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Send us Fan MailHealthcare administrative costs consume an estimated 15 to 20 percent of every dollar spent in the American healthcare system. A quarter of that is medical coding alone, a process that has remained largely manual, subjective, and error-prone for decades.Hamid Tabatabaie, Founder and CEO of CodaMetrix, joins host John Driscoll to discuss how autonomous coding AI is making the shift from subjective to objective coding a reality across 35 of the largest health systems in the country, and why getting the codes right is not just a billing issue but a clinical one that directly affects patient care and outcomes.
Terwijl Nederland zich bezighield met de troonrede en de begroting, hield de Europese Unie haar eigen 'State of the Union'. Commissievoorzitter Ursula von der Leyen pleitte voor een sterkere EU op het gebied van migratie, financiën en defensie en sprak over een mogelijke associatie van Canada. Sven Kockelmann bespreekt dit met Jeroen Lenaers, vicevoorzitter van de EVP-fractie in het Europees Parlement. Sven op 1 is een programma van Omroep WNL. Meer van WNL vind je op onze website en sociale media: ► Website: https://www.wnl.tv ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omroepwnl ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omroepwnl ► Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/wnlvandaag ► Steun WNL, word lid: https://www.steunwnl.tv ► Gratis Nieuwsbrief: https://www.wnl.tv/nieuwsbrief
In this episode of HFS GCC Advantage, Ramkumar Narayanan, EVP, Enterprise AI and Data Platforms, and Head of FIS India and the Philippines, shares how FIS is turning its GCC into a strategic engine for AI, platform innovation, and business growth. The conversation explores how a mature GCC can move beyond execution to ownership, create enterprise value, and help shape the future of work in a regulated financial services environment. Ramkumar also explains why AI transformation and workforce resilience must advance together, and how India and the Philippines centers are becoming central to FIS's long-term growth strategy.What you'll hear:How FIS serves the banking, payments, and capital markets ecosystemWhy India and the Philippines are strategic GCC centers for FISHow the organization is shifting from application-centric work to platform-centric AIWhy reusable AI foundations help reduce rework and duplicationHow governance is being embedded into code for scale and complianceWhy AI investments must begin with real business problemsHow GCCs can move from execution to enterprise outcome ownershipWhy workforce resilience must advance alongside AI transformationHow GCCs can unlock workflow intelligence to support AI redesignWhat leaders should do to stay aligned with the shifting company strategyKey takeaways:GCCs create more value when they own outcomes, not just tasksPlatform-first AI is more scalable than one-off experimentsGovernance built into code helps regulated enterprises move faster with confidenceAI transformation and workforce transformation must happen togetherGCCs hold unique workflow knowledge that can shape enterprise AIMature GCCs should align closely with the CEO and company prioritiesTo know more about HFS on Global Capability Centers (GCCs), visit us here: https://www.hfsresearch.com/global-capability-centers-gccs/ We recently launched our GCC Pulse Report, “Ownership is the next imperative for India's GCCs to become generative enterprises.” Read more here: https://www.hfsresearch.com/research/indias-gcc-pulse-index/
Sales Game Changers | Tip-Filled Conversations with Sales Leaders About Their Successful Careers
This is episode 873. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Watch the video of this podcast on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! The Institute for Effective Professional Selling has launched the Partner Revenue Academy for partner account managers who are looking to become more effective active sellers. The next 6-session cohort launches on October 2nd. Learn more here. Today's show featured an interview with Carmen Sorice, EVP of Business Development and Cost Management Solutions at E78. Find Carmen on LinkedIn. CARMEN'S TIP: "Be proactive. Don't wait for the phone to ring, or the text to come in, or the email to come in. Be proactive. As an OEM partner manager, try and anticipate what your partners are seeing. Be proactive, communicate in a proactive manner, act in a proactive manner."
Trust can be the difference between getting “a couple test deals” and becoming the payments partner an agent builds a business on. Greg Myers sits down with Andie Hill, EVP of Agent Sales at Payroc, to unpack what payment providers must prove to earn an independent sales agent's confidence and keep merchant referrals flowing over the long run.We dig into the real gap between recruiting and earning the business, including why onboarding is where trust most commonly breaks. Andy explains what agents are protecting when they bring a merchant over, why “no one to call” is a deal killer, and how support responsiveness and residual accuracy often matter more than small pricing differences. When something goes wrong, we talk about the two-part fix: resolution plus clear, accountable communication that preserves the relationship.We also explore how product can strengthen trust, from compliant surcharge programs and evolving state regulations to POS and software integrations that make merchants stickier. Along the way, Andy shares the behavioral signals that show trust is deepening, and what separates a basic provider from a true strategic growth partner who understands an agent's goals and business model.If you care about merchant experience, agent retention, and sustainable growth in the payments industry, this conversation is for you.
Send us Fan MailHis father was a cardiologist who retired because he could not type fast enough. That moment became the reason Abridge exists.In this clip from our episode “The Ambient AI Inside 300 Health Systems”, host John Driscoll and Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO of Abridge, break down the personal story behind why he left a comfortable venture role to build technology that takes the clerical burden off of clinicians.Listen to the full episode here
In this episode of The Curious Realm, host Christopher Jordan welcomes Tony Rathman, creator and designer of Staticom, a first-of-it-kind device, which uses proprietary technologies combine with EVP concepts to create a white noise bridge to the other side, allowing for the clearest ever recordings of possible entity voices. In the second part of the episode, we welcome Cryptozoologist and researcher Ryan Edwards to discuss the recent issues of possible fakery within the Cryptozoologic community. How are these recent attempts echoes of fakery perpetrated in the past, and exposed, and how do these modern social media efforts damage the true research happening in the field of Cryptozoology? Join the Curious Realm as we delve into the topics of Staticom entity voices with Tony Rathman and Cryptozoology fakes with Ryan Edwards. Curious Realm is proudly distributed by: Ground Zero Media, APRTV and the official Curious Realm ROKU App! Curious Realm has teamed up with True Hemp Science, Austin, TX based suppliers of high-quality full spectrum emulsified CBD products and more. Visit TrueHempScience.com TODAY and use code Curious7 to save 7% off your order of $50 or more and get a free 50mg CBD edible! Intro music “A Curious Realm” provided by No Disassemble find more great music and content at: NoDisassemble.com.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/curious-realm--5254986/support.
Spooky Coupe Episode 58: Samuel Little – The Most Prolific Serial Killer & Jodie's Ghost ClubEpisode SummaryIn Episode 58 of Spooky Coupe, hosts Paul and Michelle dive back into true crime to examine the chilling case of Samuel Little, officially recognized by the FBI as the most prolific serial killer in United States history. From his decades of eluding authorities across state lines to his detailed prison confessions and victim portraits, we unpack how he operated unnoticed for so long. Later in the episode, we share an unsettling listener story submitted by Jodie, chronicling her ghost hunting group's very first investigation of an abandoned house and the bizarre phenomena they encountered inside [1, 35–37].Show Notes & Highlights1. Podcast Catch-Up & The "Spooky Coupe" NameMichelle's Health Update: Michelle shares her relief after starting antibiotics for a long-standing sinus infection.Why "Spooky Coupe"? Paul and Michelle recap how their podcast got its name—inspired by their chickens making frantic noises around midnight, which turned out to be caused by a bear trying to break in.True Crime Return: The hosts discuss their love for the true crime genre and their decision to bring more crime cases to the coop.2. True Crime Case: Samuel LittleThe Body Count: Samuel Little claimed responsibility for 93 murders over four decades, with the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) verifying at least 60.Early Life: Born June 7, 1940, in Reynolds, Georgia, and raised by his grandmother in Lorain, Ohio. Little showed aggressive behavior early on, dropped out of high school, and entered a juvenile institution in 1956 at age 16.How He Eluded Capture:Mobility & Indifference: As a transient traveling through Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and California, police departments lacked unified databases to link his crimes across state lines [10–12].Targeting Marginalized Victims: He deliberately targeted vulnerable women in deep poverty, sex work, or suffering from addiction.Modus Operandi: A former professional boxer who fought under the name "The Bosco," Little used his physical strength to knock victims unconscious and strangle them with his hands, leaving minimal forensic evidence [13–15].Legal Close Calls: Little previously beat murder charges in Mississippi (1982, Melinda LaRee) and Florida (Patricia Mount) due to lack of indictment or physical evidence.Capture & Confessions:Arrested in 2012 at a homeless shelter in Louisville, Kentucky; DNA linked him to three cold-case murders in Los Angeles (Carol Alford, Guadalupe Apodaca, and Ernestine Jones).Convicted in 2014 and sentenced to three consecutive life terms.In 2018, Texas Ranger James Holland conducted over 100 hours of interviews with Little, during which he confessed to dozens of additional killings and drew detailed memory portraits of victims to help identify them.Final Years: Little expressed zero remorse, claiming "God put me here to do this" and refusing last rites before dying in prison on December 30, 2020, at age 80 [25–27].3. Listener Paranormal Story: "Jodie's Ghost Club"Forming the Club: Jodie and her friends (Alexa, Louisa, and Maryanne) transitioned from watching Friday night TV ghost shows to conducting real-world investigations.The First Investigation: The group scoped out an abandoned house near town during the day to check for floor safety.Nighttime Encounters:Arrived to a heavy smell of wet rot and noticed broken kitchen cabinet doors were inexplicably back on their hinges.Experienced heavy door slams and creaking doors upstairs.Found two illuminated cat-toy balls—originally left on the floor—mysteriously hanging and flashing from a curtain rod high off the ground.The Aftermath: After capturing one distinct electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recording, the group packed up and vowed never to return.Memorable Quote"Be good to each other, love one another, take care of each other, be safe." — Paul & Michelle Episode Credits:Written, edited and produced by Paul & MichelleArtwork created by MIchelle & PaulMusic written and produced by I.C.D.LINKS: Listen to us here: SpookyCoop , find us @ spookycoop.com and follow us on: FaceBook | BlueSky | X (formerly Twitter) | Threads | Instagram | TikTok
Meet Cute Presents: As Is - Part 6. Alone at night on a New York sidewalk, Phoenix realizes she has to start over. As she finds a new apartment, she tries to save the relationships that matter most to her. Story by Savannah Hankinson. Directed and Produced by Adrian Alexander Alea. Sound Editing, Design, and Mixing by Tanya Orlov. Dialogue Editing by Hilary Long. Starring: Brandon Contreras, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, Simone Policano, Jake Robertson, Alyssa Simmons, Nina West. A Fox Entertainment Studios Production. Meet Cute Director, Development & Production: Lucie Ledbetter. President, Head of Studio: Fernando Szew. EVP, Head of Scripted: Hannah Pillemer. SVP, Development: Brie Neimand. SVP, Physical Production: Ani Kevork. VP, Production: Jamie Kellum. Production Executive: Bianca Veiga. VP, Post: Imran Shaikh. Post Lead: Paul Rivet. Production Finance: Michael Anthony DaCampo, Roland Arenz. Follow @MeetCute on Instagram and @MeetCuteRomComs on Twitter & TikTok. Check out our other rom-coms, including KERRI with Pauline Chalamet, IMPERFECT MATCH with Arden Cho, and DUMP HIM! with Minnie Mills. Check out our other dramas, including FIRE & ICE with Chiara Aurelia and Jack Martin, and POWER TEN. Check out our other fantasies, including A PROPHECY OF INCENSE AND SNOW and I'VE BECOME A TRUE VILLAINESS. Have a crush on us? Follow Meet Cute, rate us 5 stars, and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Healthcare consumers are changing faster than the systems trying to reach them. In this episode of What Just Happened?!, BPD's Emily Baker, VP of Innovation, and Stephanie Wierwille, EVP of Strategy & Innovation, unpack new findings from The Patient Next Door, our latest consumer research report. We cover how rising costs are changing care decisions, AI is moving the front door of healthcare, and what it all means for health systems trying to stay relevant.Download The Patient Next Door here: https://bpdhealthcare.com/what-we-think/guides/the-patient-next-door/
Our guest is Alisa Wolfson, EVP and Head of Design at Leo Chicago, where she built the agency's design department.Alisa grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and found design sideways. Her dad was in the wine import-export business, and she kept asking if she could design the labels — she didn't yet know that what she wanted to do had a name. She taught herself design history and layout, made projects in her garage, shot her portfolio on slide film, and applied to a program a friend had gone through. She still has the Kodak Carousel that portfolio came back in. She got to VSA by calling until somebody finally picked up.In this episode, Alisa speaks with host Christian Solorzano about being a generalist among specialists, and about what it took to figure out how she actually wanted to work. She describes the stretch she spent working for herself and finding it lonely, and walking into Leo expecting a short freelance project.The conversation turns on a question about polish. Alisa argues that almost nothing made for a brand reaches us unedited — that the images built to look like someone's bathroom have been edited too — and that designers have been standing right next to that since the beginning of advertising. She doesn't think that's cause for despair.She also talks about what makes collaboration work, why she thinks happy is a weird word, the Chicago designers she came up around, and a project she once made about her own hair, with a line in the corner she remembers as "I take myself wherever I go."
Send us Fan MailDoctors now need an estimated 30 hours a day to complete every clerical task asked of them. They are compensated not for the care they deliver but for the care they document. That gap is where physician burnout lives, and where AI has the most to offer.Dr. Shiv Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Abridge, joins host John Driscoll to discuss how an ambient AI platform now deployed across more than 300 health systems is giving clinicians back the time and presence to actually practice medicine, and why the next frontier for this technology goes beyond documentation into real-time clinical decision support at the point of care.
Paul McKinney, Chairman and CEO, and Sonu Johl, EVP and CFO of Ring Energy, Inc. (NYSE American: REI), join us to review their Q2 2026 operations and financials, of oil production from their current portfolio of conventional and long horizontal wells and focused on growth through development within the Central Basin of the Permian Basin in Texas. Q2 2026 HIGHLIGHTS: Strengthened Financial Position Reported net income of $64.8 million (included a $42.2 million unrealized mark-to-market gain on commodity derivative contracts), or $0.27 per diluted share, and Adjusted Net Income of $24.0 million, or $0.10 per diluted share; Reduced borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility by $66 million during the quarter and increased liquidity to approximately $226.1 million at June 30, 2026; Increased Adjusted EBITDA 42% to $54.5 million from $38.3 million in the first quarter; year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA totaled $92.8 million; and Generated net cash provided by operating activities of $40.8 million and remained cash flow positive for over 6 consecutive years. Continued Operational and All-In Cash Cost Improvements Produced 12,683 barrels of oil per day and 19,990 barrels of oil equivalent (“Boe”) per day, both within guidance; Reported lease operating expense of $10.12 per Boe, near the low end of guidance and below first quarter levels; and Reduced Company all-in-cash costs by 5% in first half 2026 to $21.68 per Boe as compared to first half 2025. Advanced Development and Infrastructure Initiatives Invested approximately $43.2 million in capital expenditures during the quarter, including three ~2-mile horizontal wells drilled, one saltwater disposal well (“SWD”), a frac pond, and other infrastructure projects; and Continued execution of multiple technical and operational initiatives aimed at improving capital efficiency, expanding development opportunities and enhancing long-term stockholder value. Positioned for Improved Returns and Sustainable Growth Second half 2026 oil production guidance range of 13,000 to 13,950 Bopd, with the midpoint approximately 2% above prior guidance. Second half 2026 LOE per Boe guidance range of $10.00 to $10.60, with the midpoint approximately 2% below prior guidance. Initial 2027 guidance targets: Production growth approximately 10% over full-year 2026; LOE per Boe approximately 1% lower than full-year 2026; and Capital expenditures approximately 10% lower than full-year 2026. Click here to follow the latest news from Ring Energy If you have any question for Paul or Sonu regarding Ring Energy, then please email those to us at Fleck@kereport.com or Shad@kereport.com. For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substack reports: The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/ Shad's resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/ Investment disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.
Meet Cute Presents: As Is - Part 5. A distraught and confused Phoenix drags Teddy back to the gay bar to get some advice from Nina west and Saundra Lezzenbaum. Phoenix tries to reconcile with V, but her lies finally catch up with her. Story by Savannah Hankinson. Directed and Produced by Adrian Alexander Alea. Sound Editing, Design, and Mixing by Tanya Orlov. Dialogue Editing by Hilary Long. Starring: Brandon Contreras, Gabrielle Filloux, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, Jake Robertson, Alyssa Simmons, Nina West. A Fox Entertainment Studios Production. Meet Cute Director, Development & Production: Lucie Ledbetter. President, Head of Studio: Fernando Szew. EVP, Head of Scripted: Hannah Pillemer. SVP, Development: Brie Neimand. SVP, Physical Production: Ani Kevork. VP, Production: Jamie Kellum. Production Executive: Bianca Veiga. VP, Post: Imran Shaikh. Post Lead: Paul Rivet. Production Finance: Michael Anthony DaCampo, Roland Arenz. Follow @MeetCute on Instagram and @MeetCuteRomComs on Twitter & TikTok. Check out our other rom-coms, including KERRI with Pauline Chalamet, IMPERFECT MATCH with Arden Cho, and DUMP HIM! with Minnie Mills. Check out our other dramas, including FIRE & ICE with Chiara Aurelia and Jack Martin, and POWER TEN. Check out our other fantasies, including A PROPHECY OF INCENSE AND SNOW and I'VE BECOME A TRUE VILLAINESS. Have a crush on us? Follow Meet Cute, rate us 5 stars, and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Sandra as she explores the profound depths of grief, compelling evidence of the afterlife through EVP experiments, and the precognitive gift of "knewing" with returning guest Rosanne Groover Norris. In January 2018, Rosanne's world was shattered when her thirty-year-old son, Lee, and his dog, Buddy, passed into spirit from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Desperate to survive her unimaginable grief, Rosanne became a seeker, eventually finding profound validations of the afterlife—including a miraculous image of Lee and Buddy captured in a visual experiment by afterlife researcher Sonja Rinaldi. Today, Rosanne returns to share her ongoing journey of healing and the release of her debut historical novel. In this episode, we dive into: * Undeniable Signs: Incredible validations from the Spirit World, from Lee's name appearing in the clouds to a medium delivering his specific message about Rosanne's precognitive "knowing". * The Knewing of Pearl Harbor: A look into her gripping new novel inspired by her second cousin, a machinist on the USS Sumner who fired the first shot at a plane during the Pearl Harbor attack. * beLEEve: How her first book, written from raw, day-to-day journals, serves as a companion guide to help parents navigate the daily emotional swings of grief. * Helping Parents Heal: The importance of community, feeling your feelings, and discovering that you are not alone on the difficult journey of child loss. https://www.helpingparentsheal.org/ Connect with Rosanne Groover Norris: * Website: https://rosannegroovernorrisauthor.com/ * Read The Knewing of Pearl Harbor: https://amzn.to/4y9esJp * Read beLEEve: A Journey of Loss, Healing and Hope: https://amzn.to/4cpB4gx CONNECT WITH SANDRA CHAMPLAIN: Don't miss my "Shades of the Afterlife' Podcast with the BEST of all topics about the afterlife: https://omny.fm/shows/shades-of-the-afterlife * Website (Free book by joining the 'Insiders Club, Free empowering Sunday Gatherings with medium demonstration, Mediumship Classes & more): http://wedontdie.com *Patreon (Early access, PDF of over 850 episodes & more visit https://www.patreon.com/wedontdieradio Thank you for listening!!!
I talk with Adam Kautzner, President of Evernorth Care Management and Express Scripts and EVP of Customer Personalization for The Cigna Group, about what it takes to lead a major multi-year transformation in healthcare. We get into how Evernorth and Express Scripts are redesigning pharmacy benefits around patients, why prescription pricing has become so complex, how AI could improve healthcare navigation and personalization, and why leaders cannot ignore the "critical middle" of transformation where the hard work actually happens.
Send us Fan MailAmerican healthcare still runs on fax machines, paper forms, and reimbursement models built for reactive sick care. Meanwhile, patients are connecting wearables to AI chatbots, ordering their own labs, and triaging themselves without ever seeing a physician.Dr. Daniel Kraft, Founder of Digital.Health and NextMed Health, joins host John Driscoll to discuss why the consumer is pulling healthcare into the future faster than institutions can follow, and what continuous, AI-powered, multimodal health monitoring could mean for the 500 million people who cannot get timely access to a primary care doctor today.
We are sponsored by WAC Architectural. From concept to completion, WAC Architectural delivers precision lighting solutions engineered for exceptional spaces and enduring performance. Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/2s49zvwp Highlights include: Casambi Appoints Ron Marcissuk Jr. as EVP of Sales, North America Up Close with Jon Ortiz Philips Hue Expands the Possibilities of Smart Lighting Light Forms Transforms Baltic Works with a Striking New Welcome
In the heart of Madrid stands the magnificent Palacio de Linares, a nineteenth-century palace with a reputation for scandal, tragedy and one of Spain's most famous ghost stories.According to legend, the palace was home to José de Murga and Raimunda de Osorio, an aristocratic couple whose marriage was said to hide a shocking secret: they were allegedly half-brother and half-sister. The story claims that after appealing to the Pope, they were allowed to remain married only if they lived chastely. But when a child was supposedly born, the scandal deepened, and that child became known as Raimundita.Was she murdered to protect the family name?Was her body hidden somewhere inside the palace?And could her ghost still be wandering the rooms, calling for her mother?In this episode of True Hauntings, Anne and Renata investigate the chilling paranormal claims linked to the Palacio de Linares, including ghostly apparitions, unexplained music, moving doors, dramatic temperature drops, strange photographs and the infamous psychophonies, or EVP recordings, that appeared to capture voices saying “Mamá”, “murderers” and even the name Raimunda.We also look at the paranormal investigations carried out inside the palace, the media frenzy that followed, the hundreds of people who reportedly descended on the building looking for ghosts, and the growing doubts surrounding some of the most famous evidence.But this case becomes even stranger when the historical records are examined.Did Raimundita ever exist?Was the incest story true?Did a Pope really intervene in José and Raimunda's marriage?And how did a haunted palace, a real goddaughter named Raimunda, paranormal investigators and sensational media coverage combine to create one of Madrid's most enduring supernatural legends?The Palacio de Linares is more than a ghost story. It is a fascinating case study in how folklore, paranormal investigation, family history and media attention can collide until nobody is quite sure where the truth ends and the haunting begins.Join Anne and Renata as they unravel the ghosts, the scandal and the legend of Raimundita in one of Spain's strangest paranormal cases.True Hauntings Podcast explores real haunted locations, famous ghost stories, paranormal investigations, historical mysteries, psychical research and the evidence behind some of the world's most enduring supernatural claims.Find us here:True Hauntings: https://truehauntings.com.au Website: https://www.ghostgrannies.com/ Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/anneandrenata Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/anneandrenata Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrueHauntingsPodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anneandrenata/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FrightfullyGoodAnneAndRenata Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/true-hauntings/id1537052147 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FIfOIC08D6v9Y5FP6ud1c?si=e4f2246b72c34435#TrueHauntings #PalacioDeLinares #Raimundita #HauntedMadrid #MadridGhosts #SpanishGhostStories #HauntedSpain #ParanormalPodcast #GhostStories #ParanormalInvestigation #EVP #Psychophony #HauntedPalace #SupernaturalMystery #DarkHistory Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Steve Mera returns to the show and we talk about Poltergeists, Apports, UAP / UFO's and Alien Life, Fear, Hitchhikers, Parasitic Entities, Hypnosis, EVPs, Cutting Edge Research, Quantum Anchors and more...We continue our conversation in a Pateron Segment as well in which we discuss Violent South American UFO encounters, Chris Bledsoe, The Telepathy Tapes, Disclosure, Skin Walker Ranch, and the Seattle Demon House / Keith Linder.Become a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/SeriahAzkath for extra content, commercial free shows, early access, and bonus content as well! All this for only $3 a month!Outro Music is Genitor with Everly
Kroger names a new EVP and CSO, 7-Eleven brings on the sauces, and the Department of Justice is looking at grocery retailers when it comes to high beef prices.
On this episode we featuring one of our favorite recurring guests: Tory Lanez! She comes on and gives us a life update, her latest trip to Turks and Caicos and what ever happened to her man in Miami?? Plus we play 21 questions and she brings on the Bender Queen Alijah on and tells us about her former OF career. Follow us on social media @AaronScenesAfterParty
What happens when the dead seem to find a way to answer back? On this episode of Generation X Paranormal, Logan and Nicole sit down with paranormal investigator, researcher, author, and founder of Elk Valley Paranormal, Cyn Shrader Hill, for an unforgettable conversation about Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs), haunted locations, paranormal investigation, spirits, and signs from beyond. Cyn has spent years investigating paranormal activity and documenting EVPs, and she shares some of her most compelling experiences—including a deeply personal EVP connected to her nephew Wyatt. During the conversation, Cyn plays the recording and explains why she believes it was a personal message from someone she loved. We talk about what makes an EVP convincing, why investigators have to be careful about hearing what they expect to hear, and why some of the most compelling evidence can come from surprisingly simple recording equipment. Cyn also explains why your own senses may be one of the most important tools you have during a paranormal investigation. Cyn takes us inside some of her most memorable investigations, including an old hospital in Tennessee that she describes as one of the most haunted places she has ever encountered. She discusses unexplained activity, a mysterious "true orb," and something else moving through the location that investigators captured on video. We also explore: • The difference between compelling EVPs and questionable recordings • Paranormal investigation equipment and digital recorders • Why cell phones can sometimes capture extraordinary evidence • Spirits that communicate, joke, become irritated, or simply want investigators to leave • Paranormal experiences involving family members after death • Faith, grief, and the possibility of communication after death • Cyn's journey from paranormal investigator to author • Her books and years of paranormal research • Why investigators should move beyond the standard questions during an investigation • Some of the most unusual experiences Cyn has encountered throughout her career This is a conversation about evidence, experiences, grief, curiosity, and the possibility that death may not be the end of communication. Listen closely. Some of the most compelling moments in this episode aren't stories about paranormal activity—they're the moments when the unexplained seems to answer back. Generation X Paranormal Where curiosity meets the unexplained — and the paranormal gets personal. Connect with Generation X Paranormal Join the conversation and never miss an investigation! Website: https://gxparanormal.com Follow us on social media: • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenXParanormal • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/generationxparanormal • X (Twitter): https://x.com/GXParanormal • YouTube: https://youtube.com/@generationxparanormal • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@generationxparanormal Listen on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • iHeartRadio • Amazon Music • Pandora • YouTube Music and wherever you get your podcasts. Have a paranormal experience you'd like to share? Email us at info@gxparanormal.com. Become a supporter and unlock exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/GenerationXParanormal Generation X Paranormal explores haunted locations, UFOs, cryptids, high strangeness, folklore, and the unexplained—one story at a time.
Send us Fan MailCasap was the best of show winner at Finovate fall 2025 and its business is this: building AI Agents for Disputes and Fraud resolution and it now has 50+ clients that it won with attention grabbing claims: Resolve claims in minutes, not weeks. Earn lasting loyalty. Cut fraud losses.This is a universe undergoing immense change, mainly due to the rise of so-called first party fraud which has surged globally. This is in contradistinction to third party fraud and that of course is when a third party has hijacked another's credit card or debit card and made fraudulent purchases.First party fraud is when the cardholder denies the legitimacy of a charge he or she in fact actually made.What? You go out on a date. It's a bad date. With a bad meal that you put on your credit card and when you see that charge pop up on your statement you call the issuer and say, wasn't me.And card issuers are struggling to contain and minimize this first party fraud.Which is where Casap enters.On the show are Shanthi Shanmugam, CEO of Casap, and Rob Keatts, EVP of Chartway Federal Credit Union in Virginia, a $3.1 billion institution. The show opens with only Rob on the line and we take advantage of that to ask him to tell the whole truth about the pain point that prompted Chartway to bring Casap on board and how it was working with a startup - and understand Chartway was Casap's second customer!Of course Shanthi joins a few minutes later and she'll tell you what you need to know about containing credit card and debit card fraud - and how agentic AI, Casap's forte, makes the process work more smoothly.Filene seconds that motion, as noted in this press release headline: Chartway Credit Union Saved an Estimated $875K in One Year, Testing a Fraud Dispute Automation Fintech.Shanthi by the way is a return guest. She stars in Episode 359 and Casap has taken huge strides in the year since. Its client count is now 50+ and she has enormous ambition for what she believes the AI agents Casap is building can accomplish.Listen up.Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters. Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto
In this edition of Sports Innerview, it's off to Ireland! First, Ann sits down with Alison Metcalfe, EVP, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Tourism Ireland, to discuss an extraordinary time for golf in Ireland, with some of the game's biggest championships taking center stage.Ann and Alison preview three major events taking place in SW Ireland: the Walker Cup at Lahinch Golf Club, September 5–6, 2026, the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, September 10–13, 2026, and the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, September 13–19, 2027.They also discuss why Ireland remains one of the world's most sought-after golf destinations, the growing number of Americans traveling to Ireland, the country's spectacular links courses, exciting new golf developments, and the unique combination of golf, scenery, culture and warm Irish hospitality that keeps visitors coming back.Then, Ann chats with Brian Shaw, longtime Head Golf Professional at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland in Doonbeg, for an extensive preview of the 2026 Amgen Irish Open, September 10–13. From the spectacular links at Doonbeg and its unique challenges to the championship's history, the star-studded field and the excitement building throughout County Clare, Ann and Brian cover all aspects of the exciting Irish Open championship, in addition to the Walker Cup at Lahinch and the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
Meet Cute Presents: As Is - Part 4. After waking up together in V's penthouse apartment, Phoenix and V luxuriate in the perfect New York day. But everything comes crashing down when they run into some ghosts from their pasts. Story by Savannah Hankinson. Directed and Produced by Adrian Alexander Alea. Sound Editing, Design, and Mixing by Tanya Orlov. Dialogue Editing by Hilary Long. Starring: Gabrielle Filloux, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, Simone Policano, Alyssa Simmons. A Fox Entertainment Studios Production. Meet Cute Director, Development & Production: Lucie Ledbetter. President, Head of Studio: Fernando Szew. EVP, Head of Scripted: Hannah Pillemer. SVP, Development: Brie Neimand. SVP, Physical Production: Ani Kevork. VP, Production: Jamie Kellum. Production Executive: Bianca Veiga. VP, Post: Imran Shaikh. Post Lead: Paul Rivet. Production Finance: Michael Anthony DaCampo, Roland Arenz. Follow @MeetCute on Instagram and @MeetCuteRomComs on Twitter & TikTok. Check out our other rom-coms, including KERRI with Pauline Chalamet, IMPERFECT MATCH with Arden Cho, and DUMP HIM! with Minnie Mills. Check out our other dramas, including FIRE & ICE with Chiara Aurelia and Jack Martin, and POWER TEN. Check out our other fantasies, including A PROPHECY OF INCENSE AND SNOW and I'VE BECOME A TRUE VILLAINESS. Have a crush on us? Follow Meet Cute, rate us 5 stars, and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
DR'We Know We Got This Wrong': Target Apologises and Pulls 'Offensive' Halloween Costume After Racist Backlash; Target Executive Chair Brian Cornell Sells 50,000 Shares for $8.2 Million; WHO DO YOU BLAME?Executive Chair/former CEO (since 2014) Brian Cornell: still 21% influence!CEO Michael Fiddelke: 16% influence; started at Target in 2003; formerly COO and CFOWhy does the corporate page not list his years of service in two separate bios??Dmitri Stockton: 8 years tenure; the double-DEI hater (Deere & Company) Mr. Stockton provides the Board with senior leadership, marketing / design / brands, human capital management, capital deployment, information security / data privacy, financial management, risk management, reputation management, and sustainability and governance skills developed over his more than 30 years of service with General Electric Company in senior leadership positions with escalating levels of responsibilityMarketing / Design / Brands: Target's brand and focus on style and design are the cornerstones of our strategy to offer a preferred shopping experience for our guests that differentiates us in the marketplace.Reputation management: To be successful, we must preserve, grow, and leverage the value of our reputation with our guests, Team Members, vendors, and our shareholders and appropriately respond to crisis events affecting them.A random executive?Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester: joined Target in 2007Chief Community and Stakeholder Engagement Officer Kiera Fernandez: joined Target in 2001Chief Stores Officer Adrienne Costanzo: joined Target in 2004Black CFO representation falls 25% from 2021 peak as diversity levels off: The number of Black finance chiefs in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies ticked down to 15 this year, according to the report from Crist Kolder Associates. WHO DO YOU BLAME?Tractor Supply Co.: Fully eliminated its DEI goals, retired carbon emission targets, and withdrew sponsorships from social and cultural events.Deere & Company: Ended participation in social awareness parades and pledged to eliminate diversity quotas and identity-based affinity group funding.Target: Scaled back its "Racial Equity Action and Change" roadmap, modified its strategy for Pride Month merchandise, and adjusted internal diversity goals.Walmart: Ended key equity training programs, modified its third-party seller guidelines, and scaled back specific minority supplier programs.Lowe's: Ended participation in external LGBTQ+ advocacy surveys and consolidated its employee resource groups under a centralized oversight structure.Ford Motor Company: Scaled back internal diversity targets, stopped participating in third-party workplace index surveys, and unlinked executive pay from DEI metrics.Harley-Davidson: Discontinued its dedicated DEI function, eliminated diversity quotas for supplier contracts, and ended HRC index reporting.Molson Coors: Removed DEI quotas from executive incentive plans and stepped back from external diversity rankings.Meta: Reorganized its human resources departments, eliminating specialized DEI teams and specific supplier diversity programs in favor of broader recruitment practices.Amazon: Phased out several internal affinity programs and explicit representation targets for hiring.McDonald's: Retired numerical demographic goals for senior management roles and paused external workplace diversity surveys.Goldman Sachs: Ended its policy requiring companies it takes public to have at least one diverse board member.The double (and triple?) dippers:Dmitri Stockton: director at Target & DeereJohn May CEO/Chair Deere & Ford Motor directorMarvin Ellison: CEO/Chair at Lowe's after 15 years at TargetJim Farley: CEO Ford Motor & McDonald's director & former Harley-Davison director MMTrump 2.0/ElonShareholder opposition to executive pay eases globallyEurope: NO VOTES for past year fell nearly 6 percentage points year-over-year to 25.2%, the lowest average level since at least 2018.United States: Say on Pay Average Support (S&P 500): Rose to 90.4% (up from 89.7%). Failed Votes (12 years tenure, only 4 of the 11 directors got tagged as having meritThe number of committees - SIX different committees with SIX members in each (except audit which is 5) for 10 directors at the time - they needed to add ANYONE because they were exhausted from so many committee meetingsRich Stoddart DRMember of Nom/CG (also Audit, “Innovation”, and “Social Responsibility”)Was CEO of Leo Burnett - advertising agency that handled massive portion of Nestle USA advertising. Presley was CEO of Nestle USA.Callaway Golf CEO met with backlash over apology for Good Good video depicting abuseThe ad: In the footage, Good Good personality Garrett Clark charges at Alexis Miestowski, knocks her onto the grass, then stands over her and says, "Do not touch my new driver."The company issued a statement on Friday, but CEO Chip Brewer did a social media post this morning stating: "That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously. I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video." He did not apologize to women.WHO DO YOU BLAME?EVP and President of Callaway Golf Glenn Hickey who leads sales and marketing, whose prior work includes being a bond trader and getting a business degree from San Diego State, but was absent for the “don't shove a woman in an ad” lesson (possibly)Good Good and its CEO Matt Kendrick who made the ad for Callaway and posted, “Interesting that @CallawayGolf asks us to make an ad then approves it then asks us to take the fall then drops us in a coordinated media blitz and covers it up by giving a million dollars away thinking everyone will be ok with it. 30 for 39 will be legendary.” He also apologized. But clearly more annoyed at Callaway than, you know, sorry for women?The women on the board and the management team - they should have caught this before it got out! Oh, what? There's TWO women on the board (one auditor who is ex-Boeing, a company with no challenges, and the other a Chief People Officer at a food company) and ONE woman in management (Chief People Officer)? None of whom would have seen the ad??? Oops.Tom Dundon - who, according to the Callaway 2026 Proxy Statement, has been a director since “not applicable” - but does own more than 10% of the stock and has 56% influence over the company according to Free Float data MM
This special episode of Top Floor comes from a webinar hosted by the Hospitality Creator Summit. Scott Frisch, COO and EVP at AARP, was scheduled to join the Summit in person, but travel issues had other plans. Instead, HCS co-founders Anna Blue and Anthony Melchiorri brought the conversation online, with Susan emceeing a fireside chat about one of hospitality's biggest opportunities: the longevity economy. Scott has spent two decades at AARP with a front-row seat to the economic muscle of Americans 50 and older. With AARP's latest research putting their annual travel and leisure spending at a staggering $1.4 trillion, Anna, Anthony, and the HCS community dig into the billions, blind spots, and hot buttons that make a difference to this group of travelers. What You'll Learn - What $1.4 trillion in annual travel spending actually buys - When America crosses a demographic line it has never crossed before - Why hospitality keeps designing for 25-year-olds while the real money skews gray - How steamers and irons became a generational battleground - How a $12.5 trillion economy still cannot find the light switch - How loyalty programs quietly stopped mattering as much as everyone assumes - Why anticipation beats algorithms when it comes to actually knowing your guest Key Takeaway: The longevity economy already rivals the world's biggest economies, and hospitality brands willing to rethink design, service, and marketing for it stand to win over the fastest-growing group of travelers in America. Our sponsor, Lodgify, has a special Labor Day promo from August 25th to September 8th. Using code TOPFLOOR60, our audience will get 60% off their Professional and Ultimate plans (one- or two-year plans). This is a huge deal, so jump on it quickly! Scott Frisch on LinkedIn Anthony Melchiorri on LinkedIn Anna Blue on LinkedIn AARP's Longevity Economy Outlook Report Hospitality Creator Summit Join the Top Floor Mail Club
In Manage the Machine: How to Harness Human-AI Collaboration at Work, Paula Goldman argues that AI has crossed over from being a tool to being a partner, and that the companies that win will not be the ones automating the most or the fastest, but the ones that deliberately design around where humans still need to lead.Goldman is the first-ever chief ethical and humane use officer at Salesforce, where she is also EVP of Product, and previously led the Tech and Society Solutions Lab and impact investing at Omidyar Network. She has served on the US National AI Advisory Committee, chairing its generative AI working group. Her new book is a practical guide to integrating AI across functions from sales to HR to legal, setting out how to decide which tasks can safely be delegated to AI, which should stay with people, and what guardrails keep either from going astray.In her conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Institute, she discusses her "human at the helm" model of AI adoption, the role customer emotion plays in deciding where AI belongs, whether AI erodes the very human judgment it depends on, how to measure AI ROI beyond time saved, and what it takes to move from pilots to enterprise-wide rollout.Key topics discussed:01:01 | What changes for leaders once AI shifts from tool to partner02:28 | The "human at the helm" model in practice07:09 | How the chief ethical and humane use officer role fits into AI governance09:43 | Customer and employee emotion as a design input12:39 | Skill decay: does the model erode itself over time?15:54 | The jagged technological frontier and where to deploy AI18:32 | Calculating AI ROI: cost savings versus new products22:14 | Navigating two moving frontiers, better and cheaper27:09 | Getting from successful pilot to enterprise rollout
In this episode of Inspiring Women, host Laurie McGraw (EVP, Transcarent) sits down with Paige Hendrix Buckner, CEO of All Raise, the nonprofit working to grow the power and influence of women and non-binary venture capitalists. Paige breaks down why having the title of "partner" no longer guarantees real decision-making power inside VC firms, and why that gap is quietly blocking capital from reaching women and non-binary founders. She shares the data behind All Raise's mission, the current headwinds facing women raising their own funds, and where she sees the biggest opportunities for change over the next five years. In this conversation: - Why titles don't equal power in venture capital - The data on returns from firms with more women partners - Only 1.6% of U.S. AUM is managed by women and people of color - Why deal attribution and board seat quality matter as much as headcount - The three groups of women founding their own VC firms - How the wealth transfer to women is creating new investing opportunities - All Raise's next five years: community, data, and storytelling About the guest: Paige Hendrix Buckner is CEO of All Raise, a nonprofit accelerating the success of women and non-binary venture capitalists. She previously served as All Raise's Chief of Staff and Interim CEO, and was COO of Founder Gym before that. About the host: Laurie McGraw is EVP at Transcarent and host of Inspiring Women, a podcast featuring conversations with women shaping the future of business and leadership.
Episode two and we are already international! We are talking about The Forbidden City in China this week where we learn about ghost culture in China, get a history lesson in Dynasties, and - you'll never believe it- a woman in black. She travels all over the world! I'd have a snappy remark about something hilarious we probably said in this episode but honestly, I cannot remember a thing we said. I'll listen with ya'll and get back to you! Until then, enjoy this weeks episode! We'd appreciate it if you took a moment to help our podcast by rating and reviewing on apple and NOW on Spotify! Leave us a comment on how you liked the episode or where we should cover next! Don't forget to check our show notes for our social links! Definitely check out our Instagram (@hauntedorhoaxpod). We post all photos and videos talked about in the show there! Haunted or Hoax Social Medias: Website Instagram Facebook Sources for this Episode: TELEVISION & MEDIA: WEBSITES: https://ghostadventures.fandom.com/wiki/Hauntings_of_Vicksburg:_McRaven_Mansion_(episode) https://www.bumpinthenight.net/night-at-mcraven-house https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/americas-most-haunted-south/vicksburgs-mcraven-mansion/ https://www.mcraventourhome.com/ghosts https://www.visitvicksburg.com/blog/mcraven-house-vicksburgs-most-haunted-mansion/
Episode Detail When wildfire risk pushed many insurers to retreat from the California homeowners market altogether, CSAA Insurance Group chose a different path: reward the homes that actually harden against fire with a three-year rate guarantee and a discount of up to 30 percent, and keep writing business through it. In this conversation, Mike Zukerman, President and CEO of CSAA Insurance Group, joins Bryan Falchuk to talk about what that choice has actually looked like inside a company that insures around 600,000 California homes, why he believes a healthy, competitive insurance market serves customers better than any single carrier cornering it, and how CSAA is using AI to give its claims and customer service teams more room for empathy rather than replacing them. They also get into what it takes to hold a culture together across a workforce that is 97 percent remote, and why Zukerman thinks the basics of caring about a customer, even when the answer is no, still decide who wins a soft market. Every choice Zukerman describes here, the underwriting, the AI, the culture, comes down to the same discipline: doing the harder, more proactive thing on purpose instead of waiting for a crisis to force it. Guest Bio Mike Zukerman is President and CEO of CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA insurer serving members across 23 states and Washington, D.C. He was appointed to the role in May 2024 after serving as interim CEO since August 2023, succeeding Tom Troy. Zukerman joined CSAA Insurance Group in 2011 as Chief Legal Officer, a role he held for roughly twelve years, and also served as the company's acting Chief Operating Officer in 2014. Before joining CSAA, he spent about two decades in technology and legal leadership roles, including at GeoVera Holdings, Critical Path, Sega, and Netopia. He holds a law degree from American University and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, where he has also guest-lectured at the Haas School of Business on law and entrepreneurship. He was named 2017 Corporate Counsel of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times. Zukerman serves on the boards of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the Bay Area Council, and Keep Tahoe Blue. Show Notes: Wildfire Risk: Rewarding Home Hardening, Not Retreating From It: CSAA guarantees at least three years of coverage, plus a discount of up to 30 percent, for any home that meets the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home standard. Zukerman says CSAA has non-renewed at most about 2 percent of its book, even as other carriers stopped writing new homeowners business in parts of California entirely. Despite the state's reputation, Zukerman cites a LendingTree study ranking California the eighth-cheapest state for homeowners insurance, behind Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado. Zukerman wants more competitors back in California, not fewer: a robust, competitive market serves customers and the state better than any single carrier absorbing all the risk. AI as a Force Multiplier for Empathy, Not a Replacement for People: CSAA remains a high-touch business by design: callers reach people in the US, even as some competitors move claims intake to agentic AI. AI now listens in on claims calls and generates the summary, freeing the person on the phone to focus on the customer instead of scrambling to document everything, and it can catch details, like a passing mention of back pain, that a stressed human might miss. Zukerman compares the shift to the arrival of ATMs: bank tellers didn't disappear, they were up-leveled to more judgment-based work, and he expects claims and customer service roles to follow the same path. He expects most carriers to lean on agentic AI by default within three to five years, but says CSAA will give customers the choice between a human and AI rather than force one. Culture and Distributed Work: Humility, Not Proximity: About 97 percent of CSAA's roughly 4,000 employees work remotely, split between roughly 3,000 call center staff and 1,000 knowledge workers in underwriting, finance, and legal. Zukerman keeps the leadership team meeting every two weeks, in person once a month, backed by what he calls close to zero real constraint on the travel budget for teams to get together. He's built the culture intentionally around humility: people feeling safe enough to say "I don't know" or ask for help out loud, which he calls flattering rather than a weakness. CSAA runs 14 employee-led culture groups and regular volunteer programs, and recently opened a new office in Phoenix, where the company now employs more people than it does in California. Customer Delight in a Softening Market: Zukerman points to a record: 54 percent of auto insurance customers shopped for a new policy last year, and he expects retention, not new acquisition, to be the growth lever in the soft market ahead. He argues delight doesn't always mean solving the problem: even when CSAA can't waive a deductible or has to deny part of a claim, the outcome that keeps a customer loyal is feeling like the person on the phone actually cared. He makes the point through an unlikely source: a maddening call with his cable provider that never solved his problem but still left him feeling genuinely cared for. Career, Liberal Arts, and Learning How to Think: Zukerman spent the first half of his career in technology and law before joining CSAA Insurance Group in 2011 as Chief Legal Officer. He points to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's advice to study liberal arts, and says he gave his own kids the same counsel: use college to learn how to think before specializing. He compares AI's disruption to the arrival of the light bulb, noting that new tools have repeatedly reshaped which skills matter without eliminating the need for judgment. Prior Guests from CSAA Insurance Group Ryan Vigus, EVP, Personal Lines Product Management Laurna Castillo, SVP, State Product Management Debbie Brackeen, Chief Innovation & Corporate Development Officer This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance book series (future-of-insurance.com) from Bryan Falchuk. Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes. Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.
Episode 191: Brian Fielkow & his book, Making Safety Happen: The Roadmap to a Safe, Productive & Profitable BusinessABOUT BRIANBrian is the former CEO of Jetco Delivery, now EVP of Risk Resources at Acrisure, and a nationally recognized speaker on leadership, safety culture, and operational performance. He recently released his new book Making Safety Happen: The Roadmap to a Safe, Productive & Profitable Business.CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS• Brian's path from history major to law school to COO to CEO to author and advisor• Brian current work helping companies manage risk as part of building stronger organizations• Why risk management is really a leadership issue, not a separate function• How writing sharpened Brian's thinking and improved the clarity of his leadership communication• The gap between what a leader intends to say and what employees actually hear• Why his message shifts depending on the audience, the setting, and how clearly the idea is already formed• The wide range of industries Brian speaks to, including trucking, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, stevedoring, and staffing• The role of acquisitions, especially the importance of transparency and cultural due diligence• Why he believes leadership is about impact, not title or authority• How his upbringing in a family of retail business owners shaped his understanding of leadership and customer service• The framework behind Making Safety Happen and why it is built for action, not theory• Why resilience improved when he became more analytical and less reactive during adversityThe MAIN QUESTION for you that comes out of my conversation with Brian is, Aside from the offense in the knowledge, tactics, and strategy of your work, how is working defensively, preparing for risk and threats you may not see on the surface, part of your regular preparation and mindset? FIND BRIAN• Website: https://brianfielkow.com• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfielkow• Email: brian@brianfielkow.comLinkedIn - Full Podcast Article:CHAPTERS00:00 - The Book Leads Podcast - Brian Fielkow00:42 - Introduction & Bio 01:07 - Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work?11:13 - What did you path to today look like?24:58 - How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child?26:45 - What is your superpower?28:49 - What does leadership mean to you?34:03 - Can you introduce us to the book we're discussing?37:02 - A breakdown of the chapters in the book.41:15 - What's changed in you in the process of writing this book?45:39 - What's next for your writing?50:50 - What book has inspired you?54:53 - What are you up to these days? (A way for guests to share and market their projects and work.)This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations.Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:• Watch on YouTube• Listen on Spotify• Listen on Apple Podcasts• Read About The Book Leads – Blog PostFor more great content, check out the catalog for my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!
In this edition of Sports Innerview, Ann sits down with Alison Metcalfe, EVP, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Tourism Ireland, to discuss an extraordinary time for golf in Ireland, with some of the game's biggest championships taking center stage.Ann and Alison preview three major events taking place in SW Ireland: the Walker Cup at Lahinch Golf Club, September 5–6, 2026, the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, September 10–13, 2026, and the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, September 13–19, 2027.They also discuss why Ireland remains one of the world's most sought-after golf destinations, the growing number of Americans traveling to Ireland, the country's spectacular links courses, exciting new golf developments, and the unique combination of golf, scenery, culture and warm Irish hospitality that keeps visitors coming back.
Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)
Healthcare doesn’t lack data. The challenge is connecting it. In this episode of Technovation, Mouli Venkatesan, EVP and Chief Information & Technology Officer of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, joins Peter High to discuss how interoperability, AI, and shared technology foundations can help create a more connected healthcare system. Mouli explores how the Blue system balances national scale with local delivery, why longitudinal data matters to value-based care, and how BCBSA approaches AI through mindset, “heart set,” tool set, and skill set. He also explains why responsible AI begins with strong data governance and human involvement in clinical decisions. The conversation also covers AI workforce development, build-buy-partner decisions, process improvement, and leadership through influence across independent organizations. This episode is presented by ElevenLabs — Bringing technology to life. Learn more at elevenlabs.io This episode is also presented by Retool — Build internal software better, with AI. Learn more at retool.com
After years of ghosts, investigations, strange stories, amazing guests, questionable decisions, plenty of laughs, and more than a few things we still can't explain... it's time for one last EVP.Join D-VO, Ghosty, and Beaker as we sit down together one final time to look back at the EVP Podcast.We're talking about some of our favorite episodes, unforgettable investigations, the moments that still make us laugh, the experiences that still leave us scratching our heads, and the origin of “Scared and Fascinated.”We'll also look back at the incredible guests who joined us along the way, some of the memories we've made over the years, and talk about what comes next for each of us.Most importantly, we want to say thank you.To everyone who listened, shared an episode, sent us a message, joined us as a guest, investigated with us, laughed with us, or simply came along for the ride—you helped make EVP what it became.So grab a drink, pull up a chair, and hang out with us...One last time.Thank you for being part of EVP.Stay scared. Stay fascinated.
Healthcare marketers are under increasing pressure to create more connected, personalized experiences across an increasingly complex healthcare ecosystem. Success requires more than strong communications, it depends on understanding the people influencing decisions at every stage of the patient journey. In this episode, Greg Novello, managing director of Spherico, joins Jennifer Brunner, EVP and team lead at AnswerSuite, to explore how healthcare organizations can bridge the gap between insight and action. Using AnswerSuite's Office Champion research as a springboard, they discuss why the perspectives of office staff, providers, patients and caregivers are becoming critical inputs for smarter communications and engagement strategies. Together, they examine how communications, customer insights, behavioral data and emerging technologies — including AI — are reshaping the way healthcare brands build trust, improve access and create meaningful connections. Check us out at: mmm-online.com Follow us: YouTube: @MMM-onlineTikTok: @MMMnewsInstagram: @MMMnewsonlineTwitter/X: @MMMnewsLinkedIn: MM+M To read more of the most timely, balanced and original reporting in medical marketing, subscribe here.Music: “Deep Reflection” by DP and Triple Scoop Music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Gina Manz is the Executive Vice President of River Valley Foods, and it's only right for such a natural born leader. Gina has a presence about her that is hard to describe. She trusts her team to solve problems, and knows that the key to a good working business relationship (whether it be employer/employee or sales rep/client) is problem solving. It only works if everybody wins.We'll learn about her career, from travel agent, to jewelry, to frozen food, to EVP.Plus, River Valley Foods is often a key distribution partner for emerging and small local/regional brands looking for presence on supermarket shelves like Wegmans, TOPS, Price Chopper, etc.. Gina will tell us a bit about what she's looking for in those brands that tells her they're ready for the limelight.Mentioned in this episode:Nights and WeekendsStay connected to Rochester's local music scene with Nights and Weekends! https://feeds.captivate.fm/nightsandweekends/Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own BusinessCheck out Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own Business on Lunchador! https://feeds.captivate.fm/gettingrealwithbossy/Joe Bean RoastersVisit joebeanroasters.com to get fresh roasted specialty coffee either by the bag or with a Perpetual Joy subscription!
I talk with Infinite Roar's EVP, Brad Keeling and Ipsos U.S. President, Pedr Howard about what is now capturing an even larger spend than TV and CTV combined. It's Retail Media Networks and they're a creative wasteland. Ipsos just dropped a new free report on the topic. Check it out here
Heather Dunn, Chief People Officer at Brex, joined us on The Modern People Leader. We talked about Brex's rapid acquisition by Capital One and how Heather led through diligence, communication, and integration.---- Sponsor Links:
The PRINTING United Expo Power Hour turns its focus to packaging, with a conversation about convergence, flexible packaging, digital printing, new applications, education, and opportunities for printers and converters to expand their capabilities and enter growing markets. Deborah Corn and co-host Ashley Roberts are joined by Cory Francer to discuss how commercial printers are moving into packaging, how digital printing technologies are lowering barriers to entry, and why labels, flexible packaging, corrugated, and displays are creating opportunities for printers and brands. Mark Pomerantz brings his sales and industry perspective to the conversation, discussing the growth of flexible packaging, what it takes to enter the market successfully, opportunities to cross over into branded merchandise, and why PRINTING United Expo attendees should focus on conversations and connections as much as technology. Denise Gustavson shares how PRINTING United Expo education can help attendees evaluate new markets, technologies, and business opportunities. She also highlights packaging-focused sessions covering convergence, brand owner dynamics, print and packaging buyers, sustainability, and industry trends. Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions at PRINTING United Alliance, closes out the Power Hour with a look at packaging at PRINTING United Expo and opportunities to explore technology, applications, education, and connections across the show floor. Guests and Resources PRINTING United Expo https://www.printingunited.com/ Ashley Roberts, Content Director, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-roberts-a9148465/ Printing Impressions: https://www.piworld.com/ Cory Francer, Content Director, Packaging Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-francer-88020a23/ Packaging Impressions: https://www.packagingimpressions.com/ Mark Pomerantz, Founder, SalesWisdom LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpomerantz/ SalesWisdom: https://saleswisdom.net/ Denise Gustavson, Vice President of Editorial & Content Strategy, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemgustavson PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarruth PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Deborah Corn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahcorn/ Print Media Centr: https://printmediacentr.com/ Explore The Printerverse: https://linktr.ee/PrintMediaCentr EXPO LONG AND PROSPER!
The PRINTING United Expo Power Hour turns its focus to mailing and direct mail, with a conversation about relevance, personalization, postal pressures, customer data, and why printers need to move beyond producing mail to helping customers get better results from it. Deborah Corn and co-host Ashley Roberts are joined by Toni McQuilken and Paul Bobnak to discuss what is driving renewed interest in direct mail, how even small amounts of customer data can make mail more relevant, opportunities to connect print with digital channels, and how printers can help customers mail smarter. Colin Sinclair McDermott, The Online Print Coach, shares why printers need to position themselves as advisors, ask better questions, understand the business outcomes customers are trying to achieve, and use conversations at PRINTING United Expo to gather ideas and insights they can bring back to their businesses. Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions at PRINTING United Alliance, joins the conversation with a preview of PRINTING United Expo, including opportunities for education, community, peer-to-peer conversations, and making meaningful connections across the show floor. Guests and Resources PRINTING United Expo https://www.printingunited.com/ Ashley Roberts, Content Director, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-roberts-a9148465/ Printing Impressions: https://www.piworld.com/ Toni McQuilken, Senior Editor, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonimcquilken Paul Bobnak, Content Contributor, Who's Mailing What! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulbobnak Who's Mailing What!: https://www.whosmailingwhat.com/ Colin Sinclair McDermott, The Online Print Coach / Print Mastermind LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theonlineprintcoach/ The Online Print Coach: https://theonlineprintcoach.com/ Print Mastermind: https://members.theonlineprintcoach.com/printmastermind Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarruth PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Deborah Corn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahcorn/ Print Media Centr: https://printmediacentr.com/ Explore The Printerverse: https://linktr.ee/PrintMediaCentr EXPO LONG AND PROSPER!
The PRINTING United Expo Power Hour turns its focus to commercial printing, with a conversation about convergence, diversification, branded merchandise, AI, education, and how printers can identify opportunities that make sense for their businesses. Deborah Corn and co-host Ashley Roberts discuss how the definition of a commercial printer continues to expand, why adding capabilities doesn't mean every printer needs to become a one-stop shop, and how existing customer relationships can help printers test opportunities in wide format, apparel, promotional products, and branded merchandise. Katelin Shanks brings her technology perspective to the conversation, offering a practical approach to evaluating AI and automation. She shares why printers should start by understanding their existing data, identifying repetitive tasks and operational pain points, and then challenge technology providers to explain exactly how their solutions can address those needs. Denise Gustavson shares what's ahead for education at PRINTING United Expo, including sessions focused on AI, sales, pricing, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning, industry research, compensation, and other business issues. She also discusses the Women in Print Alliance and opportunities for women to connect at the Expo. Joshua Carruth closes out the Power Hour with a look at the PRINTING United Expo experience, from education and more than 800 exhibitors to the Alliance booth, apparel, AI, networking, and the Spill the Ink District. Guests and Resources PRINTING United Expo https://www.printingunited.com/ Ashley Roberts, Content Director, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-roberts-a9148465/ Printing Impressions: https://www.piworld.com/ Katelin Shanks, Racami LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katelin-shanks Racami: https://racami.com/ Denise Gustavson, Vice President of Editorial & Content Strategy, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemgustavson PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarruth PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Deborah Corn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahcorn/ Print Media Centr: https://printmediacentr.com/ Explore The Printerverse: https://linktr.ee/PrintMediaCentr EXPO LONG AND PROSPER!
The PRINTING United Expo Power Hour turns its focus to wide format printing, with a conversation about technology, applications, education, print-on-demand, branded merchandise, and how printers can identify opportunities that make sense for their businesses. Deborah Corn and co-host Ashley Roberts are joined by Dan Marx to discuss the evolution and expansion of wide format printing, the technologies and applications creating opportunities for print providers, and why the product you want to produce should help determine the equipment you invest in. Denise Gustavson shares how PRINTING United Expo education is developed, how attendees can identify sessions that address their specific business challenges, and why asking the right questions can help printers get more value from educational sessions and conversations on the show floor. Rusty Pepper brings his print-on-demand perspective to the conversation, discussing opportunities across print, promo, apparel, imaging, and branded merchandise, along with the importance of experiences and activations that create value for customers. Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions at PRINTING United Alliance, closes out the Power Hour with a preview of the wide format presence at PRINTING United Expo and how the show floor is designed to make it easier to connect, explore, and discover opportunities for your business. Guests and Resources PRINTING United Expo https://www.printingunited.com/ Ashley Roberts, Content Director, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-roberts-a9148465/ Printing Impressions: https://www.piworld.com/ Dan Marx, Content Director, Wide-Format Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-marx-99ab042/ Wide-Format Impressions: https://www.wideformatimpressions.com/ Denise Gustavson, Vice President of Editorial & Content Strategy, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemgustavson PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Rusty Pepper, Head of Global Markets & Partnerships, Taylor Corporation LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rustypepper Taylor Corporation: https://www.taylor.com/ Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarruth PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Deborah Corn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahcorn/ Print Media Centr: https://printmediacentr.com/ Explore The Printerverse: https://linktr.ee/PrintMediaCentr EXPO LONG AND PROSPER!
The PRINTING United Expo Power Hour turns its focus to apparel, promotional products, and branded merchandise, with a conversation about convergence, community, education, supply chain challenges, new revenue opportunities, and how printers can expand the products and services they offer customers. Deborah Corn and co-host Ashley Roberts are joined by Cassie Green to discuss the apparel decorating community, opportunities for printers moving into apparel, and the hands-on education, technology, techniques, and applications attendees can experience in the Apparel Zone at PRINTING United Expo. Andy Cohen shares how the ASI Pavilion at PRINTING United Expo brings print and promotional products together, giving printers an opportunity to connect with promotional product suppliers, explore branded merchandise, and learn how they can expand existing customer relationships by offering more of the products their customers are already buying. Denise Gustavson highlights PRINTING United Expo education focused on apparel and promotional products, including direct-to-film printing, print-on-demand, margins, industry research, emerging promotional product categories, and opportunities for printers looking to generate additional revenue. Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions at PRINTING United Alliance, closes out the Power Hour with a look at convergence across print, apparel, promo, packaging, wide format, and other segments, and why the connections made at PRINTING United Expo can create new opportunities for attendees. Guests and Resources PRINTING United Expo https://www.printingunited.com/ Ashley Roberts, Content Director, Printing Impressions LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-roberts-a9148465/ Printing Impressions: https://www.piworld.com/ Cassie Green, Content Director, Apparelist LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiegreen/ Apparelist: https://www.apparelist.com/ Andy Cohen, Senior Vice President of Events, Media and Marketing Services, Advertising Specialty Institute LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-cohen-6b48a740/ Advertising Specialty Institute: https://asicentral.com/ Denise Gustavson, Vice President of Editorial & Content Strategy, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisemgustavson PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Joshua Carruth, EVP, Expositions, PRINTING United Alliance LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuacarruth PRINTING United Alliance: https://www.printing.org/ Deborah Corn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahcorn/ Print Media Centr: https://printmediacentr.com/ Explore The Printerverse: https://linktr.ee/PrintMediaCentr EXPO LONG AND PROSPER!
The Suite Spot attended the 2026 Hotel Data Conference and had the opportunity to interview some of the best and brightest hospitality leaders in the industry to gain their insights and perspectives on prevailing data trends, AI & technology, how to optimize the guest experience and much more. Be sure to watch the full episode if you missed any of the action from the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. Special thanks to: Amanda Hite, Jan Freitag, Erica Lipscomb, Max Spangler, & Sam Trotter. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with STR President Amanda Hite. Amanda, great to see you again. Congratulations here. This is our first time at the Hotel Data Conference. Amanda Hite: Oh, wonderful. Thank you. Ryan Embree: Record attendance was just announced. Welcome to The Suite Spot. We’re excited to be here. It was a ton of excitement that we just saw. Tell us a little bit about this event, and we were talking off camera about, do you ever expect it to be what it is right now? Amanda Hite: Yes, we started it 18 years ago with a couple hundred people, maybe. The very first year we’ve always had it in Nashville. This is our home base for the STR part of our business. Most of our employees are here that are in the US. So we started it with a way to connect with customers and more importantly, like, we all have this curiosity about the data. You know, we’re constantly in analyzing, looking at trends in the industry, and we wanted to get people together to hear what are you seeing and let’s talk about it. And that’s really how this started. So it’s, I think it’s for me, my most proud part of this conference is the feeling that everyone has when they come in of being really open and curious and wanting to learn from each other. So you get some really good dynamic conversations happening in the networking breaks and in the hallway. Ryan Embree: Well, it’s such an important time right now too, right? ‘Cause people are already starting, if you can believe it. Well, actually, probably you can look in 2027. Amanda Hite: That’s why we do hotel data conference when we do it. Exactly. It’s budget season. Ryan Embree: Brilliant. Brilliant. Right? And, you know, you just got off stage, like I said. One of the fascinating pieces, like I said, we weren’t here last year, but this is our first time. You said when you first stepped on stage, there were, and you showed some of those original numbers. There was a little bit of a gap in the audience last year. Amanda Hite: Yes. Ryan Embree: But this year, a little bit different story. Amanda Hite: Yes. We had a much better forecast to reveal this year. Last year at this time was when we took the forecast down to reflect what was happening in the industry. And this year, we raised the forecast, not just for the rest of this year, but also for 2027. Ryan Embree: So great to see. And a really cool inflection point, I made a note here, revenue for the first time outpacing expenses, right? What does that mean for hoteliers? Amanda Hite: Yeah. So we finally see the pace of growth on the revenue side outpacing the expense growth. I mean, we’re in a high inflationary environment. Expense growth is something that will continue and hoteliers are having to deal with. But to see that we’re actually going to get some GOP gains, it’s, it’s super helpful. I mean, the point I made this morning though is our margins are not growing. Yeah. So we’ve got some room to grow efficiencies and productivity within the hotels to try to get margins to grow at the same rate of GOP growth. Ryan Embree: Yeah, yeah. It’s challenging right now. And one of the things we’re doing to combat, or CoStar’s doing combat that, bottom line data being added to the product. What’s that mean for the hotel industry? Ryan Embree: Yeah, so within STR Benchmark and the CoStar platform, we introduced at the end of the first quarter our profitability benchmarking. P&L is something that STR has done for 30 years. We did it on an annual basis. And we introduced our monthly benchmarking back in 2020, literally as the world shut down. So maybe not the best timing. But of course, now we’re prepared in an environment like we are today, a very complex operating environment for our hoteliers. It’s, yes, we need to grow revenues, but we must make sure that that is flowing through to the bottom line and that our operators and owners are actually making money. And that’s not been the case in many types of hotels and many markets around the country. So we’re trying to make sure that we bring that visibility of not just the top line growth that we want to see for the industry, but the flow through all the way to the bottom line. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I’d love to see that. And, you know, another thing that we’re gonna hear constantly about at, and at this conference is AI, right? So I guess the overarching question would be more of like, how are you incorporating AI into your products right now? Amanda Hite: This is when I’m so thankful that we are a part of the CoStar Group entity. If you follow our other brands, homes and apartments launched AI in their products earlier this year. So we’re continuing to build off of that. We will have AI search in the CoStar product in the same way that you see in apartments and homes. But for STR benchmarks specifically, what we’re thinking about is making sure that we’re integrating AI into the product, not just sitting on top of the product, but like we interact with the clients all the time on the analysis in the industry. So we want to bring that through AI into the product for our customers to use. So we love when they pick up the phone and call us and wanna talk about data. Right. But we also wanna make it easier for them to surface it within their portfolios in product. And so that’s the path that we’re going down to bring that intelligence in the product and analyzing and spotting the trends, knowing what to look at or sometimes not look at, right? Sometimes it’s a great point. It’s just as important to say like, “Hey, I only have a limited amount of time. Where do I not need to spend time right now?” And that can be tricky, especially when you’re looking at a larger portfolio of trying to discern where, what makes the most sense to drive profitability for my business, for me to spend time on right now. Ryan Embree: 100%. Those complexities and driving efficiency so important right now. And turning those data, that data into actual insights. That what one of the promises of AI. So reason we’re here at the Hotel Data Conference, thank you for taking the time. We’ll, we’ll let you get back. I know you’re hosting almost 900 hoteliers here. So we’ll let, let you get back to Amanda. Thanks for stopping by. Amanda Hite: Thank you, Ryan. Appreciate it. Ryan Embree: Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot live on location Nashville at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with Jan Freitag, National Director at CoStar. Jan, thank you so much for taking some time and very busy. You’re hosting almost a thousand hoteliers here. Jan Freitag: Yes, 18th year. Sold out again. So heads up, next year we’ll sell out again. But thanks for being here and sort of taking the pulse on the industry. We appreciate it. Ryan Embree: 100%. Congratulations. Amanda Hite opened us this morning saying last year when she unveiled the forecast, there were audible gaps in the crowd. I feel like behind us, people have been skipping, jumping down, up and down this escalators. Share with us, we got a revised forecast. Jan Freitag: So we’re proposing that RevPar this year is up 4.4%. So that is the second upward revision we had to make, quote unquote. And the data’s just so strong. But then that means that next year, we’re gonna see growth, but it’s much slower global. So next year we’re thinking that RevPargrowth is gonna be like, you know, 2-2.1% or so. So the negative way to say this is, “Oh, our growth rate is cut in half.” The positive way to say this is like, “Oh, we have growth on growth, right? 4% this year, ne – 2% next year.” Ryan Embree: 100%. I mean, a lot of people are going into, you know, we’ve talked to hoteliers here on the Suite Spot, going into their budgets. These are very, very important numbers for them as they go into their budgets because they wanna forecast. When we met last, we were at NYU. There had been zero soccer games played in the US. Now, 104 games later, we got a crown champion. Obviously had a big impact. We’re gonna talk about that in a minute. But that strong performance, one of your big takeaways from this morning was strong performance is gonna equal some tougher comps in 2027, right? Jan Freitag: Yeah, absolutely. So we had arguably easy comps this year, right? The Q2, three, and four RevPAR performance last year was negative. So yeah, we would outperform it this year. That was not a question. But because, RevPAR in the second quarter was up 5.7%, that is a, a very stout result, obviously driven in June, partially by the World Cup remember we’re gonna talk about. You know what that means for next year is, oh wow, we’re not gonna see that performance again. And so my conversation this morning with hoteliers is all about, okay, so how do you massage your owner? How do you have this conversation with your owner, with your team to say, look, there’s still gonna be growth, but we really have to think about this. And I heard this this morning from an asset manager at next year as a year of 10 months and two months, you know? So really take June and July out of your annual number and say, okay, so what’s the growth for that? And then, yeah, June, July is just gonna be tough cost. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Probably something that a lot of markets who hosted Taylor Swift a couple years ago had to deal with. And then maybe what LA’s gonna have to deal with in 2029 after the Olympics in 28. Jan Freitag: Yeah, exactly. So we’re already talking now about the Olympics. We’re gonna talk about, obviously the World Cup in four years over in Europe and what is the performance there. So these sporting events are just the gifts that keep on giving. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Yeah. And, and travelers continue what we heard this morning. Consumers continue to prioritize travel, which is really, really great for obviously our industry. But not without its cautionary tales, you also had a watch your margins kind of take away from that. Maybe expand on that a little bit. Jan Freitag: Yeah. So we’ve had for the last year and for the last couple of years, really this interplay between room rate growth and the rate of inflation being higher than room rate growth. And we’re taking the rate of inflation sort of as a proxy for how much more things are expensive. And the costs for hotels are obviously going up. Higher labor costs, higher insurance costs, higher food costs, higher costs, inner energy, everything. So if your costs are going up in order for your margins to expand, you need to drive room rate or revenue faster than the cost increase. And that just is not happening. So my colleague Isaac Collazo spent 55 slides and an hour explaining how margins are decelerating, unfortunately. Now, the total dollar amount, we’re everything gets more expensive, but it also means we’re having more money available as profit. But the margins are coming down. And that’s really the, maybe to me, the main takeaway from HCC this year for the budget conversation for 2027 is watch your margin. Ryan Embree: Efficiency is always looking for that, especially in these tight margin areas. And then lastly, you know, your whole presentation this morning was themed around the World Cup. And, and I do wanna bring it up because, obviously there was the quote was 104 Super Bowls. Yeah. Right? And you kind of explored that case a little bit. Found out maybe that might not be the case. Jan Freitag: Yeah, exactly. So the FIFA president had said at the time, just to explain to American audiences, “Hey, we have 104 soccer games and they look like 104 Super Bowls.” That is of course not the case. And that was never meant to be the case. Super Bowl is the largest cultural sport event in America. It happens once a year, right? And to sort of translate that was, I thought always a little silly. So it turns out that the 104 Super Bowls did not come to pass, and it was more like 30 Super Bowls, maybe if that. So yeah, it was still a very healthy impact. If you look at the markets that Hosta gave Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, very, very strong room rate growth. Interestingly, in some markets, actually, occupancy declines. We saw that specifically in Vancouver, but we saw it in Atlanta, we saw it in Boston. Why is that? Well, because corporate America, meeting travelers, meeting planners said, “You know what? I don’t need to compete with the Tartan Army in Boston for our meeting. You know, let me just stay away. Let me have that meeting in August, or let me move that meeting to Chicago,” for example. Sure. Chicago had a very, very strong June, July meeting calendar. So it’s, um, the, the room rate increase was absolutely expected and is exactly what came to pass. It just wasn’t Autumn for a Super Bowl. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I mean, that just proves we are, uh, a collective of markets. Things are gonna be obviously different in each one. Yeah. Uh, with different factors there. You know, a- and there’s also an interesting stat, fascinating stat, I wanna bring it up, about booking windows, um, that, that you brought up there. Yeah. If you wanna expand on that. Jan Freitag: So I got this totally wrong in the run up to the World Cup because I thought, look, if somebody books that FIFA ticket a year out, and the airplane ticket’s six months out, surely they would book their hotel three months out. Yeah. That did not happen. Right. And so we saw specifically the chart that I had this morning for, uh, arrival dates, June 11, 12, 13, 20 basis points of, uh, 20 points of occupancy was booked after June 8th. Wow. So that’s a booking windows of, like, three or four days. Wow. For an event that you knew what happened, I mean, six years ago. Yeah. You know? And you had a ticket from one year ago. So I just completely though that the, uh, the, the leisure traveler, the, the soccer traveler would also book their room way ahead. That did not come with us. Ryan Embree: Very interesting. I wonder if that’s a macro trend happening right now, those booking windows starting to shorten a little bit. Jan Freitag: Yeah, and maybe that’s a takeaway for our friends, you know, in LA who are hosting the Olympics. Hey, you know, be very mindful how you match that booking window. Ryan Embree: Lessons from history learned there. Yes. Um, final as we wrap up, I always li- like, like to get any, you know, you look at a lot of data. So any interesting, uh, like, data points that really stood out or surprising? Jan Freitag: I mean, the July data came out yesterday and the luxury class RevPar growth was 16%. Ryan Embree: Wow. Jan Freitag: Talk about A, amazing, but B, A, tough comps. Yeah. In July of next year. But it was an amazing, amazing performance. July was very, very strong. Um, and June as well. So we clearly saw, you know, July was helped a little bit by 4th of July, World Cup, uh, 4th of July calendar year, but also the World Cup, obviously the final and the bronze medal games. They all, they all helped. So July was strong, June was strong. So now I think things are getting a little bit more normal – Yeah. Early on end. Ryan Embree: Awesome. Well, we’ll continue to look ahead as you will, but thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule, Jan. Jan Freitag: Thanks for being here. Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello everyone, Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location of the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Erica Lipscomb, EVP of Commercial Strategy at PM Hotel Group. Erica, thank you so much for joining me on The Suite Spot. Erica Lipscomb: Well, thank you for having me. Very excited to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah, first time here on the Suite Spot. Yes. But not your first time here at Hotel Data Conference. Erica Lipscomb: Not my first time at Hotel Data Conference. This is conference number eight. Ryan Embree: Okay. Yes. All right. Hotel data conference. You obviously are no stranger, you’re a pro. What do you call a hotel data conference a success kind of reflecting back? What do you come here to accomplish and to learn? Erica Lipscomb: You know, I, again, this is our start of budget season. Sure. Right? Yeah. So I actually, uh, had dinner with Amanda last night and said, “You do realize what you’ve done here, right? We cannot even start our budget calendars until there’s an HTC.” Yeah. So really what I look forward to is not coming here just to hear that the amazing news of an increase year over year, or that we’re gonna increase in the year for the year. Sure. But what are those things that I can take away that can make it tactical for our teams? Mm-hmm. So learning from industry leaders that are here. We have amazingly smart people that are here at this conference. And we’re really drafting and shaping what the industry will look like. So what are those learnings? And then how do I make sure that we trickle that down within the organization and get them to our teams? Ryan Embree: Which can change so rapidly, right? As we know – Absolutely. It’s gone from, uh, a yearly change to almost, it feels like a weekly, especially with the AI and technology conversation. Yes. You were on a panel last year here at this same conference. I’m curious, what were some of the conversations then versus now? Erica Lipscomb: Yeah. And very different. I think it’s been extreme polar opposites. Okay. I feel like last year, there was a lot of conversation about AI. Mm-hmm. But more on the what is AI. Mm. And how are we gonna use AI? Yep. And it’s already started in conversations this morning. You know, we started networking last night, and most people are now really talking about what is AI doing for us to make sure that we’re efficient, making sure that our teams are effective, um, ensuring there’s profitability back to our owners. So it’s gone from a concept – Yeah. To now actually, how are we utilizing AI to be better in the industry, but keeping the forefront our customers? Ryan Embree: It feels like we’re in the sandbox now, right? And there’s a lot of companies out there trying different things. It’s the exploration process and, you know, maybe some success, but even, uh, lessons in the failure. Uh, I, I’ve been hearing a lot about that as well. So hotel data, obviously data is the name of the game. Yes. Still one of the most important tools I feel like right now on our quest of guest personalization. And so much it can do to kind of like what you said, prepare us for the rest of 2026 and even into 2027. Right. How is PM Hotel Group kind of leveraging data for growth and, uh, experiences? Erica Lipscomb: So actually you started with, with growth and experiences. Yeah. So really starting with growth. Yeah. We really are starting with AI in our business development side of our, our, of our home. Sure. And really how are we looking for the right clients that fit PM? Yeah. How, again, when you look at, uh, BD, it’s a relationship. Mm. So who are those owners? Who are the asset managers? What do their teams look like? Is that a right fit? And how can we help them grow? So that’s really the act – acquisition of the client and the customer. And then when we get to the property level – Right. Then as an enterprise, as a support center, what we’re looking to do is how do we use data, which is the, the heart – Yeah. Of revenue optimization. Sure. How are you using that data to make sure that we’re pulling through every step of the guest journey? So from the time again, acquisition of a customer. Right. So now not an owner, but that actual guest that’s gonna be staying at our properties, what does that customer journey look like? How do we find the right customer? We have a very diversified portfolio – Oh, yeah. For each one of our assets in the portfolio, ensuring that they convert. And then once they’re there in their stay, are we pulling through on all the experiences they expect? Whether it’s an independent hotel and the experiences that come along or for the brands and the brand standards. And then once our guests leave, how do we make sure that we are still speaking to them – uh-huh. And making sure that they return? Ryan Embree: I love how you walk through the entire guest experience. I think sometimes we get caught up just thinking about one or two elements of it. Right. But it really does start. I mean, the hot topic right now is that AI visibility, right? Absolutely. And being bound, uh, because our travelers are changing the way that they’re searching for hotels and doing their research. So, uh, it’s super, super important there. We’re in Nashville, Erica, uh, no stranger for PM Hotel Group. Yes. Uh, you guys just, uh – Very excited. Assumed management, 12 properties. Yes. Uh, what do you lo – like, um, from a Nashville market standpoint? I mean, this has just been such a hot market right now in hospitality. Uh, but also, you know, a big threshold of, uh, exciting 80 plus hotels for PM Hotel Group? Erica Lipscomb: Yes. We’re very excited to have the 12 hotels that, from Pinnacle that joined our portfolio. And that’s really our sweet spot, right? Finding those type of assets that fit our growth in our platform, and that we can make sure that we’re optimizing on their revenue, as well as excellent customer experience and guest operations experience. So what I really like about Nashville, and it’s not a new growth. Right. You know, Nashville never stopped growing, right? Where the, where the rest of the world really has struggled even, you know, six years ago. Through COVID. Nashville didn’t, right? Ryan Embree: It was red hot. Erica Lipscomb: But what most people think about when you hear Nashville, they’re really just thinking it’s an entertainment city. That’s not just all Nashville is. So when we peel it back and take a look at the segmentation and what’s driving Nashville, you do still have that customer that is true corporate business. And you still have conventions and groups. I was just in a group maximization winning group seminar just not too long ago. And in that breakout session, we really talk about group continues to still grow. Oh, yeah. And when you take a look at the first half of this year, that growth is really happening not only just in convention centers, but those hotels that have group meetings. Even when you take a look at those assets, what’s interesting is the growth is not just in the hotel that has most of the group, but if you are affiliated. You’re feeling that demand. Leveraging the demand and continuing to drive occupancy and ADR. Yeah, absolutely. So that’s why we’re still excited about Nashville. It’s one of those markets that continues to do well, not just in entertainment, but on the corporate business transient side, as well as group side. Ryan Embree: It’s a perfect destination. That’s why we got almost a thousand hoteliers here at the hotel data conference. Erica Lipscomb: That’s sold out again this year. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. Well, any. I mean, I can tell just by the conversation we’re having, very passionate about your work. Any projects you’re particularly fired up about right now? Erica Lipscomb: The project I’m probably most interested in is what I was hired for is to really continue to evolve commercial strategy. So commercial strategy is not just looking at every discipline in a silo. They’re all very important to revenue optimization. But how do we now continue to go from just having the commercial conversations, but also leverage the experience in each discipline? So our customers, when they look at our hotels, And they look at that curse customer journey that we just walked through – Right. They’re not looking at sales, revenue, marketing, distribution, operations. They’re looking at their holistic experience. Yeah. And so why not make sure that we internally stop looking at how well each d- division does and, and, and our, each siloed discipline, but let’s look through the lens of a gu – of a customer. Yeah. What’s that experience look like? And then how do we all play a part of it? Yeah. Exactly. So that’s what I’m excited about. And using, continuing to use AI. Yeah. How do we make sure that we’re leveraging commercial? Yeah. And then making sure that our use of AI is making our teams much more efficient – Mm. And effective in h – in how we run our businesses. Ryan Embree: That’s what I was gonna say. It’s, it’s such an inflection point, and I’m sure very exciting for, for your job with the technology in hand. Now you’ve got the power to, uh, break down those silos, right? Absolutely. Create efficiencies there. Yes. Uh, well, as we wrap up, you know, we always. One of the things here that we love to do at the Hotel Data Conference is try to predict the future, right? Forecasting, everybody. It’s a, it’s an impossible job, but we do it every single year. Right. Uh, you know, so from a commercial strategy standpoint, I know you, you, you just mentioned the projects you’re working on, but what’s your vision for PM Hotel Group as we kind of go into the latter part of the 2020s? Erica Lipscomb: So latter part of the 2020s, I think that the company’s vision is to really leverage the portfolio and the diversity of the portfolio. We saw that growth that we had just here in Nashville. I’m sure you saw the news that Reset our first brand to enter Marriott’s or outdoor collection. Yeah. We’ve noticed that when you continue to diversify and not really just say, okay, we are just this type of company, making sure that we’re leveraging the expertise of our team. Mm-hmm. We can be many things – Yeah. To many customers. Yeah. And so lev – continue that leverage, that growth, but we do see that growth continue to be in experiences. Yeah. Right? So every brand is rolling out how they’re working with experiences. But what we do see, that lifestyle, outdoor – Oh, yeah. Experiences. We’ve had our first entree into it, and we’re gonna continue to grow. Ryan Embree: Awesome. We’re excited to watch that growth, and yeah, that experiential travel continues to be something, conversations we’re having here, prioritizing, that’s what the guests are prioritizing travelers are. Congratulations on all this. We continue to watch it with PM Hotel Group. Thanks, Erica. Erica Lipscomb: Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Max Spangler, VP of Technology at Charlestown Hotel. Max, we know you’re on a panel tomorrow. We’ll talk about that in a second, but thanks for taking the time to join us. Max Spangler: Absolutely. thanks for hosting me, Ryan. Ryan Embree: Yeah, Gotel Data Conference. Name of the game, data. We’re gonna talk about, obviously, your role and, and where data plays into that. But first, you come to a conference like this, what’s the expectation? What do you hope to get out of it? And maybe when you’re a couple weeks down the line, looking back on the conference, that was a success. Max Spangler: Yeah, you know, for me, I spend a lot of time at conferences that are very narrow in scope, right? Sure. Whether it’s high tech or the hospitality show, or even technology conferences that are outside of hospitality. Sure. So coming to HDC is always great. It’s always refreshing. The keynote panel in the beginning always gives me, hopefully, optimism. And this morning, it was very optimistic – Yes. About the way things are going. So I’m thankful for that. But it’s great to hear from commercial peers how they’re using data, how they’re surfacing insights, what tools they’re using, and how they’re turning it actionable. I mean, I think for me, as someone who spends a lot of time staring at screens, developing tools, looking at dashboards, hearing from people that actually depend on this information – Yeah. So crucially is really refreshing. So I get to, like, cut through the noise a little bit and hear what’s working, and hopefully hear what’s not. Ryan Embree: Yeah, and that’s what leads to your panel tomorrow, connecting AI to commercial strategy. Yeah. Uh, maybe give our sweet spot listeners a little bit of sneak peek and maybe your thoughts on the subject. Max Spangler: We’ve got a great panel tomorrow. Super stoked for it. You know, so we, we had a pre-cause you tend to do with those panels. Right. And as a result of that, we decided to zoom out a little bit, which I though was important. So commercial still is the through line, as you would expect at HTC, but given the man – the, the members that are on the panel, we’ve got some people that, you know, are on the, the, the revenue management side. We’ve got some people from HFTP. Um, you’ve got me as an independent operator. It w- we felt, we felt it really important to say, “Let’s, let’s zoom out. Let’s take a pause and, like, let’s look at where the industry is holistically.” Sure. And so the questions are really driving off that. So you’ll find that, um, there’s insights about a year from now, what would we like to be doing differently, right? How are we driving ac- actionable insights? What KPIs are important? What KPIs are important? Yeah. Things like what’s the difference between automation versus th- this new agentic era? Mm. So I think it, um, I’m actually really excited for it. The panel’s great, and I think you’re gonna get some, some really interesting insights from a variety of different opinions. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And what we talked about is so much can change. Yeah. And you could talk about what could happen in a year. I mean, that could be a couple cycles with technology right now. And that’s why I, I was really looking forward this conversation, Max. Yeah. Because, you know, I get industry leaders, sometimes brand leaders, but you’re, you’re in it every single day, right? Yeah. Uh, VP of technology. Yep. Where do you think we are in the AI adoption – Yeah. Uh, uh, cycle? And then maybe zoom in a little bit on Charlestown Hotels. Max Spangler: Yeah. So if we, if we look at sort of where things are globally for the state of AI, I think obviously in the technology space, it’s an existential crisis, right? Right. I mean, I think you see that in, in jobs reports. I think you obviously see it in the way that they’re measuring AI as an accelerant. Yeah. You know, so, uh, friends of mine that work for tech companies, they’re seeing their time to release production code going from five weeks, four weeks down to one week. Wow. It’s easy for them to measure. It’s easy for them to see the outcomes for us. Yeah. I think it, it is ultimately a little bit more difficult. For Charlestown, you know, we think it’s really important to keep hospitality at the center of what we’re doing, right? And so we’re not parading around trying to be an AI company or a SaaS company. We firmly believe people and hospitality at the center of, is gonna be at the center of what we do.m. How do we use AI to power that? Whether it’s through efficiencies, you know, through maybe more sophisticated RMS, through, you know, generative guest insights. How do we make sure that we’re being discovered when people are asking what’s the best hotel in downtown Charleston, South Carolina? Those are really hard questions to answer. No one’s got it figured out. But the conversations that are happening here are super encouraging because I think there is a lot of people admitting that and coming together to try to find, um, the best path forward. Ryan Embree: And you were, this is not your first per – podcast that you’ve been on recently. I saw you, uh, on CoStar News Hotel podcast where you talked about escaping hospitality’s AI hype echo chamber. Yeah, yeah. What’s your thoughts on that? And maybe how do we avoid doing that here in, in spaces like this? Max Spangler: I mean, it’s, if you go on LinkedIn, you can feel like, you know, FOMO is like a- absolutely crushing you, right? Right. Everyone is, like, piloting something new. Right. Everyone is, is advancing seemingly at the speed of light. It’s really important to come to a conference like HTC, uh, to get a real life temperature check with what people are doing and how they’re doing it. There is a tremendous amount of hype. There’s a tremendous amount of potential, but I think for a lot of us, and especially from someone sitting in the seat of an operator, you have to be very disciplined. Yes. You know, you have to have a step-by-step sequence of how you’re actually gonna accomplish this. It’s okay to introduce a little bit of chaos. We’ve done that in the early days. I mean, if you go back, you know, to 2023, 2024, we’re experimenting with all the frontier models. But eventually, we wanted to collapse that into a unified choice, pick one model so that we can move forward and start measuring, you know, are our team members crawling? Who’s walking? Who’s running? How do we devise resources to help kind of get everyone on the same page, march in the same direction, and get better at this? Yeah. And so that, that’s, that’s been our strategy. And fortunately, like, that’s what I’m hearing here at the conference. Ryan Embree: And the motivation for implementing AI can’t come out of fear of we’re not doing enough. Yeah. Or, you know, we’re just, that FOMO feeling that you’re talking about, it has to have, what you said, discipline and direction. Yeah. And Max Spangler: Ryan, like, fear is a huge part. I mean, that’s one of the things that we’re constantly up against. There’s. I, I think the, the negative attitude and apprehension towards AI is only gonna continue to grow over time, right? Just like the excitement over it is gonna continue to grow. Yeah. Same thing’s true for the negative. I mean, you have people that absolutely have their head in the sand, which is okay. Right. Um, for, for certain reasons, you have people that obviously have negative feelings about it because of the socio – uh, economic impact. Sure. Companies potentially might be laying off job just Placement or replacement as a result of LLMs and the technologies that they introduce. There’s the environmental factors. So, like, all those things are absolutely true. We don’t think it’s, as Charlestown, our responsibility to sort of correct that. Right. But we do wanna make sure our associates, team members, and corporate, and corporate leadership team know this isn’t going anywhere. Yeah. It’s fundamental core to the business, and we’re gonna make an investment into our teams to make sure that they’re prepared for this new wave, whatever it looks like. Ryan Embree: It’s exciting times. And it’s okay to experiment fail sometimes, because that, that’ll show you some lessons too. Sure. Max Spangler: Yeah, we. Yeah, we’ve run so many pilots. We’ve had so many things fail. We’ve incinerated millions of tokens and subsequently thousands of dollars as a result of – Yeah. Um, so many pilots, but we’ve learned a lot. Yeah. Uh, and we’re in a much better spot as a result of it. You have to be willing to take risks, especially now. I do believe, like, no one’s gonna be left behind yet, but there is absolutely an advantage to being a first mover. And I think the companies that are at least experimenting and building AI fluency for their teams are gonna be much better, uh, much farther along than everybody else. Ryan Embree: 100%. And, you know, one of those spaces is, is the data, right? That’s, I mean, that’s the name of the game of this conference here. Yeah. How are some ways are you leveraging data to kind of – Yeah. Grow Charlestown hotels or even just create efficiencies? Max Spangler: Yeah. So for us, it, it, it is a challenge to think about the kind of company that we are. We focus mostly on the independent space. Mm-hmm. So we don’t have sort of the technology through line like the brands have where – Sure. You know, they can force a certain PMS, POS, CRS, like, it’s very clean and organized and scalable that way. Yeah. For us, you know, when we come into a new hotel operating environment, in most cases, technology hasn’t been a major form of investment, right? I mean, most people don’t come to Charlestown hotels with a great performing asset. They’re like, “We’re in trouble. We need your help.” Right. So then I come in, you know, from the technology perspective and it’s like, okay, this is difficult. How are we gonna extract information, put it into a centralized place, be able to sort of layer a, a, a, a BI tool or reporting package on top of it to actually surface the insights so these one-off owner operators can get the insights that, like, a company like Charlestown Hotels can deliver at scale with all the independent properties and things we’ve learned across the secondary and tertiary markets that we work in. Max Spangler: So, I mean, to put it simply for us, it is about having, like, a central data repository or warehouse. Sure. I mean, there’s plenty out there. Databricks, Snowflake. We’re a BigQuery customer. We do a lot with Google. Um, but it is, you know, if, if you think about where things are going to bring it back to AI, so much of the conversation surrounds having a good data foundation, because AI is an accelerant. If you have bad data, it’s gonna accelerate you to bad outcomes more quickly. Yeah, that’s a great point. If you have a bad business strategy, it’s gonna optimize for the wrong KPIs. So for us, it is very much about having solid fundamentals. Yeah. That’s not a reason for you to stop, right? It’s just more a reason for you to proceed cautiously. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. And, you know, you do it right. All of a sudden, you get that personalization, which, you know, hospitality’s been really the last decade – Yeah. Has been striving so much for to get that personalization within the guest experience. So as we wrap up, you know, we always like to. I know this is gonna be difficult because, like we said, things change so quickly in the tech space. Yeah. But what’s your vision for Charleston Hotels from a technology perspective? Max Spangler: Yeah, great question. I thought you were gonna ask me a hard one, like, what’s my favorite color? But, uh, no, for, for. Vision for technology, you know, for us, as long as we keep, like, hospitality at the center – Yeah. As our north star, that really does simplify things for us. It is gonna be difficult. There’s, you know, obviously a whole host of different frontier models you have to choose from. Tokenomics is gonna continue to be a big part. People talk about ROI with LLMs, but no one’s really talking about the expense – Yeah. And expenses continue to grow. Great point. Right? So we’re, we’re focused really on, you know, not only the, the ROI from some of the LLM tools, but, but obviously the tremendous cost that’s associated with running them at scale. But as long as we keep people and human beings at the center, reducing mundane work, admin tasks, friction so that our people can spend less time in front of screens and just be more hospitable, I think that really is the vision. Technology’s gonna support that. It’s gonna hopefully be more invisible to the people that come to hospitality. They didn’t come to, like, move information around – Right. Push paper or spend time in front of a computer. They spent it to, like, be empathetic, to be excited – Yeah. To surprise and delight. And so our goal, that’s our north star, and technology’s gonna be there to support it. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I mean, some industries, you’re, you’re right, are gonna be completely flipped upside down – Yeah. With this technology. But hospitality, we have that advantage of being a people first industry, so. Max Spangler: I, I think it’s, like, the, the key differentiator, and it honestly, it’s like, hospitality has an opportunity to have a really strong opinion. As so many industries are completely rolled over by this AI wave – Yeah. Hospitality can actually say, “No, you know what? People are…” And people in hospitality are at the center, and so as there is potentially more AI backlash and people are seeking more authentic experiences – Right. With people and connections – Yeah. I think it’s, it’s gonna be a great benefit to our industry. Max Spangler: Yeah, and we’ve seen from the data, experiences still seem t be – Yeah. I think that’s gonna grow. Yeah. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Agreed. Uh, Max, appreciate the time. Thank you. Uh, we’ll keep an eye on Charleston Hotels and everything you’re doing over there. Great. Congratulations. Max Spangler: Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello, Everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We’re live on location at the Hotel Data Conference 2026 here with Sam Trotter, Head of Digital Marketing for Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Sam, thanks for taking some time. Sam Trotter: Thanks for having me here. Yeah. I’m excited to be here at the Hotel Data Conference. Ryan Embree: It’s our first time here, but you said you’re, you’re a pro. You’ve been here for many years. Yeah. What does a successful hotel data conference look like for you and some of the takeaways that you look for? Sam Trotter: I really love having a good sense of what’s gonna happen next year. So you get some really great data here where you actually can take to your business planning sessions and use and say, “Hey, you know, I have this from the data conference, and they’re forecasting this growth in this market.” And you have something tangible. Yeah. So you’re about to head into budget season. Yeah. So having that in hand is really, really nice. Ryan Embree: That’s a big part of it. I mean, budget season, you gotta make those operation efficiency. We talked about the margins, how tight those are right now, especially in hospitality. One of the ways that hospitality’s changing right now is through AI search. You were on a panel here. For those that weren’t able to join us here in Nashville, maybe unpack that topic a little bit, because it’d certainly be top of mind for a lot of hoteliers right now. Sam Trotter: Well, it was really fun. It was a packed house, so a lot of interest in it. There’s a lot to talk about. I think we did a little bit of an intro to the topic, just so that everybody was sort of on the same page. But this is a new thing that we’re all having to adapt to. And we’re gonna have to focus on this. And in the panel, I said, “This feels a lot like 2006 when SEO was becoming a big thing.” And I remember I hired this French couple to do our SEO for this hotel that we were opening. It was like $10,000. In 2006. And it felt kinda like magic. Yeah. You know, like, what are they, what are they actually gonna do, right? And so it’s really tough. Who do you listen to? What actually works? And it was a great panel. And there’s no main takeaway other than we’re doing a lot of AB tests. We’re trying to figure out what works. I’m looking at the dashboards from our different properties. Who’s doing well? Who’s not? Yeah. And trying to pivot. And so we’re at this really interesting phase where it’s not really clear, right? Everybody’s telling us different things. Who do you listen to? So I honestly think it’s really exciting. Ryan Embree: The good news is it’s a challenge that a lot of people are attacking at once, right? And that’s where you’re gonna kind of find maybe lessons learned, even in those failures. So I think it is interesting because ultimately what happened with SEO is, like, there became a little bit of of a game plan that you could attack it with, right? That people are still trying to kind of balance. And then there were switches, right? That’s the other thing, is you could attack it one way and then all of a sudden, next week, algorithms change and it’s back to square one. So it was very, very interesting. But I think it’s events like this and panels that you’re on, Sam, that help kind of. Where everyone’s going through this right now. And to try to get through the weeds on it and try to figure out what is a good course of action here. And it changes so quickly. I think AI gets a spotlight, obviously, for good reason because it’s just this up and coming technology. But digital marketing also feels like it’s fast changing and evolving. And it’s been doing that for the past decade. You think about social media updates and everything like that. Yeah. I guess, how do you view digital marketing right now from a strategic standpoint and, and how hoteliers should be embracing and, you know, maybe investing in It? Sam Trotter: So that was a big question, right? Ryan Embree: Yes, sorry. Sam Trotter: When I have new marketers join, junior marketers, I always tell them there’s really no such thing as an expert anymore. Because it’s gonna change next year. Right? Ryan Embree: Great point. Sam Trotter: There are certain fundamentals that will help you no matter what, from 10 years from now, they’ll always be in play. I think what’s really interesting now with AI is I feel like there’s more emphasis on brand and category ownership. So if the AI is the most educated person in the entire world about hotels in Nashville. I mean, that’s what it is. Sure. It’s the most educated person in Nashville. What do you wanna teach it? And so if you’re teaching it, I have a pool and a fitness center, that doesn’t really help, right? ‘Cause now you’re just the same. And so what category can you own? Can you be the wellness hotel of Nashville? And if you’re the wellness hotel of Nashville, what that looks like is everything we say and we do reflects that. So I have spa packages, we have spa activations, we have a spa month. We have an amazing spa. We have spa content. We have spa creators that come in. And so when you’re doing that, all of a sudden the AI’s like, “Okay, no, this is the spa hotel of Nashville.” Because it’s, there’s evidence. Yeah. Right? And so I think there’s gonna be more emphasis on this category ownership, right? More than ever. And that boils back down to your brand. Ryan Embree: No, I love that. I think that’s a great explanation to someone who might feel overwhelmed in this right now. But those searches also could get very specific, right? I’m looking for a place that’s pet friendly, that is dedicated to wellness, where I’ve got my family coming to. So that’s where it gets a little bit tricky of the categories could turn into subcategories and then very, very niche. But it’s also the beauty of it, I think on the other side, is that your travelers are gonna be able to hopefully find the right hotel for them and what they’re looking for. Sam Trotter: So going back to your question, you asked me about social media. Because things are changing so fast, the, what we don’t really realize, and we don’t talk about, is the number one AI that we talk to is Google’s AI overview. That’s the one that when you have a long search, it defaults to, right? And it is weighing YouTube more than any other social platform – Great point. Because they’re not giving access. Right? So TikTok’s not giving them access. So now all of a sudden, YouTube is like this big player. And so we’ve got 76 locations. How do you scale YouTube? Yeah. And so, you know, we’re trying to figure this out in real time, and it’s a lot. There’s a lot of change happening. Ryan Embree: No, that’s a great point, what you said about Google, because a lot of people might be listening to this being like, “Well, I’m not, I’m not really looking, or I’m not using AI in my everyday life.” Well, Google’s really, you know, that AI overview, you are using, right? And it’s just, it’s gonna become more and more, whether we know it or not, a part of our life, you know? So that’s a different conversation. You know, Sam, Indigo Road Hospitality Group, you just mentioned tons of locations. What are some of the projects you’re most excited about that you’re working on right now? Sam Trotter: So, we have amazing locations, and there’s so many that are really interesting that we have coming up. We’re dabbling in more and more to membership clubs. Which is something that, we have one right now in Bentonville, and then by the end of the year, we’ll have two more. So we’re going from zero to three in a pretty short amount of time. It’ll be like a year and two months, we’ll go from zero to three. So it’s something that has been really fun to learn about, and there’s new platforms to learn about. So that’s really exciting. And then, I’m working on some fun data projects too, fun to me. I’m trying to set us up to have our own loyalty program. And so I’ve got some cool things in the works. So I’m really excited about that because we have a diverse portfolio. We have coffee shops and restaurants and hotels. And venues and how do you get them all to talk? Right? How do we put them all in one place, but have them separate? How can we share notes? How can we improve the guest experience? So there’s a lot of really cool things that are happening now. And one of the benefits of AI is partners are, are improving their platforms faster than ever. Oh, yeah. Which is fun if you have the right partners. And they are doing it. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I mean, and loyalty programs, you also learn more about your guests and hopefully create personalization, which is, you know, a topic that has been in hospitality. But we’re getting closer and closer, I feel like, to what we may have talked about five years ago at a conference like this. Be like, “There might be a time where we could do this, and now with the power of AI, it, it’s possible.” Yeah. Well, as we wrap up, kind of what’s your. I know we just talked about the future, but, and it’s hard to predict, but what would be kind of your vision for the future, in your role at Indigo Hospitality Group? Sam Trotter: I would say that, I guess thinking more optimistically, ultimately, it’s gonna be about the guest experience. It’s gonna be about the surprise and delight. It’s gonna be about having great employees who are happy to be where they’re at and that wanna be there. And the best marketing is a great experience, right? So what’s my role in that? You know, how can I help operations do their thing? And that’s the foundation of everything. At the end of the day, I think that’s it. Ryan Embree: There is a, there is a comfort, Sam, to being in an industry that we knew can only be disrupted so much by AI, but at the end of the day, it is gonna still come down to people serving people and creating those memorable experiences, and hopefully AI gives the opportunity to do. Sam Trotter: I have a anti-trend for you, right? Okay. So we’re here at, at the Grand Hyatt. There’s no kiosks, right? Check in. There’s still front desk people. 10 years ago at the hotel data conference, I think we would’ve though it was all kiosks. So hospitality has reigned supreme, and I think that’s the future. Ryan Embree: Yeah for, they say hospitality is the first ever industry and it’ll be here for a long time. So Sam, we appreciate it. We’re gonna watch you and, and everything you’re doing over there. We appreciate you taking some time with us. Sam Trotter: Thank you you so much. This was a lot of fun. All right. Ryan Embree: To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.
Kevin's Back, The Veil Explained & Castiel's Accidental ArmyThe bunker is haunted, Dean is having a heart-to-heart with a coffee machine, and Kevin Tran has been stuck in the veil listening to a Winchester pity party.This week Kevin makes his return from beyond the veil with a mission, a message, and absolutely no patience for the ongoing brother drama. Sam and Dean head into the woods to summon a ghost named Candy using a radio EVP setup, track down Mrs. Tran from a demon-run storage facility, and deliver what might be the most bittersweet reunion of the season. The impossible hug situation is heartbreaking.Meanwhile Castiel pays a visit to Bartholomew's operation, which goes about as well as you'd expect, and somehow walks out of it with the beginnings of his own faction. He did not ask for this. Nobody asked for this.The lore this week covers the veil, the real spiritual concept behind the one keeping all those post-fall souls stuck, and whether the veil has been thinning since 2020. Spoiler: one wellness blog thinks so. Berly and LA have thoughts.Drop a comment with your theories, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. See you next week. Jerk. Bitch.Sources:https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Captiveshttps://www.adventuringwithposeidon.com/blog/4-ways-you-feel/notice-the-thinning-of-the-veilhttps://spells8.com/what-is-the-veil-spiritual/Send us your review!Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Please rate and review Denim-Wrapped Nightmares wherever you get your podcasts! Find social channels and more on our Linktree.
Meet Cute Presents: As Is - Part 3. It's still late-night at the gay bar and Phoenix is taken under the wings of Fairy Godmothers: Nina west and Saundra Lezzenbaum. Story by Savannah Hankinson. Directed and Produced by Adrian Alexander Alea. Sound Editing, Design, and Mixing by Tanya Orlov. Dialogue Editing by Hilary Long. Starring: Brandon Contreras, Gabrielle Filloux, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, Simone Policano, Jake Robertson, Alyssa Simmons, Nina West. A Fox Entertainment Studios Production. Meet Cute Director, Development & Production: Lucie Ledbetter. President, Head of Studio: Fernando Szew. EVP, Head of Scripted: Hannah Pillemer. SVP, Development: Brie Neimand. SVP, Physical Production: Ani Kevork. VP, Production: Jamie Kellum. Production Executive: Bianca Veiga. VP, Post: Imran Shaikh. Post Lead: Paul Rivet. Production Finance: Michael Anthony DaCampo, Roland Arenz. Follow @MeetCute on Instagram and @MeetCuteRomComs on Twitter & TikTok. Check out our other rom-coms, including KERRI with Pauline Chalamet, IMPERFECT MATCH with Arden Cho, and DUMP HIM! with Minnie Mills. Check out our other dramas, including FIRE & ICE with Chiara Aurelia and Jack Martin, and POWER TEN. Check out our other fantasies, including A PROPHECY OF INCENSE AND SNOW and I'VE BECOME A TRUE VILLAINESS. Have a crush on us? Follow Meet Cute, rate us 5 stars, and leave a review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Andrew recaps the Patriots' busiest day of the summer behind a microphone, where Christian Gonzalez, EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf, VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden and the team's defensive assistants all spoke after their last training camp practice of the summer. Pats Interference on CLNS Media is Powered by
Hey, how ya'll doin? Sorry we ghosted you in season Six. The spring was a lot. The summer was more. But now we are back! Kicking season 7 with some hot historical goss coming from the Rockcliffe Mansion in Missouri. We've got affairs and scandal and histor-tea galore with this one. Along with a former owner who just refuses to move out, even in the afterlife. We are so happy to talk ghosts and gossip with you all again! Here's to a fantastic fall season! We'd appreciate it if you took a moment to help our podcast by rating and reviewing on apple and NOW on Spotify! Leave us a comment on how you liked the episode or where we should cover next! Don't forget to check our show notes for our social links! Definitely check out our Instagram (@hauntedorhoaxpod). We post all photos and videos talked about in the show there! Haunted or Hoax Social Medias: Website Instagram Facebook Sources for this Episode: TELEVISION & MEDIA: WEBSITES: https://paranormaltraveler.com/1534/rockcliffe-mansion-a-haunted-historical-gem/ https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/gothic-travel/595/