Forward Festival Highlights Inclusivity

Posted on August 10, 2017June 8, 2018 by Taylor Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 10, 2017

Contact:
Molly Walsh
608-616-0840
molly@forwardfest.org

Forward Festival Highlights Inclusivity

(MADISON, Wis.)—Entrepreneurs of all industries, including healthcare, technology, music and the arts, will be represented during the eighth-annual Forward Festival, which features more than 50 events taking place Aug. 17-24 throughout the city, organizers announced today.

“Forward Festival’s inclusivity has grown to now include a wider range of industries and people, and it’s become more community focused,” Laura Strong, festival committee member and president of Propagate Health, said. “With a record number of events this year, the festival truly gives the entrepreneurial ecosystem opportunities to make connections, share advice and collaborate.”

This year, to give attendees the chance to explore what the festival offers, the new Forward Summit (Aug. 22), a multi-track conference, will include access to the Forward Technology Conference, BigData Wisconsin, Social Impact Data and Healthcare Innovation, among others. James Tamplin of Google and Ben Sperry of Ionic will be the keynote speakers.

Other community-driven events during the festival include the Chat + Chomp + Plan by Heymiss Progress (Aug. 19), Pre-Pride Parade Continental Brunch (Aug. 20) and the inaugural Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders event (Aug. 17), an event run by 14-year-old AJ Carr on how his mentoring program pairs successful business owners with young people.

On Wednesday, Aug. 23, “Dolphin Tank,” an event like the ABC show “Shark Tank,” will feature two-minute pitches, followed by constructive insights from knowledgeable professionals.

The Forward Festival is sponsored by local companies such as American Family Insurance, MG&E, Epic, Neider & Boucher, WEDC, The QTI Group, Urban Land Interests, M3 Insurance, Boardman Clark, Madison 365, Safety Net, Swink, Wisconsin Union and Ideas that Evoke.

For a detailed listing of events taking place during the Forward Festival, please visit www.forwardfest.org.

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Resulting Media Coverage:

WISC TV – For the Record (July 27, 2017): “Forward Festival and Meet a Young Entrepreneur“
InBusiness (July 31, 2017): “Madison startups keep innovating, moving forward“
Madison Magazine (Aug. 1, 2017): “Expanding forward for entrepreneurs“
Journal Sentinel (Aug. 7, 2017): “Entrepreneurs to converge in Madison for Forward Festival“
WKOW – TV (Aug. 9, 2017): “The Forward Festival continues to grow and inspire“
WORT (Aug. 10, 2017): “Forward Fest 2017“
Wisconsin State Journal (Aug. 14, 2017): “Forward Fest features fraternization, innovation, inspiration“
The Cap Times (Aug. 17, 2017): “6 events to check out at Madison’s tech-centric Forward Festival“
Isthmus (Aug. 17, 2017): “Featured Event of the Week: Forward Festival “

Kiio, DoD to Collaborate on Musculoskeletal Disease Treatment Project

Posted on July 19, 2017September 10, 2018 by Taylor Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2017

Contact:
Mark Felcyn
608-467-4612
mfelcyn@kiio.com

Kiio, DoD to Collaborate on Musculoskeletal Disease Treatment Project

(MADISON, Wis.)—Today Kiio Inc. announced the enrollment of the first human subjects in the company’s $1.3 million multi-year, multi-institutional Department of Defense project to develop and validate a novel protocol to assist treatment and risk assessment for chronic tendinopathy.

“Our goal is to provide a fast, cost-effective, portable protocol to inform treatment, determination of work-readiness, and prediction of injury for servicemembers as well as the general population,” Kiio CEO David Grandin said. “We are honored to be working with a stellar team of collaborators and look forward to making a substantive contribution to an issue that places a tremendous burden on our military in terms of cost, productivity and quality of life.”

The technology combines Kiio’s clinically validated force sensor (Kiio Sensor®) with a software application that automatically guides the administration of the protocol and calculates and compiles complex muscle performance metrics.

The protocol, developed in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Grabowski, MPT, PhD (University of Wisconsin – La Crosse), will be tested with 318 participants in a trial overseen by the University of Wisconsin – Madison under the direction of Dr. John Wilson, MD, MS.

“Chronic tendinopathy is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases,” Wilson said. “There is currently no efficient, standardized, objective method to quantify tendon performance, and this is a significant limitation in our ability to assess treatment efficacy.”

Data analysis and modeling will be performed at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine by a team led by Dr. Kathryn Roach, PT, PhD.

“The Kiio technology is able to quickly capture a tremendous amount of highly-accurate data,” Roach said. “We will be analyzing this data to establish a normative database and generate a decision-making algorithm that can be utilized not only in treatment but also in risk assessment and injury prevention.”

About Kiio

Kiio’s health engagement platform enables both payers and providers to leverage evidence-based medicine, mobile patient engagement, telehealth and data analytics to deliver and monitor care tailored to each patient’s needs. Kiio’s innovative programs automate the process of screening, assessment, triage, and exercise for low back pain, total joint replacement, and rehabilitation. To learn more, please visit www.kiio.com

About the Award

This work is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the DoD Joint Program Committee 8/Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program Neuromusculoskeletal Injuries Research Award under Award No. W81XWH-16-1-0789. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.

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Resulting Media Coverage:

Xconomy (July 20, 2017): “Kiio, Defense Department Team Up To Advance Tendon Disease Tech“
WisPolitics (July 20, 2017): “Kiio Tests and Develops New Protocol For Tendinopathy“
Wisconsin State Journal (Aug. 28, 2017): “Kiio’s injury-screening technology will get a military workout“
InBusiness (Aug. 31, 2017): “Kiio gets $1.3 million grant“
iHLS (Sept. 1, 2017): “Wireless Sensor Will Evaluate Army Recruits’ Fitness“

How Hotels Can Measure Internal Communication Efforts

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Taylor Kennedy

INTRODUCTION

A study by Staffbase revealed that good internal communication provides constant feedback and purpose, which increases employee engagement, which in turn decreases turnover rates and ultimately saves the company money.

At the same time, when your hotel employees are happy, so are your guests, according to Forbes.

Here are ways hotels can measure its internal communication efforts.

COLLECT OUTPUT METRICS

Communication efforts–specifically output metrics–need to be measurable. For example, did your hotel’s employee newsletter have a high open rate? Did your hotel’s employee group on Facebook have an increase in page views? Knowing these key performance indicators (KPIs) will help see if progress is being made toward your goals.

Here are various metrics you can collect and how to collect them:

Awareness: Post/page views (Insights on Facebook, Google Analytics for your website)
Interest: Open and click rates (all third-party email providers, like MailChimp, offer analytics for each email)
Engagement: Comments and feedback (if you use tools such as Trello, Yammer or Slack, how often are employees adding input?)

Make sure to act on this data. For example, if you see a downward trend in open rates, experiment with sending communications at different times of day, or change the subject line.

SET YOUR OUTCOMES

Metrics by themselves mean nothing. For example, did a higher open-rate for your internal emails lead to staff better parroting your key messages? Ultimately, you’re looking for behavior changes that benefit your hotel.

As Dr. Stephen Covey once said, “begin with the end in mind.” Create your outcomes clearly, prior to executing any internal communication strategies. What does your hotel want to achieve? Win a Torchbearer Award? Keep turnover to less than 31 percent? The more and more your KPIs improve, the more likely you are to reach your outcomes.

Let’s say you wanted to increase morale and employees’ confidence in management. Your HR and communications teams could survey employees or conduct focus groups to gain deeper insight into their feelings and what resonates with them. The results can help you make informed decisions and steer you in the right direction. A tactic could include a weekly employee showcase on the Intranet site, and a KPI could include reduced complaints.

In a case study by Marriott, one of its business models showcases how they value its employees/internal communication, ultimately leading to financial success: “Take care of the associates, the associates will take care of the guests and the guests will come back again and again.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers hotels, B&Bs and resorts services related to media relations, community relations, branding, group sales, SEO/SEM and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.