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CONTAX Inc. introduces Extreme Makeover: ERP Edition, a promotional contest where companies can enter and one will win a free business software implementation of SAP® Business All-in-One. To enter the contest, organizations must submit an entry form online stating why their company needs a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution in 500 words or less. To qualify for this contest, companies must be owned and operated in the United States or Canada and have revenue of less than $250 million in the last fiscal year.

CONTAX is giving away a free implementation of SAP Business All-in-One to promote this software solution to the mid-market. The software and implementation services for this contest have an estimated retail value up to $1,000,000 USD. SAP Business All-in-One is a comprehensive, proven solution with preconfigured, industry-specific business processes to enable predictable and affordable implementations. Optimized for midsize companies, SAP Business All-in-One has the flexibility to adapt and extend as a business evolves and grows.

“This solution was made for the midmarket, and we believe SAP truly understands the challenges that midsize companies face,” said Michael Pearson, president, CONTAX. “Many of our clients deal with tier-one retailers, and when they can walk into a meeting and say, ‘We run SAP,’ it’s a game changer for them. As an SAP channel partner, we understand the unique challenges that small businesses and midsize companies face, so we can better adapt our products and provide more tailored solutions to meet their needs.”

The Extreme Makeover: ERP Edition contest closes on September 30, 2011 and entries will only be accepted online. Once all the written statements have been reviewed, five finalists will be selected and interviewed. A winner will be selected from the five finalists and announced on October 31, 2011. Visit the contest page to enter the CONTAX Extreme Makeover: ERP Edition contest or for more information and the official rules.

Kestrel TSCM is well positioned to hunt in a complex signal environment, combating corporate economic espionage, organized crime and the loss of competitive edge due to the theft or compromise of sensitive information. When this new technology is combined with a formal TSB recommended TSCM program, eavesdropping and other forms of compromise are minimized, maximizing the overall security profile of your facility or business environment.

OpenText subsidiary Metastorm has announced the release of Version 9.1 of the Metastorm BPM^®software suite, Version 9.0 of Metastorm Smart Business Workspace and Metastorm’s new Business Performance Intelligence Dashboards.

Key features include:

• Enhanced Social BPM capabilities that help to facilitate collaborative process design and instant collaboration on specific work items for faster, improved resolution
• Ability to find colleagues fast with individual user profiles searchable by user’s skills
• Enhanced design features that support the development of more dynamic applications for improved usability, higher user productivity and rapid global deployment
• New Metastorm Business Performance Intelligence Dashboards that deliver dynamic and easily personalized graphical dashboards to facilitate meaningful data analysis for informed decision-making across the Metastorm Business Transformation Platform

Metastorm BPM is recognized by the top industry analyst firms and by its customers as a leading technology for business process management due to the breadth and depth of its functionality. The new capabilities in this release enable organizations to take the lessons learned from social media and apply them to business processes – allowing organizations to drive greater business productivity and improvement.

These new product enhancements help organizations successfully implement business process improvement initiatives by empowering users to become more engaged and productive. Metastorm’s social collaboration tools provide businesses with a highly personalized workspace and unparalleled access to top contributors, enabling them to drive innovation and increase collaboration and improve efficiency among employees. These tools help employees find other people within their organization with specific skill sets required to help them complete their work. Companies can also route work to the most appropriate employee based on individual skills and workload – ensuring the most cost-effective strategy for work allocation.

“Our latest versions of Metastorm BPM and Metastorm Smart Business Workspace apply the concepts of connecting today’s knowledge workers by leveraging social networking and social collaboration tools in a way that offers a highly personalized user experience. This results in faster, easier access to information anytime and anywhere,” said Greg Carter, chief technology officer and executive vice president of Metastorm. “The addition of the Metastorm Business Process Intelligence dashboards further strengthens our ability to offer our customers the resources to make smart, informed business decisions and drive meaningful change across the enterprise.”

“The latest release of Metastorm BPM and Metastorm Smart Business Workspace and addition of the Metastorm Business Process Intelligence dashboards confirms Metastorm’s commitment to investing in product innovation, exploring new solutions and the ability to make great strides to achieve our product roadmap post-merger with OpenText,” said Robert Caldwell, general manager of the Metastorm business unit at OpenText. “We are excited to offer our customers these enhanced solutions to help them achieve their business goals and vision.”

OpenText Metastorm offers a complete business transformation platform powered by its market-leading software for enterprise and business architecture, business process analysis, and business process management. The Metastorm platform helps organizations close the gap between strategy and execution and gain the visibility, planning, management, agility and insight needed to make the right business improvements. With Metastorm, OpenText offers the most comprehensive platform for change for an organization – from the strategy and goals that drive the business, to the day-to-day systems, processes and people who run it, to the content needed to make the best business decisions.

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The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and Bell Media have expanded their program to bring more diverse writers into the talent pool of Canadian screenwriting. The invitation is now open for interested writers in western Canada to answer a call for applications to take part in this intense hands-on educational program taking place in Vancouver this December.

This session is for writers who live west of Ontario, as they must apply to the Vancouver session, while writers east of Manitoba must apply to the Toronto session. More information for the Spring 2012 Toronto session will be released later this Fall. Out of town writers who are selected for the immersion program will be awarded bursaries to cover their travel and accommodation expenses. The application deadline for this session is September 6th.

The Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program (formerly known as The CTV Diverse Screenwriters Program) reaches out to offer emerging and mid-career writers from diverse backgrounds the chance to hone the skills they need to become successful professional screenwriters.  And one writer will come out of the program with a paid internship on a Bell Media TV series.

Each session of the Program will offer up to eight writers a one-week intensive workshop, featuring lectures, guest speakers, screenings, and more.  This immersion phase will launch the writers’ development of their original script.  After the workshop, each writer will partner with an experienced screenwriter mentor to hone their script and pitch, finishing the program with a polished calling card to the industry.  In addition, one writer will be selected by jury for a paid internship in a writers’ room on a Bell Media conventional television or specialty service show.

Eligibility Requirements in Brief:

• Not currently be enrolled in any full-time school or university program.
• Demonstrate ownership of all underlying rights to the project with which they are applying.
• Be a Canadian citizen or Landed Immigrant.
• Demonstrate in their support material an understanding of the fundamentals of screenwriting such as story arcs and character development.
• Be able to make a commitment to the one-week intensive training and the subsequent 10-12 week mentoring process.
• If chosen, be in a position to accept a paid internship on an existing television series.

Please visit the program’s web pages for a full list of requirements, FAQs and the application package (PDF). The Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program presented by the WGC is made possible through the CTV-CHUM tangible benefits. Contact Elizabeth Stewart if you have further questions.

My two cents’ worth: I hope that those of you who are contemplating this program bite the bullet and apply. If I had had access to, or even known about, the myriad of programs available in this country for creative people, especially writers, when I was much younger – granted, there are more programs now than there was back in the stone-age – and had I been encouraged to follow my creative tendencies, I would have a very different career history from the one I have now. When you see an opportunity like the one above, take it – whether you are successful in your application or not – make the attempt.

Intelliware Development Inc. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of CodeRetreat on July 10, 2011. This one-day intensive practice event provides a unique opportunity for developers to improve their skills, interact with other colleagues in the development community and learn a range of new techniques and problem-solving skills. The sold-out event will be facilitated by Jason Cheong-Kee-You and Alistair McKinnell, both of whom have extensive experience with participating in and facilitating code retreats.

CodeRetreat will focus on the fundamentals of software development and design. Because CodeRetreat is held outside the workplace and regular business hours, participants will have a unique opportunity to collaborate in a highly focused environment. This format has proven to be highly effective for improving development skills. The event is fully sponsored and hosted by Intelliware Development.

“Intelliware has been a strong supporter of the developer community for over 20 years,” explains Bruno Schmidt, CTO, Intelliware. “We have been participating in the sponsorship, promotion and leadership of various events and organizations such as AgileTour, AgileAlliance and XP Toronto. We also host www.i-proving.ca, a technical community and destination for developers, Agile practitioners and people who share a passion for technology. CodeRetreat provides a perfect opportunity to further support this community and we are proud to be its sponsor and host.”

Entrepreneurs are poised to drive the next major wave of economic growth, but the wider community must do more to support these creative-minded innovators, Ernst & Young said today when revealing this year’s finalists for Ernst & Young Quebec Entrepreneur Of The Year®.

“Quebec needs entrepreneurial role models,” explains François Dufresne, Quebec Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year. “That’s why it’s essential that we highlight their success, and reward them. Paying tribute to entrepreneurs shows them that society appreciates their achievements. What’s more, successful entrepreneurs can inspire young Quebeckers and encourage them to go into business.”

The Quebec winners will be announced at a banquet on October 6, and the overall winner will represent the region at the national banquet held in Toronto on November 23.

The 2011 Quebec finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year:

Business-to-business products and services

Claude Bigras – Groupe Distinction Inc. – Lasalle – A leading provider of building maintenance services with 9,000 employees and 17 offices in Canada.

André Gaumond – Mines Virginia Inc. – Quebec City – Mining exploration company that works with many projects in various stages of growth in order to develop mineral resources.

Sean Roosen – Osisko Mining Corporation – Montreal – A development-stage gold mining company, Osisko is currently completing the construction of the Canadian Malartic gold mine in the Abitibi mining district.

Business-to-consumer products and services

Sanjay Bakshani, Vicken Kanadjian – Cesium Telecom, Inc. – Mont-Royal – One of North America’s leading distributors of wireless products, Cesium introduces the latest technology from the world’s top manufacturers to the North American market.

Guy Bessette, Manon Duplantie – Fix Auto – Blainville – Franchisor specializing in autobody collision with key customers such as insurers.

Sylvie Myre – Voyages à rabais – Trois-Rivieres – Travel provider that offers vacations, flights and travel insurance.

Health sciences

Frank Baylis, Krishan Shah – Baylis Medical Company Inc. – Saint-Laurent – Recognized around the world for high tech cardiology, radiology and pain management products. Read the rest of this entry »

Entrepreneurs are poised to drive the next major wave of economic growth, but the wider community must do more to support these creative-minded innovators, Ernst & Young said today when revealing this year’s finalists for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year^®.

“Businesses — and countries — don’t grow by standing still,” explains Colleen McMorrow, National and Ontario Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year. “Entrepreneurial thinking empowers companies to generate new jobs, open new doors and seize new opportunities. But stakeholders — from governments to businesses to academia — must now work together to create a truly entrepreneurial ecosystem where creative-minded businesses can thrive.”

In a new global survey of entrepreneurs — Nature or nurture? — Ernst & Young uncovered that funding, people and know-how were the biggest barriers to entrepreneurial success. Among the six out of 10 respondents who experienced obstacles in their ventures, 33% called lack of funding or finance their biggest stumbling block.

McMorrow says that’s only the first issue. Entrepreneurs need improved access to credit in addition to new educational opportunities and less red tape. She also underlined better leadership from Corporate Canada, which stands to gain by building an internal spirit of entrepreneurship — or intrapreneurship — into their business model to promote innovation, creativity and fresh thinking.

“By establishing that kind of ecosystem, we can unleash limitless entrepreneurial potential,” adds McMorrow. “Entrepreneurs see opportunity where others see disruption. Even the financial crisis generated opportunities for those willing to seize them, and that bolsters the economy. But governments and corporations must renew their focus on this area to adequately support entrepreneurs.”

In April, an Ernst & Young/Financial Post survey found more than one-third of entrepreneur respondents were more optimistic about their company’s future prospects than they were just six months ago. McMorrow says that’s a positive step in the right direction.

“Entrepreneurs have not forgotten the lessons learned in leaner times. But they’re ready to look forward, and continue building on what they’ve already accomplished. With the right support from the broader community, entrepreneurs will continue to energize the economy in the months and years ahead,” says McMorrow.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards celebrate the contribution and spirit of entrepreneurs everywhere. The Canadian program is in its 18th year of honouring the country’s most impressive entrepreneurs from all areas of business. Award winners are chosen based on their vision, leadership, financial success and social responsibility.

The Ontario winners will be announced at a banquet on November 2, and the overall winner will represent the region at the national banquet held in Toronto on November 23.

The 2011 Ontario finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year:

Business-to-business products and services

Razor Suleman – I Love Rewards – Toronto – An employee-recognition solution that helps companies drive performance. Unlike traditional service award programs, it creates authentic moments of recognition that resonate with a multigenerational workforce.

Jennifer Nashmi, Victoria Sopik – Kids and Company Ltd. – Vaughan – Offers infant, toddler, preschool, kindergarten, Montessori, and after-school child-care programs at locations across Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

Developing Canada’s economy and helping Canadians train for better jobs are priorities for the Government. This is why the Government is taking action to address skills shortages so Canadians can train for jobs in a changing economy. Currently Canada’s economic recovery is threatened by a lack of information among employers and workers for the skills needed in the workforce.

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, today announced that the Government is developing a new, proactive approach to coordinate the information job seekers will need to find the employers who are hiring.

“Better information will help Canadians find jobs and make the right learning and career choices”, said Minister Finley. “Canadians need colleges and universities, business, labour and governments to all work together to ensure that our workforce develops a broad and diverse set of skills to be highly productive and to allow them to adapt to new technologies, innovations and new challenges.”

The Government is launching an approach that will gather critical information and make it available through the Working in Canada website so that Canadians have a clearer picture of who in Canada is hiring and the skills that are needed.

Right now there are significant shortages in many key industries including healthcare, IT and skilled trades, but as more industries take part in this new information sharing strategy the list of employers seeking skilled workers will continue to grow.

“Many of our members have told us that skills and training top their list of priorities. Having the right people is critical to their competitiveness and to their very survival. Canada has a skills shortage problem well on its way to becoming a crisis. We don’t want to face a future where employers can’t fill positions because there aren’t enough qualified workers,” stated Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He added: “We welcome any initiative by the government to address skills-related challenges and opportunities. Meeting these challenges and improving the competitiveness of our nation is vital for both our businesses and Canadian workers.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Winnipeg Film Group (WFG) will be able to upgrade its equipment, thanks to support from the Government of Canada. This was announced today by Rod Bruinooge, Member of Parliament (Winnipeg South), on behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

The funding will enable the WFG to purchase a suite of digital support equipment, including a specialized computer system and digital editing software. These enhancements will increase the WFG’s capacity to create jobs and support the training of new artists in Manitoba.

“Our Government received a strong mandate from Canadians to invest in important projects like those of the Winnipeg Film Group,” said Minister Moore. “By supporting these activities, our Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen our the local economy and support arts, culture, and heritage.”

“The Winnipeg Film Group is a key resource for Winnipeg- and Manitoba-based independent filmmakers and video artists because it offers resources and support for training, and creates jobs for residents of Winnipeg,” said Mr. Bruinooge. “This organization provides a valuable service to our community and makes a vital contribution to the city’s economy and cultural life.”

“The Government’s contribution towards our digital equipment will help ensure that Manitobans continue to have access to modern digital tools in the production and presentation of locally created works in film and video,” said Cecilia Araneda, Executive Director of the WFG. “This investment will have an important impact on the development of a new generation of Manitoba directors.”

The WFG, founded in 1974, is an artist-run organization dedicated to promoting the art of cinema. They serve as a resource for Manitoba filmmakers and video artists and provide access to affordable training, mentorship, production funding, experimentation opportunities, production and post-production equipment and facilities, and local, national and international programming and distribution.

The Government of Canada has provided funding of $50,000 through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. This program seeks to improve physical conditions for artistic creativity and arts presentation or exhibition. It is also designed to increase access for Canadians to performing, visual, and media arts, and to museum collections and heritage displays.