Village Gamer

EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. has signed an agreement with independent Montreal developer Trapdoor, to publish Warp™. This unique stealth action game features a top-down sci-fi world with a distinctive art style, addicting levels, hazardous traps and challenging puzzles. The new game will debut on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation® Network and PC in Summer 2011.

“Working with EA Partners allows us to expand our distribution to a much larger audience while still being able to retain our creative vision and identity,” said Ken Schachter, Founder of Trapdoor. “As an independent studio we are thrilled with the opportunity to leverage the expertise and talent of EA’s publishing organization to bring our very first game on console to life.”

“One of our goals at EA Partners is to seek out the leading independent developers within the downloadable games market and publish their titles to a wide audience,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “We are thrilled to add Trapdoor to the EA Partners family and bring this best-in-class sci-fi stealth action title to gamers everywhere.”

EA Sports has released a new video for NBA Jam, which is scheduled for release on November 26th for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Titled Politicians, this new video features appearances by several well known American politicians forming a team of Democrats and a team of Republican. Thus far, these two unlockable teams have been announced as being available only on the Wii version of the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noNj3koiWxI]

The Democratic team includes President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.  The Republican team features George Bush, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin and John McCain.

Ladies, are you looking for a fun way to spice up your night? Then grab your iPhone / iPod Touch and get ready for a new type of Girls’ Night Out courtesy of new Vancouver studio Wee Black Sheep Entertainment. Part scavenger hunt, part “Truth or Dare,” this entertaining mobile game is the perfect addition to a bachelorette party, a birthday celebration, or a night out with your girlfriends.

Girls Night Out, available now in the App Store for $0.99 USD, turns a night at the bar into a wild game of chance encounters and cheeky challenges. With more than 175 virtual cards in six categories including “Truth Be Told,” “The Hunter,” and “Naughty Girl,” the app sends players on hilarious missions around the bar and awards points to those who rack up the most wins. Highly customizable, this digital party game lets you complete individual or team challenges, race against friends, and even create custom cards to personalize the game for your special occasion.

Girls Night Out is the first release from Wee Black Sheep Entertainment, a Vancouver-based company that creates entertaining apps for a variety of life’s events and celebrations. “If you’re a woman with an iPhone or iPod Touch and you like having fun with your girlfriends, then Girls Night Out is for you,” says Jenny Ramsay, Wee Black Sheep’s founder and CEO. “This app is an instant party—it turns an otherwise ordinary night out with the girls into a wild experience you’ll be laughing about for a long time afterward!”

Florida-based Accel Networks and Vancouver’s Sierra Wireless have announced a joint marketing agreement to promote secure, reliable cellular solutions for customers deploying retail transaction and networking applications. This agreement formalizes a relationship that has already enabled Accel to deploy PCI-compliant cellular fixed wireless solutions for primary and back-up connectivity. Accel Networks, utilizing Sierra Wireless AirLink™ intelligent gateways and routers, has provided reliable and secure solutions for several major national retail customers and food service chains.

By standardizing on the Sierra Wireless AirLink line of devices, Accel Networks confidently deploys business critical solutions for its customers. The combination of Accel’s proprietary antenna technology and monitoring platforms with Sierra Wireless’s best-in-class intelligent wireless gateways and routers makes cellular fixed wireless an effective enterprise-wide solution for mission-critical applications and enables enterprise customers to expand into areas where wired broadband connections are not available or not practical. Powered by ALEOS™ embedded intelligence and managed by AirLink management software, AirLink devices provide a persistent, secure data connection and can be easily configured and controlled from any location with an internet connection.

“We are extremely pleased to have been selected by Accel Networks as the preferred connectivity device for its managed network solution,” said Justin Schmid, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Solutions and Services for Sierra Wireless. “This relationship facilitates a turn-key solution for wireless payment and business continuity applications, which is vital for the growth of the M2M business.”

According to Elaine Healy, President and Chief Operating Officer of Accel Networks, “The reliability and ease of integration offered by the Sierra Wireless devices made AirLink an easy choice for our standard connectivity platform. Formalizing and announcing our JMA with Sierra Wireless at the Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) show is particularly timely since there is no better connectivity solution for kiosks and digital signage than Accel’s fixed cellular solution.”

Sierra Wireless provides a broad portfolio of high performance mobile computing and M2M solutions, including mobile broadband modems, embedded wireless modules, intelligent gateways and routers, as well as extensive software platforms that enable its customers and partners to deploy powerful solutions. By leveraging the AirLink line of intelligent gateways and routers from Sierra Wireless, Accel Networks is able to provide its customers a consistent and robust fixed cellular broadband experience across all sites, facilitating asset tracking as well as real-time traffic utilization and management, leveraging a private PCI-compliant gateway. In addition, Accel offers a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to its customers, providing peace of mind for those concerned about continuity of mission-critical business functions.

Accel’s approach to connectivity is unique with its primary focus on the “last mile.” Accel’s innovative family of proprietary antennas and monitoring platforms was developed with the deep understanding that RF is dynamic and local. With this combined solution, customers no longer have to choose between the quality of a wireline service and the flexibility of wireless. Furthermore, the AccelView™ portal provides customers access to real-time information about the quality of each link in addition to data utilization and asset tracking.

Accel Networks and Sierra Wireless will be co-exhibiting at Customer Engagement Technology World in New York City from Nov 10 – 11. Visit them in booths # 237 and 336.

Starting today, young adults across the country aged 16 and up are invited to Start Something with Alesse. This one-of-a-kind Canadian initiative empowers young adults to creatively articulate their personal goals and will provide two winners with mentoring and financial support to help make that vision a reality. Entries can be submitted online until 9:00am ET on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

Inspired by the resourcefulness and community focus characteristic of Generation Y (or those born between 1980 and 1999), the Start Something with Alesse contest is designed to solicit innovative proposals from young adults committed to bringing about positive change in their own lives and the lives of those around them. Examples include creating a charity, producing a play or film, or starting a company. The possibilities are endless. (Editor’s Note – for those who do not know – Alesse is a contraceptive prescription for women.)

Christine Ho, co-founder of Well of Change, and Marième Ndiaye, a former MusiquePlus VJ and member of the singing group CEA, will serve as both contest judges and mentors to the two winners. Both of these women have significant experience starting something unique.

As the co-founder of Well of Change, a non-profit organization that has revolutionized the way people support not-for-profit organizations, Christine, along with partner Kevin Tsoi, has created an online platform that gives people and organizations the flexibility to donate either time or money to their charity of choice.

“I’ve always been passionate about giving back to the community, and I wanted to find a way to encourage young people to support their charities of choice,” says Christine. “Kevin and I have been fortunate to see Well of Change continue to grow and to see the impact our work has had on various Canadian charities. I look forward to sharing my personal experiences and providing guidance to help the Start Something with Alesse winners pursue their goals.”

Marième Ndiaye has pursued a decidedly different, but no less important, vision. Since 2003, Marième has been singing with the group CEA, a collective in Quebec that marries urban musical genres including funk, hip hop and soul. Her motto: “You can reach more people with celebration through music and dance.”

“CEA prides itself on positive messaging and has given me the opportunity to realize my dream of being a singer while growing as an artist,” says Marième. “The Start Something with Alesse contest will open many doors for the lucky winners. It is a phenomenal chance to help them realize their dreams.”

“We want to see today’s generation change the world,” says John McKendry, Commercial Director, Pfizer Original Brands, Established Products Business Unit. “By providing resources and support to two creative and passionate individuals, we are hoping to help support them through a truly unique and self-fulfilling experience. Alesse is proud to be able to provide resources to young Canadians to help them pursue their goals and ‘start something’ of their own.”

To view the official contest rules and regulations along with an overview of how to enter the Start Something with Alesse contest, visit the Start Something With Alesse site. All proposals will be reviewed and six finalists will be chosen by Christine and Marième. Winners will be determined based on votes earned through online voting by the general public. The two winners will be contacted by Thursday, March 8, 2011. Alesse will provide each winner with a $5,000 grant to help them start realizing their dreams.

Today at Content World 2010, Open Text Corporation showcased a new release of Open Text Everywhere with native client applications for Apple iPhone and iPad. With a growing library of business applications, Apple’s popular smartphones and tablets are quickly gaining momentum as an enterprise client platform. With client applications from Open Text, business users gain access to critical content and processes from their iPhones and iPads.

The new applications were revealed for the first time at Open Text’s annual Content World user conference where attendees were able to experience Open Text Everywhere in action on iPads and iPhones.

“By themselves, the iPhone and iPad are fantastic devices. But it’s not until you add content that they become truly transformative,” said Eugene Roman, Chief Technology Officer, Open Text. “With Open Text Everywhere, we are putting the content and business applications on these devices that will absolutely change the way people work, and result in big gains in productivity across the board.”

In today’s fast moving, globally connected work environment, business doesn’t stop when users walk away from their desks. According to a recent Forrester Research survey (Workforce Technographics US, Canada, and UK Benchmark Survey, Q3 2009), workers are much more likely to use their smartphone – or instant-on tablets like iPads – while travelling, commuting, in coffee shops or even in different buildings than laptops. While the productivity benefits of delivering enterprise content to smartphones can be substantial, information technology managers face steep challenges to maintain security, control costs and deliver sophisticated applications.

Open Text Everywhere lets users natively and securely access a full set of Open Text ECM Suite 2010 capabilities from both RIM BlackBerry and Apple iPhone and iPad devices. It provides secure end-to-end communication between the ECM Suite and mobile devices, and pushes the permission model and audit capabilities of the ECM Suite right to the device.

Open Text Everywhere provides a comprehensive view of business processes, content and social collaboration tools. On the device side, it gives users a native application that delivers a rich, intuitive and fast user experience. On the server side, Open Text Everywhere is fully integrated with Open Text Content Server, the heart of the ECM Suite, for rapid deployment and minimal impact on IT, with low ongoing maintenance and support requirements.

By marrying mobility to content management, Open Text makes it possible for employees to access and act on the information they need in a variety of scenarios. It provides them not only with core content, but provides search and workflow that enables them to complete tasks using only their smartphones.

In the coming months, Open Text will be adding more features, capabilities and mobile platform support to the Open Text Everywhere offering. This will include:

* A mobile email management application that lets customers manage email for legal, regulatory or corporate governance rules.
* A new social interface for smartphone devices that incorporates access controls, auditing, and other ECM Suite capabilities while enabling new levels of collaboration.
* Integration with Web Experience Management (formerly Vignette) that will provide an on-demand mobile application platform enabling organizations to deliver fast and reliable mobile solutions that are as rich and interactive as advanced Web solutions found on the fixed internet.

Canadian Innovation Exchange has just announced the 25 finalists for Canada’s Hottest Innovative Companies, selected to present at CIX. There was a particularly large number of submissions from amazing companies, and the Selection Committee had an extremely difficult time in narrowing down the list of presenters.

CIX extends its thanks to all of the companies who entered their profile, and also congratulates the Canadian innovation community as a whole for its very strong showing in this year’s showcase search.

Canada’s Hottest Innovative Companies:

* 360 Replays Ltd. * Adenyo * BlueCat Networks * Calisolar/6N Silicon * cfactor Works Inc. * Chango * Chaordix * ENBALA Power Networks * Ethoca * GestureTek Inc.
* Global Emissions Systems Inc. * Global Wind Group Inc. * GreenMantra Recycling Technologies * gShift Labs * Kobo Books Inc. * Locationary * Nemalux LED Lighting
* Psyko Audio Labs * Social Game Universe * Teldio * Trend Hunter * Tungle Corp.
* Vineyard Networks * Wantsa * Xtreme Labs

As social media makes its way into the workplace, executives are weighing the potential risks and benefits. Nearly half (47 per cent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed recently for an Accountemps survey said their greatest concern is that employees are wasting time during business hours using sites such as Facebook and Twitter. CFOs also expressed worries their staff may behave unprofessionally or post inappropriate information online. However, almost one in four financial executives (24 per cent) said these sites can help staff members expand their networks of valuable business contacts.

The survey was developed by Accountemps, the world’s first and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with responses from more than 270 CFOs from a stratified random sample of Canadian companies with 20 or more employees.

CFOs were asked, “What is your greatest concern for your company regarding employees using social media?” Their responses:

Wasting time at work………………….. 47%
Behaving unprofessionally……………… 14%
Posting negative comments about company…. 11%
Posting financial/confidential company information… 5%
No concerns………………………….. 12%
Access not allowed……………………. 3%
Other……………………………….. 3%
Don’t know/no answer………………….. 6%

Total: 101% (*Responses do not total 100% due to rounding)

CFOs were asked, “What is the greatest benefit to your company of employees using social media?” Their responses:

Expand networks of valuable contacts……. 24%
Enhance company’s reputation…………… 22%
Provide better customer service………… 18%
Can secure new business……………….. 5%
No benefits………………………….. 21%
Access not allowed……………………. 3%
Don’t know/no answer………………….. 8%

Total: 101% (*Responses do not total 100% due to rounding)

“Many organisations are still determining how social media fits into their workplaces,” said Kathryn Bolt, Canadian division president of Accountemps. “Executives are concerned with the possibility of added distraction from their employees’ daily duties, which may affect productivity and efficiency on the job.”

Bolt also added, “On the other hand, more firms are realizing that the rewards may outweigh the risks, as social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be used by employees to expand their networks of valuable business contacts and enhance the company’s reputation.”

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, four digitally savvy and socially conscious young blogging Canadians are socially suiting up for an opportunity of a lifetime that will see one of them join War Child on an upcoming visit to Ethiopia.

War Child Canada‘s War Child Challenge has bloggers reporting on a variety of issues to win a ten-day trip with War Child to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  The challengers are blogging for the chance to tweet and report on War Child Canada’s Ethiopian efforts.

“The War Child Challenge is one example demonstrating War Child’s consistent leadership in adopting new social media practices,” said James Topham, director of communications, War Child Canada.  “Thanks to funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, the War Child Challenge can illuminate the issues faced in Ethiopia in particular, and the developed world more generally, by communicating on a platform that is much more apt to generate discussion and concern around global youth issues and the Millennium Goals.”

Challengers Joel Kelly (Halifax, NS), Sara Hamil (Belleville, ON), Christine Estima (Toronto, ON) and Ben Boudreau (Halifax, NS) are tackling a variety of multi-media citizen journalism challenges. The War Child Challenge is made up of three main parts: the challenges, vote tallies and post evaluation by a youth jury for clarity, focus, originality and creativity.  The challenges include:

• Creating an image gallery of an event occurring in their community which offers a contribution to overcoming Hunger/Poverty, Conflict, HIV/AIDS, Basic Education, or Gender Equality.
• Profiling a person or organization in their community who is making a difference in one of the following areas: Hunger/Poverty, Conflict, HIV/AIDS, Basic Education, Gender Equality.
• Creating a video up to 5 minutes in length that conveys their thoughts, feelings, etc. regarding the global impact of Hunger/Poverty, Conflict, HIV/AIDS, Basic Education, or Gender Equality.
• Building a feature article which includes video, text, audio and images to tell their story of why they want win the War Child Challenge.

The War Child Challenge officially ends on Monday, December 20.

The Canada Media Fund would like to remind the development community that there are only four days left to tell them what you think about their programs and services. Your comments will help the Fund’s review for the 2010–2011 CMF program guidelines, scheduled to be published in December. You can offer your input in one of three methods:

* Comment on the CMF Forum
* Download a Word version for comments and submit it via email
* Take the short CMF survey

The CMF has also announced the latest round of funding awards, totaling $1 million for eight Television and Digital Media project applications in the Diverse Languages Program. The projects are to be produced in Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, and Tamil languages, and will receive $898,000 for the television components and $102,000 for the Digital Media components. Of the total, seven are television components and four are digital media components. The successful projects include one children and youth show, five documentaries and two dramas. Of the projects approved for CMF funding, five originate in Toronto, two in Montreal, and one in Vancouver.

Cineplex Entertainment, Canada’s largest and most successful motion picture theatre exhibitor, and D-BOX Technologies Inc. have signed an agreement to add approximately 250 D-BOX MFX Seats to be installed in 10 theatres across Canada over the next 12 months with an option for 10 additional locations on the same terms.

“We are very proud of this agreement with Canada’s leading theatre circuit, which will provide movie-goers across the country with the opportunity to experience our unique technology,” said Claude Mc Master, President & CEO, D-BOX Technologies Inc. “This Canadian expansion will complement D-BOX’s foray into foreign markets while increasing visibility at home. More so, this significant milestone clearly demonstrates the attractiveness of our business model driven by the growing worldwide acceptance of our technology.”

As of November 19th, three Cineplex theatres will feature D-BOX Motion Systems and will feature Warner Bros. Pictures’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Disney’s Tron Legacy (3D), which opens December 17th will be the next movie available utilizing D-BOX Motion technology.

Scotiabank Theatre Montreal, 977 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal
Cineplex Odeon Beauport Cinemas, 825 Clemenceau Street, Beauport
Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas, 1025 The Queensway, Toronto

Rogers Media has announced that it is the exclusive digital media sales agent for NBA Canada. Through this partnership, Rogers will sell advertising across NBA.com platforms including display ads, video content and mobile applications.

Rogers Digital Media, known for creating innovative advertising solutions, will leverage the NBA’s strong sports and lifestyle brand to develop customized programs for Canadian advertisers looking to connect with the NBA’s growing fan base in the country.

Poynt Corporation announced yesterday that their Poynt Local Search application is available for Windows Phone 7 and was selected as a launch partner in Canada. Poynt for Windows Phone 7 is now available in Canada and the United States.

Poynt harnesses the power of multiple applications in one intuitive package. Users can view search results, call businesses and get driving directions, as well as view restaurant information and even make dinner reservations. The movie section provides showtimes, trailers and the ability to book movie tickets through the application. Poynt for Windows Phone 7 also features movie ratings, giving users an overall ranking of how critics feel about the latest movies. The App also provides local weather forecasts and has an integrated weather screen.

Poynt is a free application that connects Windows Phone 7 users to business, movie, retailer, restaurant, and local weather information. The App integrates with the device using click-to-call, click-to-browse, map location and email results to friend in addition to using including some of the unique features of the device including the pivot feature to facilitate toggling between different features and screens.

Angoss Software Corporation has acquired the mobile solutions assets of Hitgroup.ca, formerly operated as “The Hornby Solution”.

The Hornby Solution reflects more than a decade of domain expertise in the Canadian loyalty and rewards space. Hitgroup founders Blair Calder and Stevi Hanson are assisting Angoss with transitional support and collaboration on sales and business development for existing opportunities after closing.

The Hornby system provides a robust mobile marketing platform that enables marketers and their agencies to provide mobile loyalty and rewards programs including offers, coupons, and other location based services. It is especially well positioned to help retailers and other high frequency consumer services providers extend existing loyalty and rewards programs to create mobile marketing and rewards opportunities.

Angoss will be integrating the Hornby capabilities into its Intellimaxx™ integrated marketing solutions platform as Intellimaxx™ Mobile and extending its data capture, communications, promotions, loyalty and customer intelligence capabilities across Blackberry, iPhone and Android mobile platforms.

“By extending Intellimaxx™ with these exciting mobile capabilities, Angoss will be able to provide our customers with a comprehensive suite of customer management, insight, engagement and loyalty” said Eric Apps, President of Angoss. “In addition, this solution will provide us with valuable opportunities to provide more advanced analytics and measurement than currently exist in the mobile space to help marketers better understand the dynamics of the mobile marketplace”.

Information about a new Youth Privacy Online Conference just came my way. Presented by Verney Conference Management, this event will “explore social networking and its relationship to issues such as online advertising, online scams, identity theft and online predators. Through a number of case studies, keynote addresses and discussions, the conference will show how providing too much personal information through social networking activity can lead to embarrassment, loss of career opportunities, disciplinary action and even danger. Whether the concern is privacy, online relationships or cyber-bullying – this is a conference that no educator, public employee, parent or youth exploring the Web 2.0 world, will want to miss.

The Youth Privacy Conference will take place on December 1st at the Toronto Renaissance Hotel, with individual tickets priced at $349.00 (+ HST). Group ticket pricing is also available.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) will be hosting two invitation-only events tomorrow, November 10th – one in Winnipeg, the other in Halifax. Both consultations will centre on how Canadians view the role of the Internet in their lives and the economy

The consultations are part of a CIRA-led initiative with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Media Awareness Network (MNet) to discuss, debate and propose directions for the development, deployment and governance of the Internet in Canada. IISD will help CIRA facilitate a group of about 20 participants in Winnipeg which will focus on the development of Canada’s digital economy, while in Halifax the discussion will centre on issues regarding digital literacy, including online privacy and identity, social media, social cohesion, and ethics.

Open Text Corporation will convene with customers, partners, and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) industry experts from across the globe to share best practices, learn how to yield maximum benefits from content management technology and hear about Open Text’s vision and long-term strategy at Content World 2010, November 8-12 in Washington D.C. The company will also showcase its just released ECM Suite 2010, which was announced in September.

The power of ECM Suite 2010 is its wide ranging new functionality covering 90 products and modules linked through a consistent integration framework, and spanning everything from compliance, business process management and portals to integrated mobile experience and enterprise information archiving. The result gives customers the most complete content management environment available to handle the vast array of content types, languages, applications, user needs and business processes in their organizations.

The six-day conference, attended and sponsored by the world’s leading brands, is being staged at the award-winning Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center and offers more than 110 sessions, peer-to-peer networking events, panel discussions and a distinguished keynote speaker, this year’s event will explore how to ensure governance, improve efficiency and drive monetization of enterprise content management. Participants will also learn vital information about how to optimize current Open Text solutions—whether their focus is on lifecycle management, engagement, or transactional content. They will also learn how Open Text Everywhere boosts productivity by bringing the full power of the ECM Suite to smartphones.

Toronto’s Yangaroo Inc. has signed an agreement with the Academy of Country Music (ACM) to power online review and professional member voting for the forthcoming 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards to be held in the spring of 2011. The Academy will employ Yangaroo’s patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS) Awards solution to securely distribute ballots in digital formats to its voting members. Through DMDS, members will be able to review materials online and vote electronically at the time that is most convenient for them.

Each year, the Academy presents awards honoring country music’s top talent and the industry’s hottest emerging talent. Awards are voted on in three rounds by the Academy’s professional members. The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast LIVE on the CBS Television Network, on an as-yet-unannounced date.

The agreement with the Academy follows similar, previous deals Yangaroo has inked with The Grammys, The Junos, and others to provide award shows with a cost-saving and environmentally friendly solution.

“The Academy has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting new technology that serves our membership and our mission to support the country music industry,” said Michelle Goble, Vice President, Membership and Events for the Academy. “We’re delighted to work with DMDS to streamline the time our dedicated professional members spend on the voting process.”

“Since the launch of our DMDS Awards solution two years ago, it has quickly become the standard for music industry award shows,” said Scott Wambolt, CEO of Yangaroo. “DMDS offers an easy to implement, cost-saving, environmentally friendly solution for music and broadcasting trade organizations. We are honored to be providing this for a renowned organization like the ACM and this is consistent with our profitable growth strategy of expanding our strategic relationships with key players across multiple music genres.”

Disney Institute is bringing its renowned professional development program, “Disney’s Approach to Quality Service” to Surrey BC this November 30th. Sponsored locally by Kwantlen Polytechnic University School of Business and the Surrey Board of Trade, the full-day event will demonstrate how anticipating and reacting to customers’ needs, wants, and emotions is an integral aspect of delivering quality service and achieving business results.

The program will be held at the Cedar Building Conference Centre in Surrey, and give participants new ideas for creating a service-driven organization that delivers excellence.

Program registration is $395 per person and includes Breakfast, Lunch and all course materials. For more information or to register, call 877-544-2384 or visit the event information page.

“Delivering great service is critical for companies looking to survive and prosper,” said Jeff James, vice president for Disney Institute. “This program is a rare opportunity for Vancouver-area business professionals to go inside the Disney organization and learn innovative, easy-to-implement best practices that can give them the competitive edge.”

The full-day “Disney’s Approach to Quality Service” program will give participants an “insider’s look” at business practices that have helped Disney become respected for product and service quality. In 2010, Fortune magazine recognized Disney as the world’s most admired company for quality. Participants will learn how to exceed customer expectations using a well-defined service infrastructure, ongoing research and service standards.

“In an era where everyone is competing for business and market share, excellent customer service isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity,” James said. “This program is made for organizations – large and small – that are looking to create a service experience that exceeds customer expectations and drives repeat business.”

Disney Institute was created to showcase “the business behind the magic” – Disney best practices that easily adapt to other organizations. One of the most recognized names in professional development, Disney Institute travels the world offering engaging seminars, workshops and presentations, as well as fully customized programming. Immersive learning experiences are also offered at Disney destinations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, enabling participants to go behind the scenes and see firsthand how business theory drives operational excellence. The Disney Institute client roster includes Fortune 500 companies as well as a wide range of small businesses, non-profits and government agencies.

Canada’s largest independent game development studio Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) has walked through a hole in the fabric in time and re-launched itself with a new brand that is really its old studio name, Behaviour. The change is a return to the name the company was formerly known by when they were a small upstart developer of PlayStation® games in the 90’s. Today that company has grown to 375 talented employees in Montreal and Santiago, Chile and is a licensed developer for all of the major game consoles, handheld and online platforms.

While Behaviour has always been recognized as a premiere work-for-hire game studio, the company has renewed their focus on developing original IP on multiple platforms alongside its work-for-hire business with major publishers. With five specialized internal studios (gamer, portable, online, downloadable and family), Behaviour offers a development solution for any project.

“We are and will always strive to be the best and most trusted independent game development studio in the industry,” said Rémi Racine, CEO, Behaviour. “The change in name is not only a return to our previous name but also an indicator of the evolution of the company. We have developed a strong reputation as a high-quality work-for-hire studio as well as a creator of our own original content and will continue to pursue both sides of the business. The new name reflects the renaissance of the company.”

“Wet 2 (multi-platform), Naughty Bear 2 (multi-platform), Doritos Crash Course (XBLA) as well as Rango (multi-platform), which was announced by EA and Paramount Digital Entertainment on November 4th, are all currently in development at Behaviour,” added Jamie Leece, Senior Vice President of Business Development. “We have just completed Sims 3 (Wii), and are also working on several unannounced games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo’s Wii and DS systems, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, next generation handhelds, a Facebook game to be launched in November and a Casual MMO to be launched early next year. The studio’s platform diversification strategy has been well received by our publishing partners, allowing cross platform executions while leveraging Behaviour’s established technologies.”