Vigour's technology facilitates a multiscreen viewing experience, transcending the one-screen model to yield simultaneous content consumption across devices. Given Vigour's functionality, it's no surprise they ultimately partnered and launched with a content provider, though allying with one of the biggest media companies in the world makes their story a triumphant one and of particular interest to European startups looking to prosper and enter a global market.
To better understand the cultivation, development, and implications of such a partnership, StartupJuncture partner FuelUp chatted with Ramon Duivenvoorden, CEO of Vigour, to get a firsthand account of what it means to enter the big leagues.
You've been doing this for a bit now, are you now at the stage of scaling up?
The sales cycle within our industry is huge but once you start growing, you just grow. We have the first live product out now, so there's lot of stuff going on. We are not only allying with a customer, but at the same time with a huge group of people in multiple European countries.
Is the partnership with MTV a global one or EU-based?
It's hard to say in the sense now we're now live in a group of countries in EU, but we are planning to eventually roll out to other territories in other parts of the world.
So is Viacom your first customer or your first big customer?
I wouldn't say they're our first customer, but they are the first real commercial roll-out of our technology. We've worked with other customers on smaller non-commercial or internal projects, but this the first time our product is really hitting the market in the way we intended it.
This collaboration is being called a 'partnership' but is this really an unique and exclusive kind of partnership or is this just a big multi-market deal?
When you work with big companies like this, there's a huge investment in the relationship. Obviously we are a very small company compared to Viacom. But on the other hand, they invest money in us, a lot of time, and resources as well. And they have a large group of people using our products, so any kind of multi market roll-out or customer relationship easily becomes a partnership in a certain way.
So how long did it take from initial pitching to having a partnership and moving forward?
I think it took more than a year. It's always hard to say from when you first pitched to the following meeting and the moment we went live, but that was probably about a year and a half. And then from when we kind of finished the pilot to when we pushed the product live, that was a little bit more than a year, I guess.
Did you already have a prototype in the market when you first started talking with MTV?
No, actually, we have a self-built prototype. It was not in the market at all. We got introduced to Viacom through a shared connection with one of their directors. It's all about finding the right people that you have chemistry with. When we showed it to the person who at that time was responsible for their previous product, he instantly got it and he's like, "wow, let's do something." It's all about building a relationship with people.
Was that kind of the intention, when you first started building it out, that you would launch it with your first partner or were you first thinking introduce it market by market?
We always had a clear strategy, knowing that we have a technology that is very unique in the market and that there was a lot of interest. We were very small, but we knew that when we would implement the technology, we would want it to do it with the partner that would provide the right weight, right story and the right signal to the industry. We could have done it with a smaller local European player, but nobody would really care about it.
One of the things you quickly learn is that everybody knows that working with Viacom makes what you're doing interesting because they are one of the biggest media companies in the world. We always knew that we would not be able to scale from day 1, but working with one of best partners in the industry helps you to really get the tech right, the story right, and test on a very large scale before rolling out industry wide.
How long have you guys been working on this technology? Can you elaborate on the journey to develop it?
We first started building the foundation for the technology during an innovation project with KPN, which is the biggest operator in the Netherlands. It's like this typical story of couple of guys somewhere in the back room just being asked to join a project. We spent a couples of months building a technology that would cross different screens in households. Media consumption has been shifting gradually and what we were doing for KPN was from, technical point of view, helping them create an interface that would cross from the TV to a tablet to a phone to a computer, while maintaining the traditional way of how people view content on a TV screen, just across any screen they choose. Throughout that process we developed our own tech to it – it was a couple of years ago, so that was still pretty hard. We became intrigued by not only the idea of content on multiple screens but actually using the unique capabilities of every screen in a way that would bring in a whole additional group of people.
We wanted to keep initially developing that within KPN but we got to a point where some complications arose. We became aware that by the time that the product would be out, all of the most interesting stuff could have been all taken out of it. So we took our technology to Berlin where we joined Startupbootcamp. From there we raised the investment with Deutsche Telekom and Dutch VC fund Linden Mobile and then things just happened. It was 2013 when we raised a round of €500.000 which at that point was like $650.0000. We used that funding to build our product layer and eventually landed pretty well, I would say.
How would you compare your experience with KPN to your experience with MTV?
The main difference is that when we were with KPN, we were working for them. When they hired us, they just saw us as a development company of a couple of guys who were really good at writing code, and by the time that Viacom had interacted with us, we were one of the biggest startups coming out of Startupbootcamp. We had just raised half a million euros from Deutsche Telekom, which is obviously one of the biggest name in the European media landscape, and we had a very clear idea of what the product was going to be and we sounded like we already had it, even though it wasn't necessarily true.
In that sense, by the time we started working with Viacom, we were still a small company and they were a huge company and we were in the position where we could really make them believe that working with us would benefit them by being the first mover in technology. We positioned it as, "we're happy to give you the opportunity to be the first one in the industry to start this kind of stuff." The core of business is storytelling in the sense that you need a good product, a good team–and we had all of that–but most of all, you need a good story, and by the time we got into Viacom, we had great story, I think, even if we didn't have everything. They kind of had a feeling that, "this is a big opportunity for us as well." Once you get the partnership based on that, then it's up to you to get the job done.
Were you worried about getting your investment from Deutsche Telekom knowing that your product was meant for media, that you would have some kind of exclusivity?
No, honestly, they have been huge benefit for us because Deutsche Telekom, at least in Europe, is one of the biggest players. The fact that Deutsche Telekom was saying that this technology is so interesting that they want to have a long term stake in it, that's your best sales argument. But also coming back to having a good sales story, we have a couple of really top people from the industry investing some money as angels as well. You try to do something really disruptive and you are trying to sell it to big companies and one thing that is most important for everyone is trust. And having a name like Deutsche Telekom behind your company and having top people from the industry saying "this is cool" creates momentum. Working with a small company is always a big risk and having the right network is the best way to take the risk away.
I mean, when Viacom bought our product, we didn't have the product finished, and when they invested a serious amount of money, there was no way that they could be sure that we could actually live up to our promises. And this kind of trust, based on "these guys have received investment from one of the biggest media companies in the world and they have a lot of top guys from the industry invested in the company," that helps them want to do it.
From first getting it off the ground and getting the agreement, what are some of your learnings? What would you say to a startup looking into what you've done and tell them to focus on?
One of the biggest learnings is that if you want to get things done with big companies, you need to understand how it works, and it takes time, much more time than you think. So one the biggest mistakes that you make is thinking that if we all agree that it's a good idea, why can't we get it done tomorrow? It's just not the way it works. You have to go through a certain way of doing things, things that take much longer than you want. And you really need to start to understand the internal politics to start getting things done.
Also it be quite frustrating being a small company, but once you understand it better, you can be more realistic about what can be done and if you understand it and you've shown that you understand it to your customers, they will also have more trust in you.
The other big learning is to find a sponsor within a company that you work with. It's all about personal relationships, so finding the right sponsor – someone who really believes in you and who you can also make successful – can create a very powerful alliance within the larger company. After all, a large company is not a single entity, it's just a huge group of people. It might be that you could have come in through a different way, but you might never have got anything done if you didn't find the right person that has leverage within the company and the decision-making power to actually get something done. Without that, you wouldn't get far.
What has been the hardest thing to deal with in this entire process?
Things end up taking longer than you want and while you do that first integration you learn a lot. You just need to be patient and you need to stay aware of timing and push for the right timing. Because if you wait too long, shifts might happen within the organisation that might actually end up with your product never going live just because people change roles, etc. So you have to know what's going on in the organisation, who are carrying out the project, what might be delaying the project and how we can play along with that. That is very important.
If this partnership never happened, where do you think you would be right now?
It's hard to say, but if this partnership had not happened, we might have been in another partnership right now. I think that for us it's always been really clear that we're following the strategy that we always meant to by entering the industry with a bang. If you do something very disruptive, you have to make sure that from the first moment you get it introduced in the market, it should be approved at certain level. I truly also really believe in luck. It's the same with getting your investment. It's a lot of hard work and a bit of luck to run into the right people at the right moment. Maybe we would be bankrupt right now, or maybe we would have been better off. It's always hard to tell.
What is your general aspiration for the company? Working with other major media companies or are you looking to eventually sell?
For me, it's hard to say. I'm a true believer of the companies that are being created today with the aspiration of being sold is a very bad approach if you want to create long term value. The thing that really drives us is that we have an opportunity to work with the biggest companies on Earth and change their product offerings to millions of people. So you have this kind of playground where you actually have an impact on how millions of people do their day-to-day tasks and honestly for me now I'm just so focused on the potential that we have on the market and the interest that we have.
I believe that if you are able to make changes for the end users and you make them on a big scale, then either you sell your company or you become huge and whatever happens, happens, but we definitely don't have the strategy to be acquired anytime soon.


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He was shot while fixing the satellite dish on his home in a remote part of Anglesey, police say.
Campaigner Keith Cass died on Thursday night after his cancer spread to his bones.
A clash between comedian Volodymyr Zelensky and the outgoing president is eagerly awaited.
Meet the five contenders for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2019 award.
We look at how hot the world has got and what can we can all do to tackle global warming.
Why are we taking so long to tackle issue?
Leading climate scientists say progress is way off track, so what needs to happen to speed things up?
Food calculator: What's your diet's carbon footprint?
Check the environmental impact of what you eat and drink.
The Leverton Community Information Portal not only gives you instant access to live national and local news but local information, services and reviews around Leverton. There is also everything 'you didn't know you didn't know'!
Tip! - Try entering your own postcode into the Your Location box (top right) and all the local links currently set for PE22 0AA will relocate for you anywhere in the UK. This can be especially useful for when you are travelling or on holiday! Crucially, although you are on the NEWS profile at the moment, you could also use the White Profile buttons to choose another profile like Leverton Area or Sport or Shopping or Faith ...... Whatever you choose leverton 2day will look different and current everyday!
The cash machine was ripped out of the wall using a telehandler digger which was left at the scene in Caistor, Lincolnshire.
The Church of England is investigating a safeguarding matter reported in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Christie's is holding a sale to mark the 40th anniversary of her first election as Prime Minister.
The Very Rev Christine Wilson has left "for personal reasons", a Lincoln Cathedral spokesperson says.
The planning fee will be returned to Scunthorpe United by North Lincolnshire Council.
Jordan O'Brien died in hospital after an alleged attack at a house in Lincolnshire.
A House of Lords report says if you can solve the problem in Blackpool "you can solve it anywhere".
Council tax increase: Why am I paying the police so much?
A bigger portion of your council tax will go to police this year. But why? And what is it used for?
Live coverage of Friday's League Two game between Carlisle United and Lincoln City.
Lincoln City boss Danny Cowley praises the Imps' promotion to League One, calling it a 'lifetime's work'.


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US chipmakers are lobbying to reverse Huawei ban
By Sead Fadilpašić 2019-06-18T10:00:15Z
Huawei is not the only one losing out after blacklisting.
(Image credit: Image Credit: J.Lekavicius / Shutterstock)
Some of the largest American technology companies are lobbying for the government to ease up on its Huawei ban.
According to Reuters late last month, executives from Intel and Xilinx met with the US Commerce Department to discuss the Huawei ban, with Qualcomm also later joining.
However the talks may not be just a professional courtesy, as plenty of American companies have a lot to lose if they're barred from doing business with the Chinese.
The problem for American companies is that they sell a lot of parts – mostly smartphones and servers hardware which, as these companies claim, can't present a security threat in the same way 5G infrastructure can.
US companies apparently earned $11 billion from selling to Huawei in the last year alone.
"For technologies that do not relate to national security, it seems they shouldn't fall within the scope of the order. And we have conveyed this perspective to government," said Jimmy Goodrich, vice president of global policy at SIA, the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Google, allegedly, was also interested in the US government lifting, or at least easing, the ban.
However, the fruits of this effort are yet to be seen.
A Commerce Department representative said the agency "routinely responds to inquiries from companies regarding the scope of regulatory requirements," adding that the conversations do not "influence law enforcement actions."
Huawei was blacklisted by the US after months of discussion whether or not the company's 5G infrastructure it builds is a threat to national security, or not.
While the US claims Huawei's 5G network could be used by the Chinese government for espionage, Huawei argues that all of that is basically nonsense and that there is no proof.
Image Credit: J.Lekavicius / Shutterstock
chipmaker
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Dimension Angle3Pt tool adds a angular dimension to a View. The dimension may be specified by selecting three Vertices on a View. Note that the second of the three Vertices is the apex of the angle. The Angle3Pt will initially be the projected angle (ie as shown on the drawing), but this may be changed to the actual 3D angle using the Link Dimension tool.
Select the points or edge which define your measurement.
A dimension will be added to the View. The dimension may be dragged to the desired position.
Dimension objects are vulnerable to "topological naming" issues. See the information in the TechDraw Dimension Length tool for more information.
This object has the same properties as the TechDraw Dimension Length tool. See that tool for details.
See also: TechDraw API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.
This page was last edited on 22 February 2019, at 16:38.


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text:
TPG throws weight behind global green energy strategy of SMi-Enerpro
By Kirk Falconer
DO NOT REUSE; SOURCE IS SHUTTERSTOCK
Private equity powerhouse TPG Capital is backing the global expansion plans of a Montréal-based specialist in energy efficiency.
SMi-Enerpro, a division of The SM Group International (SMi), provides customized approaches for lowering energy consumption in the real estate sector. Deploying a proprietary toolbox of more than 50 technologies aimed at retrofitting building energy systems and optimizing their thermodynamic equations, it has for more than 20 years helped clients achieve cost savings while simultaneously reducing carbon footprints.
SMi-Enerpro's goal, in short, is smarter, greener buildings that get more out of energy dollars.
According to SMi founding president Bernard Poulin, the company's energy efficiency platform has proved effective with a wide variety of building structures, from high-rise office towers, hotels and cruise ships to universities, data centres, hospitals and museum complexes.
In fact, SMi-Enerpro has to date realized average energy and cost savings of 40 percent per project. This track record has translated into steadily rising revenue streams for the business. For example, in 2013, annual revenues showed a 36 percent year-over-year gain.
"SMi-Enerpro is selling green for a profit," Poulin told peHUB Canada.
Not surprisingly then, SMi-Enerpro perceived the possibility of growth beyond its existing base of mostly North American and European customers. However, doing this required a partner that could provide upfront risk capital, as well as networks and operational expertise.
Poulin said the company spent "a year of hunting" for the right partner among Canadian and U.S. financial institutions and investor groups. Finally, in July 2013, it had a favourable encounter with TPG Special Situations Partners (TSSP), the investment arm of the US$66 billion, Fort Worth, Texas-based PE firm TPG.
While TSSP is primarily focused on special situations and opportunistic credit investments, U.S.-domiciled mid-market loans and collateralized loan obligations, the group's investment pros took a shine to SMi-Enerpro.
That was because of the size of the market opportunity. Data compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme show that buildings account for up to 40 percent of the world's energy use and produce up to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. They are also prodigious users of the world's water supply. Increasingly, the commercial real estate industry is seizing on these issues, concerned about the inefficiencies of existing building stock, which may lead to higher operating costs in the long run.
TSSP agreed last December to enter into a joint venture with SMi-Enerpro. Announced this past spring, the deal included a significant investment by TSSP that launched the company on a multi-year international strategy of undertaking new energy efficiency projects, scaling its platform and conducting sales and marketing activity in new markets.
Jean-Simon Venne, vice president of SMi, said related travels have taken the company to "all parts of the globe." Recent destinations have included Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where an agreement was signed with an important new customer in the region's construction and infrastructure sector.
Venne said that part of the opportunity in the SMi-Enerpro-TSSP joint venture is to move the business from a strictly project-to-project operational model to "master deals" with major clients that possess substantial and diversified real estate assets.
Indeed, TSSP is providing invaluable assistance in this regard, said Poulin. Along with funding, it is fostering strategic introductions between SMi-Enerpro and TPG's partners in the institutional investor community who "manage huge real estate portfolios."
Poulin and Venne said that at the conclusion of the SMi-Enerpro-TSSP joint venture, the next step for the privately held company might well be an initial public offering.
The SM Group International, which is focussed on the delivery of integrated scientific, engineering and IT solutions, was founded by Poulin in 1972. The company has more than 1,600 professionals and specialists active in projects valued at $15 billion in more than 30 countries.
SMi-Enerpro was created as a result of an acquisition completed in 2009.
Photos of green urban buildings courtesy of Shutterstock
Sonder to open second HQ in Canada with close of $275 mln Series D
Northleaf promotes nine across global private markets teams
Will 2019 be a record exit year in the Canadian startup landscape?
by Jim Orlando
OTPP-owned Exal to form Trivium Packaging with Ardagh
Aspen Technology to buy venture-backed Mnubo for $102 mln
BDC, Desjardins invest $3.4 mln in acquisition of Pit Caribou
BC Partners and OTPP-backed GFL acquires Soil Safe
Hifi Engineering raises $10 mln from BDC Capital, strategic investor


text:
townhouse development gets thumbs up in los alamos
More than forty townhouses could see construction in Los Alamos on some 4.5 acres of land on the north side of the town.
The townhouses, to be built in the 3900 and 4000 block of Arkansas Avenue in a part of the town populated with mostly one- and two-story homes, will all be four stories in height.
Member of the Los Alamos Planning and Zoning Commission have given a green light to the project, which is now on its way to the Los Alamos County Council for final approval.
Site for the project is known locally as the Black Hole, a one-story 17,000 square foot surplus shop that once sold recycled and used equipment from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Black Hole soon became a gathering place and community center for opponents of nuclear proliferation.
Although the shop will be demolished to make way for the project, the developer has agreed to put up a placard commemorating the history of the Black Hole.
Before the site was known as the Black Hole, it was for several years the home to a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
The townhouse development is being jointly undertaken by the T2 Development and the urban design firm Consensus Planning, both based in Albuquerque.
G. Donald Dudley Architect LTD, also of Albuquerque, is the project's architect.


Fairfest Media will arrange the immigration paperwork required for the winning candidate and cover the associated costs. You may choose to join Fairfest Media in either Mumbai, Bangalore or New Delhi, India.
Develop and source new business, as well as identify and convert leads.
Personally sell to existing and prospective exhibitors to hit and exceed sales targets.
Perform client account management for your own territory.
Work on-site during, and running up to shows.
Recommend and implement agreed sales strategies.
Deliver agreed revenue targets by value and volume.
Lead and inspire direct reports to improved performance.
You have a proven background in B2B sales.
You have excellent client relationships and excel at generating new business.
You are enthusiastic and committed.
You are confident and target-driven.
You are resourceful and have an interest in understanding the sectors when seeking out new business.
You have the potential to manage a portfolio of shows.
You are willing to relocate to Mumbai, Bangalore or New Delhi, India.
Reporting to the sales director, your role will be to ensure that revenue targets for show stand and sponsorship sales are achieved and exceeded where possible, through both personal sales and team sales efforts. You will also be expected to identify and close cross-selling opportunities like sponsorship and branding offerings.
Fairfest is India's leading trade show and events organiser.
Fairfest organises the reputed TTF (ttfotm.com) and OTM (otm.co.in) international Travel Fairs as well as Municipalika, a leading event on municipal management and sustainability. Fairfest also publishes B2B publications Travel News Digest (TND), collating the world's relevant news for the travel trade fraternity, and Urban News Digest (UND), summarising top news from the urban sector. It recently launched Business and Luxury Travel Market (BLTM), India's definitive show on luxury and business travel.


text:
EXCLUSIVE: How hot favourite Hiddink has been holding out for Chelsea job
The glint in the eye of Chelsea target Guus Hiddink said it all as he reminisced on his "beautiful time" at Stamford Bridge - and that was nearly seven weeks ago when Jose Mourinho still had a chance to turn things around.
By David Lewis
Hiddink on brink of accepting Chelsea job
In an exclusive interview with The World Game, the 69 year-old Dutchman was quizzed over his three-month stint in 2009, where he led Chelsea to FA Cup triumph, and whether he would be interested in a second coming should Mourinho be sacked.
Though reluctant to speculate on a job which, at that stage, was not available, Hiddink fondly recalled his London posting and said: "I had beautiful time at Chelsea with qualifying for the Champions League and winning the FA Cup.
"It was a short time but there were so many things look back on ... I enjoyed very much working with those guys, these are memories you always cherish."
Six candidates to replace Mourinho at Chelsea
Chelsea part company with Mourinho
On leaving the Bridge to resume his main job with the Russia national team, Hiddink departed with a ringing endorsement from the Chelsea faithful while the appreciative players bestowed upon him an engraved watch with the inscription "please don't go".
A return to west London for the man who forever has a place in the hearts of Socceroos' fans after leading Australia to the knockout stage of the 2006 FIFA Word Cup, appears all but a formality now, with Hiddink revealing his "hunger" to coach again.
Sitting in his lavish home in the heart of Amsterdam, surrounded by memorabilia including a signed shirt from his time at Chelsea, Hiddink refused to let the sour after-taste of his exit from a faltering and flailing Netherlands national team in June dilute his enthusiasm for what appears more a vocation than a job.
"The love of football is the main thing … it's still my passion and it's something that will always be a part of me. That's why you continue and don't want to stop," Hiddink said.
"I've had some possibilities to consider (since June) but after leaving the Dutch team I have just wanted some time off to reflect and refresh."
One of those possibilities was to coach Saudi Arabia, but Hiddink, well aware of Mourinho's precarious position, even then, seemed content to wait, secure in the knowledge that the Blues overlord Roman Abramovich, who feels indebted to him for 2009, was only a phone call away.
"I don't know what the future holds. It depends on the club or the country and it's difficult to predict but I must feel the challenge to take another position," he said.
Asked about Chelsea, he replied: "That's an if question and I don't answer those."
With Mourinho leaving the ailing champions just one point off the drop zone after losing nine of their 16 Premier League matches this season, Hiddink's second spell will be far more fraught than the first.
A renowned man manager, he will be well placed to channel the anger the squad felt towards the posturing and grandstanding Mourinho into the more positive pursuit of much needed points.
There are those who think Hiddink belongs to a bygone era, with former Netherlands international Ronald de Boer calling hs methods "outdated" after his departure from the Oranje just five games into their doomed campaign for qualify for Euro 2016.
But Abramovich has sepia-tinted recollections of Hiddink's galvanising and unifying influence six years ago, and seems convinced he's the right man for a rescue mission.
Ironically, Hiddink's long-time partner, Liesbeth Pinas, had urged him not to leave London in 2009 after initially asking him not to accept the Chelsea job first time around.
"Of all the cities I have worked in around the world, she says London as the best and most exciting," Hiddink said. "I think she would go back there tomorrow."
It looks, then, like Hiddink won't be the only one in his household happy to head back to the Bridge if, as expected, he is anointed Chelsea's caretaker manager until the end of the season.


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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 11, 2014) - B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO)(NYSE MKT:BTG)(NAMIBIAN:B2G) ("B2Gold" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the first gold pour has occurred, ahead of schedule, at the Otjikoto Gold Mine ("Otjikoto") located in Namibia. Otjikoto is only the second Namibian gold mine and has made history as one of the fastest-moving mine construction projects in the country.
B2Gold received the Otjikoto Mining Licence in December 2012, and bush-clearing started in January 2013. With the ground-breaking ceremony held on 26th April, 2013, construction of the Otjikoto Gold Mine was officially underway. Since that time the team has placed over 1.3 million cubic meters of earth fill, over 20,000 cubic meters of concrete, and has worked over 3 million man-hours. Namibian workers and artisans with skills in concrete, welding, brick-laying, pipefitting, electrical, carpentry, surveying, plumbing, and many others worked with Namibian and expatriate managers and trainers to develop their skills and work safely and productively. The nations represented in the construction crew include Namibia, South Africa, Canada, United States, Russia, Ghana, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Philippines, Nicaragua and more. As a result of their incredible work B2Gold now has a world-class mine and processing facility in Namibia.
B2Gold's wholly owned subsidiary, B2Gold Namibia, entered a transition phase several months ago from construction to steady state. The focus of this plan is the end of construction and preparation for production and operations - with a ramp down in construction activities and manpower until the end of the year, and ramp up for steady state operations. At this stage, it is foreseen that as at January 2015, B2Gold Namibia will employ a total of 540 employees.
Otjikoto achieved a substantial and significant overall safety performance during 2013 and 2014. During the construction phase of the project a number of significant safety achievements were recorded: there were no fatal incidents, there was a year-to-date Lost Time Accident Frequency rate of only 0.08 (project-to-date 0.16), and over 2 million man hours were worked without a single Lost Time Injury (reached on the 29th of June 2014).
The Otjikoto Mine is located approximately 300 kilometres north of Windhoek between Otjiwarongo and Otavi and is owned 90% by B2Gold and 10% by EVI Mining (Proprietary) Ltd, a Namibian empowerment group.
For 2015, Otjikoto is expected to produce between 140,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold at a cash operating cost of approximately US$500 per ounce and all in sustaining costs of approximately $700 per ounce. Once the planned mill expansion is completed in the third quarter of 2015, the Company expects annual gold production to increase to approximately 200,000 ounces in 2016 and 2017. Otjikoto's gold production will also be enhanced by the development of its Wolfshag zone, located adjacent to the main Otjikoto pit. The Company expects to complete an updated indicated resource study in the first quarter of 2015 along with an updated mine plan by the end of 2015 which will evaluate open pit and underground mining at Wolfshag.
B2Gold is a Vancouver based gold producer with four mines around the world; El Limon and La Libertad in Nicaragua, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The Company is projecting to produce approximately 540,000 ounces of gold in 2015 and approximately 610,000 ounces of gold in 2017.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


How much of customer experience is having the foresight to know what those individuals might like, versus asking them? In Episode 5 of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with Tammy Marshall about the importance of asking your customers questions, how consistency plays a role in engagement, but how the unexpected adds extra value.
Tammy Marshall is the founder of The B Hive, an innovation and change management consultancy that specialises in the hospitality and tourism sectors. The group launched in December 2016 and focuses on the business transformation required as the types of experiences customers expect ramps up.
With more than 25 years' experience, she has led iconic brands and has a proven track record in establishing strategically aligned brands, cultures and operating models that put both the company's customers and its people centre stage.


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TechBytes with Christopher Childs, Managing Director, UK, TabMo
Sudipto Ghosh April 12, 2018, 4:32 pm April 13, 2018
Christopher Childs
Managing Director, UK, TabMo
As GDPR approaches, we continue to speak to global marketing technology teams, data vendors, and business leaders to understand how the new regulations could impact their organizations. In this TechByte, Christopher Childs, MD, TabMo (UK) tells us how GDPR could eventually benefit customers, and why you should move closer to your Data Partners.
Tell us about your role at TabMo and the team/technology you handle.
TabMo was founded in France in 2013. I was hired in September 2015 to help set up, launch and then run the UK office. Today our growing team in London is currently around 14 people, which includes sales and platform support as well as our own local creative solutions team; creative support remains at the forefront of everything we do, ensuring our customers are successful as possible with their mobile advertising.
To summarize, TabMo provides programmatic and creative solutions for mobile advertising. We have built our own next-generation DSP (demand side platform), called Hawk, which is the first to combine creative modules with programmatic targeting technology. The platform enables users to apply hyper-local geo-targeting, plus multiple layers of device targeting and direct integrations with multiple data partners. The creative modules allow users to adapt creatives for the mobile screen and to reflect the targeting that has been applied, whilst our creative solutions experts provide ongoing support. We offer a fully transparent and disclosed solution providing full access to our platform whether clients work with us on a self-serve or managed basis.
What is the state of Programmatic Advertising technology in Europe?
Programmatic advertising technology has come a long way over the past couple of years. Header bidding has certainly made programmatic more efficient for publishers, for example, whilst the introduction of ads.txt is a great start in cleaning up the marketplace and combatting ad fraud. There is, however, a long way to go.
In the UK we're now seeing a huge number of mobile-specific advertising campaigns being activated programmatically, but these are still often bought via IOs (insertion orders) and on fixed CPMs. It seems that when it comes to self-serve a great deal of investment still goes through a small number of players, these often being large multi-channel platforms. Whilst multi-channel strategies are essential, these platforms don't necessarily offer the most advanced solutions for mobile. TabMo is dedicated to bringing mobile-first technologies to advertisers and helping them to leverage the capabilities of mobile, which is unique and needs its own strategy, both in terms of creative and also targeting.
How does the European market for marketing and advertising technologies compare against the Americas?
The US is certainly the most competitive in terms of the number of players, But although a large number of DSPs start their lives there, this doesn't necessarily mean they're best placed for European markets where the landscape is significantly different, and also varies by individual country (with the UK often having more similarities with the US than it does with European territories such as France and Germany).
The level of investment in the US is huge and it's often hard for businesses moving over from Europe to take a major share of that market. Having said that we are beginning to see more European tech companies succeed in the US.
Data and search intelligence specialist, Captify, for example, has built a significant presence, as has video advertising company (and TabMo partner), Teads.
At TabMo, how do you verify the authenticity of data? How does it fit impact your self-serving programmatic platform?
TabMo is data agnostic and we provide audience solutions from a number of third party data partners. We go through significant testing with any partner to ensure that the data we use is ethical, compliant (particularly in terms of GDPR) and accurate.
The data we do ingest comes either from the bid stream (location and device level data) or is campaign data (ie. post impression, click, view etc) All data passed to us via the bid stream is closely analysed to ensure it is accurate and non fraudulent. Any abnormal patterns in the data are automatically flagged and if it is deemed to be suspicious then that device is blocked before an ad is ever served.
How would you define Personalization- Segmentation- Optimization, and Automation at various stages of Customer Lifecycle?
Personalisation is about making sure mobile ad creatives are relevant to both the target audience, and the location in which they are viewing them. Creative dynamic optimisation for example enables creatives to be adapted in real time depending on the location of the device serving the ad. This is extremely powerful for retailers for example, who may have fluctuating prices for different regions of the country.
Segmentation focuses on building audiences based on their location history. Working with third party data partners (to ensure accurate, independent data), and collecting device IDs from specific points of interest enables us to segment audiences based on the locations they have visited. Mapping this data with offline data enables (accurate) assumptions to be made about the device owner in terms of whether they are target audience.
Optimisation is centred round adjusting campaign variables according to the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the campaign itself. We run a number of footfall campaigns for retailers, where we are driving consumers to specific retail outlets. Our integration with footfall measurement companies enables us to track these store visits in real time and auto optimise to the best performing variable and/or site placements in order to maximise campaign performance.
How do you leverage AI/ML and data science at TabMo? What AI companies are you particularly interested in
TabMo doesn't have its own AI tools. While the technology obviously has huge potential, we are aware that AI can be seen as a black box. When evaluating AI solutions, we would always ask what the technology is trying to achieve, and whether it has a direct effect on ROI. It's taken a long time for the market to truly understand the role that programmatic has to play; I think we're at the start of a similar journey for AI.
There are cases where AI technology in a simpler form clearly has a role to play in improving advertising relevance. AdYouLike for example, has a solution that scans pages of text in order to distribute ads in real time to the pages where content is the most relevant. We're working with AdYouLike to make this targeting available for our customers via our platform, Hawk.
How do you prepare for the post-GDPR era?
We work with a number of third party data providers but we do not store the data that they pass to us. It is essential therefore that the providers we work with are GDPR compliant and we have been working closely with all of our data partners to ensure this is the case.
The data that is passed to us via ad requests goes through a process of 'pseudonymisation', whereby data is separated from direct identifiers, for example device IDs, so that linkage to an identity is not possible; in other words, we separate the device IDs from the device level data such as location to guarantee that the data cannot be personally identifiable.
One message (more, if available) to all business leaders preparing for the oncoming GDPR disruptions
Understandably there is a lot of concern among marketers as GDPR-Day (25 May 2018) approaches. But it's important to remember that measures need to be in place to protect the consumer.
We recommend having regular conversations with data partners, asking them for explicit detail about the processes they are putting in place that will guarantee their compliance, with any doubts clearly expressed in good time.
GDPR will reduce the volume of third party data – but it should also increase the significance of first party publisher data, which can only be positive for the industry.
Thanks for chatting with us, Christopher.
Stay tuned for more insights on marketing technologies. To participate in our Tech Bytes program, email us at news@martechseries.com
ad fraudADS.TXTBrand SafetyChristopher ChildsDSPFeaturedheader biddingmobile advertisingProgrammatic TargetingTabMoTech Bytes
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YouTube Will Start Hiding Dislike Counts From Public
Posted by cktek On December 1, 2021
Some months back YouTube announced that it would begin experimenting with the notion of hiding the number of down votes or dislikes that displayed content receives.
At present for most of the content on the platform the number of "thumbs down" votes is displayed alongside the number of "thumbs up" votes that a given video receives.
Having experimented with it for a while now the company has decided to proceed. So you'll notice a growing percentage of content available that only shows the number of "thumbs up" it gets. Content creators will still be able to see the number of "thumbs down" votes on the back end but those numbers will no longer be available for public consumption.
According to various statements the company has made along the way the goal here is to cut off a potential vector for harassment. Based on the comments found in many videos a significant percentage of users left message saying something to the effect of "I just came here to leave a dislike."
While there's merit in the company's thinking it hides a slightly more selfish purpose as well. In all of YouTube history the single most disliked video is the company's own "Rewind from 2018" video. In fact that video earned so much negative press that the company has since opted to cancel their Rewind videos altogether.
YouTube is certainly not the first company to make the decision to hide negative rating metrics. Twitter for example allows users to hide the number of likes a tweet gets at the poster's option.
No matter what your opinion is it is important to stress that as a content creator you'll still have access to that information. The hope is simply that it won't be used by viewers to create a negative feedback loop.
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