Village Gamer

The mark of a great mentor is that it’s not “all about you,” a Robert Half Management Resources survey suggests. More than half (54 per cent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed who have served as mentors said the key benefit is the satisfaction that comes from helping someone else.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources and was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 270 CFOs from a stratified random sample of Canadian companies with 20 or more employees.

CFOs were asked, “Have you, at any point in your career, served as a mentor, either formally or informally?” Their responses:

Yes:  54%
No: 46%

Those who responded “yes” to the question above were asked, “Which one of the following do you think is the greatest benefit of being a mentor?” Their responses:

* Provides the internal satisfaction of helping someone else –  54%
* Offers you the opportunity to improve your leadership skills – 22%
* Allows you to stay current on industry trends – 18%
* Helps you build your professional network – 3%
* Something else/No benefit/Don’t know – 3%

“Mentoring can help anyone at any career stage; its benefits are not restricted to those just starting their careers,” said David King, Canadian district president of Robert Half Management Resources. “The challenging business environment over the past few years has heightened the importance of having a mentor who can provide valuable guidance on a variety of professional questions and dilemmas.”

Below are four tips to get the most out of your mentoring experience:

– Consider your strengths. What are the most valuable things you’ve learned over the course of your career? Think about what you have to offer someone just starting out.

– Don’t rely on a formal program. Many companies don’t have established mentoring programs, and those that do may still be ramping up after scaling back during the downturn. If you identify someone you think you can help, extend the offer.

– Look beyond new grads. Professionals at all levels can benefit from having a mentor. Those trying to advance to the next level or looking to make a change might particularly welcome your advice.

– Listen. The best mentors are often the best listeners. Understand your mentee’s situation and his or her greatest needs before you offer guidance. Sometimes the most valuable role you can play is that of sounding board.

HBO Canada, a multiplex channel of Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada), offers subscribers an innovative multi-platform double bill: viewers who tune in to Episode 6 of HBO’s acclaimed Game of Thrones on Sunday, May 22 at 9 pm ET/MT can catch a sneak preview of Episode 7 immediately afterwards, only on HBO Canada OnLine. The special sneak peek opportunity of “You Win or You Die,” the entire seventh episode, is available to all subscribers of The Movie Network and Movie Central who receive their home television service through Bell TV, Rogers and Videotron. (okay that part’s not fair – what about Telus and Shaw customers?)

Currently mid-way through its dramatic first season, Game of Thrones is based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The 10-part epic fantasy series follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen as they vie for power and control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Presented in partnership with participating television providers through Bell TV Online, Rogers On Demand Online and Videotron’s Illico Web, HBO Canada OnLine reflects the weekly content offering of HBO Canada’s current on-air and Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services and offers similar functionality to OnDemand, enabling subscribers to rewind, play, pause and review title descriptions. HBO Canada subscribers also have access to TMN OnLine (Eastern Canada) and Movie Central OnLine (Western Canada), which offer customers a wide array of Hollywood hit movies and other premium commercial-free content. These services are available at no additional cost and can be viewed on computers anywhere in Canada, wherever a high-speed Internet connection is available.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. is delighted that Reading Life, Kobo’s industry leading social reading app has moved into the top rated position globally for eReading apps in the Apple iTunes App Store. As Canada’s largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer, Indigo is committed to enhancing the reading experience for book lovers regardless of the format in which they choose to read.

According to Indigo Books & Music CEO and Founder, and Kobo Chair Heather Reisman, “I am proud that Kobo has captured the attention and the loyalty of iPad users around the world as their preferred eReading application. Kobo has been focused on creating the best experience in eReading since day one and Kobo’s Reading Life provides readers with a fun, easy and exciting way to dive deeper into reading.”

The Kobo app with Reading Life has a 5 star rating by Canadian users, the highest among eReading apps in the iTunes store. Less than 48 hours after launch, hundreds of positive reviews began an influx of support for Kobo’s latest hit — with reviews touting the app’s navigation and ease-of-use. Users also praised the app’s new ability to organize shelves in their library, calling it out as the Kobo app’s top value. More than 25,000 custom bookshelves have been created in just one week.

In the last 7 days:

• – Kobo’s app has claimed the highest rating available – 5-stars – in Canada
• – Globally, nearly 750,000 users have downloaded the app, a 20% jump from version 4.3
• – More than 1,100 4- and 5-star reviews have been posted
• – Users now spend 10% more time in the Kobo application
• – Version 4.4 is the highest reviewed eReading app in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada

Vancouver’s Serebra Learning Corporation and St. John’s based Blue Drop Inc. are continuing their due diligence investigations into the proposed business combination announced March 24, 2011. In accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange trading of the shares continue to be halted. In compliance with the requirements set forth by the Exchange, trading in the company’s shares will remain halted until a sponsor has been engaged and satisfactory documents have been provided to the Exchange in accordance with Policy 5.2.

Serebra is also pleased to announce a reseller agreement with Bluedrop for a portion of Serebra’s sales team to sell Bluedrop’s Coursepark product. Coursepark is a leading online learning site that offers individuals access to skills that promote career development, and small businesses a training solution that allows them to build and/or buy courses, and implement, track and manage users’ completion of courses.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to expand our suite of products on offer to current and future clients,” said Taleeb Noormohamed, President and CEO of Serebra. “Coursepark is rapidly becoming a leading global learning site and we are thrilled at the opportunity to help expand its ever-growing user base. It is an excellent complement to Serebra Campus, allowing our sales team a different target market to pursue.”

In addition, Serebra and Bluedrop have negotiated a separate service agreement to have select members of Serebra’s development team provide specialized technical assistance to support Bluedrop’s roadmap for the Coursepark product.

“As we continue to negotiate the terms of a reverse takeover, these reseller and service agreements provide an opportunity to expand our mutual understanding of our products and business models,” added Taleeb.

Finnish developer Grey Area has released Shadow Cities, the world’s first mobile global location-based massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) for free on mobile Apple devices in Canada. Shadow Cities uses location based technology to create an augmented reality and a revolutionary global arena for its players to participate in real-time large-scale combat with friends and other gamers. Players will engage each other in epic battles around the world in their very own neighborhoods and cities.

Shadow Cities Features Include:

• Choose your side: Players can choose to fight on the side of the Animators or Architects, two opposing schools of magic locked in a struggle for power and control.
• Definitively Massive: Hundreds of gamers at once will clash and battle with one another across neighborhoods, towns and cities across the world.
• Best in Class RPG Elements: Building upon traditional roleplaying systems and concepts, Shadow Cities offers a deep leveling system that allows players to customize their character by learning spells and developing attributes.
• Draw your Spells: Using the touch screen of the Apple mobile device, players draw magical runes to cast a variety of spells with which to attack foes, heal allies and defend their neighborhoods.
• Transform your Neighborhood: As players move around in the real world, their position in the parallel world of Shadow Cities will also move, revealing both new friendly and enemy players, spirits, traps, neighborhoods and much more.
• Transport Friends: Portals can be opened in cities that allow friends and allies to move between locations and take part in full-scale virtual battles, creating a truly global gameplay experience.
• Speedy Recovery: As mages engage in battles their health and mana will deplete but also refill over time. Players will have the option to purchase potions from the in-game store to refill mana instantaneously.

Shadow Cities is rated Rated 9+ for the following:

Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Montana-based Schedulicity has successfully expanded its services into Canada, becoming available in more than 1,900 cities across North America and marking the company’s first expansion outside the U.S. The company was able to gain footing in all 10 provinces within one week of its January 2011 launch. Schedulicity has gained traction in all 10 provinces and 2 out of 3 territories, with the largest presence in Ontario followed by Alberta and British Columbia.

“Schedulicity has created a pent-up demand with both consumer and service providers in countries beyond the US, including Canada” said Jerry Nettuno, CEO of Schedulicity. “We are looking to capitalize on the incredible momentum we’ve seen in the U.S. and are already experiencing paralleled success in Canada.”

Schedulicity is a real-time, online appointment calendar that streamlines the scheduling process between service-based businesses and their clientele. It allows these businesses to make their schedules/services available to current and potential clients through multiple digital channels such as websites, Facebook, Twitter, and the schedulicity.com portal.

Small business owners across the country have already begun to see the benefits of streamlining the appointment-booking process with Schedulicity. Charmaine Cianciullo of Peppermint Spa in Manotick, Ontario, began using the service shortly after the launch and has already seen a 15 percent increase in revenue since using Schedulicity.

“Schedulicity has given me more time to focus running my business, instead of answering emails and phone calls,” said Cianciullo. “My clients now have the ability to book and manage appointments at a time that is convenient for them, day or night.” More than one third of appointments at Peppermint Spa are booked after hours on Schedulicity. Cianciullo uses Schedulicity’s email marketing capabilities to inform clients about new promotions, tips and DIY beauty recipes.

The news of this expansion comes on the heels of the launch of Schedulicity’s class scheduling module, which provides service professionals with an efficient and powerful way to quickly add classes and workshops to enhance their growing businesses. Schedulicity has also begun addressing the option of expanding into other international markets.

AOL Canada has announced the launch of its next generation homepage, AOL.ca. The new homepage features original, premium content with more emphasis on relevant, Canadian news and more of the video format Canadians love. The new site will feature breaking news, entertainment updates and relevant articles and stories in a new sleek design while providing advertisers with prominent ad opportunities, including AOL’s new innovative advertising format, IAB Portrait (formerly known as Project Devil).

“The new AOL.ca delivers on our promise to inform, entertain and connect with Canadians,” says Brad Cressman, head of content, AOL Canada. “The new site is aligned with our strategy of creating a ‘wow’ experience at scale by marrying our high quality content with an improved design to increase discoverability.”

With the addition of the Huffington Post, AOL premium properties reach 9.8 million Canadians monthly and have the highest concentration of HHI of $100k+ among the Top 5 Portal Sites in Canada. ⁽Source: comScore Inc. Total Canada. All Locations. March 2011)

Media Experts is the first to take advantage of the AOL.ca homepage with their client, BMW Canada. The campaign features the new X1, and will engage and excite consumers using the IAB Portrait ad format.

“While many other homepages offer standard big box and leaderboard placements, AOL.ca provides new ad opportunities, including Project Devil,” says Karel Wegert, Director, Digital Solutions, Media Experts. “From a media perspective, we were able to better communicate our customer’s messages to an unduplicated audience while efficiently reaching the target audience for the BMW X1 launch.” Read the rest of this entry »

Job board Adminjobs.ca has just gotten a whole new look with a totally revisited graphic interface. For six years, this bilingual site has featured administrative support and clerical jobs throughout Canada. It has some 100 job ads, for functions including office clerks, administrative assistants, receptionists, secretaries, and telephone operators.

Playful and colourful, the new version of the site uses office job symbols (e.g. Post-its, paper clips and thumbtacks). The posting of job ads has been clarified and the search engine optimized to enter criteria in just a few clicks.

Adminjobs.ca has also joined the Web 2.0 era with the option to follow job ads via Twitter or RSS feed. In addition, the creation of a mobile version of the site allows users to consult and transfer job ads from any kind of handheld device, including IPhones, BlackBerries, iPads and Android phones.

Manuel Francisci, jobWings Careers President and founder of Adminjobs.ca, explains: “We wanted to offercandidates and recruiters the most relevant new technological tools to facilitate their job search and applications. We think that these new functionalities will make browsing more enjoyable and effective.”

Adminjobs.ca includes job search tips for candidates in the administrative support and clerical field. Job descriptions, résumé and cover letter templates, useful links, articles on the future of the profession, training opportunities and more—check out the site for all the resources available to you in this sector.

Corel® has launched PhotoVideoLife.com, a new web community where Corel® VideoStudio® Pro X4 users can share and trade video templates and content. An extension of the Corel Guide included in VideoStudio Pro X4, PhotoVideoLife.com provides users with extra tips, tricks and tutorials as well as product updates, news and commentary. PhotoVideoLife’s ongoing goal is to make the movie-making process faster, easier and more fun for X4 users.

“VideoStudio fans love movie templates, and why not? They make any video project faster, easier and more enjoyable,” said Greg Wood, Senior Product Marketing Manager for VideoStudio. “These templates, combined with X4’s effects, ease-of-use and speed will help make the creation process even smoother. When you start with a good looking template and a bit of know-how, it’s easy to create a funny video for a friend, a recap of a family weekend, or a video blog, in just a few minutes. Making video editing easier and more fun is exactly why we created PhotoVideoLife for our users.”

New movie template trading site PhotoVideoLife.com enables users to:

• Browse and select templates to quickly build your video production
• Provide an exciting new look to an existing video production
• Upload your own video creations to share with other users
• Read the PhotoVideoLife blog to help get the most out of VideoStudio Pro X4
• Participate in the PhotoVideoLife blog by leaving comments and helpful advice for other VideoStudio Pro X4 users
• Link to Corel support options and learning resources

Launched in February 2011, VideoStudio Pro X4 is the newest version of Corel’s consumer video editing software. It pushes the performance envelope by delivering increased speed and usability as well as cool creative tools like Stop Motion, Timelapse and drag and drop templates.

“We believe that VideoStudio Pro X4 is a big step forward in making video editing easier and more fun, regardless of your experience,” explained Wood. “The VideoStudio team wants to help our users reach their creative potential by giving them powerful tools that are simple and fun to use, plus the knowledge to apply them with confidence.”

Download a free, fully-functional trial version.

Today, more than 1,000 McDonald’s Restaurants across Canada will flick the switch on free and unlimited Wi-Fi, as part of the company’s commitment to placing the customer experience at the core of its business. Whether using a smartphone, laptop or tablet, customers can catch up on emails, browse the Web and stay connected while enjoying their favourite McDonald’s food and beverages.

“Providing value and convenience is what we’re all about and we’re thrilled to add free Wi-Fi as we look to continually enhance our customers’ restaurant experience,” said Joel Yashinsky, Vice-President of Marketing for McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited. “With the summer season and busy traveling months around the corner, free Internet connectivity, along with quality food and great value, will help make our restaurants convenient and family-friendly destinations for people on-the-go.”

By month’s end, more than 90 per cent of the company’s 1,400 plus locations nationally will be enabled with the new service, making McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada one of the country’s largest providers of free Wi-Fi.

McDonald’s Canada is pleased to offer free Wi-Fi together with Bell and to rely on their expertise as Canada’s largest retail hotspot provider.

“Expanding Bell’s already-leading Wi-Fi network into more than 1,000 McDonald’s restaurants demonstrates our ability to successfully meet the large-scale requirements of our enterprise customers,” said Almis Ledas, Vice President of Corporate Development at Bell Mobility. “This partnership between Bell and McDonalds means Canada’s best network just got better.”

No purchase is required to use the service. For added convenience, the new and unlimited Wi-Fi service features a one-click entry point that doesn’t require a username or password.