Village Gamer

The following Multimedia and Social Media Summer Bootcamps are being offered at UBC Robson Square in Vancouver:

Digital Video Production with Final Cut Studio: June 13-17
Plan, shoot and edit a video project from start to finish with HD cameras and Final Cut Pro.
Save $100 if you register by May 16.

Introduction to Mobile Web Design: June 20-24
Learn to adapt content, style sheets and graphics for mobile devices.
Save $100 if you register by May 23.

Web Design: July 4-22
In just three weeks, learn to create a website with Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash.
Save $210 if you register by June 6.

UBC Summer Institute in Social Media: July 11-15
An Introduction to Social Media Tools and Community Engagement – Learn about social media tools and how they can help you engage your customers and fans, and create a sense of community.
Save $145 if you register by June 14.

Adobe InDesign: July 25-29
Learn print layout and create multi-page documents using Adobe InDesign.
Save $100 if you register by June 27.

Plus there will be a free information session for the UBC Certificate in Entertainment Administration program at UBC Robson Square on June 8th.

Canada 3.0 Platinum Sponsor PwC has announced the launch of its Digital Readiness Assessment (DRA). The DRA is a diagnostic business offering that helps companies to assess their current “digital state” and seek out new business opportunities to go digital.

At Canada 3.0 2011, attendees can try out a DRA survey on their mobile devices, a short online version that will help them self-assess in a few minutes where they are on their digital journey. It is made up of a short number of questions by priority areas including: Strategy & Innovation, Revenue Growth, Partner Ecosystem, Customers and others.

“Currently, most Canadian companies are moving to digital models in gradual steps that are being pushed forward by their more entrepreneurial managers and the tactical needs of the business,” says Jerry Brown, an associate partner in the Consulting practice in PwC’s Toronto office. “The goal of the DRA is to help companies create an effective digital strategy and really transform their business model to keep up with the quick pace of change.”

“The successful companies will be the ones who have the best strategy to engage with all of their digital partners – everyone from their customers, to their suppliers, vendors, distributors and other businesses.”

PwC, a keynote speaker at the Canada 3.0 Conference, will also be a judge at the first ever Road to Banff Pitch Off Contest. Hosted by the Banff Venture Forum and the Canadian Digital Media Network, the competition is open to early stage ICT, life sciences and clean tech companies with annual revenues of less than $5 million. The top three finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the Banff Venture Forum, October 6 – 7 in Banff, Alberta. At the Forum, finalists will attend a one-day workshop where they will be introduced to potential investors and paired up with a Venture Capital (VC) mentor for the conference.

In a few weeks, PwC will hold its eighth annual one-day conference for CEOs of emerging Canadian technology companies, Connecting Vision to Reality 2011. This year’s conference is on May 11, 2011 at the Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West, Toronto. The speaker roster includes a number of industry experts including keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com. The results of PwC’s 2011 Report on Emerging Canadian Technology Companies will also be released at the event.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced the company’s agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures to feature D-BOX’s immersive motion technology with the studio’s franchise finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in theatres July 15.

This final act is the third film in the series to offer D-BOX’s motionals effects. Fans of the movie franchise can expect to be transported back to Hogwarts with Harry and friends feeling sensations of motion along the way. Intense battles and exhilarating flights onscreen become real as D-BOX MFX Seats move in perfect sync with all ofals the onscreen action.

“Warner Bros. has been a tremendous supporter of our motion technology and this is such a legendary movie franchise for D-BOX to be associated,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “We have collaborated on a number of new releases over the past two years and look forward to partnering on future movie content with the studio.”

PEER 1 Hosting has announced the arrival of its IPv6 enabled 10GB backbone network today, bringing future-ready network reach to customers ahead of the imminent IPv4 address exhaustion.

PEER 1 Hosting’s network is one of the first supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, ensuring customers’ websites remain visible to all users around the world, irrespective of the networks or hardware they are using.

The IPv6 upgrade is the result of $10M investment over the last three years by PEER 1 Hosting and has included a beta phase, allowing Colocation and transit customers to test the backbone through PEER 1 Hosting’s network of datacenters. Offering both IPv4 and IPv6 network capabilities will allow PEER 1 Hosting’s Colocation and hosting customers to adopt the new protocol at their own pace, by providing a bridge to both worlds as networks transition towards IPv6 as standard protocol.

“Ping is one of the things we pride ourselves on and here is the perfect example of how we’re making sure businesses are accessible and online,” said Jag Bains, director of Network Operations for PEER 1 Hosting. “IPv6 is the next wave and we’re at the forefront of the transition. When IPv4 reaches capacity we’re ready to support our clients with the new protocol.”

PEER 1 Hosting is ahead of the curve in bringing IPv6 online for its customers, while industry debate continues to linger over standards and adoption. The PEER 1 Hosting backbone will also offer the added network benefits of the IPv6 protocol including increased addressing capacity, more flexible security, the ability to expand infrastructure and accelerate business.

eBay Canada today announced the launch of two important sets of charity auctions, giving Canadians an opportunity to give back.

Starting today and for the next seven days, eBay buyers will have the opportunity to bid on dozens of hard-to-find items and unique experiences in support of two Canadian charities: the NHLPA’s Beard-a-thon to support the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Rethink Breast Cancer.

The auctions are live at:

To support the NHLPA Beard-a-thon
To support Rethink Breast Cancer

Notable items and experiences up for grabs include:

* A Harley Davidson 2010 Street Glide motorcycle in support of Rethink Breast Cancer.
* NHL jerseys signed by some of the top players in the NHL – past and present – including Wayne Gretzky, Saku Koivu, Henrik Sedin and Luke Schenn, in support of the NHLPA Beard-a-thon
* “Rethink the Date package” hotel stay at The Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver.
* Signed NHL player photos from Roberto Luongo, Dion Phaneuf, and Alexander Ovechkin.

With bidding starting at $1.00 for many of the items, there’s an opportunity for everyone to bid and buyers will be helping to raise funds for two very important causes. The NHLPA Beard-a-thon is an exciting charitable initiative that will help the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada purchase Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for local hockey arenas and communities across Canada. Funds raised by Rethink Breast Cancer will go towards its vital education, research, and supportive care programs for young women with breast cancer.

This Thursday, May 5, 2011, Astral Media Inc. will hold its annual Astral Media National Day of Caring for Kids. The event will be broadcast live throughout the day on more than 60 English-language stations across Canada.

This national event is in support of about 20 major hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country. Last year, in twelve hours, the largest Radiothon event in North America raised over 7.1 million dollars.

This year again, all Astral radio stations have been very active on social networks and launched an online community that was quickly embraced by children’s hospital foundations, parents, young patients and listeners alike. Many touching and hope-filled stories, videos and passionate calls for listener generosity have been posted over the past few days by over 2,200 members of the Astral Radiothon Facebook group.

Astral has teamed up with the Children’s Miracle Network, an international non-profit organization that helps save the lives and improves the quality of life of sick kids by raising funds for children’s hospitals and healthcare foundations. To see the complete list of participating radio stations and beneficiaries, or to make a donation, please visit the radiothon site.

All of you who are waiting to get more details on the next Assassin’s Creed title from Ubisoft Montreal need to take part in the studio’s viral marketing effort. The studio will reveal more information the more people share the AC Reveal app on Facebook. The images so far have been typically cryptic – reflecting the Subject 16-styled video puzzles Assassin’s Creed players have become familiar with. There is an image of what looks to be Jerusalem – is it the city under 16th century Ottoman rule? This could fit neatly at the tail end of Brotherhood, should the developers be continuing the Ezio story, that is. However, there are also flashes of the Phaistos Disc, which points to Crete – and a hint of the current Greek flag does seem to flash on the screen – but it didn’t come into use until the 1800’s. The armoured hand appears to belong to Altair, whose name is flashed across the screen in Arabic – or is it someone new to the franchise? Is that the Apple of Eden glowing in the image’s centre – or just the sun viewed through Eagle Vision?

There is the speculation that the next Assassin’s Creed will be titled Revelations, which is of course being fueled by Ubisoft’s social media corps. At press time the unlock graph was only at 11% – if you are at all curious about what the studio will reveal and have a Facebook account, share with your friends and get them to share with their friends so we can all have  a closer look – as the Unlock level increases, there are more clues added to the cinematic.

While I’m pondering the next direction for Assassin’s Creed, here are today’s news briefs and reminders:

Today is the final day to apply for the Canada Media Fund-presented Canadian Interactive Showcase at INplay 2011, which will be held in Toronto on May 17th & 18th. Registration for the conference is still open – register online to save $100.00 off the door price.

Microsoft Game Studios has revealed the official site for its Vancouver studio, which might be hiring, by the way – I say might because the MGSV site says there are no positions open, but the MGS Careers page says there are. According to the new site, the Vancouver studio is ‘dedicated to making games for “core” gamers. Our mission is to push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what’s possible on Microsoft’s game consoles.’ This makes me happy – I can look forward to new titles for my 360 – as long as they aren’t for Kinect, because we don’t have yet have that peripheral.

SIGGRAPH 2011 has begun posting the Birds of a Feather activities for the conference this August. Check out the offerings, and if you would like to see a group meetup added, you are invited to submit your suggestion to the conference committee. Don’t forget, SIGGRAPH 2011 is August 7th through 11th in Vancouver. Make It Home.

Okino Computer Graphics has announced that its 3D DCC/Animation/Skinning and CAD/MCAD/Architectural conversion software PolyTrans-for-3ds-Max (for 3ds Max 2012 & 3ds Max Design 2012), and PolyTrans-for-Maya (for Maya 2012), are now fully qualified and shipping to customers. This is a general notice to those Okino customers who have not upgraded to the 2011/2012 releases yet, and for those not aware of Okino?s software for 3ds Max & Maya.

Virgin Mobile Canada and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada are digging up some real treasure with their next A-list benefit for Virgin Mobile Members across Canada. As part of an ongoing program delivering the latest movies first, Virgin Mobile has already offered its Members access to advance screenings for hits like I Am Number Four. On May 18, winning Members will have the opportunity to catch the most anticipated film of 2011, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, before its general release on May 20, 2011.

A total of 140 winners and their guests from Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver will get the chance to see the action-packed flick – starring Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz – before anyone else. Plus, one super-lucky Member and their plus one will get some serious VIP treatment: travel and two nights stay in L.A., walking the red carpet at the Hollywood movie premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and access to a super exclusive after-party. Follow Virgin Mobile’s Twitter at @virginmobilecan to see all the latest tweets from the VIP Member while they walk the plank – or red carpet – at the premiere.

To enter for the chance to be at one of the pre-screenings or walk the red carpet at Disneyland as Virgin Mobile’s Red Carpet Reviewer, visit The Lounge on Virgin Canada’s site or the Facebook Contest tab on Facebook. More big time opportunities are always around the corner with the hottest new movies getting delivered to Virgin Mobile Members. The next big blockbusters coming soon to a theatre near you: the 3-D horror remake Fright Night and the high adrenaline Hugh Jackman action film Real Steel.

Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, will unveil details about a new extension of Privacy by Design, called Privacy by ReDesign, in a keynote speech at a premier Canadian privacy event, in Toronto on May 5.

At the same time, the Commissioner will address recent concerns over location tracking in popular smart phones and mobile devices. This hotbed topic will also be featured at a session on the privacy implications of mobile computing led by the Commissioner’s Office. Renowned privacy experts will attend to discuss the protection of privacy in today’s world of ongoing technological advances. It is all taking place at The International Association of Privacy Professionals‘ (IAPP) Canada Privacy Symposium at Ryerson University.

“The fabled demise of privacy has been widely portrayed of late, which reinforces the reality that we need to reframe how we present the privacy equation,” says Commissioner Cavoukian. “This is precisely why it’s time for Privacy by ReDesign right now! It will help organizations rethink and redesign privacy into their existing, legacy systems and business practices.”

Since the 1990’s, Commissioner Cavoukian has advocated for organizations to proactively embed privacy into technology right from the outset, a concept called Privacy by Design. International privacy regulators unanimously passed a landmark Resolution in 2010 recognizing the made-in-Ontario solution as a Global Privacy Standard. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission now recommends Privacy by Design for protecting online privacy.

The Commissioner’s Office is leading many timely sessions at the event including:

* Addressing the Privacy Implications of Mobile Computing
* Biometrics: Enhancing Privacy, Security and Trust through Privacy by Design (Related to this, roll out has begun across Ontario of a new privacy-protective facial recognition system to support customers enrolled in Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s voluntary self-exclusion program)

* Embedding Privacy Protection into a Risk Management Framework (At this session, a new white paper will be introduced, showing how IBM implemented Privacy by Design, moving it from a theoretical concept to a practical solution)

Friday evening we gathered for the official grand opening event at the new VFS Game Design Campus, which has moved to 88 East Pender in Vancouver – the former home of OmniTV. A far cry from the warren-like campus at the corner of Homer and West Hastings, the new campus is the perfect set up for the Game Design program, giving the school room to expand and whittle down its long waiting list of students waiting to unleash their imaginations and creative abilities on the game development industry.

The evening began with opening comments from VFS Managing Director Marty Hasselbach, who was the MC for the event. Mr. Hasselbach spoke briefly about the school and its successes before introducing school founder and President, Mr. James Griffin, who reiterated that one of the major goals for VFS is to teach students for success, something that I feel the school achieves time and again.

Following Mr. Griffin was guest of honour, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. Mayor Robertson spoke to the City of Vancouver’s commitment to the local digital media industry, and the important role Vancouver Film School plays in the continued growth of the industry. Mayor Robertson also spoke to the revitalization of the China Town community, and that the occupation by VFS of the former OmniTV building will assist in breathing new life to the area.

Several Vancouver City council members were in attendance, including Suzanne Anton and Ellen Woodsworth – in fact there were so many members of council present, Mayor Robertson joked that they could hold a meeting right there at the school. He continued, stating that the show of support from the council members’ attendance speaks directly to how the City is impressed with the remarkable achievements of not only Vancouver Film School, but the creative industry as a whole. The City recognizes the importance of the significant contribution the digital media sector has made to the standing of Vancouver as a global centre for creativity, and it is those successes that drives the City’s efforts in seeking out new opportunities, opening doors to new talent and new companies to come to Vancouver.

Also not one to miss an opportunity, Mayor Robertson noted the low carbon footprint of the digital media industry, and how its low impact on the environment will aid in the City’s quest to become the greenest city in the world – and he wasn’t just speaking to the home crowd, according to his bio page on the City’s web site, Mayor Robertson does indeed recognize digital media as being among important green industry sectors. The Mayor concluded his opening speech by congratulating the school on its scholarship initiatives, recognizing in particular the Women In Games Scholarship, the 2011 recipient of which would also be announced during the evening’s festivities.

Following Mayor Robertson, the Head of Game Design, Dave Warfield took over the podium to talk specifically about the past, present and future of the VFS Game Design program – after he noted that the campus’ location meant he would have a shorter walk to Canucks’ games. Mr. Warfield spoke about how far the school has come since launching its Game Design program six years ago, and how with the opening of the new campus the school will be able to double its capacity, helping 180 students enter the ever-changing world of game design annually.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8S4FzsF91k]

Mr. Warfield then introduced Women In Games Vancouver representative and independent game producer Bryna Dabby, who announced the winner of the 2011 Women In Games VFS Scholarship. Ms. Dabby spoke about the importance of scholarships like this one, awarding opportunities for more women to become members of what has until recently been a heavily male-dominated sector of the creative industry. The winner of the first Women In Games Scholarship, which was awarded in 2009, was Toronto’s Shannon Lee, who is currently employed at Silicon Sisters Interactive. Last year’s winner, Annie Dickerson of Washington, DC will be graduating from the school this year.

Dave Warfield echoed her sentiments, stating that “encouraging more women to get involved in gaming will create better play experience that appeal to a wider audience, and with the changing variety of gaming today, that is more important now than ever before.”

The 2011 Women In Games Scholarship goes this year to Larissa Baptista of Rio de Janeiro. While Ms. Baptista was not able to be present for the announcement, the school did release a statement from the young woman, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication. According to her background information, when she was just 14 years old, Ms. Baptista made a three hour bus commute to attend a year’s worth of classes in 3D software, as she had no other access to either 3D programs or even a computer.

“I am truly beyond honoured to have been chosen to receive the 2011 Women In Games Scholarship,” she said. “Thank you again – although words cannot possibly express my gratitude right now, I hope my future achievements will. A goal is now within my reach.”

Vancouver Film School will also be announcing the winners of three other scholarships to the school provided by G4TechTV, Annex Pro and 3Vis in the very near future.  The VFS Summer Intensives Program is also now open for registration – students can experience 5 days of fast-paced, eye-opening classes in any one of the many programs offered at Vancouver Film School.

Following the scholarship announcement, Mayor Robertson, James Griffin, Dave Warfield and Marty Hasselbach all took the stage for the official ribbon cutting ceremony, which was then followed by tours of the new school classrooms, labs, offices, arcades and theatre. As we here at Village Gamer look at new ways to form partnerships and support the VFS programs and students, we wish the school every success as it embarks on this new chapter in its history.

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

Vancouver Film School – Results Matter

The SIGGRAPH Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2011 takes place this August 7th through 11th at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and 82 Technical Papers will be presented. They were selected from among 432 submissions.

The papers to be presented were chosen by a distinguished committee of 52 experts from academia and industry. This year’s Technical Papers program also includes conference presentations for 33 papers published this year in the journal ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG). A complete listing of all the papers presented in this year’s program will be available on the SIGGRAPH 2011 web site in late May.

“Each year, the SIGGRAPH Technical Papers program evolves to feature the most cutting-edge advances in technology,” says Hugues Hoppe, SIGGRAPH 2011 Technical Papers Chair from Microsoft Research. “This year is no different as SIGGRAPH 2011 Technical Papers will provide a look into some of the latest achievements in facial animation, stereo and multi-layered displays, procedural modeling, and rendering.”

In addition to core topics of modeling, animation, rendering, imaging, and human-computer interaction, the Technical Papers program encouraged submissions from areas related to computer graphics, including: computer games, design, vision, scientific and information visualization, audio, and robotics.

Featured highlights from the SIGGRAPH 2011 Technical Papers program:

High-Quality Passive Facial Performance Capture Using Anchor Frames

A new technique for high-quality facial performance capture that leverages the repetitive structure of face motions to automatically locate frames with similar expressions, called anchor frames. High-resolution geometry is reconstructed and temporal motion is propagated in parallel using robust image-space matching between the anchor frames.

Authors: Thabo Beeler, ETH Zürich and Disney Research Zürich; Fabian Hahn, Disney Research Zürich; Derek Bradley, Disney Research Zürich; Bernd Bickel, Disney Research Zürich; Paul Beardsley, Disney Research Zürich; Craig Gotsman, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Bob Sumner, Disney Research Zürich; Markus Gross, Disney Research Zürich

Practical application as suggested by the Technical Papers Chair: Highly detailed facial capture using multiple cameras without markers.

Bounded Biharmonic Weights for Real-Time Deformation

Deformation by linear blending dominates practical use as the fastest approach for transforming 2D and 3D shapes. This paper develops “bounded biharmonic weights” that produce smooth and intuitive deformations for any combination of points, bones, and cages of arbitrary topology, making control of deformations simple and flexible. Read the rest of this entry »

Reminder: Get your tickets now for Canada’s oldest social media conference, Northern Voice because there are fewer than 100 tickets left. Northern Voice takes place at the UBC Life Sciences building this May 13th and 14th. Tickets are only $90.00 for two days’ worth of sessions on the very latest in social media trends and how-to presentations.

Every successful musician remembers the long and hard road travelled on their journey to get noticed. This summer, a group of four, passionate, fresh-out-of-school cultural aficionados from Québec are about to give 11 budding young musicians their first big break.

Last night, Youth Music Movement (YMM) and members of Montréal’s renowned pop punk band Simple Plan announced the launch of a cross-country tour designed to discover Canada’s brightest up-and-coming musical stars.

From May 1 to July 31, the Youth Music Movement Powered by Pepsi tour will make 11 stops across the nation, where the YMM team – armed with a mobile recording and film studio – will produce a sound recording and a video for free, featuring young Canadian musicians on the cusp of making it big.

One song from each band will be featured on a CD that will be released at the end of the tour highlighting the diversity of musical talent across Canada. A portion of the proceeds from the compilation will go to the Simple Plan Foundation, an organization that encourages the practice of music to help young kids find a passion in life.

Canadians can follow the movement on Twitter (using the #YMMove hashtag and the @youth_music handle) and on Facebook. While on the road, Youth Music Movement will also produce 12Tracks.tv, 12 weekly webisodes that document their adventure across the country and feature the music videos and songs of each act they record. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2011 VIATeC Technology Award Finalists were announced last night at a gala ceremony interspersed with cheers for the Canucks as they won the first game in their second round series against the Predators. VIATeC also announced a new branding campaign in Victoria’s Times Colonist newspaper which will see the capitol region using the moniker “Tectoria.”

The VIATeC Technology Awards will be held on June 2, 2011 at the Victoria Conference Centre. You are invited to help celebrate the achievements of technology companies responsible for making Greater Victoria the fastest growing technology region in British Columbia. Now in its tenth year, the awards provide well deserved recognition for some of Victoria’s most innovative firms and a great opportunity for the local tech community to gather and celebrate each other’s successes.

“We look forward to another exciting night of recognition and networking. We are proud that so many look forward to this event and honoured to play a role in highlighting the people, companies and innovations that make technology Victoria’s largest revenue producing industry,” explains Dan Gunn, Executive Director of VIATeC. “We’ve received a record number of nominations this year and we are thankful to everyone who takes the time to nominate and get involved.”

The finalists for the 2011 VIATeC Technology Awards are:

Technology Company of the Year:

-Backstage
-Contech Enterprises Inc.
-GeoDigital International Inc.
-HP Advanced Solutions Inc.
-Terapeak
-UNIT4 Business Software

Emerging Technology Company of the Year:

-Bet Smart Media
-Checkfront Inc.
-EvoShift Communications Inc.
-Reef Safe Fish Inc.
-Wifarer Inc.

Product of the Year:

-Contech Enterprises Inc.
-northStudio.com
-ParetoLogic
-ShipConstructor Software Inc.
-Terapeak

Executive of the Year:

-Alex Mendelev, CEO, Backstage
-Darren Larkins, CEO, ShipConstructor Software Inc.
-Scott Phillips, CEO Starfish Medical Inc.
-Phillip Stanger, CEO, Wifarer Inc.

Innovative Excellence:

-cebas Visual Technology Inc.
-NetroMedia Streaming
-RaceRocks 3D
-UNIT4 Business software
-Wifarer Inc.

Environmental Excellence:

-Carmanah Technologies Corporation
-Hydra Cat Performance Systems

Online Strategy of the Year:

-AdviceScene Enterprises Inc.
-Atomic Crayon
-Business Performance Solutions Inc.
-bWEST Communications Inc.

Member’s Choice for Service Provider of the Year:

-Adamek Financial
-Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP
-LL Brougham Inc.

Employee/Team of the Year:

-GeoDigital International Production, Project Management & Innovation Team
-Denis Morais, ShipConstructor Software Inc.
-Terapeak – Development Team

Employer of the Year:

-Backstage
-Edoc Systems Group Ltd.
-Reliable Controls Corporation
-RevenueWire

PSA: Kinark Child and Family Services – in conjunction with Children’s Mental Health Week May 1 to 8, 2011 – is pleased to announce they will be hosting Ask the Experts, a special Facebook event designed to increase conversation about child and youth mental health.

“It is important to talk openly about child and youth mental health to build awareness, reduce stigma and support our children, youth and their families,” says Peter Moore, Executive Director. “Through the direct access that Facebook offers, it is our hope that providing the public with an opportunity to connect immediately with our experts will encourage discussion and shed some light on children’s mental health issues.”

From Monday to Thursday during Children’s Mental Health Week, a different expert will lead a one-hour, question and answer-style discussion on the wall of the Kinark Child and Family Services Facebook Page. The four experts will be ready to answer questions on their specific topics from anyone and everyone who is signed on to Facebook and “likes” the Kinark page.

Who:

Executive Director, Peter Moore; Director of Clinical Services
Dr. Rod Evans; Executive Director at Parents for Children’s Mental Health
Sarah Cannon; and former Kinark youth, Jessica Vallentyne Clements

Topics By Date:

May 2 – Stigma – 12 – 1 p.m.
May 3 – Teen Suicide – 12 – 1 p.m.
May 4 – Child and Youth Mental Health, Parent Perspective – 12 – 1 p.m.
May 5 – Child and Youth Mental Health, Youth Perspective – 9 – 10 p.m.

Where:

The Wall, Kinark Child and Family Services Facebook Page.

Why:

To increase conversation with the intention of eliminating the stigma surrounding child and youth mental health, to promote awareness for Children’s Mental Health Week, and to reach parents and youth in a unique and innovative way through social media.

Everyone knows it’s better to give than to receive, and on May 7^th, Coca-Cola will celebrate its 125^th anniversary by hosting free live concerts in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.   Recording artists These Kids Wear Crowns, Kardinal Offishall, and Duke Squad will perform in their respective cities in concerts which will also stream live on iCoke.ca.

Leading up to the tri-city musical celebrations, special Coca-Cola Happiness Trucks will deliver moments of happiness to unsuspecting Canadians in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. No matter where they are, Canadians can follow the Happiness Trucks and find out where happiness will strike next on Twitter @CocaCola_CA (at press time this account was protected, I’m hoping it is unlocked soon, because protecting a marketing account really doesn’t make sense).

“Sharing happiness is at the core of Coca-Cola and has been for 125 years” said Bobby Brittain, Vice President, Marketing with Coca-Cola Canada. “With these surprise deliveries and free concerts, we aim to bring a little more happiness through these random acts and musical celebrations.”

This isn’t the first time that random acts of happiness have struck.  As part of its 125^th global anniversary campaign, Coca-Cola (@CocaCola on Twitter) has celebrated happiness around the world, most recently in Brazil and the Philippines with surprise visits from the now infamous Happiness Truck

The concert performances will take place the evening of May 7^th at the following locations:

• Vancouver: These Kids Wear Crowns will perform at Robson Square at 3:00 p.m. PST
• Toronto: Kardinal Offishall will perform at Yonge and Dundas Square at 6:00 p.m. EST
• Montréal: Duke Squad will perform at Stationnement Centre-Ville, located at the corner of Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest/Rue de la Montagne at 6:00 p.m. EST
• Digital Live Stream: iCoke.ca/125 and iCoke.ca/125ans

Coca-Cola is thrilled to be celebrating its 125^th with some of Canada’s most exciting performers.  Vancouverites will be entertained by Chilliwack’s own These Kids Wear Crowns who were first introduced to fans through the popular MuchMusic series, DISBAND.  The six member band is known for their energetic live show and recently completed a cross Canada tour with Fefe Dobson in support of their debut release Jumpstart.  In Toronto, Canada’s hip-hop ambassador Kardinal Offishall will take the stage at Yonge and Dundas Square. Best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip-hop, in 2007, his hit Dangerous peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2010 he sang in the Young Artists for Haiti’s version of Wavin’ Flag to raise money for disaster relief.  In Montréal, fans will be delighted by the pop-rock style of The Duke Squad who hail from Québec.  The band’s second album Infamous was launched in March 2010.  Both videos from that record went to #1 On Musique plus and the band’s tv show has been aired on Vrak tv.