Design Hope Toronto is a volunteer initiative that raises funds and awareness for local organizations dedicated to helping the homeless. We invite artists to create one-of-a-kind artworks inspired by the idea of “shelter.” These pieces are then auctioned and raffled off at our annual event with all of the proceeds going to one of the many deserving homeless programs in Toronto.

Sistering is a women’s agency serving homeless, marginalized and low-income women in Toronto. Our programs and services help women gain greater control over their life circumstances.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation supports community-based organizations that are turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa. They provide care to women who are ill and struggling to survive; assist orphans and other AIDS-affected children; reach heroic grandmothers who almost single-handedly care for their orphan grandchildren; and sustain associations of people living with HIV and AIDS.

The Redwood is a haven. We’re here to help women and children just like you live free from domestic abuse. Free from fear. Free from threat. We provide safe and accessible services – from a secure home to counseling to legal support. We help you get your life back on track. And we bring the promise of a better future.

Mennonite Central Committee works alongside local churches and communities in more than 50 countries, including Canada and the United States, to carry out disaster relief, sustainable community development and justice and peace-building work in the name of Christ. MCC also seeks to build bridges to connect people and ideas across cultural, political and economic divides.

The Snowsuit Fund is an Ottawa-based charity that raises funds for the purchase and distribution of snowsuits to needy children, 15 years and under, in our community. In our 2008/2009 season, we distributed nearly 15,000 new snowsuits.

Interval House provides a continuum of services that enable abused women and children to have access to safe shelter and responsive services that help them establish lives free from violence. The continuum includes integrated and specialized services related to counselling, advocacy, outreach, legal and housing support, as well as programs to help build economic self-sufficiency.

Sunnybrook Veteran’s Care proudly cares for those who risked their lives fighting for our freedom. Home to veterans of several wars and the largest veterans care facility in Canada, Sunnybrook provides advanced and compassionate care that promotes health and independent living for our veterans and helps us better serve all seniors who turn to us for care.

Map is a team of photographers working together since 1993 encouraging and helping young photographers, writers and researchers. Map actively advocates social awareness campaigns in the rural as well in the urban communities in Bangladesh through their visual campaign materials using photo exhibitions and participatory workshops.

So if you’re interested in the mechanics of community content management this will be a fun little case study. The Zimmer Twins site has upwards of 300,000 members and 700,000 nodes making the update quite the process.

There were a few excellent speakers showcasing their recent work. Mark Walsh from Pixar gave an excellent behind-the-scenes look at his work on Ratatouille. All through his talk it was clear how dedicated the studio is to producing a great story. Simple reminder of what it takes to create fantastic content. I especially appreciated his response to a question about target audiences and demographics – “We want a story that everyone loves.”

The folks from Little Airplane gave a great talk about their work creating 3rd and Bird. I really appreciated their straight-forward approach to incorporating research into the development of their shows. It was presented as a collaborative, integrated approach. It’s common sense, especially for preschool properties, but here was a producer demonstrating success when it’s done right.

There was a bit of doom and gloom hanging in the air at the conference. I couldn’t help get the feeling of a children’s television industry struggling to maintain itself in the face of regulations, tight budgets and competition from new media. There were a lot of “we’re still relevant” comments that came across as defensive. There was also a good dose of fear mongering about new media and online safety. Of course, this isn’t anything unique to Showcomotion. As far as I’m concerned it’s a distraction from the bigger goal – making great kids media.

The size and format of the conference was excellent. Loads of opportunities to sit and chat with other delegates and a good mix of folks on the panels. There were a handful of independent folks based in the UK creating great stuff. I absolutely loved Pedro and Frankensheep from the Brothers Mcleod. Beautiful design, great dialog. Check it out!

Dewey was discovered in late 2005 by intrepid explorer, and builder of fine boogaloos, Jerrold Connors. Since then, Dewey has been hard at play hanging out with all sorts of kids online and at Toronto Public Library branches across the city. Each Dewey likes to do different things from reading, to bocce, to knitting, and they can also be distinguished by their handy numbered jerseys but no one has ever counted them all.

Word of advice. If anyone ever offers to send you to Cannes to pick up an Emmy you can sure as hell expect they’ll want something in return. Be warned. :)