Amber MacArthur
1276018
224729566
2008-07-10T04:15:28Z
67.71.31.108
typo
{{Infobox Person
| name = Amber Dawn MacArthur
| image = Ambermac.jpg
| image_size = 200px
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| birth_date = {{bda|1976|06|27}}
| birth_place = [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island|Charlottetown]], [[Prince Edward Island]], [[Canada]]<ref name=facebook>{{cite web | url = http://www.facebook.com/p/Amber_Mac/507398501?id=507398501&name=Amber_Mac | title = Amber Mac's Facebook profile | accessmonthday = 04-12 | accessyear = 2007 | author = Amber Mac | last = Mac | first = Amber | date = 2007-04-12 | pages = 1 | language = English }}</ref>
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| residence = [[Toronto, Canada]]
| nationality = [[Canada|Canadian]]
| other_names =
| known_for = [[Call for Help]] on [[G4techTV Canada]]; [[CityNews International]]; [[net@nite]]; [[CommandN]]
| education = [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in English from [[Dalhousie University]]; [[Journalism]] at [[University of King's College]]
| employer =
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| title = Media Specialist
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| website = http://www.ambermac.com
| footnotes =
}}
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:AmberMac.jpg|right|thumb|Amber MacArthur in 2006.{{puic|Image:AmberMac.jpg|log=2007 November 30}}]] -->
'''Amber Dawn MacArthur''' (born {{birth date|1976|06|27}} in [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island]]<ref name=facebook />) is a [[Canada|Canadian]] [[television]] and podcasting personality. She is currently developing a [[social networking]] website with [[Tony Robbins]].
Currently, she creates a [[video podcast]] called ''[[commandN]]'' and co-hosts one of the [[TWiT]] podcast Network's ''[[net@nite]]'', successor to ''[[Inside the Net]]''. She is well known for the series ''[[Call for Help (television program)|Call for Help]]'', but has also hosted on ''[[Torrent (TV series)|Torrent]]'' and ''[[Gadgets and Gizmos]]'' for [[G4techTV Canada]]. She worked for more than a year for [[Citytv]]'s [[CityNews]] and [[CP24]], and has recently returned to her role as New Media Specialist.
==Background==
MacArthur is originally from [[Charlottetown]], [[Prince Edward Island]] and currently lives in [[Toronto]]. She received an undergraduate degree in English from [[Dalhousie University]], and studied Journalism at the [[University of King's College]] in [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]]. She enjoys [[running]], [[snowboarding]], randomly browsing the internet, wrist watches, usability articles, and spontaneous road trips<ref>[http://ambermac.typepad.com/about.html AmberMac.com: About]</ref>. Her brother is [[Jeff MacArthur]].
==Career==
===Technology===
MacArthur worked for [[Microsoft]] for two years as a web strategist, as a web designer at [[Avenue A/Razorfish|Razorfish]] in San Francisco, and as a judge at the [[Webby Awards]] 2000. She was also Director of Web Marketing at HigherMarkets, "where she managed corporate branding initiatives, software usability and online course development."<ref name="citytv">{{cite web | url = http://www.citytv.com/toronto/personalities_AmberMacArthur.aspx | title = Personalities: Amber MacArthur | accessmonthday = 12-21 | accessyear = 2006 | year = 2006 | work = Citytv website | publisher = CHUM Limited | language = English }}</ref> In 2007 she co-founded a media company MGImedia with her brother Jeff.<ref name="MGImedia">{{cite web | url = http://www.mgimedia.ca/ | title = MGImedia | accessmonthday = 03-25 | accessyear = 2008 | year = 2007 | work = MGImedia website | publisher = MGImedia | language = English}}</ref>
===Television===
Upon graduation, MacArthur worked in her hometown of [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island|Charlottetown]] at [[CBC-TV]], as an associate reporter from April to July 1999,<ref name="resume">[http://ambermac.typepad.com/about.html Amber MacArthur's resume]</ref> and the San Francisco radio station [[KQED]].<ref name="citytv">{{cite web | url = http://www.citytv.com/toronto/personalities_AmberMacArthur.aspx | title = Personalities: Amber MacArthur | accessmonthday = 12-21 | accessyear = 2006 | year = 2006 | work = Citytv website | publisher = CHUM Limited | language = English }}</ref> In July 2002, she co-hosted a [[Discovery Channel Canada]] special "Science on the Red Carpet", with [[Dave Foley]] at the [[Science & Technical Academy Awards]].<ref name="resume"/> She appeared weekly in the summer of 2006, as a tech columnist for [[CBC Newsworld]].<ref name="resume"/>
MacArthur later became a host on ''[[Call for Help (television program)|Call for Help]]'', a technology series produced for [[G4techTV Canada]], which still airs daily on [[G4techTV Canada]] in Canada and on [[HOW TO Channel]] in Australia. MacArthur is the subject of a song written in tribute to ''Call for Help'' 2.0. While working as a host on ''Call for Help'', MacArthur joined the series ''[[Gadgets and Gizmos]]'' as a co-host, working with [[Marc Saltzman]] and [[Andy Walker]] until the show ended production in 2005.
From August 2004 to September 2006, MacArthur was host of the [[G4techTV Canada]] program, ''[[Torrent (TV series)|Torrent]]'', which is still in production.<ref name="resume" /> She also hosted ''[[Gadgets & Gizmos]]'' for the Canadian channel.<ref name="resume" />
On [[28 August]] [[2006]], MacArthur announced on her blog<ref>[http://ambermac.typepad.com/ambermac/2006/08/to_all_the_g4te.html To all the G4techTV fans: Thanks for two great years! My goodbye video]</ref> that she was leaving her position at G4techTV and would no longer appear on ''Call For Help'', ''Torrent'', or ''Gadgets and Gizmos''.
In mid-September, she joined [[Citytv Toronto|Citytv]], [[CP24]] in Toronto with the title "New Media Specialist", to report on "new media and interactive trends" for ''[[CityNews International]]''. She first appeared on the station's nightly newscast, ''CityNews at Six'', commenting in another reporter's story on [[9/11 conspiracy theories]] propagated through the Internet. Segments since have ranged from former sex trade workers blogging [[Robert Pickton]] trial, to a [[Toronto Transit Commission]]/[[Google Maps]] mashup.
In January 2007,<ref name="resume"/> she launched a weekly program on CP24, which became quite popular as a vodcast. Originally titled "Inside Popnology",<ref name="episode6">{{cite podcast | url = http://www.twit.tv/natn6 | title = net@nite: Episode 6 | website =This Week in Tech | host = Leo LaPorte and Amber MacArthur | date = 2006-12-11 | accessdate = 12-21 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> the CHUM Television-produced program quickly became ''[[Webnation]]''. She resigned in October to go for freelance projects, feeling she was being asked to target too old an audience, and wanted to pursue two projects in the United States. They convinced her to stick around for two more months, after Rogers Communications promised her show would be weekly on the [[Citytv]] network and on [[G4techTV Canada]],<ref name="ambergone" /> reformatted, as of January 2008 as ''Webnation V2''.<ref name="typepad-goodbye">{{cite web | url = http://ambermac.typepad.com/ambermac/2008/01/my-top-three-fa.html | title = Top 3 Webnation episodes - Goodbye Citytv | date = 2008-01-06 | accessdate = 2008-01-11 }}</ref> ([[CTV Television Network|CTV]]'s parent company; [[CTVglobemedia]] bought out CHUM Limited in June 2007, with the exception of the Citytv network, which was sold to Rogers.)
She was informed on January 4, 2008 that the budget wasn't there for the program. Just before the announcement, the program was named the "Top New Podcast Award for 2007" by [[iTunes]].<ref name="ambergone">{{cite web | url = http://blogto.com/city/2008/01/amber_macarthur_gone_from_citytv/ | title = Amber MacArthur Gone from Citytv | date = 2008-01-04 | accessdate = 2008-02-20 }}</ref> Citytv began airing ''[[The Lab with Leo Laporte]]'' around this time. CP24 has since made some reorganization to the anchors/reporters as a result of the change in ownership of CP24's former parent company; CHUM Limited.
Amber had been hosting ''[[Home Page (television series)|Home Page]]'' after host [[David Onley]] was named [[Lieutenant Governor of Ontario]], and she was replaced by [[Jee-Yun Lee]] after her resignation.
Over the years, she has been a technology guest on [[CBC Newsworld]], [[CBC Radio]], [[Global TV]], [[CTV Montreal]], [[MTV Live]], [[MuchMoreMusic]], [[LifeNetwork]], and [[CFRB Radio]].<ref name="resume" />
===Podcasting===
[[Image:AmberAndLeo.jpg|thumb|right|Amber Mac and Leo Laporte]]
In June [[2005]], MacArthur started the weekly video [[Podcasting|podcast]] ''[[commandN]]'', which covers technology trends both online and offline. She continues to co-host this show. A commercial study found that CommandN was the fifth most-downloaded podcast among surveyed Canadians.<ref>[http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=606125 "Podcasting Taking a Hold in Canada"], 2 August 2006.</ref>
Through [[October 2006]], she worked on a podcast with ''Call for Help'' co-host [[Leo Laporte]] called ''[[Inside the Net]]'', which then morphed into ''[[net@nite]]'', a Sunday evening live broadcast. The show is available as part of the [[This Week in Tech]] network.
MacArthur describes how various types of technology work on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] radio show/podcast [http://www.cbc.ca/spark/ Spark].
===Journalism===
Since summer of 2006, she has written a monthly "Web Trends" column for ''[[The Calgary Sun Urbane Magazine]]''. She has been quoted by major Canadian newspapers, when they need a tech expert. ''[[NOW Magazine]]'' declared her the "Best geek personality", 2006.<ref>{{cite news | author = Michael Hollett (ed.) | title = Best of Toronto : Tech | url = http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-10-26/goods_next.php | work = NOW Magazine | publisher = NOW Magazine | pages = 1 | page = | date = 26 October-1 November, 2006 | accessdate = 2006-12-21 | language = English | quote = ...make Amber the unassuming and friendly face of tech news in Toronto and on the web. It's hard to find a Toronto tech event where MacArthur isn't busy taking notes or filming interviews.}}</ref>
==References==
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{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|EN-Amber_MacArthur.ogg|2005-12-15}}
* [http://ambermac.com/ Amber MacArthur's Official Website and Blog]
* {{imdb|1708927|Amber MacArthur}}
* ''[http://www.commandn.tv/ commandN]'', ''[http://www.citynews.ca/webnation Webnation]'', ''[http://twit.tv/natn net@nite]'', ''[http://mgimedia.ca/ MGImedia]''
* [http://www.thelavinagency.com/ The Lavin Agency] represents Amber MacArthur for speaking engagements in the U.S. and Canada: some of her speech topics here.
===Interviews===
* [http://blogto.com/through_the_eyes_of/2006/12/toronto_through_the_eyes_of_amber_macarthur/ Toronto Through the Eyes of Amber MacArthur], BlogTO, 7 December 2006
* [http://www.theflux.tv/index.php?/Podcast_Player/amber-mac-interview/ TheFlux.tv podcast interview with Amber MacArthur]
* Chris Hogg, "[http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/249072/Digital_Journal_TV_Up_Close_and_Personal_With_Internet_Star_Amber_MacArthur Digital Journal TV: Up Close and Personal With Internet Star Amber MacArthur]", ''Digital Journal'', January 19, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Amber}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian television personalities]]
[[Category:People from Charlottetown]]
[[Category:Canadians of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Internet personalities]]