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The Sigourney Award-2024 Recipients Honored For Outstanding Work Advancing Psychoanalytic Principles Globally

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Four Recipients’ Work From Israel, Sweden, Canada and South Africa Earns The Sigourney Award-2024

SEATTLE, Nov. 12, 2024 /CNW/ — The Sigourney Award Trust annually recognizes outstanding work that advances psychoanalytic thought and principles throughout the world. Robin A. Deutsch, PhD and Analyst Co-Trustee of The Sigourney Award Trust, today announces three individuals and one organization whose work of the past decade earns The Sigourney Award-2024 and a substantial cash prize. Recipients include: Merav Roth, PhD (Tel Aviv, Israel); Björn Salomonsson, MD (Stockholm, Sweden); Dominique Scarfone, MD (Montreal, Canada); and The Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust (Johannesburg, South Africa).

“The 2024 recipients’ work has uniquely and positively impacted populations, including the youngest among us, by expanding access and understanding of psychoanalysis as well as psychotherapy’s benefits to professionals and the general public,” says Dr. Deutsch. “The anonymous judges, who likewise conduct exemplary professional careers, evaluated work from 10 countries to select work that most closely aligned with Mary Sigourney’s original intent.”

Founded by Mary Sigourney in 1989, The Sigourney Award was established to recognize and promote exceptional work that advances psychoanalytic principles and their ability to better humankind.

Work Meriting The Sigourney Award-2024 (Alphabetical order)

Merav Roth, PhD (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Prof. Merav Roth’s exceptional interdisciplinary work included an unparalleled approach to psychoanalysis and literature, which gave readers a better understanding of the deep psychic processes involved in reading and earned her a reputation as a pioneering psychoanalytic thinker. Her notable work also expands to her impactful role as a writer and activist on trauma, ethics and culture in Israel and abroad.  Accomplishments in the past decade include her first book, A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Reading Literature – Reading the Reader (Routledge, 2020), where she described the unconscious processes involved in reading literature. As the former chair of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy program at Tel Aviv University, Roth established and still chairs “The Clinic For All” which provides pro-bono psychotherapy for deprived or disadvantaged populations. As a professor at the University of Haifa, Roth established a new philanthropic initiative, “Interweaving,” a culturally sensitive clinic for disadvantaged populations. Following the events of October 7 in Israel, Roth’s psychoanalytic work with trauma was swiftly employed to provide guidance and wide-reaching help, including establishing with two colleagues a philanthropic network of 450 psychoanalysts who provide long-term pro-bono support to survivors and their family members.

Björn Salomonsson, MD (Stockholm, Sweden)
Dr. Björn Salomonsson’s work has profoundly amplified psychoanalytic knowledge and infant caretaking techniques, and engaged non-psychoanalytic healthcare professionals participating in pre-, peri-, and post-natal care of mothers and infants. An Associate Professor at Swedish Psychoanalytic Institute, Salomonsson combined training in psychoanalysis and research to improve the early life of distressed babies by wholly refining Psychoanalytic Parent-Infant Psychotherapy (PIP) methodology. He also co-founded The A Primo Foundation, with successful courses for nurses, midwives and psychologists in Maternity Units and Child Health Centers. His work pioneered psychoanalytic techniques for working directly with child health nurses who had little to no prior psychoanalytic exposure. Nurses used the techniques to address perturbed infant-parent relationships and creatively and respectfully bring a psychoanalytic understanding of the infant’s and parents’ experience of troubled relationships. In his book Psychodynamic Interventions in Pregnancy and Infancy (2018), Salomonsson systematically describes how a therapist can practice treatment beyond the one-to-one model and deliver a multi-relationship-based psychoanalytic therapy model by actively engaging the infant during psychoanalytic therapy. Today, PIP is viewed as highly relevant for every analyst.

Dominique Scarfone, MD (Montreal, Canada)  
Prof. Dominique Scarfone’s influential work has advanced a veritable renaissance in the study and transmission of French psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche’s work and produced essential theoretical contributions in unconscious communication, temporality, and the translational model of the psyche. Providing a new approach to Freudian thinking, his endeavors bridge French, British and North American psychoanalytic culture. Scarfone’s work demonstrates how the marriage of tradition with radical thinking can expand the field of psychoanalysis. While maintaining a solid belief that Freud’s foundational method offers a common ground between these cultures, he has urged persistent questioning and reconsidering of Freud’s methods to liberate new thinking. Scarfone has illuminated a modern approach to how the psychosexual enters all these domains through work addressing clinical matters, questions of transference and repetition, one’s relationship to art and ethics, and the deep complexity of what it means to be human. Within the past ten years Scarfone has published three significant books including Laplanche (2014), The Unpast (2015), and The Reality of the Message: Psychoanalysis in the Wake of Jean Laplanche (2023).

The Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust (Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa)
The Ububele Educational and Psychotherapy Trust’s outstanding work addresses the country’s traumatic past and current uncertainties, major challenges to personal relationships, mental-health challenges related to poverty, unemployment, poor infrastructure, and other crises by ingeniously magnifying the accessibility and efficacy of psychoanalytic treatment in South Africa. Ububele’s approach is rooted in the lived experiences of Johannesburg and Alexandra’s community of over 500,000 people overburdened by harsh poverty, serious crime, corruption and the lesser recognized but lasting impact of apartheid. An essential awareness and acknowledgement of transference and the influence of the unconscious informs unique initiatives centered on promoting healthy parent-child attachment through the development of low-cost, replicable models of psychoanalytically informed interventions. Two examples include the Ububele Umdlezane Parent-Infant Programs focused on the first thousand days of life and the Therapy and Assessment Clinic which conducts psychoeducational assessments and psychotherapy services. Ububele’s capacity building methods offer initial and continuing training emphasizing the transference relationship and the necessity of working beyond the surface. The training provides youth and caregivers the psychoanalytically informed psycho-emotional support needed to succeed in breaking inter-generational cycles of emotional poverty and mental health despair. 

“The Sigourney Award’s canons are unwavering and the Trust works tirelessly to ensure that Mary Sigourney’s intent is honored with a wholly independent assessment of exceptional work with each year’s Awards. We are fortunate to attract applications and nominations from around the world representing ground-breaking work that has advanced psychoanalytic thought and principles,” says Michael J. Harrington, JD, Attorney Co-Trustee of The Sigourney Award Trust.

Visit The Sigourney Award to review all recipients’ announcements. Applications for The Sigourney Award-2025 open March 1, 2025 for qualifying work completed between 2015-2024. Follow social platforms on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward, and X @sigourney_the.

About The Sigourney Award
The Sigourney Award Trust, a wholly independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, annually bestows The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that has advanced psychoanalytic principles. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. Since 1990, The Sigourney Award has rewarded and promoted outstanding work. To date, 149 Award recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. Judges of The Sigourney Award remain anonymous to ensure an unbiased and thorough evaluation practice. Work honored by The Sigourney Award has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.

Media Contact: Kelly Wisecarver, kelly@wisecarverpr.com

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Meta, Watsons Hong Kong, Hong Kong Life and OPTICAL 88 unlocked WhatsApp potential with Omnichat

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November 26, 2024

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Create end-to-end customer journeys using WhatsApp Flows and ads that click to WhatsApp with Meta to accelerate business growthRedefine customer engagement with Omnichat’s WhatsApp membership system and enhance campaign tracking and optimisation through the Conversions APIWatsons Hong Kong integrated WhatsApp into the customer journey, from initial product discovery through to final purchase and payment, thereby offering customers a more convenient O+O experienceHong Kong Life revolutionised its interactions with customers by WhatsApp marketing, streamlining the acquisition of potential customers and elevating the overall customer experienceOPTICAL 88 leveraged WhatsApp’s direct messaging capabilities to create tailored, one-on-one conversations with customers, strengthening relationships and boosting satisfaction, resulting in an impressive 26% click-through rate on messages

HONG KONG, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Omnichat, an all-in-one omnichannel customer experience platform offering conversational commerce solutions, recently hosted a highly scalable conference titled “Unlocking Revenue Potential with Omnichannel Customer Experience”, which featured insights on delivering exceptional customer experiences via WhatsApp, with contributions from industry experts at the global social media giant Meta, international health and beauty retailer Watsons Hong Kong, the one-stop insurance and financial service provider Hong Kong Life, and the professional optical brand OPTICAL 88.

 

Omnichat, as the WhatsApp Business Solution Provider of Meta, introduced how its advanced omnichannel customer experience solutions empowered businesses to effortlessly drive customer loyalty and achieve personalisation through seamless journeys during the event. “Numerous businesses are seeking ways to streamline customer journeys, and WhatsApp Flows offers the perfect solution. Integrating WhatsApp Flows with marketing campaigns empowers businesses to design, build, and customise experiences. This provides customers a fast, simple way to complete tasks within a conversation, ultimately driving conversions and delivering better results,” said Alan Chan, Founder and CEO of Omnichat. The newly launched WhatsApp membership system offers brands and their customers a user-friendly loyalty solution by leveraging WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in Hong Kong. “When constructing end-to-end customer journeys, loyalty is a crucial element that must not be overlooked. The WhatsApp membership system is designed to strengthen customer relationships through loyalty points, coupons, and membership cards, facilitating future re-engagement and encouraging potential repurchases.” Leveraging the power of Omni AI, auto-generated message content can be customised for various customer segments, enhancing efficiency in marketing and customer service while achieving personalisation. 

WhatsApp has the highest social media platform penetration rate of 79% in Hong Kong, according to the survey conducted by GWI. Driving engagement and growth across the customer lifecycle, the WhatsApp Business Platform plays a pivotal role in connecting with customers from discovery, consideration, purchase to re-engagement. “Meta has continually expanded the capabilities of business messaging to empower companies across various sectors to drive awareness, boost conversions, and create meaningful customer relationships for remarketing,” said Vicky Yiu, APAC Strategic Partnership Manager of Meta. “By creating a customised WhatsApp experience, WhatsApp Flows has achieved measurable results in generating more leads, appointments, and revenue directly within the platform, providing increased convenience for both businesses and their customers.” Meta also offers comprehensive tracking of the entire customer journey with the Conversions API. From the initial ads that lead to WhatsApp engagement, through subsequent WhatsApp interactions, to the final conversion, businesses can now generate actionable insights and fine-tune their advertising strategies with precision.

Prolog Leung, Online Business Director of Watsons Hong Kong also shared in the seminar, “Watsons Hong Kong has successfully integrated WhatsApp commerce into its innovative O+O (Offline plus Online) retail strategy by seamlessly implementing Omnichat’s conversational commerce solution, streamlining the checkout process and delivering an unparalleled shopping experience. It bridges the gap between digital convenience and personalised service. We are now handling tremendous customer enquiries monthly via WhatsApp, minimizing the waiting time of customers to answer their enquiries. Our ‘Watsons Here For You’ service offers one-on-one consultations with pharmacists, Chinese medicine practitioners, and dietitians via WhatsApp. This seamless integration of digital and physical retail spaces allows our customers to engage with our brand at their convenience, not only boosting online engagement and sales but also driving foot traffic to our physical stores.” 

Hong Kong Life has revolutionised its marketing and customer service strategies by leveraging WhatsApp and Omnichat’s advanced messaging solutions. Initially implemented to manage multi-channel enquiries on social media platforms, Hong Kong Life had quickly realised the transformative potential of WhatsApp for business growth and customer experience enhancement. “We have uncovered the limitless potential of WhatsApp in our marketing and customer service. The automated chatbot can now efficiently handle over 90% of simple enquiries, allowing our team to focus on marketing and nurturing deeper customer relationships,” said Jonathan Ko, Chief Marketing Officer of Hong Kong Life. “We have strategically implemented interactive Q&A games via WhatsApp chatbots, incentivising participation with exclusive coupons. This not only enhances customer engagement but also significantly expands our WhatsApp database. Leveraging this growing database to deliver targeted marketing broadcasts, our campaigns have recorded a remarkable 70% read rate, substantially boosting business conversions.” 

OPTICAL 88 has further solidified its reputation for exceptional customer service by leveraging the WhatsApp Business Platform. This strategic move has not only enhanced communication efficiency but also instilled a greater sense of trust and convenience among customers, thanks to the platform’s authorised blue tick verification. Andrea Chan, Digital Marketing Manager of OPTICAL 88 emphasised the significance of this digital transformation, “Maintaining a close, personal connection between our sales team and customers is a cornerstone of our brand values. We have observed that regardless of demographic, our customers overwhelmingly prefer the immediacy and interactivity of WhatsApp over traditional email communications, resulting in up to 26% click-through rate on our messages.” OPTICAL 88 has also broadened its tactical approach beyond one-to-one communications. Andrea further explained, “By integrating omnichannel chatbots with our social media strategy, particularly for Facebook comment auto-replies, we have facilitated engaging social media campaigns while effectively driving online traffic to our physical stores.”

By seamlessly integrating automated systems with personalised human interactions, the comprehensive chat commerce solutions are revolutionising the way businesses interact with their customers across WhatsApp Business Platform, Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct, and setting new industry standards for customer experience excellence. 

About Omnichat:
Founded in 2017 with its headquarter in Hong Kong, Omnichat is an omnichannel chat commerce solution provider that centralises customers’ conversations from WhatsApp Business Platform, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, LINE, WeChat and website live chat into a single platform to enhance efficiency and productivity.

With a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region, the company has established a solid reputation for serving local and international retail and e-commerce brands. By offering an omnichannel social customer data platform, online-merge-offline(OMO) sales integration, marketing automation, chatbots as well as customer service platform, Omnichat strives to empower brands to deliver personalised customer journeys and drive digital transformation, ultimately converting visitors into customers through chats.

Website: https://www.omnichat.ai/
WhatsApp: https://wa.me/85291925071/?text=EnquiryForWhatsApp
LinkedIn: https://hk.linkedin.com/company/omnichat-easychat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OmnichatAI

For media enquiries, please contact:
Omnichat Limited
Lily Yeung
Associate Director of Communications
Tel: (852) 9803 5977
Email: lily.yeung@omnichat.ai

Macy Chun
Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 6234 9555
Email: macy.chun@omnichat.ai

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AccuRadio Shields Listeners from ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ in 2024 Challenge

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November 26, 2024

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CHICAGO, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — This holiday season, AccuRadio, one of the world’s leading online radio services, is stepping up to protect listeners from the ultimate seasonal pitfall: Hearing the song “The Little Drummer Boy.”

This Christmas, AccuRadio is helping music fans dodge the ultimate holiday pitfall: Hearing “The Little Drummer Boy”

“We have a foolproof plan to help our listeners stay safe from that song this holiday season,” announced Kurt Hanson, Founder and CEO of AccuRadio.

AccuRadio’s initiative supports the Little Drummer Boy Challenge — a playful annual game in which countless holiday music lovers aim to avoid hearing “The Little Drummer Boy” for as long as possible, from 12:01am local time on Black Friday through 11:59pm on December 23rd (per littledrummerboychallenge.com). The challenge, originally born in Silicon Valley tech circles, has become a cherished holiday tradition, uniting music fans across the globe.

To aid participants in their quest, AccuRadio is launching a set of “safe zone” Holiday Music channels that feature all the festive classics listeners love, with one notable exception: “The Little Drummer Boy” is completely off the playlist.

“We want holiday music fans to have a safe space to enjoy their favorite holiday songs without fear of losing the challenge,” Hanson said.

For those feeling mischievous, AccuRadio is also introducing a specially-disguised channel that will actually play nothing but dozens of versions of “The Little Drummer Boy,” perfect for pranking friends. “We call it getting drum-rolled,” explained Paul Maloney, AccuRadio’s VP/Programming.

Todd Manley, VP/Promotion at AccuRadio, emphasized the platform’s commitment to its listeners: “In a world where online safety can be challenging to find, we’re making it easy for holiday music fans to enjoy their season with true peace of mind.”

AccuRadio’s “safe zone” channels are a new addition this year to what is already the most extraordinary collection of holiday music channels available anywhere. AccuRadio offers over 125 curated (and personalizable) Christmas music channels focusing on specific genres, decades, regions, tempos, and themes—making it the ultimate destination for holiday music enthusiasts.

This amazing assortment of holiday music channels can be found on the web at www.accuradio.com/christmas-music and on AccuRadio’s iPhone and Android mobile apps.

About AccuRadio
Launched in 2000 (making it one of the earliest pioneers in online audio), AccuRadio offers over 1,400 human-curated music channels (spanning over 50 genres) to over a million adult, upscale, and loyal users each month.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/accuradio-shields-listeners-from-the-little-drummer-boy-in-2024-challenge-302315954.html

SOURCE AccuRadio

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UPS Class Action News: Robbins LLP Reminds Investors of Quickly Approaching Lead Plaintiff Deadline in the United Parcel Service, Inc. Class Action

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November 26, 2024

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SAN DIEGO, Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Robbins LLP reminds investors that a class action was filed on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) securities between January 30, 2024 and July 22, 2024. UPS is a multinational parcel delivery and supply chain management solutions company operating in more than 200 countries and territories.

For more information, submit a form, email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003.

The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) Misled Investors Regarding its Business Prospects

According to the complaint, during the class period, defendants created the false impression that they possessed reliable information pertaining to the Company’s projected revenue outlook and anticipated growth while also minimizing risk from seasonality and macroeconomic fluctuations. In truth, UPS’ optimistic reports of growth, plans to handle volume variability, upcoming profit growth, and consistent claims that the first quarter would present the worst margins of the fiscal year fell short of reality; the Company was not truly equipped to handle a volume surge without causing a corresponding significant decline in their operating margin.

Plaintiff alleges that the truth emerged on July 23, 2024, when UPS announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, provided lower-than-expected guidance for the third quarter, and reduced its margin guidance for the full fiscal year 2024. The Company attributed its results and lowered guidance on the shift in “U.S. volume mix both in terms of product and customer segmentation . . . toward value products.”  On this news, the price of UPS common stock fell from $145.18 per share on July 22, 2024, to close at $127.68 per share on July 23, 2024, a decline of $17.50 per share, or about 12.05% according to the complaint.

What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against United Parcel Service, Inc. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must submit their application to the court by December 9, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.  You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here.

All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. 

About Robbins LLP: Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions; Robbins LLP does. A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002.  Since our inception, we have obtained over $1 billion for shareholders.

To be notified if a class action against United Parcel Service, Inc. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today.

Attorney Advertising.  Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.  

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SOURCE Robbins LLP

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