Change at top of Liberty Village signals new directions for new media organization

Controversy surrounds the announcement that Kathrine Brown is set to leave the helm of Toronto’s Liberty Village New Media Centre (LVNMC) several months in advance of the end of her contract. Brown will be replaced by well-known new media entrepreneur Julian Wharton, founder of QEDMedia, who takes over this week. Rumours of a board ouster, however, are false, and Brown’s early leave is the result of a mutual decision between herself and the board of directors, say several people close to the situation. Brown had been expected to stay until this September, when her contract was to expire. But she says she decided about a month-and-a-half ago to leave the centre to devote more time to her personal life. Referring all questions about the LVNMC to incoming chief Wharton, Brown will say only that "I’m quite pleased with the way things are moving forward…It’s important that I don’t confuse things with other comments. I know (the LVNMC) wants to handle this very clearly, and understand what people want to do with the centre." Indications are that Brown made her intention to leave at the end of her contract known to the board and that they mutually decided to accelerate her departure date to begin restructuring the organization in light of market challenges to fulfilling its mandate. Provincial funding to the LVNMC will run out in April 2003 and the centre has struggled to enunciate a clear vision for itself in a very difficult economic climate. "…To be effective in the time remaining in that program, we may want to move sooner rather than later," LVNMC board chair Bruce Graham tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "(Brown) made the offer to us that if, in fact, we wanted to bring somebody on sooner, she would work cooperatively through that process. That was a decision that the board had to make, and they decided to take (her) up on her offer to step aside sooner so that, in fact, we have a new person in place soon enough that we can have some continuity and work with the funds that we have currently in place to be effective. "If we waited until September some time, then brought somebody in on an interim basis rather than a full-time basis, we’d be a few months behind. Her actual offer to the board has triggered this. That said, I think the board’s recognized that we’ve got to engage the leadership of this industry and the players that are there right now. (Wharton has) a tremendous background in this industry and knows a lot of people there and has some great ideas. We thought it was probably the best way to pick up on the good work that had been done by (Brown) and her team and we don’t foresee – certainly in the short term – a shakeup in the staff and the structure. We do see an adjustment in the focus and we do see new opportunities working with other associations, in particular SMART Toronto, to integrate our opportunities." The centre is currently working with public relations firm High Road Communications to make an official announcement, likely at the end of this week or sometime in the next. In the meantime, all questions are being referred to Wharton or to Graham. Wharton is already touring Toronto new media firms seeking their advice. The LVNMC was launched in November 2000 with Brown as its founding executive director and $1 million in funding over three years from the province of Ontario’s Interactive Digital Media Small Business Growth Fund. Though still speculative, many believe the LVNMC will eventually be merged with SMART Toronto. Graham says many on the LVNMC’s board would support such a move. "There’s certainly some synergies that both ourselves and SMART see. SMART Toronto’s got a new president stepping in place and I think there’s a great relationship between their team and our team… "I really do believe that by the fall we should be seeing some kind of focus, an integration of some kind…Both organizations, to some degree, need each other and I think there’s better upside than downside by pursuing that, and I think our board feels that way about it for sure."

Change at top of Liberty Village signals new directions for new media organization

News | 07/10/2002 4:00 am EDT

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