Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/1073937
Oser Communications Group San Antonio Tuesday, February 5, 2019 AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH TCEA Trinseo plastics are intrinsic to the products we use in our lives every day. One of these products is the new smart outlet from Currant, a California-based startup that cre- ates smart home products designed to give consumers control over their homes â and their energy consumption. Currant introduced the Currant Smart Outlet, the first outlet on the market powered by artificial intelligence (AI), in November 2018. Consumers simply plug their home devices or appliances into it and, with a special app, receive a breakdown of their power usage in real time as well as personalized, easy-to-implement suggestions on controlling their energy expenses. According to Hasty Granbery, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Currant, "Idle energy usage resulting from always-on devices is a larger problem than most peo- ple realize, costing Americans 19 billion dollars per year." Currant addresses this problem by leveraging AI to help people discover their home energy offenders, so they can cut excess electricity usage without sacrificing Trinseo Provides Plastics for Smart Outlet The multiple award-winning MackinVIA recently received a third Award of Excellence by Tech & Learning magazine and has been hailed as one of today's most prestigious education technology products. Adding to this accomplishment was the equally respected Best of Show winner at ISTE 2015, 2016 and 2017. Rounding out the list of accomplishments is a 2017 Platinum Award from the esteemed Modern Library Awards and an incredible acknowledgement of Product of the Year for 2018. When Mackin set out to create a digital content delivery system for its customers, the top priority was to make it user-friendly and robust for students and educators alike. With a catalog of over two million digital titles, more than nine million students with access to MackinVIA and having recently received multiple accolades, MackinVIA has proven that those efforts have now been validated. MackinVIA is being hailed within the industry as the best digital resource manage- ment solution available for schools Kâ12. Users can access their digital products By Whitley Allen, Inside Business Development and Marketing, TIPS Purchasing Cooperative The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) is a national purchasing cooperative that offers access to competi- tively procured purchasing contracts to its membership. TIPS is available for use by all public and private schools, colleges, universities, cities, counties and other government entities in all 50 states. It is the intention of TIPS to establish vendor awarded contracts to satisfy the pro- curement needs of participating member entities. These awarded contracts will enable member entities to purchase on an "as needed" basis from competitively awarded con- tracts with high performance vendors. This process saves our participating member entities both time and money by not having to complete their own RFP process. Member entities can view all of our compliance documentation for each vendor Whether you are a district looking to replace your entire existing 1:1 device infrastructure, a small inde- pendent school seeking to expand your classroom tech- nology offering or an educational organization some- where in between, refreshing your ed tech devices can be a daunting prospect from a budgeting standpoint. There's no way around the fact that education technology is an investment â a worthy one for today's students â but there are ways to reduce costs and spend your money wisely. Do It the Right Way from the Start Thrifty shoppers love a good bargain, and oftentimes buying the store brand or the sale item is worth it. There are many occasions when spending less is the smartest buy. There is also some truth to "you get what you pay for" regarding certain purchases. Troxell has worked with thousands of schools across the country, and has seen the results of choosing the most minimal investment. In fact, time and time again Troxell Continued on Page 17 Continued on Page 17 MackinVIA Graced With 8th Award, Including Best Product of the Year TIPS-USA Purchasing Cooperative: 'Purchasing Made Personal' Important Advice When Refreshing Devices Continued on Page 17 Continued on Page 17 BOOTH #673 BOOTH #435 BOOTH #642