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DigiBC COVID-19 Weekly Update

DigiBC COVID-19 Weekly Update
03 Apr 2020 by DigiBC

DigiBC recognizes that our members are having an array of business challenges during this crisis, ranging from a few issues to very significant business threats. As your trade association, we are working to ensure our industry, as diverse as it is, comes out of this in the most positive way possible. Our weekly updates will have pertinent information on government policies, industry responses, and tips on getting through this challenging time. Please feel free to contact us if there is something you think should be included or if there's an issue that your business would like help with. We are here for you! Please note, the info from each of our weekly updates gets consolidated into our COVID-19 Member Resources.


Week of April 3, 2020

Government Announcements / Policies / Funding

  • Updated: Temporary Wage Subsidy Program - Federal
    Now covers 75% of salaries for qualifying businesses, for up to three months, retroactive to March 15. This subsidy is for those who have experienced a revenue loss of 30% or more.
  • COVID-19 Supply Hub - Provincial
    The BC Government has partnered with the Digital Technology Supercluster and the Business Council of BC to create the COVID-19 Supply Hub. Organizations interested in offering support, equipment and supplies to help health workers fight the pandemic can access the online platform here.
  • The Recovery Project
    An international coalition of think-tanks, research institutes, and organizations designed to start the conversation about recovery, even if it seems a long way off.
  • CMHA National: COVID-19 & Mental Health Startup Survival Guide
    The Canadian Mental Health Association has put together some resources and suggestions to help support your mental health at this time of uncertainty.


Connectivity


TELUS Employee Purchase Program
Are members of your team struggling with bandwidth? The Anim&VFX Alliance and DigiBC have been working with internet providers to ease the pain a bit. TELUS subscribers can now access our new Employee Purchase Program (EPP) which provides a $10 monthly discount to internet service, based on the best current pricing at market. While this requires a two-year plan, the benefit is both a monthly discount and flexibility. The plan can revert back to prior bandwidth once the increase is no longer needed. Find out if you can access TELUS PureFibre:

  • List of connected communities here
  • Check your address here

How to access the DigiBC / Anim&VFX Alliance Employee Purchase Program?
Have the appropriate person at your studio contact Scott Simpson at TELUS (scott.simpson@telus.com) and mention the applicable industry association.


Industry-Related News


Signal Boosting / #GiveBack / How Can I Help?

  • Trent Shumay is a seasoned video game programmer, having previously worked at Slant Six, Next Level Games, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. and Electronic Arts. A successful entrepreneur, he went on to co-found Finger Food Advanced Technology Group and then later Moody Ales. One of his current endeavors, IoT Design Shop, has retooled its production line to print out protective gear for nurses, doctors and other frontline healthcare workers. They have partnered with LNG Studios and created a GoFundMe to help raise money for the cost of materials. Click here to support this awesome effort!
     
  • Finger Food ATG created a virtual food drive and raised more than $15,000 for local food banks in Greater Vancouver, Calgary and Denver.
     
  • Hyper Hippo announced that their players will soon have the ability to make donations to the United Nations Foundation directly from their Facebook pages.
     
  • East Side Games contributed to the 'High Fives for the Frontline' initiative that Lee's Donuts recently started. They are delivering donuts to frontline workers throughout the city and each day they pick a new essential service to thank. ESG is also supporting local breweries by organizing Friday beer run deliveries to their employees.
     
  • Blackbird Interactive is taking money that would have been spent on office expenses (coffee, snacks, etc) and using it to give each employee a local meal delivery gift card. This injects cash back into the local economy and helps the restaurants that have been so badly hit during this crisis.
     
  • Kano Apps has initiated a few tactics to keep spirits up while working remotely. One of those is a Slack channel where the team can share their adorable WFH companions. Check out Team Kano: Pet Edition!
     
  • Phoenix Labs is putting out a weekly Spotify Quarantine Playlist.


Data Collection

Video Games / IDM: DigiBC will be in contact with Interactive Digital Media companies to share our tracking tool and to ensure wide representation in data gathering. Whether you are a member or not, we invite you to participate for the benefit of the sector. More on this next week.

 

Upcoming Virtual Events of Interest
April 6 & 7: RealTime Conference 2020
April 7: Developing Strategies for Mental & Physical Well-Being During a Pandemic