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16th December 2011

Canadian Interactive Alliance Levels Up With New Team

The Canadian Interactive Alliance/Alliance Interactive Canadienne (CIAIC) is pleased to announce that Ian Kelso has been named CEO. The CIAIC is the national federation of interactive digital media associations and Kelso will lead the organization as it gears up for several industry activities in 2012.

“There is a need and an opportunity to have a much more substantial voice at the national level,” said Kelso in a statement. “For five years the CIAIC has been an ongoing collaboration amongst the provincial interactive associations, but it’s time to pull together to serve the interests of all companies from coast to coast.”

Kelso steps up from his role as volunteer president and chair of the CIAIC’s board of directors and as long-time president and CEO of industry association Interactive Ontario (IO). As a founding member of the IO board, he is also the creative force behind its conferences including X-Summit, IN: the Interactive Exchange, GameON: Finance and INplay.

The CIAIC’s next projects include the organization of Canada’s presence at the annual Game Developers Conference in March in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Additionally, it will launch a study on interactive media finance, and the third edition of the Canadian Interactive Industry Profile (CIIP), Canada’s only comprehensive survey of the interactive digital media industry.

Congratulations, Emily!

Joining Kelso is Emily Claire Afan as CIAIC’s new director, development and communications. Afan comes to the CIAIC with a trade journalism background, most recently writing for Playback magazine, Cartt.ca and VillageGamer.net. An avid supporter of the games industry, she is involved with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Toronto chapter, the Hand Eye Society and served on the advisory committee for TIFF Nexus’s Women in Film, Games and New Media conference.

In her new role at CIAIC, she will create and manage relationships with industry stakeholders and the public to enhance Canada’s digital media presence at international trade events and in the media. “We are extremely fortunate to have Emily on our team,” said Kelso. “She is such an amazing talent and has been a huge champion for our industry.”

This entry was posted on Friday, December 16th, 2011 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Associations, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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