Q&A with Jeanne Hopkins, CMO at Lola.com

MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

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MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

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MEDIA 7 | November 28, 2019

Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo is a marketer with over 18 years of industry experience. At Aprimo, Ed is responsible for the global brand and growth which includes all Paid/Owned/Earned media, Brand Experience, Product Marketing, Industry Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strategic Communications, Content Marketing, Analyst Relations, Alliance Marketing, Public Relations, Events, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing. MEDIA 7: What’s your superpower? ED BREAULT: I would say it’s applying the full spectrum of art and science that is required in marketing today. Not just left or right brained, but whole-brained strategy. Being human yet data-driven and really understanding numbers and (the right) metrics to make connections to business drivers. Add storytelling to that, so I can effectively communicate to my team, the CEO and CFO as well as my Board of Directors on those metrics, and connecting all that we are doing in marketing to the mission of the business. Then quickly shifting gears to the art and creative aspects of marketing that are required to engage an audience and tell great commercial stories that take complex concepts and craft them in a way that is interesting for people to pay attention to. I have to be the ultimate point of truth for the brand. M7: At Aprimo, how have marketing leadership roles and responsibilities evolved over the past few years? EB: There are so many dimensions needed by marketing leaders today. There are several elements driving this evolution, it’s the new experience battlefront that is emerging and also marketers themselves driving changes. From a market perspective, there is a clear appetite for disruption and consumers are wanting more experiential elements to their buying experience and interactions with brands. Take a few direct to consumer disruptions like trialing products in-home, purchasing directly from a brand or even wanting to ensure that the producer’s trade practices are in line with the buyer’s or even a regulator’s for that matter. Then we want to try before we buy, and we emotionally care about the supply chain of products. Do we TRUST this brand to do business with them? Behind all of this is a story that needs to be told, and it is those marketers who know their audience well and make connections that will win the commercial game. Back to the marketer, there are so many diverse backgrounds that marketers bring now and I’m really intrigued by those who have unconventional backgrounds because they contribute something uniquely new to the field. I love hearing about the marketer’s journey.

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TALENT DEVELOPMENT

PRnewswire | May 31, 2023

Anthology, a leading provider of education solutions, today announced that its market-leading Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Learn, has been named a finalist in the Best Learning Management System category of the prestigious SIIA EdTech CODiE Awards 2023. Developed in collaboration with educators, Blackboard Learn features a modern, intuitive, and personalized interface designed to engage learners. With time-saving tools and a streamlined design, it facilitates easy and efficient teaching and learning from any device and empowers learners and instructors with in-line data and actionable insights to help them drive improvement. "Following extensive customer engagement and collaboration, we have significantly invested in the next generation of Blackboard Learn. We turbocharged development to create powerful new features that meaningfully deepen the learning experience for both instructors and learners around the world," said Anthology Chairman and CEO Jim Milton. "Achieving recognition as a SIIA EdTech CODiE Awards 2023 finalist is affirmation that our team's dedication to providing the most intuitive and empowering educational experience is paying dividends." More than 200 new features in Blackboard Learn are powering the next generation of learning experiences. Informed by data, features like Holistic Student Overview provide a comprehensive view of a student's activity, progress, and performance. For instance, expanded visibility allows instructors to quickly identify at-risk learners and proactively support them when they need it most. Blackboard Learn was the first LMS to market with built-in features that empower self-expression and has transformed the test-taking experience with tools to reduce test anxiety like the ability to hide timers, reminders for unanswered questions, question filtering, and auto-save functionality. Blackboard Learn provides instructors with greater control over test displays and behaviors, enhancing assessment experiences through inline file rendering and customized feedback visibility. "The 2023 CODiE Award finalists highlight the products and people who are out in front, leading their industries forward," said SIIA President Chris Mohr. "These honorees continue the proud tradition of CODiE Award finalists recognizing the most impactful products, services, and leaders of their time, setting a foundation for the next generation of innovators. Congratulations to all who received this well-earned acknowledgment." About Anthology Anthology offers the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale for education, supporting more than 150 million users in 80 countries. With a mission to provide dynamic, data-informed experiences to the global education community through Anthology Intelligent Experiences™, we help learners, leaders and educators achieve their goals by offering over 60 SaaS products and services designed to advance learning. About the SIIA CODiE™ Awards The SIIA CODiE Awards is the only peer-reviewed program to celebrate the vision, talent, and advances in building quality products in the Tech Industry. Since 1986, thousands of products, services and solutions have been recognized for Leading Innovation and Achieving Excellence. About Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) SIIA is the only professional organization connecting more than 700 data, financial information, education technology, specialized content and publishing, and connects learners and educators. Our diverse members manage the global financial markets, develop software that solves today's challenges through technology, provide critical information that helps inform global businesses large and small, and innovate for better communication across the information ecosystem.

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ONLINE EDUCATION

Businesswire | May 26, 2023

PowerSchool the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced a partnership with EDU Inc. and PowerSchool Naviance. This exclusive partnership will connect students using Naviance with the Common Black College Application, better enabling students to apply to many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at once starting with the 2023-2024 school year. The comprehensive college, career, and life readiness solutions available in Naviance are used by millions of students. Naviance college research tools utilize over ninety search criteria to help students find institutions that are the right fit for their aspirations and needs. As part of their exploration process in Naviance, students view college profiles over 25 million times each year. “Our data over the last few years has shown a clear increase in students looking for HBCUs,” said Amy Reitz, Group Vice President of Product at PowerSchool. “A key part of the Naviance philosophy is ensuring each student is empowered to find their best fit, and we value the tremendous role HBCUs play in our country’s higher education landscape. We are excited to partner with the Common Black College Application to benefit students, school counselors, and colleges.” The Common Black College Application is a network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities committed to supporting equity and access for students. Students apply to all member institutions with one application fee, reducing friction in the application process. “The partnership between Naviance and the Common Black College Application will have a profound impact in the lives of millions of students, interested in attending HBCUs, in the coming years,” said Robert Mason, Founder of EDU, Inc. “Equally as important, our work with Naviance will aid HBCUs in the achievement of their enrollment objectives. The partnership between Naviance and the CBCA represents the very essence of educational access and equality – goals that so many others seek to achieve and fall woefully short.” Starting in the fall, Naviance will identify colleges that are members of the Common Black College Application on their Naviance college profiles. PowerSchool and EDU, Inc. will also work together to integrate the Common Black College Application with Naviance eDocs for the following year, making it easy for counselors to submit supporting documentation for student applications. About PowerSchool PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 50 million students globally and more than 15,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in more than 90 countries.

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ONLINE EDUCATION

PRnewswire | May 29, 2023

SSC Services for Education, a leading provider of educational facilities services, along with ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, are proud to announce that in addition to achieving recertification of ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Green Building (GB) with Honors, SSC has become one of the first organizations to receive the Advanced by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) certification. This certification builds on SSC's advanced 50 years of expertise in custodial services, grounds management, and educational facilities maintenance, helping ensure students and faculty are safe and thrive in the spaces they call home during the school day. The CIMS-GB certification is a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of an organization's management and operational excellence in the cleaning industry. The certification criteria include management best practices, performance systems, and sustainable cleaning practices. By achieving this certification, SSC has demonstrated its commitment to providing high-quality services that promote health, safety, and environmental sustainability. "Even before the pandemic, we took great care to keep schools clean and open during flu season and other illness outbreaks and that commitment has only continued," said Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC. "Being one of the first organizations to achieve the Advanced by GBAC certification so quickly after the new guidelines were introduced is a testament to our team's ability to provide exceptional services without sacrificing our focus on environmental sustainability." The Advanced by GBAC certification requires organizations to have: • Established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents. • The proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques, and work practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease. • Highly informed cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response. This certification is designed to help organizations prevent, respond to, and recover from biohazard situations. By obtaining the Advanced by GBAC certification, SSC has demonstrated its ability to provide safe and healthy environments for its clients, employees, and communities year-round, as well as during times of crisis. "Every day, we're focused on creating sustainable and healthy environments where students, staff, and communities thrive, and the CIMS, GB-Honors, and GBAC certifications reaffirm our focus on innovation and industry leadership," added Ferriell. About SSC Services for Education SSC Services for Education, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, provides customized facility solutions to over 1000 K-12 and Higher Education schools nationwide. Our 10,000+ employees partner with these educational institutions to further the success and well-being of students, staff, and faculty by delivering quality facilities programs – custodial, grounds, and maintenance. As a trusted and specialized provider, we are committed to enhancing educational settings and creating financial guarantees. With SSC, students and staff flourish in improved surroundings, while partner schools focus on their core objective: educating future generations.

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