Jerrick Media Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: JMDA) has announced the decision of its board of directors to appoint Mark Standish, former co-CEO of RBC Capital Markets and a Jerrick investor, as its new Chairman. Mr. Standish's induction as Chairman will come in conjunction with a number of other planned additions to the board.
In preparation for these upcoming appointments, former board member Andrew Taffin has formally stepped down from his position. Remarked Jerrick CEO Jeremy Frommer, "We're grateful to Andy for his years of service to Jerrick during the earlier part of its corporate history and he is someone whose counsel has come to mean a great deal to me personally."
Future chairman of the board Mr. Standish has enjoyed a long career in finance since 1977. He joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1995 and served as co-CEO of RBC Capital Markets from 2008 to 2014. During his tenure, Mr. Frommer twice served under Mr. Standish, first as Head of RBC's Merger Arbitrage Trading Group and again as Head of RBC's Global Prime Services Group (GPS) subsequent to the acquisition of Frommer's Carlin Financial Group.
Since 2017, Standish has served as a Senior Partner for HHM Capital.
"In addition to being a mentor and friend, Mark brings deep expertise in financial services, strategic growth, and organizational development acquired over the course of an impressive career," said Jerrick CEO Jeremy Frommer. "With Standish at the helm of our Board, and with the valuable contributions of the other board members, including current Chairman Leonard Schiller, I have confidence that Jerrick will benefit greatly from their combined decades of experience as well as a deep understanding of the capital markets and the opportunities they present."
Stated Mark Standish: "It is a particularly exciting time to be joining Jerrick as the company embarks on its next chapter. Jerrick's success thus far is a testament to the inherent value of Jerrick's technology and the Vocal platform, as well as the leadership of a strong management team. As Chairman, I look forward to working with the Company and its team of advisors to leverage the best-in-class technology of the platform, a powerful infrastructure, and our global network that together drive superior growth and strategic advantage."
Jerrick also announced the release of the new Sentiment feature of its product Vocal. The Sentiment feature, currently available to Vocal's nearly 1,500 Vocal+ subscribers, enables creators to share their reactions to stories in a quick and easy way. Said Vocal Head of Product and Jerrick President Justin Maury, "We created Vocal to help creators share their stories and build their audience. The new Sentiment feature will only further facilitate meaningful exchanges between creator and reader. At its core, Vocal is a platform for engagement and monetization, both of which are only further enhanced by enabling our creators to extract valuable insights right from their dashboards."
The Company expects that the Sentiment feature will be released platform-wide and available to all Vocal Free and Vocal+ creators in upcoming weeks.
Additionally, the Company announced the completion of a total of $500,000 in financing for the month of October, secured by its collection of archival media assets, including acquired artwork, photographs and media memorabilia. The Company continues to affirm the guidance given last month.
About Jerrick
Jerrick is a holding company that develops technology-based solutions. Its flagship product Vocal is a long-form, digital publishing platform focused on supporting content creators by providing them with publishing tools and monetization features that are embedded within digital communities. Vocal is architected to enable targeted marketing of branded content and e-commerce opportunities embedded within long-form content. Vocal's community sites are managed by a dedicated team, whose primary focus is on creating safe communities and identifying monetization opportunities within them.
