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The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will honour 11 of the country’s most successful young entrepreneurs tonight at the 23rd edition of its Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) held in Saskatoon.

“Young entrepreneurs make an important contribution to their respective communities and to Canada’s economic prosperity. This year’s YEA winners have turned innovative ideas into commercial success stories,” says BDC President and CEO Jean-René Halde. “They are all passionate about what they do, are motivated by challenge and ready to expand their businesses into new markets. BDC’s Young Entrepreneur Award winners give us every reason to be optimistic about the future of entrepreneurship in Canada.”

This year’s YEA winners were chosen based on the originality of their business concept, as well as their company’s success, growth potential and social involvement. The provincial and territorial selection committees also considered the entrepreneur’s, the number of years he or she has been in business and any special challenges that were overcome.

Two special awards, sponsored by Deloitte and Cisco, are also being presented at tonight’s ceremony. The Deloitte Social Responsibility Award honours a YEA winner whose company promotes community well-being, sound human resources management or environmental protection. The Cisco Innovation Excellence Award goes to the YEA winner who has expanded his or her business through innovative practices, creativity or originality of product and services.

BDC’s 2011 Young Entrepreneur Awards winners

British Columbia: Arnold Leung, 25, Appnovation Technologies, Vancouver
Open source—the technology that powers social media—is Arnold Leung’s ticket to success. After graduating from the University of British Columbia, where he started a web development business with two friends, Arnold struck out on his own in 2007. With 30 employees, Appnovation specializes in open source websites and iPhone applications and has annual revenues of more than $1 million. Arnold was also selected for Business in Vancouver magazine’s 2010 Top 40 under 40 list.

Alberta: Jason Parks, 31, Profab Welding Ltd., Grande Prairie
After leaving school in his teens and leaving behind his dream of being a professional hockey player, Jason turned to welding, his other passion. Beginning with one truck in 2003, he used his flair for equipment design and his natural business instincts to land a major contract in the oil services industry. When the recession hit in 2007, Jason seized the opportunity to diversify his business and expand operations from northern to southern Alberta. Having secured international patents for some of his products, Jason is now searching for global business opportunities.

Saskatchewan: Rachel Mielke, 30, Hillberg & Berk, Regina
With plenty of creativity and just as much marketing savvy, Rachel turned her teenage hobby of making jewellery into a lucrative, high-profile business. Her handmade creations gained international attention when they were selected for the gift bags distributed at the 2008 Academy Awards. Rachel wants her Hillberg & Berk jewellery line to become a major Canadian fashion brand and appeared on CBC-TV’s Dragons’ Den, receiving financing from business mogul and philanthropist, and fellow Saskatchewanian, W. Brett Wilson.

Manitoba: Mark Kohaykewych, 33, Todd Jenkyns, 34, and Peter Chedley, 34, Jenkyns Electric Ltd., Winnipeg
Mark, Todd and Peter founded Jenkyns Electric to bring energy-smart power solutions to industrial customers in Winnipeg and remote communities in northern Manitoba. Their company stands out in a crowded marketplace because of its solid reputation for customer service and environmentally friendly practices. Jenkyns Electric is certified with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program and recently added data services to its mix of customer offerings.

Ontario: Jeremy Gutsche, 32, Trend Hunter Inc., Toronto
An innovation enthusiast and natural-born entrepreneur, Jeremy is the brains behind TrendHunter.com, a website that tracks hot trends in pop culture, technology and fashion. Trend Hunter’s platform brings together data from 40,000 contributors around the world, then hyperlinks the research and compiles it into value-added trend reports. The website attracts 35 million views a month, and some of its content has gone viral. As an author and keynote speaker, Jeremy makes regular media appearances.

Québec: Steve Couture, 35, Frima Studio inc., Quebec City
In 2003, Steve founded Frima Studio with two partners and turned it into a leading game developer on platforms ranging from the Web, consoles and mobiles, to handheld devices and TV. After investing hundreds of thousands of hours in research and development, Frima has won acclaim for its hit creations, including A Space Shooter for 2 bucks!, Pocket God on Facebook and Zombie Tycoon, and for its major youth brand products. The company has more than 260 employees and is focused on bringing entertainment to screens both big and small—from IMAX to iPhones.

New Brunswick: Pierre Martell, 29, Martell Home Builders, Moncton
After founding Martell Homes in 2006, Pierre introduced a web-enabled customer interface and transformed the house purchasing experience for new home buyers. Martell Homes offers clients a 99-day construction guarantee for homes of 2,000 square feet or smaller and consistently delivers them on budget. Client satisfaction is so high that Martell Homes won the Atlantic Home Warranty Customer Choice Award in 2010 and 2011.

Nova Scotia: Anaïs Guimond, 32, Atlantic Cirque Agency and School, Halifax
Intrigued as a young girl by the artistry of Canada’s internationally renowned Cirque du Soleil, this former bungee-trapeze performer opened a circus performing arts school in 2002 in a province and in a language that were new to her. Residents in the Halifax-Dartmouth area quickly embraced her ideas and enthusiasm, and Atlantic Cirque soon had 150 attendees at weekly classes. In addition to circus arts, the school offers summer camps, workshops and corporate team-building programs. Anaïs is currently producing the company’s 10-year anniversary show and plans to expand her popular cirque school concept into other markets.

Prince Edward Island: Rachelle Wood, 29, Rachelle Wood Nutrition Inc., Charlottetown
Rachelle launched her nutrition practice in 2005 to help people lose weight and develop a healthier relationship with food. Her 52-week online SeeResults program features recipes and customized meal plans, self-help advice and one-on-one coaching. Her success has attracted interest from other nutritionists, and Rachelle has developed a software version of SeeResults that sells across Canada. With an eye on continued growth, she is developing French and Spanish versions of her program, as well as iPhone and BlackBerry applications.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Greg Hanley, 31, Hanley Construction and Renovation Inc., St. John’s
Greg recognizes a competitive advantage when he sees one, and was quick to bring green, environmentally friendly construction standards to the first-time, residential housing market. After starting a renovation business in 2001, Greg moved into new home construction before diversifying into land development and excavation services. Using insulated concrete building forms that are well suited to Canada’s harsh climate, Hanley Construction and Renovation provides energy-efficient products that reduce energy consumption and cut costs.

Yukon: Cole Hodinski, 33, Horizon Helicopters, Whitehorse
Cole established Horizon Helicopters in 2007 after working as a pilot in North America and Asia. While vacationing in Yukon, he recognized an opportunity to fly light aircraft and serve the territory’s air transportation market. He introduced helicopters with improved operational and safety performance, and low fuel consumption. With a roster of experienced pilots, Horizon now serves clients in such sectors as mining, mineral exploration, environmental assessment, tourism and medical evacuation. Cole’s goal is to deliver a sustainable helicopter service to Yukon.

Aeroplan has announced a new Facebook initiative in celebration of the fifth anniversary of its Beyond Miles Program.  Starting today until May 31^st, Aeroplan will donate 50 Aeroplan Miles to its nine Beyond Miles Program charitable partners for each ‘Like’ that Aeroplan receives on Facebook up to a total of 1.5 million Aeroplan Miles.

All miles donated for this initiative will be split equally amongst all of Aeroplan’s charitable partners including: Air Canada’s Kids’ Horizons, Athletes for Africa, Earth Day Canada, Engineers Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières, Schools Without Borders, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, Veterinarians Without Borders and War Child Canada.  Each of these nine Canadian organizations is committed to improving lives and enriching communities across Canada and abroad.

“Our Beyond Miles partners use Aeroplan Miles to offset travel costs including flights, hotel accommodation and car rentals for projects they work on in Canada and abroad,” said geneviève bich, Vice President, People and Culture, Groupe Aeroplan Canada.  “We couldn’t be more proud of our members as we recently reached the milestone of 200 million miles donated by members to our Beyond Miles partners.  We hope our members and the general public will ‘like’ us on Facebook so that together we can support the incredible work each organization is doing.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Association of Electronic Journalists and RTDNA – The Radio Television Digital News Association vehemently opposes Section 329 of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibits transmission of election results to the public in a district where polling stations are still open.

The law was initially intended to curb national media outlets from “prematurely transmitting” electoral results across time zones, theoretically preventing election results in Eastern Canada from influencing voters in the West, despite a lack of evidence suggesting that has ever been the case. The stakes are raised a bit more now with social media’s emergence as a primary reporting tool. As it stands now, if a media organization or individual tweets about or Facebook comments about Canada’s election results prematurely, a law has been broken with the offender subject to a maximum fine of $25,000, or up to five years in prison.

“Social media is emerging as a critical tool spawning new hopes for democracy in northern Africa and the Middle East. We should not see it going the other way in Canada,” said RTNDA Canada president Andy LeBlanc. “The Canadian news media has long been prevented from broadcasting election results to places where the ballots are still open. That didn’t stop people from calling friends and relatives on the other side of the country to discuss ongoing election results. Millions of Canadians using Twitter and Facebook should not risk persecution for participating in an unfolding democratic process, the kind of political engagement people in other parts of the world are dying to achieve.”

“We’re living in a breaking news, digital world,” said RTDNA Chairman Mark Kraham. “News consumers expect – and are entitled to – the most up-to-date, comprehensive information available, especially when it comes to electing a nation’s leaders. This law is archaic and? condescending to voters and should be revised as soon as possible.”

“RTDNA strongly advocates ethical and responsible elections reporting,”?Kraham continued. “Information about election results should be delivered after a strong confirmation process ensuring that voters are given accurate information.”

In a report by the Montreal Gazette, John Enright, who speaks for Elections Canada, said his agency has no choice but to administer the law as written. Citizens are allowed to phone or text friends, or send private e-mails. But posting to a Facebook wall, to a webpage or to Twitter will be considered a violation.

“The legislation is still on the books, so our role as Elections Canada is to administer the legislation that is before us,” said Enright, in the Montreal Gazette report. “If there’s a breach of the law, Elections Canada is not going to discriminate between the Mothercorp and Joe Smith down the street.”

Poynt Corporation has announced the issuance of 150,000 stock options at an exercise price of 0.15 to an officer of the Company.

The options have been granted under the terms and conditions of the Company’s approved option plan. The Company has a 10% “rolling” option plan which reserves for issuance on exercise of options a maximum of 10% of the number of common shares of the Company outstanding from time to time.

Mobilicity has enhanced its leadership position as Canada’s rising new wireless carrier, announcing that it has raised $215 million through a debt offering. Canada’s premier institutions were key investors in this new offering, which was led by National Bank Financial Inc. and GMP Securities. The offering represents one of the largest capital raises for an emerging telecommunications carrier in Canada in recent years, and will provide Mobilicity with growth capital to further strengthen its customer experience across Canada.

“Mobilicity has a compelling business model and the best value proposition for consumers and we are excited about getting additional support from Canada’s financial community,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Dobbin.

“Today’s news, made just two weeks shy of the first anniversary of our Toronto launch and on the heels of our successful launch in Calgary yesterday, confirms Mobilicity’s place as the leading, innovative new entrant in Canada’s wireless industry,” Dobbin added. “We are very well positioned for future growth and opportunities.”

The company’s Chief Financial Officer Joe Prodan said, “Our strong balance sheet, best-in-class services and low-cost operating structure provide the strength and flexibility required to provide terrific value to Canadian wireless consumers.”

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced a new agreement with FTT (the company’s first European distributor for commercial theatre expansion) to equip a first theatre with Austria’s Cineplexx with approximately 50 D-BOX motion seats.

The Cineplexx in Linz, Austria will boast two auditoriums with D-BOX Motion technology. This newest theatre in Europe marks the first sale of D-BOX in Austria for commercial theatre usage. Under D-BOX’s international business model, in addition to the revenues generated from the sale of the systems, the agreement will generate licensing fees payable to D-BOX in accordance with the systems’ use.

“As a result of our highly advanced international business model and collaboration with FTT, we are continuing to generate considerable interest in our motion technology from theatre companies throughout Europe,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “We are steadily increasing our presence in this part of the world and look forward to developing additional partnerships similar to our new relationship with Cineplexx.”

Most recently, D-BOX announced that theatres in Germany and the Netherlands will soon feature its immersive motion technology adding to a growing list of countries that also include Japan, China (Hong Kong), Canada and the U.S.

YANGAROO Inc. has announced its results for the year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2010 was 44% higher than the revenue for the same period of 2009 and revenue for the fiscal year of 2010 was 3% higher than the revenue in fiscal 2009.  The increase in revenue is a result of greater use of DMDS for music video delivery by the major labels and the independent sector.  Revenue is expected to continue to increase as billable US music audio and video deliveries grow, independent sector usage increases, and billable advertising delivery volumes rise. Read the rest of this entry »

The Communitech Hub, a digital media innovation centre that officially opened for business in October 2010, is already expanding to accommodate demand for commercialization support in the digital media sector. The Hub, which currently occupies 30,000 square feet at Kitchener’s downtown Tannery building, will be expanding to occupy another 12,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the Tannery by early 2012.

“The success of The Communitech Hub has exceeded our expectations and demonstrates the potential of the digital media sector in Ontario which holds great promise for job creation and opportunities going forward,” said Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation.

The expansion will accommodate more Peer2Peer program space, expanded strategic partner space, and more room for established companies.

“It’s rewarding for everyone involved to see how quickly The Hub has become a venue for nurturing digital media entrepreneurship,” said Kevin Tuer, VP Digital Media at Communitech, Waterloo Region’s technology organization. “We’ve learned a great deal about the support needs in the digital media ecosystem, and are filling more gaps and expanding our programs to meet those needs.”

The Hub currently houses a mix of tenants that include:

• 28 start-up companies – and growing
• 5 leading tech multi-nationals
• 14 innovation partners, including legal, advertising and accounting firms
• 3 post-secondary institutions: Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo
• provincial and federal government partners.

The attraction for digital media entrepreneurs is a supportive venue where the infrastructure which companies need to succeed is already in place, Tuer said. That includes everything from the ‘bricks and mortar’ office space enabling entrepreneurs to move from their basements and garages to a suitable office location; to mentoring from executives who have ‘been there, done that’ to collaborating with established partner companies that include RIM, OpenText, Desire2Learn and Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.

Strategic partner platforms at the Hub enable research, commercialization, and job creation in mobile computing, digital asset management and healthcare IT. Federal and provincial contributions and the City of Kitchener also made the creation of The Hub possible, Tuer said.

“The appeal of The Hub is that companies can focus more on development of their projects, market development and revenue generation than on operational logistics,” said Tuer. “An integral part of our success has been dialogue with those companies; tailoring the space and our services to provide the greatest impact for them. With the new space will come new programs and services as we continue that dialogue.”

The concept and venue for The Hub were announced in October, 2009; renovations to The Tannery, occupancy and the grand opening took place less than a year later; and the expansion comes less than five months after the official opening. The Hub recently celebrated its first ‘graduation’ of a resident startup company – ClevrU — through the Accelerator Program in partnership with the Waterloo Accelerator Centre.

Fisher-Price Canada has launched Fisher Price Play, a site where moms and gift-givers can easily find the right toy that matches the recipients’ developmental milestone. Also on the site is a Fisher-Price Play Panel, comprised of eight Canadian moms from various locales across Canada who  test Fisher-Price toys with their little ones and will blog and tweet about their experiences. Canadians can “meet the moms” virtually on the site by reading their bios and reviewing their posts. Fisher-Price encourages all Canadian moms to join in on the conversation and register on-line to receive play-time tips as well as special offers from Fisher-Price Canada.

“Being a Fisher-Price Canada Mom Ambassador was an easy fit for me, given Fisher-Price is a brand I have used with my kids for many years,” said Tammi, Fisher-Price Mom Ambassador and mother of three young children from Red Deer, Alberta. “I look forward to sharing the experiences me and my kids have with the products to other moms around the country.”

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, Fisher-Price wants to celebrate moms and their tots with its new Celebrating Milestones contest. Canadian moms and caregivers are invited to register information about themselves and their children on fisherpriceplay.ca for a chance to win a “Celebrating Milestones” prize pack of Fisher-Price toys valued at $200, plus a spa gift card valued at $200 for mom to get pampered for all of her efforts. One prize pack will be given away each month for a total of six months. Winners will be drawn on the last day of each month, starting on May 31 until October 31, 2011. Winners will be contacted directly by email, and may be asked to share a special milestone story at that time.

“As a leader in the toy category, Fisher-Price recognizes what moms want for their babies and toddlers when it comes to playtime and helping them grow and develop through play,” said Riza Javellana, mother of two young children and Manager – Marketing for Fisher-Price. “This year, with the Celebrating Milestones contest, Fisher-Price not only recognizes what moms want for their children when it comes to play, but rewards the special milestone moments moms and their little ones share and discover together that contribute to their child’s overall growth and development.”

To help launch the milestone program across the country, Fisher-Price has developed special PlayCentral kiosks that will be set up during special events and in malls across Canada from March to November 2011 that give mall-goers access to a fun-filled space where children can play with the latest and greatest Fisher-Price toys while moms can receive information on the latest products through catalogues and by using the Fisher-Price touch-screen Toy Selectors.

marblemedia has launched Storm, the newest browser game for its hit YTV show Splatalot. Head on over to the Splatalot site and test your luck in dodging the obstacles as you battle your way to the castle. The bonus is that unlike the show’s competitors, you get to stay safe and dry. If you haven’t yet watched Splatalot, you really should check it out. YTV and Danone has also paired up to give kids a chance to be a contestant on the show – details are on the Splatalot Winalot page.

Those of you who are still celebrating in the euphoric cloud of last night’s Canuck win over the Blackhawks may not be aware that scheduling service Tungle has been acquired by Research In Motion. In a statement on the company’s blog this morning, Tungle CEO Marc Gingras stated that “We’re really excited about this. We know there isn’t an industry more exciting than the smartphone and tablet markets, and RIM is a dominant player in this space. As of today, the entire team is joining the ranks of RIM. It’s playoff season and the Tungle team is focusing on putting the puck in the net for you, our customers. You have kept us on our toes, given us great ideas and most importantly, have been great supporters. For that, we thank you. Our objective is to keep innovation at the forefront – to be rebels in our own way. Think, Create, Innovate.”

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. has announced the availability of CanIt Archiver, an e-mail archiving and e-mail business continuity software program for small business.  CanIt Archiver automatically archives e-mail and makes it available from anywhere via a web-based user interface, making it an ideal tool for e-mail business continuity.  In the event that your e-mail server disappears, it is comforting to know that you will be able to read your e-mail.

CanIt Archiver allows you to search based upon the date range, message subject, sender, recipients, message body, attachment filename and many more advanced criteria.  It also allows you to perform nested searches to narrow down your search criteria.  Also, CanIt Archiver can find “related messages” which finds all messages referred to by a given message.  This allows you to easily follow the thread of a conversation.  Best of all, CanIt Archiver allows end users to search their own archives, saving system administrators time and effort in tracking down old e-mails.

CanIt Archiver allows you to specify how long mail should be retained, thereby tailoring your e-mail retention policy to match your organization’s policies or regulatory requirements such as the Freedom of Information Act, HIPAA, SOX, etc.

CanIt Archiver is integrated with:

* CanIt-PRO, an anti-spam software solution suitable for small and medium business.
* CanIt-Domain-PRO, spam filtering software for MSPs to host anti-spam for their customers.
* Hosted CanIt, a fully outsourced, hosted anti-spam service.

I find this to be somewhat ironic, coming from a telecom that is just as guilty for high prices on telephone, mobile and internet fees as the other big companies, but Telus has submitted a proposal to the CRTC for safeguards to protect Canadian TV viewers from anti-competitive practices of the large broadcasting companies which now control Canada’s television industry.

In the past year there has been an unparalleled concentration of content ownership resulting from large corporate acquisitions highlighted by BCE’s $3 billion purchase of Bell Globemedia and Shaw’s $2 billion purchase of CanWest. As a result, Canadian broadcasting content has become largely owned and controlled by Canada’s largest cable and satellite providers.

“The unprecedented concentration of market power in the broadcasting sector created by the common ownership of programming services and distribution platforms requires regulatory safeguards to protect consumers,” said Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president Regulatory and Government Affairs at Telus. “The potential for abuse of market power is real and the risk to consumers is significant. Without proper regulatory safeguards consumers could soon be facing increased costs and reduced choice in their TV viewing options.”

The proposed safeguards include:

• Distributors should not withhold content from competitors. This will prevent anti-competitive programming blackouts.
• Preferential or exclusive programming rights should not be permitted in Canada. Consumers should not have to switch suppliers to watch their favorite shows.
• To ensure fair competition, vertically integrated broadcasters should not benefit from a head-start in launching new programming services.
• Fees charged for a programming service should be in line with fees charged for other services of equal value to consumers to ensure consumer costs do not skyrocket.

A recent survey by Harrisdecima found that an overwhelming 88 per cent of Canadians support federal government rules that require all content to be made equally available to all distributors. Such rules are required to ensure consumers can watch any program they choose, no matter which company they buy their TV, internet or wireless service from.

Toronto-based Hobby Star Marketing Inc., organizers of the largest combined gaming, horror, comic, science fiction and anime event in Canada, Fan Expo Canada, today launched a lawsuit against American sports promotion company, Zuffa LLC and event organizers Reed Exhibitions Limited of the U.K. for trademark infringement.

The company’s statement of claim seeks to establish that Zuffa LLC’s use of “UFC Fan Expo” is a confusingly similar use to Hobby Star Marketing’s registered trade-mark, Fan Expo Canada, and that such use infringes on Hobby Star Marketing’s exclusive rights in Canada in its trademark, causes confusion and depreciates the value of the Fan Expo Canada brand.

In documents filed in Federal Court, Hobby Star Marketing is requesting an immediate injunction to block organizers from using the name “UFC Fan Expo” and the accompanying slogan, “Ultimate Fan Experience” in Canada. This claim follows the December 2010 announcement of the first-ever UFC Fan Expo in Canada to be held in Toronto later this month.

“For the past 17 years, Fan Expo Canada has been the only event offering unique experiences and opportunities to interact with icons, industry leaders, and other enthusiastic fans across a variety of genres and modes and we intend to grow dynamically in coming years,” said Aman Gupta, President of Hobby Star Marketing. “We will do everything possible to protect our intellectual property and maintain the integrity of our event and our brand.”

Owned and operated by Hobby Star Marketing, Fan Expo Canada offers fans the chance to meet their favourite celebrities and pop culture heroes at autograph and photo sessions. Attendees can also participate in informational workshops with industry experts offering advice, tips and portfolio reviews, and shop for exclusive Fan Expo Canada offers, collectibles and memorabilia from more than 600 vendors.

Hobby Star Marketing Inc. was founded in 1992 and has quickly become one of Canada’s premiere sports and entertainment marketing companies. Since its inception, Hobby Star Marketing has secured a niche in the industry by specializing in professional sport and entertainment celebrity placement at a variety of venues and events.

Predictive analytics software and solutions provider Angoss Software Corporation a global leader in delivering powerful , today announced the issuance to it by the US Patent Office of a patent for a method and system for interactive decision tree modification and visualization.

The invention with patent number 7,873,651 describes a method and system of modelling decision trees within a client-server environment. Decision trees are used as a visual and analytical decision support tool. They provide intuitive capabilities that allow users to segment populations and understand the key drivers of outcomes based on their business data. Angoss Software Corporation’s extensive experience with decision trees and its unique approach to their construction and visualization has now been recognized by the US Patent Office.

This latest patent covers technology in connection with the company’s KnowledgeSTUDIO® product and all of its interactions between the user, the client and the server when building and modifying a decision tree model. For example, to execute a “Find Split” operation, after receiving a user request, the client sends a command to the server which then finds the optimal variable to split on and how the data should be grouped to get the most predictive distribution. Once the server finds the answer, it is returned to the client to be displayed to the user for further interaction and modification.

“Today’s marketplace is growing increasingly competitive with the introduction of new data mining and predictive analytics technologies, and the most successful businesses will be those who leverage their intellectual property to give customers the assurances they are looking for when buying technology based products and solutions,” said Martin Galligan, President and CEO. “Our ability to bring the power of advanced predictive analytics to business users cannot be challenged.” Advanced analytics is no longer the exclusive domain of statisticians and quantitative analysts. This innovation progresses the ability of sales and marketing organizations to apply predictive analytics to their business to improve sales and marketing performance.” Read the rest of this entry »

Mobio Identity Systems, an international mobile payment and marketing company, is pleased to announce its exclusive partnership with Shaw Media to be Mobio’s first and only Canadian broadcast sales representative. For an initial term of 15 months, Shaw Media will be the official broadcast reseller of Mobio payment and marketing applications to advertising agencies, media buying services and direct clients across the country. The Mobio Smartphone app is available now via the company’s web site.

“Mobio’s innovative approach to interactive marketing and advertising gives Shaw Media an added edge in our highly competitive sales environment,” said Errol Da-Ré, Senior Vice President Sales, Shaw Media. “Together with Mobio, we will be able to deliver a uniquely personalized and valuable broadcast experience to all of our customers and clients.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfMmajHMWR8]

Broadcasters and advertisers are quickly recognizing the potential for QR barcodes to change the face of their industry. With media fragmentation pulling the attention of consumers in multiple different directions, advertisers are having a difficult time reaching and meaningfully engaging their customers. By leveraging their core assets, Mobio and Shaw Media will bring broadcast media to life in two very powerful ways, engaging customers like never before through:

• Interactive Marketing – Allowing viewers to exchange information and receive personalized offers by scanning a barcode directly off of a TV with a Smartphone
• Processing Payments – Allowing viewers to securely purchase products and services by scanning a barcode directly off of a TV with a Smartphone

“According to our recent research, 77% of QR barcode scanning is occurring digitally – both online and on TV – so partnering with a high profile broadcaster like Shaw Media is a tremendous opportunity,” said Mark Binns, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobio Identity Systems, Inc. “This partnership will allow our collective customer base to engage on a whole new level, adding massive value for viewers and significant revenue potential for advertisers and brands.”

Intertainment Media Inc. has announced that Ortsbo, its social media, real time, language translation platform, continues to accelerate, reaching 13.1 Million Unique Monthly Users, month over month for the period ended April 25, 2011. Since launch in late July 2010, Ortsbo has recorded over 183 Million minutes of User Engagement, over 129 Million Page Views, approximately 40 Million Unique Users and in excess of 58 Million Online Sessions. All of the Ortsbo performance metrics are validated independently through 3^rd party verification including Google Analytics.

In the past week, Ortsbo has generated over 17 Million minutes of User Engagement, 12.9 Million Page Views, 6.2 Million Online Sessions and 4.8 Million Unique Users, a new record of Unique Users.

According to Google Analytics reports, over 80% of users visit Ortsbo web sites directly and are not using search engines or third party referrals. With over 110,000 Facebook Fans, over 15,000 joining this week, and over 12,500 Twitter followers, the Company continues to experience viral growth opportunities.

On April 20, 2011 Ortsbo announced that together with international rock legend, accomplished global entrepreneur, Ortsbo business partner and spokesman, Gene Simmons and sponsor Live Nation will present Gene Simmons Live & Global, an interactive global event allowing people all over the world to chat with Mr. Simmons in 53 languages. The event will be broadcast from the Rodeo Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday, May 20, 2011 beginning 7:30 am Pacific. Users can register online for the event.

Unlike other social media platforms that may experience limited revenue opportunities, Ortsbo has been developed with the ability, in time, to generate revenues from a number of key sources, including, but not limited to:

Social Media – as with many other social media platforms like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, Ortsbo has initiated advertising and sponsorship programs, allowing advertisers to reach users, through customized offers, on demand and targeted advertising. To maximize long term value, Ortsbo has made advertising available to companies around the globe and has been sharing its independently verified analytics with existing and potential advertisers.

Email – Ortsbo has developed an email translation platform that simply “plugs-in” to existing email applications. The first of these coming to market shortly is Ortsbo for Microsoft Outlook, or “O4O”. The product allows instant translation of email with original language attachments. Ortsbo has launched a pilot web site and expects to make it publicly available shortly. The email plug-in module will retail for $29.95 US. Ortsbo also offers a secure, multi-user, multilingual chat module for the commercial market. Read the rest of this entry »

CATAAlliance has sent out the following call for survey input:

PRO5, a research group whose team members are students of graduate studies in project management at the Université du Québec, are conducting research on “The Forgotten Dimensions of Success and Failure“. While the survey should only take a few minutes of your time to complete, the data collected will yield rich results in support of project management research, and will be shared with the participants. Your participation in this study is greatly appreciated. All completed surveys are strictly confidential.

Research on the success and failure of projects has generally focused on three traditional criteria: time, cost and scope – known as the “Triple Constraint”. The purpose of this survey is to explore what other dimensions may exist – beyond the triple constraint – that are worthy of exploration as to their discrete or collective impact on project success or failure, and how these results may be similar or different, across a number of industry sectors. We call these “The Forgotten Dimensions of Success and Failure.”

Agent Wildfire has also sent out a request for survey input. The 3rd annual Buzz Report survey is conducted by Agent Wildfire and  is comprised of 30 questions, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey provides a pulsecheck among business leaders for shifts in attitudes, adoption and perceptions of marketing, media, digital life and customer culture.

In 2009 and 2010, over 300 people responded to our survey each year and we hope over the next six weeks to have an even bigger pool of talent responding and establishing a third annual benchmark on how these trends are changing.

The target audience for this survey are: business executives, marketers, media people, consultants, strategists, digiterati, PR, creative and communications staff, web operations staff, academia and other new media enthusiasts regardless of level of skill or experience.

The coolness factor? To our knowledge, there isn’t another survey that attempts to get after insights about the ecosystem surrounding new and progressive alternative media and marketing formats.

In return for filling out this survey, we are also offering the chance to win one of five Wikibrands books and opportunity for free workshop. Please let us know in the contact information area at the end of this survey whether you’d like a copy of the top-line results and we would be happy to share them with you when they are finalized.

Also, if you’re interested in attending our Buzz Report live event in Toronto (June 14th) and webinar (June 21st) with the first release of these results, discount codes will be provided for survey respondents.