Podcasts about In Touch

Blind Matchmakers is a new dating programme from ITV which features three visually impaired dating experts. The pilot programme featured a range of participants looking for love, along with some visually impaired contestants. In Touch provides tips for visually impaired people who might be struggling to feel festive this Christmas season, with singer and physiotherapist Victoria Oruwari. Victoria has also released a Christmas single, 'Merry Christmas from Afar', and she shares the story behind the inception track and the message it shares. PRODUCED AND PRESENTED BY BETH HEMMINGSWebsite image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Diane Button is an author, instructor, and end-of-life doula who has dedicated her career to helping people approach dying—and living—with deeper meaning, intention, and compassion. She is a founding partner of the Bay Area End-of-Life Doula Alliance in Northern California and an instructor for the University of Vermont's End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program. With a master's in counseling psychology, Diane has served as a board member for the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and as a hospice volunteer, bringing warmth, presence, and clarity to individuals and families navigating life's final chapter. Her books and teaching have inspired countless people to reflect on legacy, love, and the profound beauty of living a life well-lived all the way to its final moments. In this episode, host Shay Beider and Diane Button explore the profound lessons Diane has gathered from years of sitting with people at the end of life—insights captured in her newest book, What Matters Most. Diane shares how her work is shaped by practices that help people live with intention now, from the "joy counter" that encourages noticing everyday delights, to the beloved "pink glitter" story that reminds us not to save the good things for someday. She speaks about the importance of self-care for caregivers, the healing power of words, and the urgency of not waiting to say what is in your heart. Shay and Diane discuss the "final checklist," a set of six questions she designed to open meaningful conversations about who and what truly matters. Together, they explore how being present, honest, and joyful can help us heal during life's hardest moments, and how embracing these practices now can shape a life—and an ending—rooted in clarity, gratitude, and love. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Look into the End-of-Life Doula Alliance Read Diane's book, What Matters Most   This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through connection, wellness and healing. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. The success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people online and in person through the Integrative Touch Healing Center, and national programs. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate and Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

In Touch pays a visit to two East Midlands highstreets to visit shops that have a direct connection to visual impairment. The first one, Seeing Solutions in Nottingham, focuses on specialist technology, provides some training and other technology services. The second store, a pre-loved clothing boutique in Castle Donnington called Wanted Wardrobe, is run by 'The Blind Stylist' Tilly Dowler.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

What is it like to bring up a child who is blind or visually impaired in 2025? As a parent, how easy is it to find the right support and information and indeed, the correct level of understanding about your child's needs. Fern Lulham meets parents who attended a recent Parents and Professionals Conference hosted by Blatchington Court Trust, a visually impaired children and young person's charity based in Sussex, to discuss those very questions.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

When it comes to finding the right screen reader to suit your needs, how do you decide which one to go for? It will depend on your budget, your requirements and familiarity. Earlier in the year, the company behind the leading screen reader made some changes to their pricing structures and another company within the market decided to respond to that with a limited-time discount. In Touch hears about this and provides information on what other options are available for the various computer operating systems.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: David Baguley Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

App-based taxi company Uber have launched a new accessibility tool for assistance dog owners. The optional feature allows people to self-identify within the Uber app, which will inform drivers that they are traveling with their dog. The aim is to offer riders better support and to try to combat trip refusals. General Manager of Uber UK Andrew Brem tells In Touch how people can use the feature and how it will contribute to their combatting of refusals based on assistance dogs. Fancy yourself a keen baker? Love Productions, the company behind Channel 4's popular baking programme The Great British Bake Off, is calling for visually impaired amateur bakers to apply for the next series of the show. Molly Midlane, Casting Producer at Love Productions, describes how people can apply.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Josh Howard (Executive Director of the Charles Stanley Institute) joins the show today! The CSI is part of In Touch Ministries, WFIL's Ministry of the Month for November! Howard gives insight into the prizes you can win this month, the work of In Touch with Dr. Stanley, and the free resources the CSI offers including online classes available at www.charlesstanleyinstitute.org (more information is also available at www.intouch.org). We give an update on our partnership with TWR (Trans World Radio) and also hand out $5.60 gift cards (to Dunkin, Panera, Rita's & Wawa) courtesy of Bryner Chevrolet in Jenkintown (win two: keep one for yourself, give one away). Sports clip:Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers head coach) (courtesy of the Flyers' YouTube page)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We at In Touch have increasingly been hearing from people who say that if you're totally or near totally blind, you are harder to pair with a suitable guide dog and are being given lesser priority over people with more vision. These impressions have been circulating for a while and so we address them with Guide Dogs' Deputy Chief Executive Officer Peter Osborne.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Senator Chuck Grassley discusses the latest with the federal shutdown. He’ll be featured this Saturday and Sunday on In Touch with South Central Iowa discussing other topics of interest.

When Listening Becomes Healing: The Practice of Radical Listening  Professor Christian van Nieuwerburgh (PhD) is a leading academic, consultant, and executive coach whose work bridges the worlds of coaching, positive psychology, and human connection. He serves as Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology at the Centre for Positive Health Sciences at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ireland and as a Strategic Partner for the Instructional Coaching Group in the United States. He is a certified executive coach through both the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (Master Practitioner) and the International Coaching Federation (Professional Certified Coach). Christian is widely published in the fields of coaching and positive psychology. His many books include Coaching in Education: Getting Better Results for Students, Educators and Parents, An Introduction to Coaching Skills: A Practical Guide, and Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection, with Robert Biswas-Diener.  In this episode, host Shay Beider and Dr. van Nieuwerburgh explore the transformative ideas in his new book, Radical Listening: The Art of True Connection. Christian shares that listening is both a skill and an art and describes the importance of setting a positive intention before engaging with others. He outlines six core listening skills: the internal skills of noticing, quieting, and accepting, and the external skills of acknowledging, questioning, and interjecting. Throughout the conversation, Christian and Shay discuss how listening itself can be a powerful intervention—especially in healthcare settings, where being seen, valued, and heard can promote healing. Drawing from personal experience, Christian highlights the role of compassion and presence in true connection. The duo also explore barriers to communication and how simple acts of acknowledgment—what John Gottman calls turning toward bids—can build stronger bonds. This episode invites us to approach each conversation as an opportunity for connection, compassion, and shared humanity. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Dr. Christian van Nieuwerburgh Read his latest book "Radical Listening" here Read "Coaching in Education" here Look into "An introduction to Coaching Skills" here This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Character.AI is banning minors from AI character chats (Financial Times)Strengthening ChatGPT's responses in sensitive conversations (OpenAI)Senators propose banning teens from using AI chatbots (The Verge)EU accuses Meta, TikTok of breaching digital rules (Politico) Meta and TikTok are obstructing researchers' access to data, European Commission rules (Science.org)Hey Elon: Let Me Help You Speed Run The Content Moderation Learning Curve (Techdirt)China's new law: only degree-holding influencers can discuss professional topics – netizens divided on its impact (IOL) Wizz is like ‘Tinder for kids,' as teens use the app to hook up while adult predators lurk (NY Post) This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WebPurify, an Intouch company. IntouchCX is a global leader in digital customer experience management, back office processing, trust and safety, and AI services. Webpurify has just launched their very first podcast series, Trust Issues - Insights from the People Who Keep the Internet Safe, and Mike and Ben are fans. Listen to all three episodes on Spotify and watch on YouTube. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

The RNIB's long term strategy involves making substantial financial savings. One of the services proposed for cuts was the transcription on request of braille books and other documents. Following a high level of complaints about this, a year's extension of the service has been agreed whilst a consultation exercise takes place. However, concerns remain, including from visually impaired people who use the service to obtain braille music scores. We examine the issue in more detail with the help of Connor Scott-Gardner, James Risdon and Stefan Andrusyschyn. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Kim AgostinoWebsite image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.'

Changes at the Macular Society continue to generate a significant proportion of the contact we get from In Touch listeners. With the consultation exercise now at an end, we're joined by the Society's CEO, Ed Holloway. We discuss a range of issues with Ed, including the rationale for making the changes, what the new organisational structures will look like and what it means for those who provide the charity's services and those who use them. Another development regarding macular disease is the clinical trial of Prima implants. The trial involves inserting a microchip with the thickness of a human hair under the retina with the aim of restoring a degree of vision. The BBC's Medical Editor Fergus Walsh joins us to explain the technology in more detail and with news of encouraging results.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Pete LigginsWebsite image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.'

Aaron Johnson is a powerful social activist and thought leader dedicated to fostering environments where Black-bodied individuals can fully express themselves. His TED Talk, “Chronically Undertouched,” highlights the profound absence of safe, loving, platonic touch in the lives of many Black men. His work is rooted in addressing this deep cultural and emotional wound. Aaron helps men of African descent transition from being chronically undertouched to developing personalized “touch plans,” creating practices that honor safety, connection, and dignity. Beyond individual guidance, Aaron cultivates retreats and workshops on Black-owned land in the Mojave Desert, where BIPOC communities can gather for healing, meditation, song, and collective renewal. In this episode, host Shay Beider and Aaron Johnson dive into the profound impact of platonic touch for Black men and BIPOC communities. Aaron shares his personal journey of reclaiming touch and accepting his tears after confronting the deep cultural barriers shaped by history, racism, and social conditioning. Aaron introduces his “Touch Plan” framework, starting with deep listening, grounding practices, singing, and gradually introducing platonic touch with consent and presence. This conversation also touches on the role of culture, history, and collective healing, highlighting Aaron's retreats, workshops, and films, including Dark and Tender, which documents men of African descent rediscovering tenderness, connection, and emotional expression. The conversation highlights how nurturing physical and emotional connection can support holistic wellness, resilience, and collective empowerment. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Aaron Johnson Listen to Aaron's TED Talk here Watch the film Dark and Tender Read the Art of Giving and Receiving here This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

Don is a coach & fitness expert known for his work with celebrities & athletes. With a passion for helping individuals achieve their best selves, he emphasizes the importance of strength training, especially as we age. He opened his first NYC Gym in 2005. After operating gyms for 15 years, he expanded to a global online fitness business. He has developed a reputation for training some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Chip & Joanna Gaines, Sebastian Stan, Annie Hathaway, Matt Bomer, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Liev Schreiber, Hugh Jackman, Drew Powell, & David Harbour are among his roster of clients. As a trusted fitness expert, Don's advice and programs have been featured in Men's Health, Women's Health, and Muscle & Fitness, as well as People, US Weekly, Origins, In Touch, Cosmopolitan, and Shape. He has demonstrated workouts and shared his training philosophy on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Golf Channel, Page Six TV, People NOW, E! News, Fox News, and WebMD. He also serves on the advisory board for Men's Health magazine.

Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms provides In Touch with updates on the Access to Work scheme. AtW is the government programme that provides disabled people with support in the workplace; be that funding for support workers or things like specialist equipment. Throughout the course of this year, In Touch has been hearing many rumours about potential cuts to the scheme, which caused fear and anxiety amongst the scheme's recipients. Sir Stephen Timms addresses these concerns and provides updates on his recent consultations which were based on what the future of the scheme may look like. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Pete Liggins Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

InTouch with Terri is brought to you by Podium: Podium is a platform providing AI-powered communication solutions for lead conversion and patient retention. In Touch with Terri listeners get their first month of Podium free CLICK HERE. Be sure to tune into the full conversation to uncover detailed insights into transforming your aesthetic practice by leveraging patient retention strategies. Subscribe for more episodes and stay informed about the latest developments and strategies in the industry  Get InTouch with Terri! Terri Ross Website: Click Here Terri Ross Patreon: Business and Sales Mentorship 4S Summit Info: For more details, look up 4S Summit to understand its role in providing strategic business consulting in the aesthetics industry https://4ssummit.com/ Terri Ross is a renowned expert in the aesthetic industry, specializing in sales training, strategic growth consulting, and business transformation. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Terri has dedicated over two decades to elevating businesses in the aesthetic field with a ground-up approach focused on sustainability, profitability, and scalability. Her experience is rooted in working with Fortune 500 companies like Medicis and Zeltique, where she developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and strategic sales methodologies. Episode Notes: In this engaging episode of "In Touch with Terri," host Terri Ross delves into one of the most crucial yet often dreaded aspects of sales: Objection Handling. As we approach Q4, she seeks to empower medical providers with the tools to turn objections into opportunities and ultimately drive revenue growth. With Terri's extensive background in sales training, this episode is packed with actionable insights designed to transform how you approach and handle objections, ensuring that sales feel less like a daunting task and more like an opportunity for connection. Terri outlines a proven framework for mastering objection handling, emphasized by key points such as the importance of conveying value over price and understanding objections as signals rather than rejections. She explains that effective objection handling can significantly boost patient conversions, potentially increasing revenue by 30% to 64%. With real-world success stories from clients like Dr. Renee Burke and Skin Click, Terri showcases the power of implementing strategic objection handling techniques to enhance patient trust and increase sales success. By drawing on her own experiences and methodologies, Terri provides listeners with a detailed roadmap for refining their consultation processes and strengthening patient relationships. Key Takeaways: Objections Signal Opportunity: Objections are not rejections but signals that the full value hasn't been communicated. Value over Price: Convey the true value of services to overcome price objections, echoing the sentiment that "price is what you pay; value is what you get." Framework for Handling Objections: Terri introduces the "LAYER" model (Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, and Respond) for effectively addressing patient concerns. Training and Adaptation: Investing in consistent sales training and adapting to patients' emotional needs is key for medical practices to thrive. Data-Driven Approach: Practices should measure current conversion rates and aim for growth through refined sales techniques.

Shawn Tierney meets up with Connor Mason of Software Toolbox to learn their company, products, as well as see a demo of their products in action in this episode of The Automation Podcast. For any links related to this episode, check out the “Show Notes” located below the video. Watch The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog: Listen to The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog: The Automation Podcast, Episode 248 Show Notes: Special thanks to Software Toolbox for sponsoring this episode so we could release it “ad free!” To learn about Software Toolbox please checkout the below links: TOP Server Cogent DataHub Industries Case studies Technical blogs Read the transcript on The Automation Blog: (automatically generated) Shawn Tierney (Host): Welcome back to the automation podcast. My name is Shawn Tierney with Insights and Automation, and I wanna thank you for tuning back in this week. Now this week on the show, I meet up with Connor Mason from Software Toolbox, who gives us an overview of their product suite, and then he gives us a demo at the end. And even if you’re listening, I think you’re gonna find the demo interesting because Connor does a great job of talking through what he’s doing on the screen. With that said, let’s go ahead and jump into this week’s episode with Connor Mason from Software Toolbox. I wanna welcome Connor from Software Toolbox to the show. Connor, it’s really exciting to have you. It’s just a lot of fun talking to your team as we prepared for this, and, I’m really looking forward to because I just know in your company over the years, you guys have so many great solutions that I really just wanna thank you for coming on the show. And before you jump into talking about products and technologies Yeah. Could you first tell us just a little bit about yourself? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Thanks, Shawn, for having us on. Definitely a pleasure to be a part of this environment. So my name is Connor Mason. Again, I’m with Software Toolbox. We’ve been around for quite a while. So we’ll get into some of that history as well before we get into all the the fun technical things. But, you know, I’ve worked a lot with the variety of OT and IT projects that are ongoing at this point. I’ve come up through our support side. It’s definitely where we grow a lot of our technical skills. It’s a big portion of our company. We’ll get that into that a little more. Currently a technical application consultant lead. So like I said, I I help run our support team, help with these large solutions based projects and consultations, to find what’s what’s best for you guys out there. There’s a lot of different things that in our in our industry is new, exciting. It’s fast paced. Definitely keeps me busy. My background was actually in data analytics. I did not come through engineering, did not come through the automation, trainings at all. So this is a whole new world for me about five years ago, and I’ve learned a lot, and I really enjoyed it. So, I really appreciate your time having us on here, Shawn Tierney (Host): Shawn. Well, I appreciate you coming on. I’m looking forward to what you’re gonna show us today. I had a the audience should know I had a little preview of what they were gonna show, so I’m looking forward to it. Connor Mason (Guest): Awesome. Well, let’s jump right into it then. So like I said, we’re here at Software Toolbox, kinda have this ongoing logo and and just word map of connect everything, and that’s really where we lie. Some people have called us data plumbers in the past. It’s all these different connections where you have something, maybe legacy or something new, you need to get into another system. Well, how do you connect all those different points to it? And, you know, throughout all these projects we worked on, there’s always something unique in those different projects. And we try to work in between those unique areas and in between all these different integrations and be something that people can come to as an expert, have those high level discussions, find something that works for them at a cost effective solution. So outside of just, you know, products that we offer, we also have a lot of just knowledge in the industry, and we wanna share that. You’ll kinda see along here, there are some product names as well that you might recognize. Our top server and OmniServer, we’ll be talking about LOPA as well. It’s been around in the industry for, you know, decades at this point. And also our symbol factory might be something you you may have heard in other products, that they actually utilize themselves for HMI and and SCADA graphics. That is that is our product. So you may have interacted it with us without even knowing it, and I hope we get to kind of talk more about things that we do. So before we jump into all the fun technical things as well, I kind of want to talk about just the overall software toolbox experience as we call it. We’re we’re more than just someone that wants to sell you a product. We we really do work with, the idea of solutions. How do we provide you value and solve the problems that you are facing as the person that’s actually working out there on the field, on those operation lines, and making things as well. And that’s really our big priority is providing a high level of knowledge, variety of the things we can work with, and then also the support. It’s very dear to me coming through the the support team is still working, you know, day to day throughout that software toolbox, and it’s something that has been ingrained into our heritage. Next year will be thirty years of software toolbox in 2026. So we’re established in 1996. Through those thirty years, we have committed to supporting the people that we work with. And I I I can just tell you that that entire motto lives throughout everyone that’s here. So from that, over 97% of the customers that we interact with through support say they had an awesome or great experience. Having someone that you can call that understands the products you’re working with, understands the environment you’re working in, understands the priority of certain things. If you ever have a plant shut down, we know how stressful that is. Those are things that we work through and help people throughout. So this really is the core pillars of Software Toolbox and who we are, beyond just the products, and and I really think this is something unique that we have continued to grow and stand upon for those thirty years. So jumping right into some of the industry challenges we’ve been seeing over the past few years. This is also a fun one for me, talking about data analytics and tying these things together. In my prior life and education, I worked with just tons of data, and I never fully knew where it might have come from, why it was such a mess, who structured it that way, but it’s my job to get some insights out of that. And knowing what the data actually was and why it matters is a big part of actually getting value. So if you have dirty data, if you have data that’s just clustered, it’s in silos, it’s very often you’re not gonna get much value out of it. This was a study that we found in 2024, from Garner Research, And it said that, based on the question that business were asked, were there any top strategic priorities for your data analytics functions in 2024? And almost 50%, it’s right at ’49, said that they wanted to improve data quality, and that was a strategic priority. This is about half the industry is just talking about data quality, and it’s exactly because of those reasons I said in my prior life gave me a headache, to look at all these different things that I don’t even know where they became from or or why they were so different. And the person that made that may have been gone may not have the contacts, and making that from the person that implemented things to the people that are making decisions, is a very big task sometimes. So if we can create a better pipeline of data quality at the beginning, makes those people’s lives a lot easier up front and allows them to get value out of that data a lot quicker. And that’s what businesses need. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I wanna just data quality. Right? Mhmm. I think a lot of us, when we think of that, we think of, you know, error error detection. We think of lost connections. We think of, you know, just garbage data coming through. But I I think from an analytical side, there’s a different view on that, you know, in line with what you were just saying. So how do you when you’re talking to somebody about data quality, how do you get them to shift gears and focus in on what you’re talking about and not like a quality connection to the device itself? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Yeah. We I kinda live in both those worlds now. You know, I I get to see that that connection state. And when you’re operating in real time, that quality is also very important to you. Mhmm. And I kind of use that at the same realm. Think of that when you’re thinking in real time, if you know what’s going on in the operation and where things are running, that’s important to you. That’s the quality that you’re looking for. You have to think beyond just real time. We’re talking about historical data. We’re talking about data that’s been stored for months and years. Think about the quality of that data once it’s made up to that level. Are they gonna understand what was happening around those periods? Are they gonna understand what those tags even are? Are they gonna understand what those conventions that you’ve implemented, to give them insights into this operation. Is that a clear picture? So, yeah, you’re absolutely right. There are two levels to this, and and that is a big part of it. The the real time data and historical, and we’re gonna get some of that into into our demo as well. It it’s a it’s a big area for the business, and the people working in the operations. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. I think quality too. Think, you know, you may have data. It’s good data. It was collected correctly. You had a good connection to the device. You got it. You got it as often as you want. But that data could really be useless. It could tell you nothing. Connor Mason (Guest): Right. Exactly. Shawn Tierney (Host): Right? It could be a flow rate on part of the process that irrelevant to monitoring the actual production of the product or or whatever you’re making. And, you know, I’ve known a lot of people who filled up their databases, their historians, with they just they just logged everything. And it’s like a lot of that data was what I would call low quality because it’s low information value. Right? Absolutely. I’m sure you run into that too. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. We we run into a lot of people that, you know, I’ve got x amount of data points in my historian and, you know, then we start digging into, well, I wanna do something with it or wanna migrate. Okay. Like, well, what do you wanna achieve at the end of this? Right? And and asking those questions, you know, it’s great that you have all these things historized. Are you using it? Do you have the right things historized? Are they even set up to be, you know, worked upon once they are historized by someone outside of this this landscape? And I think OT plays such a big role in this, and that’s why we start to see the convergence of the IT and OT teams just because that communication needs to occur sooner. So we’re not just passing along, you know, low quality data, bad quality data as well. And we’ll get into some of that later on. So to jump into some of our products and solutions, I kinda wanna give this overview of the automation pyramid. This is where we work from things like the field device communications. And you you have certain sensors, meters, actuators along the actual lines, wherever you’re working. We work across all the industries, so this can vary between those. Through there, you work up kind of your control area. A lot of control engineers are working. This is where I think a lot of the audience is very familiar with PLCs. Your your typical name, Siemens, Rockwell, your Schneiders that are creating, these hardware products. They’re interacting with things on the operation level, and they’re generating data. That that was kind of our bread and butter for a very long time and still is that communication level of getting data from there, but now getting it up the stack further into the pyramid of your supervisory, MES connections, and it’ll also now open to these ERP. We have a lot of large corporations that have data across variety of different solutions and also want to integrate directly down into their operation levels. There’s a lot of value to doing that, but there’s also a lot of watch outs, and a lot of security concerns. So that’ll be a topic that we’ll be getting into. We also all know that the cloud is here. It’s been here, and it’s it’s gonna continue to push its way into, these cloud providers into OT as well. There there’s a lot of benefit to it, but there there’s also some watch outs as this kind of realm, changes in the landscape that we’ve been used to. So there’s a lot of times that we wanna get data out there. There’s value into AI agents. It’s a hot it’s a hot commodity right now. Analytics as well. How do we get those things directly from shop floor, up into the cloud directly, and how do we do that securely? It’s things that we’ve been working on. We’ve had successful projects, continues to be an interest area and I don’t see it slowing down at all. Now, when we kind of begin this level at the bottom of connectivity, people mostly know us for our top server. This is our platform for industrial device connectivity. It’s a thing that’s talking to all those different PLCs in your plant, whether that’s brownfield or greenfield. We pretty much know that there’s never gonna be a plant that’s a single PLC manufacturer, that exists in one plant. There’s always gonna be something that’s slightly different. Definitely from Brownfield, things different engineers made different choices, things have been eminent, and you gotta keep running them. TopServe provides this single platform to connect to a long laundry list of different PLCs. And if this sounds very familiar to Kepserver, well, you’re not wrong. Kepserver is the same exact technology that TopServer is. What’s the difference then is probably the biggest question we usually get. The difference technology wise is nothing. The difference in the back end is that actually it’s all the same product, same product releases, same price, but we have been the biggest single source of Kepserver or Topsyra implementation into the market, for almost two plus decades at this point. So the single biggest purchase that we own this own labeled version of Kepserver to provide to our customers. They interact with our support team, our solutions teams as well, and we sell it along the stack of other things because it it fits so well. And we’ve been doing this since the early two thousands when, Kepware was a a much smaller company than it is now, and we’ve had a really great relationship with them. So if you’ve enjoyed the technology of of Kepserver, maybe there’s some users out there. If you ever heard of TopServer and that has been unclear, I hope this clear clarifies it. But it it is a great technology stack that that we build upon and we’ll get into some of that in our demo. Now the other question is, what if you don’t have a standard communication protocol, like a modbus, like an Allen Bradley PLC as well? We see this a lot with, you know, testing areas, pharmaceuticals, maybe also in packaging, barcode scanners, weigh scales, printers online as well. They they may have some form of basic communications that talks over just TCP or or serial. And how do you get that information that’s really valuable still, but it’s not going through a PLC. It’s not going into your typical agent mind SCADA. It might be very manual process for a lot of these test systems as well, how they’re collecting and analyzing the data. Well, you may have heard of our Arm server as well. It’s been around, like I said, for a couple decades and just a proven solution that without coding, you can go in and build a custom protocol that expects a format from that device, translates it, puts it into standard tags, and now that those tags can be accessible through the open standards of OPC, or to it was a a Veeva user suite link as well. And that really provides a nice combination of your standard communications and also these more custom communications may have been done through scripting in the past. Well, you know, put this onto, an actual server that can communicate through those protocols natively, and just get that data into those SCADA systems, HMIs, where you need it. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I used that. Many years ago, I had an integrator who came to me. He’s like, Shawn, I wanna this is back in the RSVUE days. He’s like, Shawn, I I got, like, 20 Euotherm devices on a four eighty five, and they speak ASCII, and I gotta I gotta get into RSVUE 32. And, you know, OmniSIR, I love that you could you could basically developing and we did Omega and some other devices too. You’re developing your own protocol, but it’s beautiful. And and the fact that when you’re testing it, it color codes everything. So you know, hey. That part worked. The header worked. The data worked. Oh, the trailing didn’t work, or the terminated didn’t work, or the data’s not in the right format. Or I just it was a joy to work with back then, and I can imagine it’s only gotten better since. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. I think it’s like a little engineer playground where you get in there. It started really decoding and seeing how these devices communicate. And then once you’ve got it running, it it’s one of those things that it it just performs and, is saved by many people from developing custom code, having to manage that custom code and integrations, you know, for for many years. So it it’s one of those things that’s kinda tried, tested, and, it it’s kind of a staple still our our base level communications. Alright. So moving along kind of our automation pyramid as well. Another part of our large offering is the Cogent data hub. Some people may have heard from this as well. It’s been around for a good while. It’s been part of our portfolio for for a while as well. This starts building upon where we had the communication now up to those higher echelons of the pyramid. This is gonna bring in a lot of different connectivities. You if you’re not if you’re listening, it it’s kind of this cog and spoke type of concept for real time data. We also have historical implementations. You can connect through a variety of different things. OPC, both the profiles for alarms and events, and even OPC UA’s alarming conditions, which is still getting adoption across the, across the industry, but it is growing. As part of the OPC UA standard, we have integrations to MQTT. It can be its own MQTT broker, and it can also be an MQTT client. That has grown a lot. It’s one of those things that lives be besides OPC UA, not exactly a replacement. If you ever have any questions about that, it’s definitely a topic I love to talk about. There’s space for for this to combine the benefits of both of these, and it’s so versatile and flexible for these different type of implementations. On top of that, it it’s it’s a really strong tool for conversion and aggregation. You kind of add this, like, its name says, it’s a it’s a data hub. You send all the different information to this. It stores it into, a hierarchy with a variety of different modeling that you can do within it. That’s gonna store these values across a standard data format. Once I had data into this, any of those different connections, I can then send data back out. So if I have anything that I know is coming in through a certain plug in like OPC, bring that in, send it out to on these other ones, OPC, DA over to MQTT. It could even do DDA if I’m still using that, which I probably wouldn’t suggest. But overall, there’s a lot of good benefits from having something that can also be a standardization, between all your different connections. I have a lot of different things, maybe variety of OPC servers, legacy or newer. Bring that into a data hub, and then all your other connections, your historians, your MAS, your SCADAs, it can connect to that single point. So it’s all getting the same data model and values from a single source rather than going out and making many to many connections. A a large thing that it was originally, used for was getting around DCOM. That word is, you know, it might send some shivers down people’s spines still, to this day, but it’s it’s not a fun thing to deal with DCOM and also with the security hardening. It’s just not something that you really want to do. I’m sure there’s a lot of security professionals would advise against EPRA doing it. This tunneling will allow you to have a data hub that locally talks to any of the DA server client, communicate between two data hubs over a tunnel that pushes the data just over TCP, takes away all the comm wrappers, and now you just have values that get streamed in between. Now you don’t have to configure any DCOM at all, and it’s all local. So a lot of people went transitioning, between products where maybe the server only supports OPC DA, and then the client is now supporting OPC UA. They can’t change it yet. This has allowed them to implement a solution quickly and cost and at a cost effective price, without ripping everything out. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I wanna ask you too. I can see because this thing is it’s a data hub. So if you’re watching and you’re if you’re listening and not watching, you you’re not gonna see, you know, server, client, UAD, a broker, server, client. You know, just all these different things up here on the site. Do you what how does somebody find out if it does what they need? I mean, do you guys have a line they can call to say, I wanna do this to this. Is that something Data Hub can do, or is there a demo? What would you recommend to somebody? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Reach out to us. We we have a a lot of content outline, and it’s not behind any paywall or sign in links even. You you can always go to our website. It’s just softwaretoolbox.com. Mhmm. And that’s gonna get you to our product pages. You can download any product directly from there. They have demo timers. So typically with, with coaching data hub, after an hour, it will stop. You can just rerun it. And then call our team. Yeah. We have a solutions team that can work with you on, hey. What do I need as well? Then our support team, if you run into any issues, can help you troubleshoot that as well. So, I’ll have some contact information at the end, that’ll get some people to, you know, where they need to go. But you’re absolutely right, Shawn. Because this is so versatile, everyone’s use case of it is usually something a little bit different. And the best people to come talk to that is us because we’ve we’ve seen all those differences. So Shawn Tierney (Host): I think a lot of people run into the fact, like, they have a problem. Maybe it’s the one you said where they have the OPC UA and it needs to connect to an OPC DA client. And, you know, and a lot of times, they’re they’re a little gunshot to buy a license because they wanna make sure it’s gonna do exactly what they need first. And I think that’s where having your people can, you know, answer their questions saying, yes. We can do that or, no. We can’t do that. Or, you know, a a demo that they could download and run for an hour at a time to actually do a proof of concept for the boss who’s gonna sign off on purchasing this. And then the other thing is too, a lot of products like this have options. And you wanna make sure you’re buying the ticking the right boxes when you buy your license because you don’t wanna buy something you’re not gonna use. You wanna buy the exact pieces you need. So I highly recommend I mean, this product just does like, I have, in my mind, like, five things I wanna ask right now, but not gonna. But, yeah, def definitely, when it when it comes to a product like this, great to touch base with these folks. They’re super friendly and helpful, and, they’ll they’ll put you in the right direction. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. I I can tell you that’s working someone to support. Selling someone a solution that doesn’t work is not something I’ve been doing. Bad day. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And we work very closely, between anyone that’s looking at products. You know, me being as technical product managers, well, I I’m engaged in those conversations. And Mhmm. Yeah. If you need a demo license, reach out to us to extend that. We wanna make sure that you are buying something that provides you value. Now kind of moving on into a similar realm. This is one of our still somewhat newer offerings, I say, but we’ve been around five five plus years, and it’s really grown. And I kinda said here, it’s called OPC router, and and it’s not it’s not a networking tool. A lot of people may may kinda get that. It’s more of a, kind of a term about, again, all these different type of connections. How do you route them to different ways? It it kind of it it separates itself from the Cogent data hub, and and acting at this base level of being like a visual workflow that you can assign various tasks to. So if I have certain events that occur, I may wanna do some processing on that before I just send data along, where the data hub is really working in between converting, streaming data, real time connections. This gives you a a kind of a playground to work around of if I have certain tasks that are occurring, maybe through a database that I wanna trigger off of a certain value, based on my SCADA system, well, you can build that in in these different workflows to execute exactly what you need. Very, very flexible. Again, it has all these different type of connections. The very unique ones that have also grown into kind of that OT IT convergence, is it can be a REST API server and client as well. So I can be sending out requests to, RESTful servers where we’re seeing that hosted in a lot of new applications. I wanna get data out of them. Or once I have consumed a variety of data, I can become the REST server in OPC router and offer that to other applications to request data from itself. So, again, it can kind of be that centralized area of information. The other thing as we talked about in the automation pyramid is it has connections directly into SAP and ERP systems. So if you have work orders, if you have materials, that you wanna continue to track and maybe trigger things based off information from your your operation floors via PLCs tracking, how they’re using things along the line, and that needs to match up with what the SAP system has for, the amount of materials you have. This can be that bridge. It’s really is built off the mindset of the OT world as well. So we kinda say this helps empower the OT level because we’re now giving them the tools to that they understand what what’s occurring in their operations. And what could you do by having a tool like this to allow you to kind of create automated workflows based off certain values and certain events and automate some of these things that you may be doing manually or doing very convoluted through a variety of solutions. So this is one of those prod, products as well that’s very advanced in the things that supports. Linux and Docker containers is, is definitely could be a hot topic, rightly fleet rightfully so. And this can run on a on a Docker container deployed as well. So we we’ve seen that with the I IT folks that really enjoy being able to control and to higher deployment, allows you to update easily, allows you to control and spin up new containers as well. This gives you a lot of flexibility to to deploy and manage these systems. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I may wanna have you back on to talk about this. I used to there’s an old product called Rascal that I used to use. It was a transaction manager, and it would based on data changing or on a time that as a trigger, it could take data either from the PLC to the database or from the database to the PLC, and it would work with stored procedures. And and this seems like it hits all those points, And it sounds like it’s a visual like you said, right there on the slide, visual workflow builder. Connor Mason (Guest): Yep. Shawn Tierney (Host): So you really piqued my interest with this one, and and it may be something we wanna come back to and and revisit in the future, because, it just it’s just I know that that older product was very useful and, you know, it really solved a lot of old applications back in the day. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Absolutely. And this this just takes that on and builds even more. If you if anyone was, kind of listening at the beginning of this year or two, a conference called Prove It that was very big in the industry, we were there to and we presented on stage a solution that we had. Highly recommend going searching for that. It’s on our web pages. It’s also on their YouTube links, and it’s it’s called Prove It. And OPC router was a big part of that in the back end. I would love to dive in and show you the really unique things. Kind of as a quick overview, we’re able to use Google AI vision to take camera data and detect if someone was wearing a hard hat. All that logic and behind of getting that information to Google AI vision, was through REST with OPC router. Then we were parsing that information back through that, connection and then providing it back to the PLCs. So we go all the way from a camera to a PLC controlling a light stack, up to Google AI vision through OPC router, all on hotel Wi Fi. It’s very imp it’s very, very fun presentation, and, our I think our team did a really great job. So a a a pretty new offering I have I wanna highlight, is our is our data caster. This is a an actual piece of hardware. You know, our software toolbox is we we do have some hardware as well. It’s just, part of the nature of this environment of how we mesh in between things. But the the idea is that, there’s a lot of different use cases for HMI and SCADA. They have grown so much from what they used to be, and they’re very core part of the automation stack. Now a lot of times, these are doing so many things beyond that as well. What we found is that in different areas of operations, you may not need all that different control. You may not even have the space to make up a whole workstation for that as well. What this does, the data caster, is, just simply plug it plugs it into any network and into an HDMI compatible display, and it gives you a very easy configure workplace to put a few key metrics onto a screen. So if I have different things from you can connect directly to PLCs like Allen Bradley. You can connect to SQL databases. You can also connect to rest APIs to gather the data from these different sources and build a a a kind of easy to to view, KPI dashboard in a way. So if you’re on a operation line and you wanna look at your current run rate, maybe you have certain things in the POC tags, you know, flow and pressure that’s very important for those operators to see. They may not be, even the capacity to be interacting with anything. They just need visualizations of what’s going on. This product can just be installed, you know, industrial areas with, with any type of display that you can easily access and and give them something that they can easily look at. It’s configured all through a web browser to display what you want. You can put on different colors based on levels of values as well. And it’s just I feel like a very simple thing that sometimes it seems so simple, but those might be the things that provide value on the actual operation floor. This is, for anyone that’s watching, kind of a quick view of a very simple screen. What we’re showing here is what it would look like from all the different data sources. So talking directly to ControlLogs PLC, talking to SQL databases, micro eight eight hundreds, an arrest client, and and what’s coming very soon, definitely by the end of this year, is OPC UA support. So any OPC UA server that’s out there that’s already having your PLC data or etcetera, this could also connect to that and get values from there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Can I can you make it I’m I’m here I go? Can you make it so it, like, changes, like, pages every few seconds? Connor Mason (Guest): Right now, it is a single page, but this is, like I said, very new product, so we’re taking any feedback. If, yeah, if there’s this type of slideshow cycle that would be, you know, valuable to anyone out there, let us know. We’re definitely always interested to see the people that are actually working out at these operation sites, what what’s valuable to them. Yeah. Shawn Tierney (Host): A lot of kiosks you see when when you’re traveling, it’ll say, like, line one well, I’ll just throw out there. Line one, and that’ll be on there for five seconds, and then it’ll go line two. That’ll be on there for five seconds, and then line you know, I and that’s why I just mentioned that because I can see that being a question that, that that I would get from somebody who is asking me about it. Connor Mason (Guest): Oh, great question. Appreciate it. Alright. So now we’re gonna set time for a little hands on demo. For anyone that’s just listening, we’re gonna I’m gonna talk about this at at a high level and walk through everything. But the idea is that, we have a few different POCs, very common in Allen Bradley and just a a Siemens seven, s seven fifteen hundred that’s in our office, pretty close to me on the other side of the wall wall, actually. We’re gonna first start by connecting that to our top server like we talked about. This is our industrial communication server, that offers both OCDA, OC UA, SweetLink connectivity as well. And then we’re gonna bring this into our Cogent data hub. This we talked about is getting those values up to these higher levels. What we’ll be doing is also tunneling the data. We talked about being able to share data through the data hubs themselves. Kinda explain why we’re doing that here and the value you can add. And then we’re also gonna showcase adding on MQTT to this level. Taking beta now just from these two PLCs that are sitting on a rack, and I can automatically make all that information available in the MQTT broker. So any MQTT client that’s out there that wants to subscribe to that data, now has that accessible. And I’ve created this all through a a really simple workflow. We also have some databases connected. Influx, we install with Code and DataHub, has a free visualization tool that kinda just helps you see what’s going on in your processes. I wanna showcase a little bit of that as well. Alright. So now jumping into our demo, when we first start off here is the our top server. Like I mentioned before, if anyone has worked with KEP server in the past, this is gonna look very similar. Like it because it is. The same technology and all the things here. The the first things that I wanted to establish in our demo, was our connection to our POCs. I have a few here. We’re only gonna use the Allen Bradley and the Siemens, for the the time that we have on our demo here. But how this builds out as a platform is you create these different channels and the devices connections between them. This is gonna be your your physical connections to them. It’s either, IP TCPIP connection or maybe your serial connection as well. We have support for all of them. It really is a long list. Anyone watching out there, you can kind of see all the different drivers that that we offer. So allowing this into a single platform, you can have all your connectivity based here. All those different connections that you now have that up the stack, your SCADA, your historians, MAS even as well, they can all go to a single source. Makes that management, troubleshooting, all those a bit easier as well. So one of the first things I did here, I have this built out, but I’ll kinda walk through what you would typically do. You have your Allen Bradley ControlLogix Ethernet driver here first. You know, I have some IPs in here I won’t show, but, regardless, we have our our our drivers here, and then we have a set of tags. These are all the global tags in the programming of the PLC. How I got these to to kind of map automatically is in our in our driver, we’re able to create tags automatically. So you’re able to send a command to that device and ask for its entire tag database. They can come back, provide all that, map it out for you, create those tags as well. This saves a lot of time from, you know, an engineer have to go in and, addressing all the individual items themselves. So once it’s defined in the program project, you’re able to bring this all in automatically. I’ll show now how easy that makes it connecting to something like the Cogent data hub. In a very similar fashion, we have a connection over here to the Siemens, PLC that I also have. You can see beneath it all these different tag structures, and this was created the exact same way. While those those PLC support it, you can do an automatic tag generation, bring in all the structure that you’ve already built out your PLC programming, and and make this available on this OPC server now as well. So that’s really the basis. We first need to establish communications to these PLCs, get that tag data, and now what do we wanna do with it? So in this demo, what I wanted to bring up was, the code in DataHub next. So here, I see a very similar kind of layout. We have a different set set of plugins on the left side. So for anyone listening, the Cogent Data Hub again is kind of our aggregation and conversion tool. All these different type of protocols like OPC UA, OPC DA, and OPC A and E for alarms and events. We also support OPC alarms and conditions, which is the newer profile for alarms in OPC UA. We have all a variety of different ways that you can get data out of things and data’s into the data hub. We can also do bridging. This concept is, how you share data in between different points. So let’s say I had a connection to one OPC server, and it was communicating to a certain PLC, and there were certain registers I was getting data from. Well, now I also wanna connect to a different OPC server that has, entirely different brand of PLCs. And then maybe I wanna share data in between them directly. Well, with this software, I can just bridge those points between them. Once they’re in the data hub, I can do kind of whatever I want with them. I can then allow them to write between those PLCs and share data that way, and you’re not now having to do any type of hardwiring directly in between them, and then I’m compatible to communicate to each other. Through the standards of OPC and these variety of different communication levels, I can integrate them together. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, you bring up a good point. When you do something like that, is there any heartbeat? Like, is there on the general or under under, one of these, topics? Is there are there tags we can use that are from DataHub itself that can be sent to the destination, like a heartbeat or, you know, the merge transactions? Or Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Absolutely. So with this as well, there’s pretty strong scripting engine, and I have done that in the past where you can make internal tags. And that that could be a a timer. It could be a counter. And and just kind of allows you to create your own tags as well that you could do the same thing, could share that, through bridge connection to a PLC. So, yeah, there there are definitely some people that had those cert and, you know, use cases where they wanna get something to just track, on this software side and get it out to those hardware PLCs. Absolutely. Shawn Tierney (Host): I mean, when you send out the data out of the PLC, the PLC doesn’t care to take my data. But when you’re getting data into the PLC, you wanna make sure it’s updating and it’s fresh. And so, you know, they throw a counter in there, the script thing, and be able to have that. As as long as you see that incrementing, you know, you got good data coming in. That’s that’s a good feature. Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. You know, another big one is the the redundancy. So what this does is beyond just the OPC, we can make redundancy to basically anything that has two things running of it. So any of these different connections. How it’s unique is what it does is it just looks at the buckets of data that you create. So for an example, if I do have two different OPC servers and I put them into two areas of, let’s say, OPC server one and OPC server two, I can what now create an OPC redundancy data bucket. And now any client that connects externally to that and wants that data, it’s gonna go talk to that bucket of data. And that bucket of data is going to automatically change in between sources as things go down, things come back up, and the client would never know what’s hap what that happened unless you wanted to. There are internal tasks to show what’s the current source and things, but the idea is to make this trans kind of hidden that regardless of what’s going on in the operations, if I have this set up, I can have my external applications just reading from a single source without knowing that there’s two things behind it that are actually controlling that. Very important for, you know, historian connections where you wanna have a full complete picture of that data that’s coming in. If you’re able to make a redundant connection to two different, servers and then allow that historian to talk to a single point where it doesn’t have to control that switching back and forth. It it will just see that data flow streamlessly as as either one is up at that time. Kinda beyond that as well, there’s quite a few other different things in here. I don’t think we have time to cover all of them. But for for our demo, what I wanna focus on first is our OPC UA connection. This allows us both to act as a OPC UA client to get data from any servers out there, like our top server. And also we can act as an OPC UA server itself. So if anything’s coming in from maybe you have multiple connections to different servers, multiple connections to other things that aren’t OPC as well, I can now provide all this data automatically in my own namespace to allow things to connect to me as well. And that’s part of that aggregation feature, and kind of topic I was mentioning before. So with that, I have a connection here. It’s pulling data all from my top server. I have a few different tags from my Alec Bradley and and my Siemens PLC selected. The next part of this, while I was meshing, was the tunneling. Like I said, this is very popular to get around DCOM issues, but there’s a lot of reasons why you still may use this beyond just the headache of DCOM and what it was. What this runs on is a a TCP stream that takes all the data points as a value, a quality, and a timestamp, and it can mirror those in between another DataHub instance. So if I wanna get things across a network, like my OT side, where NASH previously, I would have to come in and allow a, open port onto my network for any OPC UA clients, across the network to access that, I can now actually change the direction of this and allow me to tunnel data out of my network without opening up any ports. This is really big for security. If anyone out there, security professional or working as an engineer, you have to work with your IT and security a lot, they don’t you don’t wanna have an open port, especially to your operations and OT side. So this allows you to change that direction of flow and push data out of this direction into another area like a DMZ computer or up to a business level computer as well. The other things as well that I have configured in this demo, the benefit of having that tunneling streaming data across this connection is I can also store this data locally in a, influx database. The purpose of that then is that I can actually historize this, provide then if this connection ever goes down to backfill any information that was lost during that tunnel connection going down. So with this added layer on and real time data scenarios like OPC UA, unless you have historical access, you would lose a lot of data if that connection ever went down. But with this, I can actually use the back end of this InfluxDB, buffer any values. When my connection comes back up, pass them along that stream again. And if I have anything that’s historically connected, like, another InfluxDB, maybe a PI historian, Vue historian, any historian offering out there that can allow that connection. I can then provide all those records that were originally missed and backfill that into those systems. So I switched over to a second machine. It’s gonna look very similar here as well. This also has an instance of the Cogent Data Hub running here. For anyone not watching, what we’ve actually have on this side is the the portion of the tunneler that’s sitting here and listening for any data requests coming in. So on my first machine, I was able to connect my PLCs, gather that information into Cogent DataHub, and now I’m pushing that information, across the network into a separate machine that’s sitting here and listening to gather information. So what I can quickly do is just make sure I have all my data here. So I have these different points, both from my Allen Bradley PLCs. I have a few, different simulation demo points, like temperature, pressure, tank level, a few statuses, and all this is updating directly through that stream as the PLC is updating it as well. I also have my scenes controller. I have some, current values and a few different counters tags as well. All of this again is being directly streamed through that tunnel. I’m not connecting to an OPC server at all on this side. I can show you that here. There’s no connections configured. I’m not talking to the PLCs directly on this machine as well. But maybe we’ll pass all the information through without opening up any ports on my OT demo machine per se. So what’s the benefit of that? Well, again, security. Also, the ability to do the store and forward mechanisms. On the other side, I was logging directly to a InfluxDB. This could be my d- my buffer, and then I was able to configure it where if any values were lost, to store that across the network. So now with this side, if I pull up Chronic Graph, which is a free visualization tool that installs with the DataHub as well, I can see some very nice, visual workflows and and visual diagrams of what is going on with this data. So I have a pressure that is just a simulator in this, Allen Bradley PLC that ramps up and and comes back down. It’s not actually connected to anything that’s reading a real pressure, but you can see over time, I can kind of change through these different layers of time. And I might go back a little far, but I have a lot of data that’s been stored in here. For a while during my test, I turned this off and, made it fail, but then I came back in and I was able to recreate all the data and backfill it as well. So through through these views, I can see that as data disconnects, as it comes back on, I have a very cyclical view of the data because it was able to recover and store and forward from that source. Like I said, Shawn, data quality is a big thing in this industry. It’s a big thing for people both at the operations side, and both people making decision in the business layer. So being able to have a full picture, without gaps, it is definitely something that, you should be prioritizing, when you can. Shawn Tierney (Host): Now what we’re seeing here is you’re using InfluxDB on this, destination PC or IT side PC and chronograph, which was that utility or that package that comes, gets installed. It’s free. But you don’t actually have to use that. You could have sent this in to an OSI pi or Exactly. Somebody else’s historian. Right? Can you name some of the historians you work with? I know OSI pie. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So there’s quite a few different ones. As far as what we support in the Data Hub natively, Amazon Kinesis, the cloud hosted historian that we can also do the same things from here as well. Aviva Historian, Aviva Insight, Apache Kafka. This is a a kind of a a newer one as well that used to be a very IT oriented solution, now getting into OT. It’s kind of a similar database structure where things are stored in different topics that we can stream to. On top of that, just regular old ODBC connections. That opens up a lot of different ways you can do it, or even, the old classic OPC, HDA. So if you have any, historians that that can act as an OPC HDA, connection, we we can also stream it through there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Excellent. That’s a great list. Connor Mason (Guest): The other thing I wanna show while we still have some time here is that MQTT component. This is really growing and, it’s gonna continue to be a part of the industrial automation technology stack and conversations moving forward, for streaming data, you know, from devices, edge devices, up into different layers, both now into the OT, and then maybe out to, IT, in our business levels as well, and definitely into the cloud as we’re seeing a lot of growth into it. Like I mentioned with Data Hub, the big benefit is I have all these different connections. I can consume all this data. Well, I can also act as an MQTT broker. And what what a broker typically does in MQTT is just route data and share data. It’s kind of that central point where things come to it to either say, hey. I’m giving you some new values. Share it with someone else. Or, hey. I need these values. Can you give me that? It really fits in super well with what this product is at its core. So all I have to do here is just enable it. What that now allows is I have an example, MQTT Explorer. If anyone has worked with MQTT, you’re probably familiar with this. There’s nothing else I configured beyond just enabling the broker. And you can see within this structure, I have all the same data that was in my Data Hub already. The same things I were collecting from my PLCs and top server. Now I’ve embedded these as MPPT points and now I have them in JSON format with the value, their timestamp. You can even see, like, a little trend here kind of matching what we saw in Influx. And and now this enables all those different cloud connectors that wanna speak this language to do it seamlessly. Shawn Tierney (Host): So you didn’t have to set up the PLCs a second time to do this? Nope. Connor Mason (Guest): Not at all. Shawn Tierney (Host): You just enabled this, and now the data’s going this way as well. Exactly. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. That’s a really strong point of the Cogent Data Hub is once you have everything into its structure and model, you just enable it to use any of these different connections. You can get really, really creative with these different things. Like we talked about with the the bridging aspect and getting into different systems, even writing down the PLCs. You can make crust, custom notifications and email alerts, based on any of these values. You could even take something like this MTT connection, tunnel it across to another data hub as well, maybe then convert it to OPC DA. And now you’ve made a a a new connection over to something that’s very legacy as well. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. That, I mean, the options here are just pretty amazing, all the different things that can be done. Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Well, I, you know, I wanna jump back into some of our presentation here while we still got the time. And now after we’re kinda done with our demo, there’s so many different ways that you can use these different tools. This is just a really simple, kind of view of the, something that used to be very simple, just connecting OpenSea servers to a variety of different connections, kind of expanding onto with that that’s store and forward, the local influx usage, getting out to things like MTT as well. But there’s a lot more you can do with these solutions. So like Shawn said, reach out to us. We’re happy to engage and see what we can help you with. I have a few other things before we wrap up. Just overall, it we’ve worked across nearly every industry. We have installations across the globe on all continents. And like I said, we’ve been around for pushing thirty years next year. So we’ve seen a lot of different things, and we really wanna talk to anyone out there that maybe has some struggles that are going on with just connectivity, or you have any ongoing projects. If you work in these different industries or if there’s nothing marked here and you have anything going on that you need help with, we’re very happy to sit down and let you know if there’s there’s something we can do there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. For those who are, listening, I mean, we see most of the big energy and consumer product, companies on that slide. So I’m not gonna read them off, but, it’s just a lot of car manufacturers. You know, these are these are these, the household name brands that everybody knows and loves. Connor Mason (Guest): So kind of wrap some things up here. We talked about all the different ways that we’ve kind of helped solve things in the past, but I wanna highlight some of the unique ones, that we’ve also gone do some, case studies on and and success stories. So this one I actually got to work on, within the last few years that, a plastic packaging, manufacturer was looking to track uptime and downtime across multiple different lines, and they had a new cloud solution that they were already evaluating. They’re really excited to get into play. They they had a lot of upside to, getting things connected to this and start using it. Well, what they had was a lot of different PLCs, a lot of different brands, different areas, different, you know, areas of operation that they need to connect to. So what they used was to first get that into our top server, kind of similar to how they showed them use in their in our demo. We just need to get all the data into a centralized platform first, get that data accessible. Then from there, once they had all that information into a centralized area, they used the Cogent Data Hub as well to help aggregate that information and transform it to be sent to the cloud through MQTT. So very similar to the demo here, this is actually a real use case of that. Getting information from PLCs, structuring it into that how that cloud system needed it for MQTT, and streamlining that data connection to now where it’s just running in operation. They constantly have updates about where their lines are in operation, tracking their downtime, tracking their uptime as well, and then being able to do some predictive analytics in that cloud solution based on their history. So this really enabled them to kind of build from what they had existing. It was doing a lot of manual tracking, into an entirely automated system with management able to see real views of what’s going on at this operation level. Another one I wanna talk about was we we were able to do this success story with, Ace Automation. They worked with a pharmaceutical company. Ace Automation is a SI and they were brought in and doing a lot of work with some some old DDE connections, doing some custom Excel macros, and we’re just having a hard time maintaining some legacy systems that were just a pain to deal with. They were working with these older files, from some old InTouch histor HMIs, and what they needed to do was get something that was not just based on Excel and doing custom macros. So one product we didn’t get to talk about yet, but we also carry is our LGH file inspector. It’s able to take these files, put them out into a standardized format like CSV, and also do a lot of that automation of when when should these files be queried? Should they be, queried for different lengths? Should they be output to different areas? Can I set these up in a scheduled task so it can be done automatically rather than someone having to sit down and do it manually in Excel? So they will able to, recover over fifty hours of engineering time with the solution from having to do late night calls to troubleshoot a, Excel macro that stopped working, from crashing machines, because they were running a legacy systems to still support some of the DDE servers, into saving them, you know, almost two hundred plus hours of productivity. Another example, if we’re able to work with a renewable, energy customer that’s doing a lot of innovative things across North America, They had a very ambitious plan to double their footprint in the next two years. And with that, they had to really look back at their assets and see where they currently stand, how do we make new standards to support us growing into what we want to be. So with this, they had a lot of different data sources currently. They’re all kind of siloed at the specific areas. Nothing was really connected commonly to a corporate level area of historization, or control and security. So again, they they were able to use our top server and put out a standard connectivity platform, bring in the DataHub as an aggregation tool. So each of these sites would have a top server that was individually collecting data from different devices, and then that was able to send it into a single DataHub. So now their corporate level had an entire view of all the information from these different plants in one single application. That then enabled them to connect their historian applications to that data hub and have a perfect view and make visualizations off of their entire operations. What this allowed them to do was grow without replacing everything. And that’s a big thing that we try to strive on is replacing and ripping out all your existing technologies. It’s not something you can do overnight. But how do we provide value and gain efficiency with what’s in place and providing newer technologies on top of that without disrupting the actual operation as well? So this was really, really successful. And at the end, I just wanna kind of provide some other contacts and information people can learn more. We have a blog that goes out every week on Thursdays. A lot of good technical content out there. A lot of recast of the the awesome things we get to do here, the success stories as well, and you can always find that at justblog.softwaretoolbox.com. And again, our main website is justsoftwaretoolbox.com. You can get product information, downloads, reach out to anyone on our team. Let’s discuss what what issues you have going on, any new projects, we’ll be happy to listen. Shawn Tierney (Host): Well, Connor, I wanna thank you very much for coming on the show and bringing us up to speed on not only software toolbox, but also to, you know, bring us up to speed on top server and doing that demo with top server and data hub. Really appreciate that. And, I think, you know, like you just said, if anybody, has any projects that you think these solutions may be able to solve, please give them a give them a call. And if you’ve already done something with them, leave a comment. You know? To leave a comment, no matter where you’re watching or listening to this, let us know what you did. What did you use? Like me, I used OmniServer all those many years ago, and, of course, Top Server as an OPC server. But if you guys have already used Software Toolbox and, of course, Symbol Factory, I use that all the time. But if you guys are using it, let us know in the comments. It’s always great to hear from people out there. I know, you know, with thousands of you guys listening every week, but I’d love to hear, you know, are you using these products? Or if you have questions, I’ll funnel them over to Connor if you put them in the comments. So with that, Connor, did you have anything else you wanted to cover before we close out today’s show? Connor Mason (Guest): I think that was it, Shawn. Thanks again for having us on. It was really fun. Shawn Tierney (Host): I hope you enjoyed that episode, and I wanna thank Connor for taking time out of his busy schedule to come on the show and bring us up to speed on software toolbox and their suite of products. Really appreciated that demo at the end too, so we actually got a look at if you’re watching. Gotta look at their products and how they work. And, just really appreciate them taking all of my questions. I also appreciate the fact that Software Toolbox sponsored this episode, meaning we were able to release it to you without any ads. So I really appreciate them. If you’re doing any business with Software Toolbox, please thank them for sponsoring this episode. And with that, I just wanna wish you all good health and happiness. And until next time, my friends, peace. Until next time, Peace ✌️  If you enjoyed this content, please give it a Like, and consider Sharing a link to it as that is the best way for us to grow our audience, which in turn allows us to produce more content

The rumours continue to circulate about cuts to the government's Access to Work scheme. The scheme provides additional support for disabled people to get into and maintain work - such as specialist equipment and support workers. Following a summer of consultations, Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms is due to begin a review of the scheme but what do we know at this point? To help dig into this is Liberal Democrat spokesman on work and pensions Steve Darling, who has been trying to seek his own answers from government about what is happening to the scheme, the RNIB and Sassy Wyatt, who is a blind freelance travel journalist and accessibility consultant. Sassy describes the issues she's facing when attempting to renew her award.Design engineering masters student and keen space enthusiast, Abi Way is in the process of setting up a new charity called Boomerang. It aims to assist and encourage more visually impaired youngsters to pursue STEM subjects. STEM being Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Abi describes how the charity will do this and about her own accessibility barriers throughout her education that led to her trying to help other students overcome them. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Pete Liggins Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Dan Newby is a global leader in emotional literacy and the creator of Emotions-Centered Coaching. With over 7,000 hours of coaching experience, he has dedicated his career to helping leaders and changemakers around the world turn emotions into powerful, everyday tools for transformation. Dan is the author of four books on emotional literacy and regularly leads his signature Emotions-Centered Coaching course for “people who support people” — including leaders, therapists, educators, faith leaders, and parents. Before devoting himself to coaching, Dan spent 25 years in private business, including as CEO, and later served as COO, CEO, and Senior Course Leader at Newfield Network Coach Training School. Today, he and his partner Lucy Núñez, lead the School of Emotions and Dignity Inc., which focuses on fostering dignity in policing and leadership. In this episode, host Shay Beider and Dan Newby explore how emotional literacy can transform the way we understand ourselves and connect with others. Dan defines emotions as “what moves us” and powerful sources of energy with their own narratives, impulses, and purposes. He shares his journey on learning to name and articulate his emotions, and offers practical tools like expanding our emotional vocabulary, noticing and naming emotions throughout the day, and distinguishing subtle differences. The duo highlight resources such as the Emotional Regulation Assessment, the Emote app, and Emotional Flash Cards, all aimed at building emotional agility and resilience. Dan shares some of his personal experiences and illustrates how allowing emotions to flow without attachment and consciously choosing emotions like optimism and hope can lead to greater well-being. Ultimately, Dan encourages us to see emotions as dynamic forces we can shape, helping us live more whole, connected, and intentional lives. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Dan Newby Learn more about his School of Emotions Check out Dignity Inc. here Read “The Unopened Gift” here Read his book “Dignity in Leadership” This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

Sight Scotland are a charity that provide support for vision impaired and blind people in Scotland. They have recently launched a report about the state of arts access across Scotland and a subsequent campaign that is calling for all venues across the country to be made accessible to visually impaired people. Scotland's culture secretary Angus Robertson has thrown his support behind the campaign but how will this all be done? To help answer that, Peter White is joined by Sight Scotland's Head of External Affairs and Campaigns Mark Ballard and Alistair Mackie, Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which has already been implementing some accessibility features to better cater to their visually impaired concert goers.When 24 year-old Haseeb Jabbar wanted to study computer science at GCSE and A-Levels, he was told that the course would be too visual and too difficult to adapt for someone who was totally blind. Despite this, Haseeb already had the skills necessary from teaching himself computer coding using screen reading software when he was a youngster and he now works for a global IT consultancy firm. Haseeb tells In Touch about his journey from being told no to achieving the career he'd always wanted.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Pete Liggins Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

InTouch with Terri is brought to you by Podium: Podium is a platform providing AI-powered communication solutions for lead conversion and patient retention. In Touch with Terri listeners get their first month of Podium free CLICK HERE. Be sure to tune into the full conversation to uncover detailed insights into transforming your aesthetic practice by leveraging patient retention strategies. Subscribe for more episodes and stay informed about the latest developments and strategies in the industry  Get InTouch with Terri! Terri Ross Website: Click Here Terri Ross Patreon: Business and Sales Mentorship 4S Summit Info: For more details, look up 4S Summit to understand its role in providing strategic business consulting in the aesthetics industry https://4ssummit.com/ Terri Ross is a renowned expert in the aesthetic industry, specializing in sales training, strategic growth consulting, and business transformation. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Terri has dedicated over two decades to elevating businesses in the aesthetic field with a ground-up approach focused on sustainability, profitability, and scalability. Her experience is rooted in working with Fortune 500 companies like Medicis and Zeltique, where she developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and strategic sales methodologies. Episode Summary: Welcome to another engaging episode of "In Touch with Terri," hosted by the dynamic and knowledgeable Terri Ross. This episode, released after a brief hiatus, dives deep into strategic insights that aim to empower listeners in the medical aesthetics industry to finish the current year strong and prepare for a successful 2026. Terri Ross, revered for her extensive experience and expertise, guides listeners through essential strategies, emphasizing KPIs, team alignment, and strategic planning. As the medical aesthetics industry faces challenges like retention declines and revenue pressures, Terri offers a roadmap to optimization and profitability. In this detailed episode, she addresses critical performance indicators that drive practice success and importance of continuous training to bridge the gap between current standings and desired goals. Further, Terri delves into innovative strategies like leveraging gift cards, optimizing scheduling, and planning for the upcoming year. This episode is a must-listen for those wanting to gain actionable insights and boost their practice's performance. Key Takeaways: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Understanding and refocusing on the top KPIs is crucial, as they tell a comprehensive story about your practice's health and areas of improvement. Team Training and Alignment: Investment in training is not an expense but an asset. It helps build a strong team capable of achieving higher conversion rates and profitability. Expense Optimization: Regular audits and optimizations of expenses, from marketing to payroll, can enhance financial health and ensure resources are aligned with strategic goals. Strategic Planning: Proactive planning and budgeting for 2026, including marketing strategies and revenue projections, are vital for sustained growth and competitive advantage. Client Engagement Strategies: Implementing systems like pre-booking appointments can significantly bolster Q1 revenues by ensuring early-year momentum.

Are restaurants missing a key opportunity on delivery?This week's episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Cameron Watt, the CEO of secret shopper firm Intouch Insight.Intouch recently completed an exclusive study on delivery for Restaurant Business and we're chatting about some of the conclusions. We caught up with Cameron at the recently concluded FSTEC conference.The study featured some fascinating results. For one thing, first-party delivery on average isn't much better, performance-wise, than it is ordering from third-party delivery companies themselves. That may be a missed opportunity for restaurants. Cameron and I talk about that.We also talk about the growing influence of third-party delivery companies and the overall results from the study. And we talked about what restaurant companies can do to improve the delivery experience for customers. We're talking delivery on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.

Since the spring, we have been receiving a steady stream of emails from people who are deeply concerned about developments at the Macular Society. The concerns have primarily been over the plans to make a number of the Society's regional managers redundant. In the background, there have been events evolving based around a WhatsApp group chat, which included a number of the regional managers who were told they could be made redundant. In Touch speaks to one of the regional managers, following her dismissal from the charity over the WhatsApp group chat.A few months ago, age verification checks became a requirement on certain websites under the Online Safety Act. The aim of the Act is to protect children and young people from content that is deemed to be harmful. But, In Touch heard from listeners that they are having issues with the accessibility of these age verification measures, and subsequently are struggling to access content they should be entitled to view as adults. Since we discussed this on the programme, we have heard from the The Age Verification Providers Association who offered to provide some advice on how people with visual impairments can navigate these systems. Their Executive Director Iain Corby gives some pointers. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Dr. Maryellen MacDonald is the Donald P. Hayes Professor Emerita of Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a renowned cognitive scientist. Her work in psycholinguistics explores how we comprehend, produce, and learn language—one of the most remarkable aspects of being human. Dr. MacDonald's research has examined language across the entire lifespan, from children and young adults to older adults and individuals living with Alzheimer's disease. In her book, “More than Words”, she explores the science around how and why we talk, and how this impacts our lives. In this episode, host Shay Beider and Dr. Maryellen MacDonald discuss the surprising power of talking—not just with others, but to ourselves. Dr. MacDonald explains that turning our internal state into words is a complex brain process that sharpens attention, calms the limbic system, and helps us follow through on goals. Dr. MacDonald shares that naming our thoughts and emotions can bring clarity, reduce stress, and tune the brain for better focus. She highlights how listening is easier than talking, a “desirable difficulty,” and stresses the importance of mastering the art of listening and talking. From children developing language and school readiness through conversation, to older adults keeping their brains engaged, talking shapes cognition across the lifespan. This episode encourages us to embrace conversation, self-talk, and journaling as tools to better understand ourselves and connect with others. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Dr. MacDonald Read her book, “More than Words” here This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org

The Royal Society for Blind Children has launched a new campaign called Bedtime Donations, and its aim is to generate better provision of audiobooks for visually impaired children. The idea is that people can record themselves reading children's stories into an app, where it will be published and be accessible to visually impaired children. The Society's aim is to develop the largest free service of children's audiobooks. The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust are calling for visually impaired people's experiences of how they received psychological support throughout their healthcare pathway. The Trust are aiming to improve provisions of psychological services that patients receive, following a diagnosis of an eye condition, and thereafter. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

In Touch visits the Lake District and tags along to Ellie Bennet's holiday. Ellie booked a sighted guide through a free guiding service called Cumbrain Visions. Cumbrian Visions provides visually impaired holiday makers with a guide to accompany them on their various activities. There is also a similar service happening in Cornwall and Devon, called The Cliffden Buddies, which came first. Julian Griffen, of The Cliffden Buddies and Lee Hodgson of Cumbrian Visions tell In Touch about their services and how it all got started.For more information: Cumbrian Visions Founder and Coordinator: Lee Hodgson Tel: 07976 669708 Email: hodgson@liverdogs.co.ukCliffden Buddies Founder and Coordinator: Jules Griffen Tel: 07500 206948 Email: cliffden.buddies@outlook.comPresenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Kim Agostino Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Dr. Jeffrey Karp is a Harvard Medical School and MIT professor, inventor, best-selling author, and visionary leader. From transforming the challenges of undiagnosed ADHD into a wellspring of creativity and innovation, Dr. Karp has built a career championing neurodiversity, mindfulness, and environmental stewardship. He has co-founded 14 companies and secured over 100 patents, Dr. Karp's acclaimed book, LIT: Life Ignition Tools, inspires readers to move beyond autopilot living and embrace intentionality in daily life. Currently serving as Executive President of Geoversity Nature's University in Panama, Dr. Karp champions a “kinship worldview” that weaves together science, design, the arts, and indigenous wisdom to reconnect humanity with nature.    In today's episode, host Shay Beider talks with Dr. Jeffrey Karp about the three main forces he believes hold us back in modern life and how reconnecting with our nature, ritual and intuition can help us move from disconnection to real connection. He breaks down ideas like “radical simplicity,” asking better questions, and the power of setting clear intentions in everyday interactions. The duo dive into his fascinating biotech work inspired by nature, his advocacy for rethinking neurodiversity, and the possibilities he sees for AI in transforming education. Dr. Karp shares what he's learned about building an internal compass rooted in core values and reminds us that healing often means unlearning old patterns and paying closer attention to the world around us—so we can grow, reconnect, and help create a thriving future together.   Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Read his book, LIT: Life Ignition Tools Learn more about Geoversity Nature's University here Check out the Karp Lab here Check out The Power of Awe here Visit Modern Elder Academy This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

"The gang tries to become local celebrities by creating their own public access news show and making it big on the hip club scene." -Original Air Date: 10/4/2007- This week we're talking about Frank Sets Sweet Dee On Fire, InTouch Weekly, watching things on Peacock and Pants-Off Dance-Off. This is No Hugging, No Learning, the show about one thing...watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for the first time. Want more NHNL? Next week's episode drops early on Patreon! Get the first seven days FREE and then it's just $5/month after that. You'll get every episode one week early with all of the extra content that we usually clip out of each release and movie reviews from the Seinfeld Extended Universe. Join Us at patreon.com/nohugging Wanna start your own podcast? Do it with Libsyn and get up to 2 months free podcasting service with our Libsyn code HUGGING. Get a FREE No Hugging, No Learning sticker by giving us a 5 star rating and a written review wherever you listen to this! Just be sure to send us your address! Email us: nohuggingnolearningshow@gmail.com Follow us!  @nohugging on X @nohugging_nolearning on Instagram @nohugging.bsky.social on Bluesky Music: "The Gang Gets Trapped" by Reed Streets

Since this summer, age verification checks are required on certain websites under the Online Safety Act. The aim is to protect children and young people from content online that is deemed inappropriate or even harmful. But In Touch has heard from listeners that they are having issues with the accessibility of these age verification measures, and that they are being applied to a wide range of sites, not just those that feature only pornographic content. In Touch discusses this issue and its wider implications.We also discuss a recent trend that showed up on social media which appeared to feature children and young people being told by an adult to pretend to be blind, with the aim of 'winning' a large cash prize or luxury trip. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

The ability for blind and visually impaired people to cast their vote privately and independently at elections is an issue we've followed closely on In Touch. We're joined by the head of guidance at the Electoral Commission, Charlene Hannon, who tells us about their research of the matter and how you can take part.Our reporter, Ian Hamilton visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to meet some of the visually impaired artists taking part. Ian discovers what themes they're covering and learns about efforts to make the arts more accessible.Listener input is an essential ingredient of In Touch, and this week's episode is no exception. In response to your reaction to last week's discussion about JAWS software pricing, we revisit the issue.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: David BaguleyWebsite image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.'

JAWS is a screen reader that allows visually impaired people to access information on their computers. It works by reading aloud information such as emails, financial information, documents and more. But the company who produce the screen reader have recently announced rises to the cost of the software, along with some of their other assistive technology products, and it has caused worry amongst its users. In Touch hears from Vispero, the parent company of Freedom Scientific who develop JAWS, Fusion and ZoomText, and to Sight and Sound who are the sole distributor of the softwares in the UK. They tell us what these new pricing models will look like for UK customers, why these changes are happening and what is the best course of action for current and new users of JAWS.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

From remote tribes to military bases, discover how God is transforming lives in the world's darkest places. Host Greg Kelly sits down with InTouch Ministries leaders Philip Bowen and Ella Bogo Ydi to share powerful stories, faith-driven innovation, and the global impact of Dr. Charles Stanley's legacy. See how the Messenger audio Bible and strategic partnerships are making Jesus known—everywhere.  Subscribe for more stories of hope, faith, and transformation: unknownnations.com #UnknownNations #Podcast #Missions #InTouchMinistries #Faith #GlobalChurch #MakeJesusKnown

Dr. James M. Greenblatt is a pioneer in functional and integrative medicine and a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist who has been treating patients since 1988. He serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and previously held the role of Chief Medical Officer at Walden Behavioral Care/Monte Nido. An internationally recognized speaker on nutritional interventions in mental health, Dr. Greenblatt has authored seven books, including the best-sellers Finally Focused and Answers to Anorexia, as well as his latest, Functional & Integrative Medicine for Antidepressant Withdrawal. He is also the founder of Psychiatry Redefined, an educational platform dedicated to transforming psychiatric care through integrative and evidence-based approaches.   In today's episode, host Shay Beider speaks with Dr. Greenblatt about ADHD, anorexia nervosa, depression and other psychiatric disorders. The duo discuss the dangers of anorexia, and he provides solutions for better treatment outcomes for patients. He shares important information around antidepressant withdrawal and how functional psychiatry looks beyond symptoms to address underlying factors. Dr. Greenblatt shares his approach to treating depression in his book, Finally Hopeful. He discusses tools such as genetic testing (MTHFR) and screening for core nutrients that can transform psychiatric care, and highlights links between gluten sensitivity and conditions like anorexia and schizophrenia. Dr. Greenblatt closes by emphasizing the need for personalized, whole-person care and offers hope to those who are struggling. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Walden Behavioral Care here Read Finally Focused on ADHD Read Answers to Anorexia Read Functional & Integrative Medicine for Antidepressant Withdrawal Look into Finally Hopeful here Psychiatry Redefined website Look into Function Health here   This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

Dr. James M. Greenblatt is a pioneer in functional and integrative medicine and a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist who has been treating patients since 1988. He serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and previously held the role of Chief Medical Officer at Walden Behavioral Care/Monte Nido. An internationally recognized speaker on nutritional interventions in mental health, Dr. Greenblatt has authored seven books, including the best-sellers Finally Focused and Answers to Anorexia, as well as his latest, Functional & Integrative Medicine for Antidepressant Withdrawal. He is also the founder of Psychiatry Redefined, an educational platform dedicated to transforming psychiatric care through integrative and evidence-based approaches. In today's episode, host Shay Beider speaks with Dr. Greenblatt about ADHD, anorexia nervosa, depression and other psychiatric disorders. The duo discuss the dangers of anorexia, and he provides solutions for better treatment outcomes for patients. He shares important information around antidepressant withdrawal and how functional psychiatry looks beyond symptoms to address underlying factors. Dr. Greenblatt shares his approach to treating depression in his book, Finally Hopeful. He discusses tools such as genetic testing (MTHFR) and screening for core nutrients that can transform psychiatric care, and highlights links between gluten sensitivity and conditions like anorexia and schizophrenia. Dr. Greenblatt closes by emphasizing the need for personalized, whole-person care and offers hope to those who are struggling. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Walden Behavioral Care here Read Finally Focused on ADHD Read Answers to Anorexia Read Functional & Integrative Medicine for Antidepressant Withdrawal Look into Finally Hopeful here Psychiatry Redefined website Look into Function Health here This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org.  

The charity Macular Society provides support to people living with the UK's most prominent cause of sight loss, macular disease. They also help to fund research into finding a cure. In Touch has been hearing about the society's plans to reduce staffing levels within their regional team and so we speak to their CEO, Ed Holloway who explains what is currently happening with these proposals, which are still under consultation.Scotland has recently recognised Deafblindness as a distinct condition, but what does this mean for people living with the duel disability? Ian Hamilton delves deeper into whether this change might mean better services for those living with it in Scotland.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

InTouch with Terri is brought to you by Podium: Podium is a platform providing AI-powered communication solutions for lead conversion and patient retention. In Touch with Terri listeners get their first month of Podium free CLICK HERE. Be sure to tune into the full conversation to uncover detailed insights into transforming your aesthetic practice by leveraging patient retention strategies. Subscribe for more episodes and stay informed about the latest developments and strategies in the industry  Get InTouch with Terri! Terri Ross Website: Click Here Terri Ross Patreon: Business and Sales Mentorship 4S Summit Info: For more details, look up 4S Summit to understand its role in providing strategic business consulting in the aesthetics industry https://4ssummit.com/ Terri Ross is a renowned expert in the aesthetic industry, specializing in sales training, strategic growth consulting, and business transformation. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Terri has dedicated over two decades to elevating businesses in the aesthetic field with a ground-up approach focused on sustainability, profitability, and scalability. Her experience is rooted in working with Fortune 500 companies like Medicis and Zeltique, where she developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and strategic sales methodologies. Episode Summary: In this eye-opening episode of "In Touch with Terri," Terri Ross delves deep into the regulatory challenges and safety concerns facing the medical aesthetics industry, particularly med spas. Following a revelatory segment by John Oliver, Terri is prompted to address the misconceptions and dangers lurking in unregulated med spa operations which often mask as credible medical establishments. With nearly two decades of experience, she advocates for higher industry standards to safeguard consumer safety and elevate trust in the aesthetic market. Through her detailed analysis, Terri Ross calls for an evolution in the way medical spas are regulated and perceived. She emphasizes the necessity for stringent regulations, accreditation, and transparency to ensure client safety and ethical operational standards. Highlighting the burgeoning growth of pop-ups and alternative aesthetic models, this episode examines their implications on consumer trust and provider accountability, urging industry leaders to proactively set higher benchmarks for safety and service excellence. Key Takeaways: The term "med spa" often gives a misleading impression of uniform medical oversight, highlighting the need for industry regulations. Aesthetic treatments are not synonymous with aesthetic expertise; marketing must reflect genuine clinical knowledge and safety. Clear definitions and regulatory oversight could prevent the ethical providers from being unfairly categorized alongside unsafe or unscrupulous practitioners. Emergency preparedness and ongoing safety drills are crucial in protecting patients, brands, and the industry at large. Regulation should be viewed as an opportunity to elevate industry standards rather than a threat to business operations. Notable Quotes: "Med spa is an unregulated term, leading consumers to falsely believe all facilities are under medical supervision." "Delegation without oversight is just exposure. Who's performing the treatments, and can they legally do it?" "Waiting for regulations to hit your doorstep means you're already behind." "The business of aesthetics is serious. If you want to play, you got to play big, smart, fast."

Natalie is a blind transgender woman and she contacted In Touch wishing to highlight the intersectional impacts of the UK Supreme Court's ruling in April, that ruled that a woman is to be defined by biological sex under equality law. Natalie describes how this could have major implications for how sex-based rights are applied and how society responds to her and especially those with disabilities.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

How do you deal with a life changing disability? Penny Melville-Brown was a naval officer when she started to lose her sight. Now, decades later, she has used her experience as well as that of other disabled people to write her new book "It Could Be You". Penny joins us to explain, (among other things) what prompted her to write it, who might benefit from reading it and what its key messages are.Also joining us is Brandon Hulcoop, a blind entrepreneur from Devon. Brandon tells us how his business "All Things Dotty" is helping visually impaired people to "see the world with their fingers" and how his work has been royally recognised!Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Liz PooleWebsite image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.'

InTouch with Terri is brought to you by Podium: Podium is a platform providing AI-powered communication solutions for lead conversion and patient retention. In Touch with Terri listeners get their first month of Podium free CLICK HERE. Be sure to tune into the full conversation to uncover detailed insights into transforming your aesthetic practice by leveraging patient retention strategies. Subscribe for more episodes and stay informed about the latest developments and strategies in the industry  Get InTouch with Terri! Terri Ross Website: Click Here Terri Ross Patreon: Business and Sales Mentorship 4S Summit Info: For more details, look up 4S Summit to understand its role in providing strategic business consulting in the aesthetics industry https://4ssummit.com/ Terri Ross is a renowned expert in the aesthetic industry, specializing in sales training, strategic growth consulting, and business transformation. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Terri has dedicated over two decades to elevating businesses in the aesthetic field with a ground-up approach focused on sustainability, profitability, and scalability. Her experience is rooted in working with Fortune 500 companies like Medicis and Zeltique, where she developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and strategic sales methodologies. About the Guest: Thomas Terranova is the CEO of Quad A, a globally recognized accreditation body known for its dedication to surgical safety. He is an attorney by training, specializing in international mergers and acquisitions, with previous experience advising multinational corporations using data analytics. At Quad A, Thomas steers the organization's strategic direction, ensuring the adherence to quality standards across surgical and non-surgical medical aesthetic practices. Under his leadership, Quad A is pioneering a new accreditation initiative for non-surgical medical aesthetics to enhance patient safety and facility standards worldwide. Quad A Website: quada.org Episode Summary: Welcome to this engaging episode of "In Touch with Terri," where we explore the dynamic world of accreditation in the booming aesthetics industry. Host Terri Ross converses with Thomas Terranova, CEO of Quad A, about an exciting and crucial initiative to introduce a global accreditation framework for non-surgical medical aesthetic practices, such as med spas. As the industry surges ahead with rapid growth, this initiative aims to bridge the current regulatory gap, providing a structured and formal oversight mechanism that has long been absent in non-surgical environments. In this revealing discussion, Terri and Thomas delve into the pressing safety gaps in the medical aesthetics sector. With an understanding that current growth has outpaced both regulations and common best practices, Thomas outlines the steps Quad A is taking to standardize safety, excellence, and consistency. The pair highlight the potential impacts of this initiative on both practitioners—ensuring legitimate, safe operations—and patients who will gain increased confidence in the services they receive. Attentive listeners will learn about the core pillars of this new accreditation framework, the challenges faced during its development, and its anticipated positive repercussions on the global stage. Key Takeaways: The medical aesthetics industry is experiencing rapid growth but lacks adequate regulation, particularly in non-surgical environments such as med spas. Quad A, under the leadership of Thomas Terranova, is leading a global initiative to develop an accreditation framework for non-surgical medical aesthetic practices. The accreditation aims to ensure patient safety, enhance facility standards, and instill greater confidence in aesthetic treatments. The initiative includes comprehensive documentation, rigorous staff training, and the adoption of standard operating procedures to minimize risks. Educating patients and making safety considerations front-and-center are key strategies for improving consumer trust and industry standards. Notable Quotes: "If you're a well-intentioned practitioner, whatever we're talking about are nothing to be afraid of. The only people that should be afraid are the people who don't want to do things right." "Product is a big one. And again, with supply chain, the way it is... that's a huge concern." "It's a choice to do things the right way. It's a choice to do it in a way that's safe." "We're bringing this back to medicine. We're talking about making sure the products are valid, properly maintained, and that the staff is well-trained."

The aim of the government's Access to Work scheme is to provide support for disabled people to get into and stay within employment. It can provide support with things like specialist equipment, support workers and transport to and from work. But over the past few months, there have been rumours circulating that there are proposed cuts to parts of the scheme which is causing uncertainty amongst disabled people. In Touch attempts to dig a little deeper into what could be happening to the scheme. The Work and Pensions committee is calling for disabled people's experiences of seeking employment and support into work. If you would like to submit your experiences, you can do so via the committee's online form: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9270/employment-support-for-disabled-people/ or call 020 7219 8976.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

It can often feel as though blind and partially sighted people, and disabled people more generally, are excluded when it comes to fashion and beauty campaigns. But In Touch hears from women who are trying to switch up the narrative and showcase that blind and partially sighted people, and disabled people generally, are active participants and consumers of these industries. Bérénice Magistretti is a co-founder of a new platform 'Visible Voices', that showcases work from disabled voices and encourages disabled people to be more visible. Hazal Baybasin is the founder of Blind Beauty, a beauty brand providing products but with accessibility at its heart. In Touch also hears from ITV's director of accessibility, David Padmore about why and how the organisation is providing live audio description for the Women's Euros championship.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio' in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

Jonathan Gluck is a writer whose powerful storytelling has been in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and Vogue. He has served as deputy editor and managing editor of the New York Magazine. Over the course of his distinguished career, Jonathan has earned multiple National Magazine Awards. Now, he turns inward with his latest work, An Exercise in Uncertainty: A Memoir of Illness and Hope, a deeply personal account of his diagnosis with Multiple Myeloma—an incurable blood cancer—and the emotional and physical journey that followed.  In this episode, host Shay Beider speaks with Jonathan about his journey with the blood cancer he's lived with for over two decades. He shares what life looked like at the moment of his diagnosis, the emotional complexity of telling loved ones, and the guilt that often comes with being the one who is sick. The pair discuss how caregiving carries its own burdens and quiet heroism. Jonathan shares the details on promising innovative treatments like CAR-T cell therapy. Finally, he speaks to the strength of family, the power of optimistic realism, and the life lessons that have emerged from a diagnosis he never expected. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Read Jonanthan's book An Exercise in Uncertainty: A Memoir of Illness and Hope Check out Stand By Me here Learn more about CAR-T therapy Read The Anatomy of Hope This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

John Prendergast is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and former adjunct professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He's the author of In Touch, The Deep Heart, and, most recently, Your Deepest Ground. His work blends somatic inquiry and depth psychology with contemplative insight, and he is a leading voice on the topic of embodying nondual realization, which is what we discuss today.

In this episode of the Female Athlete Nutrition Podcast, host Lindsey Elizabeth Cortes speaks with Dr. Samantha Harte, a distinguished physical therapist, author, and advocate for holistic wellness. Dr. Harte shares her journey through addiction, perfectionism, and trauma, highlighting how these personal struggles influenced her professional path.She discusses the importance of addressing root issues such as childhood trauma and the need for control, and offers insight into her framework based on the 12 Steps to help others find healing and resilience. The conversation delves into the parallels between addiction and over-exercise or obsessive dieting, urging listeners to confront underlying emotional pain and make transformative changes in their lives.Episode Highlights:01:48 Meet Dr. Samantha Harte03:27 Dr. Harte's Journey and Struggles04:40 Perfectionism and Addiction08:36 The Path to Physical Therapy16:11 The High-Functioning Addict25:27 Parallels with Athletes29:25 Addressing RED-S in Female Athletes34:16 The Haunting of Unresolved Relationships34:56 Postpartum Struggles and Body Image35:29 The Descent into Obsessive Control38:26 A Miraculous Turning Point40:19 Facing Grief and Finding Forgiveness45:08 The Path to Recovery and Self-Compassion53:36 Embracing Intuition and Personal Growth57:23 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsDr. Samantha Harte is a physical therapist, best-selling author, performing artist, podcast host, and sober mom of two. She has been featured on CBS and abc7 and in People magazine, US Weekly, In Touch, Time magazine and The New York Post for her expertise on the intersection of mind-body health and wellness.Her self help memoir, Breaking The Circuit: How to Rewire Your Mind for Hope, Resilience and Joy in the Face of Trauma, is a modern, trauma-informed take on the 12 steps of recovery so that anyone, addict or not, can turn their pain into power.Find all about Dr. Samantha Harte at https://access.drsamanthaharte.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsamanthaharte/?hl=enFor more information about the show, head to work with Lindsey on improving your nutrition, head to:http://www.lindseycortes.com/Join REDS Recovery Membership: http://www.lindseycortes.com/redsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us a textToday on the show we go back to the day when Brad, Greg, and Bryan sat down with Michelle Van Loon, to talk about what Faith and Discipleship look like in the second half of life.Since coming to faith in Christ at the tail end of the Jesus Movement, Michelle Van Loon's Jewish heritage, spiritual hunger, and storyteller's sensibilities have shaped her faith journey and informed her writing. She is the author of seven books and has been published in a variety of outlets including ChristianityToday, Next Avenue, In Touch ministries, and Fathom magazine. She's the co-founder of ThePerennialGen.com, a website for midlife women and men. She's married to Bill, and is mother of three and grandmother of two. Check out her site at www.michellevanloon.com

Veteran journalist Carla Sosenko has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, People, Self, Newsweek, and numerous other publications. Her work has also appeared in Time Out New York (where she was editor-in-chief), Entertainment Weekly (where she was executive editor), In Touch (where she was managing editor) and Us Weely (where she is currently executive editor at large). She is also the co-author of A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can't Live Without, written with TikTok star Melissa Dilkes Pateras. In her just-published collection of essays entitled I'll Look So Hot in a Coffin: And Other Thoughts I Used to Have About My Body, Carla writes with candor and great good cheer about growing up with a rare congenital vascular disorder known as Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome—a disorder that shaped the way she looked out at the world, and the ways the world looked back in turn. “If you are thin, even if you are too thin, life is inherently safer,” she writes. “The world order puts thin people at the top, with the rest of us below struggling for air. Many of us have been gasping for decades.” In her new book—hailed by Harper's Bazaar prior to publication as “raw, vulnerable, and utterly hilarious—she breathes deep and sounds a clarion call for anyone who has ever been made to feel like an outsider or told they should take up less space. Learn more about Carla Sosenko: Website Instagram Threads LinkedIn Please support the sponsors who support our show: Gotham Ghostwriters' Gathering of the Ghosts Ritani Jewelers Daniel Paisner's Balloon Dog Daniel Paisner's SHOW: The Making and Unmaking of a Network Television Pilot Heaven Help Us by John Kasich Unforgiving: Lessons from the Fall by Lindsey Jacobellis Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton Everyday Shakespeare podcast A Mighty Blaze podcast The Writer's Bone Podcast Network Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order  Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount

Deb Dana, LCSW, is a renowned clinician, consultant, speaker, and author whose groundbreaking work bridges the science of the nervous system with everyday wellbeing. As a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute and advisor to both Khiron Clinics and Unyte, Deb is widely recognized for making Polyvagal Theory accessible to both professionals and the general public. She pioneered the Rhythm of Regulation® approach to help people understand and connect with their nervous systems in meaningful ways. Deb's clinical publications, The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy and Polyvagal Exercises, have become foundational texts in the field, while her bestselling books, including Anchored and The Nervous System Workbook, bring this transformative work to a broader audience.   In today's episode, host Shay Beider welcomes Dana Deb to discuss her work with regulating the nervous system using the principles of Polyvagal Theory. Deb explains that every nervous system is wired for connection and regulation and emphasizes the importance of understanding how our nervous system functions. There are three organizing principles: neuroception, hierarchy, and co-regulation that the duo discuss. Deb shares her personal story of navigating loss and how her “Glimmers Journal” allows readers to reflect on small moments of hope that create larger moments of healing. Finally, the pair discuss reframing behaviors through an autonomic lens, viewing negative behaviors as dysregulated rather than malicious.   Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing    Show Notes: Learn more about Deb here Check out the Polyvagal Institute Read about Khiron Clinics Check out Unyte Read more about Rhythm of Regulation Read “Anchored” Read “The Nervous System Workbook” Buy the “Glimmers Journal” here This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

InTouch with Terri is brought to you by Podium: Podium is a platform providing AI-powered communication solutions for lead conversion and patient retention. In Touch with Terri listeners get their first month of Podium free CLICK HERE. Be sure to tune into the full conversation to uncover detailed insights into transforming your aesthetic practice by leveraging patient retention strategies. Subscribe for more episodes and stay informed about the latest developments and strategies in the industry  Get InTouch with Terri! Terri Ross Website: Click Here Terri Ross Patreon: Business and Sales Mentorship 4S Summit Info: For more details, look up 4S Summit to understand its role in providing strategic business consulting in the aesthetics industry https://4ssummit.com/ Terri Ross is a renowned expert in the aesthetic industry, specializing in sales training, strategic growth consulting, and business transformation. As an accomplished author and international speaker, Terri has dedicated over two decades to elevating businesses in the aesthetic field with a ground-up approach focused on sustainability, profitability, and scalability. Her experience is rooted in working with Fortune 500 companies like Medicis and Zeltique, where she developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and strategic sales methodologies. Episode Summary: In this episode of "In Touch with Terri," Terri Ross provides a roadmap for thriving through the summer months by leveraging strategic growth opportunities. As practices face the common misconception of a "summer slowdown," Terri dismantles this myth by detailing eight actionable strategies for maintaining profitability and driving success into the next quarter. Her experience and insights serve as a beacon for aesthetic practices looking to maximize their potential and end the year strong. Drawing from her extensive background in sales training and consulting, Terri shares valuable tactics to help practices reframe their approach and capitalize on the summer surge. As the aesthetic industry navigates the often challenging summer period, Terri emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making and strategic marketing. She elaborates on the significance of understanding patient buying behaviors, optimizing team performance, and using profitability insights to guide business strategies. By focusing on treatment plans, leveraging key partnerships, and enhancing marketing efforts through social media and other channels, practices can realize remarkable growth. Terri's approach underscores the necessity of operating as a business-minded entity, highlighting the crucial role of sales training in achieving these goals. Key Takeaways: Strategic Growth: Reframe summer as a strategic growth opportunity, focusing on treatments with limited downtime and high demand like body contouring and skin improvement therapies. Data-Driven Decisions: Utilize past revenue patterns to inform current strategies, ensuring that decisions are based on solid data and trends. Sales Optimization: Develop treatment plans and sales training strategies to enhance revenue and patient outcomes, maximizing each client's potential. Empowered Teams: Invest in team training to boost conversions and productivity, recognizing team members as valuable revenue assets. Market Readiness: Prepare for Q3 and beyond by analyzing current performance, adjusting marketing strategies, and adopting new technologies. Notable Quotes: "Summer isn't slow. It is a strategic opportunity." "Revenue is an outcome, but productivity is the leading indicator." "We are not in the discounting business." "Your team is your greatest revenue asset." "Time is just an excuse; we make time for what's important