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Outer Critics Circle Awards Presented By Josh Gad, James Earl Jones, Montego Glover and More May 24

By Andrew Gans 24 May 2012

The 62nd Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best of Broadway and Off-Broadway, will be presented May 24 at 4 PM at Sardi's Restaurant in Manhattan.

Presenters include Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Josh Gad, Montego Glover, Jon Robin Baitz, James Corden, Tracie Bennett, Audra McDonald, James Earl Jones, Michael McGrath and Judy Kaye.

Winners were announced May 14. Once, the new musical based on the film of the same name, and the London import One Man, Two Guvnors each won three awards apiece, the most of any production of the season.

Jeff Talbott's acclaimed Off-Broadway, race-themed play, The Submission, was awarded the John Gassner Award, which is presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright.

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Winners follow (winners are in bold, preceded by an asterisk):

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY The Lyons *One Man, Two Guvnors Seminar Stick Fly

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL Bonnie & Clyde Newsies *Once Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

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Outer Critics Circle Awards Presented By Josh Gad, James Earl Jones, Montego Glover and More May 24

It has been a while since I last touched up on the topic of Change, Convergence & Collaboration in our industry. A lot has happened since then! During that time I made a few predictions that I would like update you on all on what change has happened and how it has fostered investment and innovation of SEO technologies as this discipline integrates with other channels.

Whats more, I also had the great pleasure of interviewing two leaders in the SEO technology space Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz on investment (soon to be Moz maybe?) and Dixon Jones of Majestic SEO, in particular, on recent innovation.

The diagram above gives you a broad overview of change since February. It highlights the strategic, technological, and tactical changes that have been made and how were now finally beginning to see more investment in the development of technologies that fuel innovation and integration.

As this post leans more toward the strategic rather than the tactical I am only going to mention black and white animals briefly.

Panda is aimed to reduce rankings for low quality sites and improve rankings for sites with great, innovation, and insightful content. Penguin is aimed to remove web spam and combat what they view as black hat.

Googles strategy is clear; it wants the big brands and big bucks. The reality as to whether it has its tactics right is highly debatable. This is not, however, the subject of this post.

Some great tactical articles on the fallout of Panda and Penguin are here:

Before we ask the experts who are driving this change in the data provision world, let's highlight some significant events over recent months that highlight the move from change to convergence and collaboration.

It isn't just the data providers and enterprise platforms that have been investing and innovating. Many third party tools and technology have been launching huge releases that focus on the changing of tactics needed at adapt to converging and changing landscape:

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Future of SEO: Investment, Innovation & Integration

If you remember, we dedicated three columns to discuss about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) its importance to business and the how tos so you can do it yourself. As I have always emphasized, SEO should not be mistaken as the turf of IT guys. Anyone can learn SEO without any IT background. Its just really a matter of reading and making your own research. There are free tools and references that you can find in the internet to get you started. But then again, many of us do not have the time to do it.The reason why we need to understand what it is, or at least get to know how it is done, is because sooner or later businesses will need the services of SEO professionals. And if you happen to be among those who plan to optimize your website soon, learning basic SEO can help you avoid getting duped by people who overcharge customers as if it to impress that SEO is reserved for the geniuses.

Believe it or not, one client of mine was quoted for like P2 million by an advertising agency in Manila for a six-month SEO campaign. That, to me, is extortion in the first degree. While campaigns have their individual nuances and considerations, but the tools, standards, methods and techniques are largely universal. Businesses should be wary when investing in an SEO campaign. There are works that are done in the backend and are often invisible to website owners which are difficult to understand without some html background. Thus, when selecting an SEO professional, trust is a crucial issue. So when you think of hiring someone to do the SEO for you, ask for their portfolio and if possible, talk to those companies he listed.

Avoid SEO professionals or companies that promise or guarantee results. No one can guarantee results. Not even Google! No kidding. If you want to make sure that your SEO guy is really doing his job, you can hire someone to do the audit for you.

Moreover, I often encounter questions whether SEO is a difficult thing to get into or if it can be accomplished in a short period of time. SEO is not rocket science to be afraid of. What makes SEO hard is the competition. Like you, your competitors are out there to outsmart you in the internet domain. They will know your websites strengths as well as its weaknesses. So you need to be just like them -- watching every move your competitor makes.

What distinguishes a good SEO guy from another is currency of knowledge. Your guy may be a good SEO now, but sucks a year later. Search algorithms change every now and then and often, companies that build them do not announce many of these changes to the public. These changes can be radical at times that your search position can change literally overnight. It is important therefore to consider that the man you entrust to do the SEO for you should be able to notice these changes.

It is also not enough to look at your competitors performance, or being updated with the changes in search engine behavior, it is much more important to look at your sites performance from the inside. From my experience, one of the important keys to achieving good search position is the ability of the SEO professional to regularly employ heuristics to determine what works and what doesnt in your site. Choose a guy who has the attitude and the patience to employ several methods and techniques that havent been tried before. Sooner or later, you will find out that there are strengths that your website has which you can leverage in your campaign.

Finally, SEO is not a perfunctory task as what a lot of people think in the SEO world.SEO is not just about compliance to web standards, or about writing articles (mostly for the sake of it) in order to meet the required keyword density. It is not even about posting back-links or putting up those social media tools in your site.SEO is an invitation to excel in content. Your SEO guy should be able churn what your customers look for in terms of information. Good information easily spreads out. And your customers are willing to do it for you.

Remember SEO is about useful information or content. Your SEO guy should be able to deliver that for you.

Send emails to trade.forumph@gmail.com.

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Looking for an SEO guy?

WYNNEWOOD, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

SAFARI Montage is proud to announce the renewal and expansion of its K-12 digital relationship with PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). With this expanded relationship, beginning July 1, 2012, SAFARI Montage will become the only major commercial digital distributor of PBS full-length programs to schools nationwide. As confirmed by PBS, PBS will not be renewing their digital distribution agreements with other major players such as Discovery Education and Learn360.

SAFARI Montage is honored to expand its relationship with PBS to provide schools with essential K-12 PBS series and programs on our state-of-the-art learning object repository and digital delivery system, said Andrew Schlessinger, CEO and Co-Founder of SAFARI Montage.

PBS is pleased to extend our licensing agreement with SAFARI Montage, said Andrea Downing, Co-President of PBS Distribution. PBS content has been distributed through SAFARI Montage and Library Video Company in a variety of formats for many years, providing educators with easy access to our rich library of award-winning educational programming. As the need for high quality digital media in K-12 classrooms grows, we are proud to partner with a company that shares our commitment to engaging students and teachers with tools specifically crafted for innovative, 21st-century learning.

The agreement begins a new chapter in a long-standing relationship for SAFARI Montage, the premier digital content provider to K-12 classrooms, and PBS, the world renowned U.S. network of educational programming, which dates back nearly 25 years. Since 2005, SAFARI Montage has provided K-12 classrooms with access to hundreds of essential PBS digital series and programs, covering everything from history, science and the arts to math and literacy.

During 2012, SAFARI Montage will be adding 300 of the latest PBS/WGBH programs and series to the 650 programs currently available, such as Ken Burns The Civil War, NOVA, Frontline, Between the Lions, Cyberchase, Libertys Kids, Masterpiece Theatre and We Shall Remain. New PBS offerings to SAFARI Montage during 2012 include Ken Burns The War and Prohibition, Freedom Riders, America Goes to War, The Human Spark, Wild Kratts, Your Life, Your Money, Telescope: Hunting the Edge of Space, Super WHY!, Martha Speaks, Design Squad, The Fabric of the Cosmos, Steve Jobs: One Last Thing and American Experience: Clinton. SAFARI Montage will also continue its long history of providing outstanding educational series that first ran on PBS such as Bill Nye: The Science Guy and Reading Rainbow.

For more information on PBS content available through SAFARI Montage, please visit http://www.SAFARIMontage.com. Read more about the deal at eSchool News.

About SAFARI Montage

SAFARI Montage provides school districts with an integrated Learning Object Repository and Digital Media & Curriculum Delivery solution all wrapped into one. In addition, the solution is interoperable with virtually all classroom technology and most enterprise district systems. The full suite of integrated modules provides a single interface for users to access and manage all digital, visual resources from within the school district network or from home. And now, with the introduction of the Digital Curriculum Presenter (DCP) module, curriculum departments can elegantly deliver a full digitalcurriculum. The award-winning SAFARI Montage solution is also designed to cut costs for school districts by utilizing intelligent digital media solutions to replace traditional methods. SAFARI Montage servers come preloaded with educational video titles tied to the curriculum from the industrys leading video publishers, which include Schlessinger Media, PBS, The History Channel, National Geographic, Scholastic, Disney Educational Production, BBC and more. In addition, school districts can easily upload and manage their own digital content, and disseminate it to all users throughout the school or district.

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PBS and SAFARI Montage Sign Expanded K-12 Digital Distribution Deal

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sens. Rob Portman and Joe Manchin teamed up to introduce bipartisan legislation for a commemorative coin benefiting the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Their proposed legislation would authorize the U.S. Mint to create the coin, with its proceeds benefiting the Hall of Fame.

Portman, R-Ohio, noted the Pro Football Hall of Fame brings more than 200,000 visitors a year to Canton and has a yearly estimated economic impact of at least $30 million on the Canton and Stark County areas - and nearly $56 million in Ohio.

"The 50th anniversary of the Hall of Fame is in 2013, and the Hall is currently in the middle of a large expansion and renovation project," he said. The coin program would "set the museum on course for the future and help make it an even more attractive destination.

"Proceeds from this coin will contribute to that effort as the Hall of Fame continues to honor the individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the sport, preserve the history of the game and promote the positive values of the sport."

The bill would honor the Hall and help it promote its mission at no cost to taxpayers, he added.

Ohio also has a rich football heritage, Portman said. It is considered the birthplace of professional football, as the American Football League - which later became the National Football League - was founded there in 1920.

There are 23 Ohioans in the Hall. Only Pennsylvania with 29 members and Texas with 28 members have more.

Members from local communities are Lou Groza of Martins Ferry and Clarke Hinkle of Toronto.

Other Ohio-born members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are Cliff Battles of Akron; Bob "Boomer" Brown of Cleveland; Paul Brown of Norwalk; Joe Carr of Columbus; Larry Csonka of Stow; Len Dawson of Alliance; Dan Dierdorf of Canton; Benny Friedman of Cleveland; Wilbur "Pete" Henry of Mansfield; Jack Lambert of Mantua; Dante Lavelli of Hudson; Dick LeBeau of London; Tom Mack of Cleveland; Mike Michalske of Cleveland; Chuck Noll of Cleveland; Alan Page of Canton; Don Shula of Grand River; Roger Staubach of Cincinnati; Paul Warfield of Warren; Bill Willis of Columbus; and Ralph Wilson Jr., of Columbus.

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Senators on Same Team for Football Hall of Fame Coin