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Luxury real estate developers have traditionally marketed through glossy property campaigns, private events and promises of exclusivity. Citi Developers is taking a more aggressive route, attaching its name to a sports organization that has expanded its international presence in recent years.

The UAE-based developer has signed a multiyear agreement with UFC that makes it the organization’s official luxury real estate partner across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The partnership gives Citi Developers category exclusivity throughout the region, along with exposure at UFC events in Europe and the Middle East. Its branding will also appear at selected events in North America and Latin America, supported by digital content, marketing campaigns and fan activations.

For Citi Developers, the appeal goes well beyond arena signage.

The company is using the deal to introduce itself to an international audience while positioning its developments around performance, wellness and longevity. Those themes have become increasingly important in luxury real estate, where some buyers are considering factors beyond marble finishes and prime addresses for homes that support a broader lifestyle.

Selling a Different Definition of Luxury

Citi Developers describes its approach as “neo-luxury,” a model that combines design, hospitality, technology and well-being rather than relying on traditional displays of wealth.

“At Citi Developers, we believe luxury today is defined by well-being and meaningful connections,” CEO Zoraiz Malik said.

That message is central to the company’s current portfolio. Its flagship project, AMRA, is being developed as an integrative wellness resort in Umm Al Quwain, within an area the company identifies as the Blue Carbon Zone.

The project is intended to bring residences, hospitality and wellness-focused experiences into a single destination. It reflects the developer’s belief that high-end buyers increasingly view health, recovery and longevity as part of the value of a property.

UFC gives Citi Developers a platform to communicate that idea at a much larger scale.

The organization’s athletes are closely associated with discipline, physical performance and recovery, creating a natural connection to the lifestyle the developer wants its projects to represent. The partnership allows Citi Developers to borrow from that identity while reaching fans across several of its target markets.

Reaching Buyers Through Sport

The Middle East has become increasingly important to UFC, which now holds several events in the region each year and has built a growing fan base across the Gulf.

For Citi Developers, UFC offers a combination that conventional property advertising often cannot. It can provide broader international visibility, access to an established audience, and the ability to concentrate marketing activity in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The deal also reflects a wider change in how real estate companies pursue international buyers. Developers are increasingly behaving like consumer brands, using sports, entertainment and lifestyle partnerships to create familiarity before a potential buyer ever visits a sales center.

That approach can be especially useful for companies trying to expand beyond their home market. A property campaign may explain a development, but a global sports partnership can establish the company behind it.

Building Recognition Beyond the UAE

Citi Developers has a growing portfolio across the UAE, but the UFC agreement signals broader ambitions.

Rather than marketing each project in isolation, the company appears to be building recognition around a larger identity based on wellness, design and high-performance living. The partnership gives it repeated exposure across live events, digital channels and branded content rather than a single launch campaign.

The challenge will be turning that visibility into a credible real estate story. Sports sponsorships can create awareness, but buyers still make decisions based on location, quality, delivery and long-term value.

Citi Developers will need to connect the energy of UFC with tangible features inside its communities, particularly as it promotes wellness and longevity as core elements of its developments.

Still, the logic behind the agreement is clear. UFC gains a luxury real estate partner with roots in one of its most important growth regions. Citi Developers gains access to a global platform that can carry its name far beyond the UAE.

For a developer seeking international recognition, the Octagon may prove to be a more powerful showroom than a traditional property exhibition.

Image courtesy of The Fast Fire Watch Company 

Fire safety is still built on basics: trained eyes, consistent patrols, clear communication, and doing the boring things correctly every single time. But the environment has changed. Sites are bigger, schedules are tighter, staff turnover is real, and expectations are higher. Meanwhile, the stakes haven’t moved an inch. In 2022 alone, the U.S. saw an estimated 522,500 structure fires and nearly $15 billion in direct property damage, according to NFPA’s “Fire Loss in the United States During 2022,” authored by Shelby Hall.

That pressure is exactly why fire watch providers are bringing AI into day-to-day operations. Not as a sci-fi gimmick, but as a practical layer that helps crews stay sharper, faster, and more consistent. For companies like The Fast Fire Watch Company, AI is becoming a behind-the-scenes assistant: it can reduce paperwork friction, help flag anomalies earlier, and give teams more context than a phone call alone.

Fire Watch Has Always Been a Data Job (It Just Didn’t Look Like One)

Traditional fire watch is physical: walking routes, checking hazards, confirming extinguishers, verifying exits, watching hot work, monitoring alarm outages, documenting everything. But if you zoom out, it’s also a data loop. 

• What was checked
• When it was checked
• What looked unusual
• What was escalated
• How quickly the response happened 
• Whether the follow-up actually happened

AI can be useful when it helps tighten that loop. It does not replace guards, but it can support guard performance, especially when multiple locations, shifts, or site changes are in play. 

Where AI Fits in Modern Fire Watch Operations

Smarter dispatch and coverage planning

Fire watch often comes with messy variables: overlapping shifts, changing access rules, weather impacts, construction phases, and last-minute scope changes. AI-assisted scheduling tools can optimize staffing patterns, reduce gaps, and highlight conflicts before they turn into “we’ll figure it out on site.”

It sounds basic, but “basic” is where most failures happen. AI can help reduce the manual burden of constantly recalculating coverage needs.

Route integrity and patrol verification

Patrol verification used to be a clipboard problem. Today it’s increasingly digital: checkpoints, timestamps, geofencing, and route adherence logs. AI can scan patrol patterns over time and flag inconsistencies that humans might miss, like: 

• routes that are repeatedly shortened
• checkpoints consistently visited out of sequence
• unusual time gaps in high-risk zones

This isn’t about micromanagement. It’s about catching drift early, before drift becomes an incident.

Automated reporting that’s actually readable

Anyone who has had to review fire watch reports knows the pain: vague wording, missing details, inconsistent formatting, delayed submission. AI can help standardize and improve reporting by: 

• prompting for missing required fields in real time
• converting quick notes into structured incident summaries
• generating clean daily logs that management can scan fast

This matters because documentation isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s compliance, accountability, and often the only reliable record of what was seen and escalated. 

Risk flagging based on patterns, not memory

Human experience is valuable, but it can be uneven. AI is strong at pattern recognition across repeated inspections.

If a site keeps showing the same issue (blocked egress, storage near heat sources, temporary wiring, recurring hot work zones), AI-driven dashboards can push that pattern to the surface. The goal is not to overwhelm staff with alerts. The goal is to prioritize what needs attention today, not “whenever someone remembers.”

This aligns with a wider industry direction: connecting sensor data, operational logs, and real-time inputs to reduce avoidable hazards.

Computer vision and early detection support

One of the most promising uses of AI in fire safety is computer vision: detecting smoke, flame patterns, or unusual visual cues faster than a person can react. Research in this area includes NIST work on machine learning and sensor data for cooktop fire prevention, as well as separate FiSS research by Michael Ngai and co-authors on using video-based models to identify signals associated with cooking-fire risk.

For fire watch, this can be a support layer where cameras are already present, especially on high-risk sites or during periods when systems are offline. The key word is support. Video analytics should inform trained personnel, not replace judgment.

Faster escalation with better context

When something looks wrong, speed matters, but so does context. AI-supported systems can package relevant information quickly: 

• location data
• recent patrol history
• prior notes on that zone
• photos (when appropriate)
• incident category and severity cues

That can help supervisors and clients make more informed decisions with fewer back-and-forth calls. It may also support a clearer audit trail, which can be important in regulated environments.

AI Helps Most With the “Unsexy” Parts of Fire Safety

It’s tempting to focus on flashy detection tech. But in practice, AI delivers serious value in the quieter areas: 

• keeping patrols consistent across shifts
• reducing report errors and omissions
• catching repeat hazards that blend into the background
• creating a clear record when multiple stakeholders are involved

Those improvements are not cosmetic. They influence outcomes. And outcomes matter, given the reality of fire statistics in the U.S., including thousands of civilian deaths and injuries annually. 

What This Means for Clients: Less Guessing, More Accountability

From a client perspective, AI-enabled fire watch tends to produce three noticeable differences:

Cleaner documentation

The goal is not longer reports, but reports that are more structured, consistent, and easier to review.

More consistent coverage 

AI-supported tools may help reduce gaps, assumptions, and situations where responsibilities are unclear.

Earlier identification of recurring risks

When the same issue appears repeatedly, AI-supported tracking can help turn isolated observations into a visible pattern for review.

The Limits: AI Is Not a Fire Watch Guard

There’s a line that responsible providers shouldn’t cross. AI can misclassify signals. Sensors can fail. Cameras can be blocked. A model can be confidently wrong. That’s why credible fire safety organizations emphasize responsible adoption and clear safety frameworks around AI-enabled systems.

The safest approach treats AI as decision support, not decision-making.

• AI suggests, flags, organizes, and accelerates
• trained professionals verify, escalate, and act

That balance is what makes the technology useful without becoming reckless.

The Bottom Line

AI is beginning to influence fire safety operations in practical ways, including scheduling support, patrol verification, reporting, escalation, and visibility into repeat hazards. It’s not about replacing people. It’s about making the people on the ground more consistent, more informed, and less buried in admin work.

In fire watch, the benefits are often incremental. Better documentation, more consistent patrol tracking, faster escalation support, and improved visibility into hazards may help reduce the chance that important details are overlooked during busy shifts. And in a field where the cost of failure is measured in lives and massive property loss, those small improvements are exactly the ones worth chasing.

The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, financial, or professional advice. Readers should not rely solely on the content of this article and are encouraged to seek professional advice tailored to their specific circumstances. We disclaim any liability for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from the use of, or reliance on, the information presented.    

The self-taught co-founder behind Clip Tech personally redesigned how the world’s biggest brands distribute short-form content.

Short-form videos have rewritten the rules for capturing an audience’s attention. Brands that once relied on traditional paid social media now compete for milliseconds of attention. Meanwhile, an economy has been growing in the background where creators clip and post content on TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and X for a fraction of the cost. The problem was the infrastructure. Nicolai Amirzadeh found no reliable way to run that market at scale, so he built one. 

The gap in the creator economy

Clipping, or turning long-form content into short vertical clips, emerged as its own hustle alongside the rise of TikTok and Reels. Fan-made clips of streamers, shows, and content creators routinely outperformed creators’ official content. Major entertainment companies took notice, and so did consumer and technology brands, who saw their paid social costs climb. 

However, the industry was running on informal arrangements in the DMs, private transfers, and no real way to track views across platforms. Fake and bot-inflated views were rampant on social platforms, leaving brand teams with huge budgets nowhere credible to post clips. The upside of paid clipper distribution was obvious, but the operational layer to support it did not yet exist. 

Building on his first lessons

Amirzadeh is 22, entirely self-taught, and has been creating on the consumer internet since he was 11. His first real project was a website for a non-profit run by his mother’s friend. He had barely written code at the time, but said he could do it anyway, and taught himself over three weeks. That hard-working, curious mentality became his approach for everything. 

At 15, he built and captained a competitive esports team that reached the first division of the Norwegian Counter-Strike and League of Legends leagues, which were featured on national television. He later spent two years teaching coding to fourth graders, became CTO of a company acquired by the venture firm where he worked, and founded Servergen, the first Discord marketing agency, where his team helped build over 1,100 communities. 

When he decided to stop advising and start building something himself, he brought over a decade of skills into Clip Tech. 

The platform he designed

As co-founder, COO, and head of product at Clip Tech, Amirzadeh is the architect behind every layer of the platform. He designed the creator-facing Discord experience, the client dashboard, multi-platform view tracking, and payout systems. He also built the proprietary fraud-detection system that protects every campaign, which has already blocked fraudulent payouts tied to roughly 900 million fake views. 

Amirzadeh shares that Clip Tech has grown to more than 45,000 clippers and 120,000 editors across a global network, with more than 800 campaigns run, 450,000 clips posted, and 8.1 billion verified views. He adds that during a flagship FIFA World Cup soundtrack campaign, a single audio track reached more than 80 million verified views. 

What comes next

In May of 2026, Amirzadeh was invited to judge at HackTech, one of the US’s major hackathons, evaluating projects on technical execution, product viability, and product-market fit. It is a public signal of a builder whose work has been appreciated well beyond the clipping world. 

His goal for Clip Tech is to make paid clipper distribution standard and programmable as paid search or paid social. It’s a good fit for any brand that wants to reach a younger audience through short-form videos. The more personal goal is to put real income into the hands of people who post the clips. For a self-taught builder who learned by doing things for himself, that has been a great honor. 

Glasses are no longer merely a medical device. Instead, they serve as fashion-forward accessories.

Glasses are no longer something people wear just to see clearly. Instead, they’re just a part of a person’s everyday look. Online retailers such as GlassesUSA have simplified the process of shopping for prescription frames by offering various categories like shape, color, size and style. As a result, eyewear has become a more personal fashion choice. For example, GlassesUSA also lets shoppers sort through thousands of frames by brand, fit, material and other preferences, simplifying the process of narrowing down choices before ordering online.

This shift, which has seen everyone from celebrities to designers sporting fashionable frames, shows the power of a great pair of frames to elevate an outfit and shape a person’s personal style, no matter what occasion or function one is attending.

Deciding on what frames and lenses work best

Choosing the right pair of glasses wholly depends on what role they play in their wardrobe. A pair of frames can be used as part of a daily essential, a finishing touch, or even as a statement accessory.

For some, glasses remain a neutral accessory that can work with almost everything in their wardrobe. For others, they may desire a pair that complements one’s professional outfit, or a bold pair that becomes the focal point of an ensemble. For those seeking barely-there accents, a minimalistic pair may be beneficial for their wardrobe.

While some shoppers may opt for a pair of frames that work well with everything, many might benefit from having multiple pairs, depending on the occasion. A black or tortoiseshell pair of frames may work well for the workday or a business trip, while colorful frames can add variety for other events.

Wardrobe colors often serve as starting points. Black, navy, beige, denim, and other neutral tones might find that tortoise, clear, gold, black, or brown frames may accent their existing style. Others with brighter wardrobes may include frames with colorful accents, translucency, or even patterns to add additional layers of personality.

In addition to frames, you also want to consider what lenses will work best for your needs. Some of the most commonly prescribed lenses include single vision, progressive, bifocal, safety, and transition lenses. If you are unsure what lens you need, an optometrist can help you find the right prescription for your eyesight. Many online eyewear retailers, including GlassesUSA, also provide prescription lens options during the ordering process, allowing shoppers to customize their eyewear based on their vision needs and lifestyle.

Utilizing face shape as a guide rather than a rule

While face shape is not a defining rule when exploring frames, it can serve as a useful guideline when choosing a pair of frames that creates balance and highlights facial features. 

Round faces might enjoy the way a pair of angular or rectangular frames can create a starker impression. Square faces may opt for rounded or oval frames for softer lines. Heart-shaped faces can pair with lightweight, oval, or more softly-rounded frames, while oval faces can experiment with a number of styles.

While the goal isn’t to follow a formula, having this knowledge can help one understand how different frames can change the overall aesthetic of an outfit. Simple clothing, for example, might choose geometric frames. Bold wardrobes, by contrast, might benefit from more understated or unusual frames.

Recent styles, such as round frames, aviators, transparent frames, and colorful options, act as popular frameworks when considering glasses. While trends are most useful in helping shoppers discover possibilities, they can also be used as baselines for personal style.

Choosing frame colors that work with one’s wardrobe

Color can offer a large impression of whether a pair of glasses feels like a natural part of a person’s style. Though a pair of frames might look exciting when viewed online, the pair you choose should coordinate with clothes, accessories, and the shoes someone wears.

For those seeking to add color to their outfits, they should be aware of what different colors might offer stylistically.

• Black frames, for example, are bold and classic. They often add structure to professional outfits, and can contrast well with soft colors.
• Tortoiseshell frames, meanwhile, offer a classic appearance that is less harsh than their black-framed counterpart.
• Clear frames can be modern, but subtle, and provide a contemporary look without competing with preexisting colors.
• Gold or metal frames are refined and lightweight, which often pair well with minimalistic or vintage looks.
• Brown and amber frames make them a natural choice for earth tones and neutral-colored wardrobes.
• Colorful frames are undoubtedly expressive and can be used as a statement accessory.

The colors in your wardrobe can serve as a guideline on what frames might pair best with the clothes you typically wear. Warm-toned outfits benefit from brown, amber, or tortoiseshell frames, while cooler tones may prefer black, silver, or blue-toned options to pull a look together.

Pay close attention to frame size and proportion

While many people feel that glasses can be worn no matter what their size or proportion, both can affect the appearance of the glasses.

Oversized frames may create a fashion-forward look and add personality. However, they can often become overbearing if proportions appear too large. Narrow frames might appear modern and sleek, but may feel smaller for some depending on the style. Wider frames are also capable of providing fashion statements, just as thin metal frames can as well. 

When selecting a pair of frames online, comparing the measurements from a pair you or someone else owns can make the process easier, especially if you have the exact definitions handy for perusal. Frame width, bridge measurements, the lens height, and temple length are oftentimes used to create not just a comfortable fit, but can also help people shape their style.

Utilizing virtual try-on tools as style filters

In the past few years, shopping for glasses online has become a more interactive experience. With GlassesUSA’s Virtual Try-On tool, shoppers can preview hundreds of frame styles using a selfie or live camera before making a purchase. Rather than relying on product photos alone, the tool allows users to compare different frame shapes, colors, and sizes on their own face, helping narrow down options before ordering.

The growth of the virtual try-on market cannot be understated. Grand View Research estimated that the global try-on market reached around $9.17 billion in 2023, and may grow to five times that ($46.42 billion) by 2030. According to GlassesUSA, Virtual Try-On is among the platform’s most frequently used shopping features, reflecting growing consumer interest in using digital tools to compare eyewear styles before purchasing.

Shoppers may benefit from virtual try-on tools to help answer practical style questions, including:

• If round frames create a desired look over rectangular frames.
• If clear frames blend naturally and add modern touches.
• If oversized frames feel stylish, or simply too dominant.
• If a bold color matches your wardrobe.
• If metal frames create the aesthetic you desire better than non-metallic counterparts.

Matching frames that fit lifestyle and outfit needs

The best glasses are often the ones that fit into the way someone spends their time, as well as how they dress.

Professional wardrobes may benefit from black, brown, or navy frames to provide a polished appearance. A fashionable wardrobe may support bright colors, geometric shapes, or oversized silhouettes. Minimalist wardrobes may also work well with wire styles and slim metal designs. For casual and weekend wearers, shoppers may desire something more relaxed and playful, especially if they are visiting friends or vacationing.

When in doubt: Keep the ordering process simple

When shoppers find a style they like, keeping the ordering process simple should be straightforward. Knowing the size you want and the style that you feel complements you the best helps ensure that the order matches the information provided. This is especially important when shopping online. Retailers such as GlassesUSA provide detailed frame measurements, lens customization options, and virtual try-on technology that can help shoppers make more informed purchasing decisions before placing an order.

The most important part of choosing your next pair of glasses is finding a balance. Whether you are looking for personal style, comfort, or confidence, the vast number of frame choices and digital shopping tools have made purchasing eyewear easier than ever. 

Today, the right pair of glasses doesn’t just complete an outfit, but instead, becomes an everyday part of the way someone presents themselves daily.

FAQ

Does GlassesUSA offer a virtual try-on feature?

Yes. GlassesUSA offers a Virtual Try-On tool that lets shoppers preview many frame styles using a selfie or live camera. This can make it easier to compare frame shapes, colors, and proportions before ordering prescription glasses online.

Can I order prescription glasses from GlassesUSA?

Yes. GlassesUSA offers prescription lenses across a wide selection of frame styles. Shoppers can upload a valid prescription, choose lens options that suit their needs, and customize their eyewear during checkout.

How do I know which frame size to choose online?

Online retailers such as GlassesUSA offer detailed measurements on their frames, including lens width, bridge width, temple length and frame width. Measuring against a pair of glasses that fit well already can help to make it easier to choose the correct size.

How do you choose prescription glasses online for your face shape?
Use face shape as a guide, not a rule. Angular frames can add contrast to rounder faces, while round or oval frames can soften sharper features.

What color glasses are easiest to style?
Black, tortoiseshell, clear, brown, and gold frames are usually the easiest to pair with everyday wardrobes.

Is virtual try-on a solution for style choices?

Yes, virtual try-on lets shoppers compare frame shapes, colors and proportions before they decide which pair fits their look best. 

Sources:

Eyewear market size, Share & Trends | Industry Report, 2030. (n.d.). https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/eyewear-industry 

Image Credit: Esports Foundation

Esports is having a moment.

As new sports ventures face growing scrutiny over their long-term viability, competitive gaming is moving in the opposite direction, attracting a growing global audience.

Unlike some newer sports properties, esports benefits from an established global gaming audience.

Esports isn’t trying to create demand. It’s organizing one that already exists.

“Players are chasing their dreams, clubs are working to establish long-term growth, and fans are rallying on a global stage,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports Foundation. 

That audience is part of a much larger shift. What was once seen as a niche subculture is gaining broader recognition as a form of competition, blending sport, entertainment, and digital culture.

That growth is now being matched by investment.

In 2026, according to the Esports Foundation, the organization has committed more than $100 million to the competitive gaming industry and has organized global tournaments such as the Esports World Cup, which heads to Paris, France, for seven weeks on July 6, and this fall’s first Esports Nations Cup, hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, providing year-round support for players and teams. The move may reflect a shift away from a period of rapid growth toward something more structured and built to last.

It is also becoming easier to follow. For fans, the experience is simpler: you don’t need to understand everything to follow the biggest moments.

At the same time, esports is reaching beyond traditional gaming platforms.

On June 26, Season 2 of Esports World Cup: Level Up will debut exclusively on Prime Video, offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s largest esports competitions. The series follows players from more than 100 countries competing across multiple titles over several weeks, with millions of dollars on the line and little room for error.

Image Credit: Esports Foundation

The series focuses on the human side of competition with players handling pressure, setbacks, and expectations on a global stage. Some are defending titles. Others are pursuing opportunities to advance their careers.

Image Credit: Esports Foundation

For a wider audience, storytelling can make esports easier to understand. The same elements that define traditional sports – rivalry, ambition, and high-stakes moments – are all there. The only difference is the arena.

That reflects a broader cultural shift. For younger audiences, gaming, sport, and entertainment are no longer separate. They exist side by side, often on the same platforms.

Esports sits at the center of that change.

There are still challenges ahead. Teams and leagues are working toward financial stability, and the industry continues to find ways to turn large audiences into consistent long-term value. Players also face increasing demands as competition grows.

But those pressures come with scale.

What is changing now is visibility and confidence. Investment is rising, events are growing, and the stories are reaching far beyond the core audience.

“The EWC is delivering real impact,” continued Reichert.

For those who have not followed it closely, this may be the moment esports becomes impossible to ignore. Not because it is new, but because it is starting to feel familiar.

A global sport, built for a digital generation.

Esports World Cup 2026 officially kicks off July 8 in Paris with the Opening Ceremony featuring performances from DJ Snake, Aya Nakamura, and Theodora.

Many consumers are becoming less reactive in their gift purchasing and more thoughtful in their buying behaviors. In fact, a market report from 2025 revealed that the act of giving appears to have become more mindful in recent years.

This shift away from fast, transactional purchases may coincide with a growing interest in more personalized customer experiences. Here’s why: Buying gifts intentionally requires that the customer have greater interaction with a brand and its products. And in today’s marketplace, that’s usually going to take place online. That’s why it may be increasingly important for e-commerce businesses to rethink the way they showcase and explain their merchandise.

In other words, describing an item’s basic features and benefits may not be enough to encourage a customer to click the “buy now” button. On the contrary, marketing teams may benefit from presenting content that helps customers envision the emotional impact a gift could have.

And the emotional reaction isn’t limited to the receiver. The giver should ideally feel like their purchase was personally meaningful. That way, both parties (e.g., the giver and receiver) will be more likely to remember the gift exchange on a positive note.

This begs a question, though: How exactly can a company appeal to the modern consumer’s desire to buy gifts that may leave a lasting emotional impact? One answer is to put storytelling into action.

How storytelling can build excitement and support sales

Storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest and most common practices. People like sharing and hearing stories, especially stories that make them feel more connected.

In marketing, storytelling can be used to effectively illustrate to a potential gift-giver why a product would be likely to produce a certain effect on a receiver. For example, Spoonful of Comfort has made it clear that its care packages are positioned as more than a simple transaction. Throughout the site, the content and images have been worded to resonate with people who want to send hugs, support, love, and kindness in the form of homemade food and related gifts. Once purchased, each box is assembled with the goal of creating a personalized experience for the recipient.

Want another use case for storytelling? A gift store that sells customized items online offers a wide range of personalized gifts designed for both individuals and families. For instance, the store sells everything from customized key chains and mugs to mousepads and pet pillows. Though other sites certainly have similar products, this company aims to highlight the emotional value of its merchandise. In addition, many products are priced to be comparable with similar non-personalized items. As a result, some customers may see personalized gifts as a more thoughtful alternative to purchasing something “off the rack.”

Overall, weaving an element of storytelling into every aspect of a brand’s customer experience promise can help attract buyers who want to make their gifts count. And once the gift has been exchanged, the brand may get an added boost in the form of user-generated content (UGC) and reviews.

Why UGC and positive feedback keep the buying memory alive

Positive user-generated content, or UGC, is often considered one of the most valuable forms of marketing. Whether it’s a video raving about a product on social media or a photo shared with followers, unsolicited and unscripted UGC can help bring attention to a brand and its products.

Of course, UGC can be hard to obtain since it’s usually produced at random. But it’s worth encouraging and tracking because nearly eight out of 10 consumers agree that UGC influences what they buy online. As an added advantage, UGC can help givers and receivers capture and preserve gifting moments. In time, those moments may surface within their feeds, allowing them to revisit meaningful gift-giving experiences.

Positive feedback can do likewise. Many brands forget that reviewers can see the reviews they’ve given. As they read past reviews, they may recall some of the emotions associated with giving or receiving. As a result, they may be more likely to recommend a brand or repurchase from a business that provided a memorable experience rather than a purely transactional one.

Certainly, it can take a little more work to appeal to consumers who want thoughtful gifting interactions with brands. However, refreshing a brand’s content and expanding personalization options may pay off over time through repeat business, ongoing UGC and positive feedback.

The Miami-based AI-powered link in bio platform is helping FIFA route fans from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube, and more to one connected World Cup destination.

Image credit: Linkme

FIFA’s use of Linkme gives the Miami tech company a visible role in how World Cup fans find tournament-related content across digital channels.

The global soccer organization has joined Linkme, the Miami-based AI-powered link in bio platform that helps creators, companies, athletes, and brands turn social media attention into action. FIFA is using Linkme to support its link-in-bio experience across social and digital channels, giving fans a centralized place to find World Cup-related updates, content, and resources.

For fans, that means a simpler path from social content to the information they are actually looking for: match schedules, highlights, team pages, ticketing information, venue details, broadcast links, merchandise, fan experiences, and other World Cup updates.

Link-in-bio platforms are evolving from simple profile links into operating systems for social media growth, analytics, campaign routing, and monetization.

For Linkme, the move marks one of its biggest moments yet.

“FIFA choosing Linkme is a meaningful validation of the platform we’ve built for businesses and global brands looking to manage their social presence more effectively,” said Net Kohen, CEO of Linkme. The World Cup gives Linkme a high-profile opportunity to help connect fans with tournament content across social and digital channels through one centralized experience. We’re proud to be powering FIFA’s link-in-bio, but the bigger story is what this proves for every business: social media is now a growth engine, and Linkme is the infrastructure that turns attention into action.”

Linkme has grown quickly in the creator economy by giving users a central digital home for links, content, products, audience engagement, and monetization. The company says close to 2 billion people visited a Linkme page in the past 12 months, as creators, athletes, restaurants, venues, retailers, and global brands increasingly use the platform to manage their social traffic.

FIFA’s use of Linkme points to a broader shift in how major organizations think about social media. Big events no longer live in one place. Fans discover them through short-form clips, livestreams, posts, stories, reels, creator commentary, and highlights across multiple platforms. The challenge is getting that attention to the right destination quickly.

“The World Cup is not one audience, one country or one platform,” said Daniel Benlulu, Chief Strategy Officer of Linkme. “It is billions of moments happening across the internet at the same time. Linkme can help give FIFA a fast, flexible system to turn that attention into clear pathways for fans.”

Linkme says its platform is designed to help organizations update destinations quickly, route audiences to different campaigns, measure engagement, and keep social traffic organized across teams and channels. The company positions Linkme as more than a bio link tool: it is building an AI-powered social media operating system for creators, businesses, and brands that want to grow and monetize from every platform.

That kind of infrastructure is becoming more important as social media becomes the front door for major events. Instead of asking fans to search across websites, apps, and multiple social platforms, organizations can use a single Linkme destination to make the fan journey easier.

“This is exactly what we believe Linkme was built for,” Kohen said. “The internet has become fragmented, and the largest brands in the world need an operating system for attention. FIFA using Linkme for the World Cup shows that the future of social media is not just posting. It is directing attention with intelligence. Our AI-powered link in bio platform is changing the game for businesses and people who want to grow and monetize through social media.”

The announcement also strengthens Miami’s position as a home for fast-growing technology companies that sit at the intersection of sports, entertainment, creators, and global culture.

Linkme is headquartered in Miami and has increasingly positioned itself as a platform for both creators and enterprise brands. With FIFA now using Linkme for World Cup social media efforts, the company is stepping onto one of the largest stages in sports.

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board / J.Duval

It’s not a secret that American travelers have been flocking to Europe every summer and, as the demand for European travel has increased, so have expectations. The reason behind it could be that the most popular destinations advertised to US travelers, through social media and mainstream pop culture, are the ones where everyone goes. The same ones that cannot stand the number of tourists visiting them anymore. And there are others, the ones that not everyone hears about, the hidden gems and new perspectives, and one place that often gets mentioned is the Island of Hvar.

Arrive, decompress, repeat

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board / J.Krnic

Getting here is much easier than it might seem. Newark flies nonstop to both Split and Dubrovnik this summer, and from either one, you take a catamaran to Hvar. From Split, it’s about an hour on the water. From Dubrovnik, closer to three and a half, with some of the most amazing views of the Croatian coast. 

What you realize first, stepping off the boat, is the pace of the city. Hvar Town moves characteristically slowly, a way of life built over centuries. A way that puts relaxed living front and center, and that, for some visitors, becomes an early highlight of their stay. It’s not unusual to see locals sit on the terraces for hours. Dinner does not start before eight. The passeggiata (evening walk) along the harbor is, by now, almost a tradition, not a tourist performance. By the end of day one, if you feel like you don’t have to hurry anymore, you can consider your day successful. 

History you can walk through

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board

Hvar has somewhat of a party reputation, mostly earned during the 2000s when beach clubs and yacht crowds made it a popular spot on the European summer circuit. That version of the island still exists if you want it. But the old town that predates all of that by several centuries is the more interesting place, and it takes a day of unhurried walking to start understanding it.

Start at St. Stephen’s Cathedral on the main square, a three-nave basilica built between the 16th and 18th centuries and funded entirely by the citizens of Hvar themselves. Visit the nearby Arsenal that houses the oldest communal theatre in Europe, dating back to 1612. A short walk from there is the 15th-century Franciscan monastery, home to something unexpected, a unique type of art–lace. Benedictine nuns here have been weaving it from agave plant fibers since the 19th century, a technique found nowhere else in the world and recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.

In the afternoon, head to Dubovica, a pebble cove about eight kilometers east of Hvar Town. Take the boat from the harbor or jump in a car, and a ten-minute walk down gets you to white pebbles and water that shifts from green to deep blue within meters of the shore. 

Island hopping starts here

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board / J.Krnic

A water taxi from the harbor takes under twenty minutes to the Pakleni Islands, a small archipelago of wooded coves and clear water just off Hvar’s western coast. The European Environment Agency rates 95.2 percent of Croatia’s coastal bathing sites as excellent quality, among the best in Europe, and the Pakleni Islands are where you can see why that’s true. From mid-June onward, the sea is generally warm enough for swimming, with clear conditions common throughout the summer. Pick a cove, swim, and repeat. Several of the islands have small waterfront restaurants serving fresh catch, grilled fish, and octopus salad at tables close enough to the water that you can step back in after lunch. 

In the evening, climb to Fortica. It takes fifteen minutes, and the view from the top, over the harbor, the Pakleni Islands, and the open Adriatic, is usually worth every step.

The island most visitors never see

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board

The interior of Hvar is agricultural, quiet, and largely ignored by the traveler who comes for the harbor. That is their loss. The village of Velo Grablje in the hills above Hvar Town was once the center of the island’s lavender industry, and in June the fields still bloom. 

Further east, the Stari Grad Plain is a working landscape of vineyards and olive groves laid out by Greek colonists in 384 BC on a grid of rectangular plots bounded by dry stone walls. Local farmers still work the same plots on the same boundaries. There is almost no signage explaining its significance. You walk through it and work it out, which turns out to be the right way to encounter something 24 centuries old.

The northern coast and a secret beach

Courtesy of Hvar Tourist Board / J.Krnic

Most visitors to Hvar never make it to Jelsa or Vrboska, two small towns on the island’s northern coast connected by a forest path that takes about forty minutes to walk. That works out well for the people who do. Lunch in Jelsa at one of the harbor konobas, fresh fish, local cheese, whatever the kitchen has that day. From there, hire a small boat out to Red Rocks, a stretch of red limestone cliffs that rise vertically out of the sea. There is a pebble beach tucked into a cave on one side, cliff rocks on the other, and water clear enough to see straight to the bottom. Not many people know about it yet. Spend the afternoon there, and you will start to understand something about Hvar that the harbor does not tell you: the island keeps some of its gems at a distance, just far enough that only the people who know about them actually find them.

This itinerary gets you far, but not all the way. Hvar has a way of doing that, showing you enough to make you realize how much you missed. From the coastline to the countryside, different parts of the island reveal themselves over time, leaving just enough for the possibility of a repeat visit.

The fintech leader is connecting traditional finance with digital assets

Modern consumers have grown accustomed to immediacy. Messages travel across the world in seconds. Businesses operate across multiple countries. Customers expect services to be available whenever and wherever they need them. Yet behind many financial transactions, the infrastructure responsible for moving money often remains far more complex than the experience suggests.

That disconnect has shaped much of Garth Howat’s professional journey.

He has worked across payments, banking technology, and embedded finance in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States over the past 17 years. While public attention often focuses on new financial products and digital experiences, Howat has concentrated on the systems that make those services possible in the first place.

His work reflects a simple observation: as expectations rise, financial infrastructure must evolve alongside them.

Finding opportunity in friction

Early in his career, Howat became interested in the gaps in financial systems. Moving money between institutions, countries, and payment networks frequently involved delays, duplicated processes, or unnecessary complexity. Many organizations accepted those challenges as part of the system. Howat viewed them as problems worth solving.

His projects have generally focused on making financial services easier to access and use. Whether the challenge involved payments, operational workflows, or platform connectivity, the objective remained practical: remove obstacles that slow people down.

Working with the system, not against it

The financial services industry is not one that can simply start over. Banks, payment networks, and regulatory frameworks have developed over decades. New technology may introduce new possibilities, but lasting progress often comes from improving connections between existing systems rather than replacing them outright.

That perspective has shaped much of Howat’s work. He has focused on creating technology that operates within established financial environments while helping institutions modernize their operations.

In many cases, success comes from making different systems communicate more effectively with one another. The result may not be visible to the average consumer, but it can have a meaningful impact on speed, efficiency, and reliability.

Why trust still matters

Innovation often receives the headlines. Compliance rarely does. Yet for organizations operating across multiple markets, regulatory requirements are part of everyday reality. Howat has consistently approached compliance as a foundation for growth rather than a hurdle standing in the way of it.

That mindset has influenced everything from partnership development to expansion strategies. Building financial infrastructure requires confidence from institutions, regulators, and customers alike. Consistency and accountability become just as important as technical capability.

Those principles have remained central as financial services become increasingly international.

Building for what comes next

Howat believes the next chapter of financial technology will be shaped by how organizations combine automation, artificial intelligence, and embedded financial services with existing operational frameworks.

The challenge is unlikely to be access to technology. Most organizations already have access to powerful tools. The harder task is using them in ways that simplify processes rather than create additional layers of complexity.

For Howat, progress comes from building systems that quietly do their job well. Faster information flow, smoother transactions, and stronger connections between institutions may not attract the most attention, but they often create the most lasting value.

That outlook continues to guide his work: focus on the infrastructure, improve the connections, and make the system function a little better than it did before. 

The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Readers should not rely solely on the content of this article and are encouraged to seek professional advice tailored to their specific circumstances. We disclaim any liability for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from the use of, or reliance on, the information presented.

How one performer adapts to what corporate audiences actually respond to

Corporate events have changed in ways that aren’t always obvious from the outside. It used to be enough to fill a schedule with speakers and leave space for networking. Now, the expectation leans more toward shared experiences that hold attention and carry through the rest of the event. That’s the space where Josh Pele has built his work, focusing on how performance can fit into those moments without feeling disconnected from them.

Attention moves quickly, especially in rooms where people are used to constant input. Holding that attention requires something more active than a standard presentation. 

Where Entertainment Fits Into Corporate Settings

Live entertainment at corporate events used to sit on the edges of a schedule. It was often treated as a break without integrating into the experience itself. 

That separation doesn’t always hold anymore. Events now tend to blend different elements together, which means performances need to adapt to a range of settings. A room might shift from formal presentations to smaller conversations, then back again. Keeping people engaged through those changes requires a different approach than a fixed stage act. 

A Style Built Around Interaction

Josh Pele works as a magician and mentalist, though his approach leans heavily on interaction. Instead of treating the audience as observers, his performances tend to pull people into the experience as it unfolds. That structure changes how the room responds. A performance can move between a larger stage setting and smaller group moments without feeling like a reset.

Adapting Across Different Audiences

That variation shapes how a performance needs to be structured. The focus is on reading the room and adjusting in real time. That might mean changes in pacing, how people are involved, or reworking how a moment is delivered. 

Language has also played a role in that adaptability. Having performed in more than 20 countries and in 11 languages, Pele’s work reflects a growing demand for experiences that feel personalized, interactive, and culturally relevant. The emphasis stays on how the performance fits the audience in front of it.

Preparation Behind the Performance

Adapting to different environments often involves understanding the event structure, audience, and expectations tied to both. In some cases, that preparation has included learning an entirely new language in order to perform magic and mentalism for native-speaking audiences. To date, Pele has performed in 11 languages, including Swedish, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Japanese, and English.

Rather than treating language as a novelty, the goal is to create genuine moments of connection by meeting audiences in a language and cultural context that feels familiar to them.

Those details don’t always stand out during the event itself, though they shape how smooth the experience feels. 

That kind of preparation also supports consistency. Even when the format changes, the performance can still hold together in a way that feels intentional. 

Expanding Beyond Performance

While corporate events remain a central part of his work, other areas have started to take on more space over time. Pele has performed at corporate conferences, executive retreats, private events, international festivals, and television appearances, demonstrating how adaptable interactive entertainment has become across different environments.

Pele also serves on the Advisory Council of Smiles Through Cars, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating memorable experiences for children and families facing difficult circumstances.

That balance between professional work and community involvement adds another layer to how his work is structured. It moves between different environments while keeping a similar focus and connection.

How Expectations Continue to Change

That creates ongoing pressure on how performances are designed. What works in one setting may need to change in another. The ability to move with those needs becomes part of the job itself. Live performance in these settings develops through a mix of preparation and awareness. 

The foundation is built ahead of time, though the delivery continues to shift once the event begins. That shift depends on how people respond, how the space feels, and how the schedule moves forward. Over the course of an event, those smaller moments begin to form a larger experience that stays consistent from start to finish.

As corporate audiences continue to seek experiences that feel more personal and engaging, performers capable of blending interaction, cultural awareness, and adaptability are likely to play an increasingly important role in the future of live events.