Amazon has introduced its first Small Business Impact Report highlighting new details about the millions of small and medium-sized businesses that sell their products on Amazon. Small and medium-businesses are the backbone of Amazon’s stores, providing shoppers with millions of unique products. According to the report, more than a million U.S.-based small and medium-sized businesses […]
Nordstrom has closed deals to acquire two leading retail technology companies: BevyUp, the innovators behind a digital selling tool, and MessageYes, a platform rooted in conversational commerce.
“The retail environment is changing faster than ever, but the value of service, speed, convenience and newness remain constant,” said Brian Gill, technology senior vice president at Nordstrom. […]
Apprenti™, the nation’s first registered tech apprenticeship program which launched in Seattle Washington, will expand nationally into Oregon, Michigan, California and Ohio. The apprenticeship program – which hasa been guided by the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) in 2016 – recruits, trains and places diverse talent into tech roles.
According to a forecast […]
A well-run conference is like a two-way mirror. On one side, the curated content must reflect the genuine interests and aspirations of those who participate, quenching their thirst for personal inspiration and professional growth.
On the other end, the conference lens must allow the content programmers to see how their audience is tuning in. Done […]
Join WTIA in Achieving Civic Goals
Washington’s high technology trade association, the WTIA, held its own version of an NFL pre-season “OTA” in May and like the Organized Team Activity in football, it was a “full contact,” or more accurately, a FullConTech team-oriented event.
A highlight of the 2017 FullConTech “training camp” was a Civic Playbook packed goal-line to end-zone with nearly 140 […]
The Robert Half Career City Index, a ranking and comparison of 25 U.S. cities across several indicators selected to measure the different aspects that relate to career development, has joined with The Economist to score the #1 place to work in America. The overall top scorer on the career cross table is (drum roll, please) Seattle.
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The City of Seattle joined women everywhere in standing up for gender equality on International Women’s Day. The City stands with women everywhere who persevere, improve our world and fight for a better tomorrow. Read Mayor Murray and the City Council’s proclamation for International Women’s Day.
City of Seattle PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS,
International Women’s […]
Imagine if there were only 352,271 people left on earth. Like the elephant’s trumpeting cry, that critical number would signal a clarion call for action. Such a finding is the latest measure of the population of the world’s elephants in Africa, as monitored by Seattle’s Vulcan Technology.
The Seattle firm led by founder Paul Allen is developing solutions to track Africa’s pachyderms and […]
Amazon showcased its first-ever, branded air cargo plane during Seattle’s Seafair Air Show, Aug 5-7. The Boeing 767-300, operated by Amazon’s air cargo provider Atlas Air, flew above of thousands of Seattle residents including many Amazon employees.
“Creating an air transportation network is expanding our capacity to ensure great delivery speeds for our Prime members for […]
The game is immersive, based on augmented reality. But the stock surge of Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo is all too real. Nintendo North America, which is headquartered in Redmond, saw its stock soar nearly 25 percent Monday after the release of “Pokémon Go,” which directs its users to explore their physical surroundings to find, catch and train Pokémon characters.
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Jun 13 2018
Tech-spresso Shots from Around the Sound
City Repeals Head Tax 7-2 in Dramatic ReversalLike a death-defying Seahawks comeback play in the fourth quarter of an NFL showdown, the Seattle City Council called a stunning reversal on the “head tax” it had voted to impose on local companies who generated over $20 million in annual revenue. Seattle’s homeless population was left standing on the one-yard-line, a yard short of the plan to use the tax to fund new housing.
In what amounted to a populist goal-line stand, polling data revealed insurmountable opposition to the tax including a “No Tax on Jobs” campaign vying for a place on the November election ballot that would let voters decide.
In a statement, Amazon applauded the vote and indicated a willingness to move forward with its hometown initiatives.
“Today’s vote by the Seattle City Council to repeal the tax on job creation is the right decision for the region’s economic prosperity,” Amazon VP Drew Herdener said in the statement. “We are deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle and will continue to invest in local nonprofits like Mary’s Place and FareStart that are making a difference on this important issue.”
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan will sign the repeal into law.
“Everyone in this city shares similar goals – we need to build more affordable housing, provide mental health and behavioral health services, and bring people off the streets and into safer spaces while continuing to support our small businesses, jobs, and economy,” the mayor said in a statement. “We have been hard at work on these challenges and will continue our efforts. To be successful, everyone needs to be part of the solution. Instead of engaging in a prolonged, expensive political fight, the City and I will continue to move forward on building real partnerships that align our strategies from businesses, advocates, philanthropy.” [24×7]
Seattle’s Experimental Theater Beams Audiences Where No Man Has Gone Before
Where No Man Has Gone Before, Seattle Experimental Theater’s hit improvised parody of the original Star Trek TV series, is returning to Theatre Off Jackson this August for a two-week run. Join the crew of the Enterprise as they encounter a Starfleet Admiral who has strayed from the Prime Directive. Will they be able to undo the tangled web he has created?
At every performance, the cast will use suggestions from the audience to create a brand new episode. Each performance is a completely original adventure
Performances are August 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25 at 8pm. For more information about the show or Seattle Experimental Theater, visit www.seattleexperimentaltheater.com. [24×7]
Webby’s Five Word Acceptance Speeches
Hat’s off to the 22nd annual Webby Awards who make brevity not only the “soul of wit” but a strict requirement for the length of acceptance speeches at the show. The 5-Word acceptance speech policy has kept the award show on pace but ought to be waived for winners like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kourtney Kardashian, and Amazon Music and Special Achievement honorees like #MeToo trailblazer Susan Fowler, actor Jesse Williams, artist FKA twigs, Mozilla founder Mitchell Baker, actress Laura Linney, director Steven Soderbergh, Ugly Delicious creator David Chang, and NFL player Chris Long.
Webby Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences; members include Lyft CEO Logan Green, Girls Who Code Founder Reshma Saujani, Gimlet Media CEO Alex Blumberg, Instagram’s Eva Chen, CNN host Van Jones, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, and Playmatics CEO Margaret Wallace. This year, three million votes were cast from Internet fans in more than 240 countries and territories around the world to choose the Winners of the Webby People’s Voice Awards.
Hosted by comedian Amber Ruffin, this year’s star-studded ceremony had many such five-word acceptance haikus. We especially liked Laura Linney’s quintet upon accepting the award from Liam Neeson, “Kindness is not a weakness!” Or David Letterman’s tearful “Thank you…(wiping his eyes)…Tears of Joy!” [24×7]
