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Vol 1, #32, October 20, 2009 |
NMAF announces 7 new awards for online magazines The National Magazine Awards Foundation (NMAF) is launching a new program of awards for online Canadian magazine content. For the 2009 National Magazine Awards the NMAF will be recognizing excellence in Canadian web-based magazine content and online-only magazines. In addition to our awards for Visual, Written and Integrated print-magazine content, this year we are inaugurating awards specifically for achievements in digital magazine media, with seven new Online Categories: 1. OUTSTANDING USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES 2. BEST VISUAL DESIGN 3. BEST CROSS-PLATFORM PACKAGE 4. BEST WEB-ONLY CONTENT 5. BEST REPURPOSED OR ADAPTED CONTENT 6. BEST COMMUNITY FEATURE 7. GENERAL EXCELLENCE IN ONLINE MAGAZINE JOURNALISM The NMAF's online awards are open to Canadian print and online-only magazines and their Canadian contributors. All submissions must meet the Rules & Eligibility requirements. A full list of categories, rules and entry information can be found at www.magazine-awards.com. A call for entries in all categories for the 2009 National Magazine Awards will go out on December 1, 2009, and the deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010. The 33rd annual National Magazine Awards will be presented in Toronto on June 4, 2010. Top of Page Fresh Perspective Copywriting recently published a special report, The Key to Twitter Success: Your Guide to Building Relationships with Customers, Prospects and the Media Using the World’s Fastest Growing Social Networking Site. The purpose of the report is to show professionals, particularly business-to-business (B2B) marketers, various ways to use Twitter to boost their businesses. It also provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a simple marketing plan to get the most value from the time they spend tweeting. To download a copy of the free report, visit www.freshperspectivewriting.com/Key-to-Twitter-Success.html. "As a Twitter novice, I feel The Key to Twitter Success provides great and understandable information," says Alixe MacRae, Owner of Concierge Relocation. A large portion of the report is dedicated to finding followers. Learning a few simple techniques can allow professionals to connect with targeted followers who may become leads and even customers. “When I first opened a Twitter account, I thought most of the content was just spam,” says Rachel Foster, author of The Key to Twitter Success. “However, I have come to realize that the website can be a powerful tool that allows you to do everything from generate leads to share your company’s latest news.” Top of Page TVO provides Quantum to Cosmos to the world through the web One of the biggest science festivals on the planet kicks off today when the greatest minds from around the world gather in Waterloo for Perimeter Institute's Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future (Q2C). While many have travelled from far and wide to attend the festival, even more people around the world are welcomed to follow Q2C events online at tvo.org and q2cfestival.com. As presenting media partner for Q2C, TVO will not only have extensive coverage of the festival for broadcast, but will also provide its web production capacity for live streaming of Q2C events. Some of the highlights include:
Canadians welcome choice when shopping online Debit cards are the most frequently used payment cards in Canada and Visa Debit cards will offer cardholders core features not currently available in the Canadian marketplace. Visa Debit cardholders will be able to use their Visa debit cards to shop in Canada, at retail locations worldwide, buy goods widely online, over the phone or by mail. "Canadians want more payment options and Visa Debit will give them control over how they pay - whether it's in store, online, over the phone or overseas," said Tim Wilson, Head of Visa Canada. "Visa products and services continue to bring innovation to the electronic payments industry; making payments faster, more convenient and secure for consumers and merchants in Canada." Survey results from Visa confirm that Canadian consumers welcome more choice in the country's debit marketplace. The survey, commissioned by Visa Canada between June 26 and July 5, 2009, found that three out of four (74 per cent) respondents said they would be interested in a debit card that offers enhanced features and two out of three (66 per cent) believe that consumers should have more choice when it comes to direct debit payments in Canada. Visa's multiple layers of security will help protect Visa Debit cardholders from payment card fraud in much the same way that they help protect Visa credit cardholders today. Visa Debit offers fraud prevention features that help prevent, detect, and resolve unauthorized use of Visa card information. And, if fraud should occur, cardholders are not liable for unauthorized charges. "The launch of Visa Debit will increase competition in the Canadian direct payment marketplace. Visa Debit will lay the ground work for further payment innovations and will offer merchants and consumers another choice in how they pay and are paid," continued Wilson. "Visa is enhancing convenience through innovation in Canada by offering a new payment choice with unique benefits, already available in other regions of the world." Retailers that choose to accept Visa Debit cards will be able to offer customers choice at the point-of-sale and may benefit from increased online, mail or telephone transactions as Visa Debit will offer businesses the opportunity to access an underserved customer base that prefers to use debit, as well as customer segments that may not have access to Visa credit, like young Canadians. Some consumers surveyed in 2008 who had never shopped online indicated they would do so using Visa Debit. Top of Page Car seat safety website launched to save children's lives In celebrating the 10th anniversary of the award-winning Buckle Up Bears car seat inspection program, The Co-operators and the Infant & Toddler Safety Association (ITSA) officially launched a new ITSA website today that will help keep Canadian children safe on our roads. The new website, www.infantandtoddlersafety.ca, hosts educational materials including printable brochures, checklists and videos designed to help adults learn the proper use of child car seats. "This new site provides yet another avenue to ensure that parents and caregivers across the country can access important child safety information," says Jayne Russell, Manager Public Relations, The Co-operators group of companies. "Our decade-long partnership with ITSA has proven that corporate and non-profit relationships work, and work well, for the betterment and safety of our communities." The website includes Car Seat Safety Check, the instructional video released last year that provides step-by-step instructions for selecting appropriate car seats and installing them properly. The DVD was released by The Co-operators and ITSA last year, and is being made available online for the first time to make this important information available to more Canadian families. "Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death and injury in young children. A properly used child restraint can prevent up to 75 per cent of these deaths and injuries," says Valerie Lee, Director, ITSA. "We hope that watching the videos and reading the information on our new website will help keep our children safe on the road." Top of Page Open Text Email Management 10 redefines email classificationOpen Text Corporation, a global leader in Enterprise Content Management (ECM), announced its latest new release of Open Text Email Management for Microsoft Exchange, a full-featured email management solution that helps companies reduce skyrocketing email storage requirements and enhance their ability to respond to eDiscovery requests. By offering unprecedented control and automation, companies can automate and safeguard the disposition of unimportant email and provide common-sense mechanisms for users to identify and retain business-critical messages. Email has transformed the way business operates - facilitating fast and cost-effective communication across business units, geographies and time zones. Despite its unparalleled utility however, rampant and insurmountable growth has made email a growing liability for organizations around the world. The challenges associated with failing to implement a content retention plan for email are multifold and complex, but the most pressing issue facing companies today concerning email is that of litigation risk, cost and unsustainable growth of electronically stored information. Open Text's email management capabilities are an integral part of the Open Text ECM Suite, which provides the broadest, most comprehensive set of integrated ECM capabilities on the market today. The new Open Text Email Management 10 for Microsoft Exchange systematically captures business value and intended record email messages, and also offers a reliable and consistent method for identifying and deleting unimportant or transitory email. "Mismanaged email poses substantial risk and cost, particularly in terms of litigation expenses. The amount of data retained directly correlates to these costs and risks," said Jeremy Barnes, Program Manager, Email Management at Open Text. "The latest release of Open Text Email Management for Microsoft Exchange offers organizations a simple and automated means of identifying and capturing only those email messages that are useful or important to keep, while disposing unimportant, low-value email that clogs up our inbox." "The most innovative and powerful element of this solution is the simplicity in which it embeds email management into day-to-day work processes," said Doug Magnuson, Managing Director at Huron Consulting Group. "Organizations struggle to manage email in accordance with policy without placing undue burden on the end user. What Open Text has done that is so compelling is to make it all truly practical for the end user resulting in higher compliance and immediate value for them and for the organization." Top of Page Cheapflights.ca launches new flight offer pages Cheapflights Limited, the global leader in flight price search and comparison, today announced a redesign of the site’s offer pages that gives users fast and easy ways to get unprecedented access to great flight deals. A fresh, clean design helps users to focus on flight offers, either by best deals for those with flexible travel dates, or for fixed dates. For advertisers with multiple offers on a particular route, a best deal is displayed and a calendar logo link then shows the advertiser’s alternative deals by date. For advertisers, the site provides new and more profitable ways to target and attract qualified consumers including ability to cross-sell hand-picked travel deals when users search prices for popular destinations. The new pages are now live on Cheapflights’ Canadian, US, UK, and German sites and will in due course be launched in their Australian and European “Lite” sites. “Our new offer pages give users better tools to research and plan their trips,” says CEO Chris Cuddy. “Simpler, cleaner pages with one headline per advertised brand in first view, with more available upon demand, helps users get the answer they need quickly. We’ve added relevant content such as travel tips and proprietary travel guides to enrich the user experience.” “This new design is beneficial to both the users of and advertisers on Cheapflights.ca,” says Mo Bulbrook, Head of International Development for Cheapflights. “For advertisers, the new site offers the opportunity to cross-sell deals such as car rentals, accommodation, and airport parking etc. when users pull up prices for a chosen destination. For the consumer, the redesigned site is now even more user-friendly. The new layout and very rapid response speed plus the major increase in travel data now available on Cheapflights’ updated sites will provide all users with a pleasurable experience. Top of Page McAfee Inc. announces email security strategy McAfee, Inc. has outlined details of its Email security strategy, providing enterprises with the widest range of deployment choices and service options available now. McAfee has broadened its deployment offerings with the recent acquisition of MX Logic and offers customers a full set of delivery options: appliance or software-as-a-service (SaaS), a combination of both, and the ability to choose a deployment option that best fits their needs. Customers may now combine SaaS and integrated hardware/software appliances in any configuration. The end result is that organizations can easily deploy the security that best fits into existing infrastructures. This flexibility sets customers up for growth, enables the most favorable operational efficiencies, cost and resource optimization, and provides sound deployment options for energy optimization and Green IT. "Customers have told us they shouldn't be forced to choose between different delivery models for Email protection," said Marc Olesen, senior vice president and general manager of the McAfee Software-as-a-Service business unit. "Our flexible delivery model offers cloud-based services and hardware-based appliances, and provides customers with the ability to mix and match based on their needs. Bottom line, we're uniquely prepared to offer customers Email solutions that best meet their current and future business needs, maximize their flexibility and reduce total cost of ownership." "Hybrid Email offers a fully featured solution for today's environment," said Brian Burke, IDC analyst and program director, Security Products. "The hybrid approach offers the cost-savings and management ease of a cloud-based solution that reduces unwanted Email before it hits the corporate gateway. It allows for custom policies, data loss prevention and integrated encryption capabilities that are best provided by an on-premise appliance." mdBriefCase launches online resource for patients mdBriefCase Inc. is pleased to announce a new website that will provide health related on-line resources for Canadian patients. MedSchoolForYou (www.medschoolforyou.com) will provide Canadian patients with access to free, convenient, interactive and easy to understand information on various health related topics. www.mdBriefCase.com is the market leader in providing online education to Canadian Healthcare Professionals. These members receive access to the highest-quality accredited programs, integrating the best practices from leading experts in the field. Through partnerships with professional associations and societies, such as the Canadian Pain Society, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, these Web sites offer health professionals access to more than 50 continuing education programs per year. A challenge for Canadian patients is that the majority of online medical information they access is from the US. www.medschoolforyou.com, is a patient dedicated website offering qualified information about various disease states and therapies. The content has been created by Canadian healthcare professionals for Canadian patients. "We are very excited to be using our expertise in education and translate that into helping patients," said Nancy Thomson, Vice President of mdBriefCase. "There are many interesting opportunities when it comes to health education and we look forward to providing patients across Canada with a suite of unparalleled tools and resources. One of the initial programs includes health information related to Pain and Pain Management and was supported by the Canadian Pain Society. Other health related topics will follow shortly. Top of Page Rsitez.com riding high on wave of social networking sites Social Networking 2.0 website, rsitez.com, is experiencing an unprecedented growth – 155 per cent increase in 2009 sales, as compared to 2008 figures - during this economic downturn.
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