FAD Research is owned by Sam Punnett. For the past 20 years he has developed and informed interactive media projects for both Canadian and U.S. clients. Based in Toronto, Canada, Sam is an expert on the interactive media business. He has performed strategy, research, production and e-business solutions work for clients such as Pfizer Canada, RBC Financial, EMI Music Canada, as well as for various departments in three levels of Canadian government.

FAD is actively pursuing business with traditional media companies looking to leverage interactive media and to create new revenue streams.

Current clients include EMI Music Canada, the Bell Broadcast & New Media Fund, Social Housing Services Corporation, the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Bloo 'N White Media. Sam is currently acting as expert resource in a joint initiative being undertaken by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA).

Contact us for information on our latest reports:

Canada Online!
Just released in September of 2008, this is the most comprehensive study of Canadian Internet users ever put together. Sam Punnett contributed to the instrument design in 2007 and several chapters of analysis in the final 366 page report. This report was put together by the Canadian Internet Project as a part of the World Internet Project involving some 30 countries.

Changing Media, Changing Roles: New Media Comes of Age
This report was prepared for Telefilm Canada in August of 2006. The report examines the state of interactive media development and specifically how changes are impacting traditional media and the role interactive media plays in informing and entertaining the Canadian public. This report serves as a supplemental reference to the Telefilm Canada submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearings on the future of broadcasting planned for the Fall of 2006.

New Media in PEI:Strategy Towards Economic Development and Export
This study examines the potential for smaller communities to develop the economic potential of new media in a "flat" World. Discussion includes new media business models, niche markets and tips towards nurturing an entrepreneurial culture and attracting "Creative Class" workers.

The Changing Face of Music Delivery:
The Effects of Digital Technologies on the Music Industry
This study examines the disruptive effects of digital technologies on the music industry. Discussion of emerging business models and the importance of innovation and audience considerations in product development.
(View it here)

The Internet as an e-Health Channel:
Present, State-of-the-Art and Future Possibilities
Conducted for the Ministry of Health for the Province of Ontario. The study examines the use and future potential of using Internet-based communications to provide health information. Special attention is paid to people in the 65+ age group.

Sam Punnett appeared in Ottawa on Friday, February 22, 2008 at Prime Time as a panelist on the future of IPTV.

Sam also did a series of radio interviews for the CBC to provide commentary after the RIAA in the U.S. successfully sued a mother of two for music copyright violation in December of 2007. Sam's remarks appear in two articles on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news Web site cbc.ca. One article accurately predicts the demise of digital rights management (DRM) in music, the other is commentary on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

FAD Research also participated in the latest Pew Internet & American Life study that resulted in the report entitled "The Future of the Internet II", published September, 2006. Our predictions are featured as a part of, "Imagining the Internet", insights extracted from over 1200 expert respondents from the Elon University study from which the Pew Internet report is derived.

FAD's president is also quoted in the eMarketer release "Canada eCommerce" published in September, 2005.
(Find it here)

Other involvements:

• programming advisor to the 2007 ICE Summit held in Toronto on March 21-22, 2007
• panel speaker at the International Institute of Communications Conference December, 2006 in Ottawa
• assisted Toronto's New Media Business Alliance in programming their first iSummit: Content That Pays conference held March, 2006
• judge for the Alliance for Children and Television Awards of Excellence in 2005
• instructor for the graduate studies class "Research and New Media" offered Fall 2004 at the Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College in Toronto
• curriculum advisor to the graduate new media programs at Sheridan College and the Centre for Creative Communications
• member of the Peer Assessment Committee for Canadian Heritage's New Media Research Networks Fund
• member of the Interactive Peer Group for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (The Emmy's) of Los Angeles
• analyst for the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund
• mentor for Ontario's Pioneering Content project sponsored by the Ontario Media Development Corporation
• advisor to Habitat the graduate new media program at the Canadian Film Centre
• judge for the 2004 Juno Awards, Canada's music industry awards
• original member and director (1993-98) of one of the world's first professional organizations for new media, the Interactive Media Arts & Technologies Association, founded in Toronto in 1992
• founding member of the CGDA (Computer Game Designers' Association), now the IGDA, in San Jose in 1995
• co-founder of the Canadian New Media Awards