Nearly two years ago (2018) on November the 12th, marked a sad day for comic book and superhero movie fans alike as the world lost one of the most creative storytelling minds ever: Stan Lee. Lee was the man behind the formation of Marvel Comics and the creation of such great characters as Spider‐Man, Captain America, the X‐ Men, and Iron Man to name but a scant few. Stan Lee’s art of crafting stories about super‐science, space operas, radioactive superheroes, and all kinds of futuristic and fanciful worlds was truly digital in the analog world of comic books. Born on December 28, 1922 in New York City, Stanley Martin Lieber (known to his fans as Stan Lee) was influenced creatively at a young age by books and movies. He cited the swashbuckling adventures of Errol Flynn in his classic heroic roles from early cinema as a particular inspiration. At fifteen, Lee was the winner of the New York Herald Tribune’s Biggest News of the Week essay contest for 3 straight weeks. One of the editors there suggested that he pursue a career as a professional writer. Lee claimed that that advice probably changed his life. Lee was married for 69 years to Joan Boocock with whom he had two daughters: Joan Celia (J. C.) and Jan Lee (who died shortly after delivery). Though he had worked for several publications, it is his work with Marvel Comics that he is most remembered for. Lee was hired as an assistant to the then Timely Comics in 1939 and stayed with the publication as it evolved into Marvel Comics in the during the 1960s—he also did a stint in the U.S. Army in 1950s. Stan Lee was responsible not only for the co‐creation of many of the iconic characters that grace comics, books,...
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October 25, 2019So the other day, I attended the PTC Benefits Fair down on the 3rd floor at the Seaport HQ. I actually found the event quite helpful because I had a lot of questions about my various benefits that were answered. In fact, the WageWorks rep was truly helpful telling me about a commuter parking pass debit card that would make my life a lot easier because I wouldn’t have to file a reimbursement claim for parking expenses, and also have to upload a bunch of receipts. This is the obscure yet imporant kind of information that new employees really need to know about. One of the vendors, Burnalong, was particularly interesting as I am a fitness enthusiast and try to get over to the Fitness Center (also on the 3rd floor) as often as I can—gotta stay in shape to catch all of those digital criminals! The interesting thing about my visit to their table was that, like a plethora of other fitness apps (some of which I pay for), they too had an app, and it is free! So, I signed up for it and downloaded the app.Which got me thinking about a few other apps that we use here at PTC. First, and arguably to most important app, is Benefitfocus. This little app holds a lot of power for PTC employees. Here you can check or modify your company benefits, receive reminders and tasks concerning your benefits, shop for products related to your benefits, and set up a well‐being checklist (e.g. get a flu shot), and more all in one convenient place. When Digital Batman joined PTC, the first thing I did was download this app, which has proven itself quite handy at times—especially on vacation believe it or not Next up is the aforementioned Burnalong app. This...
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May 6, 2019Email Marketing is essentially a hand-shake agreement between the marketer and the end user/customer that says, “I have a product or service that I would like to you check out, and you have graciously agreed to let me show it to you.” If the end user/customer has not opted-in (i.e. agreed to receive emails from the marketer, and instead receives a flood of unwanted emails (i.e. spam)), then there is no trust whatsoever from the end user/customer of the marketer. With no trust, there is no open rate on the carefully crafted marketing emails, which means it is all just a waste of everyone’s time. Establishing trust between the two is essential for a successful email marketing campaign. That begins with an easy opt-in process for interested customers (or clientele). The following is a short list of six best practices in which to build an effective email marketing strategy. Easy Opt-In for Customers Your company’s website should have a spot on its homepage that allows interested parties to opt-in (or subscribe) to your monthly newsletter, job search tips, and resources emails. Created with a widget for a website homepage such as MailChimp’s WordPress Widget, this plug-in app allows visitors to a website to effortlessly and legitimately add themselves to your email mailing list. Thereby establishing trust between the potential new clients and your company because now these emails are desired. And by extension, also make it easy for subscribers to opt-out or unsubscribe because it is illegal to keep them on the list if they do not want to be there. Define Your Customer Base This may seem obvious but many organizations take a generalized approach to appealing to the lowest common denominator. Collecting random leads from email lists are pointless unless they are specific to your industry and are a high-value opportunity for new business. Ask yourself the...