News Round-Up (II): Bravo-Foursquare-Sephora, Brightcove, Canoe Ventures

The [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, so we are covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

• Bravo is teaming with cosmetics company, Sephora, on a promotion powered by mobile social networking service, Foursquare (note: for more on Bravo's social TV partnership with Foursquare, which was announced in January, see the articles published on itvt.com, January 31st and April 5th). "At certain time(s) to be determined by Sephora, a specific store location in New Jersey or New York will be announced via Sephora and BravoTV Twitter feed," Sephora wrote on its blog. "The first eligible person to appear at that store following the 'tweet' and show the Sephora store director the Foursquare Bravo Badge on his/her phone will receive a $100 Sephora gift card." The promotion will, initially at least, center around the show, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." It is scheduled to take place June 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.
• Online video platform provider, Brightcove, has announced the release of version 4.1.2 of its platform. According to the company, new features include a transcode settings feature in the Brightcove Studio, and full support for the VPAID interactive advertising standard.
• Canoe Ventures, the company tasked with implementing the US cable industry's plans for interactive and addressable advertising (note: its backers are Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House), has announced the appointment of Michael Burgi as VP of communications. According to the company, Burgi, who was formerly editor-in-chief of the B2B publication, Mediaweek (note: he worked there for 17 years), will report to chief marketing officer, Vicki Lins, and will lead its efforts to "further define, craft and tell its story to key stakeholders, customers, influencers and other important constituents." He will work alongside Dana Runnells, who was recently promoted to VP of marketing communications.