Podcasts about playaway

Blake Squires began his journey in the mid-90s in Los Angeles, capitalizing early on the convergence of technology and media. He soon returned to his hometown of Cleveland to co-found Everstream with Steve McHale (episode 196) and Charlie Lougheed (episode 42, and also my co-founder at Axuall). Blake served as COO until Everstream's acquisition by Concurrent Computer Corp in 2005.Next, he co-founded Findaway, a global leader in digital audiobook distribution and creators of PLAYAWAY, a line of preloaded audiobook devices and products. Findaway was acquired by Spotify in 2022—a story shared by co-founder Mitch Kroll (episode 128) and early team member Mike Belsito (episode 52).In 2011, Blake launched Movable, a software and wearable platform built to "inspire movement." He also founded DoctorsOrders, an e-scripting tool for medical suppliers, which was acquired by Cardinal Health in 2018.Blake later partnered with inventor John Osher (of SpinBrush fame) to develop the Stubl/Shadow manual razor, acquired by Edgewell for its Schick brand. The duo also created a unique toothbrush licensed to Waken in the UK.In 2022, Blake co-founded Bloomfilter, an AI-powered process intelligence platform optimizing the product and software development lifecycle. We've heard Bloomfilter's story from his co-founder Andrew Wolfe on episode 134.By 2024, Blake had become a board partner at Greycroft and a “Fellow” at global design firm IDEO, recognized for his work supporting VCs and early-stage startups. Blake also serves as a founding advisor to the Ohio Angel Collective.As I mentioned up top, Blake's story truly is a Lay of The Land of Lay of The Land. He's deeply connected with Northeast Ohio's startup ecosystem—through this episode alone, we'll hear links to Lee Zapis (episode 7), John Knific (episode 199), David Levine (episode 132), AC Evans (episode 39), Ray Leach (episode 69), and many more.More than just well-connected, Blake is a visionary builder, inspiring leader, and accomplished serial entrepreneur with a rare ability to scale products, teams, and brands.00:00:00 - The Entrepreneurial Journey Begins  00:12:17 - Passion and the Intersection of Art and Business  00:15:09 - Defining Core Values in Entrepreneurship  00:18:27 - The Evolution of Big Mama Music  00:21:09 - Navigating Course Corrections in Business  00:23:23 - Finding the Next Problem to Solve  00:26:25 - Building a Values-Driven Company  00:28:09 - The Shift to Audiobooks and Market Insights  00:33:35 - The Role of Storytelling in Business  00:41:23 - Learning from Failure and Pivoting Strategies  00:43:22 - Scaling and Growth in Libraries  00:48:47 - Building a Strong Company Culture  00:49:08 - Lessons from Movable and the Importance of Partnerships  00:54:55 - Navigating the Healthcare Market  00:55:42 - Universal Truths in Entrepreneurship  01:01:07 - Transitioning to Advisory Roles and New Ventures  01:04:20 - Hidden Gem -----LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakesquires/-----SPONSOR:Roundstone InsuranceRoundstone Insurance is proud to sponsor Lay of The Land. Founder and CEO, Michael Schroeder, has committed full-year support for the podcast, recognizing its alignment with the company's passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and community leadership.Headquartered in Rocky River, Ohio, Roundstone was founded in 2005 with a vision to deliver better healthcare outcomes at a more affordable cost. To bring that vision to life, the company pioneered the group medical captive model — a self-funded health insurance solution that provides small and mid-sized businesses with greater control and significant savings.Over the past two decades, Roundstone has grown rapidly, creating nearly 200 jobs in Northeast Ohio. The company works closely with employers and benefits advisors to navigate the complexities of commercial health insurance and build custom plans that prioritize employee well-being over shareholder returns. By focusing on aligned incentives and better health outcomes, Roundstone is helping businesses save thousands in Per Employee Per Year healthcare costs.Roundstone Insurance — Built for entrepreneurs. Backed by innovation. Committed to Cleveland.-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and over 200 other Cleveland Entrepreneurs.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

The latest Today Christmas guest editor is the TV presenter, author and Liberal Democrat peer Floella Benjamin.Baroness Benjamin is most famous for her work on children's TV shows Playschool and Playaway. She spoke to Amol about why she thinks there's a "crisis" in children's TV today, but they began by talking about her moving to the UK from Trinidad as a child.GET IN TOUCH: * Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 * Email today@bbc.co.ukBetween now and the end of the year we're bringing you extended interviews with the Today programme's Christmas guest editors, so hit subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you get an alert every time we release a new episode.The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Amol was the BBC's media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he's also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC's political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV's political editor.

Ryan Hooey says as a parent with a print disability, Playaway Wonderbooks are the perfect way to engage with his daughter as she learns to read. We hear more on the Chatty Bookshelf!

Mitch Kroll, co-founder & CEO of Findaway (acquired by Spotify).Mitch started Findaway back in 2004, a time when audiobooks were available only on CD and cassette, in order to revolutionize this business of audiobooks, connecting storytellers with listeners at scale. With this vision of audiobook democratization in mind, Mitch led the company over the next 17 years to sell over 6 million units of its Playaway audiobook device and through a honed focus on innovation, became the global leader in digital audiobook distribution and trusted self-publishing platform for independent authors around the world. From a solidified position at the center of the audiobook industry, Findaway earned the attention of the world's largest audio streaming subscription service and was ultimately acquired by Spotify for nearly $120mm, announced at the end of 2021.Still operating out of their Solon headquarters here in Northeast Ohio, Mitch led Findaway through this acquisition where the team continues their work at Spotify to push the proliferation of audiobook adoption, leveraging the same innovation and platform that Spotify used to disrupt music and podcasts to power content distribution to hundreds of millions of users across the world!Mitch is a shrewd builder, deep thinker, and really just a lot of fun to learn from — I learned a great deal from our conversation today, which spans everything from the history and future of audiobooks to how Mitch thinks about culture, to professional and life lessons, to the Cleveland startup ecosystem. Please enjoy my conversation with Mitch Kroll!-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we've heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Mitch Kroll on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-kroll-1370638/Learn more about Findaway — https://findaway.com/Learn more about Findaway's acquisition by Spotify-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

AI is everywhere, it will even take your phone calls for you or be your personal radio DJ. That might make you want to check out the Global Day of Unplugging that we cover. That and so much more to help you tech better! Followup:  Samsung says users will be able to clone voice to respond to calls (02:00) Spotify launches DJ, AI-powered music and commentary (05:15) ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books (06:10) Pixel's Magic Eraser coming to iOS (09:45) Amazon Health and One Medical (12:45) Microsoft is forcibly removing Internet Explorer from your PC (17:30) Dave's Pro Tip of the Week: Indent a list in Apple Notes (19:30) Takes: Global Day of Unplugging (23:30) Is the Apple Watch being banned? (27:15) Original iPhone sells for $63,356 at auction (30:55) Valve bans 40,000 accounts after laying a trap for cheaters in Dota 2 (32:35) Crypto mining operation found in school crawl space (33:50) Pirated Final Cut Pro infects Mac with crypto-mining malware (35:40) Woman not happy with Apple after iPhone stolen (37:25) Bonus Odd Take: A.N. Lucas's 88x31 button collection (42:45) Picks of the Week: Dave: Omniklad for iPhone 13 Pro Max Case, 100% Genuine Leather Magnetic Cell Phone Case Compatible with MagSafe, Microfiber Lining, All-Round Protection, Barrier Pro Semi Flexible Case - Brown (45:45) Bonus Odd Pick: All-in-One Audiobook by Playaway (49:30) Nate: 540° Rotation Magnetic Charging Cable, 3 in 1 Magnetic Phone Charger [4-Pack, 3ft/3ft/6ft/10ft] 3A Fast Charging Cable Support Data Transfer USB Magnet Charger Cable for iPhone/Micro USB/Type C Device (52:45) Notpicks Giveaway (57:40) Isla's Girl Scout Cookie Link (58:45) Find us elsewhere: https://notpicks.com https://www.notnerd.com https://www.youtube.com/c/Notnerd https://ratethispodcast.com/notnerd https://www.tiktok.com/@notnerdpod https://www.twitter.com/n0tnerd/ https://www.instagram.com/n0tnerd https://www.facebook.com/n0tnerd/ info@Notnerd.com Call or text 608.618.NERD(6373) If you would like to help support Notnerd financially, mentally, or physically, don't hesitate to get in touch with us via any of the methods above. Consider any product/app links to be affiliate links.

AudioFile's Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss a new initiative to help I'm Your Neighbor Books grow their signature project, The Welcoming Library. The Welcoming Library is a touring collection of 30 picture books that connects readers with stories of immigrant families. Robin and Jo discuss the need for incorporating authentically-voiced audiobooks into the collection, and how Playaway's Wonderbook editions allow for seamless reading and listening experiences. AudioFile is proud to support this important community project, and we invite you to support it, too. Learn more about AudioFile's collaboration with I'm Your Neighbor Books. Find more audiobook recommendations at audiofilemagazine.com Today's episode is sponsored by Naxos AudioBooks. In Moscow an unknown author approaches a publisher, asking him to read and publish his manuscript. The narrator agrees to read it before the author returns three months later. At the heart of the story in the manuscript is a love triangle and themes of corruption, concealed love and fatal jealousy. When one of the central characters is discovered dead, the narrative becomes a murder-mystery as the search for the culprit begins. Written by Chekhov in his early twenties, The Shooting Party is his only full-length novel. It is read by the prolific and popular narrator Nicholas Boulton. To learn more, visit NaxosAudioBooks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast we interview Matt Noe from PlayAway Pushcarts. Their business provides pushcarts for use at golf tournaments so you don't have to take them with you in the van or on the plane. Matt is a golf dad who developed this business after experiencing traveling for golf with his kids. Several D3 tournaments already have PlayAway at their event. If you are interested hit them up at www.playawaypushcarts.com and tell them D3GolfGuys sent you!

(https://www.educationonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/emotionheader.jpg) https://www.oxonheadsconf.org.uk (https://www.oxonheadsconf.org.uk)   Below you can see the conference programme and links for those organisations who chatted to me on the podcast. www.archoxfordshire.org.uk (http://www.archoxfordshire.org.uk) https://one-eighty.org.uk (https://one-eighty.org.uk) http://fabresearch.com/schoolsurveys.htm (http://fabresearch.com/schoolsurveys.htm) Oxfordshire Outdoor Learning Trust (http://www.oolt.org.uk)   Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West & Abingdon   Layla Moran is a Physics teacher by profession, formerly working in a state secondary school, as a Head of Year in an international school and latterly with an Oxford-based Education organisation.   She read Physics at Imperial College and holds an MA in Comparative Education.  She is a school governor at a primary school in her constituency. Layla was inspired to go into politics by her passion to see that every child, no matter their background, should have a fair chance of making the best of this world. She overturned a 9,500 vote Conservative majority to win Oxford West & Abingdon in June 2017.  She is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Education, and sits also on the Public Accounts Select Committee.   Layla has an international background; she has lived in many countries including Belgium, Greece, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Jordan and speaks French fluently along with some Spanish, Arabic and Greek.   Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE DL   Baroness Floella Benjamin, OBE DL was born in Trinidad in 1949 and came to England as a 10 year old child in 1960. She left school at 16 with the aim of becoming Britain’s first ever black woman bank manager but changed direction and became an actress, presenter, writer, independent producer, working peer and an active advocate for the welfare, care and education of children throughout the world. She has also headed a successful film and television production company. She has been in show business for 48 years appearing on stage, film, radio and television. She became a household name through her appearances in the iconic children’s programmes Playschool and PlayAway. After 42 years she still appears on children’s television, her greatest love.   She has written over 30 books and in 2016 her book ‘Coming to England’ was chosen as a ‘Guardian Children’s Book of the Year’.  Her broadcasting work has been recognised with numerous awards, including an OBE in 2001, a Special Lifetime Achievement BAFTA Award in 2004 and the J.M Barrie Lifetime Award in 2012 for her lasting cultural legacy. In 2013 she was made a Fellow of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and last year she was appointed as President of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She was Chancellor of the University of Exeter for 10 years and became famous for hugging every graduate imploring them to ‘change the world’. When she stepped down as Chancellor the University put up a statue of her in recognition of her contribution to the City of Exeter.   She was the first woman Trinidadian to be elevated to the House of Lords in 2010 and speaks on children’s, diversity and media issues and recently was successful in getting the government to bring in legislation for commercial broadcasters to provide UK made television programmes. This year she was granted Honorary Freedom of the City of London and the Prime Minister appointed her Chair of the Windrush Commemoration Committee to create a lasting memorial to celebrate the contribution to Britain made by the Windrush Generation.   2019 Conference Programme Wednesday 27 February Doors open at midday for any individual headteacher, or groups of heads who wish to meet and lunch at their own expense 15.00: Trade Fair...

Sara gets us jazzed up for September's DVD releases at the library; Nicole lets us know about tablets that patrons can check out for their kids; and for the Focus segment, Kristine Tanzi is back to discuss the NASA at Your Library program here at Middle Country.

This episode includes clips of interviews that Mark conducted on a tour through the Findaway offices in Cleveland, Ohio that took place on Tuesday May 22nd. Mark chats with folks from the Findaway Voices team (Will, Wes and Eric) as well as Findaway CEO Mitch Kroll. In the introduction, Mark shares a few updates, including an update of the latest video for Patreon supporters and then explains the three levels of support that include ($1 - Plot Outline (Bronze), $3 - First Draft (Silver) and $5 - Completed Manuscript (Gold). He thanks new and existing Patreon supporters. Mark also shares some details about the percentage share of his eBook retail sales for 2017, revealing that 77% of his eBook earnings came from Kindle with Kobo coming in second at 17%. He also noted that Google started to make a return in terms of his eBook sales in 2017 and has already well surpassed his iBooks sales in 2018. Mark shares his own experiences with publishing exclusively to Kindle via KDP Select to try to leverage the Kindle Unlimited reading income opportunities) and why, strategically, he has been a part of the program since it first launched, even when he was in charge of Kobo's self-publishing platform. He also discusses a short story series “Nocturnal Screams” that he originally rolled out in KDP Select a year ago, but is now releasing wide. For this episode's tongue twisters, Mark turns the tables on Will Dages from Findaway Voices (sponsor of the Tongue Twister segment) and gets HIM to read the tongue twister. In the episode's central interview with Mitch Kroll, Findaway Co-Founder and CEO, Mark and Mitch talk about: The interesting origin of the name Findaway and how the term “Findawayer” and a misplaced thumb late one night led to the spark of inspiration The atmosphere and spirit of the entire Findaway company's culture How, independent of audio or the product set in general, it was all about building a place where a bunch of dynamic people (with Findawayer DNA) who could do great work The little quotes and core value slogans that appear in small font text on walls throughout the Findaway offices How the entire company was originally built on the Playaway devices, which introduced disruption and innovation to the industry The manner by which a talk by Steve Jobs is something Mitch and his co-founders derived inspiration from when building the first Playaway devices How, after selling more than 6 Million Playaway devices, the simple yet effective innovation remains a growth business The balance that Findaway plays in serving the needs of content producers (publishers and authors), curators of audio (retailers and libraries) and consumers/readers The origin of the name “Findaway Voices” and how it relates to the voice and the freedom that it gives back to independent authors Mark then speaks with Will Dages about One of his favourite elements of working at Findaway Voices and Findaway (the amazing people) The Nebula Awards and Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America conference Will recently returned from where he shared information about the “pay for circulation” library purchasing model that raised a number of eyebrows Mark chats with Wes from the audio quality team at Findaway Voices about: One of the most common issue that he regularly has to deal with, related to specification issues The education and resources that Wes regularly shares with audio producers and authors in his daily work The importance of fixing things at the source (ie, when the audio is being recorded) Mark then speaks with Eric from the Business Development team at Findaway Voices about: The role that Eric plays in helping the Voices publishing arm in the creation of audiobooks through partnerships The importance of strategic partnerships for the creation of high quality audiobook solutions A side-conversation carry-over from lunch about Marvel superheroes and how this connects Venom with Captain America After the interviews, Mark reflects on the day spent at Findaway, how Findaway Voices was a remarkable turning point for indie authors and the things he learned from looking at his Findaway Voices sales reports, and a few new strategies he intends on implementing based on this experience.   Links of Interest Findaway Findaway Voices Global Audiobook Opportunities for Authors (Episode 5) - Interview with Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices Mark's Amazon Author Page Mark's Kobo Page Bumps in the Night Nocturnal Screams (Short story collection series) Night Cries Ode to Classics Dark Shadows Literary Haunts Unexpected Strangers Z is for Zombie Something Wicked

Episode 008 TLA Part 1 Happy Book Day Ya’ll!! While at the 2017 Texas Library Association Conference our intrepid librarian and podcast producer Megan hunted down some of our favorite reps and convinced them to be part of the Bee Cave Book Haul! Check out this and other special videos from her adventures on the TLA floor. In this episode we get to chat with two of our reps from Playaway, makers of some of our favorite pre-loaded audio players. Books etc. discussed in this episode of the Bee Cave Book Haul Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Game of Thrones/ A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin Game of Thrones on HBO season 7 The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty Big Little Lies on HBO Intro and Outtro Music from http://www.purple-planet.com/ Learn more about Playaway at the library or check out their website at http://www.playaway.com For more about the Texas Library Association check out TXLA.org

Our attempt to be super efficient in deciding the winner of Print vs. Digital and Library vs. Owning fails. We read off a bunch of Chuck Tingle ebook titles, so if our listeners might have small children in earshot...just maybe consider not. Seriously. UBC archives a pizza box (see link in the notes). Libraries have so many great things, you all! Finally, we end by discussing eating vs. consuming of library materials. Don’t eat library materials! In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray Books & Magazines (which we’ve read) The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum (I think this was the one I read, it’s here on Project Gutenberg  - Matthew) Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (2003...I was sure I read this earlier, you can download it for free here - Matthew) Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow Red Moon by Benjamin Percy Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein Psychology Today Scientific American Mind New Scientist Nintendo Power (Wikipedia) Library Resources Adobe Digital Editions is a program that allows you to read ebooks on your computer, eReader, and some tablets or which is sometimes used to transfer library ebooks to eReader devices when they cannot be wirelessly downloaded directly onto the device hoopla is a resource some libraries have for borrowing audiobooks, movies, ebooks, and comics Zinio is a resource some libraries have that allows library patrons to access full-color, digital versions of popular magazines Playaway individual audiobooks loaded on a small, simple mp3 player The elephant in the library ebook lending room that we don’t really mention is OverDrive Things & Stuff E-ink  vs. tablets screens - for health and lifestyle An old but informative and interesting article about why it is soooooo hard to borrow ebooks from libraries (Digital Trends) Chuck Tingle (no he did not win a hugo) (Wikipedia) Chuck Tingle’s Space Raptor Butt Invasion, the Hugo Awards, and the Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies (Vox) My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass….in audiobook, you all! (This should not have surprised us, but it did.) Chuck Tingle’s Amazon ourve - for reading off all the amazing titles yourself Preferring ebooks for certain reading experiences (Book Riot) popSLATE is an E-Ink screen case for you phone The ebook market in Japan and Manga (and the market in 2016) Radish short/serialized fiction app for your phone Cell phone novel (Wikipedia) Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference Pocket is a cloud service and app for saving and organizing online articles to read later Sarah Scribbles deeply understands us Gulliver’s Books in Fairbanks, AK is a great used bookstore! We meant to discuss sometimes deciding to buy print books to support Independent Bookstores, which recently came up on Book Riot Archiving a pizza box at UBC! Notice the previous post is about archiving a “bejeweled hornet’s nest” Pew Research on 2016 reading trends in the USA Teens prefer print to ebooks/ereaders & independent bookstores are bouncing back Check out our Pinterest boards and Tumblr posts for books people in the club read (or tried to read), follow us on Twitter, and join our Facebook Group! Join us again on Tuesday, April 18th, when we will inflict upon you the “genre” of Non-Fiction Audiobooks! Then on May 2nd we’ll be back for the second of our bimonthly “non-book club media” episodes.

Christopher Celeste, founder and president of Findaway, talks with Lunar's John Edson about the Playaway self-contained audiobook from Findaway and how customer experience's can be enhaced by taking away features.