by TRC_Admin | Apr 26, 2019 | Undergrounding
Photo: Tampa Bay Times
“Supporters say the proposals would keep more homes and businesses out of the dark when future hurricanes inevitably wreak havoc on the state. The legislation may result in higher bills for customers, whether power lines go underground in their neighborhoods or not…”
House Bill 797 status: “Placed on Special Order Calendar, 04/26/19” Senate Bill 796 status: “CS/CS/CS by Appropriations read 1st time -SJ 353”
— Samantha J. Gross,Tampa Bay Times
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Follow the progress of each bill
House Bill 797
Senate Bill 796
by TRC_Admin | Apr 26, 2019 | Trees
Photo: Thomas Bender, Sarasota Herald Tribune
“The Community Canopy program, which gives away free trees to help expand the urban canopy while reducing energy bills, has returned to the City of Sarasota. In partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and the Florida Forest Service, the city will provide 250 trees to residents at no cost—double last year’s allotment.
Three species of trees will be offered: Dahoon holly, live oak and red maple. All the species are native trees, sourced from within Florida.
The trees will be delivered to the resident’s home in a one gallon container…
‘As the trees grow so do the benefits to the community, with less carbon and cleaner air and water,” says City of Sarasota Sustainability Manager Stevie Freeman-Montes.
‘Since 2017, 559 trees have been planted in Sarasota through the Community Canopy program. Those trees, once mature, will have filtered approximately 25.7 million gallons of stormwater, absorbed 9,000 pounds of air pollutants and captured 3.3 million pounds of carbon. This is a real impact, creating a healthier environment and more livable Sarasota…'”
— Sarasota Magazine
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Visit the Sarasota Herald Tribune to see additional photos by Thomas Bender of Scenic parts of Sarasota.
by TRC_Admin | Apr 26, 2019 | Billboards, Controversial, Sky
Illustration: StartRocket on Space.com
“A major soft drink company says it will not pursue plans to advertise its products in space using a Russian startup, avoiding what likely would have been significant public criticism.
The publication Futurism reported April 13 that PepsiCo’s Russian subsidiary was working with a startup there called StartRocket to advertise an energy drink called ‘Adrenaline Rush’ using satellites. The company has proposed flying a set of small satellites in formation, reflecting sunlight with Mylar sails to create logos or other advertising messages visible from the ground after sunset and before sunrise.
In one illustration on StartRocket’s website, a logo of a fictional soft drink company, “LocaCola,” is visible in the night sky over a city. ‘Space has to be beautiful. With the best brands our sky will amaze us every night,’ the website states.
Olga Mangova, a spokesperson for PepsiCo Russia, told Futurism that the company had agreed to partner with StartRocket on an orbital advertising campaign. ‘Orbital billboards are the revolution on the market of communications,’ she said. However, PepsiCo’s headquarters in the United States has shot down the idea. ‘We can confirm StartRocket performed an exploratory test for stratosphere advertisements using the Adrenaline GameChangers logo,’ a company spokesperson told SpaceNews April 15. ‘This was a one-time event; we have no further plans to test or commercially use this technology at this time…’
Federal law in the United States restricts the ability of companies to perform such advertising. A provision of law covering commercial space transportation prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from approving launch licenses for payloads that are for the purpose of ‘obtrusive space advertising,’ which is defined as ‘advertising in outer space that is capable of being recognized by a human being on the surface of the Earth without the aid of a telescope or other technological device.’ The law does not prohibit other forms of advertising, including placing logos on the sides of launch vehicles or spacecraft.
The law, though, only applies to payloads that would be launched commercially on an American vehicle, and would only apply to a venture like StartRocket if it chose to launch its satellites on such a rocket.
— Jeff Foust, Space.com
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by TRC_Admin | Apr 26, 2019 | Advertising Industry, Billboards, Interactive Advertising, Technology
Photo: Waze on Mobile Marketer
“McDonald’s earned 6.4 million mobile impressions by tying together out-of-home (OOH) billboards and in-app advertising on Waze, according to case study details shared with Mobile Marketer. The fast-food chain is the world’s largest spender on OOH media and worked with its outdoor agency Outdoor Media Group on the push.
The campaign [Pilot in Southern CA] leveraged more than 300 billboards equipped with geofencing technology in the Southern California market to serve Waze users in close radius an in-app ad format called Zero Speed Takeover. The full-screen ads were served anytime a user’s car came to a full stop for several seconds.
Messages shown in the ads reflected those on the billboards, touting McDonald’s menu promotions, like the limited return of the McRib, and carrying a call-to-action to ‘Drive There,’ wherein Waze navigation guided consumers to nearby restaurants. The campaign resulted in more than 8,400 navigations — meaning a user decided to activate the call-to-action — and reached 1.9 million unique consumers across an eight-week run in October and November last year…
McDonald’s will continue to work with Waze in Southern California through 2019 following the fall pilot and is expanding the partnership to five additional markets: Las Vegas, Arizona, Tampa, Orlando and Houston. ”
— Peter Adams, Mobile Marketer
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by TRC_Admin | Apr 26, 2019 | Scenic Highways
Photo: Ormond Scenic Loop & Trail (OSLT)
“An important role of Florida’s byway organizations is to support the conservation of the resources that earned the scenic highway designation. The 2018 Florida Scenic Highways Annual Report focuses on natural resource conservation and the important role byway organizations play in raising awareness of conservation issues.
From guided trail walks to environmental education fairs, the Department is proud of the way byway organizations lead by example. Byway programs and events are popular and enjoyable opportunities to learn and raise awareness of the need to protect Florida’s most precious resources and inspire the next generation of conservationists.
We encourage byway organizations to use this report as an opportunity to update byway stakeholders on what byways are doing. The 2018 Florida Scenic Highways Program Annual Report is only available electronically. Byway organizations have permission to print and distribute the document, and it is designed to print on laser printers.”
— Florida Scenic Highways
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Ormond Scenic Loop Trail has an informational site here
