By Chris Trayhorn, CEO and Founder, mThink/Blue Book Most affiliate marketing networks are pretty cautious about connecting their advertisers directly with publishers. The risk of them setting up a direct business relationship - cutting the network out of the deal - is real. This kind of disintermediation is a major risk to the revenue streams of networks and … [Read more...]
CrakRevenue Introduces the ACH Payment System for Its Affiliates
QUEBEC CITY - CrakRevenue, which recently secured the 7th position out of the world’s best CPA networks according to mThink’s Blue Book 2019, is pleased to announce the availability of automated clearing house (ACH) transactions on its platform. Affiliates from all around the world can choose this new payment method right now. With the added benefits of ultra fast … [Read more...]
TCPA News for Telemarketers
SCOTUS Grants Certiorari in TCPA Case Following the ACA International decision from the D.C. Circuit, it was a matter of when, not if. The deepening splits of opinion regarding interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act have resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court granting certiorari to a case that could determine whether the judicial system or the Federal … [Read more...]
Interview with Blue Ribbon Panelist Gus Brito
Interview With Gus Brito – Director of Network Development, Flexoffers.com Should advertisers or publishers care about whether their network partner(s) are investing in new technology or are innovating? [GB] Both aspects are equally important to ensure our industry continues to grow exponentially. I believe advertisers and publisher should definitely have an interest in … [Read more...]
The Smart Grid Maturity Model
The software industry has been using maturity models to define and measure software development capabilities for decades. These models have helped the industry create a shared vision for these capabilities. They also have driven individual software development organizations to set and pursue aggressive capabilities goals while allowing these groups to measure progress in … [Read more...]
Customer Relationships and the Economy
A little over a year ago, the challenges facing the global energy and utilities market were driving a significant wedge between utilities and their customers. In Western European markets, price increases across gas, electricity and water, combined with increased corporate earnings, left many utilities in the uncomfortable position of being seen as profiteering from customers … [Read more...]
Infrastructure and the Economy
With utility infrastructure aging rapidly, reliability of service is threatened. Yet the economy is hurting, unemployment is accelerating, environmental mandates are rising, and the investment portfolios of both seniors and soon-to-retire boomers have fallen dramatically. Everyone agrees change is needed. The question is: how? In every one of these respects, state regulators … [Read more...]
Be a People Person
I have to admit it. Despite all the exciting new technologies out there, I am finding myself to be a people person when it comes to building smarter grids and more intelligent utilities. Granted, technology is rapidly developing and the utility industry is finding itself in the middle of more and more automation. However, people - from linemen to consumers - will remain … [Read more...]
The Smart Grid in Malta
On the Mediterranean island of Malta, with a population of about 400,000 people on a land mass of just over 300 square kilometers, power, water and the economy are intricately linked. The country depends on electrically powered desalination plants for over half of its water supply. In fact, about 75 percent of the cost of water from these plants on Malta is directly related to … [Read more...]
Power and Patience
The U.S. utility industry - particularly the electric-producing branch of it, there also are natural gas and water utilities - has found itself in a new, and very uncomfortable, position. Throughout the first quarter of 2009 it was front and center in the political arena. Politics has been involved in the U.S. electric generation and distribution industry since its founding in … [Read more...]
Managing the Plant Data Lifecycle
Intelligent Plant Lifecycle Management (iPLM) is the process of managing a generation facility's data and information throughout its lifetime - from initial design through to decommissioning. This paper will look at results from the application of this process in other industries such as shipbuilding, and show how those results are directly applicable to the design, … [Read more...]
Surviving the Turmoil
With the new administration talking about a trillion dollars of infrastructure investment, the time for the intelligent utility of the future is now. Political pressure and climate change are going to drive massive investments in renewable and clean energy and smart grid technology. These investments will empower customers through the launch and adoption of demand response and … [Read more...]
Business Process Improvement
In the past, the utility industry could consider itself exempt from market drivers like those listed above. However, today's utilities are immersed in a sea of change. Customers demand reliable power in unlimited supply, generated in environmentally friendly ways without increased cost. All the while regulators are telling consumers to "change the way they are using energy or … [Read more...]
Future of Learning
The nuclear power industry is facing significant employee turnover, which may be exacerbated by the need to staff new nuclear units. To maintain a highly skilled workforce to safely operate U.S. nuclear plants, the industry must find ways to expedite training and qualification, enhance knowledge transfer to the next generation of workers, and develop leadership talent to … [Read more...]
Modeling Distribution Demand Reduction
In the past, distribution demand reduction was a technique used only in emergency situations a few times a year - if that. It was an all-or-nothing capability that you turned on, and hoped for the best until the emergency was over. Few utilities could measure the effectiveness, let alone the potential of any solutions that were devised. Now, demand reduction is evolving to … [Read more...]