THIS ISSUE'S STREAM:
[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
///// INDUSTRY //////////
+++ Canadian Government to Fund Digitization and Portal
+++ 2001 Canadian New Media Awards Finalists Announced
+++ newmedia.pro Industry Magazine Ceases Publication
+++ Canadian Embassy in France Offers E-Learning Assistance
+++ Canadian Mining Companies Use Internet to Save Billions
+++ Canadian Entrepreneurs Attempt to Sell Water Online
+++ 'Friendly' Manitoba Embraces the Internet
+++ Liberty Village New Media Center Officially Opens
+++ Canadian Interactive Documentary Wins Hot Docs Award
+++ MyVideoGames.com Scores Webby Nomination
+++ Seneca College Offers Co-op Recruitment
///// CONTENT //////////
+++ Transcontinental Launches Canadian Women's Portal
+++ Ecentricarts Brings Art2Life
+++ New Web Application Stores Patient's Medical Info
///// MARKETING //////////
+++ Beer Portal Offers Head-to-Head Hockey Game
+++ Judy Rebick Launches Interactive Online Magazine
///// DEALS //////////
+++ Microsoft Buys NCompass Labs
///// FACTS & FIGURES //////////
+++ The Race to Internet Slows for Small Business
[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ NMBA Case Study: Survive and Thrive the Dotcom Meltdown
+++ Canadian New Media Awards Reception
[-- THE SWEET & BITTER BYTE: AN INTERACTIVE OPINION --]
+++ Meet the New Apologists
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[-- NEWSPEAK: MULTIMEDIA INDUSTRY NEWS --]
///// INDUSTRY //////////
+++ Canadian Government to Fund Digitization and Portal
The government of Canada has announced a massive $560
million in funding for Canada's cultural industries,
including more money for the CBC and the development of
what is being called a Canadian "door to the Internet."
According to a report in the Toronto Star, about $108
million will be set aside to put Canadian culture on the
Internet and to pay for the digitizing of existing Canadian
cultural content that is stored at the CBC and the National
Film Board. Another $32 million will be used to "put
Canadian reference material on the Internet and to launch
a new Web site to promote Canadian culture globally."
[Do we really need yet another Canadian portal? - ED.]
(Source: The Toronto Star)
Return to Table of Contents
+++ 2001 Canadian New Media Awards Finalists Announced
Sixty new media leaders in 12 categories have been selected
as finalists for the second-annual Canadian New Media
Awards. A selection committee comprised of 121 new media
professionals from across Canada collaborated online to
select the finalists from over 560 nominations. "These
individuals and companies are at the forefront of Canada's
new media industry, and they are setting the standard
across this country and around the world," said Adam
Froman, president of Delvinia Inc., producers of the
Canadian New Media Awards. Winners will be announced at an
award ceremony, May 28 at 7:30 PM in the Glenn Gould Studio
in Toronto, Ontario. A public reception will follow in the
Atrium of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre. Visit the CNMA
Web site to learn more about this year's finalists and how
to obtain tickets for the reception, considered by many to
be the must-attend Canadian new media party of the year.
http://www.cnma.ca
Return to Table of Contents
+++ newmedia.pro Industry Magazine Ceases Publication
We are saddened to report that following its three-year run
serving the digital content creation community in Canada,
BitStream's unofficial 'sister publication', the excellent
newmedia.pro Magazine, has ceased publication with its
April 2001 issue. "The decision to stop publishing
newmedia.pro is personally and professionally
disappointing, certainly," editor Lee Rickwood said, "but I
cannot honestly say it was a big surprise. Although we were
able to achieve an initial profitability with the
magazine, ad revenues were definitely down in the past 18
months. That fact, coupled with the recent market downturn
and Dotcom implosion, put additional pressures on the
magazine and left the company little room to move."
newmedia.pro Magazine was launched in April 1998, and
made its debut at the newMedia Conference and Trade Show
in Toronto the following month. The magazine reported on
developments in digital media techniques and technologies,
and described how those developments affected digital
media content creators in Canada. "Despite the fiscal and
financial hurdles, I think the magazine was able to hit
a number of good notes that resonated with our readers,"
Rickwood added. "There's no shortage of information out
there, but we tried to put it in some sort of valuable
context, give it a more local flavour and feel. The
Canadian digital media community is a dynamic and creative
one; the artists and producers I've met and written about
will always be an inspiration to me. Our industry may
suffer from a perceived lack of critical mass, it may be
hindered by a disparate geography and it may be tarnished
by the Dotcom meltdown, but I have no doubt that it will
survive and flourish - there's way too much talent out
there - and that new vehicles will be found to get the word
out!" [Hear, hear! - ED.]
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Canadian Embassy in France Offers E-Learning Assistance
The Canadian Embassy in France is pushing ahead with plans
to export Canada's leadership in the E-Learning market.
Recent studies have shown that while E-Learning is accepted
in North America, only 11 per cent of those surveyed in
Europe are using such applications. To help Canadians tap
into this growing market, the Trade Section of the Canadian
Embassy in France is planning several activities, including
a meeting with the Canadian Trade Officer in France at the
WEM exhibition show, May 21-24 in Vancouver, BC, and a
Canadian presence at le Salon de l'Education / Educatec,
November 22-26 in Paris, France. For more information on
how you can participate, contact François Gauthé,
Commercial Attaché for IT and Communication, Canadian
Embassy in France, francois.gauthe@dfait-maeci.gc.ca.
http://www.amb-canada.fr
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Canadian Mining Companies Use Internet to Save Billions
The Internet is being used by an increasing number of
Canadian mining companies, a trend that is expected to save
the companies billions of dollars. Alcan, Inco, Noranda and
Barrick Gold are a few of the members of an international
consortium that paid up to US$10 million each to join
Quadrem, an online procurement market. Quadrem will help
cut costs for explosives, chemicals, bulldozers, tires and
computers and other items by automating the buying process.
As an example, an online catalogue would allow members to
order products from thousands of suppliers from around the
world. (Source: The Globe and Mail)
http://www.quadrem.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Canadian Entrepreneurs Attempt to Sell Water Online
Never mind squeezing water from a stone. How about selling
it online! The Globe and Mail Reports that two Canadians
have set up a Web site that will be used to sell water
online. In what is being referred to as an "eBay for
water," the Waterbank site will act as a brokerage house,
connecting water rights, water utilities, springs,
geothermal water and bulk water with buyers from around the
world. Waterbank stresses that those wishing to sell water
must "own valid and merchantable title to any water you
hope to sell or lease." The identities of the water sellers
remain secret so as to "protect them from
environmentalists," according to a quote in The Globe and
Mail.
http://www.waterbank.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ 'Friendly' Manitoba Embraces the Internet
Manitoba's Industry, Trade and Mines Minister MaryAnn
Mihychuk has announced an "E-Friendly Manitoba" strategy
for the province. Under the new vision, the province will
educate and train Manitobans in the use of information and
communications technologies, help to attract online
business to the province, and improve public access to
government services through expanded use of online
technology and e-business. "Our strategy places Manitoba in
a position to embrace the opportunities of the digital
revolution," said Mihychuk. "Our goal is to ensure that
Manitobans have the education, skills and opportunities to
become effective participants in the digital economy."
http://www.gov.mb.ca/itt/strategy.html
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Liberty Village New Media Center Officially Opens
After months of planning, Toronto's Liberty Village New
Media Centre (LVNMC) has been officially launched as a
business and marketing hub for the new media industry. The
non-profit organization will support over 17,000 full-time
new media professionals in promoting local expertise in the
new digital economy to the global market. "Liberty Village
New Media Centre was created because the new media industry
needed a place where it can develop its businesses and
promote its work internationally," said Katherine Brown,
LVNMC's Executive Director. The LVNMC was established by
SMART Toronto, the City of Toronto and York Heritage
Properties, in collaboration with many other public and
private organizations and companies, including the
Government of Ontario's Interactive Digital Media Small
Business Growth Fund.
http://www.lvnmc.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Canadian Interactive Documentary Wins Hot Docs Award
The Canadian Film Centre has announced that "Tightrope," an
interactive documentary produced through the New Media
Design Program, has won the Hot Docs Festival's "Hot as
Hell: The Cyber Pitch." Tightrope is a suspense-filled
interactive documentary that is part film, part game and
part documentary. The Canadian Film Centre's New Media
Design Programme at Bell h@bitat was created in 1997 as a
premiere training facility for the research and development
of interactive digital content.
http://www.cdnfilmcentre.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ MyVideoGames.com Scores Webby Nomination
Toronto's MyVideoGames.com has been nominated for a
prestigious Webby Award. The Webby judges have picked 135
Web sites for what are sometimes referred to as "the Oscars
of the Internet." MyVideoGames.com has been called "smartly
designed, and smartly written" by BBC Online's Webguide and
"the thinking gamer's site" by Yahoo Internet Life
Magazine. The awards will be announced on July 18, 2001 at
a ceremony in San Francisco and Webcast live via the Webby
site.
http://www.myvideogames.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Seneca College Offers Co-op Recruitment
The Seneca College Faculty of Technology is offering
employers the opportunity to recruit co-op students from a
wide range of IT, Science, Engineering, Media and
Communications programs. Students are available for the
fall work term from September 4, 2001 to December 24, 2001,
with students from selected IT and Science programs
available for an additional 4, 8 or 12 months
consecutively. Seneca co-op students are hired on a first-
come, first-served basis so those businesses that are
interested are encouraged to post positions early to ensure
that they have the best selection of candidates from which
to choose.
http://careerservices.senecac.on.ca
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Return to Table of Contents
///// CONTENT //////////
+++ Transcontinental Launches Canadian Women's Portal
MochaSofa is a new women's Web site that will feature both
original and repositioned content from Transcontinental's
print magazines: HomeMaker's, Style at Home, Elle (Canadian
edition), and Canadian Living. Transcontinental has hired
editorial top gun Kathy English, former Ryerson journalism
professor and the founding editor of Canoe's women's
section Lifewise, to steer the site. The venture comes hot
on the heels of Rogers Media's decision to pull the plug on
its women's portal, springboard.ca, just five weeks after
its launch. English hopes that superior content and
advertising partnerships - in the form of full-page ads in
each of Transcontinental's publications for the rest of the
year - will give MochaSofa an opportunity to win women's
eyeballs and advertiser's favour.
http://www.mochasofa.com
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Ecentricarts Brings Art2Life
An innovative new Web site will merge Canadian art, history
and culture with new technology to provide educators with
an "integrated approach to education." Toronto's
ecentricarts has been selected to create and design
Art2Life, a project for the McMichael Canadian Art
Collection and the York Region District School Board. The
site, which will launch in June 2001, will use art as a
tool to help users learn about "broader issues in Canadian
culture and society" with content culled from artists,
archives, galleries, museums, broadcasters and publishers
from across the country.
Return to Table of Contents
+++ New Web Application Stores Patient's Medical Info
Toronto's Ember ec3 has announced the creation of a new
Web-based data information system whereby relevant medical
and financial information is stored securely on a patient's
private home page, and can easily be retrieved and updated
online during subsequent visits. The system will be used
initially in eight LifeMark Health clinics in Ontario.
LifeMark currently has more than 50 physiotherapy, injury
rehabilitation and sports-medicine clinics in Canada. "An
online application that provides management with
information on a real-time basis is quite radical for the
health-care industry in North America," said Niall
O'Keeffe, senior business analyst at Ember.
http://www.ember.ca/index.asp?ContentId=CRP098
Return to Table of Contents
///// MARKETING //////////
+++ Beer Portal Offers Head-to-Head Hockey Game
If you have the Playoff Hockey Fever but still need more
action, Beer.com has the cure. The beer portal has
introduced "Kings of the Pond," the world's first online,
multi-player hockey game. "Kings" is easy to play, works on
a 56K modem and includes everything from body checks,
passing, shooting, line changes and, of course, fighting.
Players also serve as coaches and can build three custom
teams, all of which play in the same league at the same
time. Beer.com is calling the game a major milestone for
developer Cybergarden and their gaming division.
http://www.beer.com/ca/fg/kop
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Judy Rebick Launches Interactive Online Magazine
Rabble-rousers of the world are being invited to join
forces at rabble.ca, a site that plans to use the Internet
"in a way it was meant to be used: to connect people,
organizations and ideas" in presenting stories that you
might not find in your morning paper. Publisher Judy Rebick
has created the interactive magazine with an eye on
combining the hot energy of activism with the cool eye of
journalism. The site will include high profile contributors
such as Naomi Klein, Francine Pelletier, Terry Mosher
(Aislin), Clifton Joseph and others.
http://www.rabble.ca
Return to Table of Contents
///// DEALS //////////
+++ Microsoft Buys NCompass Labs
The ever-present Microsoft is set to buy Vancouver-based
NCompass Labs, developer of Web content management
software. Microsoft has said it decided to buy the company
because of "the strategic importance of NCompass's software
to Microsoft's .NET initiatives." "This is a validation of
the Canadian entrepreneurial spirit," Gerri Sinclair,
NCompass's chief executive told The National Post. "Our
employees are extremely pumped about this opportunity."
NCompass currently employs about 150, most of whom are
based in Vancouver. (Source: The National Post)
http://www.ncompasslabs.com
Return to Table of Contents
///// FACTS & FIGURES //////////
+++ The Race to Internet Slows for Small Business
The rush for small businesses to embrace the Internet has
slowed, according to a survey by SES Canada Research. The
survey found that "only 40 per cent of small companies
polled had conducted at least one e-commerce transaction in
the previous six months." A similar survey six months
earlier found that "41 per cent had bought or sold at least
one item over the Internet in the previous six months."
"The honeymoon is definitely over," Nik Nanos, managing
director of SES Canada Research told The Globe and Mail.
"Small businesses have been told a lot of promises, but
they haven't been shown a lot in terms of profitability."
(Source: The Globe and Mail)
http://www.sesresearch.com
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[-- DIGERATI DATEBOOK: UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS --]
+++ NMBA Case Study: Survive and Thrive the Dotcom Meltdown
May 25, 2001 in Toronto, Ontario
The New Media Business Alliance (NMBA) has announced the
first in its ongoing series of New Media Entrepreneur Case
Study sessions. The series is intended as a forum for
owners, managers and interested parties to engage in a
peer-to-peer sharing of experience while probing the most
pressing issues facing the digital media industry today.
This first Case Study features presenter Julie King,
founder and publisher of CanadaOne.com. Attendees to this
session will gain insight into the inner workings of a
digital media success story, discover emerging models for
sales and distribution of digital content, learn how to
avoid some of the pitfalls facing new media companies
today, and network and gain from the experience of others.
For more information, email rsvp@nmba.ca.
Return to Table of Contents
+++ Canadian New Media Awards Reception
May 28, 2001 in Toronto, Ontario
Meet people who actually understand what you do for a
living ... unlike your parents! Tickets to the industry
schmooze-fest to end all schmooze-fests can be purchased
through Ticketmaster for $25 (plus service charges) or $15
(plus service charges) for students. Call Ticketmaster at
(416) 870-8000 or visit the Canadian New Media Awards Web
site for details.
http://www.cnma.ca
The Canadian New Media Awards would not have been possible
without the support of the following sponsors:
A Presenting Partner of the 2001 Canadian New Media Awards,
CBC.CA is the CBC's award-winning Web site, and the gateway
to the online services offered by the CBC. With more than
250,000 pages of content, CBC.CA offers local, national and
international news, business, sports, weather,
entertainment, consumer affairs, an ad-free kids' site, a
CBC on-air guide and more. Now, after more than 60 years of
telling Canadian stories, CBC is proud to be one of the top
Canadian online services. To learn more visit:
http://www.cbc.ca
A Gold Sponsor of the Awards, Sheridan College is at the
forefront in providing advanced technology education in
computer animation, multimedia, telecommunications, film
and television, and broadcast journalism. Founded in 1967,
Sheridan has also earned a reputation for excellence in a
wide range of subject areas, including business, crafts and
design, early childhood education, sports injury management
and music theatre. In September, 2000 Sheridan opened the
Sheridan Centre for Animation & Emerging Technologies,
which houses 10 dynamic programs in digital media content
creation and telecommunications. Visit the Sheridan College
Web site for more information:
http://www.sheridanc.on.ca
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[-- THE SWEET & BITTER BYTE: AN INTERACTIVE OPINION --]
+++ Meet the New Apologists
By Kate Baggott
kbaggott@delvinia.com
The Internet industry used to be famous for its continual
invention of fresh jargon to replace its own terms as
quickly as they grew stale from overuse. Now the former
gurus of the jargon-spewing set sound like the mythical old
fogies sitting around the stove in the general store of our
industry. "Those days are over," is today's new
catchphrase.
Naturally, they mean the days of having money to burn,
of buying beautiful office furniture and top-of-the-line
development boxes, and of yearly trips to Maui for the
whole company are over. They mean that the days of youthful
excitement and inexperience are over. I call them the New
Apologists, and I worry that they may throw out the real
progress our industry has contributed to the workforce when
they toss out the cappuccino machine and office pool table.
Real progress came in the widespread adoption of flex
time and job sharing, the networks that enabled people to
work off-site some or all of the time, and on-site wellness
initiatives. These were real steps toward building
healthier, more productive and more equitable work
environments. When we were cultivating a sense of
possibility through our use of progressive technologies, we
also put into place some very progressive thinking.
The rhetoric of the digital revolution got us on board
by showing us the ways we could make the world a better
place: the environmental legacy we would produce while
moving toward a paperless office; the connected world that
would equal access to resources; the opportunity to really
believe in the concept of meritocracy. It may have been
naïve, but it was not stupid.
Financial desperation has quite possibly put the
breaks on the development of progressive technologies, and
it is my fear that progressive thinking could be stamped
out too. Tech stocks might be headed for an ethical low.
Look at some of the ideas being discussed as a way to
revive the advertising model for content Web sites. The
ability of the tobacco industry is being "terribly
restricted in other media," wrote Dana Blakenhorn in his
column at ClickZ.com, an industry information source for
content workers. "Can dot smoke save the dot com?" Just
imagine your kids checking out a Sailor Moon or a Pokemon
Web site only to meet the Joe Camel many of us have tried
to make extinct. Is that the networked society you wanted
to help create?
The days of deciding what we want to create are
anything but over. Those days are what we have to commit to
every day.
/////
Kate Baggott is a Toronto-based technology writer and
Senior Interactive Specialist for interactive brand
solutions firm Delvinia. The statements and opinions
expressed in her column are solely those of the author and
not Delvinia, BitStream's publisher, its affiliates or
advertisers.
Return to Table of Contents
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