Village Gamer

The Cavechild has been doing an hourly countdown all weekend, waiting somewhat impatiently for the release of Dawn of War II: Retribution from Relic Entertainment. He pre-0rdered his special copy on Steam the first day they were accepting orders and he participated in the early beta as well. I will be so happy when Retribution is officially available in just a few more hours, because he is driving me crazy.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nud2yLRtbI]

Webcast: If you missed the Canada Media Fund webcast outlining the changes which have been made to funding guidelines, you can view the video in either French or English online. Note, registration and log-in is required to watch the video.

Event: The next MoMoVan will be held at the Granville Island Brewing Company on March7th. The topic will be Privacy and Security. Tickets are free for DigiBC members, sponsors, students and partners, $25.00 for non-members. Attendance is limited to 100, so register early.

Competition: Game developers take note, Dream Build Play 2011 is now open for registration. Once registration closes on May 17th, the game submission period will begin. Entrants will have until June 14th to submit their Xbox 360 creations built using XNA Game Studio 4.0. Winning game developers split $75,000 USD in prizes and get a shot at an Xbox LIVE® Arcade publishing contract, and their games will be featured on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Grey Alien Games has announced its next title. Spring Bonus will be a Spring and Easter-themed match 3 styled game scheduled to launch on April 15th to several platforms including including PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, XBox Live Indie Games and Windows Phone 7 – possibly for Linux as well. Grey Alien’s founder Jake Birkett has released his first dev diary for the new title, you can read about the lead-up to Spring Bonus’ development on the Grey Alien blog.

Trekking around the halls of GDC with Jake is Brian Provinciano, founder of Vblank Entertainment and developer of Retro City Rampage. Brian will be participating in a panel discussion titled The Next Steps of Indie: Four Perspectives during the Indie Games Festival within the GDC umbrella. Attendees to this panel will get an inside look at the road Brian followed as he developed Retro City Rampage, from NES programming in 2002 right up to our current next-gen consoles. Retro City Rampage will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo WiiWare later this year. Retro City Rampage is also a finalist for the Excellence in Audio category at the Indie Games Festival Awards.

Sale: Endloop Systems has announced that their iPad app iMockups will be on sale for 30% for the duration of GDC. iMockups for iPad is a mobile wireframing and mockup app for your web, iPhone and iPad projects, combining a beautiful interface with intuitive functionality, taking full advantage of the breakthrough touchscreen device. With a comprehensive and growing list of pre-built dynamic controls (for Web, iPhone and iPad) help turn your ideas into full fledged designs at the office or on the go.

New Media Manitoba will be very active at this week’s Game Developers Conference, which is just getting underway in San Francisco. The association is leading a provincial delegation that will showcase the Manitoba digital media industry and offer start-ups and seasoned game companies the opportunity to grow their business. New Media Manitoba will be hosting a networking event at Thirsty Bear from 4-6pm on March 3rd.

One of the shiny new yet retro members of the Manitoba delegation is the Winnitron itself, making its first appearance at the GDC. The Winnitron will showcase exclusive Manitoba made games like Leap4Blue, Trash Pilot, C4ke, Sumo Topplers, and Robots Robots Everywhere, along with other high profile indie titles such as Canabalt 2-Player and Super Crate Box. Fans from all over the indie game circuit are already buzzed about playing classic indie games like Space Sushi, Indie Brawl, and N Arcade on the Winnitron for the first time ever. Winnitron Photo Credit: Chrissy Chubala

Four companies will be sharing space at our booth on the Expo Floor—Tomkorp Computer Solutions (creators of Clones ), Cube Force Media (creators of Aerrevan), Cogmation Robotics , and Project Whitecard, which is currently leading development on a multiplayer problem-solving game for NASA.

Representing the Winnitron at the booth will be Bit Collective (creators of the Winnitron) members Alec Holowka of Infinite Ammo, Tom Rab of Reborn Games, Noel Berry, Marlon Weibe and New Media Manitoba’s own Kert Gartner. Manitoba game developers Red Reptile Studios and Complex Games, who recently won a Canada New Media Award for Best Web Game, will be making waves at the conference via some targeted meetings.

If you’ve been following news on Indie Game: The Movie, you’ll know that the Globe and Mail and major industry publications (including this site) have already been celebrating the pre-release footage Blink-Works has posted on their web site. The 2-person team behind the project, Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, will be chatting about their film at Manitoba Booth #1137 on Thursday, March 3.

New Media Manitoba would like to gratefully acknowledge the amazing support from Manitoba Trade & Investment, Western Economic Diversification, and Red River College for their contributions toward growing the game companies in Manitoba and this Trade Mission, as well as: Complex Games, Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba (ANIM), Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT), Industry Canada, Manitoba Innovation, Energy, and Mines (IEM), Economic Development Winnipeg, and Manitoba’s tireless game development community.

Vancouver-based IE Market Research Corporation has released its 1Q.2011 Global Mobile Entertainment Forecast, 2008 – 2015, which is available now for purchase. IEMR’s forecast provides our quantitative forecasts for Mobile Music, Mobile Gaming, Mobile Personalisation, Mobile TV, and other premium content. It covers 50+ countries and regions, and it is one of the most comprehensive forecasts of its kind in the world.

“We think that the global mobile entertainment market will see significant growth over the next five years. Globally, we are expecting mobile multimedia revenue to rise from $32 billion in 2009 to $52.8 billion in 2015. Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2011 to 2015 will be 9.5%,” said Nizar Assanie, Vice President (Research) at IEMR. “Among different categories of mobile multimedia, we expect that Mobile TV will see the biggest growth in revenues over the next five years. We forecast that global mobile TV revenues (which are broadcast and unicast revenues) will increase from $2.52 billion in 2009 to $6.6 billion in 2015.”

To the comprehensive data set, we are adding a PowerPoint presentation which provides our clients with an overview of key trends in the global mobile entertainment market.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has secured a new, exclusive membership benefit for members – an airline travel discount. Starting immediately, all IGDA members can get a 5 percent discount on Virgin America flights booked to attend GDC, E3, IGDA Summit, Casual Connect Seattle, PAX Prime and the IGDA Leadership Forum. Naturally, Virgin America appears to fly only out of Toronto on our side of the border, but I guess one could drive to Seattle or take the shuttle bus, and then fly down to the California events from there if the overall savings were substantial.

IGDA members in good standing can access the promo codes online. Please note that discounted tickets are limited and members should reserve their flights as early as possible. Remember to add your IGDA special promo code before purchasing your ticket in order to get the discount.

Your travel on Virgin Airlines must fall within these timelines:

GDC 2011: To SFO: 2/24 – 2/28 and From SFO: 3/4 – 3/8
E3: To LAX: 6/4 – 6/8 and From LAX: 6/9 – 6/11
IGDA Summit/Casual Connect Seattle: To SEA: 7/14 – 7/18 and From SEA: 7/20 – 7/24
PAX Prime Seattle: To SEA: 8/29 – 9/1 and From SEA: 9/5 – 9/9
IGDA Leadership Forum: To LAX: 10/22 – 10/26 and From LAX: 10/30 – 11/3

An initiative to boost the Canadian economy through the use of high-speed networking will learn from the examples set by the Province of New Brunswick and the City of Fredericton, according to the Chair of i-CANADA. I-CANADA is backed by Canada’s largest high-tech organization, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) and “ although i-CANADA has not even been officially launched yet, and we already have almost 1,000 signatures from Canadian companies, individuals and institutions pledging support for the idea,” said Bill Hutchison, chair of i-CANADA Two communities in New Brunswick — Fredericton and Moncton — have won awards as “Top Seven” finalists in the Intelligent Communities Forum’s prestigious award ceremony in New York.

“Our vision is that Canada’s networks are the rails of light carrying the engines of the Information Age,” said Bill Hutchison. “We want companies to grow and thrive in Canada because ultra-broadband provides an ecosystem of accelerated business and social innovation and growth. We consider New Brunswick to be a leader in this area as evidenced by the international Intelligent Community awards won by Moncton and Fredericton. An important i-Canada goal is to support the sharing between communities of innovative initiatives and lessons learned and certainly the rest of Canada can benefit from understanding the success formula being used in New Brunswick.”

Premier Alward has agreed to Chair the Leadership Council of i-CANADA, working with other Provincial Premiers, business leaders, and community stakeholders across the country in developing i-CANADA, the “Intelligent Nation.” “Premier Alward’s background as a human resource development and community development expert make him ideal to guide the work of i-CANADA,” said Mr. Hutchison.

Premier Alward noted that “this brings nation-wide recognition that New Brunswick is on the leading edge of developments that are defining economic growth today. I am delighted that our province will gain profile from Canadian businesses and research organizations and participate in sharing information on how to lead other global regions and communities in the creation of tomorrow’s Intelligent Communities.”

Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside has also agreed to participate. “We are honoured that Mayor Woodside will add his considerable experience to the program,” said Mr. Hutchison.

Mayor Woodside stated “Fredericton’s long-standing reputation as an Intelligent Community dates back to the early nineties when we set our sights on growing our knowledge industries. “ Since that time, Fredericton has achieved international recognition, named twice as one of the World’s Top Seven Intelligent Communities by Intelligent Community Forum of New York, and one of the North American Cities of the Future by Financial Times of London. “We are successful because we work together – – we have been an integral partner with Enterprise Fredericton, the University of New Brunswick and Province of New Brunswick to advance our Knowledge Park. The park is currently adding two new buildings to its campus including the national Centre of Excellence in Advanced Learning Technology(CEALT), and has attracted companies like RIM and Radian6. The City of Fredericton has recognized the vital importance of intellectual infrastructure as a tool to cultivate the growth of our knowledge-based economy” said Mayor Woodside.
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For all of you Canadians lucky enough to be going to GDC San Francisco – and judging from my Twitter feed, there are a lot of you – the Trade Commissioners Service (TCS) and its partners invite Canadian companies to meet existing and new clients at the Canada Business Lounge at the W Hotel from March 1-3 and during the Canada Networking Event at Jillian’s on March 2.

Canada Business Lounge at the W Hotel – March 1, 2 and 3

The TCS, with support from Telefilm Canada, Export Development Canada and several partners including the Canadian Interactive Alliance, British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Innovation PEI, Investissement Quebec, Montreal International, New Media Manitoba, Nova Scotia Business Inc. and Ontario Media Development Corporation, is pleased to announce that the Canada Business Lounge will be at the W Hotel during GDC 2011. The Lounge includes 3 private meeting rooms and a separate open-concept lounge that will be exclusive to Canadian companies and their clients for meetings at no cost.

Location: W Hotel, 3rd Floor, 181 – 3rd Street
Time: 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on March 1, 2 and 3

Private Meeting Rooms: Many Canadian companies booked meeting rooms in advance. During GDC, any remaining private rooms will be made available on a first come first serve basis.

Open Concept Area: 3rd Floor and the XYZ Lounge: No reservations required. Chairs and couches will be arranged to allow for separate discussions in the Canada Business Lounge on the 3rd Floor on March 1, 2 and 3. The XYZ Lounge has been reserved exclusively for meetings with Canadian companies on March 2 and 3.

Meeting Point: There will be a TCS reception desk with officers from Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, China, India and from across the United States and Canada to provide services, take bookings and support companies and partners.

Canada Networking Event – March 2

The Trade Commissioners Service, in partnership with Telefilm Canada, and with support from several partners including Export Development Canada, Canadian Interactive Alliance, British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Innovation PEI, Investissement Quebec, Montreal International, New Media Manitoba, Nova Scotia Business Inc., Ontario Media Development Corporation and Heenan Blaikie, will host the popular Canada Networking Event at Jillian’s. In 2010, over 600 people attended, 50% of whom were international guests invited by the TCS, including Disney Interactive, Activision Blizzard, THQ, CapCom, Sony, Perfect World and Nintendo, among others.

Details: Wednesday, March 2 from 4.30 to 8.30 at Jillian’s, 101 – 4th Street (at Howard)
Invitation Required: RSVP to add your name to the mailing list.

Note: The World Wide Short Film Fest has opened Screenplay Giveaway to submissions.
Note: Nominations now open to Canada’s emerging technology companies for PricewaterhouseCoopers 2011 Innovator of the Year Award.

The third Game Prototype Challenge ended earlier this week with a total of ten game submissions centering around the theme of Loneliness and Dimensions. There are some very cool ideas in this last round, and considering that they were all done as side projects between February 14th and February 21st just makes them even better. The Challenge just keeps growing with every iteration, and I am looking forward to seeing comes out in the next one in March.

The final installment of the Ask Dr. Mike video series has been released by Hothead Games. Check out the in-studio rivalry between Producer Joel DeYoung and Lead Designer Pete Low as Joel tries to trump Pete’s new high score in the upcoming platformer Swarm.

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

Watch the gameplay carefully and listen closely to the commentary for some inside secrets on game-play and high scoring tactics. See how the sacrificing of squishy blue guys will lead you to multiplier supremacy and achievement completion.

Post-secondary students these days have so many cool new specialty areas to study, sometimes I wish I could go back to school full-time. Yes, I liked school. Except for Math. And Science. History, Law and English – those were my favourites. There weren’t really any courses leading towards any specific type of creative career when I was in high school, not counting the classes for performing arts or traditional trades like welding and wood-working.

A new graduate studies programme has been introduced at Waterloo University’s Stratford Campus. The Master of Digital Innovation (MDI) is a one year project-based interdisciplinary degree programme. Students will work through the programme as they would if they were working for an employer, in teams, working on core projects. Throughout the process of completing these projects, students will consult with faculty and industry partners, gaining hands-on experience in many areas, including Team Building, Design Thinking and Business Modelling as well as Marketing Strategy and Critical Cultural Analysis. That last one sounds like it involves Math.

This new full-time program, which will be offered for the first time in Fall 2011 pending final Ontario Council on Graduate Studies approval, will take place over three consecutive terms: Fall, Winter and Spring.

The Fall Session will focus on Working in Teams, Principles of Marketing in a Globalized World, Digital Media Solutions Design and New Perspectives on Media History and Analysis.  During the Winter Session, students will continue Working in Teams as they look at Digital Media Solutions: Project Management, Media Innovation and Impact as well as Understanding the Consumer Universe. The Spring session focuses entirely on Projects.

Longbow Games has launched the latest game in their Hegemony series of historical RTS wargames. Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece expands upon last year’s PAX 10 finalist Hegemony: Philip of Macedon, adding two new campaigns and an all new diplomacy system plus an open sandbox mode with 26 playable factions and significant gameplay upgrades and refinements. The game is available online from Longbow, priced at $29.99 for the complete version or $9.99 as an upgrade from the original game.

“After spending the last year building a community and talking to fans about what they liked best in the first Hegemony, we’re really excited to show off all that we’ve added for Hegemony Gold,” said Jim McNally, President and Lead Designer of Longbow Games. “Not only do the new features significantly expand the range and depth of the tactics in Hegemony but the new campaigns and sandbox mode exponentially increase the amount of gameplay available.”

Conquer the ancient Greek world in Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece, a real-time strategy wargame that expands and refines the award-winning Hegemony: Philip of Macedon with brand new content and features. Experience the full range of warfare from reconnaissance and raids to field battles and mountain blockades as you campaign across a continuous satellite-accurate map of ancient Greece. Siege and starve your enemy by cutting their supply lines or burning their crops, all the while building and protecting your own supply network to support your growing kingdom. Play as Macedonia, Athens, or Sparta in the three historical campaigns, or choose one of the 26 factions in the epic sandbox mode and forge your own empire. With a dynamic new diplomacy system and greatly expanded tactics, Hegemony Gold sets the new standard for ancient warfare.

IUGO Mobile Entertainment has released a trailer for its latest announced title, Pricklees, which has been submitted to Apple for approval. Jump, duck and roll to the beat with the Pricklees in this new music game that features 3 adorable characters you wish you could cuddle, if they weren’t covered in prickles.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKfrQc26oKw]

There are 3 levels of difficulty in the game: easy, medium and hard for tons of replayability, with more unlockable content through IAP. Dead easy controls and intuitive UI in dynamic 2D/3D environments allow for unique rhythm-based gameplay with 7 Fresh Electronic tracks and more songs coming in future updates.

TVO is pleased to announce the launch of its new digital Public Archive, a free online resource that unlocks four decades of made-at-TVO educational programming that stands the test of time. The centerpiece of TVO’s 40th anniversary celebrations, TVO’s Public Archive is full of rare moments in television history including:

* popular Saturday Night at the Movies host Elwy Yost’s conversations with film legends of the 70s and 80s;
* insights from some of the greatest minds in science and technology like Richard Dawkins, John Polanyi, Carl Sagan and Steve Wozniak;
* interviews with political leaders including every Ontario Premier since John Robarts;
* rare moments with Canadian icons like Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence and John Candy;
* and Canadian heroes like Jane Jacobs, June Callwood and Roberta Bondar.

TVO’s Public Archive is a valuable resource for researchers, filmmakers, writers, bloggers and anyone who wants to learn more about the cultural history that has made Ontario what it is today, and features beloved TVO programs that have defined TVO over the years. It launches with over 375 programs and segments that would take more than five days to watch.

The site includes episodes of Polka Dot Door, Today’s Special, Prisoners of Gravity, Imprint, Realities, Studio 2, the interviews portion of Saturday Night at the Movies, The Education of Mike McManus, Between the Lines and more. It also includes the new “Think Again” podcast series where programs are re-cut and re-mixed, examining important issues and placing them in context of the world today. New content that can be searched by program title, year, guest, subject or playlist will be added to the Public Archive regularly.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) today launched a major international TV, print and online campaign to showcase Ontario’s thriving cultural media sector. The campaign encourages consumers and investors to “be part of it” by buying Ontario’s award-winning cultural media products and investing in the province’s dynamic companies.

The six-week television campaign, showcasing more than 80 Ontario companies and world-renowned cultural exports, features a soundtrack by indie band Metric, which won the 2010 Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The campaign was created by Toronto ad agency Brandworks International Inc. and will be supported by print and online ads in a variety of Canadian, U.S. and U.K. publications, along with an interactive website.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh04nxiJZ1M]

Ontario’s entire creative cluster includes: book and magazine publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, music, performing arts, radio, advertising, architecture and design. Together, they contribute more than $ 12.2 billion to the provincial GDP and employ more than 300,000 people.

Ubisoft is going on tour with its Kinect titles, but it seems BC is not on the list, at least not yet. One would think that BC would be on the list considering that Ubisoft has a development studio in Vancouver. The only confirmed locations thus far are for Halifax, when they will be visiting the Halifax Discovery Centre on February 25th and 26th before moving on to the Wal-Mart at Halifax Shopping Centre on February 27th. All other provinces are listed as “Coming Soon” with BC and all three territories not appearing on the schedule at all.

Frima Studio has earned two of the five nominations given out for the Best PS3/PSP Mini Game by Sony Computer Entertainment of America for its 2011 PlayStation®Network Gamers’ Choice Awards. Frima’s latest effort, the aptly named A Space Shooter for Two Bucks!, has recently crossed the 100,000 downloads mark, and Young Thor is one of the most critically-acclaimed Minis in history.

Voting will be open for one week until Tuesday, March 1st, with PSN users across North America choosing their favorite game in each of the four categories by downloading a free XMB theme corresponding to that game, voting for one game in each category. When the voting is over, the winning game from each of the four categories will go on sale for 30% off at the PlayStation Store and 50% off to PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Nexon America has kicked off the second round of the Nexon iNitiative, a million dollar program designed with the intent to seek out the most promising independent video game projects and provide funding to support the next generation of game developers from around the world. Open for submissions until April 30th, the Nexon iNitiative will award game developers a share of $1 million in development funds for projects that align with Nexon’s focus on community building and long-term user engagement.

The first Nexon iNitiative was launched in March 2010, which saw Canadian developer Antic Entertainment and Polish developer one2tribe chosen from a pool of more than 100 candidates in 2010. Each of the studios earned a share of more than $1 million in development funding. Both companies are currently creating online game projects that will be co-developed and published through Nexon’s global distribution network, which currently services 30 games in more than 71 countries.

Through the Nexon iNitiative, Nexon is looking for potential games that have wide-ranging audience appeal and which encourage community and social interaction. Flash, client-based games or ports from other platforms are all welcome submissions. Games with strong online and multi platform elements will get serious consideration, as will game concepts that align with Nexon’s goals.

Rogers Media (RMI) today announced the appointment of Jason Tafler to the newly created position, Chief Digital Officer.  A veteran of the U.S. and Canadian digital sector, Tafler comes to Rogers from PointRoll, a leading provider of innovative digital marketing solutions and technology based in Pennsylvania.

Tafler will be responsible for strategic and operational leadership for the Digital division of Rogers Media with accountability for financial and operational targets.  Rogers Digital Media is responsible for over 250 Rogers Digital products including brand websites, mobile products and client microsites as well as pure digital plays such as Sweetspot.ca,  BRANCHEZ -VOUS!, PoolExpert and Canadian Parents.  The range of partnerships and acquisitions brings Rogers Digital Media over 16 million unique viewers per month and reaches 65% of Canadians online.  As well, Rogers Digital Media provides ad solutions and content for Rogers Communications and ad representation for foreign clients.

Tafler grew up in Toronto and has spent most of the past decade of his career in the U.S. building, advising and investing in entrepreneurial growth-oriented companies in the media, advertising and technology industries.  He joined PointRoll in 2005 and became CEO in 2008.  Prior to PointRoll, he worked in a boutique investment bank in New York and with Zoomer Media and First Marathon Securities in Canada.

I don’t often use this site for political rants and comments, but as BC draws closer to the date where those of us who are BC Liberal party members will choose a new leader – and the next Premier of our fine province, the choice has not gotten any easier, at least for me. I say this is a disjointed look at the leadership race because there are many issues which concern me, policies that I stand for and change I want to see in all levels of government. It’s not easy for me to hold one line of thinking, but hopefully my disjointed thoughts will get some of you thinking, and perhaps we can then have a conversation and form even more thoughts, and there are probably lots of areas that I meant to comment on but missed due to seeing something shiny on another web site.

I sent an email to each of the candidates over a week ago – all were copied on the same email so that they had an equal opportunity at the same questions and points I was raising. Not one replied. Someone named Corrie did reply from Kevin Falcon’s team – to say that this was not a “normal election” and as such the candidates were not answering “questionnaires” as they didn’t have the time or resources to do so.

All of the candidates can take the time to send an almost constant flow of emails, they can speak with the main-stream press, and they can have their teams constantly call our house – but they can’t use travel time between rallies to express their thoughts on my points and questions. I even stated they didn’t have to answer all of the questions, just provide some idea of where they stand, and in that they failed, because they do not adequately address all of the issues on their respective web sites. I had the hardest time with Mike de Jong’s web site, as it was very difficult to find and compare his proposed policies with those of the other candidates, whereas the sites for both Christy Clark and George Abbott are nicely done.

The reply from Kevin Falcon’s team and a complete lack of reply from the others implies that the issues aren’t important enough, my one vote is not important enough. I may only have one vote, but I have my own platform from which to speak, and speak I will. The invitation to reply to my email is still open to the four remaining candidates.

I have many areas that I want to cover, and I imagine that this will turn into an expression of all the frustrations I have with several levels of government, not only pertinent to the digital media sector, but to many sectors which all tie-in to the issues we as voters from all walks of life will be taking into consideration not only for the two leadership races underway in BC, but also in the inevitably approaching next provincial election – and possibly even the next federal election. Hopefully politicos are paying attention, because I know I’m not the only one with an opinion on the state of things in this municipality, province and country. I’m quite sure that these issues also apply to those who are NDP supporters, what with the leadership of that party also being decided in the coming months. Maybe I will send my questions to those candidates as well and see what kind of replies I get.

Where do the candidates stand on improving our education system, because quite frankly it’s not the Industrial Revolution age any more – in case you hadn’t noticed. There are currently two high schools that I am immediately aware of in BC who are taking the steps to offer students the opportunity to learn skills that will give them a head start on a post-secondary education for the digital media sector. I want to know where our candidates stand on educating our children for the future instead of for a world that no longer exists.

All of the candidates have pointed out how important family is, and how government needs to put in place the tools and opportunities for families to get ahead. They all raise the issue of affordable daycare. I find this incredibly ironic, because one of the first things the Liberals did when they won back the Legislature from the NDP, was to axe the NDP’s excellent daycare programme, immediately causing daycare to be unaffordable for low income wage earners and single parent families like my own.

While I no longer require the services of a daycare, I did experience first hand trying to talk to the Premier early in his tenure at a fundraiser event for MLA Rich Coleman. He politely nodded and smiled as I expressed my concerns to him about the daycare situation created by his party’s desire to stamp out anything done by the NDP. He made empty promises to have someone from the appropriate ministry contact me to discuss the issue further, as he felt that my arguments at the time had merit – and that time the daycare issue was front and centre for me. No one contacted me, it was an empty promise. There were no improvements forthcoming for the affordability and availability of daycare at that time. For the record, I am not an NDP supporter, but every so often they do come up with some really good programmes, and the daycare subsidy programme was very well done.

You may be wondering why I am bringing up the issue of daycare – unless you are a woman working in the creative industry sector. In making it easier for parents to find employment, daycare is a huge issue.
I did put out the call to a few women who work in various Vancouver area studios, but being a beautiful sunny Sunday morning, I am not expecting speedy replies. I found out via Google that Electronic Arts, one of the biggest creative employers in our area, does support daycare as a matter of corporate policy, but offerings differ by studio and apparently this is one area that is under discussion at the EA Canada campus. On their employment benefits page, this is what Electronic Arts has to say:

“Some designated EA offices offer child daycare onsite. Also varying from location to location, EA supports childcare through other channels as well, such as childcare vouchers and the Back-Up Child Care program (USA). In addition, and likewise depending on location, EA provides financial assistance for adoption. This program provides assistance towards agency placement fees, court costs, and legal fees associated with adoption.”

In searching out information about Canadian tech companies and daycare, I came across an extremely informative site that may be of help to many involved with child care on both sides of the 49th parallel, and is well worth reading through. ChildCare.net is rich with resources for both parents searching out childcare and those who would like to start a childcare facility. A particularly excellent page is the one that lists the many corporate programmes available which assist daycare centres across the continent.

I continued off on my research tangent about family friendly companies – don’t worry, I’ll get back to the Liberal candidate race in a minute or two, and checked who was topping the lists of Family Friendly corporations across the country. On the Top 100 site, Next Level Games made the list in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In an article on Suite101 from last April, Next Level Games, Webnames.ca and the Microsoft Canada Development Centre were named as being among the Top 100 family friendly companies in 2009 by the Progressive Employers of Canada List. I did go to the Progressive site to see what other information was offered, but that site appears to be a link and ad farm now.

So, to tie in the Liberal candidate platform promises, it would be very easy for any of the four candidates to promise improvements to the daycare situation in this province, because right now the available services are expensive and there is a high demand for more spaces. Perhaps this is a part of the reason why younger couples are not starting families – because they would have to give up the income needed to survive in this province as daycare options are very limited. Not an easy choice – afford a home or have a child. Both are expensive choices in this province.

The next issue I would like to look at is education. I have one child who successfully completed high school, and even though it took her until Grade 12 to realize that high school was not a social event, she still got that all-important certificate. My youngest, however, is a different story. He is very talented creatively, but high school was a complete let-down for him. He wanted to study digital arts, but there was no digital arts programme at our high school. The digital lab at that time was very poor – using evaluation copies of software, offering the wrong types of software, and instructors were not well-versed in digital media.

If he had wanted to study a traditional trade like automotive mechanics, metal-working, wood-working or hairdressing, he’d have been fine. He would have also been okay if he was interested in a traditional science field – chemistry or biology. While he does have a strong interest in archaeology and history, he wanted to tie those in with digital media, and couldn’t. He ended his high school education at the Grade 10 level, giving up in frustration because being shut into a box all day listening to teachers talk was not conducive to his learning style. Yes, I know – many of you would’ve said “suck it up buttercup” but I too struggled through school, and the only classes I truly enjoyed when I was in high school were history, law and English – probably because I have an addiction to researching things and I am a voracious reader. But again, I digress.

As the Cavechild did not graduate, getting into a post-secondary environment is at best difficult. He does not qualify for scholarships, and we certainly can’t afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to put him through a full digital media programme, whether it’s one at the University of the Fraser Valley, BCIT or Vancouver Film School. In fact, we really can’t afford any programme at any post-secondary institution, no matter the content. On top of the course expense, he’d have to remain living at home, because he doesn’t have a job, nor does he have a vehicle, and the transit service in our town is less than poor, even though we get to pay all of those transit levies imposed on us by Translink and Government. This is also a barrier to him being able to obtain employment, unless he wants to work at one of the fast food outlets within walking distance of our house.

The bus line does not service Gloucester Industrial Park, which is the biggest area of employment in our fine town. In fact, it barely offers a service in town at all. High school students can’t even make use of transit to get to the school because there is one route into town and a different route out, there is no two-way line until you get west of town, where the bus comes into and exits Aldergrove at the junction of Highways 13 and 1A. Oh, and it’s too far to walk to Gloucester, especially along poorly light rural roads with no sidewalks. I guess we could buy him a bike, I’m sure he would enjoy the 5+ mile ride in our fine west coast weather, providing he doesn’t get run off the road by irresponsible drivers.

So really, I’ve raised three issues in the previous few paragraphs – education, employment and transportation. Kevin Falcon has stated his position on education. He recognizes that our schools must move forward to prepare children for the changing employment landscape, and while he does address the issues of special needs education, additional options for learning foreign languages as well as mention our digital world, he does not speak to improving things like access to learning materials or taking advantage of the innovation available to the education system through the use of current and future technologies.
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Reminder: Final day to vote for your choice in the Independent Games Festival Audience Award
Reminder: Final day to apply for the Astral Media Emerging Documentary Filmmakers Scholarship Program
Reminder: Final day for graduates to apply to Doc U
Reminder: Final day for Early Bird Pricing on Social Media Marketing Best Practices for Small Businesses, Not-for Profits and Organizations at BCIT Downtown Campus
Reminder: Final day to submit proposals for the SIGGRAPH 2011 Dailies, Courses, Emerging Technologies, Game Papers, Panels, Posters, Talks, Technical Papers and The Studio

Digital Alberta is hosting two mixers on March 11th – one at the Alastair Ross Technology Centre in Calgary and one at the Nexen Theatre in Edmonton. The evening’s goal is to open the door for inter-disciplinary collaboration in convergent projects, and members of both the film and interactive digital media sectors are encouraged to attend.

canWIT BC Chapter is holding a breakfast seminar on February 23rd titled How to Get Your Tech Start-up Financed. Being held at the Segal Graduate School of Business, SFU, attendees will hear about getting a start-up company up and running, financeable and financed for future growth. Tickets for this event are $15.00 each, and Thealzel Lee of Rocket Builders, Valerie Mann of Lawson Lundell LLP and Joanne Hausch of Deloitte & Touche LLP will cover:

Investment in tech in BC
How to structure your start-up
Financing options
What makes investors invest in companies
How to attract investors’ attention
Key issues to consider in the early-days of your start-up

One week remains before the Canadian Internet Forum takes place in Ottawa on February 25th. Hosted by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and its partners, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Media Awareness Network (MNet), this event is an opportunity to present and examine the results of six face-to-face consultations that were held across Canada in tandem with an online discussion forum. A panel of experts will discuss the results, with topics including digital literacy, online privacy, IPv6 adoption, access to broadband, and social media, among others. Participants at the CIF will also have opportunities to provide feedback and commentary on the findings.

Experts speaking at the CIF include:

* Jacob Glick, Canada Policy Counsel, Google
* Dr. Gerri Sinclair, Executive Director, Masters of Digital Media Program at Vancouver’s Centre for Digital Media
* Marc Blanchet, Network Engineer, Viagénie
* Jim Roche, President and CEO, CANARIE
* Sally Wentworth, Senior Manager for Public Policy, Internet Society

Leading Canadian technology visionary Leonard Brody will provide the keynote address at the CIF, which is an important opportunity for Canadians to have their say on the direction the Internet should take in Canada. The results of the consultations, online discussion and the CIF will be presented to the United Nations coordinated Internet Governance Forum, a venue for stakeholders to discuss the future of the Internet, later in 2011. This event will also be webcast in English and French for those who can’t attend in person.

Hot Docs has put out a call for proposals for Doc Summit, asking Canadian producers, directors, distributors, digital and broadcast execs, and policy hawks to share their ideas on the sector’s top issues. Doc Summit is a half-day town hall forum which will be held on Friday May 6th, during this year’s Hot Docs festival, conference and market, taking place in Toronto this April 28th through May 8th.

Congratulations to everyone at Igloo Software, who picked up the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for Innovation last evening. Igloo Software was launched in 2004 as an online network, linking researchers at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Since that time, Igloo has evolved into a for-profit company and its social-networking platform helps clients improve employee productivity and build stronger relationships with key stakeholders.

TELETOON has launched a new online contest that will see one lucky Canadian viewer win a spot as a contestant on the English-language version of its hit Hollywood Squares-inspired animation and live-action show Skatoony, a TELETOON original production from marblemedia.

Starting today and running until Sunday, March 20, 2011 at teletoon.com, eligible kids can enter to appear alongside an assortment of well-known animated characters from TELETOON’s original productions. Hosted by the animated duo of Chudd Chudders and his sidekick announcer, The Earl, Skatoony features real-life and animated contestants competing in four side-splitting trivia-based rounds to win bragging rights as well as a terrific prize. The contest winner will receive a trip to Toronto for the filming and $1,000 spending money.

TELETOON is also running the contest for the French-language version of the series from Monday, February 28 to Thursday, March 31, 2011. Full contest rules and regulations for the English and French-language contests are available online at teletoon.com.

In anticipation of their potential rise to stardom, kids can play the new Skatoony game online at teletoon.com where they can play live against their friends. Kids can register and create their very own avatar then customize its appearance in the online “store” using Skatoony bucks earned by playing the game.

Bong of the Dead, the $5 000.00 zombie movie is in the can. Writer, producer and director of Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman took a chance of a lifetime to complete his first feature film. Being a veteran of the special effects industry, Thomas was able to turn his love and passion for film into a movie which is now being sought after by multiple distribution companies from across the globe.

The process of creating an entire film and compositing over 350 shots himself by hand – frame by frame is typically usually the work of dozens of people. Driven by passion and fueled by his hunger for success he was able to overcome many personal and technical hurdles throughout the last two years. Along the way turning the movie into what it is today.

Here is the trailer for Bong of the Dead – while it has not been officially rated, Thomas Newman notes on the trailer title that it’s Rated R, so we caution you about the content.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs9F9foULqk]

OpenText has completed its acquisition of global Business Process Management (BPM) leader Metastorm, adding complementary software solutions in the fast-growing BPM market. Metastorm is a key addition to OpenText’s Microsoft partner strategy and will help the company create a new generation of process improvement solutions that demand a combination of content and process management capabilities.

Baltimore, Maryland-based Metastorm is known for its leadership in BPM, but also provides Business Process Analysis (BPA) and Enterprise Architecture (EA) software—all will play a role in OpenText’s product plans. Just like BPM, Metastorm’s BPA and EA capabilities are complementary to OpenText’s and bring together comprehensive views of an organization—from the strategy and goals that drive the business, to the day-to-day systems, processes and people that run it, to the content needed to make the best business decisions. The BPM market has been a fast-growing segment of the software industry over the last few years.

Many processes involve content and thus require content management. With Metastorm, OpenText can now address any type of business process, whether the focus is content-centricity or process centricity. OpenText’s strategy is to add to existing solutions with new, uniquely powerful case management solutions used in areas such as customer on-boarding or claims processing, where the effective delivery of knowledge and content are a critical part of the overall business process.

I imagine that many of you have already heard of this new search service, but I only learned of it this morning because someone Tweeted about it, and I must say that this looks like something I would find very useful, because right now I have an unmanageably-huge bookmark file called “On Twitter” which is chock full of the interesting links I get from people I follow on, you guessed it, Twitter. It’s one of those folders that I keep meaning to get to and organize properly, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. It appears that with Wajam, I will be able to go back and look for further links to knowledge shared by my friends and contacts. Unfortunately the service is apparently over-subscribed at the moment, so I can’t get in right now to take a closer look at what the service offers.

In January Montreal-based Wajam launched a beta version of its ‘social search’ browser extension that works in Google, Bing and Yahoo. Wajam adds a layer of results, above the usual search engine results, where users can find content that their friends have shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Users can also search for their personal browser bookmarks and those from Delicious.

“We’re excited to launch Wajam and allow users to start finding results from their friends in their favorite search engine,” said founder and CEO Martin?Luc Archambault. “Using Wajam is like having unlimited access to an online library packed with your friends’ knowledge. I recently searched for information on ‘pitching startups’ in Google and Wajam added personalized results that my friends had shared on Facebook and Twitter. Wajam saves me hours of research and lets me find content from my social feeds that I wouldn’t be able to retrieve any other way.”

When users download Wajam and link their personal sources (Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and Bookmarks), Wajam starts showcasing relevant, social content right in their search engine. Wajam is certified by TRUSTe and Verisign, and each user’s content and personal information is kept confidential and secure on Rackspace cloud servers.

“What sets Wajam apart is that it takes less than a minute to get started and it brings users value without asking them to change the way they do things – they can keep using the same search engine and continue sharing content on their favorite social networks,” said Archambault.

Funded by startup lab and accelerator Bolidea, Wajam is compatible with major browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari, and works on PC and Mac. The company plans to add more social network sources to the service and support more search engines in the near future. “Wajam wants to bring your friends’ knowledge with you anywhere that you search online. The future goes beyond search engines,” said Olivier Cabanes, partner, Bolidea.

Social search is the next big trend for web search. Search and social networks are already ingrained in users’ daily life ? Google and Facebook are holding strong as the two most popular sites online. According to Compete, the average Google user conducts 5.6 searches per day and Facebook claims that their users share an average of 60 pieces of content per month. That means a lot of content gets lost in the social network cloud that Wajam can help users find.

For the first time ever, Staples Canada has awarded a computer lab valued at $50,000 to Dover Bay Secondary School in Nanaimo, BC, for eco-responsible improvements made within their school, community and families. Canadian students were invited to enter the contest by writing a 500-word or less online essay about the actions they took to help their school and community become more eco-responsible.

“We were absolutely delighted with the sheer number of responses from schools! After pouring through all the essays, it was clear that students care deeply about preserving the environment and do want to make a difference to the future of our planet,” said Steve Matyas, president of Staples Canada. “It’s great to see students getting their hands dirty and making compost, recycling cartons, putting together solar panels for the school to use, and taking learning from the classroom into the community. I’m happy Staples can donate new technology to further develop their research and understanding of the environment.”

The office supply retailer has also awarded a second place prize of a $5,000 gift card and a collection of eco-supplies to W.C. Miller Collegiate, Altona, MB, and a $1,000 gift card to Heritage Park Secondary School in Mission, BC. Staples would also like to acknowledge their partners, Earth Day Canada, earth cycle planning inc., Green Learning, and Direct Energy for their work in judging the contest entries.

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston Governor General of Canada has agreed to be the Patron of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation for the duration of his vice-regal term. The Museum is pleased that the Governor General has accepted to become Patron of an institution whose vision is to inspire all Canadians to engage with their scientific and technological past, present and future.

“We share with His Excellency the same understanding of the importance of education and innovation to Canada’s future,” says Denise Amyot, President and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. “Every day at our museums, and across the country online and through travelling exhibitions, we inspire Canada’s youth to engage with the rich cultural connections among science, technology and society.

As stated in his installation speech on October 1, 2010, Governor General Johnston’s vision for Canada is for a Smart and Caring Nation where it is essential to support families and children, to reinforce learning and innovation, and to encourage philanthropy and volunteerism.

The Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation comprises three Ottawa-based museums: the Canada Agriculture Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum, all of which boast a rich and varied collections of Canada’s scientific and technological heritage as well as exhibit and interpret current and future discoveries and innovation.

Jobdeals, Inc. has launched its powerful online local services search product in Canada, focusing initially on serving the Greater Toronto Area, but its Canadian service provider database is growing and Jobdeals will expand nationally in the near future. Jobdeals enables consumers to find and book appointments online with local service providers. It goes beyond previous local search attempts by allowing consumers to receive multiple price quotes and schedule appointments with local businesses and freelancers all in one place – and the company is currently running a free promo for service providers, and consumers always book jobs free.

Jobdeals.com changes the way consumers shop for local services. “You should be able to go online to look for and purchase services from a tutor, wedding planner, dog walker, plumber or other local pro – the same way you would buy a product online,” says Robert Platek, Co-founder and CEO of Jobdeals, Inc. “You can search for a verified provider in your area that fits your schedule – all for a price that works for you.”

Jobdeals.com is an invaluable resource for both consumers and service providers. Advanced technology selects relevant service providers for specific job requests based on their schedule and work area proximity. Service providers compete for jobs by submitting a price quote; consumers receive the best value by choosing the quote that suits their budget. Both parties benefit from the convenience of booking service appointments online. Consumers can also request specific services, at which point service providers receive free job leads and have the opportunity to submit price quotes at no charge.

Safety for the consumer is of utmost importance to Jobdeals, Inc., who offer multiple levels of optional verifications for service providers, including phone and address checks, virtual verifications such as email and Facebook, and background checks from a national agency. Providers that successfully pass these verifications are rewarded with a higher search ranking as well as badges on their profile page, showing consumers that they are a trusted business.

ecobee, the award-winning green technology company, today expanded its mobile offerings with the release of a free Android app for the ecobee Smart Thermostat. Downloadable from the Android Market, the ecobee Android app will allow customers to control their ecobee Smart Thermostats anytime, anywhere from the convenience of their Android devices.

The ecobee Android app looks and operates just like the ecobee Smart Thermostat and works on any Android device with OS 2.0 and up. Users can remotely adjust the thermostat’s temperature, schedule or update a vacation event, change the system and fan operating settings, and receive important alerts.

ecobee also offers a free iPhone app which has proven immensely popular with tens of thousands of downloads to date.

Toyota Canada has embraced the social media movement, launching a brand new Facebook page, plus an enhanced twitter feed and YouTube channel, and invites these customers and enthusiasts to share their passion and stories by joining the conversation. The online conversation kicks off with a new contest to find Toyota’s #1 Fan.

“Canadian Toyota owners are proud of their trusted cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs, and there will certainly be lots of competition to find our #1 Fan. Our Toyota enthusiasts love to share their stories with one another and with Toyota Canada, and these social media outlets will enable us to better connect with our customers,” said Stephen Beatty, Managing Director at Toyota Canada Inc. “As we celebrate the sale of our 4,000,000th vehicle in Canada and a quarter century of manufacturing Canada’s most popular Toyota vehicles at our assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, it’s a great time to offer Canadian Toyota fans this new venue for communicating not only with Toyota Canada but also with one another.”

Toyota enthusiasts are encouraged to enter the contest by sharing their stories about why they believe they are Toyota’s #1 fan through photo or video. Finalists will be determined by the number of views of their individual submissions as well as by a panel of judges, and participants are encouraged to use their own social media channels to increase their unique entry views. Finalists will be selected for a final round of voting, after which six finalist videos will be created. One lucky entrant will receive the grand prize, a Toyota of their choice (up to $50,000 value). Two secondary prizes of a Panasonic HD camcorder will be awarded. All submissions and votes are eligible to win weekly prizes of $100 gas cards.

Toyota Canada has created a dedicated social media team to feed information and entertainment into the portal, including:

* Contests, including the “Toyota’s #1 Fan” contest, through which customers can share their stories through words, pictures and video and win prizes, including a new Toyota vehicle;
* Hot off the press vehicle and business intelligence, such as tours of the refreshed Corolla and Matrix, the celebration of Toyota’s 4,000,000th vehicle sale in Canada, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc.’s 25th anniversary, and more;
* Intriguing videos, from ownership stories and favourite Toyota commercials to information to ensure Canadians get the most from their Toyota ownership and driving experience;
* Updates on Toyota partnerships with celebrities such as Steve Nash to business partnerships with Tim Horton’s, Home Hardware, Delta Hotels, and more;
* Access to a dedicated team of Toyota experts to answer questions on Toyota forums.

Reminder: Banff World Media Awards submissions closes on February 18th.

Note of Interest: Are you looking for funding sources? Check out the searchable database on the MaRS Discovery District website.

Indie game developer Matt Rix has put his super-hit puzzle game Trainyard on sale in the iTunes store – and 25% of February’s profits will go to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.  The goal in Trainyard is simple: get each train to a goal station. Red trains go to red stations, blue trains go to blue stations, etc. You control the trains by drawing track for them to follow. There isn’t a time limit or even a score; the only thing you need to do is figure out a solution for each puzzle – which is often easier said than done, believe me. Trainyard is very much worth the price, plus for this month you’ll be helping to support a very important organization. If you haven’t bought this challenging puzzler yet, now would be the time.

XMG Studios has released its latest title on the iTunes App Store. Cows vs Aliens is a game of bovine protectionism.  Aliens are invading and amid all of the chaos, you need to get your cattle in the barn as fast as possible. Featuring a fun and unique multi-touch interface, Cows vs Aliens challenges your herding skills as you  squeeze as many cows through the barn doors as possible before time runs out. Not all cows are created equal, either – you’ll soon learn that some beefy beasts are more valuable than others, and the more heifers you herd at one time the higher your multiplier. Remember you are battling spacemen, though – Aliens are sneaky and determined to free you of your beef. Make sure you keep those visitors from the outer limits out of your barn or they’ll take off with your herd. Cows vs Aliens is currently priced at 99 cents USD and offers Game Center integration.

Congratulations to our Canadian developers on multiple BAFTA 2011 nominations:

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood topped the total number of nominations, being named to seven categories: Action, Artistic Achievement, Best Games, Gameplay, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation and Use of Audio, while Bioware’s Mass Effect 2 received nominations for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, Original Music and Game Award of 2010.

Toronto studio Digital Extremes developed the multi-player components for Bioshock 2, and that title is nominated in the Action and Story categories. EA Sports‘ FIFA 11 is nominated as Best Game, Sports and the Game Award of 2010. Vancouver’s Smoking Gun Interactive is the developer behind 20,000 Leaks, which is a component of Kinect Adventures, and that title is nominated in the Family category.

Continuing in the awards recognition theme, this year’s winners for the Exploriem.org 2011 Bootstrap Awards (PDF) have been announced, and receiving recognition for their achievements in the interactive, digital and social media industy were:

Favequest received Gold Best Micro Business medal
Ideavibes received Gold for Most Innovative Source Bootstrap Capital, while VirtuStructure received Silver and Purple Forge received Bronze.
Zeebu Mobile received Gold for Best Guerrilla Marketing Idea/Social Marketing, while NetGen took Silver and ContestMob received Bronze.
Select Start Studios received a Silver Medal for Best Value Proposition/Value Differentiator/Pixie Dust
Threedify took home Bronze for its corporate website
NetGen also won Silver in the Most Innovative Social Enterprise Fundraiser category, while Civiside received Bronze.
Ideavibes took Silver for Most Innovative Business Model, while Arkli took the Bronze.

There is one more Bootstrap award to be presented – the top Ottawa start-up will be named at the OCRI Awards in April. IDM nominees for that award are: Purple Forge, Dual Code, Inc., GPS To Go (who also won a Bronze medal for Best Value Proposition/Value Differentiator/Pixie Dust), Blindside Networks and Pretzil.

OMDC is reporting that Ontario’s film and television industry contributed $964.3 million to the provincial economy in 2010- an increase of almost $18 million over 2009 — despite fierce competition from other jurisdictions, a sluggish U.S. economy and a high Canadian dollar. The $964 million in production activity accounted for more than 23,000 full-time direct and spin-off jobs.

The film and television industry held and gained ground over 2009, a year which experienced dramatic growth over 2008 and marked a return to production levels not seen in Ontario since 2002. Increased spending was seen in foreign television series, reflecting the continuing influence of the Ontario Government’s 2009 enhancements to the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC), which was expanded from 25% of eligible labour to include all eligible Ontario production costs.

Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) programs also support the book and magazine publishing, music and interactive digital media industries. The entire entertainment and creative cluster supports almost 300,000 jobs and contributes $12.2 billion annually to the province’s GDP.

Calgary marketing firm Rare Method Interactive has experienced recent stock activity that prompted a statement from the company this morning, whereby “Rare Method Interactive Corp. wishes to confirm, at the request of IIROC, that the Company’s management is unaware of any material change in the Company’s operations that would account for the recent increase in market activity.

Mood Media Corporation has acquired PELIKA Business Music Oy (Pelika) for US $9.8 M, implying an acquisition multiple of 4.9 x EBITDA. Pelika is a dominant market leader in digital business music solutions in Finland, predominantly serving clients in the hospitality sector.

Endras BMW, one of Canada’s most innovative BMW retailers, is offering the ultimate job for a social media savvy, BMW enthusiast. Beginning today, anyone in the world who loves to be “in the BMW know” can attempt to make a career of it by applying to be Endras’ Ultimate Blogger at EndrasBMW.com. The most qualified and connected applicant will land the job of a lifetime. This in-house social media gig pays the chosen candidate $65K a year to drive a brand-new BMW, attend BMW events around the world, find the latest BMW news, and blog, Tweet and Facebook about it all. If these responsibilities aren’t enough to pique interest, the job also comes with a downtown Toronto condo for the Ultimate Blogger to call home for the duration of his or her contract. Stage One of the application process closes on April 1, 2011.

Reminder: Economic Development Canada and Big Fish Games are holding a webinar on February 17th, the topic is Doing Business With Big Fish
Reminder: The Hand Eye Society Social #11 is on February 17th in Toronto and will feature speakers Jason Kaplan of Game Prototype Challenge and Damian Sommer from Griddle Jam as well as Miguel Sternberg and Andrew Pilkiw Spooky Squid Games.
Reminder: Interactive Ontario is hosting iLunch 9.04 on February 25th, when the topic will be Details of the Deal: Making Sense of Interactive Digital Media Red Tape

The Centre for Creative Communications, Centennial College, is seeking innovative and forward-thinking proposals from Canadian media, interactive, creative, technology, business and social entrepreneurs for the next wave of children’s media and multi-platform projects to qualify for $50,000 federal development grants.

The new kidsmediacentre, an industry and creative content think-tank at Centennial College, will hold an information session to interested developers, on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 pm at The Centre for Creative Communications, located at 951 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto.

Centennial College’s Applied Research and Innovation Centre (ARIC) has received ten $50,000 Federal Development grants, some of which are available to help small and medium enterprises in the kids’ technology industry launch the next big idea in children’s media. The grants are part of a coordinated strategy between the federal government and colleges to accelerate innovation and productivity in southern Ontario by asking business partners to collaborate on projects and work “hands-on” with college faculty and students in developing new and innovative technologies and services. Businesses are asked to contribute at least $25,000 towards a project in cash and/or in-kind.

“Canada has been a leader in the creation and production of internationally successful children’s entertainment properties for many years,” says Nate Horowitz, Dean of The Centre for Creative Communications. “These federal grants represent an important opportunity for entrepreneurs in the kids’ animation, gaming and interactive industries to build competitive products here and on a global scale. We’re committed to helping nurture these businesses.”

Centennial College’s School of Communications, Media and Design is currently the only college in Canada offering a post-secondary program in children’s content development and is focused on writing, production and business management in the gaming, interactive, educational, publishing, TV and film industries. A key goal of the kidsmediacentre is to act as an innovation catalyst partnering the talents of the College’s students with children’s industry entrepreneurs.

The kidsmediacentre and Applied Research and Innovation Centre will work with qualified partners to ensure their early-stage businesses have the strategic counsel and creative brand development supports to move their innovation forward.

The kidsmediacentre is exploring kids’ media futures by investing in research critical to understanding their 21st century media interactions. Working with Centennial College’s Children’s Entertainment – Writing, Production and Management program and early childhood development specialists, the kidsmediacentre’s goal is to provide a range of R&D support to cross-platform, media and entertainment content providers to ensure the kids’ media industry in Canada is vibrant, indigenous and committed to the healthy growth of children. For more details or to register for the information session, contact: Debbie Gordon, Director, kidsmediacentre, 416-289-5000, ext. 8770.

Young Canadians are invited to take part in the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) ‘Financial Fitness Challenge‘, an online contest that uses videos, Facebook and Twitter tips to help youth get financially fit. The contest is aimed at helping youth increase their financial literacy and offers them the chance to win an Apple® iPad or a grand prize of $2,000.

The Financial Fitness Challenge runs from February 15 to April 15, 2011 and uses interactive tools and scenarios to raise awareness of important financial concepts such as balancing needs versus wants, budgeting, saving and investing. This year, visitors to the site will see four new entertaining and informative videos on budgeting, credit cards, investing and investment fraud.

“With close to 60,000 youth actively participating in the challenge over the past four years, the CSA has presented financial literacy education in a format that resonates with youth,” said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and Chief Executive Officer of the Alberta Securities Commission. “We encourage parents and teachers to continue to develop financial literacy skills in youth by using the Challenge as a fun and informative learning tool.”

The bilingual contest is open to Canadians ages 15 to 21 and offers youth the opportunity to invite friends to join the Challenge, and to compete and engage with contest participants at a local and national level. Classroom materials including lesson plans are available to download from the Teacher and Parent Resource Centre. At the close of the contest, 13 entries – one from each province and territory – will be randomly selected from eligible participants to win an Apple® iPad, and one national grand prize winner will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship.

Vancouver-based Absolute® Software Corporation will be expanding the distribution of its consumer solution LoJack® for Laptops in partnership with SYX Distribution, a company that is an affiliate of, and provides distribution services to, TigerDirect, CompUSA and CircuitCity.com.

“Our research indicates that 40% of consumers have more than seven computer devices in their homes – many of these are treasured laptops, MacBooks and PCs. These represent a substantial investment and target for would-be thieves,” said Mark Grace, vice president of consumer business at Absolute Software. “By making our solution widely available through TigerDirect’s trusted shopping venues customers use to purchase these devices, we are making it that much more convenient for consumers to get proven anti-theft protection.”

Beginning in the first quarter of calendar 2011, LoJack for Laptops will be available to consumers as part of their computer purchasing experience at major online, B2B and retail locations including: CompUSA, TigerDirect, and Circuit City. In addition, these retailers will offer LoJack for Laptops as part of all of their computer service offerings (for example, repair services, technical support services, and software installation services). The product may also be purchased as part of Service Warranty Plans and from the TigerDirect and CompUSA’s B2B sales teams.

“LoJack for Laptops gives computer owners a degree of peace of mind that contributes to a better experience owning a computer,” said Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO of TigerDirect. “This offering is a good addition to the value we can offer our customers.”

LoJack for Laptops is the industry’s leading computer anti-theft solution for home computer users. Powered by patented Computrace® technology, LoJack for Laptops is the chosen consumer theft recovery solution of the world’s leading computer manufacturers.

Features of the subscription-based service include:

* Geolocation – For day-to-day use (in non-theft scenarios), consumers can keep track of their computer on an internet-based map.
* Device freeze – If a computer is suspected to be simply lost and not stolen, customers can freeze their computer and display a custom message for whoever finds it. In addition, an unauthorized user cannot access the content on the computer, keeping private information safe in an effort to prevent identity theft.
* Remote data delete – To protect their personal information, customers can choose to delete a pre-set group of files or all files, including the operating system.
* Managed theft recovery – If a computer is stolen, the Absolute Theft Recovery Team will work with local law enforcement to recover it.

VenCorps is proud to announce the launch of the ‘Top of Toronto’ start-up challenge. The goal of the Top of Toronto Challenge is to invest $25,000 in the best tech company in Southwestern Ontario.

Making the announcement at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Sean Wise, Founding Partner at VenCorps also revealed that the Entrepreneurship department at Ryerson University would support the competition. “Ryerson is clearly a hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” said Wise “and we are interested in seeing which startup the Ryerson community tells us to fund.” Unlike other venture capital funds, VenCorps invests seed capital (typcially $25,000) based on the collective opinions of thousands of entrepreneurs, students, professional service providers and angel investors (whereas traditional venture funds rely on a handful of experts).

With one of the largest entrepreneurship departments in Canada, Ryerson students are taught by experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that have themselves started dozens of companies and helped hundreds of entrepreneurs raise financing.

“Our department is committed to furthering a culture of entrepreneurship and the facilitation of start-ups in Canada” said Dave Valliere, Chair of the Entrepreneurship Department at the Ted Rogers School of Management, “working with VenCorpsis directly in line with other entrepreneurial initiatives at Ryerson University including our: StartMeUp Ryerson program and of course our incubator, the Ryerson Digital Media Zone.” Wise agrees, “With everything else that Ryerson is doing, it only makes sense that Ryerson be involved with the hunt for Toronto’s Top Startup” said Wise.

Launching on February 15th, 2011 the Top of Toronto challenge gives early stage tech companies in Ontario an opportunity to showcase their products/services in order to attract community member votes. The winner, as chosen by the community, will receive a $25,000 equity investment. VenCorps will take a 5% equity position in the winner and allow them to leverage the VenCorps community to facilitate rapid growth. Top of Toronto is one of twelve challenges VenCorps plans to pursue in 2011, with future challenges focusing on: mobile software, mass collaboration and women lead startups.

Registration is now open for members of the public to become community members. Participation through comments and votes earns members virtual points. Points which can be redeemed for real and virtual prizes or even a stake in VenCorps companies.

Women In Film Toronto, with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, is pleased to announce the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Summit & Speaker Series, a two-year initiative designed to promote and celebrate women in the digital media industry.

Divided into three parts, the project consists of an international summit in October 2011, a high profile speaker series ongoing in 2012, and a web portal designed to foster local and international collaboration, research and mentorship.

“Globally, women produce, share and consume digital and interactive content at a tremendous pace,” says Susan Ross, WIFT-T Chair. “At the same time, women remain underrepresented in the digital economy. Through knowledge transfer, networking and mentorship, this initiative will recognize and encourage the participation of women so they can continue to play a key role in innovation and leadership.”

The WIFT-T International Women in Digital Media Summit will take place October 2011 in Stratford, Ontario. Presented in partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, this three-day summit will focus on digital media content creation, implications for emerging technologies and business models, and the role of women in digital media globally.

“The Waterloo Stratford Campus is delighted to be a partner in the WIFT-T International Women’s Summit,” says Tobi Day-Hamilton, Director, Advancement. “Women are not only the leading consumers of digital media, but are also leading the field in content development and innovation. The Summit will gather visionaries from around the world to showcase talent and technologies and prepare for an exciting future in this fast-paced industry.”

The Summit will bring together traditional and digital media communities, as well as educational/research institutions from around the world, to explore innovation, skills gaps, policy and research in the content areas of gaming, mobile and social media.

At the Summit, WIFT-T will release a research report to update its 2004 study on employment trends in Canadian screen-based media. The new research will focus on the impact of digital trends and the participation of women and people from diverse backgrounds in all areas of the industry.

The Summit is made possible through the support of OMDC on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, in partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, City of Stratford, Dynamix Solutions, FITC and Rhyzome Networks.

Following the Summit, the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Speaker Series will occur every three months in 2012. Held in downtown Toronto, these luncheons will feature influential women in digital media and provide guests with key networking opportunities.

Speakers will include national and international leaders in research, social media, entrepreneurship, digital content, publishing, aggregators and distribution. Keynote presentations will be streamed online via WIFT-T’s web portal, a virtual hub where conversations that begin at the Summit and Speaker Series can continue.

Featuring an active database of local and international professionals, the portal aims to foster international partnerships in research and link digital media professionals with academic institutions and mentors.

The Women in Digital Media Summit & Speaker Series will allow WIFT-T to explore the role that women play in digital industries globally, while providing female professionals with the tools they need to become key players. The initiative will highlight Ontario’s digital corridor and showcase our leading digital media professionals to the global community.