Village Gamer

Wordcamp Montreal, which is taking place this July 9th and 10th at Coeur des Sciences, Agora Hydro-Québec – UQAM has put out a call for speakers. Early Bird tickets are also on sale now for $30.00.

Game Prototype Challenge has announced its development theme for April – Companion and Rising. Participants have until 11:59pm on April 25th, 2011 to submit their game prototypes. That’s one week away, with a preview event known as Screenshot Saturday taking place on – you guessed it – this coming Saturday. This is the fifth round of prototype challenges, and if the previous four are anything to go by, this one will also see some awesome entries. You can check out all of the previous entries on the challenge’s web site.

The Early Bird registration rate for Interactive Ontario’s INplay 2011 conference has been extended until April 27th. Get your tickets now for what promises to be a great event. If you are a Canadian digital media designer, don’t forget to send in your submission for the CMF Canadian Interactive Showcase, the deadline is May 2nd.

Interactive Ontario has also released the results of its recent eLearning survey. Designed to examine the challenges faced by the province’s eLearning and cultural industry sectors, the 63 page PDF report (which I am still working my way through) looks at opportunities for growth and cross-pollination among all industry genres, including books, gaming, film, television and music.

Sticking with Ontario for the moment, OMDC is now accepting applications for 2011/12 cycle of the OMDC Export Fund – Interactive Digital Media. This program provides eligible Ontario interactive digital media content producers with funding to participate in export development activities that correspond to a strategy for company growth. Primary activities supported are market event attendance and targeted sales trips that relate to the strategy.

In order to be eligible, all applications must be submitted electronically through the Online Application Portal (OAP.) Interested applicants must register their company’s corporate information here prior to commencing an application.

For technical assistance with registration or the application process send an email to OMDC. Applicants are encouraged to commence the application process well in advance of the deadline in case technical support is required. Complete Guidelines and the link to the OAP are posted on the OMDC website.

In lieu of an information session, applicants will have the opportunity to receive feedback on a first draft of their OMDC Export Fund application through a one-on-one pre-application meeting with an OMDC Consultant. Participation in pre-application meetings is not a requirement and is offered as a courtesy for applicants who may be unfamiliar with the program and/or require additional assistance. Applicants are also encouraged to contact OMDC at any time with questions regarding this program.

Pre-application meetings will take place on May 9 and 10, 2011. Please send in an email to schedule a meeting please email programs@omdc.on.ca. Once your email request has been received, OMDC will contact you to schedule a time on one of these two days.

Here is a look at Part Two of the EA Sports video series on re-launching the SSX franchise with SSX: Deadly Descents:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69cGRZ3pzbs]

Manitoba’s MTS has joined the “PVR from Anywhere” movement with the the launch of its My PVR (Personal Video Recorder) service which enables MTS Ultimate TV customers to add, change or delete their Whole Home PVR recordings using any computer with an Internet connection or from select mobile devices. This service is available free of charge to all MTS Ultimate TV Whole Home PVR subscribers.

“My PVR is a great addition to our MTS Ultimate TV service and will give customers the freedom to manage their Whole Home PVR from outside their home,” said Stan Kurtas, Vice President, Marketing, MTS. “We are always working to bring our customers the latest in technology in order to enhance, what we consider to be, the most feature rich television service in Canada.”

My PVR, which can be accessed through the customer’s MyAccount portal, offers customers the opportunity to browse through MTS’s online program guide to see what programs will be on in the next 12 days, search by title and create a shared login so anyone in the family can manage recordings over the Internet.

Independent media site rabble.ca is celebrating its 10th anniversary by launching Media Watch, an initiative committed to dispelling myths perpetrated by ideologically driven reporters and sensationalist media. “We don’t want people to be blinded by SunTV,” said rabble.ca Publisher, Kim Elliott. “Our new media watch blog will feature a media consumer Twitter feed #sunwatch and the keen eye of Alheli Picazo.”

Coordinator of Media Watch and rabble.ca blogger, Alheli Picazo, wrote an expose in 2010 entitled “Ezra Levant vs Reality – A Prelude To Fox News North” in which she thoroughly challenged Levant’s characterization of George Soros. Following this piece Soros filed suit against Levant and Sun Media, resulting in a full retraction and apology printed in The Sun’s editorial section 13 short days after Levant’s original column ran.

“With the official launch of Sun TV News – featuring none other than Levant himself – there has never been a better time to establish a media accountability service,” said Picazo.

Though it’s starting off small, Media Watch aims to cover a wide range of media, from uninformed editorials and inaccurate reporting. rabble.ca’s team of dedicated spin decoders and lie detectors won’t just point out misinformation, but will provide readers with links to, and information about, the sources from which we cite accurate information. Be it scientific data, peer reviewed research, documented fact or expert analysis, we’ll share the tools you need to further investigate the issues.

Canadian voters are invited to tune in to rabbleTV on April 18 to watch special election coverage (“for the rest of us”) with the launch of the show Real Issues. Host Trish Hennessy (researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of the Hennessy Index) will be joined by guests Canadian Auto Workers economist Jim Stanford, Greg Elmer, Director, Infoscape Research Lab and Bell Globemedia Research Chair, and Atkinson Foundation’s Olivia Nuamah. This first panel responds to the leaders’ debates and the campaign so far, and will tackle the issue of strategic voting. 

Tech Data Canada has partnered with Silicon Valley company Ruckus Wireless™ to offer Ruckus “Smart Wi-Fi” systems and technology to its 5,000 reseller and solution provider customers across Canada. Through the agreement, Tech Data will distribute the entire line of Ruckus ZoneFlex™ Smart Wireless LAN products throughout the country.

With the availability of Ruckus ZoneFlex systems, value-added resellers (VARs) can offer their end-user customers in the healthcare, education and government industries advanced wireless networking capabilities at a fraction of the cost of other available systems. The ZoneFlex suite of products is perfectly suited to address today’s high density mobile computing environments, as businesses and government organizations grapple with the flood of handheld devices tapping into their networks.

The Ruckus ZoneFlex system is the only wireless LAN (WLAN) solution that combines intelligent RF routing and smart Wi-Fi meshing within an easy-to-use and centrally managed architecture. The combination of these technology breakthroughs gives enterprises the ability to achieve two to four times the range, reliability and performance at half the deployment time and cost of competitive alternatives, as well as the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) in the market – making ZoneFlex ideal for the channel and their customers.

“The ‘Tablet Computer Age’ is upon us, and as a result, businesses everywhere need more robust wireless networks to support the influx of smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices being used by employees and visitors – most of which have no capability to connect to anything except wirelessly,” said Rob Mustarde, vice president of worldwide sales for Ruckus Wireless. “As a leading IT distributor for many of the key vertical markets we serve, Tech Data’s reach throughout Canada, as well as its localized warehousing in Western and Eastern Canada, will be of tremendous benefit in bringing our solutions to more channel partners, and ultimately, a broader portion of the Canadian market.” Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft has announced the public beta of Microsoft® Office 365, the company’s next generation cloud productivity service for businesses of all sizes, which is set to officially launch later this year.

Office 365 was introduced in limited beta last year, bringing together Microsoft Office, SharePoint® Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service. The public beta allows millions of people in more countries, including Canada, to try Office 365 for the first time.

In addition, Microsoft unveiled the Office 365 Marketplace today, which gives customers a simple way to find partner apps and services for Office 365. Since the introduction of Office 365, more than 150,000 organizations, from independent professionals to large enterprises, have signed up to test it.

“Microsoft has been in the cloud supporting larger organizations like Kraft Foods, Starbucks, The Royal Mail Group and Swedish Red Cross for years. It was energizing to see that worldwide, more than, 70% of the organizations that signed up for the limited beta were small businesses with fewer than 25 employees,” said Bryan Rusche, product manager, Office 365, Microsoft Canada. “Here in Canada, Office 365 resonates with small businesses that want full-featured professional technology, delivered in a way that makes sense for their company.”

With Office 365, moving to the cloud doesn’t require people to change the way they work, because it’s based on the familiar, industry leading productivity tools people know and trust.  Employees get new ways to work together with ease, on virtually any device or mobile phone, using familiar applications, such as Office, that they already know and love. Business owners get the reliability, security and IT controls they need in the cloud.

The Office 365 Marketplace gives customers a simple way to find apps and services when they want to extend and customize Office 365. The Marketplace is now live with over 40 apps and 400 services available from the established community of more than 16,000 Microsoft cloud partners – with new apps and services to be added over time.

With Office 365 professionals and small businesses can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and an external website in approximately 15 minutes, for $6.75 Canadian per user, per month (minimum seat is one).

Office 365 for enterprises has an array of choices for midsize and large businesses as well as government organizations, starting for as little as $2.35 per user, per month ⁽minimum seat is one) for basic e-mail. Office 365 for enterprises also includes the option to get Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis, for the first time ever. For $29.25 per user, per month ⁽minimum seat is one), organizations can get Office Professional Plus along with e-mail, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, voice conferencing and videoconferencing, web conferencing, 24×7 phone support, on-premises licenses, and more.

The Edmonton Social Media Breakfast (SMBYEG) is pleased to announce internet marketer extraordinaire, Jennifer Banks as this month’s guest speaker. This month’s topic is “What the heck? Why aren’t you doing SEO?”

Search engine optimization is probably the most effective, misunderstood, bad-mouthed, and ignored component of a high performing online presence- including blogs and social media. The idea is simple; create your content so that Google knows what you do and assists you with gaining visitors/followers and ultimately, making money from your website. Why is this so controversial? There are no secrets, and the basics are straightforward.

This session will cover:

What is Search Engine Optimization?
Why do I need SEO?
How do I integrate SEO into my blog/website/social media?
Live website audits (time permitting)

Stay after the discussion to network and share ideas within the realm of social media. Marketers, PR pros, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, new-media fanatics, and online social networkers are all welcome to attend. More seats will be released on April 15th at 12:00 p.m. Seating is limited and fills up quickly so hurry to book your place on Eventbrite.com. (Registration will be taken at the event.)

Nevada-based independent payment gateway organization Shift4 Corporation is pleased to announce a recent integration with Burnaby-based POS innovator Squirrel Systems. This integration pairs Squirrel’s state-of-the-art POS system with Shift4’s SaaS-based enterprise payment solution.

“I’m excited by the potential this relationship holds for both organizations,” said Bob Lowe, Shift4’s Director of Strategic Relationships. “It’s nice to see Squirrel building their POS with truly modern Microsoft SQL technology. Now with a certification to Shift4’s Dollars On The Net^®, their offering just got that much better.”

Both companies are industry veterans, recognized as technological innovators in their respective spheres. Squirrel was the first vendor to introduce POS touch screen technology and continues to innovate today. Shift4 introduced tokenization to the credit card industry in 2005, and remains at the forefront of payment technology. Squirrel Systems integration of Shift4 payment solution is a next step in meeting the needs of their customers.

“With the integration of Shift4’s solution to Squirrel, we are able to provide our customers with a very flexible, proven, and secure payment processing platform. Our customers are thrilled with the capabilities and cost-effectiveness of Dollars On The Net,” said Joe Cortese, Squirrel’s Vice President of Product Development.

The integration premiered at the Fort Garry Hotel, Spa, and Conference Center in Winnipeg, Canada. Fort Garry also opted to install Shift4’s It’s Your Card^® gift card solution, which enables gift card use across POS and PMS systems, and allows guests to use the same gift card throughout the property’s various revenue centers.

“Thus far, the Dollars On The Net feature most impressive to me is the back-of-house reporting functionality,” said Fort Garry Controller Mike Watson. “It’s all online, accessible from anywhere, and the lookups are flexible — so when I go to search for info, it’s right there at my fingertips.”

In addition to top-notch auditing features, this integration brings Shift4’s industry-leading security, speed, and reliability to Squirrel’s clientele while offering them enhanced flexibility and lower costs.

MultiCIM Technologies Inc. has released eXadox™ WIZ, a software wizard that simplifies the creation, re-working, and sharing of document naming and storage policies for all organizational entities (e.g., departments, work-groups, business-units, etc…). Organizations should institute file naming and storage policies to ultimately benefit from fast and precise searching, identification, and retrieval of their electronic documents. This helps increase productivity and collaboration amongst all staff needing to share and access common electronic files/documents. A filing policy plan is always essential, regardless of whether the organization plans to implement a manual document management strategy, or deploy a dedicated document management system. 

Vincent Santaguida of MultiCIM Technologies states “As organizations migrate from paper-based operations to paperless or ‘less-paper’ practices, staff generally lack direction in terms of electronic document naming and storage policies. Each individual names and saves departmental files as they see fit. Therefore, there is hardly any consistency in how everyone names and stores electronic files. The end result can be utter chaos and awful inefficiencies in the file searching and retrieval process. A minimum initiative is to institute storage and file naming policies for each business activity in the organization. We created the eXadox WIZard to make it easier for our clients and others to start instituting best practices for file naming and storage. The rewards in productivity gain can be incredible with minimal effort.”

eXadox WIZ operates in a wizard-mode by automatically guiding the user through five simple steps to quickly build a unique filing policy plan. It also comes with ready-built filing policy templates to help expedite the planning process. Users may modify, mix and match several templates in order to build a unique filing policy profile that best satisfies their operational requirements. The plan import/export feature enables the planning team to collaborate in planning activities by taking advantage of everyone’s contribution to more readily establish policy consensus. Read the rest of this entry »

As an IGDA member, I received this letter in my email a couple of hours ago – as other members did. I feel that the information contained in it needs to be shared with the greatest number possible, and no doubt those of you living in earlier time zones have already been passing this information around, which it should be.  If I were a developer considering releasing titles on the Amazon App Store, I think I’d be giving it a serious second thought. Here is the letter in its entirety.

To all members of the game development community:

Two weeks ago, Amazon launched its own Android Appstore. We know that many developers have been eagerly looking forward to that launch in hopes that it would represent a great new revenue opportunity and a fresh take on downloadable game merchandising. The IGDA applauds Amazon’s efforts to build a more dynamic app marketplace. However, the IGDA has significant concerns about Amazon’s current Appstore distribution terms and the negative impact they may have on the game development community, and we urge developers to educate themselves on the pros and cons of submitting content to Amazon.

Many journalists have noted the unusual nature of Amazon’s current store terms, but little has been said about the potential implications of those terms. In brief: Amazon reserves the right to control the price of your games, as well as the right to pay you “the greater of 70% of the purchase price or 20% of the List Price.” While many other retailers, both physical and digital, also exert control over the price of products in their markets, we are not aware of any other retailer having a formal policy of paying a supplier just 20% of the supplier’s minimum list price without the supplier’s permission.

Furthermore, Amazon dictates that developers cannot set their list price above the lowest list price “available or previously available on any Similar Service.” In other words, if you want to sell your content anywhere else, you cannot prevent Amazon from slashing the price of your game by setting a high list price. And if you ever conduct even a temporary price promotion in another market, you must permanently lower your list price in Amazon’s market.

These Amazon policies could have far reaching effects on game developers. The IGDA has identified five potentially problematic scenarios in particular:

1) Amazon steeply discounts a large chunk of its Appstore catalog (imagine: “our top 100-rated games are all 75% off!”). Some developers will probably win in this scenario, but some developers — most likely, those near the bottom of the list — will lose, not gaining enough sales to offset the loss in revenue per sale. Amazon benefits the most, because it captures all the customer goodwill generated by such a promotion.

2) By requiring all developers to guarantee Amazon a minimum list price that matches the lowest price on any other market, Amazon has presented developers with a stark choice: abandon Amazon’s market or agree never to give another distributor an exclusive promotional window.

3) Other digital markets that compete with Amazon (both existing markets and markets yet-to-be-created) may feel compelled to duplicate Amazon’s terms, and perhaps even adopt more severe terms in an effort to compete effectively with Amazon. In essence, we’re looking at a slippery slope in which a developer’s “minimum list price” ceases to be a meaningful thing. Read the rest of this entry »

Important Reminder: The April 15th deadline for the Pixel To Product industry survey is two days away.

Whether you’re a game developer, visual designer, HTML5 coder, design wireframes, make apps, teach or engage in social media marketing – if you work in any digital media sector – please take the time to participate in the Canadian digital media workforce survey. It only take 8 minutes to complete, and the final report will be made available free of charge upon completion in May 2011. Participants are also encouraged to provide feedback on what data in the survey is important to them, essentially giving you all a hand in the final look of the survey’s report. I can’t stress enough how important this survey is to our industry. Please take the time to answer the questions, and if you already have, send the link along to someone who hasn’t. You can check out a sampling of the data already collected on the project’s site.

When Judith Chinn launched JAC GeoDesign in Nanaimo last year she had little doubt that her new 3D geo-modeling company would work towards excellence, achievement and innovation in her community. Little did she know that her community would extend beyond the rocky coast of Vancouver Island. She soon found herself involved in a number of international volunteer projects that would have her helping showcase Olympic host city London, England, recreating earthquake damaged L’Aquila, Italy, and supporting relief efforts in Saitama City, Japan. “I manage to participate on all of these projects remotely from my Nanaimo office,” says Chinn, who has become Canada’s first Google Certified Geo 3D Developer.

The Google Earth 3D geo-modeling community is a very active group of individuals and businesses. They host community 3D workshops, participate in school program, and participate in youth mentoring programs. When a colleague like British Architect, Barnaby Gunning proposed an ambitious project to build a digital 3D model of earthquake damaged L’Aquila, Italy to help stimulate discussion about its reconstruction, the 3D geo-modeling community responded by creating over 1000 3D buildings to help L’Aquila. “The images out of L’Aquila, Italy are shocking. Two years after the earthquake the city core is abandoned and citizens remain displaced,” says Chinn.

Locally, 3D geo-modeler Chinn has been busy participating in a number of youth mentoring programs like Science World’s Opening the Door Program that encourage high school students to pursue careers in science, and the National Geographic/ESRI GeoMentor Program that inspires volunteers who use geography in their work to work with teachers or youth leaders to help kids see, use and do more geography in and out of the classroom. “I try to include 3D models, 3D animation and videos into my geography and geoscience presentations. The kids love it, ” says Chinn.

Chinn recently supported the Rebuild Canada Pilot Project in Cumberland, BC. Cumberland Junior School students created 3D buildings from images of old buildings to help showcase the historical evolution of their community. The intention now is to roll out this program to other schools on Vancouver Island. Chinn also has her eye on Google’s Project Spectrum. Google created the program to give people with autism the opportunity to express their creativity and develop a life skill using Google SketchUp 3D modeling software. “Both of these projects would be excellent programs to develop on Vancouver Island,” says Chinn.

Belzberg Technologies, Inc. and Frontline Technologies Corp. have announced the closing of the acquisition of Frontline by Belzberg and the change in company name to Frontline Technologies Inc. The combined company will change its trading symbol to FLC which is expected to take place during the week of April 18, 2011.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, the key elements of which were approved by Belzberg shareholders at a Special Meeting held on April 11, 2011, on closing, Hoss Astaraki, President of Frontline was appointed CEO and Chairman of the combined entity and Judith Robertson resigned as President and CEO and from the board of directors of Belzberg. Resignations were also accepted from board members Robert Forbes, William Gnam and Steve Scarff. New board members, Keith Harris, Richard Ness and Deborah Robinson were appointed. The Company would like to thank the resigning directors for their years of service and contributions to the Company.

UK-based PlayJam has struck a deal with LG Electronics to bundle PlayJam’s games service with LG Smart TV for worldwide distribution via its own platform, Netcast™. The PlayJam games network will offer a rich and compelling casual gaming destination on LG Smart TV and Blu-ray players from April 2011 – but not until May in Canada, according to media spokesperson Diane Mckaye. Highly visible within LG’s own service platform Netcast™, PlayJam will use its existing world-wide billing, CRM and games servers to deliver thousands of social, casual and skill titles as well as tournaments, leader-boards, editorial, messaging and more.

LG Smart TV enables viewers instant access to the latest Hollywood releases, TV shows, games, news, weather and music. The PlayJam service will sit alongside notable entertainment offerings from Netflix, Roxio Cinema Now, Pandora and Vudu.

In addition to promoting their own titles, PlayJam is working with games developers worldwide to bring much loved and renowned titles to TV. PlayJam is a dedicated TV games publisher, delivering thousands of branded casual games to a global network spanning multiple connected TV vendors as well as digital TV operators Sky, Dish TV (US), Freeview and UPC. A pioneer in connected and Over The Top (OTT) TV games content with over 12 years’ international operating experience, PlayJam has generated over 6 billion downloads during the last 5 years.

Bell Aliant Inc. launched FibreOP 2.0 today in Saint John, taking its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network to the next level with the fastest combined upload-download package of any major service provider in Canada and a new, best-in-market TV product.

FibreOP 2.0 is the next generation of Bell Aliant FibreOP services, building on a network that delivers the fastest Internet and video sharing and the ultimate high definition TV experience over the only 100 per cent fibre-optic network that connects straight to a customer’s home.

“We’ve taken a great product and made it even better,” said Karen Sheriff, President and CEO, Bell Aliant. “FibreOP 2.0 provides advantages for our customers that they can’t get anywhere else – and for the same price as the original FibreOP product. Customers will be able to experience Internet and TV to their full potential, whether it’s for a school project, working from home, or pure entertainment.”

FibreOP 2.0 introduces more speed and functionality to customers for the same price. With FibreOP 2.0, customers will see Internet speeds increase and have the ability to upload as fast as they download – a first in Canada for any major service provider. For example, Bell Aliant’s most popular FibreOP Internet product moves from 25 Mbps down/ 5 Mbps up to 30 Mbps down/30 Mbps up so a customer can upload as fast as they download. This is in addition to FibreOP Internet’s existing range of choices in speeds, including the fastest Internet download and upload speeds available – Bell Aliant’s 170 Mbps download/30 Mbps upload service. These speeds enable customers to not only download music or movies and share video or photos faster than ever before, but also accommodate the growing need for multiple users within the home. Read the rest of this entry »

Absolute^® Software Corporation has released a list of best practices for consumers looking to protect and secure bank account information, identification numbers, and other sensitive data that is stored on their laptops, particularly during tax season.

“Tax season provides cyber-criminals with the perfect opportunity to gain access to the most valuable stolen goods on the market – personal data, including bank account information and social security numbers,” said Mark Grace, vice president of consumer business, Absolute Software. “Through our involvement in laptop theft investigations in 75 countries, we’ve seen countless cases where stolen information was used to open credit cards, withdraw money from bank accounts, or apply for loans. Given the type of information needed to file taxes online, there has never been a better time to make sure that the correct safety precautions are in place.”

With approximately 70 percent of individuals filing tax returns online in 2010 according to the IRS, Absolute recommends that consumers adopt the following security best practices to ensure that personal information stored on computers is protected well beyond this year’s April 30^th (18th in the USA) tax filing deadline:

• Protect against phishing attacks – Large companies like Target, Citi, and countless others impacted by the recent Epsilon breach have sent emails to consumers, notifying them of their official policies for collecting personal information. Government agencies have been impacted by phishing threats as well. To help educate consumers on the ways that it collects information from filers, the Canada Revenue Agency offers this PDF on protecting yourself, and the IRS lists current procedures on its website. Becoming familiar with these policies and being alert to suspicious emails is key to preventing the disclosure of personal and/or financial information to malicious sources.
  Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver’s QuickMobile and California-based PSAV® Presentation Services, who has locations across Canada, have announced a strategic partnership to jointly market and support mobile solutions for meetings and events worldwide, including associations, conference hotels, meeting planner and venue applications. The combined QuickMobile/PSAV offerings will greatly improve, extend and differentiate the experiences and outcomes of the events they serve.

“Today, meeting and event planners can leverage the power of mobile device technology to deliver real-time information to attendees and organizers, thereby greatly enhancing the overall event experience,” said David Snell, Chief Marketing Officer at QuickMobile. “By simply touching an app on their mobile device, event delegates can use their iPhones, BlackBerry’s, Androids, Windows 7 Phones, and tablets like the iPad to read speaker bios, update their own personal schedule, view the event schedule at a glance, confidentially message other attendees, and ask questions live to presenters and answer polls. Likewise, these same mobile tools can be used by meeting planners and event organizers to promote their event by communicating with social networking and third party content providers, incorporating mobile travel tools and city guides, and supporting vendors in a trade show environment.”

David Snell explained that mobilizing an event not only eliminates the need for organizers to print show guides, which subsequently reduces costs, but it enables content to be customizable in real-time. The new QuickMobile/PSAV platform is scalable, depending on the event needs. Sponsored advertising also can be incorporated throughout the application.

One of the most recent collaborations between PSAV and QuickMobile was the 2011 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference which was redesigned to meet the challenges and opportunities of emerging sustainability issues head-on and for which QuickMobile delivered the MobileEvent™ application. The event utilized principles from the online gaming world – specifically role-playing, leadership, narration, feedback, and ranking – to encourage attendees to actively engage and learn about industry developments and strategies in a hands-on manner. Each team was given a customized iPad complete with game instructions, social media functionality and point tracking capabilities. In addition, attendees were able to monitor team progress, access the conference program and connect with their peers using the interactive Sustainable Meetings Conference mobile application on their smart phones. Read the rest of this entry »