Connect with us

Technology

Cruise Planners, the Nation’s Largest Travel Franchise, Launches Annual 2024 “CP World” Convention

Published

on

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Cruise Planners kicked off their annual convention with over 900 franchise owners and advisors in attendance. The 4-day event in Fort Lauderdale concludes with a 3-night inaugural sailing to the Bahamas onboard Princess Cruises’ new ship, Sun Princess.

This year’s convention is centered around the theme “CP World: You’re a Star,” emphasizing how every Cruise Planners travel advisor is a shining star with limitless potential. CP World embodies Cruise Planners’ five brand pillars of providing best in class Marketing, Technology, Training, Support, and Community. These elements are what set Cruise Planners apart from other host and franchise networks, driving success and innovation.

“At Cruise Planners, we take pride in being a leading, innovative host/franchise, and this year is no exception. Our most exciting announcement is the launch of our ASK MAXX AI tool. This cutting-edge technology has excited our advisors, as it dramatically reduces their research time to just mere seconds, making their work faster and more efficient than ever before,” said founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, Michelle Fee.

Cruise Planners announced over 20 new initiatives designed to help Cruise Planner Advisors be more efficient and provide exceptional industry leading service to their clients.

A few of the big announcements included:

“Ask Maxx” AI Personal Assistant: An industry first, AI-powered assistant, designed to help Cruise Planners advisors quickly access information about destinations, suppliers, itineraries, and all Cruise Planners programs and tools. Ask Maxx delivers fast and accurate responses, making it an essential, time-saving advantage that will serve as their personal assistant to find information quickly. What used to take multiple steps and several minutes to find can now be accessed in just seconds!

Vax Integration: Advisors can now easily retrieve VAX VacationAccess bookings directly into CP Maxx, Cruise Planners proprietary booking and CRM system. This feature eliminates the need for manual data entry, saving time and effort. Once the booking is retrieved, advisors can easily manage and update it within CP Maxx.

Hotel Tool Enhancements: Cruise Planners is introducing a new feature called Hotel Sheets for 2025, complementing its existing Hotel Comparisons tool. Hotel Sheets enables travel advisors to select specific rooms and rates from over 2 million properties worldwide, providing clients with tailored options. This tool utilizes live pricing, as well as markup capabilities, ensuring that clients see the most current rates for their chosen room categories.

Additional CP Maxx Enhancements
More new features include Maxx Snippets, the ability to save blocks of text that are frequently used for easy access. Additionally, Maxx Shortcuts allows advisors to bookmark favorite tools and reports within CP Maxx, personalizing the CP Maxx experience for greater efficiency.

CP Maxx Mobile Enhancements: Maxx Intelligence, an AI tool powered by ChatGPT launched in 2023, is now available in the CP Maxx Mobile app. It allows advisors to access ChatGPT 4.0 from within their mobile device and from anywhere. Advisors can also easily upload videos from iOS or Android devices to the CP Maxx Video Library, streamlining the process and enabling quick sharing in emails or marketing materials.

During this year’s convention, Cruise Planners will host a variety of engaging panels and exciting events throughout the week. Highlights include the highly anticipated Cruise Line Executive Panel featuring senior sales executives from eight major cruise lines, Top Producer panels, a social media presentation with an industry expert, networking opportunities, educational breakout sessions, and much more.

“As we kick off this year’s Cruise Planners convention, it’s truly inspiring to see over 900 of our dedicated franchise owners and travel advisors gathered here. This year’s theme, ‘CP World: You’re a Star,’ is a celebration of the collective success of Cruise Planners and each advisor’s unique role in creating their own blockbuster success story,” said founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, Michelle Fee. “Our north star at Cruise Planners is to provide best-in-class marketing, technology, training, support, and a community that empowers our advisors to reach new heights. Introducing over 20 new and innovative initiatives highlights Cruise Planners as a leader in the travel industry, paving the way for increased efficiency, creativity, and success for our advisors in the years to come.”

More information to follow. Follow #CPCon24 for additional updates.

Company Background: Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 2,500 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 2 years.

Cruise Planners received a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report from Franchise Business Review for 2024. Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises of 2022. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.

Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cruise-planners-the-nations-largest-travel-franchise-launches-annual-2024-cp-world-convention-302271496.html

SOURCE Cruise Planners Franchising, LLC

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Celebrating the 3rd International Subscription Day on October 9: What to Know About the $3T Recurring Revenue Economy

Published

on

By

Today marks the 3rd Annual Subscription Day, celebrating the $3 trillion subscription commerce industry, alongside the announcement of SubSummit 2025 in Dallas, which will commemorate its 10th anniversary.

DALLAS, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Today marks the 3rd Annual Subscription Day, a celebration of the rapidly evolving subscription commerce industry, which is valued at a staggering $3 trillion. This day represents the growth of subscription models while also promoting the broader expansion of the recurring revenue economy encompassing memberships, loyalty programs, and more.

“We’re excited to enhance the attendee experience with new opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing, ultimately equipping businesses with the tools and connections they need to thrive in this dynamic market.”

With 86% of U.S. consumers being active subscribers, according to the 2024 State of Subscription Commerce Industry Outlook Annual Report, the significance of Subscription Day is clearer than ever: it highlights how businesses can innovate and foster purposeful connections with consumers, transforming the way brands engage with the world.

The industry celebrates this milestone alongside the release of tickets for the upcoming SubSummit 2025. Set to take place in Dallas from May 28-30, SubSummit serves as the industry’s premier event for learning about subscriptions and recurring revenue commerce. The annual meetup will proudly commemorate its 10th anniversary.

The 2025 event will feature 2,000+ attendees and 100+ industry-leading speakers, an immersive attendee experience, innovative sessions, and countless networking opportunities, making it the largest gathering focused on subscription, membership, and recurring revenue models. Attendees include direct-to-consumer and business-to-business companies, investors, students, professors, nonprofits and media interested in keeping a pulse on loyalty consumer trends.

“Our 10th SubSummit is not just a milestone for us, but for the entire recurring revenue industry,” said Christopher George, CEO of SubSummit. “We’re excited to enhance the attendee experience with new opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing, ultimately equipping businesses with the tools and connections they need to thrive in this dynamic market.”

Attendees will also be the first to receive the 2025 State of Subscription Commerce Industry Outlook Annual Report, packed with fresh insights and data on subscription commerce trends. This exclusive release underlines the importance of SubSummit as the only gathering where industry professionals can gain access to the latest research and proprietary data that businesses need for growth in this ever-changing state of commerce.

“SubSummit facilitated great conversations and connections with amazing partners I wouldn’t have found otherwise,” said Darren Major, Voice of Customer at Harry’s and 2024 speaker. “It’s invaluable for expanding our business.”

About SubSummit

SubSummit is the largest event dedicated to the subscription, membership, and recurring revenue industry. It brings together the brightest minds and most innovative businesses for networking, learning, and celebrating the successes in the subscription space. Each year, we bring together 2,000+ executives and operators from established enterprises, direct-to-consumer startups, innovative tech companies, active investors and more. These pioneers come from across a broad range of industries, including e-commerce, media, publishing, retail, streaming, SaaS, digital, automotive and beyond.

For more information, visit subsummit.com.

Media Contact

Nadine Ghica, SubSummit, 1 248-587-8202, pr@subsummit.com, subsummit.com

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/celebrating-the-3rd-international-subscription-day-on-october-9-what-to-know-about-the-3t-recurring-revenue-economy-302271772.html

SOURCE SubSummit

Continue Reading

Technology

Lockheed Martin Announces New F-35 Leader

Published

on

By

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) announced today Chauncey McIntosh has been named vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II Program, effective Dec. 1. McIntosh succeeds Bridget Lauderdale, who will be retiring at the end of the year following a 38-year career with the company.   

McIntosh, who most recently served as the vice president and deputy of the F-35 program, is an exceptional leader with more than 20 years of business, program management, engineering and customer engagement experience. As the vice president and general manager for the F-35 program, McIntosh will be responsible for further strengthening positive customer experiences by reinforcing and continually growing the capability and reliability of the F-35; showcasing significant program progress; and ensuring the F-35 program meets the speed, agility, quality and affordability requirements deserved and expected by U.S. and international customers.

McIntosh previously led Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors business, which is responsible for Aegis Weapon System software development. Under his leadership, McIntosh oversaw the successful transformation of Aegis software development. Prior to that role, he served as the vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin’s Training and Logistics Solutions line of business, leading execution and strategic growth of mission readiness and sustainment programs including the F-35. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in business administration from American InterContinental University. A full bio for McIntosh is available on the Lockheed Martin website.

“Chauncey is an exceptional leader with distinct qualifications needed to lead the F-35 program. His selection showcases the strength and depth of Lockheed Martin’s leadership succession planning,” said Greg Ulmer, president, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “Critical leadership appointments like this will continue to advance our 21st Century Security® solutions to support our growing customer needs.”

The F-35 is the most advanced, connected fighter aircraft in the world, providing unmatched 5th Generation capabilities and strengthening allied deterrence for the U.S. and its allies. To date, 19 global customers have chosen the F-35 for its advanced, connected capabilities to strengthen 21st Century Security, enhance global partnerships and power economic growth. More than 1,000 F-35s are currently operational around the globe and have generated more than 922,000 flight hours. F-35s operate from 33 bases worldwide, including 10 nations operating on home soil. As adversaries advance and legacy aircraft age, the F-35 is critical to maintaining air dominance for decades to come.

About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security® vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at Lockheedmartin.com.   

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martin-announces-new-f-35-leader-302271894.html

SOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

Continue Reading

Technology

Game-Changing Approach to Software Delivery Now Widely Available to Department of Defense

Published

on

By

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, veteran-founded Defense Unicorns has released its revolutionary new system to the Department of Defense – UDS – a game-changing shift for the future of software delivery. UDS arms mission operators for modern warfare and brings software solutions to national security environments deployed worldwide.

UDS (Unicorn Delivery Service) publicly launches after successful operations in multiple classified and unclassified environments. This first-of-its-kind defense tech platform, will continue to advance its core capabilities by repeatedly deploying and operating in the most challenging and complex missions inside the Department of Defense.

Defense Unicorns Co-founder and CTO, Jeff McCoy shares, “I spent two decades in the Air Force watching technologies struggle to keep up and modernize well enough to deliver updates in air-gapped environments. I wanted to build UDS to help Defense avoid the struggle, complexity, and bureaucracy that make delivering software for national security so difficult.”

What truly makes this announcement game-changing is the defense-first approach to software delivery. UDS provides for national security missions a solution that is:

Secure—UDS is committed to a 0 CVE posture with continuous monitoring, logging, and alerting across a defense-in-depth approach to cybersecurity. It ensures secure runtime by closely managing and monitoring software interactions within DoD environments, verifying software components, and mitigating vulnerabilities in real-time to maintain a trusted and resilient operational state.

Compliant – UDS satisfies up to 90% of the NIST 800-53 technical controls that program offices are responsible for in IL-4, 5, and 6 environments.

Airgap Native – UDS is designed for airgap systems. As a Defense-first solution, UDS was designed from the beginning to support disconnected, semi-disconnected, and highly secure environments.

Highly Distributable – UDS is designed to deploy where the Mission requires: cloud, on-prem, and tactical edge alike. With UDS, the same software baseline goes everywhere the mission requires, across contractor environments, government systems, unclassified, classified, or even SAP environments.

Portable—UDS’ portability enables mission capability providers to rapidly develop, test, deploy, and operate regardless of infrastructure, supporting cloud, bare-metal, and tactical edge with uniformity.

Decentralized—UDS reduces mission dependency on single centralized solutions and is instead deployed to many environments, giving your mission the assurance it requires in real wartime scenarios. 

Easy to Operate – UDS makes complex software delivery easy. Most mission systems are managed by active duty, civilians, or a small number of contracting experts. Mission system operators shouldn’t have to be technology experts to execute their work. With UDS, the heroes that operate these programs and weapon systems no longer have to experience these challenges.

“Our vision as a company is to advance freedom and independence globally,” says Robert Slaughter, Air Force Veteran and Defense Unicorns CEO.

“The biggest threat to that vision is an ineffective US military, plagued by insecure and outdated legacy software. Here at Defense Unicorns, it is our life purpose to solve this problem once and for all. UDS is that game changing. Most of the time, defense tech is considered a late add-on for most technologies. We took the opposite approach and instead we have purpose-built UDS as a software delivery platform for the DoD.”

Since its inception but prior to today’s public release, UDS has been successfully deployed within critical systems operated by partners in the Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Over a six-month development and testing period, UDS proved its ability to accelerate the Authority to Operate (ATO) process while maintaining the entire software development lifecycle from initial development to sustained operations across dozens of deployments throughout multiple classified levels within the complex defense industrial support base.

“The technical solution shouldn’t hold your Mission hostage,” says Andrew Greene, Defense Unicorns Co-Founder and Engineer.

“The warfighter deserves nothing less than secure capabilities, immediately available in their mission environments. I believe we’re solving a really hard problem, more holistically and better than it’s ever been done before.”

Defense Unicorns is transforming how the Department of Defense apparatus buys, builds, delivers, and sustains mission capabilities. At the core of this disruptive approach is the leveraging of UDS, which is quickly becoming the leading purpose-built defense tech-first software delivery platform.

Defense Unicorns has multiple workshops and discovery and framing sessions for government programs and defense contractors to explore how UDS can help make software delivery easy for national security systems. This is the fastest way for anyone interested in potentially acquiring this solution.

For more information or to book a demonstration, contact Defense Unicorns at media@defenseunicorns.com

About Defense Unicorns: Defense Unicorns is a defense tech startup founded in 2021 with the vision of advancing freedom and independence globally. Defense Unicorns focuses on airgap native software and platform solutions that solve national security issues. Defense Unicorns builds cutting-edge technology to solve the biggest challenges mission systems face when developing and deploying software and AI solutions in some of the most extreme environments on the planet.

For more, visit www.defenseunicorns.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/game-changing-approach-to-software-delivery-now-widely-available-to-department-of-defense-302271912.html

SOURCE Defense Unicorns

Continue Reading

Trending