Village Gamer

What if your job included being the first to try out the hottest new toys and video games? Or to provide the inside scoop to parents and gift givers on the hottest toy trends on national TV? Well, Toys”R”Us Canada has a ‘dream job’ opening, as it searches for an enthusiastic child who is passionate about toys to become its next Chief Play Officer (CPO). The next CPO can expect a year full of fun, play and discovery which will include: toy training sessions with toy manufacturers, regular home deliveries of the newest, hottest toys to test, writing social media blogs, making television appearances across the country, walking in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade and acting as the spokesperson for Toys”R”Us in Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

Three Ottawa high school friends are the first Canadian grand prize winners of Trend Micro‘s fourth annual “What’s Your Story?”, an international video contest promoting safety on line. “What’s Your Story?” an award-winning, user-generated video contest is an interactive platform for young people to showcase their creative talents, and harness the positive power, reach and connection through storytelling. The 2013 contest received entries from both individuals and schools across Canada and the United States answering the question, “What does the good side of the Internet look like?” for a chance to win one of two $10,000 grand prizes. Read the rest of this entry »

Ninety filmmaking teams from across Canada applied to CineCoup with a two-minute trailer as part of the CineCoup Film Accelerator: a disruptive new model for indie filmmakers to develop, market and finance their feature films. Over the course of 15 weeks, they have advanced through a competitive selection funnel by completing tough weekly missions that are designed to package their projects and build audience support on the CineCoup social web platform. The Top 10 projects were optioned for development.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will announce the provincial finalists competing for the 2013 BDC Young Entrepreneur Award contest and kick-start the online voting campaign that will determine the winner of the $100,000 grand prize. On May 22, visit the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award microsite to discover the unique stories of young entrepreneurs who have reached a turning point, that decisive moment when the right move can turn a tough challenge into a springboard for future growth and success.  Their projects run the gamut from agribusiness diversification and equipment ramp-ups to high tech break-throughs and export initiatives. Read the rest of this entry »

SiriusXM Canada, the country’s leading audio entertainment company, today announced the launch of its fourth annual national comedy contest, the search for SiriusXM’s Next Top Comic. This year, up-and-coming comics from across the country will vie for an opportunity to audition live in one of seven Canadian cities. The most talented will go on to compete for a chance to win one of eight spots in the lineup at the Just For Laughs JFL42 Comedy Festival in Toronto where the best performer will win a grand prize of $15,000 and the title of SiriusXM’s Next Top Comic. Read the rest of this entry »

The finalists for Innovator Idol were announced today by the Research Innovation Commercialization Centre (RIC Centre). The start-up companies will pitch their new business ideas to an expert business panel on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at the annual Innovator Idol competition. At stake is a prize package worth over $30,000 to help propel business forward for the lucky winner. This year’s title sponsor of “Innovator Idol” is intellectual property law firm Bereskin & Parr LLP. Read the rest of this entry »

The editors of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project have released their 2014 application, which will determine the winners of the national project as well as 20 other popular regional and special-interest “top employer” competitions.  Winners of the national project will be announced this fall in The Globe and Mail. This year’s application deadline is June 13, 2013, and The Top 100 editorial team will host a free webinar for employers interested in applying to this year’s project on May 7 and 14. Read the rest of this entry »

Defiance™, the groundbreaking futuristic online open world shooter from Trion Worlds has announced its global first contest merging the two worlds of Defiance. Nolan and Irisa crossed from the game to the filmed-in-Toronto TV show, and now players have the chance to follow in their footsteps! To win, fans must outgun the competition in game from April 30 – May 12 to see themselves on an upcoming episode of Defiance on the Syfy channel. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2013 BCIC-New Ventures Competition is moving right along, and 142 of the 145 entered companies are eligible to proceed to Round 2. The next round will see these companies working on a 5-page business overview, which is due for judging on May 9th. Take a look at the companies in the running for $300,000 in cash & prizes: Read the rest of this entry »

Online store ecommerce platform developer Shopify  has announced the winners of its third “Build-A-Business Competition.” During the 8-month competition period, over 10,000 entrepreneurs created new online businesses that sold over $55 million in products. Grand prizes are awarded to shops with the highest sales over a two-month period. Shopify partnered with Timothy Ferriss (The 4-Hour Workweek), Daymond John (Shark Tank, FUBU), Tina Roth Eisenberg (swissmiss) and Eric Ries (The Lean Startup), to offer each of the winners a $50,000 US investment in exchange for a 5% equity stake in their company. Read the rest of this entry »