Village Gamer

Every so often I run across an interesting site – sometimes led there by Twitter, as I was today – I followed a link tweeted by Corwin Hiebert of Creative Mix. Today’s discovery is Creative Couples Network, founded by creative Vancouver couple and Creativitality proprietors Igor Terzic and Slava Micic, and Megan Williams – who also puts on game day events for the Vancouver Canucks. I bet she’s very busy right now. 😉

According to the site’s information, “Creative Couples is a global network connecting and featuring couples successfully balancing work, love and lifestyle. More often than not, we hear about couples who are either splitting up, cheating on their partner or living a ‘single’ life while in a relationship. With all that attention on tumultuous relationships, where and when is it ‘cool’ to be in love?”

Being one half of a creative couple myself, I thought that I would pass along this great resource to all of the other creatives who read this site – many of whom are also part of a creative duo. The site has many articles that are educational, inspiring and meaningful, as well as a global directory of sites and special feature areas such as Cooking for Two, Music Mondays and Historic Couples. There is also a wealth of video and photographic content for viewing.

By the way, Creative Couples is hiring as well as looking for interns.

Toronto-based IT Service Management Best Practices educator Pink Elephant has announced that the addition of social media to its roster of education topics. The course, Social Media Essentials For ITSM Professionals, introduces IT professionals to the growing and ever-evolving world of social networking.

With its 2010 acquisition of ServiceSphere, Pink Elephant is leveraging the resources of the IT market leader and innovator in the area of social networking. ServiceSphere founder Chris Dancy, who has moved into the role of Digital Engagement Director at Pink Elephant, has created a unique course exclusive to Pink Elephant. As one of the IT support industry’s most respected social networking experts, this course is an outlet for Dancy to share his wealth of knowledge and experience.

“As information technology departments of the world’s leading enterprises evolve, a growing void is taking place with the skill sets of today’s professionals to focus on working with Information Systems,” said Dancy, “Social Media has established itself as the democratization of the information custodian. I look forward to helping our customers transform the way they do business through a better understanding of social media”.

Today, there are numerous social media tools available to organizations. Many experts hold a common view that social media has the power to transform business as much as the Internet did in the 1990s. This course allows IT professionals to walk away with an understanding of how exactly IT can use social media to create business advantages. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago I had the unique chance to sit down with Inspirado Games CEO Rick Davidson and chat about his company’s latest game, Gardenmind.

Gardenmind is a Facebook social game in which players grow plants in their virtual garden, with each plant being associated to a different game mode. Some plants are word games while others are perception games, with more games and plants offered as the player continues to play through Gardenmind. People who enjoy challenging their brains and playing puzzles will enjoy this game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zz25LK1jjI]

The other awesome thing about Gardenmind is that it is a meaningful game; besides learning and challenging their brains players can also contribute to a cause they would like to support. One example of this is with trees like the New Zealand silver fern. If players buy the tree a percentage of the cost goes to support quake relief in Christchurch and players are rewarded with a kiwi to walk around their garden.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XThRc07hXE]

Inspirado Games works with the World Wildlife Fund to support the organization’s causes around the world and Gardenmind was recently nominated for a Canadian Video Game Award for best social game.

When we sat down we talked about how long Inspirado has been around, why they are doing what they are and why they thought they would make this game. We also chat about gaming and the growth of the industry in Vancouver. It was a great chatting with Rick and I hope you enjoy the videos.

Twisted Majic

Eidos-Montreal and Square Enix are offering Facebook users the opportunity to unlock a slew of exclusive Deus Ex: Human Revolution assets by encouraging other fans and friends to “Like” the official Deus Ex Facebook page.  As more users “Like” the page, over 90 exclusive updates – including new videos, behind-the-scenes footage, and other artwork – will be revealed. Fans can also pre-order Deus Ex: Human Revolution to receive exclusive downloadable bonus content from participating retailers.

“Deus Ex has one of the most passionate, vocal and dedicated communities in all of video games, so offering a program that rewards that loyalty – even before the game is released – is a great way for us to give something back,” said Kyle Stallock, Community Manager, Eidos-Montreal.  “The Facebook community now has significant control over the release schedule for some of our favorite assets.  We have a ton of surprises and unlockables planned, so fans should invite their friends to ‘Like’ the page and start collecting these rewards.”

The new program, which launched yesterday, offers more than 90 individual rewards for Facebook fans, including new wallpapers, screenshots and concept art as well as further details on in-game Augmentations, weapons and the story.

Previously, when the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Facebook page achieved 10,000 Likes, fans were rewarded with an exclusive wallpaper created by Eidos-Montreal Art Designer Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, that recreated the imagery from the highly collectible and super-rare PAX East 2011 tee-shirt.

The Deus Ex: Human Revolution Facebook page is where fans can keep up-to-date with the latest news, previews, videos and screenshots on the game; engage in discussions with other fans and development team members; and find out about other contests and promotions.  Fans can also visit the official site where they will find all of the game information and the official forums and join the human revolution on Twitter.

Digital Journal has reported a strong response to its updated content assignment and tracking technology, launched earlier this month across the Digital Journal media network. The technology allows Digital Journal to effectively manage and measure content assignments among its global group of freelance writers and bloggers, known as Digital Journalists.

“In a traditional newsroom, you have editors who work with teams of journalists to assign content and map out the content flow for the day,” said Digital Journal CEO, Chris Hogg. “But if you work with thousands of freelancers and bloggers, managing that workflow is far more difficult. Our Assignments technology improves the efficiency of a virtual newsroom and assists in executing on virtually any content goal.”

Digital Journal Assignments are editor-created content assignments that are pushed out to a network of Digital Journalists who file stories and complete assignments based on particular geography, content verticals or trending topics. Assignments can range from editorial to photographic to video. Digital Journalists who fulfill Assignments before their deadline are paid a bonus for their work, and Assignments can scale from individual to group reports around particular subjects. Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday, May 20, family literacy practitioners in Alberta will roll up their sleeves and build their social media capacity. They’ll learn how to leverage the power of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get connected in a digital age to other non-profit organizations and to the community.

Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, a specialist in marketing of language and literacy programs will present at the Food for Thought conference, organized by the Centre for Family Literacy. (note: registration is now closed for this event)

Eaton will deliver a hands-on workshop designed to teach program directors, administrators, practitioners and volunteers how to leverage the power of social media in a literacy program. Participants will bring their laptops and spend time registering for and using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

“Typically, literacy experts have deep knowledge about teaching learners to read and write, and are somewhat hesitant to delve into the world of new media literacy,” says Eaton, who has presented internationally on the topic of social media in the education and non-profit sectors. “By getting them to open an account, create a Facebook page and try their first Tweet in a collaborative environment, we can engage in meaningful conversations about how to use social media constructively to promote the good work they do in literacy to help our local communities.”

Eaton, who holds a PhD in Educational Leadership,  is one of the world’s top experts on marketing and promotion of second language and literacy programs. She founded Eaton International Consulting Inc. in 2001 to help educational and non-profit organizations. She is the author of 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program and is an international speaker, who has presented on her work in seven countries.

The conference happens in Edmonton on May 19 and 20, 2011 at the FantasyLand Hotel.

Hootsuite has released the first in a 5-part series of White Papers exploring the ROI of social media. Aimed at Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the white papers are co-authored by HootSuite and Nichole Kelly of FullFrontalROI.com and will be valuable for anyone seeking to align social media with traditional metrics like conversions, acquisition cost, and revenue.

“Marketers want to measure social media in a way that is meaningful to the organization, but unfortunately most of us aren’t metrics junkies and there isn’t a silver bullet answer. This White Paper series is about showing marketers how they can finally tie their results to financial metrics like sales, revenue, and cost,” states Ms. Kelly. “I partnered with HootSuite on this project, because my analysis of their Custom Social Analytic Reports shows that it isn’t about giving you a pretty set of social media metrics. It’s about data that will drive better decision making in your organization.”

The first White Paper, “Introduction to Social Media Measurement“ is available now, opening the door into the strange world of marketing and social media. The full series will give companies a better understanding of the many facets of measuring campaigns for lead generation, customer retention, brand awareness and other business aims. The white papers will be available sequentially at two week intervals for free download. HootSuite will also be hosting two public webinars with Ms. Kelly following publication of the 2nd and 4th installations.

Rogers Media, in partnership with iVillage, is thrilled to announce that iVillage.ca is here for Canadian women. iVillage.ca launched today, providing Canadian women with a one-stop online destination for engaging content, community and a ground-breaking multimedia campaign. The new iVillage.ca offers Canadian women content, community and the chance to pick up one of over 250 prizes.

iVillage.ca is all about passion and what better way to launch than with The iVillage Passion Project – an interactive program that invites Canadian women to share their passions for the best things in life; for things like family, fashion, fitness, celebrity, work and relationships. It’s also a chance to watch other women – including CityLine’s Tracy Moore and Sportsnet’s Martine Gaillard – talk about the things that matter most in a collection of over 50 vibrant original videos.

Watching videos also gives viewers a chance to WIN one of over 250 prizes – instantly – plus score daily entries into a grand-prize sweepstakes, where one lucky participant will pick up a trip for four to Universal Orlando^® Resort. To collect bonus entries, users are invited to add their passions to the dynamic iVillage Passion Wall. Editorial about all-things-passion will live throughout the site during the months of May and June and is sponsored by Pantene^® Pro-V^®, COVERGIRL^® NatureLuxe, Pampers^® and Olay Regenerist.

“Rogers Media is thrilled to launch iVillage.ca in partnership with iVillage,” said Jason Tafler, Chief Digital Officer of Rogers Digital Media. “We are proud to bring a Canadian perspective to such a prominent brand. With iVillage.ca added to our list of more than 250 digital products, we will continue to provide Canadian women with trusted, top-tiered online content.”

iVillage.ca will feature original content, alongside top features from iVillage.com and stories from popular Rogers Media brands such as Chatelaine, CityLine and sweetspot.ca. The community-driven site will also connect women to their much beloved iVillage.com discussion boards and feature new discussions for Canadian women about issues important to them.

iVillage.ca is proud to bring a slate of A-list experts and contributors to the table for launch, including one of Babble’s top 10 Canadian mommy bloggers, Catherine Connors (Her Bad Mother) who will write an exclusive weekly column titled “Straight Up from Her Bad Mother” Home Heist‘s Cheryl Torrenueva who comes on board as the iVillage.ca home expert; and Lianne Phillipson-Webb, author of SproutRite, who will dish out weekly nutrition advice for the family.

“We’re delighted to welcome the new iVillage.ca site, which beautifully reflects iVillage’s brand mission as a trusted community and valued resource for women,” said Jodi Kahn, Executive Vice President, iVillage. “Rogers is the perfect partner to bring iVillage to Canada given their strong female brands.”

IGLOO Software has announced it is the recipient of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) Recognized Innovator Award for Social Collaboration. The company won the honour for its social intranet and extranet solutions at the spring 2011 Technology Services World (TSW) conference in Silicon Valley.

IGLOO was also awarded Best in Tour, as voted by attendees, following the Innovation Tours at the conference. Conducted by John Ragsdale, TSIA vice president of technology research, the tours featured demos from all of the Recognized Innovator finalist companies, including CitrixOnline, Coveo, InQuira and LivePerson.

Communities, powered by IGLOO, allow business professionals to share files and capture knowledge, locate documents and expertise, communicate with colleagues and customers, build connections and work better together around projects. Services professionals frequently use IGLOO to build a knowledge base and encourage peer-to-peer interaction in order to reduce support costs and increase sales.

“Technology innovation is a driving force for businesses in every sector of the market,” said John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for TSIA. “IGLOO Software was selected as a winner for its leadership in developing an innovative social collaboration solution that aims to improve the capture, sharing and consumption of ideas and expertise across employee, partner and customer communities. We were proud to honor them at our spring TSW event.”

The Recognized Innovator Awards are the only independently judged awards program that recognizes innovation in technology services products and service offerings documented with customer case studies of measurable business value and results. The Recognized Innovators in each category were selected by a panel of judges, including industry experts and TSIA members.

Toronto has leapt into the number two spot in the world in the just-released PwC survey of “Cities of Opportunity” – the consultancy’s fourth analysis “of the trajectory of 26 cities, all capitals of finance, commerce and culture.” New York is slightly ahead of Toronto in first place, while San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney round out the top five.

In its analysis, PwC ranked cities in ten categories – measures designed, as PwC describes it, to favour “holistic capital market centres with vibrant economies and strong quality of life.” According to PwC, “Our thesis is that a successful city going forward will balance both social and economic strengths so the people and infrastructure support each other.”

Toronto ranks particularly highly in two of the categories most closely correlated with global competitiveness: Intellectual Capital & Innovation (2nd) and Health, Safety & Security (2nd). “The successful modern urban economy,” says PwC, “is reliant on, if not yet solely the product of, intelligence and social well-being.”

Toronto also ranks highly on Demographics and Liveability (#3), Lifestyle Assets (4th), Ease of Doing Business (5th), Sustainability (5th) and Cost (5th).

The PwC report sums up with the observation that, “to sustain success, cities today must continually attract and retain highly educated, technologically adept and digitally connected knowledge workers who increasingly make up the core of their human capital and whose definition of quality of life is exacting and not easily compromised… More than a centre of global business and finance alone, Toronto is a community in which people want to live and expect to lead rich and meaningful lives.”

Samsung Electronics Canada and Zip.ca has announced an exclusive partnership that will soon provide Canadians the ability to enjoy thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Zip.ca to Samsung’s SMART Televisions, Blu-ray players and Home Theatre products.

“Realizing the changing entertainment landscape and the demand for online entertainment, this new partnership will help Canadian’s access Zip.ca’s expansive catalogue and underscores our goal of developing smart technologies that deliver content with convenience to meet consumers needs,” said David Vitale, Head of Marketing, Samsung Electronics Canada.

A Zip.ca app will be available on Samsung’s Internet connected TV and Home Theatre products soon, offering Zip.ca members the ability to instantly watch movies and TV episodes from Zip.ca.

“For the past year, Samsung and Zip.ca have been working together to solidify a service that would provide Canadians with the latest movies and TV programs at the mere push of a button,” said Scott Richards, CEO, Zip.ca. “Consumers want outstanding technology to watch their favourite programs, so Samsung was a natural choice for this partnership.”

MEGA Brands Inc. has announced that holders of its 10% senior secured debentures passed an extraordinary resolution today approving amendments to the indenture governing the debentures. The amendments, among other things, allow the Corporation to increase available borrowings for working capital purposes under its existing asset-based credit agreement and are effective as of today. The extraordinary resolution was approved by approximately 92% of the votes cast in person or represented by proxy at the special meeting of debenture holders.

When the polls closed on Monday evening Jack Layton had made historic gains.  It was a trend in popularity and leadership that the two-week online election game Ballot Blitz had shown from the beginning. Layton finished at the top of Onestop Media Group’s Ballot Blitz leaderboard on Play Onestop with 36%.

Ballot Blitz was an election themed arcade game which posted poll results based on the animated candidates’ popularity.  Users were asked to play as one of five party leaders – Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Elizabeth May, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe – while the other four candidates whizzed across the scene attempting to steal votes.

Layton’s luster was not confined to Ballot Blitz. He and his party rose to the top of almost every poll on PlayOnestop.com’s polling section as well.  These polls measured several leadership qualities including integrity in a fun way.  For example, most users did not believe Layton would attempt to ring 9 items through an 8 item express checkout line.

Susan Varty, Principal of Wordtree Consulting, has joined HeadStart Solutions Inc. as Director of Digital Strategy. Wordtree is now operating under HeadStart to contribute content marketing, social media initiatives and services for HeadStart’s clients.

“Our partnership will enhance our recruitment and employer branding offerings for our existing client base, as well as attract new clients in the emerging digital technology space. I’m looking forward to working with Sue who brings a wealth of experience in content and social media communications.  This makes it a perfect match for us to collaborate and build upon HeadStart’s foundation,” says Marc Roginsky, Founder and President of HeadStart.

Best Buy Canada is hosting The Windows Experience Tour at select Best Buy stores in Ontario and Quebec. Beginning May 6^th until June 26^th, the tent activation will be set up in the parking lots of select stores where customers can check out the hot new hardware while experiencing how Windows 7 and free Windows Live services can help them create, connect and share using their PC and the cloud. In addition, customers can speak with Windows brand ambassadors and Best Buy blue shirts and have the chance to win prizes including one of seven ultimate jet-setter experiences to a music festival somewhere around the globe, or many other prizes as part of the Rock the Globe contest.

Two Best Buy locations will feature a Windows “tailgate” parking lot party, complete with a free barbeque and music. The parties will be at the Newmarket location on May 14^th and May 15^th and the Leaside location on May 21^st.

Dates and locations of the Windows Experience Tours:

May 6 – 8: Sherway – 167 North Queen Etobicoke
May 13 – 15: Newmarket – 175 Green Lane East, Newmarket
May 20 – 22: Leaside – 147 Laird Drive East York
May 27 – 29: Laval – 1560 boulevard Le Courbusier Laval
June 3 – 5: Woodbridge – 7850 Weston Road Woodbridge
June 10 – 12: Sherway – 167 North Queen Etobicoke
June 17 – 19: Kitchener – 215 Fairway Road South Kitchener
June 24 – 26: St. Catherine’s – 420 Vansickle Road St. Catherine’s
June 24 – 26: Ottawa East – 380 Coventry Road Ottawa