WILLIAMEDIA

Dallas has long had a technology sector but what it has lacked is a Silicon Valley like social scene to go along with it. Surely one of the most public parts of the Silicon Valley is the people and their incomes who make up the various web projects and companies. Companies like Google would never find Dallas as a possible home until such a environment existed. Social networks that we know today may have originally been cultured from this scene of local web based individuals meeting each other through the internet that they used and explored in its first boom. That kind of environment has in the last half decade created what is now called a digital media revolution that has brought tools of professional media production to individuals who might have never touched such a repressed and regulated industry. Surely you noticed the YouTube celebrities patronizing what is now termed as old media. Some of these artists or funniest home videos creative’s have made a business out of their 15 secs of fame and produced quality content that has entertained thousands and even millions.

As Dallas tries to build its own urban communities in its city center it needs a structure to help people connect with each other. Just like a local band is promoted by the Dallas Morning News daily free paper the “Quick” to make the paper appeal more hip to there target market, digital media makes it easier for communities to share and meet each other. Digital Media allows such localized expression of content to be made available to those who want it. MySpace gave small local bands the world using the internet, but what is Dallas doing to encourage itself in every expression especially in the digital media realm.

Dallas has recently shown some sign of the digital media trend in its latest “Urban Community” Victory Park. If you have watched a Dallas Stars Hockey and/or a Dallas Mavericks game since 2007 you may have seen the giant moving digital HD video screens at Victory Plaza. They are sold to advertisers as one the largest public HD digital art gallery’s. The Victory Media Network controls these screens and as part of the regular programming digital artwork is displayed during most of the the day along with custom advertisements, made in house for the huge screens and their transient abilities. You can submit material for public display or find more info at the Victory Media Network website (http://www.victorymedianetwork.com ).

Victory will not be the only ones in the widely labeled Uptown area of Dallas. A new building to be built where the Dallas former Hard Rock Cafe was located will contain a similar idea. The new residential structure will include a glass egg shape structure at the triangle intersection with a artfully arranged video screen described to display digital artwork. Course this all to appeal to the new generation of digital residents but somehow I expect the internet connections in the new building will still be slow and lack needed fiber-optic connections. A sure sign of neglect of a proper framework needed for the future internet generation, but so far I have not investigated this question related to this project. I would recommend to builders though that they invest energy and money into this very important step towards modern structures that they construct. 

Will Dallas ever really get it when it comes to the new Digital revolution I think its possible cause there is a industry of video professionals and geeks in Dallas. One idea is to bring more people together and hang out together but from what I witnessed you will not find Dallas geeks hanging around the Free Wifi at Victory Park near the huge HD screens. It takes something altogether different to get geeks together into location based community that establishes itself into a job center like Silicon Valley.