Raincity Studios' international ambassador of open business (and also CEO) Robert Scales, along with Bryght's honcho (and fellow new web luminary) Kris Krug, are in China for their fourth foray in the past couple of years. This time, it's getting permanent.

After 4 years spent making hundreds of Drupal-driven sites, building a diverse and noteworty client list, and hosting/promoting/sponsoring/covering dozens of events, Raincity Studios is now officially trans-Pacific with a new office in Shanghai as of yesterday China time (which is sometime late tomorrow here on the left coast ;-)).

Raincity Studios' client and colleagues from China Access 2008 will be rolling through Vancouver to discuss growth economies and industries and business strategies for Asia Pacific region and China with an emphasis in the creative digital industries.

Alan Carroll, Executive Chairman, Pacific Rim Forum and Andrew Gilkes, Executive Director, China Access 2008 are the two experienced businesspeople who will discuss new developments, recent changes and how the best companies are adapting.

Raincity's international man of Drupal should be rolling in jetlagged and brimming with anecdotes from a exhausting and exhilarating trip to China ... whoa and right on cue, here he is, Robert Scales ... still on China time and with a bulging in-box to sort out and an empty stomach.

I'll surely get the full recap on the podcast recorder but, suffice to say, Scales was in China with Kris Krug of Bryght (and noted Vancouver fashion photographer) to promote Raincity and BC business in general at GDC Shanghai, confer on best practices at China Access and to catalyze Bar Camp "un"conferences in Beijing and Shanghai.

Oliver Stone Among A List Of Big-Wigs to Produce Shorts

The next Olympic Games is just under 2 years away, and there still seems to remain a slight question mark on the topic of citizen journalism in China and how blogging and people adhering to open source communities reporting from the games will be received.

After a month of having his new film delayed, Oliver Stone is in China for the opening of "World Trade Center". (Beijing imposed the delay in an attempt to promote homegrown films.) It looks like Stone will be doing more than just that for the Chinese. He has been named, along with 2 other international directors, Italian Giuseppe Tornatore and Majid Majidi from Iran, to create a short film promoting the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The Olympic Committee has already brought on board the likes of Steven Spielberg as a consultant for the opening and closing ceremonies, while also summoning the great work of Ang Lee to boot. They seem to want to include the great filmmakers of our time to help cultivate a positive impression of Beijing and China to the world. What better person than one of the most controversial directors known to current day film!