, but it, there's, it's called Conway's Law. Speaker 2 (11:57): And Conway's Law is worth taking a look at. And it, it basically says that the way it was written by this guy named Melvin Conway in, um, in a periodical called Data Mads back in 1968. So he was a computer scientist and the essay is called How Do Committees Invent? I think that's, or that's roughly the title, but it's, I mean, he takes a look at the way communication systems change the way people behave and what they do. And, and I think it's, it's really important, um, to, to take a look at that because he, he said basically it, the way we communicate is reified in the product that we make. And so what that means is, and I think his example is like, look, if you, if you have a, if you have a a, a team that meets every four weeks and they're trying to design a filter and what ends up happening is they end up building a four stage filter cuz they're gonna break up into four groups with the four week cadence and whatever. Speaker 2 (12:55): So the, the communications rhythms drive the output. And to me that's something that's like very, very exciting as a sort of principle to keep in mind as a communicator, the way we communicate actually affects, it constitutes what many organizations are. And in fact, there's a whole theory, professor Couchman, who has a theory called Constitutive Communications Theory. And if you look at that, you can see like the, the, the, the, an organization is not a vessel in which a bunch of communications happens. Actually, the organization comprises the communication. And so, you know, the way we communicate, it's not just, it's, it's not just something that's happening as a subsystem of the organization. It is, it constitutes the organization. And so this is both the risk and the opportunity because the way we communicate has incredible influence on the nature of reality for people, you know, and we see that in how privilege is exercised. We see that in how access is exercised. We see that in how status is exercised. A lot of these things don't exist in a material way until they're manifested through communication and then they have very material effects. And so I think that's both the risk and the opportunity and at the core of it is influence. You know, the way we communicate influences reality. Speaker 1 (14:27): If you enjoy today's episode of the new c o, be sure to check out our latest episodes and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. While you're there, leave us a rating and a review. We want to hear what you think so that we can keep making this podcast more interesting and valuable to you. To find out more about what's happening at Page, please visit us@page.org. Special thanks to Rivet 360, our podcast partner. Without who support, we simply would not be able to bring this podcast to you. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next time on the new cco.  

¡Emprendeduros! En este episodio Rodrigo y Alejandro nos dan una actualización de mercado donde hablan de la situación del Mercado, de los números de empleo, de la crisis bancaria, del recorte de producción de la OPEP+ y de Finlandia uniéndose a la OTAN. Nos dan los reportes de ingresos de Canabria, Acuity Brands, Lamb Weston y Constellation Brands . Después hablan de Tesla rompiendo récords, de las nuevas reglas de la administración de Biden y dicen adiós a Bed Bath & Beyond. Finalmente nos dan la actualización de Cryptos donde hablan del cambio de logo de Twitter y de la subida de los DEXs antes del análisis técnico por parte de Delox. ¡Síguenos en Instagram! Alejandro: https://www.instagram.com/salomondrin Rodrigo: https://www.instagram.com/rodnavarro Delox: https://www.youtube.com/@Delox Emprendeduros: https://www.instagram.com/losemprendeduros

In episode 90, Coffey talks with Sarah Diegnan about the systems used to create exceptional customer experiences.They discuss the correlation between the customer journey and customer experience; all the departments that take part in a customer's journey; the importance of a customer-centric approach for product development; effective client segmentation; how user expectations have changed; setting up actionable metrics for engagement; the current role of AI in customer experience and what to expect in the future; and how leaders can adapt the customer journey to enhance employee engagement.Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—premium background checks with fast and friendly service. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com. If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com. About our Guest:Sarah Diegnan is ChartHop's VP of Customer Experience. After leading complex implementations at Acuity Brands, Opower, and Oracle, she brings operational excellence to creating and delivering a world-class customer experience for all of ChartHop's customers. She is an expert in leading a customer journey, partnering with customers from the first moments of onboarding through successful execution of all account goals -- making sure customers are getting the most out of ChartHop. In addition to her SaaS experience, Sarah was a practicing structural engineer at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and worked for the commercial real estate developer, Tishman Speyer. Sarah holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University, an MS in Structural Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from UC, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Sarah lives in San Francisco with her wife and two very active sons.Sarah Diegnan can be reached at https://www.charthop.com/About Mike Coffey:Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, human resources professional, licensed private investigator, and HR consultant.In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations firm helping risk-averse companies make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.Today, Imperative serves hundreds of businesses across the US and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence and has twice been named HR Professional of the Year. Additionally, Imperative has been named the Texas Association of Business' small business of the year and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. Mike is a member of the Fort Worth chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization and volunteers with the SHRM Texas State Council.Mike maintains his certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute. He is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).Mike lives in Fort Worth with his very patient wife. He practices yoga and maintains a keto diet, about both of which he will gladly tell you way more than you want to know.Learning Objectives: 1. Explain the relationship between the customer journey and customer experience and identify the key touchpoints.2. Analyze the importance of a customer-centric approach for product development and describe effective strategies for client segmentation.3. Gain knowledge on how leaders can adapt the customer journey to enhance employee engagement.

My guest today is Candace Steele Flippin, DM. Candace is currently the chief communications officer for Acuity Brands- a 4 Billion dollar revenue organization, and previously served as Chief Communications Officer of First Horizon Bank, a 3.49 Billion dollar revenue bank. Acuity has 11,500 employees, and First Horizon has 7,000 plus employees. She also has her Doctor of Management from Case Western Reserve University out of Cleveland, Ohio. Candace is on this podcast because I want to understand what works and what doesn't work when you're communicating with 10k people and do that in a way that's actually effective. This podcast turned out to be so much more. You'll hear everything from: Why her parents never held back the dreams and ambitions of her and her siblings growing up after they were raised in the Jim Crow south How generations change and how this affects work and what people want- what works and what doesn't, bringing people together to make sure people do great work and take care of the customer Helping women grow and get the jobs they need, not staying stuck, and addressing pay parity Please enjoy this week's episode with Candace Steele Flippen! If you like the show, please tell a friend! Click here to see more about Candace and her work. Links:Candace- https://www.linkedin.com/in/candacesteeleflippin/ https://www.acuitybrands.com/ https://www.firsthorizon.com/ https://case.edu/ https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Jim-Crow-South.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_generations https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/p/pay-equity.aspx https://www.candacesteeleflippin.com/

This week we hear from Lauren Scott, VP of Marketing and Sustainability and Adam Handler, Director of Corporate Sustainability and Communications at Acuity Brands. On episode 164 of The Green Insider, we take a deep dive into the world of corporate sustainability. Learn how their survey showed corporate interest rising … The post The State of Corporate Sustainability is Trending the Right Direction appeared first on eRENEWABLE.

For the past 8 years, Christopher Lapides has been the Creative Services Production Manager for Acuity Brands. In this position, he leads a team of production artists that work on a variety of marketing and product collateral to help improve brand equity, increase product sales, and drive market innovation. In addition, he manages the company's Digital Asset Management System, develops multiple standard work and brand identity guidelines, and provides support for interdepartmental software and hardware launches. When he has free time, he enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and writing fantasy novels. So far, he has self-published twelve and is currently working on his thirteenth and fourteenth books.

What percentage increase in productivity would you say would need to be achieved by all the individuals in a building in order to pay for ALL The energy used by that building? 5%? 20%? Would you believe it if I told you only 1%? Yes, a mere 1% increase in productivity.Curious about the math?Well, today you'll learn how Daylighting can actually bring just as much ROI to your business as the other way we capture the sun! And we also outline his 3-30-300 rule that supports this claim over on the blog.Active solar power is about energy generation. But, passive solar leads to reduced consumption. And both can co-exist in commercial and industrial (C&I) properties. Today's podcast explores why we should take seriously the opportunity to incorporate both in classrooms, offices, retail and warehousing applicationsGrant Grable, the Vice President of Operations and Business Development for Sunoptics, and a true daylighting OG, helps us navigate the conversation.Sunoptics is the leader in prismatic skylights and daylighting. However, since we recorded with Grant, AES Industries actually acquired Sunoptics from Acuity Brands. But in this episode, Grant refers to Acuity Brands as the parent company. Grant is a LEED Accredited Professional with extensive experience in the green building industry and optimizing the ways buildings work. If you haven't spent much time on energy efficiency or building envelope management, I hope you'll join this deep dive into an area of the building (and solar industry) we don't often spend enough time talking about!Grant has a deep understanding of how integrated skylight solutions can aid productivity. The skylights provide the ultimate human-performance, net-zero lighting with all-day exposure to sunlight. Grant is a superstar in the daylighting sector, and today he shares with us from his 3+ decades of experience. You're in for a treat.If you want to connect with today's guest, you'll find links to their contact info (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) in the show notes on the blog.SunCast is presented by Sungrow, the world's most bankable inverter brand.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at: www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find the resources and learn more about today's guest, recommendations, book links, and more than 558 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on Twitter, LinkedIn or by email.

Sarah Diegnan is ChartHop's VP of Customer Experience, after leading implementations at Acuity Brands, Opower and Oracle, she brings operational excellence to creating and delivering a world class customer experience for all ChartHop's customers. She is an expert in leading a customer journey, partnering with customers from the first moments of onboarding through successful execution of all account goals, making sure customers are getting the most out of CharterHop. In addition to her SaaS experience, Sarah was a practicing structural engineer at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and worked for the commercial real estate developer, Tishman Speyer.   Questions   Can you share a little bit about your journey, how you got to where you are today? What catalyst got you into the customer experience journey? And just a little bit about who you are in your own words? Could you tell us a little bit about your company ChartHop and what is the service or product that you provide? What is your view on the customer journey through an HR lens. And how do you think EX impacts customer outcomes, the ins and outs of a customer health score? Are there any emerging trends that you've seen in the CX space, in the employee experience space that you think organization should really be paying greater attention to or tapping into as we embark on our new year? Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? Now could you also share with us maybe one or two books that have had a great impact on you, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you read quite recently, but it surely has created an impact maybe had great value in your leadership delivery and you just really would love to share it with us. Could you share with our listeners what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. Where can listeners find you online? In times of adversity or challenge, do you have a quote or saying that you tend to revert to, it kind of helps to get you back on track or get you back refocused if for any reason you get derailed.   Highlights   Sarah's Journey   Me: Now, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share with us in their own words, a little bit about their journey, how you got to where you are today? What catalyst got you into the customer experience journey? And just a little bit about who you are in your own words?   Sarah shared that sometimes she likes to say that she has a bit of a meandering path to where she is today. But she thinks that's actually something that is common amongst customer experience professionals is it takes a lot of different skill sets and she thinks you can build those at a lot of different areas. And so, she started her career as a structural engineer, was something that she always wanted to be when she was a little kid, people would ask, what do you want to do, and she wanted to design buildings, she wanted to design skyscrapers.   And so, that is what she did, she set out to do it, and she went to school, she went to engineering school, and she loved it, she really did. And she thinks architecture and buildings will always have a very, very special place in her heart. However, what she started realizing when she hit about year 4, year 5, being a structural engineer is that it's a very narrow piece of a we'll call it building lifecycle, very, very narrow.   And she had the fortune to work with a project manager who was representing the owner, and she really had purview of the whole project, sort of end and all the pieces coming together to build these amazing buildings. And she had lunch with her and said, “I would like to do your job, can you tell me how to do it?” And one of the first things she said was, “Well, I went to business school, because you need to learn the business side of the business or of buildings.” She was like, great. So, she did that, she went to business school and coming out of business school, she thought working in real estate development was the place for her.   She did that for a couple years, and again, realized it was still a little too narrow in a lot of ways. And living in the Bay Area, it's really easy to get the start-up itch, you sort of look around, and tech is everywhere. And she had the fortune of literally running into a friend, running in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. And she said, “You need to talk to my sister. She is at a start-up and they're selling commercial lighting controls and they need an engineer who understands buildings, building operators, engineers.” And she said, “You know what, I know that person, that person is me.” And that was her very first job. We called it project operations and this was a long time ago. But it was customer experience.   It was the start of customer experience, and it was sort of the start of her journey to where she is today. ChartHop is her fourth start-up and throughout her career, she's sort of grown into taking on more and more teams and have gotten to a point today where she leads all of customer experience at ChartHop, and that includes professional services, their customer success team, their technical support team, and their account management slash renewals team.   So, sort of a crazy story how she got here, but the reality is, it's working with customers that she loves. It's the project management and the operational piece and she's sort of grown that throughout the years as an engineer, as a real estate professional and now as a tech professional.   About ChartHop and What Service or Product Does ChartHop Provide?   Me: Amazing. So, Sarah, you are at a company called ChartHop and for those of our listeners that don't know what ChartHop does, could you tell us a little bit about your company and what is the service or product that you provide?   Sarah stated that it's a great question, she's happy to talk a little bit about it. So, ChartHop is really transforming the way companies think about managing and supporting their people. So, what that means is, they can take people data from all your different systems, so your HR system, your talent acquisition, system equity, and put it all in one place.   And the thing that makes ChartHop really special is that it's not just for HR professionals, or it's not just for the CEO, it is truly for every single person at the company, your individual contributors, all the way through to your CEO. And the reason why that's so important is because what you're doing is you're creating a very transparent organization; you're creating a one stop shop for everybody in the organization to get all the information that they need.   If you're an individual contributor, it's really all the information that you need to understand and navigate the organization, or someone in her role, it gives her the ability to look in one place to understand everybody in her organization, where might they be on a vesting schedule? How long have they been at ChartHop? What has their performance look like over the years?   And so, it's, it's really designed to create a transparent organization. It's designed to make sure that leadership is making good decisions, especially when we start thinking about DEIB in the workplace. And one of the key attributes is really, it's for everyone at a company, not just the HR team.   Views on the Customer Journey – How Does EX Impact Customer Outcomes – Ins and Outs of a Customer Health Score   Me: So, HR plays a very important role in an organization. And I'd love for you to maybe take a few minutes and discuss with us your view on the customer journey through an HR lens. And how do you think EX impacts customer outcomes, the ins and outs of a customer health score?   Sarah shared thar those are all great questions. And she thinks part of what attracted her to ChartHop was this sort of, she'll call it intersection of HR and or employee experience and customer experience. Like most people that are listening to this podcast, if you're managing and leading a customer experience team, it probably means that you are leading a pretty big team. When you're talking about services in an organization, it's human capital. If robots could do our jobs, if a health score, which she'll get into in a minute, was just two plus two is four, we wouldn't be here.   And so, you have to take care of your people and she thinks that's first and foremost why EX and CX are in a lot of ways the same thing, and they influence each other. She thinks time and time again, we've learned that happy employees, employees that understand the mission, employees that are driven by that mission, are going to be your highest producers, and they're going to be the most productive.   And if you think about putting that motivated, high performer on a call with your customer, that's infectious, absolutely infectious. That motivation and that desire to drive value with the customer is going to translate every single time. And so, it is so important as CX leaders to really be thinking about that. And really thinking about how to engage your team, not just in, “Hey, these are the metrics, we need to hit as a company,” or “Hey, this is what you need to do with your customers.” But really investing time, investing professional development, and really thinking about the employee experience, because it is going to translate.   She also thinks one of the interesting things she's been able to do at ChartHop is really work closely with head of HR and think about how the employee experience is truly also how we think about a customer journey. If you think about those magic moments for a customer journey, there's onboarding and implementation, you have to nail that, you have to have customers coming out of that phase of the journey, and just feeling so excited and so pumped that they bought ChartHop and that they're using ChartHop, that's the same thing you want your employees to feel when they're coming out of onboarding, internal onboarding, you want them to feel so excited, you want them to feel so empowered. You want them to understand what they're doing at ChartHop.   And so, you can really see the overlap, and this is something she's worked really closely with their head of HR at ChartHop to make sure that they are tracking together so to speak. When you start thinking about driving adoption for customer journey, that is the exact same as working with someone on your team on what their professional development is. You chart out someone's professional development the exact same way you're going to chart out a customer's objective planning with you.   And so, really thinking about all of those things and making sure that they're aligned. And one of the questions asked also was to talk a little bit about health score. She thinks health scores are absolutely fascinating. And also, just really where you get to sort of like, leave your fingerprint, your true unique fingerprint on how you think about your customer base. She mentioned this before, two plus two is four, that's great and she's sure all the professionals out there could put together a really, really smart mathematical equation to take you to the number of support tickets, bugs, time to launch, outcome of a use case and sort of put a number together and come out with a magic number at the other end.   But that doesn't really capture everything that goes into customer health. It is truly an art and a science. And she thinks science is really important, it is important to calculate that number, that magic number that says, “Hey, if they're above 80%, they're happy, below 80% they're yellow, below 30% they're red.”   Great, so we have a stoplight. But what is the customer saying to you on the phone? What is the customer bringing to you in your weekly calls? What is the customer saying during quarterly business reviews?   That's going to be a different level of understanding of how happy that customer is.   And one example that she gives a lot to her team is just thinking through if you have a customer who is really excited about working with you on beta features, or alpha features, and it's like, “Hey, I want to be there, I want to test it with you.” Then if you're basing their health solely on sort of like number of bugs, it's not going to look pretty.   But if that customer is signing up for it, and excited about it, then there's a different overlay that you need to put on that customer. And so, she really truly thinks it's an art and a science of how you think about health score.   And again, just to sort of come full circle, it's the same exact thing with employees.   You can't just look at one dimension, humans are multi dimension, and you have to look at a lot of different factors to really assess. Is this person a flight risk or are you going to keep them for another couple of years. And so, it's really thinking about things both from just a pure human perspective and from a numbers.   Me: Brilliant, awesome, thank you for sharing all of that Sarah, great insights and nuggets as it relates to HR customer experience, the health score, integrating all of that looking at the human dimension is so, so important if you really want to create a strong culture.   Trends Emerging in 2023 as it Relates to Customer Experience and Employee Experience   Me: Now, you've been in the customer experience space for quite some time. And I just wanted to know, as we exit one calendar year and jump into another, are there any emerging trends that you've seen in the CX space, in the employee experience space that you think organizations should really be paying greater attention to or tapping into as we embark on our new year?   Sarah shared that this is such a great question. And something she's been definitely thinking a lot about, especially as she's sure most people are doing this too, going into planning, going into next year's fiscal planning. She thinks it's a couple of things. And she's used this word before, and so she doesn't want to overuse it, but it's relevant, is transparency.   If she thinks about the CX organization and just employees in general, they're sort of demanding, she thinks that's the right word. They're demanding more transparency.   We've seen a lot about pay transparency and really posting pay scales. And that ripples through all parts of the organization, it's not just pay, it's truly transparency in who reports to who and what are people working on and what deals are closing. And so, she thinks that's a really big trend that folks need to take a step back and make sure that they're being as transparent as possible with their employees.   She thinks that also leads true because of the remote environment. She knows a lot of companies ChartHop is one of them, they're still remote and so really focusing on transparency to her also means focusing on communication, sort of overly communicating with your employees, making sure they truly understand what we're all doing right, what direction are we pointed at, what is our mission? What should we be thinking about day in and day out.   And she thinks that that actually also is something that she's thinking about with their customers. Transparency with their customers looks a little bit different but it's something that she's continuing to see and think about.   Every one again, this goes back to sort of the human nature, like humans have different ways of learning and that is something that she's hearing customers really sort of demand again, use that word demand from us right now, as customer success professionals is customers want to learn how they want to learn.   And what she means by that is she actually truly spoke to a customer this morning, that was like, “Hey, your CSMs are great. But I sort of want to figure some of the stuff out myself. I want to read a help article.” She has other customers say to her, “I want more videos. I want more in app communication.”   And she sort of feels like all of that is about communication, all of that is about transparency, all of that is about sort of meeting people where they are. And so, she thinks that's a big trend to be thinking about as you're thinking through your customer journey for your specific product is all the different ways to communicate with your customer. And a not be annoying.   So not to be annoying, but just sort of meet the customer where they're at, like, “Hey, if you want to read something, here's the link to the doc, if you want to see a step by step video, here's driving to you're learning centre.” And so, that's a big trend that she's seeing right now is customers really wanting to choose their path and sort of choose how they want to learn about your product.   Me: It's interesting you said that because I actually attended a Customer Success Conference in Washington in October, and I sat in a session where they spoke about community and more organizations building out their community pages on their websites where if you do have an issue, you don't actually have to get in touch with the company because the community can help you because other people have had similar issues, and I thought that was so brilliant that if we could really get more of that.   When I think about my own devices, like even my Apple computer or my phone, if there's something wrong or something I'm not sure about, I automatically go to Google. And usually, Google populates based on the SEO, the Apple community comes up like in the first two or three resolution options that Google provides you with and 9 out of 10 times someone else has had that issue, and the answer is right there waiting for you. So, I totally get when they say they want to have the opportunity to be able to fix it on their own.   Sarah shared that she loves that. She thinks community is so important. She also thinks that that's where you get really cool thought Leadership. You get folks that are using your product in ways that you had no idea, you're like, wow, she would get on the phone with customers and be like, “Wow, that was super clever. I never thought about doing it that way.” And so, she loves the concept of a community, and we can all learn from our peers in so many ways. She loves that.   App, Website or Tool that Sarah Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business   When asked about an online resource that she can't live without in her business, Sarah stated that that's such a great question. So, first and foremost, she do have to say it is that again, she mentioned this a couple moments ago is that part of her job description is leading a large team, it's just always what it's like in a customer experience organization. So, to be totally true, ChartHop has really changed how she manage teams. And so, she'd say that's tool number one. Even at some point, if she were to leave, she would definitely advocate for that platform. It helps her navigate so many things with her team that it's so important.   She thinks number two, is video conferencing. She knows that there is Zoom fatigue in the world, she truly appreciates it, and she feels it. But being face to face with your customer is priceless. It is so hard to pick up on tone in an email, it's so hard to really convey what you're trying to say without having that face to face and with so much less travel, that is so critical. You have to put a face to a name, that's how you build relationships and build rapport.   And then the last one she's going to say, which goes back to her very nerdy engineering days because she at her core, she is an engineer is really Excel or Google Sheets. She uses Excel all the time, it's what she needs to run her business.   Me: Brilliant, brilliant Excel is a very powerful tool.   Sarah agreed absolutely, people don't get as jazzed about it, but she does, it's truly her go to.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Sarah   When asked about books that have had an impact, Sarah shared that she has one in mind that she read probably about 8 years ago, and she recently reread it, because their CEO loves it as well. And so, he had all the executive team read it, it's called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, the title of it is so great. It's by Patrick Lencioni. It's so great, because it's transferable both from a leadership team perspective, but also from a CX perspective.   And so, what she means by that is, the whole concept of the book is that there is a first team, and your first team is not who you think it is, a lot of people think that your first team are the people that report to you. And the concept is that that's not actually true. Your first team are your peers in the organization and the reason why it's your peers is because together you are a matrix. You're a matrix organization, and together, you all need to work to reach the ultimate company goal, not your own goal, it's not like “How does Sara reach her goals across customer experience?” No, no, no, it's how do we, as an executive team work together to reach our goals as a company?   And so, it's really this concept of you have to have a common goal number one, and like, your team goal can't outshine the common goal. And the reason why she likes it for customer experience, as well and it's something that she drives with her leadership team, is they are a matrix environment, they have four separate teams that report to her, but together, these four teams need to work together for the one common goal of creating the absolute best customer experience for their customers.   And so, if that is what we're keeping in mind, if truly every single day we show up and say our goal is to provide the best customer experience to our customers, then the right thing to do is very easy, or who does what becomes very clear. And so, it's a book that really resonates with her, and she recommends, it's a very quick read. And she recommends it as both a CX professional, but also just as you're continuing to sort of move up the ladder as you think about working across teams as well sort of cross functionally, it's an absolute great read.   Me: Very nice. So, we'll definitely have the link to that book in the show notes of this episode. While you were explaining what the book was about in summary, especially the example you gave off, one person's goal should not outshine the overall goal of the company. I thought of football, I guess because we're in World Cup season now. And I said to myself, one person's goal cannot outshine the overall team's goal, which is to win the game.   Sarah agreed, exactly. So, she coaches her two boys' soccer team. They call it Soccer, Football. There are some really great football soccer commercials happening now by the way.   And it's so true, it's something that she really talks to the kids about from a young age, both when you score a goal and when the team scores against you, it's not the goalie's fault, it went through every single player before it got to the goalie. And same concept, the person who scores it touched a lot of feet before it got to that person that eventually put the ball on the back of the net. So, you are exactly right. She is a sports nerd. Same concept, so she loves it.   Me: That just popped in my mind a while ago, I was like wow, it's such a simple statement. But it's so profound and you everybody kind of has that mindset in an organization, I think the employee and the customer experience can be phenomenal.   What Sarah is Really Excited About Now!   When asked about something she's really excited about, Sarah shared that that's a really great question. So, she'll give two answers. Personally, what she's working on, she's a member of an organization, it's a women's networking organization. And they meet once a month with a peer group, is actually interesting, this is now becoming a theme, a peer group. So, other women who are at her same level and sort of going through sort of the same things and they're all in the same macro environment.   And so, even if maybe some of them are not customer experience professionals, they're marketing professionals, most are in the start-up environment. But it's something that she's really embracing. And each month they meet and we all bring to the table something that they're facing or something that they're thinking about or challenge that they're going through with the company, and really working on being reflective, that is something that she's working on is, when you are in it every day with customers, you sort of create this world where you're sort of go, go, go, go go.   And she thinks that a little bit more reflection is always really good. And so, that is something that professionally she's working on is sort of taking those, it's only two hours once a month, but really taking the time to reflect like, sort of prepare for those meetings and sort of reflect on herself.   And then for her team, this might sound a little funny, but she's actually right now, hiring a new leader for the for the customer success team. And she's so excited to partner with this new leader because the customer success managers at ChartHop are absolutely phenomenal, truly phenomenal. And she's excited to get a leader in seat that is really going to work with them, both from a professional development standpoint, and also just a process perspective but really dive in and take that team to the next level. And so, that's really her focus is just finding and hiring such an amazing leader for an amazing team.   Where Can We Find Sarah Online   LinkedIn – Sarah Diegnan   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Sarah Uses   When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Sarah stated yes, that's a good one. One of the things she thinks about is, and the folks out there listening, and the customer experience org can sort of relate to this is that some days you show up and you have a list of things to do and none of those things get done. Because at the end of the day, we are going to follow the lead of our customers, and so, if a customer needs to talk to her, she's going to drop everything to talk to that customer and she's sure every single person that's listening does the same exact thing.   And so, in the moments when she's thinking to herself, “Wow, I am buried. Like, how am I going to get all of this done?” She goes back to something that her mom would always say to her, “It'll all get done, Sarah, it will all get done.” And it's something that she thinks about a lot. How it all gets done is sort of in the background, it's truly just believing in yourself, and believing that you're going to figure it out and having that confidence that as her mom would say, “It's all going get done, Sarah, it's all going to get done.”   Me: Thank you so much for sharing Sarah, for taking time out of your very busy schedule to hop on this podcast, have this great conversation, give our listeners greater insights as to what they can do, what they can improve on, what are some of the emerging trends that you've seen, the fact that we need to be more transparent, we need to be more collaborative. Some of the different applications that you've used and are continuing to use to enhance your work that you do daily to improve your productivity as well as to get your job done. And of course, working towards the overall goal which is to create that magical experience for your customers at ChartHop.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners   Links The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience   Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.”   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Randy discusses The December issue of designing lighting (dl), designing lighting (dl)'s 2022 Lighting Designers of the Year, Circadian-Effective Lighting, Illuminating Engineering Society Assumes Management of NCQLP, DLC Request for Proposals: Light Pollution and Energy Efficiency, Dialight Announces New Interim Chair, Acuity Brands' Luminaires Recognized by LIT Design Awards.

We've had some brainiacs on this podcast before, but the products Pathway Connectivity has engineered around switching, PoE and networking… well, suffice to say, you've probably used something they have or his team has built. Robert discusses, with Webster and Ron, how switches, designed for entertainment, are making their way into architectural lighting and “architainment.” Robert Bell a Consulting Director for Product Market at Acuity Brands and oversees the development of the entire Pathway Connectivity product line. Robert has been awarded multiple US Patents for lighting controls and networking which have been assigned to Acuity Brands. In 1992, he won the first ever Wally Russell Newcomer Award as the creator of WYSIWYG, the Emmy Award winning previsualization software. 

We've had some brainiacs on this podcast before, but the products Pathway Connectivity has engineered around switching, PoE and networking… well, suffice to say, you've probably used something they have or his team has built. Robert discusses, with Webster and Ron, how switches, designed for entertainment, are making their way into architectural lighting and “architainment.” Robert Bell a Consulting Director for Product Market at Acuity Brands and oversees the development of the entire Pathway Connectivity product line. Robert has been awarded multiple US Patents for lighting controls and networking which have been assigned to Acuity Brands. In 1992, he won the first ever Wally Russell Newcomer Award as the creator of WYSIWYG, the Emmy Award winning previsualization software. 

Data Wiping Malware, ZeroBot Malware, Acuity Brands Data Breach, Apple Encryption Cybersecurity News CyberHub Podcast December 8th, 2022 Today's Headlines and the latest #cybernews from the desk of the #CISO: Lighting Giant Acuity Brands Discloses Two Data Breaches CloudSEK Blames Hack on Another Cybersecurity Company New Zerobot malware has 21 exploits for BIG-IP, Zyxel, D-Link devices Apple Adding End-to-End Encryption to iCloud Backup North Korean gov't hackers used Internet Explorer zero-day Iranian Hackers Strike Diamond Industry with Data-Wiping Malware in Supply-Chain Attack Story Links: https://www.securityweek.com/lighting-giant-acuity-brands-discloses-two-data-breaches https://www.securityweek.com/cloudsek-blames-hack-another-cybersecurity-company https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-zerobot-malware-has-21-exploits-for-big-ip-zyxel-d-link-devices/ https://www.securityweek.com/apple-adding-end-end-encryption-icloud-backup https://therecord.media/google-north-korean-govt-hackers-used-internet-explorer-zero-day-to-target-south-korea-users/ https://thehackernews.com/2022/12/iranian-hackers-strike-diamond-industry.html “The Microsoft Doctrine” by James Azar now on Substack https://jamesazar.substack.com/p/the-microsoft-doctrine The Practitioner Brief is sponsored by: Your BRAND here - Contact us for opportunities today! ****** Find James Azar Host of CyberHub Podcast, CISO Talk, Goodbye Privacy, Digital Debate, and Other Side of Cyber James on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-azar-a1655316/ Telegram: CyberHub Podcast ****** Sign up for our newsletter with the best of CyberHub Podcast delivered to your inbox once a month: http://bit.ly/cyberhubengage-newsletter ****** Website: https://www.cyberhubpodcast.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCyberHubPodcast Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1353861 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CyberHubpodcast/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyberhubpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cyberhubpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyberhubpodcast Listen here: https://linktr.ee/cyberhubpodcast The Hub of the Infosec Community. Our mission is to provide substantive and quality content that's more than headlines or sales pitches. We want to be a valuable source to assist those cybersecurity practitioners in their mission to keep their organizations secure. Thank you for watching and Please Don't forget to Like this video and Subscribe to my Channel! #cybernews #infosec #cybersecurity #cyberhubpodcast #practitionerbrief #cisotalk #ciso #infosecnews #infosec #infosecurity #cybersecuritytips #podcast #technews #tinkertribe #givingback #securitytribe #securitygang #informationsecurity

Randy discusses Acuity Brands' Q4 earnings, Nichia's H6 Series of LEDs are ready for next stage of general illumination, ETi Solid State Lighting introduces light fixtures with plasma disinfection technology, Pharos reveals new range at Light + Building, and NALMCO's 69th Annual Convention and Trade Show is only two weeks away.

Randy discusses Business of Light's debut at Enlighten Americas Conference, the LIRC has an open discussion about LightFair, and Acuity Brands will create a pilot program for Atlanta Tech students.

Vijay begins by introducing himself and the company before talking about the importance of AI in IoT. He then talks more specifically about AI's fit into enterprise technology and how to start adopting it. Vijay and Ryan then go more high-level with conversations around challenges to adoption and how cost affects the industry's growth before ending the podcast with Vijay letting us know what to look for from SymphonyAI in the future.Vijay Raghavendra is a technology leader and entrepreneur with extensive experience leading technology teams in companies ranging from startups to Fortune 1. Most recently, Vijay was the CTO at Acuity Brands, an industrial technology company. At Acuity, he was responsible for all aspects of software technology strategy and delivery, including edge computing and IoT. Before that, Vijay served as SVP of merchant technology at Walmart, where he and his teams were responsible for all platforms, applications, and algorithms that drove the experience for Walmart's merchants and suppliers and a significant part of the customer experience across stores and online.

Randy discusses Acuity Brands' Q3 results, Smart Global Holdings announced its Q3 results, Retrolux and UtilityGenius announce partnership, LEDucation issues Call for Speakers for 2023, Q-Tran revolutionizes its product portfolio with BOOM, and Lodes and Diesel present the new Spring Arm Lamp.

Randy discusses breast cancer awareness, Hubbell announces price increase, Good Earth Lighting announces new ownership, Amerlux lights the way into building automation, SATCO NUVO is certified by the NLB Trusted Warranty Program, and Acuity Brands is looking for a Sales Representative.

Can you imagine a world without light?  Electricity is an essential part of modern life, and lighting products play an essential role in it.  Acuity Brands is one of the largest lighting manufacturers in North America - let's learn about their history and economic characteristics in today's episode.0:00 - Start1:11 - How Did Acuity Brands Get Started?5:38 - Acuity's Business Model9:25 - Financials11:43 - Final Thoughts On Acuity Brands

Drey Taylor is the Director of Services at Acuity Brands. He used to be a frontline worker himself, riding in the bucket trucks. He uses his knowledge of his time as a deskless employee to be able to bring positive change that is much needed to those on the frontline. Drey joins host Justin Lake to talk about the biggest challenges facing frontline workers and how they can be overcome.      Takeaways    Being human is one of the biggest challenges facing frontline workers. It goes back to communication and explaining what is in your mind and what you understand to the customers. Everything has become digital in the last decade. It's important to keep up with these innovations and make sure they are properly adjusted. The frontline workers don't typically use email, while in a standard office setting emails are the primary form of communication. It's important to meet the frontline workers on their means of communication. The “genba” is where the real work is done. It refers to the places that frontline workers are typically found working in. You want to make sure the reason why change is being implemented is clear. If the message isn't clear, it won't be a successful change. As a leader, you have to listen more to those on the frontline. There is a feeling or a need that is being communicated back to you.  We carry our emotions and experiences into a conversation, so we might misunderstand someone when they are talking with us.  Quote of the show   4:09 “Technology is coming at us left and right. And it's changing the way that we interact with our workspace, with our customers, with our employees, with our boss, with the company at large.” Links   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drey-taylor-9069b517/ Company Website: https://www.acuitybrands.com/ Ways to Tune In:   Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2f4ecd92-6468-4769-b0bf-254e236510b7/FRONTLINE-INNOVATORS  Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-innovators/id1572329402 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/29m3wnK8pbFjdSvJ9wjmyS Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/frontline-innovators Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZnJvbnRsaW5laW5ub3ZhdG9ycy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw YouTube - https://youtu.be/emOjPfZedjA

Ist es Aufbruchsstimmung der Anleger zum Quartalsbeginn? Trotz der Schreckensnachrichten aus der Ukraine und bevorstehenden härteren Sanktionen gegen Russland haben sich die Börsen etwas stabilisiert.Die Aktien im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum tendierten am Dienstag uneinheitlich, während die Reserve Bank of Australia ihr Leitzinsziel unverändert ließ.Heute werden die die Einkaufsmanagerindizes für den Dienstleistungssektor und die Markit PMI Indizes für Deutschland und die Eurozone bekannt gegeben.In den USA werden die Handelsbilanz, der Markit PMI Index und der ISM-Service-Index gemeldet.Acuity Brands legt Geschäftszahlen vor.Die Futures bewegen sich roten Bereich. Der Dax ist 0,24% im minus. Der Dow Jones ist 0,12% im minus und der S&P 500 ist 0.07% im minus. Der technologielastige Nasdaq 100 ist 0.05% im minus.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kommponisten)

In this episode, Dr. Candace Steele Flippin, CCO at Acuity Brands and the chair of our upcoming Spring Seminar, discusses the event's theme of radical relevance and what it means for CCOs whose leadership has proven to be vital in a period of persistent disruption and transformation.

Dr. Candace Steele Flippin is Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands, a leading industrial technology company based in Atlanta, GA. She is a member of the executive leadership team and leads all aspects of Acuity Brands' global communications strategy, including corporate communications, media relations, reputation, and brand management.  Since 2016, Dr. Steele Flippin has been a Research Fellow at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. As an engaged scholar, Dr. Steele Flippin is the author of the best-selling book Generation Z in the Workplace and Millennials in the Workplace. Her new bestselling book Get Your Career in SHAPE, released in March 2022, was based on her popular TEDx Memphis Talk, What Women Really Want… at Work.To learn more about Dr. Candace visit www.candacesteeleflippin.comTell us what you want to hear...fill out our questionnaire! https://forms.gle/pLHjHLtv1SkgHRpF9Shop Bent Beauty 25% off Coupon Code: OHHELLNOSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ohhellnopodcast)

How are businesses and sustainability professionals managing their energy consumption? During this bonus episode, we dive into a recent report compiled by Atrius (part of Acuity Brands) that provides valuable insights into how sustainability professionals across industries are scrutinizing their energy consumption and incorporating tools to better manage their energy use. Join us as we learn how automating data management and other manual processes can increase the efficiency of energy teams looking to further integrate sustainability goals within their businesses. You never know, maybe it will “spark” an interest in new energy management solutions you can implement in your own life and organization! This episode is sponsored by Atrius. Atrius provides solutions for sustainable buildings, streamlined operations, and personal experiences. ----------------------------- Sustainability Defined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen. Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode. We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors: Energy Cities Natural Environment Transportation Business Policy Social Each episode is categorized under one of our sectors and visually depicted within our organizational tree. The more episodes we complete, the more the tree will visually define what exactly sustainability means. Please go to www.sustainabilitydefined.com for more information. Our website has pages for each episode where there is a player to stream the episode, as well as hyperlinked intro notes.

Randy discusses Visual Light, Lytei is featured in Best Practices, learn how we can reduce embodied carbon in the built environment, Don Peifer Comments on His ‘Smash the Bulb' Success With the DOE's L-Prize, IES 2030 Visionary Challenge launched, and Acuity Brands replaces paper with QR codes.

Die gute Laune an den Börsen zum Beginn des neuen Jahres ist vorerst verflogen. Wegen der neu entfachten Zinsängste beendete der DAX seinen Höhenflug. Auch an der Wall Street blieb die erhoffte Erholung aus.Die Aktien im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum tendierten am Freitag uneinheitlich, nachdem einige regionale Märkte am Vortag starke Verluste erlitten hatten, da die Anleger weiterhin die Auswirkungen einer möglicherweise schneller als erwarteten Straffung der Geldpolitik durch die US-Notenbank abwägen.Zum Wochenausklang werden die Industrieproduktion, Zahlen zu den Importen und Exporten sowie die deutsche Handelsbilanz veröffentlicht. Außerdem stehen Einzelhandelsumsätze und Verbraucherpreise für die Eurozone an. Hier wird ein leichter Rückgang der Inflationsrate von 4,9 auf 4,7% erwartet.In den USA stehen die Arbeitsmarktdaten im Fokus. Volkswirte rechnen mit einem leichten Rückgang der Arbeitslosenquote von 4,2 auf 4,1%. Außerdem stehen am Abend noch die Verbraucherkredite zur Veröffentlichung an.Acuity Brands meldet Quartalsergebnisse.Die Futures bewegen sich alle im grünen Bereich. Der Dax ist 0.1% im plus. Der Dow Jones ist 0,24% und der S&P 500 ist 0.22% im plus. Der technologielastige Nasdaq 100 ist 0.15% im plus.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kommponisten)

Randy discusses Orion's acquisition of Stay-Lite, not many lighting developments at CES 2022, Sengled receives 10th CES Innovation Award, The IES has launched a new campaign called We Believe, Acuity Brands announces price increase, NEMA has published a white paper on Unified Glare Rating (UGR), O'Blaney Rinker Announces New Partnership with Satco and Axolight, MODA Light is looking for a Technical Services Manager, and WE-EF Lighting is looking for Gulf and Southwest Regional Sales Managers.

Dr. Candace Steele Flippin, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands and a multigenerational workplace expert, sits down with Dr. Vanessa Weaver to discuss the generational differences that exist in the workplace and how to navigate them. She explains how values differ by generation and how these differences impact communication between generations. In this Episode·      The differences between Traditionalists/Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y/Millennials and Generation Z in the workplace·      The values and norms each generation holds and how they show up at work·      Generational differences among working women and how they influence communication with colleagues and supervisors·      How social issues such as racial and gender equity play out in the workplace and how each generation views these issues·      What workplaces can do to help employees from different generations work together and get the most out of their careers Resources·      Candace Steele Flippin·      Dr. Vanessa Weaver·      Alignment Strategies·      Get Your Career in Shape: A Five-Step Guide to Achieve the Success You Need, Want, and Deserve ·      Cheddar Wellness Follow Us on Social MediaWorkin' It Out·      LinkedIn·      Facebook ·      Instagram·      Twitter  Alignment Strategies·      LinkedIn·      Facebook·      Twitter  Diversity and Inclusion Television·      LinkedIn·      Facebook 

Oil and gas executives may say they care about the environment. But, what about oil and gas workers? We get the inside story from Flotek CEO John Gibson (FTK). Acuity Brands (AYI) shares the latest in a litany of shipping woes… and also worries about power outages in China. Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) faces challenges with what was once a promising therapy. Noodles & Co (NDLS) gives us insights into the business model behind ghost kitchens. The Drill Down with Cory Johnson offers a daily look at the business stories behind stocks on the move. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Die Aktien im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum waren am Mittwoch überwiegend rückläufig, wobei Japan die Verluste anführte.Der Dow legte um 0,9 Prozent auf 34 315 Punkte zu. Der S&P 500 gewann 1,1 Prozent auf 4346 Punkte. Für den technologielastigen Nasdaq 100 ging es um 1,40 Prozent auf 14 674 Punkte nach oben.Nach drei Verlusttagen in Folge schloss der Dax mit einem Plus von 1,1 Prozent bei 15 195 Punkten. Der MDax der mittelgroßen Börsenwerte gewann 0,6 Prozent auf 34 023 Zähler. Heute wird der Dax im Minus bei 15 074 Punkten erwartet.Zur Wochenmitte werden die deutschen Industrieaufträge und die Einzelhandelsumsätze für die Eurozone bekannt gegeben.In den USA stehen die ADP-Arbeitsmarktdaten an.Der Sportartikelhersteller Nike hält seine Hauptversammlung ab.Geschäftszahlen kommen von Acuity Brands, Aeon und Constellation Brands.

Acuity Brands Inc Q3 2021 Earnings Call --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/earningspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/earningspodcast/support

Randy discusses his interview with Acuity Brands, LEDucation has announced the lineup for their August conference, Ina Sielemann takes over at LED Linear, LED drones are being used in unique ways, Megan Carroll, the President of IESNYC, has a message, the IESNYC also welcomes the new incoming Board of Managers, and did you know UL can help with supply chain shortages?

Der Rekordlauf am US-Aktienmarkt ist am Mittwoch mit neuen Höchstständen weitergegangen. . Zudem können sich die Anleger über ein sehr starkes erstes Halbjahr freuen. Für Europas Börsen ist es am Mittwoch abwärts gegangen. Zugleich aber können sich die Anleger über satte Halbjahresgewinne freuen. Am Ende einer erfolgreichen ersten Jahreshälfte hat der deutsche Aktienmarkt am Mittwoch Federn gelassen. Im nun beendeten zweiten Quartal verbuchte der Leitindex einen Zuwachs von 3,5 Prozent. Heute werden die deutschen Einzelhandelsumsätze bekannt gegeben. Außerdem stehen die Einkaufsmanagerindizes für das verarbeitende Gewerbe für Deutschland und die Eurozone sowie die Arbeitsmarktdaten für die Eurozone an. In den USA werden neben den wöchentlichen Erstanträgen auf Arbeitslosenhilfe der Markit PMI Index, der ISM-Index für das verarbeitende Gewerbe sowie die Bauausgaben gemeldet. Am Abend stehen außerdem noch die Fahrzeugverkäufe für den Monat Juni auf der Agenda. Geschäftszahlen kommen von Acuity Brands, Hennes & Mauritz und Walgreens Boots Alliance

At a recent Innovation Summit, host Debra Chanil sat down with Ken Watson, a Sr. Manager of Key Accounts at Acuity Brands, and Andrew Blauvelt, the Vice President of Sales at Acuity Brands for the BuildingOS product group. In this episode of Smart Energy Voices, they discuss the shift in building industry energy metrics and establishing baselines in a world with inconsistent occupancy levels and changing public health guidelines. Listen to hear Andrew and Ken share their extensive experience and insight on best practices for navigating this dynamic shift. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... Andrew Blauvelt's and Ken Watson's roles in their companies [02:02] How has 2020 impacted building management? [02:50] The solution for last year's data [05:00] Predictive modeling's role in ensuring health [07:31] Resource optimization and new technologies [10:10] Occupant engagement dashboarding [11:10] Next steps for energy and efficiency managers [11:49] Where are companies headed in the coming year? [16:08] Predictive modeling in response to 2020 Organizations that have used 2020 as a benchmark for climate goals will want to revise their plan for using that year. There were so many variables in 2020 that the data isn't an accurate representation of what can be expected. COVID-19 has impacted building management in terms of occupancy and energy consumption levels. 2020 usage has skewed the data to the point that it can't be considered to plan future uses. In addition to COVID, there have been severe weather events throughout the country. The fallout of the pandemic has led to stricter indoor air quality guidelines. Future energy consumption will be increased relative to the past. Moving forward will require baselines that are established on predictive modeling. Predictive modeling uses real-time data to establish performance baselines essential to helping teams forecast consumption. While corporate sustainability requirements are still a top priority, energy management needs to understand the effects of fluid conditions such as occupancy level, operating hours, and new code requirements.  Involving stakeholders in new technologies Buyers should engage stakeholders by leveraging the current conditions around indoor air quality requirements, fluctuating baseline models, and the uncertainty of future building operations. The ability to aggregate, normalize, predict, and learn across an enterprise of thousands of buildings should no longer be considered a luxury. These tools are needed now. Occupant safety and awareness are paramount to building necessary trust. Communicating that to the industry will help partners be viewed as pioneers within those respective industries on providing safe and trustworthy spaces. Occupant and stakeholder engagement dashboarding helps create a feedback loop that allows organizations to share things like real-time energy use, project status, green initiatives, and post-covid improvements that have been made. How does a company begin to change? The first step is using the tools that a company already has. In this case, the tool is the air ventilation, bringing more air into a space, flushing out the area, and allowing there to be as much fresh air as possible. The next step is seeing things deeper than airflow, such as particulates, CO2, and VOCs in the air, and then actively managing via alerting and dashboarding how the safe space for your customers is being created. While working that back to sustainability goals, that data can also be used in those predictive models to help you understand the effects of that airflow and new fan energy. The final step is actively comparing those pathogens. Several technologies allow a low-flow UVC to neutralize pathogens up to 99%. These new variables need to be brought back to regression modeling to understand the targets and goals. For energy and facility managers, the first step should be focusing on low-hanging fruit. Low-cost measures like schedule optimization are an excellent way to get the most out of existing infrastructure. After that, focusing on quick payback projects like an LED retrofit will help get the baseload as low as possible by minimizing capital expense. An ideal end state would be to have an entire portfolio sub-metered and sensored within a single, highly available system. Making adjustments like these, one step at a time, is what will create the energy industry's needed change. Resources & People Mentioned BuildingOS Connect with Ken Watson LinkedIn Ken Watson is a Sr. Manager of Key Accounts with over 10 years of experience working with enterprise organizations. Ken is an advocate for cloud-based EMIS solutions that enable clients to hit their climate and energy reduction targets using actionable data. His previous experience in managing and procuring energy gives him a deep understanding of the needs building operators have to improve overall energy performance. Prior to his current role as a Senior Manager of Key Accounts at Acuity Brands, Ken worked as a Business Development Manager for Digital Services at Siemens. He's a Certified Energy Manager and Certified Energy Procurement Professional through the Association of Energy Engineers and a LEED Green Associate. Ken holds a Bachelors of Business Administration/Finance from Illinois Connect with Andrew G Blauvelt  LinkedIn Andrew Blauvelt is the Vice President of Sales at Acuity Brands for the BuildingOS product group. He works closely with building owners, operators, consultants and systems integrators to provide a platform which aggregates, normalizes and benchmarks all building related data.  Andrew believes transparency and collaboration are essential to unlocking sustainable buildings that close the loop between owners and occupiers. Andrew has a strong background in building sciences starting as a building automation technician, working as an energy engineer for AECOM, managing business development for Siemens in energy services and analytics, and currently designing a seamless edge to cloud experience at Acuity Brands. Andrew holds a Bachelors in Physics from Albion College, a Bachelors in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Masters in Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Connect With Smart Energy Decisions https://smartenergydecisions.com Follow them on Facebook Follow them on Twitter Follow them on LinkedIn Subscribe to Smart Energy Voices If you're interested in participating in the next Smart Energy Decision Event, visit smartenergydecisions.com or email our Event Operations Director, Lisa Carroll at lisa@smartenergydecisions.com Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com

A workplace with four to five different generations of employees can be a challenge. Dr. Candace Steele Flippin knows it is also an opportunity. Candace is an expert on the multigenerational workforce, as well as a Senior Vice President and the Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands, a leading industrial technology company based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an accomplished communications executive widely recognized for her transformational leadership in the industrial, financial services, medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Since 2016, Candace has been a Research Fellow at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, an appointed role. She uses her unique background as a communications executive, researcher and author to provide practical career insights on the future of the multigenerational workplace. She has been featured on Forbes, CNBC, CBS, and Today.com and named as one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine. Candace earned her Doctor of Management at Case Western Reserve University, her MBA from Johns Hopkins University, and her BA from the University of Michigan. She also holds an Accreditation in Public Relations.   Learn about:   7:54 — How younger generations are changing the workplace 10:04 — What Millennials value more than work-life balance 14:45 — Generational differences in interpersonal communication 16:21 — Attitudes toward remote work and the different priorities around returning to offices 21:31 — The keys to retaining top talent from younger generations 22:40 — Shifting expectations around rewards, recognition and demonstrated mastery — Let Go & Lead is a leadership community created by Maril MacDonald, CEO and founder of Gagen MacDonald, more than a decade ago. It explores how leaders inspire change and transformation in an environment in which they possess diminishing control. The Let Go & Lead conversation series has existed in several iterations, from video interviews to its current form as a podcast, now in season 4. Over the years, Maril has conducted more than 70 interviews with business leaders, academics and creative thinkers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, best-selling authors Mitch Albom and Dan Pink, Hyatt CHRO Malaika Myers and American Medical Association CEO James Madara. At its core, Let Go & Lead remains a place where people can access a diversity of perspectives on interdisciplinary approaches to leadership. Full episodes also available on:  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-go-lead-with-maril-macdonald/id1454869525  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Gaf7JXOckZMtkpsMtnjAj?si=WZjZkvfLTX2T4eaeB1PO2A  Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXRnb2xlYWQubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M  Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/let-go-lead  —  Gagen MacDonald is a strategy execution consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Learn more at http://www.gagenmacdonald.com.  

The core of innovation is solving a problem you care about. Innovation often leads to brilliant ideas, better solutions, and an opportunity to implement technology that can truly make an impact. Gary Trott, VP of Commercialization and Technology at Acuity Brands, talks about what it means to give back to the people who ultimately will use the products that manufacturers pioneer, create and bring to life.

Randy Reid discusses the compensation disparity at Acuity Brands, Legrand's Wattstopper DLM product family earns DLC NLC5, and Retrolux and Light Efficient Design announce partnership.

Acuity Brands Inc Q2 2021 Earnings Call --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/earningspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/earningspodcast/support

Die Aktien im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum wurden am Mittwoch gemischt gehandelt.Zur Wochenmitte werden die deutschen Arbeitsmarktdaten veröffentlicht. Erwartet wird eine unveränderte Arbeitslosenquote von 8,0%. Außerdem stehen die Verbraucherpreise für die Eurozone an. Hier rechnen Volkswirte mit einer unveränderten Inflationsrate von 1,1%.In den USA werden die ADP-Arbeitsmarktdaten, der Einkaufsmanagerindex von Chicago sowie die schwebenden Hausverkäufe gemeldet. Daimler hält heute seine Hauptversammlung ab.Quartalsergebnisse kommen von Varta, Adler Real Estate, Home24, Stratec, Hennes & Mauritz, Acuity Brands, Micron Technology und Walgreens Boots Alliance.Dax Erwartung liegt bei 14.980 Punkten.

Today's episode features Debbie and Zac speaking with Josh Linenberger, VP of Applied Solutions at Acuity Brands. This is a continuation of the earlier conversation with Josh in which they outlined several industry applications and use cases that fuel customer ROIs leveraging Atrius RTLS lighting technology implementations. On today’s episode the three of them address several trending design innovation topics such as design planning for contact tracing, intelligent public and patient safety measures, geofencing, and how RTLS amplifies a client’s digital front door user experience. Josh Linenberger | LinkedIn Business Insider (March 2020) | Acuity Brands & TARGET YouTube (August 2020) | What can RTLS do for your hospital? https://www.arup.com/expertise/services/technical-consulting/lighting-design https://hlblighting.com/ https://www.stantec.com/en/services/lighting-design https://www.minew.com/

Ever shop with your smartphone at Target, Macys, Walmart, Home Depot, or Best Buy? How do these monster merchants keep tabs on all the retail activities and consumer experiences happening both inside and outside of their stores? What might it take to modify your workplace with similar real-time analytics on your known customers, colleagues, and essential equipment across every SF of your organization? How might this intel transform your line of business? In this episode, we talk with Josh Linenberger, Vice President of Applied Solutions at Acuity Brands. He shares some transformative insights around connected lighting and supercharging a facility’s essential light fixture system to deliver a scalable, low cost, dynamic, internet-of-things (IoT) backbone. Part two of our conversation with Josh will be available in March 2021.Atrius Acuity Brands Business Insider (March 2020) | Acuity Brands & TARGET YouTube (August 2020) | What can RTLS do for your hospital?

Randy Reid discusses the new promotion at Experience Brands, formerly Nordeon Group. Acuity Brands has published a State of Energy Management Report. California Energy Alliance Names Board, Council Members.

Zum Handelsende notierte der Leitindex Dow Jones Industrial 1,4 Prozent im Plus bei 30 829 Punkte. Zuvor hatte er bei 31 023 Zählern den höchsten Stand seiner Geschichte erreicht. Dagegen sackte der technologielastige Nasdaq 100 um 1,40 Prozent auf 12 623 Zähler ab.Bankaktien profitierten von einer wieder zunehmenden Risikoneigung angesichts der Entwicklungen in Georgia sowie dem jüngsten Zinsanstieg in den Vereinigten Staaten.Die Zulassung eines zweiten Impfstoffs in der Europäischen Union und die Hoffnung auf ein noch umfangreicheres US-Konjunkturpaket trieben den Dax vor allem am Nachmittag mit Unterstützung der ebenfalls robusten US Börsen an. Mit einem Plus von 1,8 Prozent auf 13 892 Punkte ging der deutsche Leitindex nur unweit seines Tageshochs über die Ziellinie. Der Dax wird heute wieder im Plus erwartet. Mit 13.951 Punkten. Der MDax legte um 0,20 Prozent auf 31 121 Punkte zu. Allgemein kletterten europaweit die Finanzwerte nach oben, die Papiere der Deutschen Bank zogen an der Dax-Spitze um sechs Prozent an.Heute werden die deutschen Industrieaufträge gemeldet. Außerdem stehen die Einzelhandelsumsätze sowie die Verbraucherpreise für die Eurozone an. Erwartet wird ein leichter Anstieg der Inflationsrate von -0,3 auf -0,2%.In den USA werden neben den wöchentlichen Erstanträgen auf Arbeitslosenhilfe die Handelsbilanz sowie der ISM-Service-Index veröffentlicht.Geschäftszahlen kommen von Acuity Brands, Bed Bath & Beyond, ConAgra Brands, Constellation Brands, Micron Technology und Walgreens Boots Alliance.

ESG stocks to buy! According to analysts. These include: AES, Aptiv, LG Chem, LONGi Green Energy Technology, Siemens Energy, Infineon, Covestro, Deere, CJ Cheiljedang, Bluestar Adisseo, Ball Corp, SCG Packaging, Bureau Veritas, Verisk, Brookfield Renewable, First Solar, NextEra Energy, SolarEdge Technologies, Acuity Brands, Inc., United Rentals, Inc., Rockwell Automation, Inc, Union Pacific Corporation, and more PODCAST: Analysts Pick ESG Stocks to Buy! Transcript & Links, Episode 47, December 18, 2020 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 47 published on December 18, titled “Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy!”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols, quotes, and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy! First, we start with a big list titled 15 Stocks to Buy as the ESG Investing Boom Continues Into 2021 by Callum Keown. It appeared on the barrons.com site. Quote “The sustainable and ESG investing revolution is set to continue in 2021, with investors looking for the next wave of opportunities, Morgan Stanley strategists said, as they revealed the 15 stocks to buy… In Europe ... they chose energy-technology company Siemens Energy for its exposure to renewables and gas, as well as German chip maker Infineon, given its ‘commanding position in power semiconductors’ used in electric vehicles. Germany’s Covestro also featured as a leading producer of rigid foams used as insulation in buildings and increasingly in electric vehicles. In the U.S. ... they liked global-energy company AES, citing its transformation in developing renewables and storage, and automobile-parts company Aptiv for its growing focus on electric vehicles. In Asia they selected electric-vehicle-battery manufacturer LG Chem and solar wafer producer LONGi Green Energy Technology. Sustainable consumption The strategists also picked five stocks relating to sustainable consumption, with governments turning their attention to food and agriculture. Their picks included agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere, South Korean food company CJ Cheiljedang, and China’s Bluestar Adisseo for its products providing nutritional solutions for animal feed. Aluminium-beverage-can producer Ball Corp and Thailand’s SCG Packaging also made the list, offering alternatives to single-use plastics and packaging. Finally, they highlighted three stocks as a way of playing the overall structural growth theme of sustainability and ESG—asset manager Amundi, testing and inspection specialists Bureau Veritas, and U.S. data analytics company Verisk for its climate-data offering.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy! Our next article continues with the alternative energy stock theme. It’s titled Got $5,000? Here Are 5 Energy Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Long Term. Matthew DiLallo, the article’s author, says these companies are leaders in the energy transition. It was on The Motley Fool site. He says the following about his picks. Quote: “1) Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ: AY) … owns a globally diversified portfolio of infrastructure assets backed by long-term, fixed-rate contracts that supply it with predictable income. The company currently gets 69% of its cash flow from renewable energy assets… Atlantica targets to invest $200 million to $300 million per year to expand its portfolio, which should enable it to steadily increase its high-yielding dividend. 2) Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP) (NYSE: BEPC) … The company is a global leader in operating hydroelectric facilities (64% of its cash flow), which it compliments with fast-growing wind (27%) and solar energy (9%) platforms… The company anticipates increasing its cash flow at a double-digit annual rate through at least 2025, which should support 5% to 9% annual dividend growth. 3) First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) … is a leading manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, ideal for utility-scale solar energy projects… With solar panel demand expected to double over the next five years, First Solar is in an ideal position to capture this growth. 4) NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) … is the world's top energy producer from the wind and sun… Meanwhile, the company is also an early leader in emerging technologies like battery storage and green hydrogen. Add those factors to its legacy utility operations and 1.9%-yielding dividend, and NextEra is one of the lowest risk ways to invest in the future of energy. 5) SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ: SEDG) … makes power optimizers and inverters that help lower the cost of energy produced by solar panels… With a cash-rich balance sheet, SolarEdge has the financial flexibility to continue expanding so that it can stay ahead of the technological curve and capture a sizable portion of this growth.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy! For most ethical and sustainable investors, many infrastructure stocks would qualify as investments. And given the prospect of massive infrastructure spending planned by governments globally, it might be worth considering some of these companies. Here’s an article titled 12 Best Infrastructure Stocks to Buy Now that might assist you. It’s written by Ma’k Almario and appeared on the Yahoo! Finance site. Mr. Almario says, “These are the most popular infrastructure stocks among the 800+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.” I’ll mention a company and then provide a brief quote from him on each one. Working towards the number one spot, we start with… “12) Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) Fastenal Company is an industrial distributor based in Minnesota. The company markets industrial, safety, and construction supplies at the same time inventory management, manufacturing, and tool repair… 11) Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) The company manufactures innovative lighting products, controls, software, and services… Acuity Brands is one of the 10 new stocks billionaire Ken Fisher just bought. 10) Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM) … is one of the leading suppliers of building materials, including aggregates, cement, and heavy materials. 9) Aecom (NYSE: ACM) … is one of the top infrastructure firms in the world. 8) United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) United Rentals, Inc. is one of the world’s largest equipment rental companies… [it’s] a relatively popular stock among hedge funds, but hedge funds have been taking some chips off the table throughout 2020. 7) HD Supply Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) … is an industrial distributor in North America… Unfortunately, it may be a bit late to buy this stock now. Recently, The Home Depot, Inc… announced its acquisition of HD Supply Holdings in an all-cash deal for all common stock at $56 per share. The acquisition is expected to be completed on January 31, 2021. 6) Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) The company is engaged in the manufacturing of construction materials, gravel, crushed stone, and sand. 5) Rockwell Automation, Inc (NYSE: ROK) … provides industrial automation and information technology. 4) Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies with headquarters located in Atlanta, Georgia. 3) Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) Kansas City Southern is a Delaware-registered transportation holding company with railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama. 2) CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America. 1) Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) … is the best infrastructure stock to buy now. The company is a freight-hauling railroad that operated 8,300 locomotives over 32,300 miles.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy! Now, this is an interesting new sustainable equity ETF. It’s covered in an article by Aaron Neuwirth titled J.P. Morgan Launches Carbon Transition Equity ETF, JCTR. It appeared on etfdb.com. Here are some key quotes from Mr. Neuwirth. “The fund will track the JPMorgan Asset Management Carbon Transition U.S. Equity Index, built to achieve a meaningful reduction in carbon intensity without relying on exclusions or sector deviations. JCTR will seek to offer investors at least 30% less carbon intensity than the Russell 1000 index.” This article originally appeared on ETFTrends.com.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Robeco launches two climate-focused fixed income strategies Now to some exciting new fixed income entrants. They are reviewed in an article titled Robeco launches two climate-focused fixed income strategies. It’s published on theasset.com site. Quote “Asset manager Robeco has launched two climate-focused fixed income strategies, the first of their kind to be fully compliant with the European Union’s benchmark regulation for Paris-aligned investments. These are RobecoSAM Climate Global Credits and RobecoSAM Climate Global Bonds. RobecoSAM Climate Global Credits invests globally in corporate bonds with explicit climate targets that contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement… RobecoSAM Climate Global Bonds comprises a global aggregate portfolio of fixed income assets. The strategy aims for a lower carbon footprint relative to the global investment grade bond universe and an average of at least 7% decarbonization per annum, while outperforming its Paris-aware benchmark.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- End Comment Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “Analysts: ESG Stocks to Buy!” To get all the links, stock symbols, or to read the transcript of this podcast -- and more -- go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let’s promote a better post COVID world through ethical and sustainable investing! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy—and conscious about the ethical and sustainable values of your investments! Thank you for listening. Now, I’m likely taking a break over the holidays so my next podcast might not be until January 15, 2021! So, stay tuned! Though these are difficult times, I do hope you have a joyous and restful holiday. Bye for now. © 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.

Randy Reid discusses Candace Flippin joining Acuity Brands as Chief Communications Officer, and Cree's launch of a new color bulb with no hub.

Gute Wall Street schickt Asiatische Börsen nach oben.Heute werden die deutsche Handelsbilanz sowie die Exporte und Importe bekannt gegeben.In den USA stehen abgesehen von den wöchentlichen Erstanträgen auf Arbeitslosenhilfe keine wichtigen Konjunkturdaten zur Veröffentlichung an.Geschäftszahlen kommen von Südzucker, Givaudan, Acuity Brands, Delta Air Lines und Domino's Pizza.Erwartung beim Dax liegt bei 12.980 Punkten.

Jim Hockett is the Vice President of ESCO for Acuity Brands Inc (AYI). Mr. Hockett has responsibility to lead process and sales initiatives that promote customer connectivity, new technology placement, and growth within the energy segments. Mr. Hockett began his lighting and energy solutions career in 1983 with Sylvania where he spent 30 years prior to accepting an early retirement & enhanced severance package. Since 2013 he has served in several sales and marketing roles within the Acuity Brands organization. Mr. Hockett has been active in the Technology and Energy Solutions Industry for many years. He became Lighting Certified by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP) in January of 2009. He served on the University of North Texas Industrial Advisory Board – Mechanical and Energy Engineering from 2012 – 2015. He also serves as the NAESCO Affiliate Committee Chair and a member of the NAESCO Executive Advisory CommitteeMr. Hockett currently resides in Ft Myers Beach Florida and holds an Associate of Arts in Computer Information Systems from Midway University and a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from John Brown University. The Nenni and Associates team are strategic partners in multiple facets of the energy and infrastructure services sector. We strive to continuously support our clients with their hiring needs and overall organization health. We are here to serve our clients as the market changes and be “in the moment” with market intel as we look to the future together.Our services for both our clients and candidates can be found below ✔️For Employers: https://www.nenniandassoc.com/for-employers/✔️For Candidates: https://www.nenniandassoc.com/career-opportunities/✔️Consulting: https://www.nenniandassoc.com/consulting-services/✔️Executive Search: https://www.nenniandassoc.com/executive-search/Nenni and Associates on Social Media:► Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nenni-and-associates/► Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nenniandassoc/► Email Listing: https://www.nenniandassoc.com/join-email-list/► Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nenniandassoc► Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NenniAssociates

Whether it’s implementing UV germicidal lighting or disinfecting air flow, lighting will play a significant role as commercial buildings reopen during and after the pandemic. Learn more from industry experts Tanya Hernandez and Cheryl English from Acuity Brands about how to capitalize on these innovative solutions as well as take advantage of strategic tax credits to help fund these upgrades. *This podcast was created in partnership with Acuity Brands. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/interiorsandsources/support

These stocks could thrive under Biden: Procter & Gamble, Trane Technologies, AvalonBay Communities, Rockwell Automation, Acuity Brands, Osram Licht, Hubbell, Schneider Electric, Ameresco, NXP Semiconductors, ON Semiconductor, Avangrid, Eaton, Ormat Technologies, NextEra Energy, TPI Composites, Orsted, Trimble, Koninklijke DSM, and Agilent Technologies. So writes Michael Brush who interviews leading ESG fund managers. There’s more too PODCAST: These Stocks Could Thrive Under Biden. More… Transcript & Links, Episode 38, August 14, 2020 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 38 published on August 14 titled “These Stocks Could Thrive Under Biden. More…“— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1) These Stocks Could Thrive Under Biden. More… Now with the US political season heating up, MarketWatch published an article titled These ‘green’ stocks would thrive under a Biden administration, according to fund managers. It’s written by Michael Brush. Below, I’m quoting Mr. Brush at length. Quote. “It’s increasingly likely that the Democrats will win the White House and the Senate. For investors, that means it’s time to review the environmental, social and governance (ESG) sector, with an emphasis on ‘green’ stocks that might do well under a Joe Biden presidency. For key insights and stock ideas, I (that is Michael Brush) recently spoke with three ESG fund managers with outperforming records, according to Morningstar, and a policy analyst from one of the companies. Highlights of the Biden plan First, Biden’s plan is ambitious. He wants a carbon-neutral power-generation sector by 2035… ‘Everything he is doing aligns with the strategy that we as ESG investors have been arguing for, for years,’ says Cheryl Smith, who manages the John Hancock ESG Large Cap Core Fund JHJRX, +0.25%. The fund beats its Morningstar large-cap blend benchmark by three percentage points, annualized, over the past three years… ‘I think it’s great to have all these plans. The difficulty is executing them,’ says Hubert Aarts of the Pax Global Environmental Markets Fund PGINX, +0.11%... Aarts is worth listening to because his fund outperforms its world large-cap stock category by 6.6 percentage points over the past year, says Morningstar. Fuel for Investing Smarter ‘The energy transformation is a transition which will happen with or without politicians,’ says Jonathan Waghorn of the Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund GAAEX, -0.46%. His fund beats its small- and mid-cap value sector benchmark by 34 percentage points over the past year, and 13.6 percentage points annualized over the past three years, according to Morningstar. Stocks It can be tricky to wrangle with investing in environmentally friendly stocks, because there’s no clear sector labeled ‘alternative’ or ‘clean’ energy, says Waghorn. Smith, at the John Hancock ESG Large Cap Core Fund, includes companies with good internal eco-friendly policies, to broaden the playing field. This extends her reach into even consumer staples like Procter & Gamble PG, -0.25%, which she says is taking significant steps to become carbon neutral and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 1. Green buildings Making buildings more energy efficient is the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of green initiatives because there is so much companies can do to reduce energy consumption in their buildings. Smith… likes Trane Technologies TT, 1.84%, which offers energy-efficient climate-control systems, and the real estate investment trust AvalonBay Communities AVB, -0.27%, which specializes in energy-efficient buildings. She cites Rockwell Automation ROK, 2.30%, which has a division that helps companies monitor energy usage and waste. Aarts… singles out Acuity Brands AYI, 3.00%, Osram Licht OSAGY, -3.14% and Hubbell HUBB, 0.81% in energy-efficient lighting, and Schneider Electric SBGSY, 1.45%, which sells products that help companies improve energy efficiency. Waghorn… points us to Ameresco AMRC, 0.16%, which helps companies improve energy and lighting efficiency. 2. Green autos But it makes sense to still consider some of the ‘arms dealers’ to the green car space. Here, Smith likes NXP Semiconductors NXPI, 1.75%, which sells semiconductors used in electric-powered vehicles. Waghorn likes Samsung SDI, a Korean pureplay on lithium-ion batteries that is building partnerships with European car manufacturers. Another play here that he likes: ON Semiconductor ON, 3.01%, which sells power-management chips used in the electric-vehicle space. 3. Renewable-energy companies In this area, Smith… singles out Avangrid AGR, 0.39%, a major supplier of power generated from offshore wind sources. She also highlights Eaton ETN, 3.47%, which sells gear that helps improve efficiency of the power grid so it can better handle power from alternative-energy sources. Waghorn owns Ormat Technologies ORA, 0.67%, a geothermal power generator, NextEra Energy NEE, -1.69%, the largest generator of renewable energy, and TPI Composites TPIC, -4.01%, a materials-science company that sells lightweight materials used in wind turbine blades. Aarts highlights Orsted DNNGY, +1.34%, a green-energy provider based in Denmark. Green agriculture In this space, Aarts… likes Trimble TRMB, 0.91%, because it offers satellite images used by farmers to reduce waste of pesticides and water… He also cites Koninklijke DSM RDSMY, +0.05%, a Dutch company that sells ‘clean cow’ food that reduces the emission of methane from bovines. He also says Agilent Technologies A, -0.18% will play a role in green farming because it sells gear used in testing levels of pollution in water, air and soil.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2) These Stocks Could Thrive Under Biden. More… Three writers at The Motley have each chosen their top pick in a post titled 3 Top Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy in August. Bloom Energy Travis Hoium likes Bloom Energy. He writes, that, “Bloom Energy recently announced a solid oxide electrolyzer that will convert electricity and water into hydrogen fuel, which is usable in electricity-generating fuel cells. This could make hydrogen a viable fuel for shipping, long-haul trucking, and even grid applications. It's even possible that hydrogen fuel could be pumped around the country using pipelines. Bloom Energy isn't yet profitable, but it has the chance to upend fossil fuel energy as we know it.” End quote. NextEra Energy Howard Smith suggests NextEra Energy. He says that “NextEra Energy is a Florida-based company that owns Florida Power & Light, the largest regulated electric utility in the U.S… as well as Gulf Power. Its other subsidiary is NextEra Energy Resources. This segment, along with its affiliates, is the world's largest generator of wind and solar power, and invests in battery storage. NextEra estimates it can provide investors an annual total return of 10% to 12% through 2022 with earnings growth and dividends, in large part due to growth in the renewables segment.” End quote. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. Jason Hall recommends Clean Energy Fuels Corp. Mr. Hall writes that, quote “Clean Energy Fuels hasn't been a good investment over the past seven or eight years. Management made a leveraged bet that trucking would shift quickly from diesel to natural gas. But the bet backfired during the last oil collapse when growth slowed to a crawl… Instead of focusing on those past mistakes, investors would do well to take a hard look at the company… Here's the major reason it's a buy-now stock: For all the press that electric and hydrogen trucks get, renewable natural gas is the leader in zero-emissions fuels for trucking and is likely to remain so for years to come. Clean Energy Fuels is the dominant supplier of renewable natural gas.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Worried About Investing Ethically? These 2 ETFs Can Put You On The Right Track. From investing.com, there’s this article titled Worried About Investing Ethically? These 2 ETFs Can Put You On The Right Track. I’ll first mention the ETF and follow it with relevant quotes from the article. 1. The Vanguard ESG US Stock Fund (NYSE: ESGV)… seeks to track the performance of the FTSE US All Cap Choice index. The fund is screened for certain ESG criteria and specifically excludes stocks of companies in: adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, fossil fuels, gambling and nuclear power. Additionally, stocks of individual companies that do not meet certain diversity criteria as well as the principles of the United Nations Global Compact are not included. Year-to-date, the fund is up over 7%. On Aug. 5, it hit an all-time high of $61.08. 2. iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF (NASDAQ: SDG)… follows the MSCI ACWI Sustainable Impact index. This benchmark index is composed of positive impact companies that derive a majority of their revenue from products and services that address at least one of the world's major social or environmental challenges as identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as education or climate change.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Franklin Templeton Launches Muni Green Bond Fund. Now I also thought that this might interest many ethical and sustainable investors. The article is titled Franklin Templeton Launches Muni Green Bond Fund. The article’s author is Emily Holbrook. These are some of her remarks. Quote, “Franklin Templeton has launched the Franklin Municipal Green Bond Fund, one of the few strategies solely focusing on muni green bonds. The fund seeks to maximize income exempt from federal income taxes by investing in green bonds, including climate bonds, sustainability bonds, and environmental impact bonds… Franklin Templeton said the municipal green bond market is young and continues to evolve… The universe of US municipal green bond issuers includes states, cities, municipal water and sewer enterprises, transportation systems, universities, and hospitals, among others.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ending Comments Well, these are my top news stories and tips for this podcast: “These Stocks Could Thrive Under Biden. More…” And to get all the links, stock symbols, and more, or to read the transcript of this podcast and with additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. We can all do our part in helping create a better world – especially in these deeply troubled times. Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well, healthy, and wise! Thank you for listening. Talk to you again on August 28. Bye for now. © 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.

Let's talk about Virtual Reality and 6 degrees of freedom. You've seen it in arcades and the gaming industry for decades, but now it's headed for the world of architecture and design. Josh Miller, Illumination Engineer at Acuity Brands dives into VR, the hardware required to get "in the game" and shares some insight about how it could change the way we design with light.

Asiatische Aktien profitieren von unerwartet guten Zahlen zur chinesischen Industrieproduktion. US-Märkte wegen überraschend starkem Immobilienmarkt zuvor deutlich im Plus. Wirecard bewegt deutsche Anleger mit Plus von mehr als 150 Prozent. Commerzbank vor Streit mit Arbeitnehmern wegen massivem Stellenabbau.Aber die Zuversicht dürfte sich heute in Grenzen halten. Obwohl die Anleger das Risiko böser Überraschungen für überschaubar halten. Heute werden die deutschen Importpreise bekannt gegeben. Außerdem stehen die Verbraucherpreise für die Eurozone an. Die Inflationsrate soll mit 0,1% auf dem Niveau des Vormonats liegen. In den USA stehen der Einkaufsmanagerindex von Chicago und das Verbrauchervertrauen an.Der Immobilienkonzern Vonovia hält heute seine virtuelle Hauptversammlung ab. Geschäftszahlen kommen von Grenke, Acuity Brands, Carnival, ConAgra und FedEx.Der DAX wird zur Eröffnung etwa auf Vortagesniveau erwartet. Experten sehen den Leitindex nahezu unverändert bei 12.236 Punkten zur Handelseröffnung.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kommponisten)

In this episode of I Hear Design, Acuity Brands’ VP of Architectural Ambient Lighting, Tim O’Brien, and Donna Sumner, Director of Product Marketing, talk about trends in architectural lighting and the role that technology is playing in the process.  *This podcast was created in partnership with Acuity Brands. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/interiorsandsources/support

Tune in to this week's episode of Modern Energy Management as John Kavulich, Vice President of IoT Solution Sales at Acuity Brands, shares how digital lighting networks are making connected facilities a reality for retail, aviation, healthcare, and other industries. We explore IoT use cases that help building owners digitize their facilities, improve energy efficiency, and understand what's happening in their buildings by capturing data from lighting networks and beacon technology.If you like our show, please leave us a review in the Apple Podcast App or share our show with a friend in the industry. Questions, Comments, or if you'd like to guest star on the show please email communications@luciddg.com

Catherine Bruce, VP of Product Marketing for Acuity Brands, joins us to share how segmenting account-based marketing can increase manufacturers' sales.

During this episode, You, Me, and Your Top Three host and CGS Advisors CEO, Gregg Garrett, speaks with Michael Healander, Co-Founder, President and CEO, Airspace Link – a company that is building highways for the autonomous drone industry. Michael and Gregg spend time discussing the importance of ingenuity and the patterns of disrupting an industry. Michael shares his ‘Top Three’ – from coaches that helped him recognize that you don’t need to be cut from the same cloth to succeed, to those that taught him that intentionally applying oneself increases the chances for success and greatness, to those who believed him before he even did, to the teammates who made the team stronger than the individual. And, you have to hear what Michael has to say about the magical power of passion. About Michael Healander As President & CEO of Airspace Link, Inc. Michael Healander is responsible for running all facets of the business. Michael has a proven executive management track record and 15 years of experience driving sales growth in the technology industry. Prior to joining Airspace Link, Michael was Vice President of Business Development at Acuity Brands and he was responsible for all software sales across four brands. Previously, he was the co-founder and CRO of Geometri where he built an indoor mapping, analytics and navigation business that was successfully acquired by Acuity Brands. Michael also served on GISinc. management team for six years and was recognized as a leader in location technology. GISinc grew from 25 to 170 employees over this period. Michael has 20 years of experience in spatial technology, 12 years in state & local government, 7 years in the commercial and retail industry, 2 years in Federal (DoD) and currently holds an FAA commercial drone pilot license. Show Highlights Segment 1: Overview 1:00        The importance of reflecting on the industrial revolutions of the past. 6:50        Doubling back into the industrial era – where digital and industrial economics will start to collide. 8:19        Michael Healander –  a geospatial engineer turned entrepreneur (Airspace Link.) Segment 2: The “Top Three”   13:15      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Dave Gomez – Understanding what motivates people. 14:40      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Jim Silver – “If you apply yourself, you can be great.” 20:52      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Carl Ojala, Dr. Yichun Xie – Finding the passion for geospatial engineering. 21: 58     Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Sally Price – The ability to feel like I can do anything. 22:58      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Lee Lichlyter – a GIS and business mentor. How to scale. (Sean Savage. Patrick Lencioni.) 32:17      Stepping back and handing your success to the next person. 33:40      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Danny Bradshaw – a partner with extreme trust. 35:45      Michael’s ‘Top Three’ – Alex Iskold – here at any moment. (Voxer.) Segment 3: Industry Disruption & Transformation   39:46      Airspace Link:  A geospatial asset management system. 45:30      Being the ‘Vanderbilt’ or ‘Eisenhower’ of drone travel. 47:32      How big is this industry? Global. 49:11      The Airspace Link growth path. Segment 4: Leadership & Wrapping Up 53:17      Advice for youth: “Geospatial capabilities is a niche and people want that.” 56:58      Advice for leaders: ‘Hack’ passion and build your passion for whatever you are doing. 59:29      Check out Airspace Link’s newest launches and contact Michael on LinkedIn. Additional Information Contact Michael Healander: Michael’s LinkedIn Michael’s Twitter Contact Airspace Link: Airspace Link Website Airspace Link Twitter Airspace Link LinkedIn Contact Gregg Garrett: Gregg’s LinkedIn Gregg’s Twitter Gregg’s Bio Contact CGS Advisors: Website LinkedIn Twitter

New US Vegan Climate ETF. It’s pros and cons. Has good debut on the NYSE. Current top renewable energy stocks. Best six stocks for millennials according to Zacks' analyst. Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management purported key holdings. The DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial offers simple way to create a stock portfolio reflecting your values! More PODCAST: First Vegan Fund, Renewable Energy Stocks, and more… Transcript & Links September 13, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for September 13, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Investment ideas in these podcasts are generally gleaned from market participants in the US, Canadian, UK, European, Asian and Australasian financial markets. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links to content, and often bonus material to these podcasts at their episodes’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Now to this podcast! ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, the US Vegan Climate ETF (VEGN: N) finally debuted on the NYSE on September 10. First days trading saw ok action hovering around its initial price of $25 a share. On September 13 it was still hovering about that price. What disappoints many vegan-vegetarian investors is that the ETF doesn’t appear much different from regular mainstream big-cap ETFs. However, as the promoters of this ETF point out that there are few pure vegan-vegetarian stock plays and the ones that are out there are small. Also, to get a well-rounded stock ETF, it had to include big cap S&P 500 stocks. Also, because of its structure, I suspect its returns could be similar, or hopefully even a little better, than S&P 500 ETFs generally. For a good overview of this ETF see Brenton Garen’s post, Vegan ETF ‘VEGN’ Debuts on NYSE, on ETF Trends. Quoting Mr. Garen’s post, “Appearing on Fox Business Network’s Varney & Co. on Tuesday, Beyond Investing CEO Claire Smith discussed the fund with host Stuart Varney, [saying that] ‘We are taking out about 43% of the S&P 500,’ Smith said. ‘We are adding in some of the mid-caps that are more forward-thinking like Beyond Meat (BYND) and Tesla (TSLA), in order to make up some of the differentials in order to compensate for the things we are taking out. [And, generally,] the Beyond Investing US Vegan Climate Index is a passive, rules-based index of U.S. large-cap stocks, screened according to vegan and climate-conscious principles.” End quote. By the way, if, as an investor with closely held personal values, you feel uncomfortable with this and other fund options out there, there is another simple way to invest while more closely aligning your investments with your values. Check-out my one-hour DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial. Go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and look down the right-hand sidebar for the link. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, I often reference The Motley Fool as that site has some great contributors writing about ESG stocks, and again I want to draw to your attention some of their research. Appearing under the title, 3 Top Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now, three Motley Fool contributors review their picks. However, I’ll only quote two here as the third pick was already covered on my August 16 podcast – where Travis Hoium picked SunPower. His two colleagues made new choices in addition to the ones they chose that appeared in my August 16 post. Rich Smith picked TPI Composites (TPIC: NASDAQ) and John Bromels chose TerraForm Power (TERP: NASDAQ). Rich Smith commenting on TPI Composites said, “Shares of windmill blade-maker TPI Composites crashed hard in August after the company reported an earnings beat -- but also made a big reduction in its guidance. With roughly 40% of its production lines for windmill blades either still spinning up, or in the process of being retooled to produce new models, TPI's currently operating 30% under full capacity. [However], from a loss this year, analysts forecast TPI will grow to earn more than $4 a share in just three short years… [and that] TPI Composites stock won't stay this cheap for long,” He says, end quote. John Bromels has this to say about his choice, TerraForm Power. Quote, “[TerraForm Power] is a green energy stock that pays a dividend! Most renewable stocks… are too young and focused on growth (or just too cash-poor) to swing a dividend. But a handful of them -- mostly renewable yieldcos -- do offer dividends, and TerraForm Power's is one of the best, currently yielding about 4.6%... TerraForm looks like a buy for dividend investors and green energy fans alike.” Incidentally, Wikipedia’s definition of a yieldco ‘is a company that is formed to own operating assets that produce a predictable cash flow, primarily through long term contracts.’ ------------------------------------------------------------- Another Motley Fool contributor, Maxx Chatsko, wrote a related post, titled, 2 Top Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy in Wind Power. He likes, NextEra Energy (NEE: N) and Xcel Energy (XEL: NASDAQ), saying that they have a combined 25% of the installed wind power capacity in the United States. Elaborating on these companies, he says, that, “NextEra Energy generated more electricity from the wind and sun than any other company in the world in 2018.” And, that, “Xcel Energy doesn't directly own nearly as much wind power infrastructure as NEE, but it leans on a mix of power purchase agreements (PPA) and direct ownership to support 9,300 megawatts of installed wind power capacity. It plans to increase that to 11,100 megawatts by the end of 2021.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, it’s becoming well known that millennials are eager for ethical and sustainable stocks. Addressing that issue, Awantika Poddar of Zacks wrote a piece titled, Top-Ranked Stocks Suitable for Millennials: 6 Picks – article also appearing on Yahoo! Finance. Though its recommendations are for millennials – I don’t see why many of them wouldn’t be applicable to most investors. So, here are the six recommendations of Ms. Poddar. She writes: “1) Keysight Technologies (KEYS: N) sports a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of A. The stock has returned 54.4% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 10%. 2) Anixter International (AXE: N) flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of B. The stock has returned 10.7% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 8%. 3) Cirrus Logic (CRUS: NASDAQ) has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of B. The stock has returned 60.4% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 15%. 4) Symantec Corporation (SYMC: NASDAQ) has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The stock has surged 23.4% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 6.9%. 5) Microsoft (MSFT: NASDAQ) has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A. The stock has appreciated 35.3% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 11%.” And finally, “6) Alphabet (GOOGL: NASDAQ) has a Zacks Rank #2 and Growth Score of B. The stock has returned 13.1% on a year-to-date basis. Further, the company has a long-term expected EPS growth rate of 17.5%.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- One of the great heroes of sustainable investing is Al Gore, the former US Democratic Party presidential candidate. He helped create Generation Investment Management, an investment firm to invest in sustainable companies. Well, Ryan Vanzo posted an articled on GuruFocus titled, Al Gore Loves These 3 Stocks. The three stocks that Al Gore purportedly likes are, quoting Mr. Vanzo’s post: “Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL: N) [which] comprises 4.1% of Generation’s portfolio, but [is] more than 14% of the shares outstanding. Generation’s stake is worth nearly $600 million. Jones Lang LaSalle is a U.S.-based commercial real estate services firm… The stock trades at just 11.3 times forward earnings… [and] looks like a reasonably priced stock with a large moat.” End quote. The second pick is, Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI: N), Quote, “Acuity Brands comprises 3.2% of Generation’s portfolio, but the firm owns roughly 8% of the entire company. Generation’s stake is worth around $460 million. Acuity is a lighting and building management firm. It’s based in the U.S. but has operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The stock trades at just 12.9 times forward earnings yet consensus estimates call for a 10.67% long-term annual earnings per share growth rate. This could be a bargain if growth estimates become reality.” End quote. The third pick is, Nutanix Inc (NTNX: NASDAQ). Quote, “Nutanix is a new holding for Generation, currently comprising 2.6% of the portfolio. The stock is down 42% on the year, so don’t be surprised if the firm adds to its position if the valuation continues to fall. Generation now owns 7.7% of the company. That’s a $375 million position, nearly 10 times the daily trading volume. Nutanix is a cloud computing software company that sells ‘hyper-converged infrastructure appliances and software-defined storage.’ Over the last five years, revenues have grown by an astounding 57% per year. Year-over-year, however, sales growth has slowed to just 7%. That’s caused a steep sell-off in shares. Part of the issue seems to be a misunderstood pivot to subscription and SaaS [software as a service] revenue streams… Revenue growth slows as customers are transitioned to the cloud, but long-term retention and profitability may rise. Generation seems to be capitalizing on the temporary confusion.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally and help create a better world for us all. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else related. Now, a big thank you for listening. Come again! And my next podcast is scheduled for September 27. See you then. Bye for now. © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.

Smart building technology continues to evolve, but it’s not a thing of the future. Chances are you’re already using it in your facility. There are ways to leverage what you already have to drive improvements in operation, improvements in the business, as well as the client and employee experience. Find out the possibilities for connecting the technology in your smart buildings. *This podcast was created in partnership with Acuity Brands. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/buildings-podcast/support

Is your building connected? If not, Trevor Palmer from Acuity Brands talks with Janelle Penny about what happens when it is. He sheds light on the evolution of the connected building, growing from just energy savings and comfort to the occupant journey and experience in your facility. He shares three steps you can take to move forward. *This podcast was created in partnership with Acuity Brands. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/buildings-podcast/support

On this Episode of ControlTalk Now The HVAC and Smart Buildings Controls Podcast, Ken and I discuss the amazing demonstation of what is possible in Smart Building Controls today and in the future. There has been lot's of discussions about what be be accomplished when Smart Buildings maximize the integration of HVAC, IOT, Lighting, Access and Security, Tenant services, and business systems, until Friday, ken and I had never witnessed a fully funictional smart building integration that combined all of these systems. As you will hear on the show it was inspiring. Congratulations to Jones Lange Lasalle, Acuity Brands, Distech Controls and all the other players who made this happen. Steve Shaw, from Sierra Monitoring joined us and gave us quite the education on networking routers and systems that connect smart buildings and smart building control systems. Our other guest, Ken Sinclair, the owner of automated buildings, helped us do a deep dive and unpacking of all that we saw and learned at the REALComm/ IBcon show in Nashville.  As you will hear, we have passed a significant tipping point in the evolution of Smart Buildings and Smart Building Controls. How can you take advantage of this huge shift in the world of HVAC and Smart Building Controls? Start by listening to and subscribing to this podcast, make sure to check out the controltrends.com website, and subscribe to the Controltrends Smart Buildings You Tube Channel. We are pumping out control news you can use every day. As as my teacher always said, "Nothing is Obvious to the Uninformed"

With a background in acting, Lila Smith has learned not only how to say things with more flair, but also to help you use your words to "Say Things Better" as you will learn about in this episode. Ever feel like you're playing a character? Maybe your words don't feel like your own. Maybe your whole life feels like someone else wrote it. Well, we aren't characters, but we can use human character analysis tools (like YouMap®) to remember who we are or discover ourselves for the first time. She did. Then she realized- more than one tool works offstage. Story visualization motivates us. Improv teaches collaboration. Stanislavsky's System clarifies objectives. Meisner's work makes good listeners. Adler's “Actioning” names HOW we make others feel. Forakis' OTOA organizes our thoughts. Actually, everything that creates dramatic conflict can be reverse engineered to create connection! So Lila did that, creating the Say Things Better Method of Intentional Communication. Today, her highly interactive workshops have earned rave reviews from partners like Merck, Acuity Brands, the Dallas Mavericks, the University of Miami, Zoho, and Fannie Mae. Follow her online: Say Things Better – Coaching Through Intentional Communication (9) Lila Smith, AEA, APO | LinkedIn For more information on how you can Own Your Awkward with Andy Vargo, check out https://www.awkwardcareer.com/ #podcast #awkward #ownyourawkward #acceptance #authentiicity #motivation #inspiration #saythingsbetter #acting #improv #growth #stage #communication --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/own-your-awkward/support

The technology we talk about in today’s episode seems super futuristic. But in reality, it’s happening NOW. With my guest, Greg Carter, Channel Mastery this week is devoted to bringing online data capture technology into the physical space of brick and mortar retail. We cover connected buildings, beacon technology and indoor digital GPS.  Greg Carter is the Senior Vice President, Connected Buildings Software at Acuity Brands, Inc. He responsible for developing, productizing, selling and deploying IoT Solutions that leverage Acuity’s IoT platform and IoT-enabled lighting and building systems infrastructure. These solutions harness operational and consumer data and transform them into business insights that fuel improvements in worker efficiency, business processes, customer experience and market penetration for Acuity Brands customers.

Episode 292: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings Videocast and PodCast for Week Ending Nov 18, 2018 features interviews with two industry experts: Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Supply and Engineering, a multi-award-winning company and a leading Industrial IoT Supplier, and Arthur Alter, VP of Business Development at Acuity Brands, who tells us that DGLUX is back, and in a big way. Also, the 2018 ControlTrends Awards Finalists have been announced — Vote today! 2019 AHR Expo Product Preview Released; Honeywell’s new CIPer Next Generation IP Controller line; Comfy Joins Siemens Building Technologies; and CyberPower offers Power Solutions for Every Environment. Announcing the 2018 ControlTrends Awards Finalists! Congratulations to all of the finalists! We thank our ControlTrends Community for the largest nomination engagement ever, with participation from over 40 countries. And, very special thanks to all of our sponsors! Now, the final voting phase begins. Please use this link to cast your vote — and make sure to pass this voting link along to your colleagues and communities to vote as well. We look forward to seeing you January 13th, 2019, in Atlanta. Our first guest on ControlTalk NOW is Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Supply & Engineering, a multi-award-winning company and a Leading Industrial IoT Supplier. Scott gives us an update on Master Systems Integrators and how their businesses are expanding; yet, their hardware sales are down. You need to listen why! Next, a review of innovative technology: AI and Indoor Positioning Sensing, and last but not least, a preview of Controls-Con 2019. 2019 AHR Expo Product Preview Released: AIR-CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT, SYSTEMS, COMPONENTS & PRODUCTS. The AHR Expo is the world’s largest HVACR event, attracting the most comprehensive gathering of industry professionals from around the globe each year. The Show provides a unique forum where manufacturers of all sizes and specialties, whether a major industry brand or innovative start-up, can come together to share ideas and showcase the future of HVACR technology under one roof. Badge Registration for AHR 2019 is OPEN! Honeywell’s New CIPer Next-Generation IP Controller Line is a Game Changer in the Building Automation Industry. Honeywell’s new CIPer Next Generation IP Controller line is a game changer in the building automation industry. Offering a complete line of IP Controllers utilizing native Niagara Work Bench; VAV to Plant Control with only 4 SKU’s; and a Secure IP Network using FOXS. CIPer Network Architecture also features Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), IP Video connection to BLAN, and Simplified Engineering. Get ready for the future of IoT in buildings with this powerful new architecture. Our second guest on ControlTalk NOW is Arthur Alter, VP of Business Development at Acuity Brands, who explains their realignment with Lucid, and tells us that DGLUX is back in a big way, providing a superior Building Visualization Development Platform that allows you to leverage all your data sources in a single, unified development environment using browser-based technology, that delivers a fast and responsive development environment using HTML5. Comfy Joins Siemens Building Technologies — The Pursuit of Creating Perfect Places Continues. Great video discussion with Eike-Oliver Steffen, Head Solution and Service Portfolio at Siemens Building Technologies, and Andrew Krioukov, CEO & Co-Founder, Comfy, as they talk about the future of buildings and creating perfect places. Siemens Building Technologies would like to see buildings become active assets, which requires a much better people-building interface, which Comfy provides — because Comfy connects people to their physical environment. CyberPower — POWER YOUR WAY Solutions for Every Environment. CyberPower manufactures home office and professional-grade UPS systems, PDUs, surge protectors, mobile chargers and connectivity products for consumers and IT professionals. As an industry leader, we’re committed to providing a full range of power management products and solutions to help you power, monitor and safeguard critical equipment and data. The post Episode 292: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings Videocast and PodCast for Week Ending Nov 18, 2018 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Episode 275: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings Videocast and PodCast for week ending July 22, 2018 features interviews with Therese Sullivan, Director of Channel Marketing at Tridium, and Alper Uzmezler, Managing Partner, BASSG and Founder of Anka Labs. Contemporary Controls introduces their new EIGR Routers; Lynxspring offers Analytics at the edge; Acuity’s Lucid delivers a data and analytic platform; Why Project SandStar could change the Smart Building Controls world forever; and a message to contractors from Honeywell’s General Manager, Mike Garceau. Contemporary Controls News: New Product — EIGR Routers Add OpenVPN Server Functionality. The EIPR-V routers have supported the OpenVPN client functionality to provide secure remote access using the RemoteVPN service. The newly released EIGR routers support this functionality but also can be configured to as an OpenVPN server. Setting up an OpenVPN server on your own is not a trivial task. It involves setting up a root certificate authority and generating certificates and keys for the OpenVPN server and for each client device that intends to connect to this server. ControlTalk NOW interview with Therese Sullivan, who in her new role as Tridium’s Director of Channel Marketing, tells us how she still monitors the technology quakes emanating from the Silicon Valley, while taking a deeper focus on the Voice of the Customer. Therese also brings us up-to-speed on tagging, mobile first, bulk deploy, and the increased efficiency between the supervisors and controllers — features of Tridium’s Niagara 4.6 impending release. Lynxspring Edge-to-Enterprise Solution Now Offers Analytics at the Edge for the Building Environment and Operational Systems. Lynxspring, Inc., a premier developer and provider of open, IP-control solutions for building automation, energy management, and edge-to-enterprise integration, announced today the full release of their Onyxx® SkySpark® Edge Analytics solution which embeds SkyFoundry’s SkySpark® Everywhere Analytics software in the Lynxspring Onyxx® Hardware platform. ControlTrends’ Ken Smyers gets the 411 on Acuity’s Acquisition of Lucid at Realcomm20/IBcon. Ken Smyers digs in at RealComm|IBcon and talks with the team at Lucid about how their products will add to the great product portfolio Acuity Brands already has like DG Logik and Distech. Lucid provides a data and analytics platform to make data-driven decisions to improve building efficiency and drive energy conservation and savings. Its SaaS-based BuildingOS platform enables owners, operators, and occupants to gain powerful insights into the operations of their buildings, providing the ability to make them more efficient and improve the performance of the people and businesses utilizing these strategic assets. ControlTalk NOW second interview is with Alper Uzmezler, Managing Partner, BASSG and Founder of Anka Labs. Alper tells us about Sandstar, an initiative that combines two open industry standards, Sedona and Project Haystack, which replaces hardware dependent code with self-describing haystack-based tagging. Alper follows with a demonstration and explains that the key to AI-infused PID loops is clean data. The next step is to develop the Sandstar ecosystem. Community participation is welcome! Why Project SandStar Could Change The Smart Building Controls World Forever. If ControlTrends’ Young Gun, Alper Üzmezler, managing partner at BASSG, is correct with his theory that the way DDC software is done today is redundant — costly and inefficient, and if he can deliver the promises of Project Sandstar, then the smart building controls world as we know it — is getting ready to change forever. What Sandstar allows — is for independent Direct Digital Controls to merge Sedona with Haystack — into a seamless whole, which according to Alper, means you would eliminate the need for each individual manufacturer’s software. Honeywell Building Controls 2018 Contractor Guide Book. A message from Mike Garceau, General Manager – Honeywell Brand: Dear Honeywell Contractor, Honeywell has a long tradition of working with independent contractors and integrators to provide complete, successful building control solutions. And thanks to your hard work and partnership, we feel our channel-to-market approach is the strongest it’s ever been. That’s why we’re committed to investing in the tools and resources and introducing more partner benefits — such as Contractor Pro Rewards — that help make you a success each and every day. The post Episode 275: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings Videocast and PodCast for Week Ending July 22, 2018 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Dan Ryan is not really a lighting guy. He has worked in the industry but he rolls more with the Silicon Valley crowd. He founded ByteLight in 2011 and flipped it to Acuity Brands where he stayed on as a VP of Product Development. On this episode we talked about IoT, Smart Lighting, LiFi, Indoor Positioning and, well, the Matrix. Dan is currently the Co-Founder & CEO of VergeSense

The Mama Truth Show is especially for ambitious, soulful, women that are ready to STOP being so hard on themselves, release self-bullying and embrace their Inner Wisdom. You've probably heard me gabbing on about this incredible new technology for our children's classrooms called “tunable lighting”. Check out today's interview with Tricia Foster, Director, Education Vertical Market Development for Acuity Brands, who talks all about how lighting is affecting our kids and how we can make things our teachers and children more successful with tunable lighting! Hear testimonials from teachers and kids at www.mamatruthshow.com/light Video: https://youtu.be/83j5h_c1iwI

Episode 223: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for week ending Apr 30, 2017 takes on a special dimension as we videoed the show on location at the CGNA Synergy Conference at the Peabody Hotel, in Memphis, TN. Additionally, EasyIO releases VAV using Wi-Fi Mesh and Live Wiresheets; Hepta Systems’ Jason Houck, Award-Winning Master Systems Integrator on ControlTalk Rewind; Acuity Brands Introduces SiteView Energy Solution; AHR interview with Dimitri Papadopoulos of Johnson Controls; ControlTrends Rewind with Therese Sullivan; and new Edge Controllers from Lynxspring. ControlTrends CGNA Vendor interviews with Earl Doyle, Director, Product Management & Smart Systems Efficiency, VERASYS, Johnson Controls’ Plug-and Play Controls System for Light Commercial Buildings; Josh Felphrin, Senior Sales Manager, Siemens’ TRA and BT300 Solutions; Gina Elliott, Marketing Manager, Small to Mid-Markets, Schneider Electric’s New Building Insights, Small Building & Energy Management System; Aaron Gorka, Innovation Manager, ANT Technologies’Paperless, cloud-based, operational technology for HVAC & Control Contractors; Barry Gordon, Senior Sales Engineer, ACI’s New DLP Differential Low Pressure Transmitter; Maggie Talbert, North East Regional Sales Manager, Functional Devices’ new products and continued partnerships; Bill Dunkleberger, President, Blue Ridge Technologies’ BACnet Unified Lighting Solutions; and Mike Sackett, Executive Director, CGNA Elite — Industry’s Elite Working Together. EasyIO is CHANGING the Game — Again! VAV using Wi-Fi Mesh and Live Wiresheets. EasyIO is CHANGING the Game — Again! This time with VAV using Wi-Fi Mesh, Live Wiresheets, and you can mix wired and wireless, all running BACnet IP, with free tools and no extra fees. Does it get any better? And you get to keep the labor and wiring savings, as we are not charging a premium for this awesome device. See this in Manchester, UK, May 22-23, 2017, at the Global EasyIO Partner Event. Hepta Systems’ Jason Houck, Award-Winning Master Systems Integrator on ControlTalk Rewind. On this episode of ControlTalk Rewind, we replay our interview with Hepta Systems’ Jason Houck, Award-Winning Master Systems Integrator. Jason, and Hepta Systems are all about taking the Smart Building Controls concept to the next level — and making their service available through The Panel Shoppe! Inquire within. Acuity Brands Introduces SiteView Energy Solution! Real-Time Power Metering to Manage Energy Consumption and Costs. ATLANTA – April 25, 2017 — Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) today introduced its SiteView Energy solution, which combines power metering devices and a digital dashboard, to create a detailed, real-time look at actual energy consumption within a building. The SiteView Energy solution takes advantage of software that is hosted within nLight ECLYPSE smart building-ready controllers, also from Acuity Brands, to help building owners track and analyze weekly, monthly and yearly energy data to identify trends and savings. Catching Up with Dimitri Papadopoulos and Johnson Controls at the 2017 AHR Show. ControlTrends interview with Dimitri Papadopoulos of Johnson Controls, who tells us all about Johnson Controls’ new Niagara Analytics and the Johnson Controls new technology on display at the 2017 AHR Expo. Johnson Controls featured their FX Supervisory Controllers, which are web-based supervisory-class controllers in the Facility Explorer product family. FX Supervisory Controllers manage networks of field controllers using open communication protocols, such as such as BACnet®, LONWORKS®, and N2 protocols. Edge Controls the Smart way to do Smart Building Controls: Lynxspring explains at the 2017 AHR Show. ControlTrends stopped by the Lynxspring booth at the 2017 AHR product show case. See what Marc Petock and Chris Ryan had to show us about the edge and Edge controllers. The Edge is the next great frontier in making smart building controls smarter. Smart Buildings ControlTalk Rewind: Therese Sullivan. On this episode of ControlTalk Now Smart Buildings Control Rewind we feature Therese Sullivan, editor buildingcontext.me. Therese is writer/technologist and marketing professional providing news and analysis for commercial building system integrators, facilities managers and real estate professionals about innovations in building automation with emphasis on data analytics, mobile apps, cloud services and wireless networking. The post Episode 223: ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for Week Ending Apr 30, 2017 appeared first on ControlTrends.

ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for Week Ending August 21, 2016 introduces the ControlTrends Community to the executive forces now driving Distech’s redoubled efforts to deliver maximum synergy and value within the building space. Gain some invaluable insight into the innovation at work inside Acuity Brands Inc. Scott Muench and J2 Innovations at Realcomm| IBcon; Updated Honeywell software and contractor releases; Lynxspring reveals their JENEsys® Edge 100 Controller; Intel’s influence on the Smart Building; NexDefense SANS Institute Fictional Cyber Attack; and BASSG — Getting Better all the Time! J2 Innovations on using data to make buildings smarter. The Easy Way to Move and Use Data in a Smart Building. Data, data everywhere! Big data is in vogue in the building automation and smart buildings controls industry, but like everything else that is new and exciting, there are lot’s of things that have to be dealt with once the initial buzz of excitement is replaced with “how the heck do we implement this?” For one thing, the cost… data might be free, but moving it around and using it can get expensive quickly. You Missed the VFD Training Live Stream… We will post a copy of class soon! Tim Chamblee conducted Variable Frequency Drive training and provided an in-depth explanation of the application benefits, the potential energy savings, and the importance of proper grounding and wiring methods — and then demonstrates of the standard VFD applications, and highlighted the tremendous energy savings opportunities — available using a VFDs. Look for many more live training events from the Stromquist & Company in the near future. Honeywell | Home 3rd Quarter 2016 Residential Partner Update. Please join us as we introduce Honeywell’s latest residential products designed to better serve your business. FROM THE HONEYWELL NEWSROOM: A recent study from Honeywell found that 9 in 10 Americans long for a connected device to automate and control features in their home when they’re out of town. In fact, more Americans (39%) worry about locking their doors than about packing essentials like toothbrushes, underwear or mobile phone chargers (36%), and one-third of Americans with a security system can’t even remember if they turned on the alarm before leaving. Honeywell Releases MAXPRO Driver for WEBs-AX Software. Availability of MAXPRO driver for WEBs-AX Software. Honeywell is pleased to announce the release of the MAXPRO driver for WEBs-AX Controllers and WEBs-AX Supervisors which is based on the Niagara AX framework. The MAXPRO driver has been tested and qualified on WEBs-AX 3.6.407.2, WEBs-AX 3.7.108.2, WEBs-AX 3.8.41.2, WEBs-AX 3.8.111 and on the latest MAXPRO NVR software version (v.3.5.0 build 81). Lynxspring Announces Immediate Availability of the JENEsys® Edge 100 Controller. New Controller Delivers the Niagara Framework® to the Edge! Dear Lynxspring Business Partner: We are pleased to announce the release and availability of our new JENEsys® Edge 100 Controller (JENE-EG100). Purpose-built, this Niagara-based controller is the first of its kind. Delivering the Reliability of Niagara to the Edge! JENEsys® Edge products are a new generation of controllers combining the Niagara Framework® with Lynxspring’s Onyxx® platform. Distech Announces New VP of Global Sales. Controls people never die they just change companies… This just in from Martin Villeneuve, President, Distech Controls: Acuity Brands continues to position itself as the global market leader to deliver high-performance and innovative solutions to our customers. Acuity Brands is committed to building an infrastructure designed to extend our leadership positon; intensifying our efforts around our tiered solutions strategy is an essential component to accomplish our breakthrough objectives. To successfully execute our strategy, I am pleased to announce Dan Flaherty as the new VP of Sales for Distech Controls reporting to me. Dan has over 20 years of experience leading sales and marketing organizations that go to market through distribution, contractor, and agent channels in the HVAC, Security, and Fire Suppression industries. ControlTalk NOW interview with Martin Villeneuve, President at Distech Controls, Dan Flaherty, Distech’s VP Global Sales, and Eugene Mazo, Eugene Mazo, VP — IoT, Customer Experience. While Acuity is deciphering and translating all the possible value synergies it now has available, these three top industry experts will help to set new standards in the HVAC, BAS, and a host of other emerging markets. Each of these executives is a formidable expert in their fields and with their combined talents, they are confident that they will deliver the next generation of innovation and technology — because they have the talent, engineering, and the resources needed — to get it done. Don’t miss this great video interview! How Intel is Influencing the way we do Smart Buildings. If you want to see how you might be doing smart buildings in the future, look at what Intel is doing using IOT strategies now…. once Pandora’s box is open… As human beings we like consistency …..”if it’s not broke ” …. and other adages that pass as wisdom, influence us whether we like it or not. This kind of thinking will get you killed in today’s smart buildings controls market. We have been doing building automation controls since the death of pneumatic controls. We know what works — and we don’t mess around with what works… because it works! NexDefense SANS Institute – Fictional Cyber Attack. CAUTION: Regardless of your position in the world, this video should almost ruin your day, and linger long enough to bother you… for at least a week… but, will it motivate you to allocate the resources and processes your organization’s needs to deal with this kind of cyber incident? Therein lies the cyber security rub. This NexDefense SANS Institute module provides a demonstration of a fictional cyber attack against a control system reliant infrastructure. It is a learning tool for educational purposes and designed to help organizations better understand and develop exercise scenarios. While the module was played during a large industry exercise, it was utilized to provide cybersecurity training awareness for the participants. BASSG — Getting Better all the Time! We saw the original “Young Gun”, Alper Üzmezler, managing partner and chief innovator at BASSG Graphics, showed us his new Edge controller at the 2016 Niagara Summit Product showcase. Alper, never one to sit still, has made some improvements since New Orleans. His Edge controller packs a powerful punch. Among other things it includes: Visualytik (HTML5 drag and drop visualization engine with block programming), EAC Engine (Optimization engine in which it will consume live, historical and analytics data and write to real-time controls), Analytics Engine, and a Sedona Realtime control engine. The post ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for Week Ending August 21, 2016 appeared first on ControlTrends.

ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for week ending August 14, 2016 features interviews with two well-recognized industry leaders: Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Supply, a multi-award-winning distributor, and Acuity Brands, Inc’s. new VP — IoT, Customer Experience, Eugene Mazo, who updates the ControlTrends community on the exciting future of DGLogik. Learn about the upcoming SmartGrid.GOV meeting in Washington, DC; Webinars by Belimo, ACI, and Lynxspring; and EasyIO’s EasyStack, a software platform that leverages tagging and data modeling. ControlTalk NOW first interview with Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Supply, an multi-award-winning company and a leading source of building controls products, technology,and information. Scott summarizes the evolving role of distribution and what the future might bring. Distributors need to remember that they deliver hardware, software, and knowledge in a people-to-people business, and serve as enablers in the market. Scott suggests, perhaps we are over-serving the building markets with technology as an industry, because the solutions are determined in the conversations that identify what the problems are and expectations are and “We’re still missing the right conversations with the right people.” Please Help DOE Set Smart Grid Communications R&D Priorities August 30-31 in Washington, DC. The DOE Office of Electricity Smart Grid Communications R&D Roadmap meeting in Washington, D.C., on August 30-31, 2016, provides an opportunity for you and your organization to participate in the development of a roadmap intended to address gaps in research and development and current options that utilities have to solve their communications needs today. Webinar on Belimo Energy Valve Data Analysis Tool, Wednesday, August 17 at 1:00 PM EDT. In this 30 minute webinar you will learn how the Energy Valve Data Analysis Tool is used in conjunction with the Belimo Energy Valve to provide analysis of stored data to deliver efficiency, and cost savings for your system. This tool can seamlessly import up to 13 months of trended data, along with performance metrics of a system—which all can be viewed graphically. LIVE ACI Gas Sensor WEBINAR August 24th, 10:00 AM, CST, with Brant Kasbohm. GAS SENSOR WEBINAR, 8/24/16 10:00 A.M. CST. Brant Kasbohm, ACI’s Webinar Presenter will conduct a brief, educational overview of ACI’s Gas Sensors including “How To” videos and product demonstrations. A “Q & A” session will conclude Brant’s 30 minute presentation. Questions? Send Brant an email: bkasbohm@workaci.com. Want more information? What is EasyStack? EasyIO’s Software Platform that Leverages Tagging and Data Modeling. EasyStack is a complete BMS/EMS software platform that leverages tagging and data modeling based on the Project Haystack open source initiative. (If you’re not familiar with Haystack check it out here. The EasyStack Framework is agnostic in the sense that it incorporates built in drivers allowing for connection to BACnet, Modbus, sql, etc. You can pull in data from just about anywhere. Change Ahead: Forget about Wire! The Pen that Draws Electric Circuits! Another example of the new technologies and trends that will change the way we design, build and run smart buildings. I am blown away by this technology from the Japanese from Kandenko. Kandenko has grown to become one of Japan’s leading general infrastructure firms, and earned high acclaim and a solid reputation for its contributions to the creation of comfortable living environments, pleasant yet cutting-edge workplaces, and safe and functional local communities. .30 Minutes with Lynxspring Webinar Series — A Look at Variable Frequency Drives The next “30 Minutes with Lynxspring”, our monthly webinar series featuring Lynxspring subject-matter experts and special guests, continues Wednesday, August 17th at 11:00 AM CDT. August’s Webinar looks at Variable Frequency Drives. Variable Frequency Drives play a critical role in the efficiency and performance of a building. They help increase system reliability, maximize equipment lifetime value, contribute to saving energy, lower maintenance costs and add to overall smoother operations. An Excited Eugene Mazo, VP — IoT, Customer Experience at Acuity Brands,Inc., Explains DGLogik’s Future. During our second ControlTalk NOW interview with Eugene Mazo, VP — IoT, Customer Experience Acuity Brands,Inc. (Formerly CEO, DG Logik), the ControlTrends Community gets a firsthand update on the major developments and the future of DGLogik and its technology. In summary, it’s a win for Acuity Brands, Inc.; a win for DGLogik: and a win for DGLogik’s OEM partners, Distributors, Resellers, and Systems Integrators — as DGLogik moves forward with a lot more scale and resources. The post ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast|PodCast for Week Ending August 14, 2016 appeared first on ControlTrends.

ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast for week ending July 10, 2016 gives special thanks to this week’s Platinum Sponsors — EasyIO and Neptronic, as we bring two of the industry’s top experts to front and center, first reviewing Ken Sinclair’s Automated Buildings July theme “Performance Software Evolving with Self Machine Learning,” followed by Fearless Phil Zito, owner and editor of Building Automation Monthly. Acuity acquires DG LOGIK; Automation Integrated introduces its game-changing GLIFF service via live streaming; Updated 2016 Event Calendar previews the road ahead, along with ACI’s Temperature Webinar; Atlanta’s Cyber Security Meet-up; a good look at Forest Rock’s EnergyVision; and Functional Devices’ release of a BACnet compatible UPS Kit. New Products from Around the Globe: Forest Rock at the 2016 Niagara Summit. One of the great things about going to smart building conferences like the 2016 Niagara Summit is discovering new products from around the globe and then getting to introduce them to the ControlTrends Community. Michael Kirkland introduced us to their EnergyVision Package. This software tool automatically collects and analyzes all forms of energy consumption. Mark Your Calendar and Get Smart About Water and Waste. Our friends at JJL can give you the 411 on Water and Waste and how to save money and energy with a very informative webinar. Friday, July 15, 2016, 12:30-2:00 p.m. EDT. Click here for more information and to reserve your spot. Water is the fastest growing utility expense. Water is the fastest growing utility expense, with long-term cost increases related to supply constraints and aging infrastructure. We’ll discuss the unique set of challenges and opportunities around water use outdoors, where an estimated 50% is wasted. Automation Integrated Live Stream Today at 12 EST. Automation Integrated (AI), winner of the 2015 ControlTrends System Integrator of the year, announces the FREE Gliff Niagara backup service. AI is a Master Systems Integrator specializing in web scale solutions. AI provides enterprise wide building automation, access control, video surveillance, API level systems integration and software development. Our markets include multi-site, retail and critical infrastructure facilities. ControlTalk NOW first guest interview with Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of Automated Buildings, is a great gatherer of information. It takes a lot of energy and perspicacity to rally an epic monthly battle cry for our industry and continuously call forth such an exceptional litany of industry experts. Ken judiciously sorts out for us, the IoT wheat from the IoT chaff, and then translates the fast and esoteric talk of our trade into slower more comprehensive reflections that generously reward the reading time invested. This July edition is no exception. Fresh off the trails of Silicon Valley, Ken captures the spirit of innovation from the 2016 Realcomm/IBcon show and gives us much deeper insight into performance software, machine learning, and portends the coming of our digital savior (perhaps) — Artificial Intelligence. DG LOGIK Purchased by Acuity Brands (AYI. We trust that the data visualization dashboard lights at DG Logik are all on, and blinking bright GREEN — as it was announced today that Acuity Brands (AYI) (who added Distech Controls to their Building Automation portfolio in September, 2015) acquired IoT Software Solutions Provider DGLogik. Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) announced it has acquired 100 percent of the equity interests of DGLogik, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area-based provider of innovative software solutions that enable and visualize the Internet of Things (IoT). ControlTalk NOW second guest interview is with Fearless Phil Zito, owner and editor of Building Automation Monthly, whose website’s motto is “You’ll Leave Educated.” Phil Zito has been in the smart building space since 2007 and has worked on almost every BAS system on the market. He has held roles as a service technician, operations manager, sales development engineer, and technical integration program manager. Phil runs his weekly blog and podcast around building automation and is deeply focused on exploring topics related to building automation and smart buildings. Phil has a Masters in Cyber Security, holds several IT, LEED, and Energy Manager Certifications and is a self-taught programmer. Here is a link to a Network Fundamentals book like the ones Phil talked about on the show. Here is a link to the book Phil wrote called A Manager’s Guide to Building Automation Be sure to follow Phil on twitter @TimGZito ControlTrends Keeps an Eye on 2016 Events with Ken’s Calendar. While it has been an amazingly busy and productive year so far, many more events are on the horizon. ControlTrends will continue to post the event information as we receive notice or become aware of the event. Please note that the information is gathered from various sources, and the times, dates, and locations may have changed. ACI PRESENTS TEMPERATURE WEBINAR, LIVE JULY 20TH, 10:00 A.M. CST. Brant Kasbohm, Temperature Sensor Specialist will conduct a brief, educational overview of ACI’s Temperature Sensors including “How To” videos and product demonstrations. A “Q & A” session will conclude Brant’s 30 minute presentation. Questions? Send Brant an email: bkasbohm@workaci.com. Want more information? Click here. Automation Components, Inc. presents a series of Live Video Webinars from our Sales Engineers and Product Line Specialists! Each month, ACI will feature one of it’s many product lines for 30 minutes to discuss some of the fantastic, cost effective, and reliable products ACI has to offer. Functional Devices Takes BACnet Integration One Step Further: UPS Kit PSH550-UPS-BC – Now BACnet Compatible. Functional Devices, Inc. a leading manufacturer of high quality, contractor-friendly products since 1969,has just released their PSH550-UPS-BC, which is an Enclosed BACnet Network 550 VA UPS Backup Power Control Center that can be integrated into your BACnet network to monitor eight BACnet variables/integer values. Greater Atlanta Cyber Security for Control Systems Meetup @ Stromquist – Aug 8 @ 6:30 PM. Doug Wylie will be speaking with us about two confirmed examples of attacks on ICS systems, with a wealth of information on each of them. Please join us to learn what took place, what can be done to prevent similar events happening in your ICS environment, and to share what you have seen as well. BOOM BOOM (OUT GO THE LIGHTS): A LOOK AT TWO CONFIRMED ATTACKS ON ICS AND HOW WE CAN PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE. The post ControlTalk NOW — Smart Buildings VideoCast for Week Ending July 10, 2016 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Welcome to episode #232. On the show: Don't EVER litter in Hong Kong; Samsung in Italy uses VR to transport sick kids to Movieland; ByteLyte acquired by Acuity Brands; the city of Jun does all its business on Twitter - all of it; Signpost and Unacast raise money; GBG acquires Loqate; David Chang's Maple foods; Westfield launches their own OOH network in their Australian malls; Pepsi's innovative Naked Juice bike path marketing. Special guest is Andrew Farah of Density Full show notes can be found here.

This week’s ControlTalk NOW features Blue Ridge Technologies — Unified Lighting Control experts; Acuity’s purchase of Distech Controls; EasyIO’s Partners Event in Paris; 2014 ControlTrends Award winners: Johnson Controls’ FX ASSET Tool, EasyIO’s FG-32, and Lynxspring’s Lynx CyberPro; Marc Petock’s review of Project Haystack and Lynxspring’s Niagara R2 solutions; Mike Marston’s CPT graphics demonstration; KMC’s new BACnet multi-port router; and Siemen’s MD energy meter video. Special thanks to Rob Allen for his ControlTalk NOW introduction and another great 7 Minutes in Control! Blue Ridge Technologies — Unified Lighting Control Experts — Show You How! Get distributed Zone Control with Blue Ridge Technologies’ Zone Control(ZC)! ZC is a UL Listed distributed lighting controller in a compact junction box mounted package. ZC may be scheduled from any BACnet BAS, and it is compatible with all low voltage override switches, occupancy sensors, and light level sensors. ZC is suited for new or existing buildings, and may be scaled from basic to advanced control sequences; including daylight harvesting, load shedding, equipment optimization, and trending. EasyIO Gets Ready for Next World Wide Partner Event in Paris. What is the best way to get your Uncle Sam to pay for a trip to Paris? Well the folks at EasyIO make it all possible with great controls, great food, and a great location, and although I am not an accountant, I am pretty sure you can write it off as a business expense. “Mad Mike” Marston and the team at EasyIO are preparing the Next World Wide Control Event in Paris France, September 21-23. Don’t wait, reach out to your local EasyIO dealer and tell them you want to be part of the EasyIO World Event in Paris. Distech Controls is Purchased by Acuity Brands. One of the leading building automation control players in our industry was acquired today. Acuity Brands purchased Distech for approximately $252 million. Acuity, which had net sales of $2.4 billion dollars in 2014, owns a group of companies that work in the lighting and building automation controls market. About Distech: An Innovative Leader in Energy Management Solutions.Distech Controls provides unique building management technologies and services that optimize energy efficiency and comfort in buildings. Johnson Controls FX Asset Tool Wins Big at the 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Congratulations to Johnson Controls and the FX Asset Tool which was awarded the 2014 Building Automation Controls Programming Tool of the Year by the world-wide ControlTrends Community. To learn more about this incredible product click here for a ControlTrends live Training Rewind or here for a presentation on the power of the FX Asset Tool. Rob Allen’s 7 Minutes in Control: Introduces a New Router from KMC Controls. Rob welcomes Dave Bohlmann from KMC Controls to 7 Minutes in Control. Dave shows Rob KMC’s new single point BacNet Router. The multi-port KMC FullBAC router efficiently and reliably routes BACnet traffic for today’s complex building automation projects that consist of multiple networks. The BAC-5050 provides communication between foreign devices, BACnet IP LANs, the BACnet MS/TP controller network, and an Ethernet 802.3 (ISO 8802-3) network. Lynxspring Offers Four Conversion Options to Take Niagara R2 to Niagara AX. Niagara R2 to Niagara AX –The time has come to replace Niagara R2 in favor of the far more advanced Niagara AX! The Niagara Framework has evolved significantly since the first commercial version; Niagara R2 was first introduced. Since that time, Niagara has become the industry’s open software platform standard that enables the integration of complex and disparate monitoring, control and automation solutions. EasyIO Wins Plant Controller of the Year at The 2014 ControlTrends Awards. Congratulations to EasyIO for winning the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Plant Controller of The Year. The legendary EasyIO FG-32 (The Beast From the EAST) is known around the world as a powerful, affordable DDC controller, so much so, that the world-wide ControlTrends Community has voted to give this coveted award to the FG-32 for the third year in a row. Truly, an impressive accomplishment! EasyIO’s Mike Marston Demos FG’s CPT Graphics. CPT Tool is an executable file and does not require installation. The package is supplied as a zip file. Extracting the zipped file will create the file structure. Note: All of the files need to be located in the same folder in order for CPT to run correctly. CPT is a tool developed by Online Tools Inc. as the new choice for users of controllers based on Sedona Framework. It allows online programming where Sedona had been designed for as the management of the software packages, (kits). The tool also has the capability to do backups and restore of the applications. Siemens MD Energy Meters Sales Training Video. Siemens Industry’s MD Model Power Meter is a submetering device designed to provide real time, accurate electricity metering to enable proper control over energy costs. The meter can capture kWh/kW energy and demand data, as well as virtually all relevant energy parameters for diagnostics and monitoring on three-phase or single-phase circuit installations. The meter’s flexibility, size, and ease-of use make them ideal tools for gathering detailed consumption information in commercial, industrial, governmental, and retail environments. Making Device Data Self-describing to Enable Seamless Integration Across Multiple Applications. Article by Marc Petock, Vice President Marketing, Lynxspring & Connexx Energy and Member Board of Directors, Project-Haystack. The amount of data created by equipment, systems and devices has exploded in recent years. Today’s automation systems and smart devices produce tremendous amounts of data to the point where we have expanded our reach to a range of devices that can gather and analyze physical data and react to that data in a variety of applications that we’ve never seen before. LYNX CyberPro Wins Innovative Product of the Year! Congratulations to the team at Lynxspring for winning the 2014 ControlTrends Awards Innovative Product of the Year with the Lynxspring Cyber Pro (Watch George Hawkins’ presentation). Designed with building operations in mind, LYNX CyberPro creates “shields of security” and preemptive threat protection for the devices and systems across a building network by securing, managing, controlling, tracking and monitoring all account access and activities. The solution supports leading building automation protocols with TCP/IP networks and can be accessed from anywhere without exposing building system devices to the public internet. The post ControlTalk NOW: The Smart Building Podcast/Videocast Week Ending March 15, 2015 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Entrepreneurship is not for wimps. It's a good thing Barry Weinbaum learned how to take a punch when he was a kid growing up in the Bronx. He got socked by a massive telecom market meltdown, an over-sized, cash burning lab and factory, a founder law suit and a divided board. Oh yeah, and he had a few competitors as well.  Barry lived to fight another day, so listen in to hear the valuable lessons he learned. My Guest Barry Weinbaum became a serial entrepreneur after a 20+ year career at Lucent Technologies.  With his rich telecom infrastructure and technology experience, he left Lucent to lead NanoOpto Corp.  After selling NanoOpto, he headed into the lighting sector as CEO of Renaissance Lighting, a venture capital and angel backed LED company.  Renaissance was acquired by Acuity Brands and Barry took on corporate marketing, strategy and coordination across Acuity Brands' 22 lines of business.  Investors then recruited Barry to head back into the start-up world to try and turn around LUMEnergi, a lighting control company.  He managed a successful sale of the company's assets and investor exit.  Currently Barry is launching Social Learning and Payments, Inc. (aka SLAP).  The Slap platform provides self-service tools for identifying and driving desired real-world and online actions among communities, and then providing rewards (a “slap on the back”) when those actions occur. Along the way Barry has been issued three patents in both telecom and lighting.  He originally hails from the Bronx New York and has degrees in Computer Science from Union College and Columbia University. The Take Home Lessons Barry was recruited out of a corporate career to take over as CEO in a founder led company. The transition did not go well. Barry ended up putting a lot of effort into dealing with the founder and making sure the Company had a firm foundation of its own intellectual property. As the telecom industry collapsed, the Company had to pivot and start selling into the consumer electronics sector.  "Design wins" were easier to come by because of the large number of mobile phones being released.  Sales were not guaranteed for any particular model and this creating forecasting problems. NanoOpto's founder had built out a large R&D and manufacturing facility. Without sales this overhead became a monster that needed to be feed. Barry describes the facility has hardware collecting a pension that you can't afford to pay. Board Size - The Company's board grew to 15 people with 9 members and 6 "observers".  This got unwieldy and dysfunctional.  In hind site,keeping the board down in size and limiting observers (who ended up participating, not observing) would have prevented a lot of wasted energy. Smart Money - Barry notes that in the later stages, NanoOpto took investments from funds that didn't understand the business or add any strategic value.  When things started going sideways, they created numerous problems. CEOs must understand that venture capitalists have a tough conflict of interest to reconcile. When the going gets tough, investors will almost without fail do what's in the best interest of the fund, not the Company.  The venture backed CEO that doesn't understand is in for some confusing interaction with board members. Of course you have to over communicate and treat people like adults. Especially when things are going badly.  The same goes for industry partners outside of the company. Lastly, Barry advises entrepreneurs to manage their mood and emotions carefully.  Don't get too high and don't get too low.  People are always watching and they'll either be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic if that's the vibe you send out. Resources & Links Barry on LinkedIn Barry's current company SLAP Subscribe With Your Favorite App Share With Entrepreneurial Colleagues & Friends Connect With Me

Russ Simpson/Acuity Brands Lighting Russ Simpson is the Director, Talent Management and Human Resources Shared Services with Acuity Brands Lighting. As the leader of the HR Shared Services department, Russ is responsible the following areas: – Talent Sourcing – Organization Development – Payroll – Human Resources Information Systems – Employee Communication     Today's show is […] The post Russ Simpson with Acuity Brands Lighting appeared first on Business RadioX ®.