BC firms stand to gain from merger of new media, wireless groups; Olympics also providing impetus

Organizations representing the digital media industry and the wireless industry on the west coast could be joining forces in the coming months – but according to the executive director of the Wireless Innovation Network of British Columbia (WINBC), the group’s merger with New Media BC (NMBC) is far from finalized. Michael Bidu says he’s hopeful the deal will go through in the next month or two, although he cautions that it’s “not a guarantee.” Bidu explains that the organizations have been working closely on a number of initiatives lately. Through joint Mobile Monday Vancouver (MoMoVan) events – regular open forums for industry professionals – and a combined effort on a mobile and interactive technology showcase at the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, New Media BC and WINBC decided it might be time to formalize their union. “The participation was tremendous,” Bidu says of the MoMoVan events. “We had great elevator pitches and panel discussions on the opportunities created by the convergence between media, content creation and wireless applications. (A merger) was almost like a natural next step.” In a letter to members, Bidu and WINBC chair Robert Forget say that together, WINBC and NMBC represent 22,000 people and 1,300 companies in the wireless and digital industries. Combined, those businesses collect annual revenues near $4 billion. “An organization of that size has a powerful voice with government, builds stronger partnerships with academia, and creates a lasting impression on both domestic and international customers and suppliers,” Bidu and Forget write. “More importantly, however, the merger will make it easier, more efficient and, we hope, more profitable and sustainable for BC companies in wireless and digital media to collaborate, innovate and grow.” But would a combined new media/ wireless organization represent B.C.’s businesses as well as sector-specific industry organizations? That’s one of the questions WINBC and NMBC are trying to address in surveys and discussions with members, Bidu says. “We believe the new organization, if the merger goes through, will be stronger, faster and better,” he says. “Stronger, faster, better” echoes the Olympics motto – “faster, higher, stronger” – and WINBC and NMBC are also working together on a joint-industry showcase for that event. Recently the groups received a $300,000 injection from Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) – the federal government agency focused on fostering innovation and business development in the western provinces. The money is going to support the WINBC/NMBC 2010 Showcase and Service initiative. It’s one of five projects that WD is funding around the Olympics. All told, the government is putting $6.2 million into the endeavours, according to a press release. The Showcase and Service initiative is an exhibition of innovative wireless and digital-media technologies developed in the region. Situated in Vancouver’s Robson Square, the event aims to give visitors access to a business-to-business directory on their mobile phones, listing a number B.C.-based companies, and displaying their capabilities. One B.C. firm seems to be playing an integral part in the endeavour. According to Bidu, Vancouver-based Mobify is helping local wireless and digital media companies prepare their web sites for mobile displays. Mobify specializes in this sort of work; earlier this year it was judged the “Most Likely to Succeed” web start-up at Launch Party, an event feting new industry players. Bidu says about 60 companies are participating, including some of the area’s bigger firms, such as Electronic Arts Inc., Sierra Wireless, and Pixar. “They will have a stronger presence based on some kind of sponsorship of the directory.... It should work out in a Google or Yellow Pages type of model, where your level of sponsoring a particular segment or category will result in more visibility.” Bidu says the organizers are realistic about the impact that their showcase will have. “People come here for the Olympics, quite frankly. We are not the number-one show in town.... But we believe people will come and hopefully be a part of some of our events.... And hopefully they’ll find companies that they’re interested in.” The organizers also hope to capture the attention of non-accredited media. “We’re trying to make it as simple and easy for let’s say a reporter coming from Germany, or New Zealand, the U.S. or Finland – we want to make sure they have access on their mobile devices to the companies they might want to do stories on,” Bidu says. Organizers expect the project to live on after the Olympics. “The goal here is to turn this business-to-business directory into a sustainable model,” Bidu says. The potential merger and the Olympics showcase both speak to the power of B.C.’s new media and wireless sectors, Bidu says. “We have tremendous talent here on the content-creation side. And then you bring wireless into the picture, and suddenly you have an amazing competitive advantage that maybe other clusters in the world don’t have.” Stefan Dubowski is a freelance writer in Ottawa. You can reach him via sdubowski@rogers.com.

BC firms stand to gain from merger of new media, wireless groups; Olympics also providing impetus

News | 10/01/2009 5:06 pm EDT

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