Village Gamer

Ottawa – The Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) and its umbrella association, CATAAlliance, have formed a partnership with the Strategy Institute to host the Optimum Broadband Strategies for Cities Summit and offer their members a 15 per cent discount on registrations.

The event, hosted on June 23 and 24 in Toronto, is of special interest to Internet service providers (ISPs), public safety and security stakeholders, equipment vendors, application/service providers, and city management executives.

“The importance of high speed Internet access and broadband infrastructure to innovation and public safety and security can not be understated,” says John Reid, President of CATAAlliance. “We felt it was crucial to support this event to increase our understanding of the current state of broadband while providing exclusive benefits to our members.”
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Ottawa – The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) has joined the call of Ottawa TV station CTV, to support local TV across Canada by calling for a review of its regulatory funding regime.

“If we cut local community roots, we lose something invaluable as a nation. Media coverage is hugely important in establishing a reputation and product awareness.” said John Reid, CATA President, adding, “If the local TV companies falter, we will be facing another blow against creating Canada’s Innovation Nation — which is already weak because of the economic climate. We want to see local television continue to strengthen our communities. This system has to be fixed.”

As part of Canada wide mobilization, CATA is calling on High Tech companies to join the CTV petition, and to also gather for a “virtual protest meeting” in Second Life, a virtual 3D world where people can socialize, gather, chat and explore.
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Vancouver – In my opinion, I feel that the inaugural year for Vancouver Digital Week was a week filled with opportunities – not just for networking, but also for learning and promoting our Canadian industry. With such events as the International Partnering Forum, GDC Canada, FuturePlay, Game Career Seminar, nextMedia Vancouver, MITACS, Digital Kung Fu and Convergence there was something for everyone, no matter what level they are at in the digital media industry.

Expo Floor

While I was not able to attend all events, reports from those who attended the International Partnering Forum say that it was very successful, with over 35 countries represented through delegate parties. Many countries are interested in not only doing business with Canadian digital media companies, but also in locating business enterprises in Canada. I believe that such interest speaks highly of the quality of our talent and our global reputation in the technological industry fields.

Dave & Kelly

GDC Canada presented an abundance of relevant topics on its four seminar tracks in Concept/PreProduction, Production, Finalling and Post Launch/Analysis. As always, the keynote addresses were well presented and entertaining as well as informative. While many of us may have had the opportunity to hear Don Mattrick (Microsoft), Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka (Bioware) present seminars before, they always have something new and fresh to present on a variety of topics and perspectives. While a few people may have felt that it would’ve been a better choice to bring in industry notables from other countries, giving an opportunity to many who might not otherwise have the chance to attend a live seminar from those other notables, I feel that two full-house keynotes showed that we can still learn from our own industry pioneers and that we still appreciate the paths they have walked and the achievements they have obtained throughout their careers.
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Banff – “The Banff World Television Awards have long been recognized as one of the most prestigious awards in the industry celebrating outstanding television programs by international TV creators,” comments Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director. “The 2009 nominees for the Entertainment and Documentary ‘Rockies’ are once again outstanding.”

Canwest presents the Banff World Television Awards. ‘E! News Weekend’s’ Arisa Cox will host the Categories’ Awards on Sunday, June 7. ‘ET Canada’s’ Rick Campanelli will host the Grand Prize Awards honouring ‘Best of the Best in Banff’ on Monday June 8.

The Interactive Awards will be handed out during BANFF’s sister conference, nextMEDIA, on Saturday, June 6, 2009. All ceremonies will be held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada

New additions to this year’s Rockies include the now expanded Sports program categories separated into two categories – Sports Documentaries and Sport Entertainment Programs. A complete list of nominees for the Entertainment and Documentary categories for the 2009 Banff World Television Awards follows below.
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Vancouver – I will be honest – in the weeks leading up to GDC Canada, I had my reservations about what type of event it would be. I had heard that not many people would be attending and that there would be very little in the way of exhibit booths. I imagine that a large part was played by the current economy in keeping businesses and attendees away, but it didn’t take me very long once I had arrived at GDC Canada to feel that it was going to be a great event. Even though there wasn’t an abundance of exhibit booths, there was a good many people present – early estimates put the number at about double the attendance of 2008’s VIGS – the previous incarnation of GDC Canada.

The conference organizers – Think Services and Reboot Communications, along with their staff, volunteers and the Advisory Board are to be congratulated on a very good inaugural event. I feel that GDC Canada will continue to grow in the future, and I know that more than just a few of us are hoping to see more features added to next year’s conference – especially a Canadian version of the GDC Game Awards.

Overall, I think that Vancouver Digital Week has been thus far a great success. Today we will be dropping in on Digital Kung Fu which is taking place at the Great Northern Way Campus, followed by the Wired Woman seminar about computer forensics. I have loads of notes and photos to post from GDC and all of the accompanying events, but unfortunately it looks like I won’t have the time to do them all justice until tomorrow – but that just means you have more new and informative content from Village Gamer to look forward to.

I do want to send a shout-out to one of our regular readers whom I had the pleasure of meeting at GDC, so “Hi!” to Ryan Arndt from Certain Sound – I hope you had a great time at GDC Canada, and thank you for letting me know that you find our site to be a useful source of information.

Vancouver – The first keynote of the inaugural GDC Canda event has ended, and conference attendees are now checking out the seminars on a variety of topics on three tracks – production, design and business.

Don & Victor

This morning’s keynote session featured Microsoft Game Studios’ Don Mattrick, who was interviewed by Victor Lucas. There was lively discussion about the past, present and future of the game industry, and Don shared his thoughts on directions and paths we may see traveled in the future. I will cover more of this topic when I write my event wrap-up.

There are loads of great people to meet and talk to at the conference, as well as very informative seminar sessions. There are still passes available, check out the GDC Canada website for more information.

Vancouver – The BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) have announced the finalists for the 2009 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs). Marking the awards’ 15th year, the 2009 finalists reaffirm British Columbia’s status as a global leader in innovative software solutions, mobile communications, and energy conservation technologies.

“This year’s TIA finalists are making their mark on the world with innovative solutions that are improving productivity and environmental sustainability, while saving their customers millions of dollars every year,” observed Pascal Spothelfer, President of the BCTIA. “Innovation and best business practices are essential for our industry to weather the current economic storm. The TIA finalists are representative of the class of companies that come out of a downturn strong and well positioned for the recovery.”
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Vancouver – DOXA 2009 will screen 75 films during the expanded ten-day festival. This year the festival offers the most diverse and innovative programming to its widest audience yet, with the majority of films offering upliftment through intimate and inspirational stories.

Afghan Girls Can Kick is one of the most powerful stories of this year’s festival. It tells the story of the first ever Afghani women’s soccer team. Not only is it the first women’s team, but the athletes are extremely passionate and skilled at their sport. These women fought to form a team and they keep on fighting for what they deserve, including a chance to play their first international tournament.
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Vancouver – Tonight’s AnnexPro informational session, Discover How to Make Better Games + Animation with Autodesk DEC Tools, has been cancelled due to Game Four in the Vancouver Canucks – Chicago Blackhawks play-off series. AnnexPro encourages those who were planning on attending this session to please register for the AutoDesk Virtual Event on May 19 instead.

Also, please note that the May 14th event, Up Close + Personal: Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 with Louis Marcoux may be postponed due to further Canucks play-off action. Please check the event page for further information.

Go Canucks Go!

Edmonton – Computer games are a major economic force in the burgeoning interactive entertainment industry. In the past, computer graphics was used to differentiate products but recent hardware advances have leveled the playing field. Today, the savvy consumer looks beyond the mere appearance of a game to the quality of its content. Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen as the next leap forward in technology, attempting to create game characters that behave and converse as realistically as possible. Come hear how progress in this seemingly narrow topic will impact your daily lives in the not to distant future. Read the rest of this entry »