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California-based MyCorporation.com, a business-focused document filing services, is expanding its services to Canada. MyCorporation provides a multitude of services for startup and existing businesses, including corporation and LLC formations, business licenses, and trademark registrations. With over 15 years experience and over 200,000 incorporations filed, MyCorporation brings unmatched expertise, quality, and customer service to Canada. Customers in the U.S. have come to rely on the efficiency of MyCorporation and Canadian customers can plan to reap those same services and benefits when the site is launched.

The United States is not the only country with a need for document filing services. Canadian entrepreneurs are in need of MyCorporation’s services as well. MyCorporation will assist customers in order to form one of four business entities: C-Corporation, S-Corporation, Non-Profit Corporation, or Professional Corporation. Services will start at $49.00, with packages being offered at $99.00, $199.00.

MyCorporation will initially give Canadian entrepreneurs the opportunity to file federally or in the province of Ontario. The decision to incorporate federally or provincially depends on the goals and scope of the company. Corporations that file federally will be able to do business in all provinces and territories, as long as the corporation is registered in the provinces in which they do business. The corporation will also be able to use the same name in each province or territory, even if another company is already doing business under a similar name. Filing in Ontario specifically saves money on federal fees, and the corporate maintenance is less formal.

“My Corporation has been in business longer than any other online filing service on the market, and our experience gives us a crucial familiarity with laws governing start-ups in all 50 states,” said MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney. “Our services provide one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective packages on the market and are a necessity for anyone who wants to start a business. We are looking forward to sharing these services with Canadian businesses owners and entrepreneurs.”

Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that it is a Presenting Partner to Canadian international documentary film festival Hot Docs, taking place in Toronto from April 28 to May 8. Telefilm is also a proud sponsor of the Hot Docs Forum, one of the leading international documentary business markets in North America. This year, Hot Docs is presenting over 200 films from more than 40 countries and welcoming hundreds of international filmmakers and industry delegates.

“Congratulations to Hot Docs on 18 years as an essential meeting place for the international documentary industry,” said Carolle Brabant, Telefilm’s Executive Director. “With our continued sponsorship of this first-rate festival and our industry financing most notably through the Theatrical Documentary Program – a unique public-private partnership between Telefilm and the Rogers Group of Fund – we are a proud supporter of this mobilizing art form.”

Five Telefilm-financed documentaries in the Hot Docs spotlight

Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson, Trish Dolman
Feature-length documentary about a man on a mission to save the planet and its oceans. Part Captain Nemo, part Grizzly Man, the film follows Watson in the act as he repeatedly flouts the law, so that he may apprehend what he sees as the more serious law-breakers – the illegal poachers of the world.

The Future is Now!, Gary Burns and Jim Brown
Documentary-drama hybrid in which a young journalist leads “Everyman” on a quest for knowledge from experts in art, science and philosophy. The Future is Now! was recently part of the International Festival of Independent Cinema of Buenos Aires’ prestigious retrospective on Canadian director Gary Burns.

The Guantanamo Trap, Thomas Selim Wallner (Canada/Germany/Switzerland co-production)
Recounts the story of Murat Kurnaz, who was born in Germany of Turkish heritage and detained and tortured at a US military base in Afghanistan, and in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was held for five years.

Family Portrait in Black and White, Julia Ivanova
From Variety Magazine: “Engaging docu Family Portrait in Black and White considers the much-extended household of Olga Nenya, a middle-aged Ukrainian woman who’s foster mother to 17 children, many mixed-race.”

Beauty Day, directed by Jay Cheel
Before there was Jackass… before there was Tom Green… there was Ralph Zavadil. His cable access television show, The Cap’n Video Show, ran from 1990 to 1995, challenging the sensibilities of his small Southern Ontario audience.

Sticking with film-related news, D-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed its first agreement with Regency Theatres to equip Regency Agoura Hills Stadium 8 in Agoura Hills, Calif. with 32 D-BOX MFX Seats.

“California remains one of our largest and fastest growing markets to-date,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “As we continue to introduce our motion technology, demand in our existing markets remains on the rise. We’re delighted to once again announce a new theatre in the area and new partnership.”

“At Regency Theatres we strive to provide our customers with the most extraordinary entertainment experience imaginable,” said Lyndon Golin of Regency Theatres. “With state-of-the-art audio and visual technologies, and dedication to quality, customer service, the addition of D-BOX is an ideal complement. We anticipate great success at the box office.”

D-Box also announced today that Paramount Pictures’ summer sci-fi thriller Super 8 will feature D-BOX Motion Effects in select theatres when the movie is released June 10.

“The opportunity to feature our motion technology with one of the most anticipated films of the summer will continue to drive expansion into new and existing markets,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “It’s a great pleasure to once again partner with Paramount Pictures. The content of this new picture is an ideal match for our incredibly realistic motion effects.”

The Funding Store, a business portal that matches businesses needing financing to the most appropriate funders and advisors, is now open for business in Canada. Behind the easy-to-navigate web pages, a search engine quickly filters requests for financing, enabling the businesses to locate sources of funds or funding advisers in just a few mouse clicks. FundingStore.com helps everyone in the funding process (owners, advisors, lenders, financiers and investors) by fetching the best possible prospects for a new loan, investment capital or a new client.

FundingStore.com, the brainchild of  British Chartered Accountant and author Nick Montague, is unique in that it covers all types of business funding, including business angels, loans, bank funding, asset finance, leasing, private equity, venture capital and other sources including public sector finance.

The site was opened in the UK in late 2010 and has generated interest from all over the UK, with early adopters coming on board, including Addleshaw Goddard, Pannone, RSM Tenon, Bibby Financial Services, Access To Finance, CBG Group and Yorkshire Bank. In February 2011, Michael Badham, a Chartered Accountant with 30 years of corporate finance experience in Canada purchased the rights to FundingStore.com in Canada.

“We know how difficult and time consuming it can be to find possible funders – over the years I have worked with many businesses who have reached a stage where further funding is crucial for their growth, but they are unsure who to approach or how to do it. It has long been a career long goal of mine to make it easier for small and medium sized businesses connect with the right funders. Our mission is to help business find financing fast”, says Michael Badham.

Businesses are also attracted to the site by the education content, templates and other tools, which help them prepare their financing requests and determine the appropriate type of financing.

Funders and investors only see the opportunities that match their criteria. They spend their time saying, “yes we can!” to opportunities that have been sourced and filtered to meet their requirements. Initial response at the launch has been very positive.

Multi-Platform game company TransGaming Inc. has announced the commercial launch of GameTree TV, TransGaming’s innovative on-demand Smart TV gaming platform, with France’s pioneering top-tier broadband service operator Free.

With GameTree TV and the Freebox Revolution, a next generation set-top box launched December 14, which transforms the television experience into a fully connected Smart TV experience, customers can now instantly play on-demand games directly from the cloud. The launch puts GameTree TV at the forefront of the ‘connected living room’ era, giving French consumers easy access to exciting, family-friendly interactive entertainment.

TransGaming’s GameTree TV platform is fully optimized for the Freebox’s Intel CE system-on-chip processor, one of the most popular choices for Smart TV hardware.

“We see a bright future for on-demand gaming on Smart TV,” said Lance Koenders, director of worldwide marketing, Intel Digital Home Group. “TransGaming has put itself ahead of the curve with the GameTree TV platform, which is a great example of the enhanced entertainment experiences that Intel CE-based devices can deliver.”

“The GameTree TV platform adds a compelling new dimension to our entertainment portfolio, further differentiating our unique offering” said Maxime Lombardini, CEO of Free’s holding company, Iliad. “Our subscribers now have access to a whole new gaming experience thanks to our partnership with TransGaming. This is a truly exciting time for home entertainment.”

GameTree TV launches with 25 titles on the Freebox Revolution, such as Bejeweled 2, Garage Inc. and World of Goo, with new games added weekly. Consumers will be able to enjoy games through a variety of flexible pricing models and billed directly by Free in the monthly invoice. This simple business model means broadband service providers are able to provide consumers with interactive entertainment on demand, while achieving a sustainable value-added revenue opportunity.

“Today’s commercial launch of our innovative platform, GameTree TV, represents the culmination of years of innovation and strategic investment and also marks the start of an exciting new revenue stream for the company,” said Vikas Gupta, CEO & president of TransGaming. “As the first broadband operator to offer GameTree TV, Free has more than lived up to its reputation as an innovator in the consumer Internet market. France is demonstrating its leadership position in on-demand Smart TV gaming, and we expect many other markets to follow soon.”

THQ and Games Workshop have announced a multi-year extension to their successful video game license agreement, extending THQ’s current exclusive rights to publish video games based on the popular Warhammer^® 40,000^® universe through titles across all relevant platforms including core, social and mobile rights.

Since entering the licensing agreement with Games Workshop, THQ has published several highly successful titles based on the intellectual property (IP), including the Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dawn of War^® real-time-strategy games for PC systems that have shipped 6.5 million units to date. Two fresh interpretations of the Warhammer 40,000 IP are currently in development; one by THQ Relic Entertainment: Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Space Marine^TM – a third-person shooter for the Xbox 360^® , PlayStation^®3 and PC set to release later this year – and Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dark Millennium^TM Online, a massively multiplayer online game exploring the deep fiction and myriad races of the IP which is in development at Vigil Games in Austin, Texas.

“The complex, futuristic war-torn universe created by Games Workshop equipped THQ’s award-winning development teams with the material to create one of the most loved PC franchises – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Our envisioning of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will continue to grow with top quality games across all platforms, including the upcoming launches of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online.”

“The impressive translation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the tabletop to the video game space by THQ certainly highlights the potential of our most successful intellectual property in the right hands,” said Mark Wells, Games Workshop CEO. “We know that the depth of the storylines, characters and imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe positions the IP to excel across many media platforms – and extending our agreement with THQ will help ensure that Warhammer 40,000 maintains a strong and growing presence in the video game space.”

Ottawa SaaS eCommerce company Shopify has launched its second annual Build-A-Business Contest. The company is offering over $500,000 in winnings, including a $100,000 first prize, to inspire entrepreneurs to start an online business. To provide entrepreneurs with additional support, Shopify has teamed up with industry titans Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss to provide ongoing advice, education and encouragement to contestants. The concept is simple: think of something to sell, create an online store and then build your business.

The contest runs from May 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011, but participants can sign up any time as long as they’re selling for at least two months. The store with the highest grossing two months (non-consecutive) wins the grand prize, with six $20,000 prizes awarded to winners from designated categories: Apparel and Jewelry, Food and Health, Sports and Hobbies, Art and Photography, Home and Office and Other. Because of Shopify’s easy-to-use platform, previous technical or eCommerce experience is not needed.

“The prize money is significant, but don’t forget the spirit of the contest: to give a kick in the pants to all those people who have wanted to start businesses but haven’t,” said Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. “The real prize is having a business of your own at the end of the contest.”

Shopify, a company that is deeply rooted in entrepreneurial spirit, is committed to helping participants along the way by offering world-class marketing and sales tips through a special Build-A-Business website, which will offer knowledge and insight from its partners and sponsors, including Google, MailChimp and PayPal. Shopify has also built out significant prizes for the winners to help their businesses succeed long after the contest:

• Grand Prize: $100,000 cash; VIP trip to New York for lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); one-hour power session with Gary Vaynerchuk; trip to Google Headquarters to chat with Google experts; and a dinner with Tim Ferriss.
• 6 Industry Prizes: $20,000 cash each; VIP trip to New York for lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $7,500 Google AdWords credit.
• Canadian Prize: $5,000 at the Apple Store; VIP trip to New York for lunch with Seth Godin (he’s cooking); $15,000 Google AdWords credit.

The winner of last year’s contest – which created nearly 1,400 businesses and generated over $3.5 million in combined revenue – was DODOcase, a San Francisco company that makes iPad cases using traditional book-binding techniques. The founders, Patrick Buckley and Craig Dalton, are now running a company with projected annual earnings of $4-5 million.

Meetup: Vancouver Social Game Devs at Calabash this April 28th from 6 – 9pm. Sign up on the Meetup page.
Edmonton Game Pub: April 27th in the Bioware Theatre from 6 – 9pm. Sign up on the event page or on Facebook.
Speaker Session: Wired Woman Presents A Blueprint for Implementing a Successful Mentorship Program, 6pm at the Vancouver YWCA Royal Bank Room on April 27th.
Deadline: IGDA Scholarship Applications for E3 – get them in by April 29th.
Attention Canadian Students: If you would like to take part in the Impact Apprentice 2011 challenge, now is the time to start your plan of attack. Submissions open on May 11th.

Coming Soon: VI Technologies has announced that the company will be releasing VI Racing 964 3.3 Turbo: AI First Drive on April 30th.

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Digital Leisure Inc. has launched Word Searcher Deluxe exclusively on WiiWare for 500 Nintendo Points. In this follow up to last years ‘Word Searcher’, gamers will need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher Deluxe contains fun words from multiple categories including palindromes, pirates and painting. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy.

Word Searcher Deluxe will help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with its addictive puzzles. Keep track of your progress and try to beat your own play through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today, or take on the whole family and your friends with the full cooperative and competitive multi-player modes. You will also be able to download and enjoy additional puzzles via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play

Toronto’s Mobile Game Studio will be releasing Web Swinger, the studio’s newest arcade game  in just a few weeks’ time. This new fun packed game will put you in the role of a tiny creature who despite his size, is determined to rule world, reaching incredible heights while defeating enemies in a life and death battle for barn supremacy. Arcade-styled Web Swinger will take you into the world of insects, casting you as a spider and pitting you against numerous insect enemies as you battle against time in your quest to the bottom of the barn.

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Click on the down or up arrow to move the spider down or up the web and drag your finger on the screen to swing the spider. Web Swinger features 20 different levels of unbelievable fun, but it is up to you to make your mark and defeat your enemies. You will lose the game if your spider loses all of its lives or is crushed by time.  Stay tuned for the official release of Web Swinger in the Apple Store.

Parksville’s Pixton has been selected as an Official Honoree in the Youth category of the 15th Annual Webby Awards, one of the Internet’s most respected symbol of success.  This year’s Webby Awards received 10,000 entries from 60 countries and 50 U.S. states. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 10 percent of all work entered. Fellow Honorees in the Youth category include such powerhouses as Disney, Lego, Teen.com, and Nickelodeon.

“We’re incredibly honored that Pixton has been selected. It reinforces Pixton as one of the best websites for youth, and that wouldn’t be possible without our active, vibrant community”, says Clive Goodinson, Creator and Founder of Pixton Comics.

Pixton pushes the limits of creativity on the web by giving anyone the power to create comics, full of original characters with life-like expression and movement. Every element of a comic is controlled with an intuitive click-and-drag motion. Comics can be shared in print as well as across the social web, in browsers, mobile devices, tablets, and interactive whiteboards.

“Kids today want not only to get inside their favorite characters’ worlds, they want to actively shape those worlds, in an online social environment,” says Clive, “Pixton is that place. Kids can carve out their own niche while being part of a shared world of digital stories and comic conversations.”

Already available in 9 languages, the website is continually growing as Pixton expands its reach to homes, schools, and businesses around the world.

Vancouver based interactive digital agency Appnovation Technologies has become an official systems integration partner with San Francisco based Strobe Inc., a company founded by SproutCore creator Charles Jolley, enables the delivery of cross platform mobile solutions using HTML5 and SproutCore technologies.

Appnovation’s expertise lies in designing, building and deploying content rich web and mobile applications using open source technology platforms such as Drupal and Alfresco. By adding SproutCore and Strobe technologies to their services arsenal, Appnovation will now be able to blend the robust content and document management capabilities of Alfresco and Drupal with ability to deploy applications across multiple mobile platforms. Appnovation is already working with Strobe to bring the value of this partnership to market and continue to drive open source solutions for its customers.

Vircom, an award-winning e-mail messaging security software company in Montreal has released directQuarantine™, an Outlook add-on module for its modusGate™ email security software that provides end-user control of quarantine emails directly from Outlook. Vircom’s directQuarantine software is compatible with modusGate 4.7 or 5.0, runs on Windows platforms (2003/2008/2008R2 for the server and XP/Vista/7 for the client) and is available to order today.

directQuarantine provides a Spam folder in Outlook that allows end-users to search for quarantined emails in real-time using the Outlook search toolbar or the blazingly fast native Windows search – no more waiting for nightly quarantine reports, logging in to a Web portal, or depending upon IT to check for and release blocked emails. The directQuarantine folder contains all emails caught and filtered by modusGate and any false positives can be quickly and easily released directly from the Outlook toolbar. Any attachments, viruses, phishing links and all other electronic threats remain safely on the modusGate server and are not downloaded to Outlook, ensuring the highest level of security.

Toronto’s AVIX Technologies, Inc. has announced that its its proposed wholly owned subsidiary, Florida-based Actus Interactive Software, LLC has developed a suite of cutting edge graphical multi-touch capable interactive kiosk and active digital signage products that are intended for broad market and vertical appeal.

Divided between active digital signage and interactive kiosks, these solutions feature self service content management in an easy to use, dynamic way, deploying to countless end point devices in a real time or scheduled manner. ACTUS’ kiosk and digital signage owners can also dynamically brand or “skin” end point devices uniquely or in groups.

Cornelia Volino, President of AVIX stated that, “As the Company moves closer to completing the acquisition of ACTUS, our focus is shifting towards integrating vertical and horizontal industry segments and those that will be capable of supporting the development efforts of ACTUS, which include multi-touch capability and gesture based technologies built on the NUI.”

This suite of kiosk and interactive digital signage products has the potential to significantly affect competition in the kiosk and interactive digital signage spaces across multiple vertical industries. ACTUS kiosk solutions are multi-touch (and eventually gesture) capable based on the latest advances in Natural User Interface (NUI) providing for high levels of usability beyond what is normally seen in today’s web based kiosk software. ACTUS kiosk and digital signage solutions deploy to multiple form factors on multiple platforms including large HD screens, computers, slates, and mobile devices and all leverage a common web & cloud capable back end architecture.

Ninety-seven per cent of organizations in a Conference Board of Canada survey have an employee rewards and recognition program in place. Yet, fewer than half of the survey respondents believe their employees are satisfied with the organization’s rewards and recognition practices.

This Conference Board of Canada study, Making it Meaningful: Recognizing and Rewarding Employees in Canadian Organizations, found that the average annual amount spent on recognition is $175 per employee. Public sector organizations average $123 in expenditure per employee; those in the private sector spend $208 on average.

The survey was completed by 166 primarily medium- and large-sized organizations across Canada. Respondents represent a cross-section of public and private sector organizations and include all major industry categories.

“Recognition from a manager carries meaning and motivation for employees, whether or not it is accompanied by a reward,” said Karla Thorpe, Associate Director, Compensation and Industrial Relations. “Organizations should keep in mind that recognition is personal, in that what motivates one employee is different from what motivates another.”

“Organizations that take into account the preferences of their employees will see a greater impact from their investment in rewards and recognition programs.”

Responding organizations spend, on average, 0.26 per cent of base pay on rewards and recognition programs. This level of expenditure indicates that maximizing the investment should be top of mind for managers of these programs.

Rewards and recognition programs can be used to increase employee engagement and to create a positive work environment. However, organizations often struggle with how to effectively use their rewards and recognition program to connect with employees.

The most prevalent type of recognition program among survey respondents is long-service recognition, with almost all organizations rewarding employees for their tenure with the organization. The most common types of reward given to these employees include gifts, pins, and plaques. Almost half (45 per cent) of recognition spending goes to long-service recognition.

Some of the main challenges in managing rewards and recognition programs include:

• Getting employees and managers to actively participate in their programs;
• Ensuring employees are being rewarded and recognized fairly and consistently;
• Making the business case—finding the budget, showing a return on investment; and
• Administrating and communicating the program.

The full report, Making it Meaningful: Recognizing and Rewarding Employees in Canadian Organizations, is available to subscribers at www.e-library.ca.

The Science Fair Fun Run is holding a photo contest for past participants, who are being asked to contribute 1 or 2 photos (2 is the max per person), which will be used in the photo albums on the Fun Run’s New Facebook Fan Page. Those who send in a photo or two will be automatically entered into a draw to win either: EA Sports NHL 2011 for XBox 360 or Hasbro Family Game Night for PlayStation 2. Include the race year, your name and your phone number. Photos can be of you and your friends, or of the race in general.

Deadline for photo entries is May 28, 2011. Please note that photos submitted will become the property of the PMC-Sierra Science Fair Fun Run and will be posted on our Facebook Fan Page. Only photos of the PMC-Sierra Science Fair Fun Run will be accepted. One of each prize will be awarded by random draw from all entries. Prizes are non-transferable and must be accepted as awarded.

Remember this year’s Science Fair Fun Run takes place on the morning of Sunday, May 29th at Athlete’s Village Plaza in downtown Vancouver. Registration and Check-in starts at 07:30 with the Run starting at 09:00. The run route is 5k, with a mini 1k run starting at 09:05. Strollers are welcome. Participants will also receive free admission to Telus Science World after the race, as long as they have their run bib and/or T-shirt.

All proceeds raised from the PMC-Sierra Science Fair Fun Run will go to The Dr. Michael Smith Science Fair Endowment to support the promotion and development of Science Fair Programs throughout British Columbia.

Kobo has closed a $50 Million investment round which saw Indigo Books & Music Inc. contributing $13 million of the $50 million in financing with the balance contributed by  leading institutional investors, as well as current Kobo investor Cheung Kong Holdings. This round of investment adjusts Indigo’s majority ownership to 51%.

“Kobo will use the new funding to continue its explosive growth internationally,” said Greg Twinney, CFO of Kobo. “As the eReading space continues to heat up, Kobo is committed to providing an innovative experience that lets consumers read anytime, anyplace and share their love of reading with friends.”

Kobo kicked off its European expansion last week, with the announcement of its plans to launch local content stores in Germany – the largest book market outside of the US – and Spain starting in May 2011. Local stores for France, Italy and the Netherlands will follow this summer – an industry first. In providing local content and reading experiences for European readers, Kobo continues to build on the vision of giving people around the world the freedom to read on any device, and share their love of reading with friends.

Starting today, consumers can buy the highly anticipated BlackBerry® PlayBook(TM) which comes pre-loaded with the Kobo eReading app – in leading retailers across the US and Canada. RIM selected Kobo as its strategic eReading partner, given its ability to service customers around the globe.

The Kobo eReading app delivers a personalized reading experience and allows users to choose the perfect text size and style, select between day and night mode, both featuring uninterrupted reading with seamless page turns and chapter transitions. Plus, readers can switch between single or side-by-side page view simply in landscape orientation or simply rotate the Playbook to read in portrait orientation. Kobo is offering a free copy of Thomas Cleary’s translation of The Art of War exclusively to BlackBerry PlayBook customers. Users can sign in or create their Kobo account from the BlackBerry PlayBook and the free eBook will be added directly to their library.

The executive board of Berlin based MMO game publisher Frogster Interactive Pictures AG named Kay Gruenwoldt General Manager of Frogster America Inc. Kay Gruenwoldt will lead the US subsidiary based in San Francisco and be responsible for growing the company’s presence in the region together with the CFO.

The boards of Frogster Interactive and Frogster America see Kay Gruenwoldt as a key addition to the management team to facilitate the further growth of North American operations. Frogster America has successfully run the free-to-play fantasy MMO game ‘Runes of Magic’ for over two years. The board of Frogster is convinced that with the assistance of Kay Gruenwoldt, the US subsidiary will grow its product portfolio, staff, scope and revenues substantially.

Kay Gruenwoldt is a 15-year veteran of the game and entertainment industries and has held executive level management positions in operations, sales, design, development and marketing with companies including JoWood and Nokia, where he was responsible for all North American marketing. Most recently, Gruenwoldt was the founder and managing director of Walking Squid, a boutique consulting agency in the space of digital and mobile media and games and CEO of the Games Academy in Vancouver – a design school which has not yet opened, although when I spoke to Mr. Gruenwoldt last May, the school was near launch.

Gruenwoldt advised multiple global entertainment companies in the social games, MMO and mobile spaces and has extensive experience launching and supporting new original IPs as well as platforms. Working for General Electric’s Industrial Systems in Europe and North America, Gruenwoldt gained extensive experience in project management and new product development. Gruenwoldt is a member of IGDA and AIAS, an Advisory Board member for the Dubai World Games and Canadian Videogames Awards, member of the board of Games Academy Vancouver as well as a frequent speaker at industry events around the world.