How cool is this?

Many of us have come to rely on a variety of Google services, including Google Maps and Google Street View. Now, you can go even further by getting the Street View experience inside of buildings!

The Network Hub campus in New Westminster is one of the first places in British Columbia to have the Google Interior Tour functionality set up. You can navigate around our office the same way you would in Google Street View, clicking on those little navigation arrows near the bottom to step forward, take a turn, or step back. And just like Street View, you can drag around to get a full 360-degree perspective too.

If you’ve never been to our office in New Westminster (or even if you have), you should definitely check it out now with some awesome 360-degree virtual tour navigation in Google.

My name is Nick Romick, and I am the President and CEO of Media Shark Inc. We do Web Design, Logo Design, Architectural Visualization and Cartoons.

- Tell us something unique about your company.

Well, Media Shark has a cartoon division called ToonShark (which is my favourite part). ToonShark specializes in both 2D and 3D cartoons. Although they are cartoons, they aren’t meant for children – due to their twisted humour. We hope to get these cartoons out to television eventually.

- What inspired you to get into this line of work?

Well, I have always been into design of all sorts. I started with an interest in Web Design, and that’s why I started this company. I have always loved cartoons, video games and 3d modeling, so that’s why I branched out into cartoons… Oh, and I love to make people laugh.

- What projects are you currently working on with ToonShark?

We are actually working on a 3D-generated mockumentary called “Toy Cops” – which takes a deeper look into the gang, drug, police corruption and social problems that occur in the “Toy” Community. It is going to feature “Lego-like” characters and be filmed in a similar style as the television series “Cops” – which follows police officers around during the line of duty. This will have some adult humour and is not recommended for children.

Shortly after the completion of “Toy Cops” we are starting a 2D production, entitled “Frosty’s Revenge.” This cartoon is a dark spin off the old childrens christmas story about Frosty The Snowman. Heavily inspired by the comic book “Lenore”, this video takes a dark turn for the worst, when Frosty the Snowman realizes that spring is coming and he is going to melt.

Details on both of these projects can be found on our website – http://www.toonshark.ca

- What do you enjoy the most about what you do?

Probably making people laugh and being able to articulate my thoughts and dreams into something other people can enjoy.

- Where do you see your industry going in the next 2 years?

I plan on putting our cartoons through some animation festivals like ‘Spike and Mike’s Twisted Festival of Animation’, Vancouver Film Festival, Siggraph, YouTube and eventually to television. I would like to see the Web-side of the company become one of the top names in the Vancouver area.

- What made you decide to work at The Network Hub?

The space in New Westminster is amazing, full of light and the people are awesome. Just the chance to branch out, network and meet new people in (and out) of the tech industry is worth more than I pay in rent here every month alone. I didn’t just want office space – I wanted to get myself into the Vancouver entrepreneurial “clique.”

- How has the experience been for you?

Amazing. I’ve met a lot of people and have set up some good networks. I’ve also had the chance to meet people in the same industry as me and bounce business ideas off of them. It’s really much more than a space here – it’s more of a community.

WordPress is easily one of the most popular content management systems on the Internet today. It also happens to be one of the most adaptable and most versatile, giving bloggers and site owners a wealth of options for customization. And Vancouver has a huge community of bloggers and web developers.

That’s why the Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group was formed. They hold events just about every month and they are usually hosted right here at the Vancouver Network Hub campus. We are proud to sponsor this group, providing them with the meeting space for free.

Here’s the blurb from the official Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group page:

Meet other Vancouver users of WordPress, the Web’s best dynamic content management system. Whether you’re an absolute beginner learning the ropes or a power user blogging daily, you are welcome to come out to exchange ideas, network with each other, and have a good time.

Many of Vancouver’s brightest minds and highly sought after web developers are members of the group, including Morten Rand-Hendriksen, Gwyn Pritchett, Vanessa Chu, Jay Catalan, Rick Chung, Ariane Colenbrander and Pete Quily. And yes, membership and attendance are always free!

Check out the schedule for past and upcoming WordPress workshops on the Meetup page.

The Network Hub is a strong supporter of the local business community and this also means supporting the business owners of the future. And that’s why we were proud to sponsor the Intercollegiate Marketing Competition (IMC) organized by Simon Fraser University.

Taking place on March 3rd of this year, IMC 2012 was “designed to challenge and facilitate the growth of undergraduate business students.” Participants worked on marketing cases, giving the students the “opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations.”

There were two venues for IMC 2012. The main competition was hosted at Harbour Centre, whereas The Network Hub acted as a home base when the participants weren’t actively competing. We provided students with a laid-back environment where they could take a break and network with like-minded individuals. Students needed relief from the fast-paced nature of the competition and the Hub’s Downtown Vancouver office provided just that, complementing the competition atmosphere quite nicely.

This was our second year acting as a venue sponsor for the Intercollegiate Marketing Competition and our relationship is stronger than ever. For more on IMC, check out their official website at SFU-IMC.com.

One example is Social Media Club Vancouver, which works to “advance digital media literacy, promote ethical behavior and build a community of like-minded professionals to meet and learn from one another.” And The Network Hub is proud to be one of their sponsors.

More specifically, we sponsored the recent State of Social Media event organized by Social Media Club Vancouver. It was hosted at the Network Hub and it was a packed house! The featured panelists included notable locals Dennis Pang, Gus Fosarolli, and Kemp Edmonds. They discussed social media for small, medium, and multinational businesses.

As part of our sponsorship of Social Media Club, we provided them with the space to host this event (an up to $300 value) and we actively helped SMC to promote the event through our various channels, appropriately enough including social media! The event was a resounding success and we’re happy to have Social Media Club back at the Hub soon.

“All new media bring back the dead.” – John Durham Peters

After reading “What’s Next? Paramortals, or Dancing with the Interactive Digital Dead” by Professor Onufrijchuk twice, my mind started wandering into the clouds.  What if…. it was possible to raise grandma from the dead.   There are times I wish I could hear her story about her opening a flower store after the war to raise seven kids and putting my dad through medical school selling one flower a time at the market again or ask her about life during the war. If grandma had used foursquare to check-in, yelp to review, facebook to interact and perhaps keep a blog about her life – it would probably be simple, wouldn’t it?  Grandma digitally reincarnated.

I would download all this data into a database which could then parse out the information to learn her preferences, values, belief and heck maybe her quirks.  If I were to have questions about life, I could ask grandma on my phone or maybe even get a hologram going like how they did at Coachella, raising Tupac from the dead but instead, it is grandma speaking to me.  You might think this is creepy or unethical or going too far, so let me remind you of use of dead celebrities authorized by their family to promote products like Coca-Cola, it’s a form of resurrecting the dead.  There is also discussion of Tupac going on tour.

Which then brings me to the next question, which is just because it is possible, should we do it?  While raising Tupac was purely for commercial reasons, my thought of raising grandma from the dead is because I can benefit from her years of experience and perhaps satisfy my deep regrets of not knowing her more while she was alive.  While people might feel queasy about making money off of a dead person but what if it is for your kids or your grand children?  How is it different from Erin Kramp, a mom who knew she was dying recorded hours and hours of motherly advice for her daughter? What if grandma willed her data to the family to resurrect her digitally after her death?

There are all sorts of complications when we are dealing with the delicacy of legal issues such as copyright, right to publicity, defamation and there is a host of moral issues. But the question remains: should we digitally resurrect people? Why or why not?

We here at The Network Hub are committed to the community. We recognize that Vancouver has grown to become one of the hottest of the hotspots when it comes to startups, freelancers, small businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures. We know that by supporting one another, we are not taking a slice out of someone else’s pie; we’re helping to build a bigger pie for everyone.

And that is why we are so enthusiastic about supporting the local business community by offering sponsorships to several meetups, non-profits, and local events. We offer up the space at The Network Hub for events like the Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup and Freelance Camp Vancouver.

The people who work out of our coworking campuses and make use of our small business services come from a very diverse background, but we all work together to build the bigger business community for all of us. If you have a future event that falls within this philosophy, whether it be a symposium on social media or a meetup of entrepreneurs in your specific industry, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

We’ve affectionately come to know the space as The Artwork Hub, because we’ve opened up our doors to local artists, giving them a platform to showcase their work and they do so free of charge. We’re not like a more conventional art gallery space that takes a fee or a commission, because we want to support the local art community. There is no charge for the exhibition.

After you submit your artwork, we can hang your painting, photo, or whatever other piece of artistic mastery on our walls. Next to it will the standard small description placard and visitors to the space will have the opportunity to purchase it. The total purchase price is then given right back to the artist without a commission on our part, but we highly encourage artists to give back to the community by means of donation a portion (usually 10%) to a charity of their choosing.

Check out our official page for some of the current exhibitions. Considering how many people pass through our Network Hub locations, including those visiting during various networking events, local artists are provided with much-needed exposure through this initiative. And we’re happy to provide it.

There are all sorts of things that you’ll want to get in order when you decide to start your own small business. Maybe you’re already embarking down this path of entrepreneurship, but you don’t quite have your ducks in a row. Make your life a lot easier and consider one of our service bundles.

There is no commitment, no long-term contracts. Instead, you pay on a simple month-to-month basis to have access to a number of our small business services. By bundling these services together, you can net significant savings each and every month. We currently have two levels of service bundles available: basic and advanced.

Both bundles include our phone answering service and our mailbox rental, but the advanced package upgrades that to mail forwarding, as well as the scanning of physical mail to email for ease of delivery. You also get a toll-free phone number, a fax number, meeting room access, and a friendly receptionist to greet your clients. This is just about everything that you need to set up your virtual office and this can all be ready to go in a matter of minutes.

It’s up to you whether you want to add a private office or a coworking plan to these service bundles, but they are not at all required if you don’t need them. Check out the full details of our service bundle packages and sign up for your Vancouver or New Westminster virtual office today!

Coworking has quickly risen in popularity and for good reason. It’s much more cost effective than taking out an office on your own, plus you get to network with all kinds of like-minded entrepreneurs and small business owners. But there are some extra features that you may not know about!

Yes, your coworking space will come fully furnished and you’ll have access to our high-speed Internet, but did you know that all coworking members also get mail and courier handling? You also get a shared fax line and access to monthly networking events.

A little known bonus is the Coworking Visa. As an entrepeneur, you might find yourself traveling to other cities. You need somewhere to get your work done and that’s why the coworking visa is so useful. It provides you with three complimentary, drop-in days at the offices of our coworking partners all around the world. There are over 70 coworking spaces in the United States alone where this will work, as well as locations in 22 different countries. And this visa is included with your membership to The Network Hub.

Coworking options are available at both our Vancouver and New Westminster locations. You don’t have to commit to a dedicated space either, as you can opt for part-time coworking plans too!