BayBYTES forms new national partnership
8/29/2003 2:49:23 PM
August 29, 2003 – The BayBYTES Rural Technology Forum will kick off its seventh annual rural technology conference in Newfoundland and Labrador this fall – with a new partner.
Along with the annual conference held in Gander from September 22-24, the city of North Bay, Ontario will host a sister conference to coincide with the event. The Northeastern Rural Technology Forum 2003 will take place in North Bay on the same dates and will, at some points, link to the event at Gander’s Albatross Hotel by videoconference.
Videoconferencing capabilities will allow presenters and participants from each venue to take part in the other event, as several presentations will be videocast between the two locales. The event will also showcase small rural businesses in both regions.
Through collaboration between members of the Canadian Technology Network (CTN) in the Newfoundland & Labrador and Ontario regions, partnerships have enabled the inception and planning of the North Bay event. North Bay’s Business Centre got wind of last year’s successful BayBYTES conference in Port Blandford, Newfoundland and Labrador, and encouraged the city to get involved. The result is the beginning of an event that the President of BayBYTES Foundation Inc., Lee Warren hopes will have a strong presence across Canada.
“This is a great partnership to kick off what I think will become a national agenda,” says Warren.
“I believe that other rural areas across the country will want to take advantage of opportunities BayBYTES provides for the promotion and growth of small business and community development.”
BayBYTES, organized by College of the North Atlantic (CNA) and the Canadian Technology Network (CTN), allows entrepreneurs at local, national, and international levels to learn from each other, and provides an opportunity for those in rural areas to learn about new technologies to help further their communities.
Pamela Walsh, CNA President and Chair of the 2003 BayBYTES Rural Technology Forum, says the college is pleased with the new partnership.
“College of the North Atlantic is excited to work with our new North Bay partners and collaborate on ideas that may hold promise for our rural and remote regions,” says Walsh.
“As a founding partner, CNA is proud to see the BayBYTES initiative inspire other rural regions to participate and combine strengths via new technology to work towards a mutual goal – sustaining our rural communities.”
Sessions will include such topics as: Youth in Rural Communities – profiling successful rural youth and their businesses; Tragedy to Triumph: Rural Communities Revived – communities finding opportunity with new industries; and E-Commerce for Rural Small Business – rural businesses finding opportunity to make money using e-commerce.
For information on other sessions, or to register for the conference, visit the BayBYTES website at: www.baybytes.net or contact Lee Warren at: (709) 466-6945.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
(709) 643-7929
or
Tanya Alexander
Public Information Officer
(709) 643-7928