Village Gamer

If you haven’t heard about it already, the Merging Media Conference is set to take the stage in Vancouver this October 28th and 29th with former President of Digital Media at OWN Robert Tercek delivering the Keynote Address. As the former President of Digital Media at OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, Senior Vice President of Digital Media at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Creative Director at MTV, Tercek has created breakthrough entertainment experiences for digital platforms across the board, from cable and satellite television to games, interactive television and wireless networks.

According to the Conference’s web site, which is still be under construction as the group prepares for their official launch next week, The M+M Conference will bring together 350-400 media professionals from film, television, mobile, games and interactive media, and feature top International cross-media experts to showcase “Best in Class” Case-studies, discuss the rapidly evolving business of cross-media and explore how new platforms and technology can be adopted to help companies stay competitive.

There will be a Master Class led by Anita Ondine Smith which is designed to help 30-40 producers who have cross media development projects in development and are seeking financing for their projects, to fine-tune their cross-media proposals and business plans. Thus far the Conference appears to be scheduling an impressive speaker line-up, including two of our favourite people, Victor Lucas and Rochelle Grayson along with Susan Bonds, Sibley Verbeck, Caitlin Burns and more

MiGS has just announced that Narrative Bridging: A CIN workshop will be taking place immediately after the Montreal International Game Summit. The two day workshop takes place November 10 and 11 at the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel and will focus on developing advanced interactive narratives using Narrative Bridging. This will give the participants tools for designing interactive narratives for video games and show the mechanisms that motivate the player to action in the game world. The focus will be on Narrative Bridging and model and control design. After the workshop the participants will understand how the narrative creates incentives for the players to form strategies in the game world and how to accommodate for that in the narrative design.

The Competition Bureau announced today that it has concluded that it will not challenge Shaw Communications Inc.’s proposed acquisition of the over-the-air and specialty television businesses of Canwest Global Communications Corp.

Canwest and certain of its subsidiaries had previously filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. Shaw is a broadcast distribution undertaking, while its affiliate, Corus Entertainment, is a broadcasting company. Canwest owns and operates an over-the-air television network and an extensive portfolio of specialty television channels.

Following a significant review, the Bureau has concluded that this transaction would not likely give rise to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition having regard to a number of factors, including effective remaining competition, the effect of the regulatory environment, and a lack of relevant competitive concerns on the part of market participants. In particular, with respect to the impact on advertising, the Bureau concluded that there were numerous alternative options available to advertisers.

The York Woods Branch (1785 Finch Avenue West) of the Toronto Public Library is bringing the past to life through their new Black Creek Living History project. Local seniors and teens will work together to create a resource that will preserve the unique history of this diverse and vibrant Toronto neighbourhood.

“This is an exciting project and a great opportunity for the community to celebrate its past,” said Jessica Rovito, a librarian at the York Woods Branch. “We want the community to be involved in telling their own stories and preserving them for years to come.” Read the rest of this entry »