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Submitting to the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards on FilmFreeway

Erica Hargreave — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 19:50:32 +0000

We are excited to launch the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards on FilmFreeway, an awards submission platform that will help to streamline our submissions and judging.

As the submission process will be new for the TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards, we have created the tutorial below to walk you through this process.

Guide to Entering the TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards on FilmFreeway

You will find the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards on FilmFreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/TMACAwards.

In this Guide, we share instructions on:

Create an Account on FilmFreeway

To enter the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards or nominate someone for an award, you will need an account on FilmFreeway. This is free. Just click ‘Sign Up’ on the Header Menu (or ‘Log In’, if you already have a FilmFreeway account).

In signing up, be sure to select “I want to submit my work or get tickets to festivals.”

Once you are signed into FilmFreeway, click on the downward arrow beside your avatar in the Header Menu and click on Account Settings.

While you will not be charged anything for entering and nominating people to the TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards, if you are using FilmFreeway for any other awards, you way wish to scroll down to Currency and change your currency to Canadian dollars.

Add ‘Your Projects’

Before you enter an Awards Category, you need to ‘Add Your Projects’ to your FilmFreeway Portfolio. By ‘Projects’ this refers to the stories, photos or nominations you wish to submit to the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards.

Before starting, you will want to visit TMAC’s Website and review the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards to decide which categories you wish to enter.

*Please Note: if you are submitting a story or photo that you previously submitted to the TMAC National Awards, you DO NOT need to create this ‘project’ again in FilmFreeway, but instead can jump ahead to Submit Your Projects to the TMAC Awards, and submit your previously created ‘project’ to the desired awards category.

Nathan Fong Memorial Award

The Nathan Fong Award, which is open to all TMAC members across Canada, was created to raise awareness and highlight the many contributions Canadians of Asian descent have made to Canada. Stories submitted for this award can be inspired by anything from the best places to eat in Chinatown to historical places of interest, to modern-day attractions, culture, festivals, unusual distilleries, chef profiles and more. The stories must include both an Asian and Canadian connection.

All forms of media storytelling are welcome in this category, from the written word to podcasts, video, immersive and interactive media.

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

Submission time frame for this award welcomes works published between January 1, 2024 to the submissions deadline of April 4, 2025.
TMAC members may submit up to 2 entries.
You can use work that you have already submitted for the TMAC National Awards.

For projects that you intend to enter into the Nathan Fong Memorial Award, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Select Film / Video or Script (for Written Projects) or Music (for Audio Projects) or Photography / Design or VR / XR / Immersive, depending on what best suits your project.
- Project Title: The name of the story that you are submitting.
- Brief Synopsis: Tell us the Publication Outlet and Date of Publication of your story.
- If your project is in French, click on the “My Project also has a non-English Title and Synopsis” box, and fill in the Project Title en Francais.
- Add a link to your story (optional).
Below you will see an example of the choices for Film / Video.

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add the names of your project’s main creatives.

Select whichever Project Type fits under Specifications.
On Specifications fill in the Publication Date instead of the Completion Date.
You don’t need to fill in anything else on Specifications, but you can if you wish to.

Ignore the Screening / Distribution Section and click Save Project.

You must upload a PDF, under Files & Attachments with a description of the project, form of media, and a link to it (if it is online). This is a requirement for all Nathan Fong Memorial Award Submissions.

Additionally, please include one of the following:
- Under Add an Online Screener, upload a video under Upload.
- Under Add an Online Screener, add a Link to your story. This can be a link to any form of media.
- Under Upload Script File, upload a PDF of an article, blog post, book, or other form of media.
- Under Upload Photographs, add any photos that you are submitting as your story.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

TMAC Conference Host Destination Award: Newfoundland & Labrador

All media delegates of the 2024 TMAC Conference & Media Marketplace in St John’s, are invited to submit your stories, published on any platform / communication channel, about your experiences while in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

Submission time frame for this award welcomes works published from June 2024 to the submissions deadline of April 4, 2025.
TMAC members may submit unlimited entries.
You can use work that you have already submitted for the TMAC National Awards.

For projects that you intend to enter into the TMAC Conference Host Destination Award: Newfoundland & Labrador, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Select Film / Video or Script (for Written Projects) or Music (for Audio Projects) or Photography / Design or VR / XR / Immersive, depending on what best suits your project.
- Project Title: The name of the story that you are submitting.
- Brief Synopsis: Tell us the Publication Outlet and Date of Publication of your story.
- If your project is in French, click on the “My Project also has a non-English Title and Synopsis” box, and fill in the Project Title en Francais.
- Add a link to your story (optional).
Below you will see an example of the choices for Film / Video.

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add the names of your project’s main creatives.

Select whichever Project Type fits under Specifications.
On Specifications fill in the Publication Date instead of the Completion Date.
You don’t need to fill in anything else on Specifications, but you can if you wish to.

Ignore the Screening / Distribution Section and click Save Project.

You must upload a PDF, under Files & Attachments with a description of the project, form of media, and a link to it (if it is online). This is a requirement for all TMAC Conference Host Destination Award: Newfoundland & Labrador Awards Submissions.

Additionally, please include one of the following:
- Under Add an Online Screener, upload a video under Upload.
- Under Add an Online Screener, add a Link to your story. This can be a link to any form of media.
- Under Upload Script File, upload a PDF of an article, blog post, book, or other form of media.
- Under Upload Photographs, add any photos that you are submitting as your story.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

People’s Choice Photo of the Year

The always popular People’s Choice Photo of the Year invites you to share your favourite photo from 2024. Your photo can be of anything you like, but the goal is to wow your colleagues and earn their votes.

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

This award welcomes photos shot in 2024.
Only one photo per member is permitted.
Photos do not need to have been published.
All TMAC members and staff may submit a photo.
You can use work that you have already submitted to the TMAC National Awards.

For photographs that you intend to enter into People’s Choice Photo of the Year, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Photography / Design
- Project Title: The name of the photograph
- Brief Synopsis: Where the photograph was taken and the date that you took the photo.

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add your name as the photographer.

On Specifications fill in the date the photograph was taken.
You don’t need to fill in anything else on Specifications, but you can if you wish to.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Upload Photographs. This is a requirement for all People’s Choice Photo of the Year Submissions.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for your People’s Choice Photo of the Year Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Volunteer of the Year

The Volunteer of the Year award is presented to an outstanding TMAC member, in good standing, who has demonstrated an instrumental role as a volunteer, including dedication, leadership and commitment to service and support of the association.

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

This award is open to both media and industry volunteers.
Any member may make a nomination.
Nominee should be a champion for TMAC and a positive representative of the association.
Nominee must have been a member of TMAC for at least 12 months.
Nominee should make a significant impact on the work TMAC does by taking initiative to create professional development opportunities, foster industry connections, propel TMAC to be more inclusive, open or forward-thinking or contribute to the general management of TMAC as a professional organization.
There should be something unique about the work the nominee does, the way they do it or their overall attitude that sets them apart from other volunteers.

Please submit your TMAC volunteer nominee’s name along with a 75 to 250-word explanation as to why you’re nominating this outstanding member.

For nominations that you intend to make to the Volunteer of the Year, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Script
- Project Title: Nominee’s Name
- Brief Synopsis: Share an introductory synopsis as to why you are nominating this individual. (optional)

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Select ‘Other’ under Project Type on Specifications.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Under Upload Script File, select ‘No’ for “Does your script file include a cover page?” and then click ‘Choose File’ to upload a PDF copy of your 75 to 250-word explanation as to why you’re nominating this outstanding member. This is a requirement for all Volunteer of the Year Nominee Submissions.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Nomination.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Industry Member of the Year Award

The Industry Member of the Year award is presented to a TMAC industry member who distinguishes themselves as a highly skilled and respected colleague to both industry and media members.  This award highlights the work of a member who consistently demonstrates excellence. This industry member shows a deep understanding of and appreciation for the ever-changing needs of travel media. Nominees have a track record for developing unique story opportunities, facilitating successful partnerships and collaborations, curating tailored itineraries, and connecting media with expert voices. In other words, this is the industry member EVERYONE raves about.

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

Nominations are welcome from both TMAC media and industry members.
Multiple nomination submissions are welcome.
Industry may not self-nominate for this category.

Please submit your TMAC nominee’s name and position, along with a 50 to 250-word explanation as to why you’re nominating this outstanding industry member.

For nominations that you intend to make to the Industry Member of the Year Award, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Script
- Project Title: Nominee’s Name
- Brief Synopsis: Share an introductory synopsis as to why you are nominating this individual. (optional)

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Select ‘Other’ under Project Type on Specifications.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Under Upload Script File, select ‘No’ for “Does your script file include a cover page?” and then click ‘Choose File’ to upload a PDF copy of your 50 to 250-word explanation as to why you are nominating this outstanding industry member. This is a requirement for all Industry Member of the Year Nominee Submissions.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Nomination.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Industry Award for Best Itinerary of the Year

The Industry Award for Best Itinerary of the Year is a new award recognising the extreme care and effort that goes into a well-executed itinerary; one that helps TMAC media members bring partner destinations’ stories to life.

TMAC media members may nominate industry members (industry members may also self-nominate) who created a press trip itinerary in 2024 that went above and beyond. This is the itinerary that inspired multiple stories, or a trip that people will be talking about for years to come.

Please submit your TMAC nominee’s name and position, along with a 50 to 250-word explanation of how the press trip supported successful destination storytelling. Include details about the itinerary and story links if you’d like (but not necessary).

Submission Guidelines/Criteria:

Nominations are welcome from both TMAC media and industry members.
Multiple nomination submissions are welcome.
Nominee must be the TMAC member responsible for creating the 2024 itinerary.
Industry may self-nominate for this category.

For nominations that you intend to make to the Industry Member of the Year Award, follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Script
- Project Title: Nominee’s Name
- Brief Synopsis: Share an introductory synopsis describing the press trip. (optional)

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Select ‘Other’ under Project Type on Specifications.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Under Upload Script File, select ‘No’ for “Does your script file include a cover page?” and then click ‘Choose File’ to upload a PDF copy of your 50 to 250-word explanation of how the press trip supported successful destination storytelling. Include details about the itinerary and story links if you’d like (but not necessary). This is a requirement for all Industry Award for Best Itinerary of the Year Nominee Submissions.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Nomination.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story, photo or nomination:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Submit Your Projects to the TMAC Awards

You are now ready to submit your projects to the TMAC Awards.

You will find the entry forms for the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards Categories on:

TMAC Awards on FilmFreeway

Submitting will look like this:

Should you have questions regarding submitting your entries through FilmFreeway, first review the instructions above to see if your question has already been answered. If it has not, then send an email to Christine or Erica.

Good luck in the awards!

The post Submitting to the 2024 TMAC Membership and Chapter Awards on FilmFreeway appeared first on StoryToGo.

Submitting to the 2024 TMAC National Awards on FilmFreeway

Erica Hargreave — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 04:26:41 +0000

We are excited to launch the 2024 TMAC Awards on FilmFreeway, an awards submission platform that should help to streamline our submissions and judging.

As the submission process will be new for the TMAC Awards, we have created the tutorial below to walk you through this process.

Guide to Entering the TMAC Awards on FilmFreeway

You will find the 2024 TMAC Awards on FilmFreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/TMACAwards.

In this Guide, we share instructions on:

Creating an Account on FilmFreeway
Adding Your Project for the:
Submitting Your Projects to the TMAC Awards

Create an Account on FilmFreeway

To enter the 2024 TMAC Awards, you will need an account on FilmFreeway. This is free. Just click Sign Up on the Header Menu (or Log In, if you already have a FilmFreeway account).

In signing up, be sure to select “I want to submit my work or get tickets to festivals.”

Once you are signed into FilmFreeway, click on the downward arrow beside your avatar in the Header Menu and click on Account Settings.

Scroll down to Currency and change your currency to Canadian dollars.

Add Your Project for the:
Submit Your Projects to the TMAC Awards

Add ‘Your Projects’

Before you enter an Awards Category, you need to ‘Add Your Projects’ to your FilmFreeway Portfolio. By ‘Projects’ this refers to the stories you wish to submit to the 2024 TMAC Awards.

Before starting, you will want to visit TMAC’s Website and review the 13 National Awards Categories to decide which categories you wish to enter.

Remember you can enter:

a maximum of 6 of your stories published between January 1 and December 31, 2024, unless otherwise stated;
a maximum of 2 stories in any given category; and
the same story cannot be submitted more than once (even if in a different category).

Please be sure to review the full list of TMAC 2024 Awards Submissions Guidelines.

Written Word Award Categories

For projects that you intend to enter into one of TMAC’s Written Word Awards Categories follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Script
- Project Title: The name of the article, blog post, or book that you are submitting.
- If your project is in French, click on the “My Project also has a non-English Title and Synopsis” box, and fill in the Project Title en Francais.
- Brief Synopsis: Tell us the Publication Outlet and Date of Publication of your story.
- Add a link to your article, blog post, or book (optional).

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add the names of all the writers of the article, blog post, or book.

Select ‘Other’ under Project Type on Specifications.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Under Upload Script File, select ‘No’ for “Does your script file include a cover page?” and then click ‘Choose File’ to upload a PDF copy of your article, blog post, or book. This is a requirement for all TMAC Awards Written Word Category Submissions.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

If you are submitting a book, then please mail two physical copies or PDFs for judging to TMAC PO Box 332, Brighton, ON, K0K 1H0.
If submitting a book with two or more Media Members listed as authors, contact Christine before submitting.
Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Written Word Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Photography (aka Visual) Award Categories

For projects that you intend to enter into one of TMAC’s Photography (aka Visual) Awards Categories follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Photography / Design
- Project Title: The name of the photograph or the article or blog post in which the photograph was published
- Brief Synopsis: Tell us the Publication Outlet and Date of Publication that your photos are published in.
- Add a link to the article, blog post, or book that your article is published in (optional).

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add your name as the photographer.

On Specifications fill in the Date the Photograph(s) was Published, rather than the Date the Photograph was Taken.
You don’t need to fill in anything else on Specifications, but you can if you wish to.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Upload Photographs. This is a requirement for all TMAC Awards Photography Category Submissions.

Under Files & Attachments upload a PDF copy of the article, blog post, or book that your photograph is published in. This is a requirement for all TMAC Awards Photography Category Submissions.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Written Word Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

All Media Forms or Best Emerging & Broadcast Media Award Categories

For projects that you intend to enter into one of TMAC’s All Media Forms or Best Emerging & Broadcast Media Awards Categories follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Select Film / Video or Script (for Written Projects) or Music (for Audio Projects) or Photography / Design or VR / XR / Immersive, depending on what best suits your project.
- Project Title: The name of the story that you are submitting.
- Brief Synopsis: Tell us the Publication Outlet and Date of Publication of your story.
- If your project is in French, click on the “My Project also has a non-English Title and Synopsis” box, and fill in the Project Title en Francais.
- Add a link to your story (optional).
As you’ve already seen examples of the choices for Scripts and Photography, below you will see an example for Film / Video.

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add the names of your project’s main creatives.

Select whichever Project Type fits under Specifications.
On Specifications fill in the Publication Date instead of the Completion Date.
You don’t need to fill in anything else on Specifications, but you can if you wish to.

Ignore the Screening / Distribution Section and click Save Project.

You must upload a PDF, under Files & Attachments with a description of the project, form of media, and a link to it (if it is online). This is a requirement for all TMAC All Media Forms or Best Emerging & Broadcast Media Awards Category Submissions.

Additionally, please include one of the following:
- Under Add an Online Screener, upload a video under Upload.
- Under Add an Online Screener, add a Link to your story. This can be a link to any form of media.
- Under Upload Script File, upload a PDF of an article, blog post, book, or other form of media.
- Under Upload Photographs, add any photos that you are submitting as your story.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Self-Published Travel Website (including Blogs) Award Category

For projects that you intend to enter into one of TMAC’s Self-Published Travel Website Award Category follow these steps:

Fill in the Project Information with:
- Project Type: Script
- Project Title: The name of the website that you are submitting.
- If your project is in French, click on the “My Project also has a non-English Title and Synopsis” box, and fill in the Project Title en Francais.
- Add a link to your website.

There is nothing you need to do with the Submitter’s Information, aside from making sure that it includes the same email as your login for TMAC’s website.

Under Credits, add your name as the website creator.

Select ‘Other’ under Project Type on Specifications.

Ignore the Past Awards Section and click Save Project.
Under Upload Script File, select ‘No’ for “Does your script file include a cover page?” and then click ‘Choose File’ to upload a PDF with the name of your website, a link to your website’s homepage, and a link to three articles that you personally wrote in 2024. With each article, please also share the date of publication. This is a mandatory requirement for all TMAC Awards Self-Published Travel Website Category Submissions.

Optional: Under Files & Attachments upload a PDF copy of each of the three articles or blog posts that you have written in 2024, that you wish judged as a part of this award.
If you are having trouble creating a PDF of a web based article, I shared instructions on how to do that in the TMAC Facebook Group. Not a member there, email me at erica@storytogo.ca and I will send you the tips I posted to the Facebook Group.

Congratulations! You have added everything needed for this Written Word Award Submission.
Now click on ‘My Projects’ in the Header Menu to add your next story:
Or scroll down in this article to Submit Your Project to an Award to finish the submission process.

Submit Your Projects to the TMAC Awards

You are now ready to submit your projects to the TMAC Awards.

As a reminder you can enter:

a maximum of 6 of your stories published between January 1 and December 31, 2024, unless otherwise stated;
a maximum of 2 stories in any given category; and
the same story cannot be submitted more than once (even if in a different category).

Please be sure to review the full list of TMAC 2024 Awards Submissions Guideline.

You will find the entry forms for the 13 TMAC National Awards Categories on:

TMAC Awards on FilmFreeway

Provide you use the following three waiver codes, your first three entries will be free:

TMAC2024Submission1
TMAC2024Submission2
TMAC2024Submission3

You can use each waiver code only once. Your 4th – 6th entries will cost $25 CA each + a service fee of $1.79 CA / entry.

Submitting will look like this:

In order to use your waiver codes, submit your projects at the Checkout, one at a time, on your first three entries. This is what the Checkout will look like:

…. and once your Waiver Code is applied ….

Good luck in the awards!

The post Submitting to the 2024 TMAC National Awards on FilmFreeway appeared first on StoryToGo.

2024 Soft Launch of the New Interledger Web Monetization Browser Extension, Relaunching the Web Monetization Standard Ecosystem

Erica Hargreave — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 14:41:52 +0000

Want to earn from your digital assets? Not a fan of ads, affiliate marketing, and data mining, or want to ad an additional way of earning from the digital media that you create? Then try experimenting with the Web Monetization Standard, which is relaunching its ecosystem with the Interledger Web Monetization Browser Extension.

What is the Web Monetization Standard?

Simply put, Web Monetization is a way that digital content creators can earn from streaming micropayments based on the amount of time that visitors spend on their digital content.

_{Image care of Coil}

In technical terms, the Web Monetization Standard is a JavaScript browser API that allows for the creation of a payment stream from a website visitor to a website.

How Does Web Monetization Work?

By placing an Interledger enabled payment pointer for a digital wallet on the backend of a digital asset, anyone visiting that asset with the Interledger Web Monetization Browser installed and an active sum of money (‘grant’) to send, will send a flow of micropayments from their wallet to your payment pointer for the time spent on your digital asset.

_{Image care of the Artist Rescue Trust}

Additionally, they can decide to support your further with a one time payment.

Try Web Monetization Out With Play Money

Sign up for a Play Money Wallet at https://wallet.interledger-test.dev
- As a part of this, the sandbox has you fill in a KYC, as you would with any digital wallet. Be forewarned, it is annoying, as this is a pretend wallet though, you can put in pretend information. The only things that have to be real for it to work are your email, phone number and face scan.

*If you don’t wish to go through the KYC as it is frustrating and can be intimidating, send me an email at erica[at]storytogo.ca and I will set up a play money test wallet for you, so that you can get to the experimenting with none of the frustration.

Create a Payment Pointer
- Once you’ve created your account, click on the existing EUR wallet or set up a new wallet in a currency of your choosing.
- Inside the wallet of your choosing, click on ‘Deposit’. (as this is a play money account, add as much money as you’d like.)
- Still inside the wallet of your choosing, click on ‘Add Payment Pointer’ and create a payment pointer.

Send Money with the Interledger Web Monetization Extension

Download the Interledger Web Monetization Extension. As these are in soft Beta, we are tracking who has access and is experimenting with, so please ask if you would like access.
Add your Payment Pointer to the Interledger Web Monetization Extension and set the ‘budget’ amount you wish to spend for the month.

When prompted, click ‘Agree’ and ‘Accept’ to give the required permissions between the Interledger Web Monetization Extension and your Play Money Test Wallet.
Click back on the Interledger Web Monetization Extension and click on the gear icon in the top corner.
Here you will find options in the Interledger Web Monetization Extension to change your monthly budget and the rate at which you wish the micropayments to stream between your extension payment point and the payment pointers of the digital assets you are spending time on. This rate can be changed at any time, or paused, if on a site you do not wish to send funds to. The budget can be changed month or made reoccurring.

Visit a Web Monetized Website.
- Find a list of Web Monetized Websites here. (Stay tuned – updating shortly.)
Look at your Interledger Web Monetization Browser Extension. It should show a green dot if the site is Web Monetized or a red dot if it is not. If you see a green dot, try sending a one time payment.

Earn Money with the Interledger Web Monetization Extension

Place an Interledger enabled payment pointer to your digital wallet in your website’s header or footer with this code:


  
    StoryToGo

Add Coil’s Web Monetization Plugin (yes, the plugin still works, and I’ve been promised it will be further updated) to your WordPress site and add Interledger enabled payment pointer to your site via the plugin.

Add your Website to this editable Google document of Web Monetized Websites. (Stay tuned – updating shortly.)

Earn or Send Read Money with the Interledger Web Monetization Extension

Repeat the above steps with an Interledger enabled wallet. Current Interledger enabled wallets include:
- Fynbos
- GateHub
- Chimoney

*This section will be updated this week with links to instructions for each of these real money wallets above.

Web Monetization is in Soft Beta

With the relaunch of the Web Monetization Ecosystem with the Interledger Web Monetization Extension, Web Monetization is currently in soft beta. This means that there are limitations at present.

Usage Limitations

While the Web Monetization ecosystem is built back up, this presently means earning from Web Monetization currently only works on websites.

Stay tuned for the ability to earn in the future from:

video
podcasts
music
social media platforms
and more

… as the Web Monetization ecosystem grows.

Wallet Limitations

The wallets are also in soft beta with Web Monetization, which means at present:

you cannot send between different wallet types (ie. Fynbos US wallets can only send to Fynbos US wallets. A Fynbos US wallet cannot currently send to a GateHub US wallet.)
you cannot send between currencies (ie. Fynbos Canadian wallets can only send to Fynbos Canadian wallets. A Fynbos Canadian wallet cannot currently send to a Fynbos US wallet.)

These will change, but for now, so as not to lose out on earnings, add all your payment pointer to your website header or footer, like this:


  
    Naturally Ours

Stay Tuned to StoryToGo.ca/web-monetization-standard/

Stay Tuned to StoryToGo.ca/web-monetization-standard/ for updates in the Web Monetization Ecosystem, including resources and examples of how Web Monetization is being applied to build sustainability.

The post 2024 Soft Launch of the New Interledger Web Monetization Browser Extension, Relaunching the Web Monetization Standard Ecosystem appeared first on StoryToGo.

Meet Henry Hargreave, a 12-Year Old Game Developer and Filmmaker, and Our New Storyteller

Henry — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 16:55:41 +0000

Meet our newest storyteller, 12-year-old Henry Hargreave, who will be sharing his journey as a budding game developer and filmmaker, and the lessons he learns along the way.

Hi … I’m Henry!

Let me introduce myself. As you can probably see, I’m 12 ,but that doesn’t necessarily limit my abilities. When I was around 3, I remember telling my mom to remind me that I wanted to be a game developer. My mom said if it meant enough to me I wouldn’t forget, and I suppose I never forgot, because during the pandemic I picked up game dev using Unity (a popular game engine). Eventually I switched to Unreal Engine (another popular game engine). I’ve been really enjoying game development. Along the way I’ve picked up a few other hobbies such as drawing and 3D modelling. I picked up 3D modelling because I needed some 3D assets for my game, and I picked up drawing by getting a graphic tablet for 3D modelling. I still have a lot to learn, so I want to share my journey as a game developer, 3D, modeller, artist, filmmaker and animator with you, to keep setting myself new challenges and deadlines, and to potentially learn from any fixes that you might have for me, as I attempt to tackle ways of crafting and bringing to life all the ideas that wander through my imagination.

Game Dev Content

To start, I will be be sharing posts on the games I’m working on, and to help other people who are embarking on game development journeys of their own, I will be posting Unreal Engine Tutorials. In the meantime here are some of the resources I used to begin to learn:

How about you? Do you have some favourite tutorials that have helped you start your game development journey? If so, I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

The post Meet Henry Hargreave, a 12-Year Old Game Developer and Filmmaker, and Our New Storyteller appeared first on StoryToGo.

Conceptualising an Extended Reality Open Education Guide

Erica Hargreave — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 21:55:49 +0000

As we step into 2024 and I wrap up my ETEC 580 Directed Studies and Master of Educational Technology, I want to take a moment to conceptualise the Extended Reality Open Education Guide that I have begun to build; to give it shape, intention and create a road map for it, as well to seek feedback from you, our readers, as I continue to further my journey, experiments, and goals in extended reality (XR) beyond my Masters. As I previously wrote in Exploring XR Development with my Final Master of Educational Technology Directed Studies, the work I have done through the MET Program at UBC is a beginning to this work in XR development.

Here’s where I am at present in mapping out where I am going with this work:

As I continue to develop an XR Open Education Guide on StoryToGo, much as I did with the Web Monetization Guide, there are 4 main areas that I will be focusing on, developing, and building upon over time:

XR Case Studies
XR Development Experiments and Process Blogging
XR Development Series of Mini-Courses
Addressing Accessibility in Extended Reality

XR Case Studies

The goal of the Extended Reality Case Studies is to explore different extended reality experiences and applications to discover what resonates with myself and my team and to identify the challenges. By writing these up as case studies, the hope is to create a resource for our team in developing extended reality experiences, and to share that resource more broadly with other independent creatives, educators and students wanting to explore extended reality. Secondarily, these XR Case Studies will also be used as resources and examples within the XR Development Series of Mini-Courses.

At present, these XR Case Studies are focused around augmented reality (AR) natural and cultural history experiences and virtual reality (VR) health and wellness experiences, as these are the areas that my team and I are currently developing extended reality projects. Over times, we will broaden these case studies to other areas of interest.

As my team’s and my current priority is on AR natural and cultural history experiences, the current case studies include:

Parco Archeologico di Tremona-Castello AR Experience

Seeing the Invisible Augmented Reality Art Exhibit

I am also writing up a case study on the TaleBlazer AR Game at the Royal Botanical Garden’s Rose Garden at present.

Other XR Case Studies on the current ‘to write’ list, include:

Notre-Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition
Plank Walk VR
Pain Distraction VR
Concussion Therapy VR

As the XR Case Studies grow in number on StoryToGo, we will create an Experiential Reality Library, like the Web Monetized Content Library that we’ve begun to create.

XR Development Experiments and Process Blogging

As an indie creative who likes experimenting with emerging ways of crafting stories, I find it helpful to experiment with the technology for building those stories. That way even if we contract a larger team on our builds, I know what I am talking about and know what is possible. Often as I dive into such experiments, I also learn that building stories in these newer ways with emerging technologies is not so daunting, cost prohibitive, and inaccessible as people think. Thus, as I create and experiment with extended reality development, using different extended reality development tools and platforms, I intend to create process blogs walking people through the ‘how to’ of my experiments creating with different technologies.

The purpose?

to create a running log / record of the process to pull from for the XR Development Series of Mini Courses;
to engage others around this process, and crowdsource ideas and solutions; and
inspire others to experiment with their own XR builds, and provide them with a resource to helping them do so.

Currently my goals for my own projects involve Unreal Engine and motion capture technology. This, however, is not the most accessible entry point for educators and students wanting to begin their own experiments with XR, both in terms of the learning curve and in terms of the expense of the technology needed for. As such, I decided for the purposes of creating a more accessible entry to extended reality for teachers and students, that I want to begin with some more accessible extended reality builds / development ideas, and then build towards the more involved pieces using UnReal Engine and Unity, as part of my long term, on-going work.

What this means, is that my initial AR build will be with TaleBlazer to create some early development options within the open Extended Reality Course that are designed for teachers and students, and then later build Units on developing with UnReal Engine and Unity, as well as other more accessible extended reality development solutions, like Stornaway.io, CoSpaces, Halo AR, polycam, MyWebAR, and 8th Wall. If you have other suggestions of XR development tools and platforms that my team and I should be experimenting with, please let me know about them in the comments on this post.

In terms of the extended reality projects that my team and I have been developing, they include:

WWII stories from my friend Manami Calvo (Saito)’s family from their experience as Canadians of Japanese ancestry, living on the West Coast in WWII
- our plan for this is to create some initial experimental ‘art installations’ using Web AR, that are accessible via smartphones and tablets
- we plan on creating these utilizing animated ‘ghostly figures’ created with Unreal Engine and a motion capture suit, along with historic photos and video, as well as recorded interviews
- we will then use those art installations to go after proper funding to further development

health / wellness VR Experiences
- our plan is to start with a kids yoga class in VR that can be used in hospitals, as well as at home
- create in Unreal Engine with a motion capture suit
- the yoga will be lead by Lori Yearwood (wearing the motion capture suit) and will involve her transforming to different plants and animals with different poses
- the children will also be able to select the background world (from a variety of calming choices) for their yoga experience

XR Development Series of Mini-Courses

To make things as easy as possible for other indie creatives, educators and students to begin to explore and develop their own extended reality projects, I intend to take what I have learned through my extended reality research, case studies, experiments and process blogging, and build a series of Extended Reality Mini-Courses for people to use as a guide in creating their own extended reality projects. The goal here being to remove the fear of extended reality being a far reaching, inaccessible goal by building their understanding of extended reality, getting them experimenting with it and envisioning the possibilities, and sharing with them a variety of pathways to creating extended reality, including step-by-step guides.

In developing a series of Extended Reality Mini-Courses, I am exploring other Extended Reality Learning Resources to see what is currently available to those wishing to explore extended reality further, so as best to identify a different, unique approach to the subject and include any beneficial resources that are currently missing.

The Extended Reality Learning Resources that I am currently delving into, include:

Extended Reality for Everybody Specialization by Michael Nebeling of the University of Michigan on Coursera
The Future of Storytelling StoryMOOC by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam on iversity.org
Unity Learn
Learn UnReal Engine

In approaching the extended reality course development for the StoryToGo Classroom site, I have come to the conclusion that XR development is more manageably approached as a series of mini-courses. Currently, I am thinking in terms of building the following three courses:

First Steps in Extended Reality Development – An Introduction
Extended Reality Development
Extended Reality User Testing and Refining

The talk I gave for the class at the American University in Cairo follows the layout for the first mini-course:

My current breakdown for ‘First Steps in Extended Reality Development – An Introduction’ will include:

What Extended Reality Is
- types of Extended Reality
- applications of Extended Reality
- delivery of Extended Reality and Devices

Extended Reality Case Studies
- an informal introduction to user testing
- creating mini case studies in user testing extended reality experiences, and recording stars and wishes from the experiences

Developing an Extended Reality Idea of Your Own
- Why XR?
  - what type of XR?
  - is this the strongest choice?
  - how do you wish to deliver? to which devices? why?
- Do you need to create all at once or can you create it in accessible steps?
- Steps in creating
- Creating a roadmap

Then the Extended Reality Development Course will be a continual work in progress, adding different Units, covering how to build XR with different extended reality development solutions, starting with TaleBlazer.

If you have suggestions for the structure of or things I should be including in the XR Development Series of Mini-Courses, please share your thoughts in the comments.

Addressing Accessibility in Extended Reality

While not a standalone piece on my brainstorming document, for those of you who have begun to read our XR Case Studies, you may have recognized that accessibility in extended reality is central to my team’s and my explorations and development goals. This is very much driven by various disabilities and health and wellness issues that my team and I have experienced, but is also an aspect of extended reality design and user testing that has not been discussed and addressed as well as it should yet.

For now, my team and I intended to address Accessibility in Extended Reality throughout our case studies, process blogging, and course materials. I also had an invitation to come on as an advisor on accessibility to UBC’s Emerging Media Lab, after I brought accessibility and my perspective on with a few of the students at their Autumn Showcase. This is an invitation I intend to follow up on this year, with the hope that between that and my own team’s process thinking through accessibility in extended reality, as we share extended reality case studies, work on our own extended reality development and process blog on it, and create our Extended Reality Development Series of Mini-Courses, that we also begin to build a standalone piece or pieces that address accessibility in extended reality. Not sure what that will be yet, but if you have suggestions for this, I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Your Thoughts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in comments below on the direction I am taking with this Extended Reality Open Education Guide. If you have suggestions for future XR Case Studies, on XR Development Tools and Platforms to try, the structure of or things I should be including in the XR Development Series of Mini-Courses, or ways to further address Accessibility in Extended Reality, please share them in the comments. Thank you!

Also, if anyone wishes to become involved in any of the above endeavours with myself and my team, please reach out and we can chat further.

Thank Yous

The work that I have begun here has been inspired by and is evolving, thanks to:

Dr David Vogt for encouraging my dreaming, entrepreneurial thinking, and edtech product design and development;
Dr David Porter in exploring open education and searching for sustainable funding pathways for;
Saeed Dyanatkar for seeing my potential in dreaming up different pathways for storytelling and education, always making time for me when I had questions, and making me feel welcome and valued whenever I wandered into the Emerging Media Lab;
Dr Kyle Stooshnov and Juliana Loh for creating a framework for my first steps into thinking about XR development and experimenting with 360 video;
Dr Jennifer Jenson and Dr Suzanne de Castell for fostering my game design thinking;
Dr Heidi Janz, Dr Michelle Stack and Dr Paul Hamilton for helping me to process my newer disabilities, frame disabilities and myself as disabled in my storytelling, and begin to understand how to advocate for disability and accessibility in education (and feel empowered to do so, understanding it as a strength, as oppose to something to hide);
Yvonne Dawydiak for demonstrating the alternative pathways to navigating UBC, approaching teaching creatively in a hands-on way, and an empathy driven approach and practice;
Lori Yearwood for her vision in beginning to create case studies here on StoryToGo to act as resources for our students, workshop participants, clients and partners, and the broader independent creative and education community – for encouraging me to begin to share my disabilities in our storytelling and work, and sharing her own wellness challenges as we began to build our health, wellness and accessibility workshops, resources, and storytelling – and for always being a willing and enthusiastic supporter and co-creator on the ideas that wander through my mind; and
Manami Calvo for seeing the potential for sharing her family’s WWII stories in AR, joining me in crafting experiments around, and in trusting me with her family’s stories.

Also an enormous thank you to the Interledger Foundation for helping fund my research and work on Sustainable Funding Solutions for Creatives and Educators, and to CNIE – RCIÉ and BCIT who have helped fund my research and coursework throughout my Masters.

Thank you all, for all your help, support, direction and inspiration!

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