Press Releases
Here you’ll find my current press releases. Click on an image to download the hi-res version and click from page to page to find the press release you need.
13th March, 2013
Press Releases
Ten Things you Never Knew about Stretching
How often do you finish an exercise class or workout without taking the time to stretch? And when you do stretch, how do you stretch and why? Greg Brookes, personal trainer to the trainers and fitness app developer, describes why it’s just as important to know why you stretch as how to stretch. Here are his Top 10 Things you Never Knew about Stretching (and probably never thought to ask!):
#1 – You’re Not Just Stretching Muscle
Every time you stretch you are not just hitting your muscles but other soft tissue too. Fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds muscles, blood vessels and nerves also gets stretched. Lets also not forget the tendons that connect your muscles to your bones. So next time you think you are performing a quad stretch realise that so much more is being put under strain and you may not be targeting the muscle as much as you think you are.
#2 – Everything is Connected
Thomas Myers in his revolutionary book ”Anatomy Trains” describes how the body is comprised of connecting pathways of soft tissue. These pathways run through the entire body, some connecting soft tissue from head to toe. With the body interconnected in this way it turns localised stretching into globalised stretching. In other words, by stretching one section of the soft tissue pathway you are influencing other areas throughout that pathway. A simple example is how repeated wearing of high heel shoes shortens the Superficial Back Line (runs from the sole of the foot to the forehead up the back of the body) and can result in back pain and headaches.
#3 – Stretching De-Activates Muscles
The act of lengthening a muscle reduces the ability for that muscle to contract. This is a very useful theory that can be used to assist and activate other muscles. For example stretching the Hamstrings can assist in the firing of the Glutes if the firing pattern of the hip extensors is off. Stretching a muscle certainly will not render it useless but it will reduce its ability to contract.
#4 – We Should All Stretch Differently
We are all unique and have different length tensions throughout the body. There is no ”One size fits all” stretching program. Just like tuning a musical instrument we must only address the strings that need adjustment. It is important to understand your own body and then make adjustments accordingly.
#5 – Breathing Influences the Stretch
Deep breathing stimulates the Parasympathetic nervous system and this causes the body to relax. Mediation makes good use of this technique, as does Yoga which is fundamentally about ”The Breath”. When the body is relaxed it lets go of muscle tension. When you stretch you can use the breath to increase your stretching range of movement. As you slowly move into the stretch take a deep and long breath out and feel your tension release, do not fight it. As you breath in come out of the stretch slightly and then return into the stretch as you breath out again.
#6 – Stretching Can Be a Waste of Time
Stretching can be a waste of time if your body NEEDS to retain that tension for stabilisation rea- sons. A good example is the hamstrings being used to maintain core stability through pelvic alignment. No matter how many times you stretch the Hamstrings they will continue to ”Grip” the pelvis so long as your core stability is weak. The solution is to strengthen the core muscles that maintain pelvic alignment thus enabling the hamstrings to relax. If a muscle simply won’t lengthen then you must look at why it is being held under tension.
#7 – Stretching Can Cause Injury
Knots, Adhesion’s and Scar Tissue leave our soft tissue weak and vulnerable. Putting poor quality soft tissue under strain through stretching can cause further damage. Think about stretching an elastic band with a knot tied in the centre, the knot gets tighter and produces weak breaking points. Spending time addressing your soft tissue through massage and foam rolling will go a long way to improving it quality.
#8 – Stretching is NOT a Warm Up
Static stretching has it place at the beginning of a workout as part of a corrective exercise program but should not be thought of as a warm up. Mobilising the joints and dynamically taking the body through the movement patterns used in the forthcoming workout are far better ways to prepare the body for exercise. Stretching should be thought of as corrective and nothing more!
#9 – Better to Stretch Away From Exercise
Stretching can be done at anytime but stretching when the body is relaxed is the most effective time for correcting muscle tissue length. Stretching in the evening is best. If you try and change soft tissue length during your workout time the sympathetic nervous system is often active and the muscles finds it hard to relax. You can however perform maintenance stretching at this time.
#10 – Stretching is 3 Dimensional
We have over 600 muscles in the body and they all run in different directions. When you stretch you need to consider the angle of the muscles on stretch. For example you have 3 Hamstrings and by just internally or externally rotating the legs you can hit different muscles. If you find one stretch easy then try it from a different angle. You body will always chose the easiest path so look for the lines with restriction.
For a complimentary workout with Greg Brookes, please contact: Suzanne@stunningpr.com, 07957 371840
20th February, 2013
Press Releases
Virtual Piggy and WorldPay integrate to deliver an international youth payment solution
Virtual Piggy Increases Global Footprint
Virtual Piggy and WorldPay integrate to deliver an international youth payment solution
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Feb 20, 2012 Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG), an innovator in safe youth payments, today announced the addition of WorldPay as a payment gateway partner.
Virtual Piggy allows parents to set up a monthly allowance for their children and promotes financial management while empowering under 18’s to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents.
WorldPay is a major global leader in payment processing, handling an average of over 12 million transactions per day. WorldPay was the first UK bank to offer a full internet banking service and now operates in over 40 countries, making it one of Europe’s largest payment service providers. The company offers services across the entire payment value chain, including transaction capturing, merchant acquiring and transaction processing.
Only weeks after announcing that they had signed a Joint Marketing Agreement, Virtual Piggy and WorldPay have completed the integration of their solutions. Virtual Piggy is also already integrated with leading commercial eCommerce platforms such as Magento from eBay, DemandWare and osCommerce. The addition of the WorldPay, with its 200 alternative payment mechanisms as a new standard payment gateway facilitates the global expansion of Virtual Piggy, especially into regions where the use of credit cards is not as ubiquitous as it is in the US and the UK.
David Drever, VP Global Partnerships for WorldPay explained, “Like many other organizations in the payment sector we had been tracking the dynamic growth of Virtual Piggy. We are delighted that both our organizations will be able to offer each other’s products to our existing and future customers as a simple plugin solution.”
“WorldPay has the enviable position as a market leader in alternative payment options,” said Joe Peden, General Manager of Virtual Piggy EMEA. “We already have customers in the UK for whom WorldPay will be their preferred payment option. As we expand our European operations our WorldPay integration will be deployed in even more merchant eCommerce stores and games.”
For information about Virtual Piggy visit www.VirtualPiggy.com
About Virtual Piggy, Inc.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. is the first e-commerce solution that enables kids to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment. The technology company delivers online security platforms designed for the Under 18 age group in the global online market, and also enables online businesses the ability to function in a manner consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and similar international children’s privacy laws. Virtual Piggy enables the Under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. The company is based in Hermosa Beach, CA and on the Web at: www.virtualpiggy.com
Safe Harbor Statement
All statements herein other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to raise additional capital, our limited operating history and revenue, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our dependence on third party developers, our ability to develop new services, market acceptance of our services, legislative, regulatory and competitive developments, enforcement of our intellectual property, general economic conditions, as well as other factors set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Forms 10-K filed with the SEC, and other filings with the SEC.
Contact Details:
US:
Public Relations
Jenna Guarneri
Sarah Hall Productions
212-529-1598
Jenna@SHPNY.com
Investor Relations
Peter S. Pelullo, ICM
Phone: 610-825-8805
UK:
Public Relations
Suzanne Noble
+44 7957 371840
snoble@virtualpiggy.com
11th February, 2013
Press Releases
The World’s Leading Musical Artists Come to Virtual Piggy
Digital Stores to Integrate Virtual Piggy into eCommerce Framework
LONDON, UK – 11th Feb 2012 Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG), an innovator in safe youth payments, today announced that it will provide its youth-friendly payment system to Digital Stores.
Virtual Piggy allows parents to set up a monthly allowance for their children and promotes financial management while empowering youth under 21 to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents.
Digital Stores provides eCommerce services for EMI and Universal Music Group and are the UK’s leading direct-to-fan ecommerce site for artists, labels and brands. Digital Stores operates over 60 ecommerce stores including the official global ecommerce site for One Direction, the official music store for Kylie and the official European store for the Beatles
“Online eCommerce is, as we all know, impacting classical high street stores, as we have already seen several times this year. However, unless online merchants can successfully tap into the youth market, eCommerce could actually exclude young consumers. For Digital Stores, this is a major consumer group”, said Russel Coultart, Chief Executive of Digital Stores. “Virtual Piggy offers us a complete solution to youth monetization, and we are very excited to integrate their technology.”
“Digital Stores provide the online stores and eCommerce for so many fantastic youth-orientated brands including Aardman productions, Hit Entertainment and artists such as Kylie, One Direction and Emeli Sandé, “ said Joe Peden, General Manager EMEA of Virtual Piggy. “They are a perfect partner for Virtual Piggy as we expand our business into Europe.”
About Virtual Piggy, Inc.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. is the first e-commerce solution that enables kids to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment. The technology company delivers online security platforms designed for the Under 18 age group in the global online market, and also enables online businesses the ability to function in a manner consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and similar international children’s privacy laws. Virtual Piggy enables the Under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. The company is based in Los Angeles, CA and London, UK and can be found on the Web at: www.virtualpiggy.com
Safe Harbor Statement
All statements herein other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to raise additional capital, our limited operating history and revenue, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our dependence on third party developers, our ability to develop new services, market acceptance of our services, legislative, regulatory and competitive developments, enforcement of our intellectual property, general economic conditions, as well as other factors set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Forms 10-K filed with the SEC, and other filings with the SEC.
Contact Details:
Public Relations
Suzanne Noble
Stunning PR
+44 7957 371840
mailto:snoble@virtualpiggy.com
4th February, 2013
Press Releases
Virtual Piggy Opens London Office – eCommerce for the youth market arrives in the UK
Hermosa Beach, CA. 4th February 2012. Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG), an innovator in safe youth payments, today announced the opening of their new European headquarters in London.
Virtual Piggy allows parents to set up a monthly allowance for their children and promotes financial management while empowering under 18’s to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents.
Since its launch, Virtual Piggy has signed up a number of impressive partners in the US who have integrated Virtual Piggy into their eCommerce platforms. These include K’Nex, O’Neill, Claire’s Accessories, amongst others. Even before opening in London, Virtual Piggy has signed multiple clients across Europe and the UK, such has been the demand for their youth payment solution.
Virtual Piggy provides rapid and safe mobile and online transaction capability, allowing merchants to monetise the youth market. Virtual Piggy is integrated with leading commercial eCommerce platforms such as Oracle ATG, Magento from eBay, DemandWare and osCommerce. All major payment gateways including ChasePaymentech, PayVision and WorldPay are supported by the platform and Virtual Piggy’s strategic partnership with PayPal enables adults with PayPal accounts to be able to register at Virtual Piggy with a single click.
General Manager for Virtual Piggy EMEA, Joe Peden has already added renowned industry expert, Rob Stevenson as UK Country Manager.
“Europe in the past few years has grown to one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Many youth orientated and entertainment companies have their European headquarters in London. The European online market is simply huge. In the UK the average online spend is 25% of the gross household income and yet without Virtual Piggy under 18’s have no easy way to make online purchases in games or from websites”, said Peden. “Online may be crushing the high street but merchants need to ensure that shopping on line is open to all. Virtual Piggy facilitates this for the unbanked and credit cardless youth market”
About Virtual Piggy, Inc.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. is the first e-commerce solution that enables kids to manage and spend money within a parent-controlled environment. The technology company delivers online security platforms designed for the Under 18 age group in the global online market, and also enables online businesses the ability to function in a manner consistent with children’s privacy laws. Virtual Piggy enables the Under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. The company is based in Hermosa Beach, CA and on the Web at: http://www.virtualpiggy.com/
Contact:
Suzanne Noble
+44 7957 371840
suzanne@stunningpr.com
Investor Relations
Peter Pelullo, ICM
Phone: +1 610 825 8805
