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ASI Unveils 2024’s Most Powerful People In Promo Products Industry

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TREVOSE, Pa., Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI) today revealed the 2024 Counselor Power 50 list of the most influential entrepreneurs and executives driving innovation in the $26.1 billion promotional products industry. Topping the list is Geiger President/CEO Jo-an Lantz, who claimed the No. 1 spot after ranking No. 5 in 2023. This marks Lantz’ 19th appearance on the Counselor Power 50.

“It’s an honor to celebrate the trailblazers and visionaries shaping the future of the promotional products industry,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and CEO of ASI, the premier technology, marketing and information provider in the promo industry. The annual Power 50 ranking is released by ASI’s Counselor magazine, a trusted source for promotional product trends, market data and industry news for 70 years.

ASI celebrated the Counselor Power 50 at a celebratory dinner during its annual ASI Power Summit, an industry networking and education event featuring top speakers like Democratic Political Strategist Donna Brazile and former Republican U.S. House Representative Will Hurd at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, CA.

During an onstage Q&A with Andrews, Brazile and Hurd sparked a bipartisan discussion on political tensions and the future of the country. “More unites us than divides us,” Hurd said, reminding everyone of the power of collaboration in turbulent times. Brazile said, “We need to just stop thinking about what makes us different. We are together. We just don’t think of ourselves as being one people, but we are.”

The top leaders on the 2024 Counselor Power 50 are, in order:

No. 1: Jo-an Lantz, President/CEO, GeigerNo. 2: CJ Schmidt, CEO, Hit Promotional Products  No. 3: Jeremy Lott, President/CEO, SanMar No. 4: Kevin Lyons-Tarr and Suzanne Worwood, 4imprint, CEO and Senior VP of Merchandising and Supply Chain, respectivelyNo. 5: Greg Muzzillo and Vera Muzzillo, founder and CEO, respectively, ProformaNo. 6: Frank Myers, CEO, S&S ActivewearNo. 7: Marc Simon, CEO, HALO Branded SolutionsNo. 8 Larry Zavadil and Justin Zavadil, Founder/CEO and President, respectively, American Solutions for Business  No. 9: Chris Anderson, CEO, HPG No. 10: Jay Deutsch, CEO, BDA

Lantz earned this year’s top spot for her leadership in international expansion, spearheading strategic acquisitions in Europe that solidified the Lewiston, ME-headquartered firm as one of the most formidable distributors in the United Kingdom. Under Lantz’s leadership, Geiger remains a major player in North America, with $330.3 million in 2023 domestic revenue, while pioneering sustainability efforts in the industry.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI®, asicentral.com) serves a network of 25,000 suppliers, distributors and decorators in the $26.1 billion promotional products industry.

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SOURCE Advertising Specialty Institute

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About 20% of NFL Fans Say Their Loyalty Highly Influenced Their Home Search, New Realtor.com® Survey Finds

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Football fans say their choice of home features, house layout and specific locations were influenced by their ties to the sport.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — About 1 in 5 NFL followers say their loyalty played an extremely significant or highly significant role in their home search process, and a majority (55%) say that supporting a local team helps them feel more connected to their community and neighborhood, according to new research from Realtor.com®.

Among NFL fans surveyed, 18% say their loyalty highly or extremely influenced their search for specific home features, such as a covered porch or built-in bar, 20% say the same about house layout or rooms, such as a basement or theater room, and 18% say the same about specific locations, such as a certain city or neighborhood near a stadium.

The survey found that community plays a large role in football fandom. Among NFL fans, 66% say that having people in their community or neighborhood support the same team makes watching football feel more fun, 61% say supporting a local team was important to them, and 55% say they feel connected to their community and neighborhood because they support the same team.

“When it comes to NFL fans and the teams they support, a connection to their community is a major driving force and influence,” said Charlie Lankston, executive editor and real estate expert at Realtor.com®. “Creating a home is about so much more than buying a physical property—it is also about the community that we build around it. Our new survey shows that football and NFL play a vital role in how we see that community. And that team loyalty is actually less important to most people than their home and the people who surround it. So much so that nearly one-third of NFL fans would actually change teams if they moved to a new city or state.”

Team Loyalty
While good team performance is the reason most cited by NFL fans for supporting a team (44%), personal reasons matter almost as much. Among fans, 40% say the team represents the city or state where they were raised, 39% say their team loyalty was a family tradition, 38% say the team represents the city or state where they currently live, and 29% say their friends or community follow the team.

Where Are They Watching?
The survey found that most NFL fans watch games at home. Of all followers, 67% report watching games in a shared or multipurpose room, such as a family room or living room, while 29% say they have a dedicated space for watching games, such as a finished basement or theater room and just 4% say they don’t watch games at home.

Super Fans
About 1 in 5 who follow the NFL are what’s considered super fans, and their fandom was more influential in their home search. When asked to think back to the last time they searched for a home, 20% of respondents were either extremely or highly influenced to look for a home with a layout or rooms conducive to watching football, like a home theater, basement or multi-purpose room, 18% were extremely or highly influenced to look for a home with specific home viewing features such as covered porch or built in bar, and 18% were extremely or highly influenced to look for a home within a specific location, for example neighborhoods close to stadiums or specific cities.

Generational Loyalty
Gen Z and millennial followers were the most likely to say that their fandom influenced their home search. Some 28% of Gen Z followers say they were highly influenced to search for specific home features, while 29% of millennials say they were highly influenced to look for specific house layouts or rooms.

Methodology
This poll was conducted on August 22-24, 2024, among a national sample of 2,201 adults ages 18+. The survey was conducted online, and the data was weighted to approximate a target sample of adults in the U.S. based on gender, educational attainment, age, race and region.

About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today’s on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com®.

Media Contact
Mallory Micetich, press@realtor.com

 

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SOURCE Realtor.com

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Allelica Presents New Method to Model Human Genetic Diversity Without Labels, Driving Increased Equity in Precision Medicine

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DENVER, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Last week at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) Annual Meeting, the leaders in clinical polygenic risk score (PRS) analysis at Allelica unveiled a groundbreaking approach to modeling human genetic diversity without predefined labels. This new method called “8 Billion” generates 8 billion unique risk models,  to represent each individual on the planet, marking a significant milestone in the company’s mission to make PRS more accurate and predictive across all varieties of human genetic diversity. Allelica’s innovative method is a big step forward to transform the traditional, restrictive “bucket” approach to genetic ancestry, which has long fallen short in capturing the genuine diversity of human beings.

“Up until now, risk models in genomics have relied on broad categories that overlook the specific and unique genetic makeup of each individual,” said Giordano Bottà, CEO of Allelica. “This innovation is a transformative step towards reducing disparities in healthcare, enabling a more precise and equitable approach to precision medicine.”

Current methods force each individual into a bucket defined by continental borders, even when the individual is admixed or originates from a place that does not clearly align with these constructed geographies. As a result, these misaligned individuals can experience exacerbated health inequities. The 8 Billion model’s 81% improvement in estimated risk probability (Brier score) compared to the bucket approach means far more accurate predictions, leading to 24% fewer misclassifications (as measured by net reclassification improvement) and more reliably identifying patients who need intervention as a result.

By further enhancing the predictive power of Allelica’s multi-ancestry PRS for individuals of diverse backgrounds, Allelica’s method once again raises the standard for addressing human genetic diversity in the implementation of polygenic risk scores. As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to advancing equity in healthcare, the 8 Billion method will be integrated with existing products, in parallel with continuous improvements to risk models for diverse populations.

The method was presented by Allelica scientists at the ASHG Meeting with a poster titled 8 billion risk models: modelling human genetic diversity without labels improves risk model performance. The work generated significant interest among attendees, leading to numerous requests for additional presentation sessions. The presentation also covered how Allelica scientists are integrating the new method into the company’s proprietary clinical PRS tests and software, allowing third-party labs to develop their own clinical PRS tests. The ability to model individual genetic diversity through scalable solutions like Allelica’s software tools opens up vast potential for improved health outcomes, particularly for populations historically underrepresented in genomic research. A pending patent application protects the 8 Billion method, reinforcing Allelica’s position at the forefront of precision medicine innovation.

In addition to this presentation, Allelica showcased two other major findings in presentations titled: Integrating APOE haplotype and PRS to improve Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk prediction and a new method to identify drug targets using multi-omics and causal inference: Refraction of Causal Analyses upon Proteomics Data Into Bands of Efficacious Drug Targets. These results further highlight Allelica’s dedication to addressing complex genetic risk factors in healthcare and working to improve preventive medicine for all.

About Allelica
Allelica is the leading platform enabling precision medicine for common disease. Allelica’s technology combines world-class datasets with the most advanced algorithms to build polygenic risk scores (PRS) with the highest predictive power for estimating disease risk in diverse populations. Allelica’s tools translate the enormous potential of genomic data into practical tools that physicians can use to identify individuals with a high genetic susceptibility for life-threatening diseases. Through the incorporation of genetics into disease risk assessments, Allelica is building the foundations of precision medicine for common disease. To learn more, visit allelica.com.

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SOURCE Allelica, Inc.

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Zeplyn Raises $3M Seed Funding for AI Assistant to Streamline Wealth Management Workflows and Improve Client Experience

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Zeplyn saves financial advisors an average of 10-12 hours per week while meeting security and compliance standards for financial industry

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Zeplyn, the AI assistant for financial advisors, today announced a $3M seed funding round. Led by Leo Capital, with additional investing from Converge and angel investors, the funding will be used to support the company as it rebuilds wealth management from an AI-native perspective.

Founded by two former Google engineers, Zeplyn reduces the administrative burden placed on financial advisors, improving the advisor-client experience by automating time-consuming tasks and making client intelligence more accessible. The company’s AI Meeting Assistant, designed specifically for financial advisors and wealth management firms, takes unstructured conversational data and turns it into highly accurate notes. Streamlining meeting prep, note-taking and post-meeting workflows while fulfilling compliance requirements, Zeplyn saves financial advisors an average of 10-12 hours per week.

“60% of client data gathering happens over meetings, yet less than 25% of client meetings are properly documented, because manual note-taking is time-consuming, distracting and prone to errors,” said Era Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Zeplyn. “Financial Advisors spend anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half per client meeting consolidating their notes and doing follow-up work. Many bring an associate advisor to these meetings just to take notes. Despite spending several manual hours, incomplete client data still remains a challenge as details fall through the cracks.”

“Zeplyn enables financial advisors to streamline meeting admin from prep to follow-up, automatically updating client records while protecting PII,” added Divam Jain, CTO and Co-Founder of Zeplyn. “It is built to meet the unique workflow requirements and security and compliance standards of the wealth management community.”

Zeplyn provides a time-saving toolkit for advisory firms to prep for client meetings, accurately capture financial data and key client insights, and seamlessly trigger follow-up tasks – which, in turn, improves the client experience.

“Zeplyn enhances our ability to deliver personalization at scale by providing a time dividend advisors can reinvest in client service and growth,” said Trevor Chuna, CTO at Sequoia Financial Group. “Multiple team members have reported time savings of 30-60 mins+ on meeting follow-up activities. We selected Zeplyn not just for their omni-channel note-taking capabilities, but also for their long-term vision in supporting the over-all client meeting process—the most frequent and expensive activity of an RIA.”

Zeplyn is a platform-agnostic solution that can be used across virtual and in-person meetings, as well as for dictations. It has multiple out-of-the-box integrations, including Salesforce, and wealth-specific CRMs such as Redtail, and Wealthbox, enabling it to plug into existing infrastructure and integrate with the advisor technology stack.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Era and Divam as they build Zeplyn. Zeplyn brings the Wealth Management industry into the age of AI, enabling better outcomes for advisors, RIAs, wealth management firms and ultimately, investors,” said Shwetank Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Leo Capital. “Zeplyn allows advisors to spend more time advising and elevating their client experience.”

“Zeplyn is bringing AI into a real-world context and having a real-world impact,” said Nilanjana Bhowmik, Converge Co-Founder and General Partner. “Unstructured data has long presented problems for the heavily regulated financial world, providing limited or time-consuming insights and posing potential compliance issues. But with Zeplyn, financial advisors can quickly extract accurate information while staying in compliance.”

About Zeplyn
Built by former Google engineers, Zeplyn is an AI platform purpose-built for wealth management firms to streamline advisor workflows, cutting down manual work by more than 90%. Zeplyn is rebuilding wealth management from an AI-native perspective, automating time-consuming admin tasks and creating space for foundational work and relationship-building.

Co-Founders Divam Jain and Era Jain met at Google, where they spent a decade building AI before leaving to start Zeplyn. Passionate about the potential of AI to transform workflows and empower professionals, Era and Divam realized that AI could benefit the relationship-driven and largely still manual Wealth Management industry.

Zeplyn’s flagship product, Zeplyn Meeting Assistant, streamlines the time-consuming admin tasks of meeting preparation, note-taking, client follow-ups, managing tasks/workflows, and updating CRMs. With Zeplyn, advisors save 10-12 hours per week and invest time where they earn the highest return: building client relationships.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zeplyn-raises-3m-seed-funding-for-ai-assistant-to-streamline-wealth-management-workflows-and-improve-client-experience-302303666.html

SOURCE Deep Insights Ai Inc

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