VancouverIAM launched at the end of April 2008 as a citizen media site about Vancouver, based in Vancouver. It described itself as the destination for people who wanted to know what was going on in the city, offering the tools and support to become a video journalist, internet TV producer and commentator on local politics.
The weight was on internet television. The site hosted video and handed out production tools, and already ran channels for local organisations including the Vancouver Film School and the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team, alongside an aggregation of what it called the cream of Vancouver blogs. Toronto and Seattle were named as the next cities, which made the model look much like Backfence’s attempt in the United States.
There was no advertising on the site and the launch material said nothing about a business model, though it did mention funding for a video journalism programme. The parent company was SoMedia Networks, an investor-backed startup owned by George Fleming, a dot-com veteran whose earlier ventures included eCharge and the broadband network Evolution USA.
Two details dated the launch precisely. VancouverIAM had been using NowPublic to promote itself since a soft launch the previous October, joining NowPublic.com and Orato.com as the third citizen media operation headquartered in the same city. And it announced itself to journalists with a paper press release and a branded water bottle sent through the post.