Government requested formation of national new media body, say CI@IC members

A year after its formation, the Canadian Interactive Alliance (CI@IC) has further solidified itself by electing a board and executives. Going forward, the group will continue to focus on broad-sweeping issues in the Canadian new media sector and is confident it won’t suffer the same fate as the national interactive media associations that preceded it. Ian Kelso, president of Ontario’s New Media Business Alliance, says the interactive media industry has evolved since the Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada (IMPAC) – the last attempt at a national new media body – shut its doors in 2000. "We’ve matured a lot and gained a lot more solidity on the ground in our respective regions and I think we feel a little more confident and are able to separate our regional priorities national priorities," he says. "It simplifies things when everybody’s got a good idea of what they want to do in their own backyard and where we need to pull together." Kelso has been elected VP of CI@IC and will serve alongside president Lynda Brown, who holds the same position at New Media BC. The executive is rounded out by Marc Seguin, VP of feature film and new technology at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, and Rémi Racine, board chair at Quebec’s Alliance numériQC, who will fill the positions of treasurer and secretary respectively. "It’s think having at the helm will really help drive this new alliance forward," says Mark Bishop, partner and producer at Marblemedia Inc. "She’s a huge industry advocate and always has a presence at the different industry events." Turning to Kelso, Bishop adds: "I have tremendous respect with what he’s done for…the industry as a whole as an advocate to help really find these inroads of collaboration between the organizations to really put a lot of our companies on the map….So I think it’s key that we have that voice." As befits a national body, CI@IC is comprised of the eight largest new media associations in the country. The remaining board members include: Greg Gazin, VP, Digital Media Association of Alberta; John Jameson, president, Manitoba Interactive Digital Media Association; Ryan Lejbak, board member, Saskatchewan Interactive Media Association; and Sandy Peardon, executive director, Innovation & Technology Association of PEI. All members of these associations can now count themselves part of the national body. Although each of the provincial organizations will still deal with regional issues specific to its members, they will be presenting a united front on topics of national importance. "The only way we’re going to be successful in lobbying government for change…is by the industry speaking as one industry with a united voice across the country," says Bishop. But those two objectives – spurring Ottawa into action and remaining united nationally – are easier said than done. IMPAC, which was founded in the fall of 1999, effectively ceased operations less than a year later due to a lack of initiative or will to support projects by the federal government and regional disparities within the organization itself (CNM, May 18/00). However, CI@IC members say a lot has changed within the past six years. "There were a lot of hard years where people kind of looked at you funny like they didn’t understand what you were talking about," says Diane Williamson, president and executive producer at London ON’s Digital Wizards Inc. "Now is recognized as an industry and an important innovation for all of the provinces and certainly for Canada." While members like Williamson would be expected to be optimistic about the prospects of CI@IC succeeding, there is some more concrete evidence to suggest a national new media body will work this time around: namely, the government has requested its creation. Kelso says several years ago federal government agencies such as the Department of Canadian Heritage started saying they needed a group to inform them about the industry. "Everybody had come to the realization that interactive media was going to be an important leg in terms of national economic development and the knowledge economy," says Kelso. "And we as a country needed to get our act together." For an example of the types of lobbying CI@IC will undertake, Kelso points to the Telefilm Canada New Media Fund, which it helped boost from $9 million to $14 million last year. He also says the alliance will be involved in policy issues such as making submissions to the CRTC regarding the broadcast review looking at where the interactive media industry sits within the Broadcasting Act. "When it comes to lobbying or funding…these goals are the same coast to coast," says Bishop. "It doesn’t matter whether I’m in BC or New Brunswick, it’s still the common goal of trying to help build a sustainable new media industry in Canada." The alliance is also close to publishing the first annual industry overview, the Canadian Interactive Industry Profile. According to Kelso, a key part of the first profile was coming up with a common set of definitions for the industry, such as what is interactive entertainment or e-learning? So although the industry has come a long way in the last half decade, it still has some growing to do. Part of that growth will involve fostering an association in all provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have yet to be brought into the fold – so membership in CI@IC will truly represent the entire country. "We would love to be able to represent every region from coast to coast, north to south," says Kelso.

Government requested formation of national new media body, say CI@IC members

Broadcast | July 11, 2006

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