Village Gamer

Ottawa’s Guardian Mobility today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Boston-based Alakai Technologies, creating an advanced turnkey flight data monitoring solution for aircraft operators around the world.

With this acquisition, initially announced on May 10, 2011, Guardian now has one of the aircraft industry’s most innovative and sophisticated product and service solutions for fleet operators. The focus on an integrated solution is to help clients achieve operational efficiencies, lower costs, increase cockpit safety and reduce risks.

The acquisition expands key markets for Guardian, including the pilot training market, with flagship client Purdue University, and commuter and regional airlines and provides the company with a strong value proposition to target global customers.

“This is a game-changing day for Guardian, our customers and the aviation sector,” said Howard Pearl, Guardian’s Chief Executive Officer. “This union fits with our mission as a best-value provider of comprehensive and highly competitive offerings in the global arena. The combined product is truly amazing for the price. We couldn’t be happier having Brian Morrison backing up our team. Have you seen the man’s resume?”

Brian Morrison, founder and President of Alakai Technologies, will become the Senior Vice President, Product Innovation for Guardian and will remain based in Boston. “We are very excited to become part of the Guardian family,” says Morrison, adding that, “with this acquisition completed, we have the resources to scale our proven flight monitoring technology and permanently enhance Guardian’s communications and data management systems.”

Guardian’s technology will provide fixed and rotary wing operators with unprecedented air transport style Flight Data Monitoring (FDM), professional analysis and reports. This includes satellite tracking and communications for real-time exception notification and automated logs in one bundled service providing a complete Fleet Management Solution.

I Love Rewards has appointed Holly Tiessen as its Vice President of Client Success. Holly joins the I Love Rewards team as a respected leader with extensive sales knowledge, rooted in over sixteen years of successful business development experience in the software industry.

“Holly’s notable sales achievements in the software industry, combined with her proven ability to lead teams to success, are critical to I Love Rewards as the company continues to expand its global footprint”, says Razor

Holly Tiessen

Suleman, CEO and Founder of I Love Rewards. “We are excited that Holly has joined our team and I am confident that she will align the Client Success team to sales goals, allowing I Love Rewards to maintain its remarkable growth trends.”

Holly’s comprehensive knowledge of global sales coupled with her proven ability to deliver growth to lead market share makes her an invaluable asset to I Love Rewards’ accelerated sales strategy. She has achieved her MBA and holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts & Science from McMaster University. Prior to joining I Love Rewards, Holly was the Sales Support Executive at IBM, where she defined her integral role by spearheading a business transformation by moving sales support tasks from sellers to the Global Center of Excellence, increasing capacity by 30% and decreasing cost by 24%. Holly built, enabled, and launched a team of 50 support sales specialists from nothing in six months. At I Love Rewards, Holly is responsible for leading and evolving the Client Success team as the company continues to lead the industry. Holly will align her team to the accelerated sales
goals, while maintaining I Love Rewards’ impressive client retention rate.

“I Love Rewards’ aggressive sales goals call for high performance and strong strategic planning”, says Holly Tiessen, Vice President of Client Success, I Love Rewards. “I am thrilled to have joined a team that recognizes the opportunity for growth while fostering meaningful relationships with clients, ensuring their success.”

Vancouver Freelance Camp is having their second annual, information packed UNconference on Saturday, September 10th at The Network Hub New Westminster, which is situated at Unit 205 – 810 Quayside Drive. Experienced business personnel and successful local freelancers will be sharing their stories as well as insight on how to grow a freelancer’s business.

This is a true UNconference, the schedule is created the morning of when the attendees arrive. The camp will open at 9:00am with guests pitching to be presenters for the day and the freelancers vote on who they want to hear speak. Registration for Freelance Camp is just $10.00 +HST, with the proceeds going to charity.

Topics from landing a freelancer’s dream project to dealing with the nitty gritty details of doing business will be discussed. The Freelance Camp is the opportunity to make connections with like-minded people across many fields. Over 130 people attended last year’s event, including freelancers from Victoria, Kelowna and Seattle. The UNconference hosted 22 presentations where 196 cups of Waves Coffee was consumed. You won’t leave empty handed either because $5400 worth of goodies and $448 worth of door prizes were given to attendees last year to make being a freelancer even better. Attendees were also part of a wave of social broadcasting with 1478 tweets mentioning the event and were also a top trending topic in Canada on twitter for three hours.

The success of Freelance Camp raised $1100 last year and donated all its proceeds to Mental Health Camp – a conference on examining the possibilities of using social media to achieve and maintain mental health. It is important to Freelance Camp to give back to local initiatives and was excited to have Mental Health Camp as the benefactor.

The satisfaction of last year’s event has propelled Vancouver Freelance Camp to make this year’s event even bigger and accessible to more freelancers. We’ll be the first local event to use Google+ Hangouts to engage a maximum of 25 attendees per session off-site. Through live streaming video, participants can view and ask questions in Google+ Hangout allowing for 725 online viewings.

I don’t know how I missed hearing about this event, but if you work in social media, Social Media Monetization is probably a workshop you’ll want to participate in. The guest speaker is Rochelle Grayson, who always delivers powerful presentations full of relevant and useful information. Presented by Social Media Unplugged, the workshop will take place at the Jewel Ballroom this Saturday, August 20th from 9:30am until 4:00pm. The Jewel Ballroom is located on the 4th Floor at 1495 West 8th Avenue in Vancouver. Tickets for this event are $179.00 plus tax if purchased online or $249.00 plus tax at the door.

Workshop Information From The Event Page:

In this seminar Rochelle will help you sort through and make decisions about your social media strategy in order for you to build and successfully monetize an online community through social media. You will learn the fundamental building blocks, such as presence, reputation, relationship and identity that define online communities, and explore business models such as advertising, digital merchandising, and branded content that best suit these different communities.

Attendees will walk away with concrete tools to help define and establish communities that match their business goals, as well as the appropriate business models to maximize success.

By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

· Describe the fundamental building blocks for what people pay for
· Differentiate between advertising and transactional online monetization models
· Understand which models best suit the behaviours of specific customers
· Establish a monetization strategy
· Describe monetization best practices

The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is opening with the strongest program yet, featuring a full day of live presentations from Canada’s hottest emerging companies, insightful sessions and valuable facilitated meeting exchanges. On December 1st, CIX 2011 will bring leading international investors, companies and entrepreneurs together at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, once again showing why it’s the best place to access the most forward-thinking companies and key players shaping the marketplace today.

The CIX Top 20, Canada’s elite index of innovative companies will be showcased at CIX 2011. The culmination of a coast-to-coast search, these intensive showcases offer a realtime look at the newest developments in the information and communication technology (ICT) and digital media sectors. The CIX Top 20 showcase is a valuable platform to celebrate Canadian innovation and are designed to give you unprecedented access to Canada’s sharpest people and technology-driven ideas. The CIX 2011 Kick Off Rate ends Friday, September 23. Register today and save $200 off the Regular Rate.

CIX features inspiring keynotes and meeting exchanges offering the opportunity to connect directly with key players bringing exciting new products and initiatives to the marketplace. This year’s program will include comprehensive platforms for both structured and informal networking among participants, allowing you to develop meaningful relationships that ultimately lead to partnerships, investments and other opportunities for scalable growth.

Check out who is coming to CIX 2011:

• Ossama Hassanein – Senior Managing Director, Newbury Ventures
• David Spector – Partner, Sequoia Capital
• Pedram Mokrian – Venture Advisor, Mayfield Fund
• Phil McBride – Innovation Manager, P&G Company
• Steven Xanthoudakis – Director, Merck & Co.
• Charlie Lax – Managing General Partner, Granbanks Capital
• Joe Catalfamo – Managing Director, Summerhill Venture Partners
• David Henderson – Managing Director, XPV Capital Corporation
• Amar Varma – Managing and Founding Partner/ Founding Partner, Extreme Venture Partners/Xtreme Labs
• Jordan Banks – Managing Director, Facebook Canada
• Howard Gwin – Venture Partner, Bridgescale
• Ilse Treurnicht – CEO, MaRS
• Duncan Stewart – Director, Deloitte Canada (TMT)
• John Ruffolo – Senior Vice President & Head of Knowledge Investing / CEO, INKEF Capital OMERS Strategic Investments
• Sara Diamond – President, OCAD University
• Roger Chabra – Partner, Rho Canada
• Paul Lee – Managing General Partner, Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd.
• Charles Lax – Managing General Partner, GrandBanks Capital
• John Albright – Co-Managing Partner, BlackBerry Partners Fund
• Patrick Eggen – Senior Investment Manager, Qualcomm Ventures
• Janis Koyanagi – Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, Toronto Stock Exchange/TSX Venture Exchange
• Claudia Fan Munce – Managing Director/VP, IBM Venture Capital Group/IMB Corporate Strategy
• Salvatore Tirabassi – Partner, M/C Ventures
• Paul Kedrosky – Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation
• CIX Co-Chair Robert Montgomery – CEO, Achilles Media Ltd. and First Maximilian Associates
• CIX Co-Chair Rick Nathan – Managing Director, Kensington Capital Partners Ltd.
• CIX Co-Chair Chris Arsenault – Managing Partner, iNova Capital Inc

Preschoolers and their families in Ottawa and Nepean will have a chance to share the magic of reading with TVOKids host Gisèle, star of TVO’s early learning program block Gisèle’s Big Backyard, when her Read with Gisèle tour visits two branches of the Ottawa Public Library on Friday August 26 and Saturday August 27 (venues and times listed below).

The Read with Gisèle tour showcases Gisèle reading the book of the month from her Big Backyard Book Club at libraries across the province in an effort to inspire children and their families to read every day. Preschoolers can watch the Book Club on television, participate in the club online at tvokids.com, and now enjoy it in person as Gisèle reads accessible, easy-to-read-aloud books by Canadian authors.

Gisèle will read the book Augustine, written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt. With inviting illustrations, the book tells the story of a shy young penguin who is nervous about moving from the South Pole to the North Pole with her family, but makes new friends by sharing her love of drawing and painting. Each child attending the reading will receive a book bag, a bookmark and a free copy of the book. Kids will also have a chance to meet Gisèle and have her autograph their book.

“I’m thrilled to be bringing the Big Backyard Book Club to life at libraries across Ontario. Reading aloud with children is a great way to develop their early literacy skills, so I hope the Read with Gisèle tour will inspire kids and their families to enjoy reading together every day,” says Gisèle Corinthios, host of Gisèle’s Big Backyard.

Kids can also participate in Gisèle’s Big Backyard Book Club online at tvokids.com, where they can watch videos of Gisèle reviewing books and see kids answering questions about the stories, share feedback on how the stories made them feel, and submit their own reviews of books they have read.

Read with Gisèle events are free and admission is on a first-come, first-served basis as seating is limited. Below are the details for the Ottawa and Nepean readings:

Read with Gisèle!

Gisele will also be visiting the Georgina Public Library Keswick Branch at 90 Wexford Drive in Keswick on Saturday September 10th at 1:30pm.

Merging Media Productions Inc. and CMPA-British Columbia are delighted to launch their Merging Media Conference + Masterclass 2011: X-ENGAGE website and program for Canada’s Premier Cross-media Showcase on October 27^th and 28^th at the SFU Woodwards Cinema, SFU Woodwards Goldcorp Centre in Vancouver. They announced today that 38 Conference Speakers and Panelists will be participating in the highly anticipated two-day event, including world thought leaders from Lionsgate, YouTube, Amazon.com, Al Jazeera, Starlight Runner Entertainment and Microsoft.

Merging Media will offer a $10,000 Development Award for the best cross-media project at its Pitch 360 Sessions on October 28th. For information on how to apply or to exhibit at the VEDC Innovation Gallery, please contact Merging Media. Register now for the Merging Media Conference and Masterclass 2011: X-Engage – early bird pricing ends September 30th.

…but you can see it here first!

In this latest pre-launch trailer for its open-world action game Dhaila’s Adventures,  Wild Game Studios invites you to travel with Dhaila as she enters a new dungeon, ready to face unknown dangers and the creatures who live there. As with all adventures, the event does not go as expected.

Dhaila’s story is set in the fantasy world of Martania, where Dysan the Tyrant has forced the people into slave labour through the influence he has over all the dragons of the kingdom. As they work to extract the precious stones of Dysan’s mines needed to enhance the Tyrant’s magical skills, the people become unwilling participants in his quest for total control of the world.

A young, orphaned fairy, Dhaila fights on the side of the resistance, developing her extraordinary powers in hopes of releasing the Martanians from Dysan’s treachery. She has special skills, including one which can absorb the energy of nature directly through its DNA. Dhaila can also absorb the DNA of other creatures, making the heroine able to acquire their shape at any time.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVOvfE1Obg]

You can sign up for the beta test by subscribing on the Wild Game Studios web site. Dhaila’s Adventures is scheduled for release to the PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2012.

Nine Dots Studio is hard at work to deliver Brand, which the studio says will be one of the most polished titles ever seen on Xbox Live Indie Games. The game will be launched before the end of September for 240 Microsoft Points. Brand is a game that offers some of the most stunning 3D graphics ever seen on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace and yet is rooted in old school 2D action gameplay. There are three open levels to explore, and you choose which quests suits your needs according to the powers you want to unlock.

The goal is to upgrade the sword to your liking, up to a set level. Any power changes both the gameplay and the sword’s appearance significantly. Some of these powers can be combined to create new abilities. There are nine powers which can be upgraded five times each and four hidden combos. Examples of gameplay altering powers: transform the dash attack into a teleport spell or transform the block ability into an offensive ability.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdwDQHdVTjE]

Venture too far at your own risk in the vast expanse of levels. Falling in the wrong hole might force you to fight off waves of punishing monsters – unless you’ve done your homework and learned their patterns. Brand will deliver a different experience to each player. Although a typical game will be short (a few hours), it will offer a lot of replay value through the exploration of different play styles. Nine Dots is exploring the possibility of releasing the game on Steam at a later date, but has not committed to that avenue of development.

A collective licensing agreement, representing more than 1500 major and independent record labels in Canada, has facilitated the launch of Galaxie Mobile by Stingray Digital, the first Canadian-owned commercial-free mobile streaming music service.

The agreement with Stingray is Canada’s first collective semi-interactive agreement and was negotiated by AVLA and SOPROQ on behalf of their members who represent the majority of recorded music in Canada, laying the groundwork for future agreements of its kind.

Music Canada, which represents Canada’s major record labels, spearheaded the negotiations, empowering AVLA to act on its behalf.  Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada, points out that the major labels want to see more digital services operating in Canada as quickly as possible, “We aggressively pursued this pioneering agreement because we understand how cumbersome our regulatory environment can be, and we want to help services better navigate it.  We hope the Stingray agreement sets the stage for other online and mobile services, and signals to the marketplace that Canada is open for business.”

“For digital music services who are eager to enter the Canadian market, it is an enormous benefit to be able to negotiate with one or two organizations rather than 1500 plus rights holders,” says Victoria Shepherd, Executive Director of AVLA.

“By enabling Stingray to clear all rights necessary with both major and independent music labels, we have created an accessible template for other semi-interactive services that want to come to Canada.  In addition, AVLA’s independent members benefit from being at the ground floor of a deal that may otherwise have begun only with the largest rights holders.  Developing the digital business here will remain an important priority for us in the months ahead,” adds Shepherd.

Stuart Johnston, President of the Canadian Independent Music Association welcomed the agreement, “This agreement with Stingray is an exciting and important step forward for the Canadian music industry, and we are hopeful it will serve as a template for other services going forward. Any agreement that serves to streamline the approvals process while providing a broad licensing deal for the benefit of our industry is most welcome.”

The new music service offers all of Galaxie’s 45 commercial and talk-free channels, already available online and via cable satellite and IPTV, on mobile devices.  Interactive controls allow listeners to skip songs and purchase their favourite songs directly on iTunes via the Galaxie Mobile player.  The player is available immediately in Canada for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and all Android devices.