Ladies and gentlemen, behold our latest video blog:
A couple weeks ago, I was invited to go to the Manitoba legislative building to talk about new media government funding with other companies and the Minister of Technology. (and science and energy and mines) While the video blog is kinda goofy, the actual meeting was upbeat and sincere. The idea is to make it easier for new media companies to get off the ground in Winnipeg, and it seems like there are some folks in government who want to make this happen.
Unfortunately, governments contain a lot of slow-moving bureaucracy that is hard to control. Right now there are a fair number of stumbling blocks in the fund application process. We managed to help identify these issues and it seems like they will be fixed.
The meeting ended with all the involved parties feeling pretty hopeful about the future. All in all, it was a pretty fun and exciting morning. 
xerus wrote a Comment on January 26, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Man how far do you walk to dat bus stop meng?
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 2:11 am
Kilometers.
Christopher Lobay wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 5:57 am
“We’re about to approach the rotunda…” Hahahaha. Oh Les.
Kovski wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 9:22 am
Haha, gotta love that buffalo – awesome state animal!
But what’s up with the golden boy?
Also good to see you meeting open ears for your cause – keep those video blogs coming!
Nava wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Coincidence that the dojolearning feller was the one with all the facts?
Awesome field trip though, and awesome blog…. the choice to use the bilingual anthem was definitely the cherry on top of a tasty cake.
greg wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 2:34 pm
haha awesome. alec did you bring up the TigCon idea?
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I didn’t… I thought about it, but I couldn’t really see a way that level of government would be interested. (I’d probably have to start an initiative and go through other channels)
Two Jacks wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Heh, “Alec Saves The Economy” Did you start searching for coins in chests and barrels?
It’d be cool if the goverment helps you out!
robert wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Canada sounds like a cool thang.
Andrew wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Thank you for saving our economy! I would do my part, but 7:30 in the morning sounds way too early… Great to hear that there’s more support for indie development on its way.
Matt Mechtley wrote a Comment on January 27, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Wait they let you take video /in the building/? That totally wouldn’t fly here. What if you were The Terrorists, looking for a place to hide the Nuclear Anthrax Insurgence Device?
Also I think there were rupees in the bushes out front.
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on January 28, 2009 at 12:34 am
Yeah, the rupees are alright… as long as you don’t mind hacking at the bush with an ice pick to get to them.
Chibi wrote a Comment on January 28, 2009 at 9:38 am
This is wonderful – independent game developers can’t be recognized (and / or funded
enough, and you’re right in the thick of things. Good luck!
UAG wrote a Comment on January 30, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Alec, I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. Thank you.
BTW, are the ‘findings’ going to be a secret (I saw you had to edit out the actual meeting.). We just finished a whole whack of video games here in MB, and… I have to admit, I thought the entire Video Games initiative was dead. Are you going to save it? Are you seeking donations?
(grin) Lee
Alec Holowka wrote a Comment on January 30, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Naw, its not really secret. I just didn’t record any of the meeting and thought it would be funny to say “censored”.
There are a couple of programs that are active and helpful, for example “Access to Markets” that helps pay for trips to conferences in Canada or internationally.
Kyle wrote a Comment on February 3, 2009 at 1:50 am
I love that you have our national anthem. Represent!
alucard wrote a Comment on February 3, 2009 at 8:40 pm
i kno right that was my fav part
UAG wrote a Comment on February 6, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Access to Markets is a nice program, for the right crowd.
Might be helpful if a pretend budget spreadsheet, like the one in the Manitoba Film and Sound Production Guide, was made by official sources. Shows the different programs, how they effect the budget, etc. Have to be specific to Game Dev., but I’ll bet it would help attract interest.
(BTW, your artist does fantastic work.)
LawrenceLaxdal wrote a Comment on February 10, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Great vblog!
I’m curious as to what specifically was discussed at the meeting, are there minutes posted somewhere? What types of support for new media are currently in place?