The old service model of delight-at-all-costs is out and a new model of low-effort, low-friction service powered by mobile phones and social media is here to stay. Phone trees and email are dead. Social messaging and automated, AI-powered bots supported by seasoned social agents are in. Yet only a handful of customer service leaders are embracing this future. Social messaging and artificial intelligence (AI) are ready and waiting for customer service leaders to use in the race to serve customers faster, better, and more efficiently than ever before. Message Me is part roadmap and part toolbox for customer service leaders who want to adapt to the changing service landscape shaped by social media, automation and smartphones. Conversocial CEO Joshua March draws on his years of experience in the social customer service space to provide case studies, clear recommendations, practical examples and a valuable framework that customer service leaders can start using immediately. Covering the rise of social messaging, bots and artificial intelligence, the book details the steps service leaders need to take to compete in this new environment, including the six pillars for the future of customer service: -Be prepared for crises in the social era-Lean-in to the power of messaging-Make effective use of bot technology-Deploy artificial intelligence effectively-Adopt a messaging approach to all digital channels-Use social agents as the model for future customer service teams

An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! An Instant Indie Bestseller! *An Amazon Best Book of the Year * A B&N Best Book of the Year* A great gift for tiny go-getters and big dreamers, including for back to school! NBA champion and superstar LeBron James pens a slam-dunk picture book inspired by his foundation’s I PROMISE program that motivates children everywhere to always #StriveForGreatness. Just a kid from Akron, Ohio, who is dedicated to uplifting youth everywhere, LeBron James knows the key to a better future is to excel in school, do your best, and keep your family close. I Promise is a lively and inspiring picture book that reminds us that tomorrow’s success starts with the promises we make to ourselves and our community today. Featuring James’s upbeat, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations perfectly crafted for a diverse audience by #1 New York Times bestselling and Geisel Honor winning artist Nina Mata, this book has the power to inspire all children and families to be their best. Perfect for shared reading in and out of the classroom, I Promise is also a great gift for graduation, birthdays, and other occasions. Plus check out the audiobook, read by LeBron James's mother and I Promise School supporter Gloria James!

In exclusive interviews, Stephen Hawking, NASA leaders, and Nobel Prize-winning astronomers talk about how their discoveries have affected life's big questions. Topics include the creation and fine-tuning of the universe, the purpose of life, and the nature of God. The humor and multimedia format make this title especially appealing. t make this title especially appealing. t make this title especially appealing. t make this title especially appealing. t make this title especially appealing.

Experience the birth of the first support group for sexual minorities with developmental disabilities! Reflecting an unprecedented development in the disabled and sexual minority communities, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Retardation: Stories of the Rainbow Support Group describes the founding, achievements, and history of a unique group providing support for people with developmental disabilities or mental retardation (DD/MR) who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. In this pathbreaking book, group founder John D. Allen describes the Rainbow Support Group's beginnings in 1998 at the New Haven Gay & Lesbian Community Center in Connecticut and the ways in which it has been shattering myths and stereotypes surrounding people with mental retardation ever since. From the author: “Not only are people with DD/MR full human beings with the same needs and desires for intimacy and healthy sexual expression as people without intellectual disabilities, but the group is evidence that some people with DD/MR have an understanding of sexual orientation as well. Acknowledging that people with mental retardation are sexual is a new development in the human service field, but one that is still in the pre-Stonewall days regarding those who are gay. Although people with mental retardation are given unprecedented freedom to make personal vocational decisions, there is an unfounded expectation that they do not have a sexuality—let alone a homosexuality. Members of the Rainbow Support Group discuss the same concerns as other gay people, but in a support system that recognizes their unique perspective.” This insightful book shows how membership in the Rainbow Support Group addresses the very real fears and concerns of its members, including: being forced into heterosexual social situations, since that is the only available option for socialization dealing with being “outed” to peers and staff—since many DD/MR people are not their own legal guardians, this can lead to removal of privileges, various kinds of abuse, and other negative consequences in their day-to-day lives being ridiculed by unsupportive staff being excluded from family functions because of their sexual orientation It also illustrates the purely positive aspects of membership in the group, which provides: a place to learn appropriate ways to meet others, hear messages about safe sex, and feel empowered to advocate for their own intimacy needs an increased chance of finding a like-minded partner (although the group is certainly not a “dating service”) an avenue for members to connect with others like them and with the larger gay community in the area events to participate in, such as holiday parties, field trips, movie nights, and gay pride celebrations The author continues: “What is exciting are the positive outcomes displayed once an individual enters the group. Members quickly develop a sense of ownership and wear rainbow-emblazoned clothing to meetings. Everyone has joined the host community center to begin receiving regular mailings and event discounts. Supervising staff report that members perform better at work, have fewer behavioral issues, and experience a greater feeling of contentment. For people with mental retardation, just to be able to say the words 'gay,' 'lesbian,' 'bisexual,' and 'transgender' in an affirming environment is a cutting-edge breakthrough. What the group has accomplished and will hopefully continue to illuminate is the understanding that people with DD/MR are entitled to a whole life experience, including discovering and enjoying their sexuality.”

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

From an award-winning political journalist, the story of how LGBT activists pushed Obama to embrace gay rights -- transforming his presidency in the process Gay rights has been a defining progressive issue of Barack Obama's presidency: Congress repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 2010 with his strong support, and in 2011, he instructed his Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, helping to pave the way for a series of Supreme Court decisions that ultimately legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. This rapid succession of victories is astonishing by any measure -- and is especially incredible considering that when Obama first took office he, like many politicians, still viewed gay rights as politically toxic. In 2008, for instance, he opposed full marital rights for same-sex couples, calling marriage a "sacred union" between a man and a woman. It wasn't until 2012, in the heat of his reelection campaign, that Obama finally embraced marriage equality. In Don't Tell Me to Wait, former Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld shows that Obama's transformation from cautious gradualist to gay rights champion was the result of intense pressure from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists. These men and women changed the conversation issue by issue, pushing the president and the country toward greater freedom for LGBT Americans. Drawing on years of research and reporting, Eleveld tells the dramatic story of the fight for gay rights in America, detailing how activists pushed the president to change his mind, turned the tide of political opinion, and set the nation on course to finally embrace LGBT Americans as full citizens of this country. With unprecedented access and unparalleled insights, Don't Tell Me to Wait captures a critical moment in American history and demonstrates the power of activism to change the course of a presidency-and a nation.

With the iOS 8.1 software and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple has taken its flagship products into new realms of power and beauty. The modern iPhone comes with everything—camera, music player, Internet, flashlight—except a printed manual. Fortunately, David Pogue is back with this expanded edition of his witty, full-color guide: the world’s most popular iPhone book. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. This book unearths all the secrets of the newest iPhones. Bigger screens, faster chips, astonishing cameras, WiFi calling, Apple Pay, crazy thin. The iOS 8.1 software. Older iPhone models gain predictive typing, iCloud Drive, Family Sharing, "Hey Siri," the Health app, and about 195 more new features. It’s all here, in these pages. The apps. That catalog of 1.3 million add-on programs makes the iPhone’s phone features almost secondary. Now you’ll know how to find, exploit, and troubleshoot those apps. The iPhone may be the world’s coolest computer, but it’s still a computer, with all of a computer’s complexities. iPhone: The Missing Manual is a funny, gorgeously illustrated guide to the tips, shortcuts, and workarounds that will turn you, too, into an iPhone master.

Path of the Purified Heart traces the classic Christian spiritual journey toward transformation into the likeness of Christ in a unique, fascinating way. Drawing on the voices of wise elders from the past and present, Dunham illumines the common path all Christians and spiritual seekers may take toward union with God. Through the motifs of the liturgical year and the labyrinth, the author weaves in her own journey on this path during her "year of purification."