National Geographic select PNY Technologies as Mission Partner and ‘Flash Memory of Choice’ to help inspire people to care about the planet

The National Geographic Society has selected PNY Technologies - a market leader of flash memory and USB drives - for a three year worldwide joint venture as a Mission Partner and “Flash Memory of Choice.  PNY intend to work with the select group of corporate partners using National Geographic’s strong brand identity and retail and distribution channels to help inspire people to care about the planet, as part of the Emerging Explorers Program.

The partnership program kicks off in Europe, with the introduction of the National Geographic endorsement and branding of the new Optima SDHC™, Compact Flash™ and 16GB Optima SD™ card with 10MB/sec writing speeds.  The new Optima SD cards will be bundled with various value added promotions on a regular basis such as downloadable music, images and videos.

Laure Lapègue, Flash Media Category Manager of PNY Technologies Europe, said “A key mission of National Geographic over the past 119 years has been to record achievements of explorers.  Our new high-speed flash memory cards are able to perform in the most extreme explorer situations, giving them the ability to capture and store the perfect moment every time.”

The National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers Program recognises and supports uniquely gifted and inspiring young adventurers, scientists, photographers and storytellers- explorers who are already making a difference early in their careers.  To help the Emerging Explorers realise their potential, National Geographic awards each of them with USD10,000 for research and exploration.  Each year up to 10 explorers are chosen from fields as diverse as anthropology, space exploration, mountaineering and music.

Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president, Mission Programs said “The individuals selected to become Emerging Explorers represent the future of exploration and contribute to our understanding of the world and all that is in it.  Teaming up with organisations like PNY to help create awareness of our Emerging Explorers Program and fund the explorers’ research and expeditions is an important step in our continuing efforts to inspire people to care about the planet.”

PNY’s new line of high-speed Optima flash memory products is available today through all PNY distribution outlets.