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Press Release

Contact: Lennox Chandler, Head, NCST

Phone: 246.427.5270

Linda Walrond

246.424.0994

For immediate release

Joan vogelesang – an animated presence in barbados

Barbadian artists are being trained in the lucrative art of animation at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, using one of the world’s leading animation software developed by Toon Boom Animations Inc. And this week, the President and CEO of the Canadian-based company, Joan Vogelesang pays a visit to Barbados to lend her expertise and knowledge of the world market to chart the future of the animation industry in Barbados.

Ms. Vogelesang, who grew up in the Caribbean, has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive responsible for international business development, customer care and operational management. She will be a key participant in a strategic planning session taking place at the EBCCI on Thursday, June 24th from 9.30 a.m. The workshop will look at how best Barbados can exploit a burgeoning global animation market that earned more than 200 billion dollars last year, provide rewarding careers for the island’s artists, and become a major foreign exchange earner.

In 2004, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry honored Ms. Vogelesang with the Life Time Achievement Award for promoting the Indian Animation Sector on the global map. In 2001,

Also attending the Barbados strategic planning workshop will be representatives from Invest Barbados, the EBCCI, the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Int’l Trade Law, Policy and Services, UWI, the Trade section of the Canadian High Commission, BIMAP, the Ministries of Trade and Commerce, Education and Foreign Affairs, as well as members of the newly-formed Barbados Animators Network Guild (BANG), AnimeKon, and the department of Animation, Digital Media Studies, University of Trinidad and Tobago, and the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), host of the event.

The Toon Boom Animations CEO is also expected to have talks with Canadian High Commission Trade Commissioner, Jacques Desjardins, and officials of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce. She will also be a guest of Morning Barbados on Thursday.

Ms. Vogelesang is a regular guest speaker at international animation events, including Asia Animation Conference, ChangZhou Animation Festival, HangZhou Animation Festival, eLearning Africa, FRAMES and NASSCOM Animation India. While in Barbados, Ms Vogelesang will also be the keynote speaker at the opening of AnimeKon at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday morning (June 26th), and will be a member of the panel discussion that follows the opening ceremony. The Animekon Expo is Barbados' first ever pop culture convention bringing together the major players in the entertainment industry with their fans.

Ms Vogelesang, who has been nominated as one of the Top 25 Women in Animation by Animation Magazine arrives in Barbados today, June 23rd.