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making news on the Canadian New Media scene

The Twain Shall Meet
As Media Festivals Join Forces
An agreement between major Canadian media events will see the sharing of ideas, activities and delegates from east to west. Pat Ferns, president and CEO of the Banff Television Foundation; J.D. MacCulloch, executive producer of the Baddeck International New Media Festival; and Richard Lorway, chair of the Board of Directors at Baddeck; have signed an accord to build collaboration between the two events. Banff and Baddeck plan to explore partnership opportunities, co-branding their respective conference schedules, and a professional development exchange where a staff member from each event travels to the reciprocal event to participate on-site. The Baddeck, NS activities will be held October 10 - 13; the Banff, AB event is June 10 - 15. For more information, visit http://www.baddeckfest.com/ or www.banff2001.com.

Ignore Students, Young Players
At Your Own Peril
Cyberteks Design has been cited as one of Canada's leading Web development companies. The London, ON-based company is headed by 13 year old Keith Peiris, who is company President, CEO, Chief Creative Director and a grade-school student. Cyberteks received the award for the second year in a row from the Branham Group, an Ottawa-based research and analysis firm. To be considered in the Independent Software Developer or Independent IT Professional Service Provider categories, a company: must be started in Canada with headquarters remaining in Canada; have over 50% of their employees in Canada; and over 50% of their research and development are conducted in Canada. For more information, visit http://www.cyberteks.com/.

Education and Technology
Conference Makes It Work
AMTEC, the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada, is the national association for educational media and technology professionals. This year's conference is being held from June 3-6, 2001 at Dalhousie University in Halifax, reports Ray Whitley, the Conference Chair. This year's theme is 'Making It Work: Effective Educational Technology in the New Millennium', providing an in-depth look at the practical and effective application of technology to an educational milieu, from primary to post-secondary. Information sessions, conference paper presentations, a media festival and showcase and technology demonstrations are all part of the conference agenda. For more information, visit http://www.amtec.ca/amtec2001.

Online Experimentation
Unleashes Musical Virus
Nine so-called "scientists", part of a Montreal, QC-based electronic music and new media collective known as Epsilonlab, have unleashed a virulent infection: dependence upon beats. Epsilonlab, a web platform created by the collective of the same name, features audio and visual archives of original electronic music from locally-based composers, and the launch of Epsilonlab's first album, Elsonic, is anticipated this month. For more information, visit http://www.epsilonlab.com/ -- carefully! The collective reports that serious contamination should be expected.

Mergers, Acquistions, New Launches
Dot The Canadian Media Landscape
In response to market shifts and changing industry demands, Toronto-based MultiMediator Strategy Group (MMSG) has launched Delvinia, described as both a philosophy and an interactive brand solutions firm, according to company principals Adam Froman, president and CEO of MMSG and Delvina; and Bill Sweetman, Delvinia's VP of Interactivity. The company's services include interactive research and strategic consulting, marketing communications, commerce, and content development. For more information, visit http://www.delvinia.com/.

BC-based Wiremix Media Inc. and NextLevelUSA.com Inc. have merged operations to form a full service Internet solutions company. Under the terms of the agreement, Wiremix will become a division of NextLevel, working as the Canadian operations arm. The combined talents of Wiremix's marketing and NextLevel's production teams will enable the new company to develop and deliver online entertainment, described Patrick Smyth, Wiremix CEO. The newly configured Wiremix will remain in the Vancouver office as NextLevel Canada. NextLevel.com's head office is in Las Vegas, NV; it will be the parent company to NextLevel Canada, described CEO Benny Doro. For more information, visit http://www.nextlevel.com/.

ecentricarts inc., a Toronto-based new media development company driven by arts, culture, history and educational Web content development, has merged with Tc43 Inc, a technology-focused company specializing in dynamic, database-driven Web applications. Sean Kozey, former CEO and owner of Tc43, joins the ecentricarts team as the third partner and CTO. He joins Keith Durrant, president and Michel Blondeau, CEO; both former principals at Digital Renaissance/ExtendMedia, the two founded ecentricarts in February, 2000. For more information, visit http://www.ecentricarts.com/.

Swim Media is a new media communications firm focused on creating broadcast communications for businesses. Founded by Adam Little and Sarah Caldicott, formerly with Stonehenge Post in Toronto, the company's multi-disciplinary team creates effective video-based content for broadcast, corporate and institutional applications. For more information, visit http://www.swimmedia.com/.

Montage eIntegration Inc has joined Sun Microsystems iForce eIntegrator community. The agreement allows for the two companies to collaborate on design, development and implementation of innovative ecommerce strategies. The alliance with Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc. is an expansion of a pre-existing relationship the company has with Sun as an Authorized Java Center location. "We are thrilled to be moving forward with Sun and its iForce eIntegrator program," said Stephen Byrne, company president. "This alliance recognizes our experience and capabilities with the Sun platform [and] innovative business and technology strategies." For more information visit http://www.montage.ca/.  

If you have a short news item or announcement of interest to the digital content creation community, you may send it to nmp@goodmedia.com.

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