Village Gamer

iStockphoto has expanded its Vetta Collection to include video and illustrations. Vetta is a collection of best-in-class iStock content that has been editor-selected for exquisite quality, art direction, creativity, originality and style.

The Vetta collection was created for creative professionals who demand the finest iStock has to offer and are looking for a more sophisticated take on stock. As is the case with Vetta photos, acceptance criteria for video and illustrations will remain extremely strict.

“It comes as no surprise that the work of our best and most creative artists has become so popular with our customers. We’ve seen Vetta content used in some truly mind-blowing campaigns and projects,” said Kelly Thompson, COO of iStockphoto. “With the addition of video and illustrations, the options they have become virtually limitless.”

Vetta — Italian for “peak” — is the answer for creative professionals looking for exceptional imagery and video. Vetta files are submitted by exclusive iStock contributors to a seasoned group of editors and each is carefully reviewed for its art direction, well-executed concept and uniqueness.

Pricing for Vetta video and illustration files are as follows:

Video
Big Web – 55 credits
NTSC – 90 credits
HD 720 – 120 credits
HD 1080 – 150 credits

Illustrations
Detailed – 40 credits
Complex – 50 credits
Elaborate – 60 credits

Hothead Games has launched their second iOS title Chromanoids in the App Store. This arcade shoot ’em up puts you in charge of a last line of defense space fleet, tasked with saving Earth from the unforgiving enemy Chromanoid ships.

Chromanoids is a classic arcade-style space shooter, but with a colorful twist: players can only damage the oncoming ships with blasts of color that match that of the enemy. Mix and swap colors in the reservoir to make the perfect match and destroy the Chromanoid attackers.

Players have the choice to use in game Power Ups, such as Nukes, Fastshot and Instakill Blitz Bombs to progress through wave after wave of challenging space battles.

To keep you entertained throughout the missile launches and explosions the game story that accompanies Chromanoids is a space fuelled adventure inspired by anime and centered around themes of squad defection, peer respect and an out of this world love triangle.

“Ensign Cyan reporting for duty Sir! Sensors detect shielded Chromanoids coming our way!”

Chromanoids features:

*         Special power up items to obtain during play to help you on your mission
*         Game Center support with leaderboards for each game mode and local high scores
*         Five different modes of gameplay:

*    Story Mode: You’re the last line of defense against the Chromanoids; your success affects the outcome.
*    Armada Mode: Be challenged with more and faster attackers.
*    Ultradrive Mode: The attacking ships speed up with each new wave, and your accuracy will affect the speed of your color missiles.
*    Depleted Mode: Blast power is diminished as you hit the enemies, but gain bonus points for targeting the ships with smaller and smaller shots.
*    Red-Shift Mode: Blast away!  Just shoot the enemies down, without having to change colors.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/Y1bEIGfjh9Y]

You can try the Chromanoids free version (in-app purchase will unlock the full game) or purchase the full version for 99 cents USD. This game is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Are you a ‘Cameo’-style volunteer, who wants occasional, flexible opportunities to develop your skills?  Or are you a ‘Type A’, a highly motivated leader, driven to contribute to a cause that means the most to you?

Volunteer Canada, together with Manulife Financial, is introducing a new digital tool that categorizes Canadians into six distinct volunteer types and recommends available roles suited to their volunteer profiles and specific interests. The Volunteer Quiz, or VQ, is the latest addition to a suite of digital assets that is part of a national two-year campaign. This national campaign is aimed at enriching the volunteer experience of Canadians and strengthening the country’s voluntary sector in order to build and sustain healthy communities.

According to the landmark Bridging the Gap research study, led by Volunteer Canada in partnership with Manulife, technology is creating an opportunity to address a disconnect between what Canadians look for in volunteer experiences and what organizations offer.

“Today’s volunteers are more goal-oriented, autonomous, tech-savvy, and mobile,” said Ruth MacKenzie, President and CEO of Volunteer Canada. “It’s essential that organizations recognize the changes that technology brings and adapt to meet the needs of the next generation of volunteers.”

Rookie, Roving Consultant, Type ‘A’, Groupie, Juggler, and Cameo are the six volunteer types identified by the VQ, and are based on the Bridging the Gap research findings. The VQ is the first online tool in Canada to provide volunteer opportunities best suited to the individual’s profile. The ‘Groupie’, for example, enjoys the camaraderie of group volunteering activities, and is best suited to large organizations with short-term or one-day volunteer activities, while the ‘Roving Consultant’ is better suited to work on specific short-term projects with real need for a specialized skill set.

“All Canadians have a role to play along a broad spectrum of engagement – everything from quick bursts of volunteering on mobile handsets to front-line volunteer aid in war-torn regions of the world,” said MacKenzie. “The VQ can help boost volunteer engagement, but it’s essential to maintain a balance between episodic and long-term volunteering.”

“As the leading corporate supporter of this campaign, Manulife is committed to building tools and resources that inspire Canadians to get involved in their communities and help the not-for-profit sector respond to the unique needs of today’s volunteers,” said Nicole Boivin, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Communications at Manulife Canada.  “The VQ is an interactive tool that helps people identify their unique volunteer style, which in turn allows them to focus their search on experiences that they’re likely to find most rewarding.”

Canadians can access the VQ as a feature on the interactive campaign website. The resource connects individuals to suitable volunteer opportunities made available through a powerful volunteer matching tool, sponsored by Manulife Financial.

Reminder: You have one more day to get your vote counted for the Canadian Video Game Awards Game of the Year. Note: Use of Facebook Connect is required to vote.

Canada Post has introduced its new mobile applications that enable Canadians to create their own postage stamps while on the go. The new applications are available in iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android^™ and BlackBerry formats and can be downloaded for free. These new applications join the growing suite of mobile apps now offered by Canada Post.

“This is a unique and creative way to capture special moments in one’s life – whether it’s to mark an occasion like a wedding, celebrate a loved one or commemorate a pet – and share it with friends and family,” says Mary Traversy, Senior Vice President, Transaction Mail at Canada Post.

Picture Postage^™ can be used the same way as any other stamp. The stamps are valued at the current domestic rate. This means that one Picture Postage^™ stamp gets any standard-size envelope (up to 30 grams) delivered anywhere in Canada.

Each photograph submitted will be transformed into a sheet of 20 self-adhesive, domestic rate stamps with a souvenir picture enlargement for $27.95 or a full sheet of 40 stamps for $44.75.

Reminder: You have one more day to get your vote counted for the Canadian Video Game Awards Game of the Year. Note: Use of Facebook Connect is required to vote.

On May 2, 2011, the Ontario court approved settlements in a copyright class action involving freelance writers who wrote for Canadian publications. The settlement funds total C$7.9 million. The freelance writers are represented by Heather Robertson, a freelance author, and by Koskie Minsky LLP, a leading Canadian class action law firm.

The case involved allegations that the defendants infringed the copyright of freelance writers who wrote articles and other literary works that were published by Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., Rogers Publishing Limited, Canwest Publishing Inc. or their affiliates. The plaintiff alleged the defendants disseminated these literary works in online databases without permission.

“This is a tremendous result for Canadian freelance writers”, said Kirk Baert, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. “Class members saw their articles appearing in online databases without their express permission. This settlement provides compensation for that unexpected use.”

In the next few weeks, there will be an official notice appearing in certain newspapers and magazines explaining how freelance writers can make claims from the settlement funds. The notice will also be available on Koskie Minsky’s website.

Export Development Canada is organizing a match-making event with Konami Digital Entertainment to introduce them to Canadian game developers at the Canadian Games Conference next week in Vancouver.

The meetings will be 20 minute meetings with Konami at the conference, however participants do not have to be registered for the conference to participate in our match-making session.

Prior to this event, EDC will be hosting a panel at the conference on Thursday May 19th titled “The Art of Making a Pitch” which will provide you valuable insight into how to maximize your pitch with a Publisher.  Ms. Careen Yapp from Konami will be participating in the panel, and will provide details on what Konami considers rich content, and what they look for in a pitch.  Also participating in the panel are industry veterans including Scott Simpson from Ascenscion Crossmedia, along with Denis Dyack and Dave Elton from Silicon Knights.

Finally, EDC will also be part of a panel later in the day on Thursday discussing new financing models and how EDC is supporting the financial gaps in the industry.   The organizing committee for the Canadian Games Conference is also offering a 25% discount to the companies participating in this match-making event.

Please contact Rob Caouette or Johanne Henley at EDC before May 16th in order to reserve a time for your private meeting with Konami on May 20, 2011.

SIGGRAPH has released the list of courses that will be available during this year’s conference in Vancouver. According to the SIGGRAPH site, the spectrum of courses ranges from an introduction to the foundations of computer graphics and interactive techniques for those new to the field to advanced instruction on the most current techniques and topics. Conference organizers have also partnered with Vancouver’s UniGlobe Vision Travel to help you Make It Home to Vancouver this August for SIGGRAPH 2011.

The next BCTIA TechForum – Voices of Experience event is taking place on May 19th at the Sutton Place Hotel. Innovation, Productivity and Jobs: Why BC Should Care with speakers David Emerson and Jock Finlayson will examine the impact of innovation on British Columbia’s economy, and explore what BC must do to earn its place among the most innovative, growing and prosperous economies today. Tickets are $55.00 for BCTIA Members and $80.00 for Non-members or $36.00 Students.

The Hamilton community of the TeamBiz network invites local entrepreneurs and business professionals to attend its first networking event. Organized in partnership with the Hamilton Small Business Enterprise Centre, the event will take place at the Hamilton Small Business Centre (Hamilton City Hall) on May 25, from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

The purpose of the event is to help small business owners from Hamilton and surrounding areas explore new opportunities for contacts and potential partners in increasing business. You can register online for this event. Seating is limited to 75 people on a first come first served basis. The cost to attend is $15 + HST.

“Our community is based online, but in the past few months, many Teambiz members expressed interest to meet each other in person as well”, says Ruxandra Bucataru, Teambiz co-founder.”We recognize that face-to-face interaction enhances online relationships, so we want to create a social and enjoyable pure networking evening, where people have plenty of time to connect, and we are keeping it simple and to the point”.

Several promotional opportunities are also available at the event, from exhibitor tables, to door prizes and contributions to goodie bags, handed to all participants. TeamBiz is a network of entrepreneurs with over 1,000 members Canada-wide. Started as a small peer mentoring group at the Hamilton Small Business Centre several years ago, the network is spreading at a rapid pace, with new members joining every day.

Best Buy Canada is now offering customers the option to purchase previously played games online for as low as $4.99 per game. The online selection can be found in the preplayed games section of Best Buy’s web site and includes games for several popular game consoles including Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PSP and Xbox 360.

All used games are thoroughly inspected for quality assurance and are backed by a 30-day exchange policy. Best Buy will exchange damaged games for the same title (pending availability) or in-store credit. Customers can also search online for title availability at their local Best Buy using the “check local store availability” feature. Previously played games are not available in Nanaimo, Winnipeg and select Ontario Best Buy Stores. Customers are these regions are invited to shop online for all of the latest titles.

Yangaroo Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement with Black Entertainment Television (BET Networks) to power online review and professional member voting for the forthcoming BET Awards to be held in Los Angeles in June and The BET Hip Hop Awards to be held in Atlanta in October. BET will employ Yangaroo’s patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS) Awards solution to securely distribute ballots in digital formats to its voting members. Through DMDS, members will be able to review materials online and vote electronically at the time that is most convenient for them. The agreement with BET follows similar, previous deals Yangaroo has inked with The Grammy’s, The Juno’s, The Academy of Country Music Awards and others to provide award shows with a cost-saving and digitally-streamlined solution.

The research is in and the message from Canadian shoppers is clear – Hell hath no fury like a consumer scorned. According to the Colloquy Word of Mouth (WOM) study of 2,960 Canadian shoppers, bad news about bad brand experiences travels fast — even faster among Canadians than Americans, in fact. More than eight in ten (84 per cent) Canadian consumers say they advise family or friends about a bad experience with a product or service, compared with three quarters of American consumers who do the same.  Comparatively, just six in ten Canadian consumers say they recommend products or services to others.

“The best managed brands know exactly who their advocates are, and they’re usually found in the membership rolls of a loyalty program,” said Colloquy Managing Partner Kelly Hlavinka.  “But this study shows that advocates can just as easily become “madvocates” if their experience with a brand turns sour. Like a guard dog, these advocates are loyal until the owner gets careless, and then they bite.”

Advocates and Madvocates

According to Colloquy’s study, consumers can be broken into three categories or mind-sets:

• Three in ten (31 per cent) are word of mouth super-Advocates, or “WOM Champions,” who intend to recommend their favourite brands.
• Almost one quarter (24 per cent) are described by Colloquy as “Madvocates,” who are predisposed to engage in negative word of mouth practices after suffering a bad experience.
• Fortunately, “Pure Madvocates” — consumers who say they will never be advocates and are oriented to negative word of mouth only – are a rare breed, making up just seven per cent of the general population.

The Loudest Voices

• Canadian women are the most likely to be word of mouth champions (47 per cent); and twice as likely to advocate as “madvocate” (22 per cent).
• Almost half (44 per cent) of all affluent consumers earning $125,000 are word of mouth Champions, but an almost equal portion (38 per cent) are Madvocates.

In 2011, word of mouth Champions made up 31 per cent of the Canadian general population. This group is especially important to the marketers looking to arm themselves against the large proportion of the Canadian population prone to sharing their negative experiences. Marketers trying to locate these brand Champions should look no further than their own loyalty database. WOM Champions make up a third of total reward members, and only account for 18 per cent of those not participating in any program. In essence, there are almost double the Champions within reward programs members then there are among non-member population.

“Loyalty marketers must accept the responsibility for the impact their programs can have on generating both positive and negative word of mouth,” said Hlavinka.  “The best defence against negative conversations about your brand is a good offence – engage and empower the Champions within your own rewards programs”

Colloquy’s study also focused on how Champions differed in their communications methods from less engaged consumers, as well as Madvocates, by examining loyalty programs members. The following trends emerged:

• For both general members and Champions, there is a lot of staying power in “old school” methods — with face-to-face communications, phone calls and email topping the list of communication methods used by reward program members.
• However, the study also showed that Champions are much more engaged than regular consumers when it comes to “new school” methods, which include social networking communities, mobile messaging, and product review sites. Overall, Champions are 50-100 per cent more engaged across these platforms than other non-Champion members, making their involvement in a word-of-mouth campaign essential to its success.

“Marketers need to know that Madvocates are just as connected across multiple communication platforms as Champions,” said Hlavinka. “Madvocacy is an attitude possessed even by a proportion of a brand’s best customers. So, while you have a highly connected group of Champions engaged in word-of-mouth, you also have those ready, willing and able to discuss negative experiences within your program.”

Advice for Marketers

1. Find the word of mouth Champions and treat them well. Your Champions are also your potential Madvocates.
2. Don’t abandon traditional communications. While social media platforms are popular, email and good old phone calls and conversations top the list for brand discussions.
3. Concentrate on delivering on your brand promise. Please customers with excellent products and a rewarding experience and they’ll talk about you – in their channel of choice.
4. Don’t discard the Madvocates. They have the energy and inclination to tell positive stories if treated right.
5. Build community forums. Build a single, authoritative go-to place where customers can talk about your brand.

Colloquy is a provider of loyalty marketing publishing, education and research and is owned by Toronto-based LoyaltyOne.  Colloquy’s WOM survey, featuring completed responses from 2,960 Canadian consumers nationwide, was conducted in December 2010.  A white paper presenting the complete results of the study, as well as additional tips, is available online free of charge.  Colloquy previously published a 2009 study titled The New Champion Customers: Measuring Word-of-Mouth Activity Among Reward Program Members.

Reminder: Today is the final day for submissions to apply for the Shaw Rocket Fund Digital Progam.

A new survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) of 8,900 businesses shows that, if given the opportunity to start over, the vast majority (83 per cent) of entrepreneurs would choose the same career path.

It should come as no surprise then that 78 per cent of business owners would recommend small business ownership as a career option for young people. Unfortunately, business owners’ comments all point to the same common denominator: Schools are not promoting entrepreneurship as a career option. “Schools are set up for kids to start a career, not start a business,” said one member from Alberta.

And, according to CFIB research, the education system hasn’t fully embraced entrepreneurship as a viable career option for young people, with 56 per cent of business owners indicating that they did not feel as though there was enough of an emphasis on starting a business as a career option in schools today. “Given the many opportunities and rewards that entrepreneurship has to offer, it is only natural that business owners would recommend it as a career option and believe that schools should do more to encourage it,” reasoned CFIB’s vice-president of research, Doug Bruce.

CFIB Sr. VP of Research, Economics and Western Canada, Laura Jones, was also quick to point out that 92 per cent of business owners indicate running a business is a rewarding career. “Entrepreneurs are happy to go to work every day because they have the freedom to be their own bosses and tailor their line of work toward their own strengths and interests,” she explained. Adding, “If entrepreneurial skills and aptitudes were sufficiently encouraged in the education system,  the next generation of business owners will be in  for a great career which not only permits them to build on their talent and expertise, but also fulfill them personally and professionally as well.”

Entrepreneurs have no regrets is the second in a series of short reports on entrepreneurship. The first report is titled “The Secrets of Entrepreneurial Success” and the series commemorates CFIB’s 40^th anniversary and celebrates 2011 as the federally designated Year of the Entrepreneur.

Washington, DC company Blackboard Inc. has announced plans to open a new data centre in Canada this summer, responding to growing interest from Canadian institutions for an in-region facility to host and manage their learning environments. The new data centre will be located in Calgary and will be the company’s seventh production facility. It joins Blackboard’s existing hosting facilities in the United States, the Netherlands and Australia.

Blackboard Managed Hosting currently supports about 8.5 million active users and approximately 950 education, corporate and government clients worldwide. Overall, the number of clients hosted by Blackboard has grown by over 20 percent in the last two years.

As the management of learning environments becomes more complex and the need for more reliable uptime becomes more important, institutions have increasingly leveraged Blackboard’s hosting capabilities. In doing so, they’re achieving greater uptime and a partner with the technical expertise to manage installations, upgrades, and day-to-day system maintenance, enabling their institutional IT staff to spend more time working to improve overall systems to better support learning programs.

“Opening a data centre in Canada underscores our commitment to providing the best mix of technology and services to institutions in Canada,” said Harry Choi, vice president of Blackboard Managed Hosting. “We’ve seen that clients who rely on our deep experience and technical expertise spend less time worrying about system management and can devote more of their attention to improving and growing programs, so we’re excited to present a stronger set of capabilities to Canadian institutions.”