Press Conference, Online Global Chat Allow Fans Worldwide to Talk With Basketball Great Steve Nash

NEW YORK and TORONTO, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NBA star and two-time MVP Steve Nash will chat live with fans around the world using Ortsbo, a real-time chat translator, during a press event from 11 a.m. to noon EDT on June 22 in the Hudson Room at Trump Soho Hotel in New York, N.Y.

Fans will be able to view and participate in the global chat by registering at http://www.showdownliveandglobal.com/. Media members can attend the press conference in person.  Players scheduled to participate in the chat include Steve Nash, MarcinGortat, Brandon Jennings and Claudio Reyna.  

The chat precedes the "Showdown in Chinatown Presented by Ortsbo.com" charity soccer match, which features an all-star roster, and raises funds for the Steve Nash Foundation and its work with underserved children. This year's Showdown – the fourth – will benefit early education work with Educare.

Ortsbo, the presenting sponsor for the day's events, will enable Nash and other Showdown athletes to interact seamlessly with fans in more than 50 languages through their social media platforms. Len Berman, sports anchor and former host of The NFL on NBC Pregame Show, will moderate the worldwide chat.

"Fans all over the world who have followed the NBA and Steve Nash's amazing career will be able to talk to him in a way that few can," says David Lucatch, president of Ortsbo. "Ortsbo not only breaks down barriers, but translates text automatically, eliminating the typically tedious and inefficient translation process of other services."

The free, real-time chat translator integrates with 13 of the most popular social media platforms, including Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, iChat and AIM to allow users to instantly send and receive messages in their native language.

The Showdown and surrounding events "mesh three of my big passions – basketball, soccer and kids – and a presenting sponsor with an incredible, global play," said Nash. "Through my Foundation, we're able to assist children internationally, so having these players come in from all around the world to assist our efforts feels very synergistic."

The Showdown begins at 6 p.m. at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Chrystie and Stanton streets in New York City, and features NBA and international soccer stars. Past participants include Ryan Babel (TSG Hoffenheim), Grant Hill (Phoenix Suns), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), Chris Bosh (Miami Heat), Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks) and Claudio Reyna (USA World Cup Team).

Tickets and VIP packages for the Showdown, and a Showdown After Hours evening and auction event, are available at stevenash.org/showdown. General admission to the Showdown is free and open to the public.

This year the Steve Nash Foundation has added a new component to the event – a chance to have a pint with Nash himself.  Fans can enter by either registering at stevenash.org or by making a $10 donation to the Steve Nash Foundation by texting NASH to 202-22 by June 17, 2011; the winner will be announced on June 18. For more information, visit stevenash.org.

About Ortsbo

Ortsbo (www.ortsbo.com) enables real-time conversational translation in over 50 languages and seamlessly integrates with today's most popular social media platforms.  Ortsbo Inc. is a division of Intertainment Media Inc., a Rich Media Applications leader, focused on delivering leading edge technology and marketing solutions enabling clients to power enhanced branding, loyalty initiatives and consumer engagement. Selected as a Microsoft Global Agency Initiative partner, Intertainment has joined an elite group of interactive agencies worldwide that Microsoft recommends to its Partners and Customers.

Ortsbo's flagship product for social media (www.ortsbo.com) supports global communications with instant translation capability, real time multi-lingual social media chat connects to PC and Mac computers, mobile browsers as well as all major search engine chat platforms including Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! along with Facebook, iChat, AIM, ICQ, Gadu-Gadu, Ovi, Lotus Sametime, LiveJournal and Tencent QQ and QQ International, China's largest chat platforms and Twitter.

Intertainment Media owns and operates a number of key properties including Ad Taffy, itiBiti, Ortsbo and Magnum. For more information on the Company and its properties, please visit www.intertainmentmedia.com.

Headquartered in the Toronto, Canada region, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Mateo, CA, Intertainment Media Inc. is listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol "INT" (TSX VENTURE:INT) and on the OTCQX under the symbol "ITMTF". Intertainment is also traded in Europe, on the XETRA Exchange in Frankfurt, Germany under the symbol "I4T".

About the Steve Nash Foundation

The Steve Nash Foundation is a 501(c)(3) and registered Canadian charity dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life.  The Foundation works to increase access to critical needs resources at home and abroad to ensure that every child has a chance to grow.  The Showdown benefits Educare Arizona, the Steve Nash Foundation's platform to provide highest-quality early learning opportunities to low-income children and families. Learn more at www.stevenash.org

SOURCE Ortsbo