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Business Wire
02-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Pega Industry Awards Honor Outstanding Organizations and Individuals Driving Industry-Transforming Innovation
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA), the Enterprise Transformation Company™, today announced the recipients of the 2025 Pega Industry Awards at its annual PegaWorld® user conference. The awards program recognizes organizations and individuals using Pega's technology to drive exemplary digital transformation and customer engagement. The Pega Industry Awards recognize organizations and individuals in three categories: The Visionary Award, The Innovation Award, and The Impact Award. The Visionary Award recognizes individuals serving as digital heroes within their organization. The Innovation Award is awarded to clients who have implemented a Pega solution to drive industry-transforming innovation. The Impact Award is given to clients who have achieved compelling business values with its Pega solution(s). The Visionary Award recipients are: Leopoldo Martinez, chief operating officer, Banco ABC Brasil Ben Cuthbert, intelligent process automation leader, Vodafone Kurt Van de Moortele, head of selling and ordering platforms, and Laura Hollevoet, product owner lead, B2B quote to first bill, Proximus Katrina Fluss, supervisory program and management analyst, Veterans Affairs Maynd Jolly, CFO and commercialization SVP, growth & client partnerships, enGen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Highmark Health Venkat Esakkimuthu, director, product development engineering, MetLife, and Sri Mulpuru, principal software engineer, intelligent automation, MetLife The Innovation Award recipients are: The Impact Award winners are: The industry awards were announced during the annual PegaWorld® conference at the MGM Grand held in Las Vegas this week through June 3. The conference brings together industry experts and leaders to help attendees reimagine their technology strategies so they can practically and responsibly turbocharge productivity, unleash innovation, and optimize customer interactions. For more information, please visit: Quotes & Commentary: "In today's business environment, companies are seeking cutting-edge technology to enhance customer service, maximize operational efficiency, and adapt to market disruptions," said Marc Andrews, global managing director, industry markets, Pega. "These recognitions highlight businesses and professionals who are leveraging Pega technology in creative ways to revolutionize customer interactions, service delivery, and large-scale operations. Our clients are trailblazers in their industries, and we're honored to support them on their path to innovation." About Pegasystems Pega is The Enterprise Transformation Company that helps organizations Build for Change® with enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation. Many of the world's most influential businesses rely on our platform to solve their most pressing challenges, from personalizing engagement to automating service to streamlining operations. Since 1983, we've built our scalable and flexible architecture to help enterprises meet today's customer demands while continuously transforming for tomorrow. For more information on Pega (NASDAQ: PEGA), visit All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Edinburgh Live
01-06-2025
- Edinburgh Live
Moment Edinburgh man approaches group on train and makes 'shocking' comments
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An Edinburgh marketing director and LGBTQ+ activist was allegedly the subject of shocking homophobic abuse just hours after winning an inclusivity award. Jamie Love, CEO of marketing agency Monumental and Pride Edinburgh's marketing director, was on the way home from Glasgow on Saturday night when an 'aggressive' passenger boarded. According to Jamie, the individual immediately began touching his hair and irritating his colleagues on the train to Edinburgh. Jamie says the man's behaviour soon escalated when he repeatedly called him a "fa**ot". One of his female then confronted the man and has since posted a clip of him on TikTok. Jamie, while onboard, alerted police to the abuse as the man got off at Falkirk. British Transport Police officers were waiting at Edinburgh Waverley and spoke to Jamie and his colleagues about the incident. The abuse has since been described as "quite shocking" by Jamie, who added how it was "quite sad" considering hours earlier he won the Impact Award at the Proud Scotland Awards in recognition of its contribution to the LGBTQ+ community. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. Jamie claims the attack was unprovoked and he was targeted for his perceived sexuality and presentation. Jamie said: "The most jarring part is the irony - being recognised for creating safer spaces and driving inclusion, only to be targeted for who I am hours later. It's a sobering reminder of how far we still have to go. No one should have to experience hate for simply existing. "I've never been in a position where I've had to call the police so it's quite sad. The guy got on as three of us were sat at a table but the train was packed. "He got on and immediately went to touch my hair. I said please don't touch me and his friend was trying to push him away. He then started getting aggressive, it was chaos. "That's when the slurs started and he started picking on a colleague of mine. It's weird going from a diversity awards night to that in a matter of hours. It's quite shocking." British Transport Police were approached for comment.
CNBC
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNBC
Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner who played Maj. Houlihan on pioneering series 'M.A.S.H.,' has died at 87
Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Maj. Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War on the pioneering hit TV series "M.A.S.H.," has died. She was 87. Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Swit and Alan Alda were the longest-serving cast members on "M.A.S.H.," which was based on Robert Altman's 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger. The CBS show aired for 11 years from 1972 to 1983, revolving around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which gave the show its name. The two-and-a-half-hour finale on Feb. 28, 1983, lured over 100 million viewers, the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever. Rolling Stone magazine put "M.A.S.H." at No. 25 of the best TV shows of all time, while Time Out put it at No. 34. It won the Impact Award at the 2009 TV Land annual awards. It won a Peabody Award in 1975 "for the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war." In Altman's 1970 film, Houlihan was a one-dimensional character — a prickly, rules-bound head nurse who was regularly tormented by male colleagues, who gave her the nickname "Hot Lips." Her intimate moments were broadcast to the entire camp after somebody planted a microphone under her bed. Sally Kellerman played Houlihan in the movie version and Swit took it over for TV, eventually deepening and creating her into a much fuller character. Her sexuality was played down and she wasn't even called "Hot Lips" in the later years. The growing awareness of feminism in the '70s spurred Houlihan's transformation from caricature to real person, but a lot of the change was due to Swit's influence on the scriptwriters. "Around the second or third year I decided to try to play her as a real person, in an intelligent fashion, even if it meant hurting the jokes," Swit told Suzy Kalter, author of "The Complete Book of 'M.A.S.H.'" "To oversimplify it, I took each traumatic change that happened in her life and kept it. I didn't go into the next episode as if it were a different character in a different play. She was a character in constant flux; she never stopped developing." Alda praised Swit as a "supremely talented actor" in a post on X. "She worked hard In showing the writing staff how they could turn the character from a one joke sexist stereotype into a real person — with real feelings and ambitions. We celebrated the day the script came out listing her character not as Hot Lips, but as Margaret. Loretta made the most of her time here." "M.A.S.H." wasn't an instant hit. It finished its first season in 46th place, out of 75 network TV series, but it nabbed nine Emmy nominations. It was rewarded with a better time slot for its sophomore season, paired on Saturday nights with "All in the Family," then TV's highest-rated show. At the 1974 Emmys, it was crowned best comedy, with Alda winning as best comedy actor. The series also survived despite cast churn. In addition to Swit and Alda, the first season featured Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff. Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers would later be added, while Jamie Farr and William Christopher had expanded roles. "Loretta Swit's portrayal of Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan was groundbreaking — bringing heart, humor, and strength to one of television comedy's most enduring roles. Her talent extended well beyond that iconic character, with acclaimed work on both stage and screen that showcased her intelligence, versatility, and passion," National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement. Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself, exploring issues like PTSD, sexism and racism. Swit pushed for a better representation for women. "One of the things I liked, with Loretta's prodding, was every time I had a chance to write for her character, we'd get away from the Hot Lips angle and find out more about who Margaret was. She became more of a real person," Alda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. The series ended on a happy note for Houlihan, who spends much of the finale debating whether she wants to head to Tokyo or Belgium for her next overseas post. Ultimately she opts to return to America and work at a hospital, citing her father — a career Army man. Swit didn't personally agree that was the correct decision for a military-minded official: "I didn't think that was correct for my Margaret," she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2023. "I think her next move was Vietnam. So I didn't agree with that, but that's what they wanted her to do." But the actor did get to write the speech that Houlihan delivers to her fellow nurses on their final night together, in which she says: "It's been an honor and privilege to have worked with you. And I'm very, very proud to have known you." "I was consumed with writing that. And I still get letters from women all over the world who became nurses because of Margaret Houlihan. To have contributed to someone's life like that is remarkable," she told Yahoo Entertainment. During her run, Houlihan had an affair with Hawkeye's foil, the bumbling Frank Burns, played by Linville in the TV version, and in Season 5, Houlihan returns from a stay in Tokyo engaged to a handsome lieutenant colonel, a storyline that Swit says she advocated for with the writers. "I told them: 'Can you imagine what fun you're going to have with Larry when I come back to town and I tell him I'm engaged? He'll rip the doors off of the mess tent!' And that's exactly what they had him do. So we were all of the same mind." Toward the end, Swit was tempted to leave the show. She played the role of Chris Cagney in a 1981 television movie, "Cagney & Lacey," and was offered the part when it was picked up as a midseason series for the spring of 1982. But producers insisted she stay with "M.A.S.H." for its last two seasons. Swit told The Florida Times-Union in 2010 she might have stayed with "M.A.S.H." anyway. "You can't help but get better as an actor working with scripts like that," she said. "If you're in something that literate, well, we got spoiled." In 2022, James Poniewozik, The New York Times's chief television critic, looked back on the show and said it held up well: "Its blend of madcap comedy and pitch-dark drama — the laughs amplifying the serious stakes, and vice versa — is recognizable in today's dramedies, from 'Better Things' to 'Barry,' that work in the DMZ between laughter and sadness." After the TV series, Swit became a vocal animal welfare activist, selling SwitHeart perfume and her memoir through her official website, with proceeds benefiting various animal-related nonprofit groups. In 1983, she married actor Dennis Holahan, whom she'd met when he was a guest star on "M.A.S.H." They divorced in 1995. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Swit enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then paid her dues for years in touring productions. In 1969, she arrived in Hollywood and was soon seen in series such as "Gunsmoke," "Hawaii Five-O," "Mission Impossible" and "Bonanza." Then in 1972, she got her big break when she was asked to audition for the role of "Hot Lips." She would regularly return to theater, starring on Broadway in 1975 in "Same Time, Next Year" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" in 1986. She was in "Amorous Crossing," a romantic comedy, at Alhambra Theatre & Dining in 2010 and in North Carolina Theatre's production of "Mame" in 2003.
Hamilton Spectator
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
McCoy's last stand as host of CMAOntario awards
After more than a decade of hosting the CMAOntario Awards, country star Jason McCoy will pass the reigns to another prominent figure of what he calls a growing country music scene. The award show is part of a four-day festival that started Thursday and is packed with performances, workshops and a post-awards party. On Sunday, June 1, the awards show will close the festival at The Music Hall on Hamilton's Main Street West. One of McCoy's favourite moments hosting was performing Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My Mind' for the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter when he received the association's Impact Award in 2014. 'I was probably 15 feet away from him in the front row and that was quite unnerving,' said McCoy, adding Lightfoot was gracious and kind. 'Spotlights and everything go down and everybody's just a regular person.' The 54-year-old musician is continuing his career, shooting music videos with his band The Road Hammers, performing and hosting a Pure Country 106 morning show. To McCoy, Ontario's country music scene is pushing its way to the global grounds, starting with a foundation of talented producers. 'These producers are working with Nashville peers and they get to hone their craft, up their game,' said McCoy. 'Ontario artists don't necessarily have to just go to Nashville anymore.' McCoy sees Ontario becoming 'bigger, better and stronger' with up-and-coming artists such as Parry Sound singer Sully Burrows, Hamilton-based Karli June and Hamilton band The Redhill Valleys — all of whom have been nominated for CMAOntario Awards. The Redhill Valleys are vying for Group or Duo of the Year, June is competing for Music Video of the Year for her song 'Still Make Cowgirls,' and Waterdown's Josh Ross is again nominated for fans' choice. Ross won the award in 2024. No matter who wins, McCoy said viewers should pay attention to smaller up-and-coming artists putting their heart and soul into their music. 'Watch all the people who are in the corners,' said McCoy. The awards show will run from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Although the country star is stepping down as host, McCoy said he is never fully gone. 'I might come back and co-host the odd time or something like that,' he said. The country association's board of directors said the search for a new host has already started. 'Filling Jason's boots as the host of the CMAOntario Awards will be no easy task,' read an email statement. The board is looking for a 'major player' in the Ontario country music scene who can uplift and entertain. The term would be 12 years. Tickets to the award show ranges from $40 for balcony general admission to $199 regular VIP tickets. To buy tickets or get more information on the festival, go to . Here are some other arts and music events you can attend locally in the next week: Thursday, June 5, is the first of Hamilton Waterfront Trust's free summer concerts by the water. Every Thursday until Aug. 28, artists will take to the Waterfront Stage at Pier 8 ( 47 Discovery Dr., Hamilton ) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Mike Stevenson Trio will play the first show. Attendees should bring a lawn chair or blanket. For more information, go to . Evan Smith, Vaughn Lucyk and Josh Robertson will perform at 'The AM Club' on Saturday, May 31 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Coffee and pastries will be offered at the event. The coffee party will happen at The Port House Social Bar and Kitchen at 2020 Lakeshore Rd. in Burlington . Tickets are $20 on . The Queen Is Dead and Factory will play sounds from the Smiths and New Order at the bar on Saturday, May 31 from 8 to 11:30 p.m. The bar is located at 339 York Blvd., Hamilton . Advance tickets are $15, or $20 at the door. To buy, go to . Local folk, rock and country artists will perform at the theatre's The Bright Room on Sunday, June 1, from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Hamilton band The Commune, Guelph singer-songwriter Ian James Bain and Michael Antelope will play the show. The theatre is located at 27 Dundurn St. N., Hamilton . Tickets are $15 on . For more information, go to . For The Sugar Pills will perform '80s music from artists such as the Smiths, The Police, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran on Thursday, June 5 from 8 to 11 p.m. Andthenyou is located at 145 Main St. E., Hamilton . To buy tickets, go to . Advance tickets are $10, or $15 at the door. Cheyenne Bholla is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. cbholla@
1News
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- 1News
Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner who played Houlihan on M.A.S.H. dies at 87
Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Major Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War on the pioneering hit TV series M.A.S.H., has died. She was 87. Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died Saturday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes. Swit and Alan Alda were the longest-serving cast members on M.A.S.H., which was based on Robert Altman's 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger. The CBS show aired for 11 years from 1972 to 1983, revolving around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which gave the show its name. The two-and-a-half-hour finale on February 28, 1983, lured over 100 million viewers, the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever. Rolling Stone magazine put M.A.S.H. at No. 25 of the best TV shows of all time, while Time Out put it at No. 34. It won the Impact Award at the 2009 TV Land annual awards. It won a Peabody Award in 1975 'for the depth of its humour and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war'. ADVERTISEMENT Swit transforms the character of Houlihan Loretta Swit arrives at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 3rd Annual Television Academy Honors in 2010. (Source: Associated Press) In Altman's 1970 film, Houlihan was a one-dimensional character — a prickly, rules-bound head nurse who was regularly tormented by male colleagues, who gave her the nickname 'Hot Lips'. Her intimate moments were broadcast to the entire camp after somebody planted a microphone under her bed. Sally Kellerman played Houlihan in the movie version, and Swit took it over for TV, eventually deepening and creating her into a much fuller character. Her sexuality was played down, and she wasn't even called 'Hot Lips' in the later years. The growing awareness of feminism in the '70s spurred Houlihan's transformation from caricature to real person, but a lot of the change was due to Swit's influence on the scriptwriters. 'Around the second or third year, I decided to try to play her as a real person, in an intelligent fashion, even if it meant hurting the jokes,' Swit told Suzy Kalter, author of The Complete Book of 'M.A.S.H'. 'To oversimplify it, I took each traumatic change that happened in her life and kept it. I didn't go into the next episode as if it were a different character in a different play. She was a character in constant flux; she never stopped developing.' ADVERTISEMENT M.A.S.H. wasn't an instant hit. It finished its first season in 46th place, out of 75 network TV series, but it nabbed nine Emmy nominations. It was rewarded with a better time slot for its sophomore season, paired on Sunday nights with All in the Family, then TV's highest-rated show. At the 1974 Emmys, it was crowned best comedy, with Alda winning as best comedy actor. The series also survived despite cast churn. In addition to Swit and Alda, the first season featured Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff. Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell and David Ogden Stiers would later be added, while Jamie Farr and William Christopher had expanded roles. 'Loretta Swit's portrayal of Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan was groundbreaking — bringing heart, humour, and strength to one of television comedy's most enduring roles. Her talent extended well beyond that iconic character, with acclaimed work on both stage and screen that showcased her intelligence, versatility, and passion," National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement. 'More of a real person' Loretta Swit poses with the cast of M*A*S*H. (Source: Associated Press) Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself, exploring issues like PTSD, sexism and racism. Swit pushed for a better representation for women. 'One of the things I liked, with Loretta's prodding, was every time I had a chance to write for her character, we'd get away from the Hot Lips angle and find out more about who Margaret was. She became more of a real person,' Alda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. ADVERTISEMENT The series ended on a happy note for Houlihan, who spends much of the finale debating whether she wants to head to Tokyo or Belgium for her next overseas post. Ultimately she opts to return to America and work at a hospital, citing her father — a career Army man. Swit didn't personally agree that was the correct decision for a military-minded official: 'I didn't think that was correct for my Margaret,' she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2023. 'I think her next move was Vietnam. So I didn't agree with that, but that's what they wanted her to do.' Loretta Swit in 1983. (Source: Associated Press) But the actor did get to write the speech that Houlihan delivers to her fellow nurses on their final night together, in which she says: 'It's been an honour and privilege to have worked with you. And I'm very, very proud to have known you.' 'I was consumed with writing that. And I still get letters from women all over the world who became nurses because of Margaret Houlihan. To have contributed to someone's life like that is remarkable,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. During her run, Houlihan had an affair with Hawkeye's foil, the bumbling Frank Burns, played by Linville in the TV version, and in Season 5, Houlihan returns from a stay in Tokyo engaged to a handsome lieutenant colonel, a storyline that Swit says she advocated for with the writers. 'I told them: 'Can you imagine what fun you're going to have with Larry when I come back to town and I tell him I'm engaged? He'll rip the doors off of the mess tent!' And that's exactly what they had him do. So we were all of the same mind.' ADVERTISEMENT Toward the end, Swit was tempted to leave the show. She played the role of Chris Cagney in a 1981 television movie, Cagney & Lacey, and was offered the part when it was picked up as a midseason series for the spring of 1982. But producers insisted she stay with M.A.S.H. for its last two seasons. Swit told The Florida Times-Union in 2010 she might have stayed with M.A.S.H. anyway. 'You can't help but get better as an actor working with scripts like that,' she said. 'If you're in something that literate, well, we got spoiled.' In 2022, James Poniewozik, The New York Times's chief television critic, looked back on the show and said it held up well: 'Its blend of madcap comedy and pitch-dark drama — the laughs amplifying the serious stakes, and vice versa — is recognizable in today's dramedies, from Better Things to Barry, that work in the DMZ between laughter and sadness.' After the TV series, Swit became a vocal animal welfare activist, selling SwitHeart perfume and her memoir through her official website, with proceeds benefiting various animal-related nonprofit groups. In 1983, she married actor Dennis Holahan, whom she'd met when he was a guest star on M.A.S.H. They divorced in 1995. Swit was born in New Jersey Born in Passaic, New Jersey, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Swit enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then paid her dues for years in touring productions. In 1969, she arrived in Hollywood and was soon seen in series such as Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible and Bonanza. Then in 1972, she got her big break when she was asked to audition for the role of 'Hot Lips". She would regularly return to the theatre, starring on Broadway in 1975 in Same Time, Next Year and The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1986. She was in Amorous Crossing, a romantic comedy, at Alhambra Theatre & Dining in 2010 and in North Carolina Theatre's production of Mame in 2003.
