Village Gamer

From the organizers of the very popular GamerCamp comes GamerCamp Jr. Toronto developers Mark and Jaime want to help the next generation of designers become more games literate and support any games-related ventures to express themselves whether it be as an enthusiastic player, a creative developers, or a thoughtful part of the media.

GamerCamp Junior offers a three part program to this venture for creative youngsters:

Game kits—We’re really excited for the game kits, which focus on critically thinking about why a game works or doesn’t work and then attempt to inspire remixing of the game to guide children in making their own games. For example, we took the beloved game Scrabble and created an entirely new game using the same board and pieces—this is one way to demonstrate to children that creating games isn’t bounded by programming experience or access to materials. We wanted to focus on kits that could be accessed from anywhere, so that children from across Canada can check us out. There are three kits right now spanning digital, physical, and board games: each are free to download on our website and come in a handy PDF.

Website—The Gamercamp Jr website will be the hub for all activity. We’ll be working with more game makers to create new kits to add to our library and as we find more information on helping children learn about making games we will post them to the website. We’d love to do a video on how games are made and are currently looking into resources to help accomplish this. The website is also where information about the meet-ups will be posted and you can also learn other ways to get involved with Gamercamp Jr!

Live Meet-ups—We think building a community is pretty amazing stuff—so having children and parents come together to work on games and meet other interested children and parents seems like a no-brainer. We know parents love making games too and trying out cool activities so Gamercamp Jr meet-ups requires both the child and parent/guardian to show up. Geared for kids 9 -13, the first GamerCamp Jr. Live Meet-up happens September 10, 2011 and is completely free. We’ll be working through the activities in the kits and more. Register now to participate.

By the way, the next regular GamerCamp takes place on November 25th through 27th. Tickets go on sale next month.

Squamish-based Tiipz has been selected from hundreds of start-ups across Canada to present its social new approach to market research today at Launch @GROW,happening at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Launch @GROW, an important platform for emerging companies, selects four brilliant new ventures each year to present their stories to more than 600 investors and influencers from Canada and Silicon Valley.

Explains Jason Cyr, who co-Founded Tiipz with partners Mark Nickson and Gesvyn Tjandra, “Today we have an exciting opportunity to explain how Tiipz will define a new approach to market research in the age of social media.”

Tiipz hasn’t yet officially launched, and already the company is working with clients including Westbeach, Kokanee, and Budweiser. Through a partnership with brand.LIVE, brands including Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Sennheiser and Mattel will be using Tiipz to undertake interactive customer research at the Live at Squamish concert happening this weekend.

Says Jason, “As a research tool, Tiipz is based entirely on engagement. The consumer benefits from a fun experience and a tangible reward for participation; they can share their opinion with others and possibly change the course of action for a business.”

“The business benefits from stronger market insights and increased brand loyalty. There’s no other research tool that’s nearly this engaging in the marketplace!”

Yesterday I dropped by the Muzik Night Club for the annual Microsoft Canada Xbox 360 Holiday Titles preview. I was somewhat disappointed in that not all of the games being showcased were playable with developer representatives present, but the anticipation of some exciting new games coming to the console this fall was palpable. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite various global economic challenges, the digital media and video game industries continue to thrive. People like to play games – especially in tough times. Over the past two years, Canada’s gaming industry has expanded 11 per cent annually and is forecasted to grow 17 per cent in each of the next two years. Executives from the Ontario Technology Corridor are at GamesCom to demonstrate the province’s “winning combination” of talent and tax credits. Canada is one of the world’s top three game producing nations.

Larry MacKinnon, Director of Business Development for Technology in London Ontario and member of the Ontario Technology Corridor, says “Ontario continues to offer the talent and the financial incentitves that make this region such a strong part of the digital entertainment industry. Our job at GamesCom is to add to our tremendous home-grown crop of companies and help demonstrate that Ontario is a prime destination in North America for gaming investments.”

Federal and Ontario provincial research and development tax credits combine to give Canada the most favourable tax treatment among G-8 countries — giving Ontario innovation companies the ability to cut R&D expenditures by up to 63%.

In 2011 Ontario’s gaming advantage has scored several wins:

Arkadium Inc.

On July 19, 2011, this global leader in online games opened a Toronto office to focus on mobile gaming titles. Company executives stated “key factors” in the move were assistance from the Ontario government and the Digital Media Tax Credit, plus help from the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance. Arkadium’s Toronto office has a goal of producing ten new games to introduce to the market within the next 12 month.

Gameloft Inc.

This France-based company has started hiring 205 people for a new Toronto office that will be a state-of-the-art gaming studio. The company also confirms the key role played by the provincial tax credit. The company’s General Manager for Canada, Mario Poulin says, “We remain at the top of our game by partnering with jurisdictions like Ontario where there is a real interest backed by sound policies to make the gaming sector a strong contributor to the economy and the creation of jobs.“ Gameloft posted 15 per cent revenue growth in the first part of  2011.

Silicon Knights Inc.

Also in July, Silicon Knights announced it will nearly double its staff by adding 80 new jobs. Ontario government tax credits combined with the company’s own invesment will allow the studio to improve its technology, create new products and become a self-publishing company.

Morro Images Inc.

Morro is working with Silicon Knights as Morro Images expands their current visual effects operation in St. Catharines. Morro is a sister firm to Morro Images of Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, and is also a supporter of nGen, the Niagara Interactive Media Generator, a hub for business development of digital media companies. nGen hosts the Generator at One motion capture facility which will serve as headquarters for the new Ontario Augmented Reality Network.  Brock University recently received funding from the Ontario Media Development Corporation to develop the Network.

Ontario’s lead agency for provincial incentives in digital media is the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC).  Darius Basarab, Senior Business Development Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is headed to GamesCom and says, “Ontario is well positioned to compete with other jurisdictions who are trying to attract gaming firms and we have a lot to offer – that will be one of my message at the conference.” To date the OMDC IDM Fund has contributed $7.7 million to 76 projects with budgets totaling $32.7 million – and continues to offer the following incentives:

• Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit – refunds 35-40 per cent of eligible production costs
• Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit – refunds 20 per cent of labour costs
• OMDC Interactive Digital Media Fund – up to $150,000 in project production funding, up to a maximum of 50% of the project budget.

Ontario’s fast-growing entertainment and creative cluster employs nearly 300,000 while contributing $12.2 billion to the province’s GDP. In addition, 22 Ontario colleges and universities produce18,000 graduates per year from174 specialized digital media programs including 3D animation, film studies, advanced computer programming, math, and hardware engineering.

The C.D. Howe Institute, which studies social and economic policies, notes Canada’s international reputation as a destination for capital and investment is better than it has been for a generation.

Canada’s federal corporate income tax rate will fall from 18 per cent in 2010 to 15 per cent by 2012 — less than half of the top U.S. federal marginal corporate income tax rate, and the lowest in the G7 plus the lowest R&D costs in the G7, with a 12.9 per cent advantage over the U.S. Canada also has the world’s soundest banking system according to the World Economic Forum.

Vancouver Freelance Camp is having their second annual, information packed UNconference on Saturday, September 10th at The Network Hub New Westminster, which is situated at Unit 205 – 810 Quayside Drive. Experienced business personnel and successful local freelancers will be sharing their stories as well as insight on how to grow a freelancer’s business.

This is a true UNconference, the schedule is created the morning of when the attendees arrive. The camp will open at 9:00am with guests pitching to be presenters for the day and the freelancers vote on who they want to hear speak. Registration for Freelance Camp is just $10.00 +HST, with the proceeds going to charity.

Topics from landing a freelancer’s dream project to dealing with the nitty gritty details of doing business will be discussed. The Freelance Camp is the opportunity to make connections with like-minded people across many fields. Over 130 people attended last year’s event, including freelancers from Victoria, Kelowna and Seattle. The UNconference hosted 22 presentations where 196 cups of Waves Coffee was consumed. You won’t leave empty handed either because $5400 worth of goodies and $448 worth of door prizes were given to attendees last year to make being a freelancer even better. Attendees were also part of a wave of social broadcasting with 1478 tweets mentioning the event and were also a top trending topic in Canada on twitter for three hours.

The success of Freelance Camp raised $1100 last year and donated all its proceeds to Mental Health Camp – a conference on examining the possibilities of using social media to achieve and maintain mental health. It is important to Freelance Camp to give back to local initiatives and was excited to have Mental Health Camp as the benefactor.

The satisfaction of last year’s event has propelled Vancouver Freelance Camp to make this year’s event even bigger and accessible to more freelancers. We’ll be the first local event to use Google+ Hangouts to engage a maximum of 25 attendees per session off-site. Through live streaming video, participants can view and ask questions in Google+ Hangout allowing for 725 online viewings.

I don’t know how I missed hearing about this event, but if you work in social media, Social Media Monetization is probably a workshop you’ll want to participate in. The guest speaker is Rochelle Grayson, who always delivers powerful presentations full of relevant and useful information. Presented by Social Media Unplugged, the workshop will take place at the Jewel Ballroom this Saturday, August 20th from 9:30am until 4:00pm. The Jewel Ballroom is located on the 4th Floor at 1495 West 8th Avenue in Vancouver. Tickets for this event are $179.00 plus tax if purchased online or $249.00 plus tax at the door.

Workshop Information From The Event Page:

In this seminar Rochelle will help you sort through and make decisions about your social media strategy in order for you to build and successfully monetize an online community through social media. You will learn the fundamental building blocks, such as presence, reputation, relationship and identity that define online communities, and explore business models such as advertising, digital merchandising, and branded content that best suit these different communities.

Attendees will walk away with concrete tools to help define and establish communities that match their business goals, as well as the appropriate business models to maximize success.

By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

· Describe the fundamental building blocks for what people pay for
· Differentiate between advertising and transactional online monetization models
· Understand which models best suit the behaviours of specific customers
· Establish a monetization strategy
· Describe monetization best practices

The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is opening with the strongest program yet, featuring a full day of live presentations from Canada’s hottest emerging companies, insightful sessions and valuable facilitated meeting exchanges. On December 1st, CIX 2011 will bring leading international investors, companies and entrepreneurs together at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, once again showing why it’s the best place to access the most forward-thinking companies and key players shaping the marketplace today.

The CIX Top 20, Canada’s elite index of innovative companies will be showcased at CIX 2011. The culmination of a coast-to-coast search, these intensive showcases offer a realtime look at the newest developments in the information and communication technology (ICT) and digital media sectors. The CIX Top 20 showcase is a valuable platform to celebrate Canadian innovation and are designed to give you unprecedented access to Canada’s sharpest people and technology-driven ideas. The CIX 2011 Kick Off Rate ends Friday, September 23. Register today and save $200 off the Regular Rate.

CIX features inspiring keynotes and meeting exchanges offering the opportunity to connect directly with key players bringing exciting new products and initiatives to the marketplace. This year’s program will include comprehensive platforms for both structured and informal networking among participants, allowing you to develop meaningful relationships that ultimately lead to partnerships, investments and other opportunities for scalable growth.

Check out who is coming to CIX 2011:

• Ossama Hassanein – Senior Managing Director, Newbury Ventures
• David Spector – Partner, Sequoia Capital
• Pedram Mokrian – Venture Advisor, Mayfield Fund
• Phil McBride – Innovation Manager, P&G Company
• Steven Xanthoudakis – Director, Merck & Co.
• Charlie Lax – Managing General Partner, Granbanks Capital
• Joe Catalfamo – Managing Director, Summerhill Venture Partners
• David Henderson – Managing Director, XPV Capital Corporation
• Amar Varma – Managing and Founding Partner/ Founding Partner, Extreme Venture Partners/Xtreme Labs
• Jordan Banks – Managing Director, Facebook Canada
• Howard Gwin – Venture Partner, Bridgescale
• Ilse Treurnicht – CEO, MaRS
• Duncan Stewart – Director, Deloitte Canada (TMT)
• John Ruffolo – Senior Vice President & Head of Knowledge Investing / CEO, INKEF Capital OMERS Strategic Investments
• Sara Diamond – President, OCAD University
• Roger Chabra – Partner, Rho Canada
• Paul Lee – Managing General Partner, Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd.
• Charles Lax – Managing General Partner, GrandBanks Capital
• John Albright – Co-Managing Partner, BlackBerry Partners Fund
• Patrick Eggen – Senior Investment Manager, Qualcomm Ventures
• Janis Koyanagi – Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, Toronto Stock Exchange/TSX Venture Exchange
• Claudia Fan Munce – Managing Director/VP, IBM Venture Capital Group/IMB Corporate Strategy
• Salvatore Tirabassi – Partner, M/C Ventures
• Paul Kedrosky – Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation
• CIX Co-Chair Robert Montgomery – CEO, Achilles Media Ltd. and First Maximilian Associates
• CIX Co-Chair Rick Nathan – Managing Director, Kensington Capital Partners Ltd.
• CIX Co-Chair Chris Arsenault – Managing Partner, iNova Capital Inc

Preschoolers and their families in Ottawa and Nepean will have a chance to share the magic of reading with TVOKids host Gisèle, star of TVO’s early learning program block Gisèle’s Big Backyard, when her Read with Gisèle tour visits two branches of the Ottawa Public Library on Friday August 26 and Saturday August 27 (venues and times listed below).

The Read with Gisèle tour showcases Gisèle reading the book of the month from her Big Backyard Book Club at libraries across the province in an effort to inspire children and their families to read every day. Preschoolers can watch the Book Club on television, participate in the club online at tvokids.com, and now enjoy it in person as Gisèle reads accessible, easy-to-read-aloud books by Canadian authors.

Gisèle will read the book Augustine, written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt. With inviting illustrations, the book tells the story of a shy young penguin who is nervous about moving from the South Pole to the North Pole with her family, but makes new friends by sharing her love of drawing and painting. Each child attending the reading will receive a book bag, a bookmark and a free copy of the book. Kids will also have a chance to meet Gisèle and have her autograph their book.

“I’m thrilled to be bringing the Big Backyard Book Club to life at libraries across Ontario. Reading aloud with children is a great way to develop their early literacy skills, so I hope the Read with Gisèle tour will inspire kids and their families to enjoy reading together every day,” says Gisèle Corinthios, host of Gisèle’s Big Backyard.

Kids can also participate in Gisèle’s Big Backyard Book Club online at tvokids.com, where they can watch videos of Gisèle reviewing books and see kids answering questions about the stories, share feedback on how the stories made them feel, and submit their own reviews of books they have read.

Read with Gisèle events are free and admission is on a first-come, first-served basis as seating is limited. Below are the details for the Ottawa and Nepean readings:

Read with Gisèle!

Gisele will also be visiting the Georgina Public Library Keswick Branch at 90 Wexford Drive in Keswick on Saturday September 10th at 1:30pm.

Merging Media Productions Inc. and CMPA-British Columbia are delighted to launch their Merging Media Conference + Masterclass 2011: X-ENGAGE website and program for Canada’s Premier Cross-media Showcase on October 27^th and 28^th at the SFU Woodwards Cinema, SFU Woodwards Goldcorp Centre in Vancouver. They announced today that 38 Conference Speakers and Panelists will be participating in the highly anticipated two-day event, including world thought leaders from Lionsgate, YouTube, Amazon.com, Al Jazeera, Starlight Runner Entertainment and Microsoft.

Merging Media will offer a $10,000 Development Award for the best cross-media project at its Pitch 360 Sessions on October 28th. For information on how to apply or to exhibit at the VEDC Innovation Gallery, please contact Merging Media. Register now for the Merging Media Conference and Masterclass 2011: X-Engage – early bird pricing ends September 30th.

Montreal’s Bluestreak Technology will be demonstrating a variety of new Video Everywhere™ services at the IBC Expo 2011 conference and exhibition in Amsterdam this September 9^th through 13^th. Video Everywhere™ is an emerging concept, blending the delivery of content from traditional TV services, over-the-top (OTT) vendors, and social media into connected devices, including televisions, set-top boxes, digital video recorders, smartphones, and tablets.

A recent study by UK-based IMS research forecasts that OTT video services will generate $16.4 billion in revenue by 2016, with video-on-demand services from pay-TV providers seeing an additional $14.7 billion. With researchers predicting a tenfold increase in pay-OTT transactions over the next five years, it is clear that the promise of delivering video services any time on any device is now becoming more important than ever.

Expect Video Everywhere™ to be a key topic at this year’s IBC 2011 conference, where companies will be showcasing their latest innovations in the areas of optimized video delivery. At the event, IBC exhibitor Bluestreak Technology will be demonstrating a variety of new services focused on the areas of:

• OTT – The company will be unveiling a new customer deployment that delivers premium OTT video services from leading service providers, including Netflix, BBC, and YouTube, on a wide variety of televisions, digital media players, and Blu-ray players worldwide.
• Multi-screen and companion screen – The company will be showcasing its connected TV capabilities with a product demonstration that combines live TV, network PVR, video on demand (VOD), interactive widgets, and Internet TV into a single service that runs across a variety of connected devices, including televisions, set-top boxes, PCs, smartphones, and tablets.
• 3D interactive video – The company will be highlighting leading-edge innovations in the area of 3D video with a demonstration that showcases both 3D content and interactive features for IBC attendees to experience.

Bluestreak Technology will also be demonstrating the latest updates to the company’s MachBlue platform which deliver an outstanding video experience for today’s largest connected device vendors and content providers, including Bouygues Telecom, DivX, Mitsubishi, NDS, Orange, Panasonic, SagemCom, Soft@Home, Time Warner Cable and Videotron.

Demonstrations and product information will be available at the Bluestreak Technology stand in Hall 13 at the IBC 2011 exhibition, stand number: 13.123.