Thursday, April 04, 2013

Canada's Walk of Fame Still Needs Digital Footprints

Last year at this time, I posted on the importance of recognizing Canadians working in digital media in both the content and technology sides. I urged people to nominate someone in the sector for Canada's Walk of Fame. So far, it's been a complete shut-out for this sector - which inarguably has a huge impact on Canadian culture, identity, and daily life.

Canada's Walk of Fame started in Toronto's entertainment district in 1998 and adds about 5 to 8 new inductees a year.  It is a great way to recognize the accomplishments of notable Canadians, as we don't often value our history and culture. The Walk brings prominence and recognition to these contributions.

Inductees can be an individual or group. Nomination criteria includes: being born or having spent formative years in Canada and having a minimum of 10 years experience in their field.

As a physical manifestation of Canadian culture, Canada's Walk of Fame is lacking in digital footprints. There are no people from the Canada's digital media section (i.e. this includes gaming, the Web, mobility, streaming, etc).

Their website appears to have been redesigned recently and has some bugs and flaws (the cynic in me wonders if this isn't a coincidence). But I tried the online nomination form today and it works fine.

So let's get a digital person on the Walk this year!  As an incentive they are offering a prize to attend the award's ceremony and ball in Toronto.

Not sure who to nominate?
Check out my list of Notable Canadians in Digital Media and Technology don't qualify as they haven't met the 10-year career mark. But here are some people that I think are great nominees:
There are lots more highly-deserving people. I'd love to hear here if anyone has any specific suggestions - or who wants to start a group effort to get one person in particular nominated.

Nominations close April 29, 2013 - so nominate someone now!

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