Village Gamer

Last night, over 25 individuals and organizations were awarded with some of their industry’s most prestigious awards. Northern Alberta’s best communicators came together for IABC Edmonton’s annual Capital Awards Gala at the Winspear Centre to scrutinize, win and network.

“I want to thank everyone who submitted entries and came out to the gala last night to support their peers,” says IABC President Max Frank. “Congratulations go out to all the winners for their exemplary work.”

In the Communications & Marketing Programs & Campaigns category, Awards of Excellence were awarded to The DAGNY Partnership, ATCO Gas & ATCO Electric, Alberta Blue Cross, Calder Bateman Communications and College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta. Awards of Merit were awarded to The Edmonton Public Library and McRobbie Optamedia, with WCB-Alberta receiving both awards.

In the Communications Skills & Tactics category, Syncrude Canada Ltd. was awarded an Award of Excellence, while ATB Financial, Grant MacEwan University, Finning Canada and McRobbie Optamedia were awarded Awards of Merit. In the Special Events category, an Award of Excellence went to WCB-Alberta and an Award of Merit was awarded to ATB Financial. Calder Bateman Communications also won both Awards of Excellence and Merit.

In the Visual Communications category, McRobbie Optamedia won both an Award of Excellence and an Award of Merit, and Incite was awarded an Award of Merit. Lastly, in the Student Category, five Grant MacEwan students won an Award of Excellence.

In addition to the above mentioned categories, IABC Edmonton recognized three individuals with special awards. The Capital Communicator of the Year award went to Trish Bronsch for her support of the importance of communications in her organization’s success. The Communicator of the Year award went to Sherrell Steele, ABC for her exemplary communication strategies and tactics in 2010 and throughout her career. The Member of the Year award went to Jana Clarke for her outstanding service to IABC Edmonton.

marblemedia is the only recipient of more than one award at this year’s Youth Media Alliance (YMA) Awards. The awards for marble’s TasteBudsTV.com were presented last night at the 2011 Awards of Excellence Gala held at CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio, where long-running Canadian classic teen show Degrassi was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to Linda Schuyler & Stephen Stohn .

TasteBudsTV.com was awarded the Special Jury Award for Interactive Web Content and the Award of Excellence for Best Convergent Interactive Content. The Special Jury Award goes to a project that promotes healthy living by outlining the importance of education, staying physically active and incorporating strong core values. The Award of Excellence for Best Convergent Interactive Content is awarded to the project that best exemplifies exceptional work on a website or convergent cross-platform content tied into a children’s television program.

“We’re very excited to have been honoured with these two great awards for TasteBudsTV.com,” says Mark Bishop, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia. “The Youth Media Alliance continues to promote the growth of groundbreaking cross-platform content for kids and teens, which is very much what we here at marble strive for as well.”

TasteBudsTV.com is a vibrant and engaging website that brings the feel and flavour of the popular Taste Buds TV series to computers across the globe, promoting healthy eating by encouraging knowledge about food, nutrition, and diverse cultures. This interactive online environment is host to a number of recipes, videos and games, which incorporate educational components such as literacy, numeracy, science, health education, and caring for the environment.

English Awards of Excellence:

The Grand Prize for Best Program – All Categories went to Stella and Sam – Produced by Radical Sheep Productions Inc. and broadcast by Playhouse Disney Canada.

Animation Category – Ages 3-5

dirtgirlworld – Produced by DHX Media Ltd. and mememe productions Inc. (Australia) – Broadcast by CBC

Animation Category – Ages 6-8

Mixed Nutz – Produced by Big Bad Boo Studios Inc. – Broadcast by Shaw TV

Animation Category – Ages 9-14

League of Super Evil – Produced by Nerd Corps Entertainment – Broadcast by YTV & VRAK.TV

All Genres Category – Ages 3-5

The Ocean Room – Produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment – Broadcast by TVO

All Genres Category – Ages 6-8

Artzooka! – Produced by CCI Entertainment Ltd. – Broadcast by CBC 

All Genres Category – Ages 9-12

Vacation with Derek – Produced by Shaftesbury Films Inc. – Broadcast by Family Channel

Interstitial Category – All Ages

Gisèle’s Big Backyard – Produced & Broadcast by TVO

Special Jury Award – Television

What’s Your News? – Produced by Lenz Entertainment Inc. – Broadcast by CBC

Best Original Interactive Content

Ruby Skye P.I.: The Spam Scam – Produced by (Jill Golick Enterprises Ltd) Story 2.DH

Best Convergent Interactive Content

TasteBudsTV.com – Produced by marblemedia

Special Jury Award – Digital and Interactive Content

TasteBudsTV.com – Produced by marblemedia

Special Anniversary Outstanding Achievement Award

Degrassi – Produced by Linda Schuyler & Stephen Stohn

Winners of the “It’s Chemistry, Eh!?“ YouTube contest, aimed at highlighting the exciting contributions of chemistry to society, were announced today in celebration of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011). The contest was established as one of the many Canadian IYC activities that can be seen on the IYC 2011 website.

Targeted toward Canadian middle and high school students, numerous submissions from across the country were received, which were diverse in nature and rich in content.

First prize and $2,500 toward further education was awarded to Pascal Turmel and Jonathan Kwok from Vancouver for their video entitled “Combustion’s Not Always Destruction.” Elisha Walker, also from Vancouver, wins second prize for highlighting the chemistry that can be found around us in our daily lives. “Chemical Girl,” submitted by a class from Monterey Middle School in Victoria sang and danced their way to 3rd prize for creativity.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUTjjIMK2Yk]

“We were delighted and inspired by the enthusiasm displayed in the submissions we received.  These videos absolutely shout how much fun chemistry can be,” says Greg Wilkinson, chair of the IYC communications committee and founder of the YouTube contest.

“It’s Chemistry, Eh!?” is sponsored by Esso-Imperial Oil Chemical and led by the Chemical Institute of Canada, with sponsors including Gold-Level sponsors Amgen, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, Lanxess, Maxxam Analytics, NOVA Chemicals and Silver-Level Sponsors Croplife Canada, BASF, DOW Chemical Canada Inc., Newalta, Woodbridge Foam and Xerox Research Centre of Canada.

Sage announced today that its Sage Simply Accounting business, in cooperation with LinkedIn, Staples and leading Canadian entrepreneurship advisor Evan Carmichael, has awarded more than $10,000 worth of products and services to Toronto small business Giftcards for Causes as part of its ‘Make Your Case for $10K‘ contest.

Selected from an array of entries via the contest site on LinkedIn, the cause gift card company, along with co-finalists James Kennedy Film Company, Inc., and Fabudeal, was invited to pitch its business plan to a panel of judges on May 11, 2011, at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. That panel included entrepreneurship advisor Evan Carmichael, along with judges from Sage Simply Accounting, LinkedIn, and Staples.

Giftcards for Causes aims to be a leading provider of gift card based fundraising and incentive solutions to non-profit and charitable organizations. In Canada, billions of dollars’ worth of gift cards are purchased or go unredeemed every year. Through Giftcards for Causes’ unique solutions, non-profit and charitable groups are able to leverage this exploding market to drive new sources of fundraising revenue.

“This win was unexpected because my co-finalists had strong business plans,” said Sean Snyder, president of Giftcards for Causes. “We all worked very hard to get our businesses to where they are today and it’s an honour to be the winner of the contest. These renowned products and services will provide the tools we need to take Giftcards for Causes to the next level and continue helping Canadian non-profit and charitable organizations raise maximum funds, while providing innovative ways for consumers to easily support their favourite causes through gift cards.”

Giftcards for Causes will receive more than $10,000 worth of products and services, including:

• Sage Simply Accounting Premium 2011 plus Business Care Gold
• Sage Simply Accounting HR Manager¹
• Access to Sage Simply Accounting Essentials online training²
• Services of a Certified Consultant from the Sage Accountants Network
• Business gift card from Staples®
• Technology consulting and advisory services from Staples® easytech 4business — Technology Solutions
• One-year Premium Subscription to LinkedIn to enhance their business network
• Business consulting services from renowned entrepreneur Evan Carmichael

Toronto-based James Kennedy Film Company Inc. and Fabudeal were also finalists of the contest and presented their business plans in front of the judges.

“I found this contest to be an excellent catalyst to not only evaluate my business but to actually think about what I have and what I can offer to a wider market,” said James Kennedy, president of James Kennedy Film Company Inc. “That’s why regardless of the outcome I’m happy to have been a part of it.”

The contest presentations were followed by a thought leadership panel for Toronto small businesses presented by Sage Simply Accounting. Panellists revealed their insider success secrets and discussed other topical issues, industry trends and best practices for small business growth.

“Attending the panel was extremely insightful,” said Jerry Rotondaro, Co-founder and Chief Deal Maker of Fabudeal and finalist of the Make Your Case for $10K contest. “The panellists were highly knowledgeable and gave us valuable advice to grow our small business. Both the contest and panel were a great networking and learning opportunity.”

“Sage has a long history of helping small to midsized businesses in Canada reach their maximum potential — whether it is through initiatives such as the ‘Make Your Case for $10K Contest’ or by providing world-class products and services to its customers,” said Connie Certusi, senior vice president and general manager of Sage Simply Accounting. “Choosing the finalists, let alone a winner, was a difficult task because of the exceptional quality of the business plans that entered the contest. We hope that this boost will be a catalyst to increased success for Giftcards for Causes.”

Digital Alberta received nearly 200 submissions in 17 categories for this year’s Digital Alberta Awards. The Association has announced the finalists and hopes to see you all at the Digital Alberta Awards on Monday, June 6th at Calgary’s Hotel Arts. Tickets are on sale now, but seating is limited and the show promises to be a sell out event. This year’s nominees are:

Outstanding Achievement Award

• iStockphoto – Bruce Livingstone
• Bioware – Dr Ray Muzyka and Dr Greg Zeschuk
• Critical Mass – Dianne Wilkins
• Smart Technologies – David Martin
• StumbleUpon – Garrett Camp

B2C Innovation – Presented by Macleod Dixon

• Robots & Pencils for Ripplewave – Ayala Malls
• Robots & Pencils for Rightmove PLC – Rightmove for iPad
• Chaordix for Orange (France Telecom) UK – Mobile Volunteering
• Pirates Love Daisies – gskinner.com
• Strut for Brookfield Homes – Website, iPhone App & Touch-based Kiosk

Best Digital Advertising/Marketing or Design Agency – Presented by the CMA

• Donovan Creative
• Medium Rare
• Suitcase Interactive
• Evans Hunt
• Critical Mass

Best Digital Design – Presented by Adobe

• Robots & Pencils for Rightmove PLC – Rightmove for iPad
• Suitcase Interactive – Jayman MasterBuilt Web Site
• RED The Agency – EPCOR Blue Bucket Crew
• Calgary Herald In-house design team – Swerve Calgary
• Strut for Brookfield Homes – Website, iPhone App & Touch-based Kiosk

Best in Cross-Platform Content – Presented by Postmedia Networks

• The SnowShow Presented by SnowSeekers
• Enthrill Entertainment – One Child Transmedia Experience
• Corus Entertainment – ExploreMusic – powered by Cardinal
• Snow Seekers Go-Guide
• EA / Bioware – Mass Effect 2
• Conceptual Films – FOTO with Struan

B2B Innovation

• Robots & Pencils for Avalanche Air Systems Ltd. – Contractor Forms HD App
• Robots & Pencils for Ayala Malls / Ripplewave – Ayala Malls App
• Chaordix for IBM (Global) – Information Governance Community
• Touchmetric
• WMode – Cricket

Best Combined Hardware & Software Experience

• Suitcase Interactive – Jayman Touchscreen Application
• JetVision
• eQube Technology and Software Inc – Lil Gecko
• SMART Technologies – Multitouch Interactive Whiteboard
• SMART Technologies – Mixed Reality in education

Best in E-learning

• Rocket Fuel Games for Discovery Kids – Seek Your Own Proof
• 3DI – Simulation Training on Aerial Work Platform
• Global e-Training
• SMART Multitouch Interactive whiteboard
• SMART Mixed reality in the classroom

Best in Games Development

• Big Nerds in Disguise – Own This World
• EA / Bioware – Dragon Age 2
• EA / Bioware – Mass Effect 2
• BigStack Studios – Sigma
• Games Cafe – Sally’s Studio
• Pirates Love Daisies – gskinner.com

Best Use of Film, Animation or Special FX

• Solid Green Promo
• Jump Studios – IZOD Indy Rebranding Package
• Science Alberta – Do You Know What Nano Means
• 3DI – MARL Technologies Launches Revolutionary Sub Sea Drill
• EA / Bioware – Mass Effect 2

Government 2.0

• HEALTH DETERMINANTS FOR FIRST NATIONS in Alberta – Lift Interactive
• City of Calgary – Road Conditions Map
• City Of Calgary – 2010 Calgary Civic Election iPhone App
• Studio Dialog for the City Of Calgary – The Bow is Below
• Share Edmonton Wiki Site

Best In Financial Services

• Fulucai Productions Ltd. – “The Real Deal”
• Habañero for Servus Credit Union – Servus Website
• Suitcase Interactive for Neteller Net+ Credit Card – Facebook Ninja Defense Game
• Solium Capital – Adhoc Financial Reporting Engine

Mobile Innovation

• Poynt Corporation
• Syncamatic
• Big Nerds in Disguise – Own This World
• Perfectly Clear – iPhone & iPad Apps
• Fluik Entertainment – Office Jerk

Best in Social Media

• Suitcase Interactive for The Forzani Group – Athletes World “Stand Out” Engagement Campaign
• Cardinal for Corus Entertainment – ExploreMusic
• RED the Agency for EPCOR – Blue Bucket Crew and Digital Aquarium
• Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) – Canada’s Oil Sands: Come see for yourself.
• Edmonton Journal – Grey Cup 2010
• Shell Canada – Shell FuellingChange

Best Social Impact

• Chaordix for University of Oxford (Global) – Global Voices for Maternal Health
• Suitcase Interactive for United Way of Calgary – “BeCause” Social Campaign
• Joe Media for angrysue.ca – Get Turned off. For Good (aka. End Idling)
• Spark! by Benevity Workplace Giving Solution
• From Competition to Connection – Bringing Women Together with Womentum

Best Digital Startup

• Empire Avenue
• ExploreMusic – powered by Cardinal
• Beamdog
• Calgary Herald In-house design team – Swerve Calgary
• decorateIT online

Student Digital Award

• Alana Thorburn-Watt – Synaesthesia Squares
• Jessie Altura and Oana Avasilichioaei – Celan Mirror
• Greg Crossfield – Pulsar Chocolate Bar
• Lindsay MacDonald – University of Calgary – A Delicate Agreement
• Jeremy Pudlowski – The Man of Hat

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) announced the winners of its first annual .CA Impact Awards at the mesh conference in Toronto, on the evening of May 25. Winners were chosen for using their .CA websites to make a positive cultural, technical, economic, or social impact. Four winners received $5,000 each as well as national recognition.

“At CIRA, we try to keep track of all the great .CA websites out there, but with over 1.6 million registered .CA sites it’s hard to keep up,” says Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA. “The .CA Impact Awards has really opened our eyes to some of the amazing work done on the web by Canadians. It’s truly inspiring.”

The awards were broken down in four broad categories, the winners for each category are:

• eLearning: ArtsAlive.CA, an educational performing arts website produced by the National Arts Centre, is the pre-eminent resource for performing arts education in Canada, engaging Canadians through information, multimedia and activities.
• Small Business: OpenMedia.CA uses its .CA website to protect the open Internet and to promote the innovation and free speech that it enables. OpenMedia.ca is currently the home of the viral Stop the Metre campaign, bringing the public together to fight for a more affordable Internet.
• Non-Profit: UppercaseGallery.CA is now an online artist community, featuring a blog, exhibitions, and a magazine. UppercaseGallery began as a gallery in downtown Calgary that featured the work of emerging and established graphic designers before moving online. Its .CA domain name allows Uppercase Gallery to clearly define itself as Canadian, as much of its web traffic is international.
• Web Technology and Design: NewPad.CA is an online apartment-hunting portal intended to make apartment hunting easier by mapping out online apartment listings in cities across Canada.

The .CA Impact Awards are part of CIRA’s ongoing commitment to invest in Canada’s Internet community and are designed to recognize youth, educators, not-for-profit organizations, small businesses, technology developers and web designers.

Pizza Pizza has made its mark on mobile shopping with the launch of its first-ever iPhone app. This month, the Canadian-based pizza chain was honoured with a Webby Award, a prestigious international web-based award that recognizes excellence on the internet. The company’s one-of-a-kind smartphone ordering application was named the best shopping tool for a handheld device, just over a month after its launch.

The win comes in the category of mobile shopping for handheld devices. Other nominees considered for the award included big-box American retailers Target and Walgreens. Pizza Pizza and Plastic Mobile, the mobile marketing agency that developed its app, are the lone Canadian companies to receive a Webby award in this category this year.

“We’ve really made a push to enter the online world through our web ordering system and now our mobile app,” said Pat Finelli, Chief Marketing Officer for Pizza Pizza. “This is a big win for us. It proves that we’ve delivered when it comes to reliability and convenience, which are characteristics of ours that customers have really come to expect and value.”

The easy-to-use, interactive app was launched earlier this year, the first of its kind from a national Canadian-based pizza chain. The Pizza Pizza app is available at no charge for all iPhone^(R), iPod touch^(R) and iPad^(TM) models that run iOS 3.0 or later.

Vancouver tech entrepreneur Ms. Shahrzad Rafati, founder of BroadbandTV, is the only Canadian to join household names such as Oprah Winfrey, Conan O’Brien, and key industry players such as Sebastian Thrun of Google and Andy Mooney from Disney on Fast Company magazine’s 2011 list of top 100 most creative people in business. Fast Company magazine is the world’s leading progressive business media brand.

In 3 short years, Rafati’s company, BroadbandTV, has partnered with content providers such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) to help curate, and match user-created video content with online advertising opportunities.

BroadbandTV is helping change the relationship between “pirates” and corporate content providers. BroadbandTV identifies positive and potentially revenue-generating fan-created content and helps its partners claim it, put advertising against it and generate revenue.

“Corporations no longer look at piracy as a black and white issue,” explained Rafati. “Instead of battling against their most enthusiastic fans, they’re starting to realize there’s more value in working with them. We’re helping companies identify and take control of their content and generate revenue from it.

The next big step for the company is a mobile app that will suggest video content, often from BroadbandTV’s content, for users based on their interests and personal preferences.

Shahrzad Rafati emigrated to Canada in 2000, studied Computer Science at The University of British Columbia and upon graduation founded BroadbandTV. BroadbandTV has curated more than hundreds of thousands of videos and monetized billions of impressions generating millions of ad dollars for its clients.

Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) today announced their participation in the 12-part action series Transporter-The Series. Based on the high-octane Transporter films, the series is an international co-production between The Movie Network and Movie Central, Canada’s QVF Inc., M6 and Atlantique Productions in France, Germany’s RTL Group and HBO/Cinemax in the U.S.

“The Movie Network is all about premium entertainment and we’re proud to add this made-in-Canada big-budget action series to our original content offering,” said Aubie Greenberg, Director, Original Programming, Movie Services, Astral Television. “The theatrical Transporter franchise has connected with audiences on The Movie Network and around the world through its iconic characters and frenetic pace. We’re excited to further this connection through participation in such a large-scale production, especially one that takes our long-standing partnership with HBO to the next level.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with HBO/Cinemax,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama, Corus Entertainment. “As a franchise, Transporter offers a solid fan base with appeal to grow into an exciting series. Filming in Toronto with our world class production partners, the action-filled series will bring the beloved character of Frank Martin to premium television.”

The winners of the CATAAlliance 26th Annual Innovation Awards were announced Wednesday night at a sold out Gala Dinner, emceed by Paul Brent, host of CTV Ottawa’s TechNow. For over two decades, the CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala has been celebrating the best in Canadian advanced technology from coast to coast.

A reception, hosted by Ernst and Young and the Royal Bank of Canada, started the evening off in celebration of the 2011 Award Winners and Finalists recognized for their innovation, expertise, and leadership in Canada’s advanced technology community.

“Our 2011 award winners and finalists have shown that they are world-class innovators and industry leaders. They are certainly role models for the development of commercially successful enterprises in Canada. CATA is proud to act as an advocate for them and to provide a platform of programs and initiatives to assist in their growth,” says John Reid, CATA President.

In keeping with the theme of the Gala, Technology Futures, a panel discussion of industry experts provided insight into the exciting realm of upcoming technology trends. The panel included:

Patrick K. Horgan – Vice President, Manufacturing, Development and Operations, IBM Canada
Trina Alexson – Service Delivery Executive, Cisco Systems Inc.
Lynda Partner – Vice President, Marketing, Redline Communications
Lubor Ptacek – Vice President, Open Text
Craig Wright – Chief Economist, RBC Capital Markets

Awards winners were presented with awards in the following areas:

• Telfer School of Management Award for Private Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology: Marcel Lebrun – CEO, Radian6
• Open Text Award for Public Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology: Steve Palmer – Executive Director, Canadian Police Research Centre (CPRC), Shereen Miller – Director General, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, Public Works and Government Services Canada
• Peter Brojde Award for Canada’s Next Generation Executive Leadership: Chris McLaren – Founder and CEO, Tristan Interactive
• ICTC Information Technology HR Strategic Leadership Award: Magor Communications
• KPMG CIO Leadership Award: Erik Boch – Founder, CTO and VP Engineering, DragonWave Inc.
• Wellington West Award for Outstanding Product Achievement (ICT/Health/Clean Tech): IDEAL LIFE Inc.
• Celestica Award for Technology Commercialization: IntelliView Technologies Inc.
• Ericsson Award for Outstanding Product Achievement (Content and Application Mobility Industry): Purple Forge
• TSX Emerging Technology Award: Virage Simulation
• CAMSC Innovation through Diversity Award: Garth Scully – Director, Partner Operations, Cisco Systems Inc.
• Motorola Award for Public Safety Technology: Optosecurity Inc.
• Canadian Women in Technology (CanWIT) Sara Kirke Award for Woman Entrepreneurship: Janet Longmore – President and CEO, Digital Opportunity Trust
• High Road Communications’ Prix de l’innovation pour l’Excellence dans le journalisme scientifique et technique medias du Quebec: Denis Lalonde – Direction Informatique
• High Road Communications’ Excellence in Science and Technology Reporting Award: Bob McDonald – CBC

Front row (l-r): Erik Boch, DragonWave Inc.; Shereen Miller, PWGSC; Steve Palmer, CPRC; Marcel Lebrun, Radian6
Back row (l-r): Ken Davison, Magor Communications; Garth Scully, Cisco Systems Inc., Janet Longmore, Digital Opportunity Trust; John Craig, Purple Forge; Denis Lalonde, Direction Informatique; Mike Reardon, Virage Simulation; Chris McLaren, Tristan Interactive; Bob McDonald, CBC; Dr. Wael Badawy, IntelliView Technologies.

The 26th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala was supported this year by the following corporate sponsors: RBC, Ernst and Young, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, the Peter Brojde Foundation, ICTC, KPMG, High Road Communications, Ericsson, Celestica, Wellington West, TSX, CAMSC, Motorola, Microsoft, Accretive Advisor, and Open Text.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Starplex Cinemas to equip its Stadium 16 theatre in Corpus Christi, Texas and Stadium 14 in Normal, Ill. with D-BOX MFX Seats.

Stadium 16 in Corpus Christi will be the first of the two to feature the motion technology, debuting 25 D-BOX MFX Seats in time for the May 20 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

“This initial agreement with Starplex Cinemas generates new opportunity for growth within the U.S. as this chain currently has a presence in California, Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio, just to name a few U.S. states,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master.

“We are very much looking forward to introducing the D-BOX experience,” said Director of Marketing for Starplex Cinemas, Traci Hoey. “It’s a means of differentiating our theatres from others in the market while maintaining our commitment to provide a high-quality, state-of-the-art entertainment experience for our guests.”

The HSBC International Business Awards are an important, new awards program that will honour Canadian firms that have made a real difference in taking their products and services to the world. The Awards were bestowed in the following categories: the HSBC International Business of the Year Award, Small and Medium Enterprise, the HSBC International Business of the Year Award, Large Enterprise, the Leadership in International Trade in Asia-Pacific, and the Leadership in International Trade in Latin America. The program was created in conjunction with Business without Borders, Canada’s newest and best source of news, analysis and practical information for companies reaching beyond this nation’s borders.

Of interest to us are the 2011 Award Winners in the Enterprise categories, because they are both from the Technology sector:

Small Medium Enterprise: ToonBoom Animation
Large Enterprise: Forensic Technology

GuestLogix, Inc., a global provider of onboard store technology to airlines and the passenger travel industry, today announced that Tom Douramakos, President and Chief Executive Officer was invited to present at the 12^th Annual B. Riley & Co. Investor Conference at the Lowes Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

Mr. Douramakos will discuss the benefits of GuestLogix’ onboard retailing technology and merchandising platform and highlight the Company’s success in penetrating the global airline industry. He will also outline the Company’s strategy to drive continued growth. The GuestLogix presentation will take place on Tuesday, May 24^th, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time in Palisades D.