For Immediate Release
Contact: Leslie Mattison (415) 553-2229 leslie@neo.com Matthew Lacey (415) 512-9999 matthew@neo.com
DA MAYOR EXPANDS HIS "OPEN DOOR" PROGRAM TO THE INTERNET: Willie Brown Goes Online for Pre-election Screen-side Chat to Reach San Francisco's Internet Community.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. October 28, 1996-NEO COMMUNICATION today announced plans to host a pre-election online chat with Mayor Willie Brown, focusing on San Francisco's future as a burgeoning business center for new media, high-technology, virtual corporations and technology-based communities. The estimated 5,000 user chat will take place online at http://www.damayor.org from 5-6 p.m. PST, November 4, 1996, followed by an online round-table from 6-7 p.m. with members of San Francisco's multimedia and Internet communities. Mayor Willie Brown, affectionately known as "Da Mayor," will log on for the hour-long screen-side chat on the World Wide Web to discuss issues such as: how we can encourage and support the growth of high-technology industries in San Francisco; how the Internet can be used to make San Francisco a better place to live, work and build communities; and how the Internet can be used to create better access to government officials. Anyone on the Net will have free access to the chat to express opinions and share their thoughts with Mayor Brown.
Initiated and produced by NEO COMMUNICATION, a San Francisco Web development firm known for technological innovation, "Screen-side Chat with Da Mayor" extends the Mayor's informal "Open Door" program to cyberspace. The event-which has the potential to be the largest Web-based chat to date-has been enthusiastically supported by San Francisco's Internet and multimedia community. The CYBORGANIC CORPORATION, GENUITY, and the MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT GROUP, have joined forces to sponsor the event. "The Internet is a collaborative, rather than a broadcast, medium," says Karen McGrath, NEO principal, "it makes direct, immediate interaction possible between constituents and representative. It is fitting that San Francisco set the precedent for this important new forum." "Screen-side Chat with Da Mayor" was the brainchild of Matthew Lacey, NEO Marketing Strategist. Lacey explains, "NEO has done Web sites for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the California Council for the Humanities, San Francisco's Japantown, George Coates Performance Works and other civic organizations. We are committed to using new media as a tool for civic participation. This chat simply extends that commitment".
The CYBORGANIC CORPORATION which has established a thriving community, both online and offline, will host the Mayor at their downtown office, the site of a weekly social event for artists, programmers and producers working in "multimedia gulch". Members of this community have volunteered to provide technical support during the event and have contributed their talent and energy to making it a success. GENUITY, a Bechtel-owned San Francisco-based Internet Service Provider, is providing servers on a high bandwidth connection that will make it possible for thousands of people to "attend" this virtual town meeting. The event is also sponsored by the MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT GROUP, a not-for-profit market and business development trade association that serves the business and professional needs of interactive media companies, nationally and internationally. Starting at 4.30 p.m. PST, half an hour before the Mayor arrives online, event moderators and technical support staff will welcome and assist chat participants as they get settled in the chat forum. "Screen-side Chat with Da Mayor" will be followed by an hour-long round-table discussion with leaders and members of San Francisco's online community, people who use the Net and hold strong views about its importance to the City's future. Anyone with Internet access may participate in the chat, either by pointing their Web browsers to http://www.damayor.org, or by establishing a telnet connection to telnet://chat.damayor.org:5000.
About NEO COMMUNICATIONNEO COMMUNICATION is a full service Web development firm based in San Francisco and known for its technological innovation and programming expertise. NEO provides complete Web solutions specializing in information design, database engineering, Java programming, foreign language site development and secure Internet payment systems, such as CyberCash
and CyberCoin
NEO COMMUNICATION has been developing Web sites since the Web first came into public use in 1994 and Ian McFarland, NEO co-founder, is a recognized Java expert who teaches at San Francisco State University's highly respected Multimedia Studies Program. This long-term perspective on media and technology equips NEO with the vision and drive to bring an event like "Screen-side Chat with Da Mayor" together on the Web.
Everyone talks about the Internet as a "global village", but few Web developers demonstrate the kind of commitment to cross-cultural communication on the Web that NEO does. With a staff fluent in five world languages and conversant in several others, NEO COMMUNICATION fully understands the technical, linguistic and cultural issues involved in localizing Web sites. As international Web developers, we are excited to play a role in expanding San Francisco's Pacific Rim connections and in making our City the world center for Internet publishing. NEO COMMUNICATION can be reached by telephone at (415) 512-9999, by email at info@neo.com, and on the World Wide Web at http://www.neo.com/.
About THE EVENT SPONSORSThe CYBORGANIC CORPORATION, located in San Francisco, Calif., is one of the most respected Internet event consulting and hosting firms in the industry. Cyborganic has pioneered a bottom-up design strategy that mirrors the structure of the Internet itself. The user-centered publishing model and community-based company vision provide a model for what the Net can and should be. The CYBORGANIC CORPORATION is a privately held company with growth plans including expansion of both the user-centered publishing model and operation of a Net-centric public space. The CYBORGANIC CORPORATION can be reached by telephone at (415)227-GEEK, by email at gardener@cyborganic.com, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.cyborganic.com/.
GENUITY , a Bechtel company, is a Tier One Internet backbone access provider, with the right to connect directly to the commercial backbone of the Internet and provide access to others. GENUITY, with one of the fastest privately owned IP networks in the industry today, strategically engineers and manages integrated Internet-based solutions that enable businesses to leverage and benefit from the Internet. GENUITY's direct connection to the Internet combined with their unique, innovative technology infrastructure enables GENUITY to deliver reliable, customizable, scaleable, and cost-effective commercial communications solutions. GENUITY can be reached by telephone at 1 (888)-GENUITY, by email at website.inquiry@genuity.net, and on the World Wide Web at http://www.genuity.net
The MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPMENT GROUP (MDG) is a not-for-profit, market and business development trade association uniquely serving the business and professional needs of interactive media companies, nationally and internationally. Its mission is to foster the growth and success of its members-and the industry as a whole-by facilitating communication and collaboration among developers, publishers/distributors, technology and tools providers, infrastructure firms and government.
MDG has over 500 members representing 400 companies involved in the provision and production of interactive media technologies, tools, applications and content, or in providing services to these kind of companies. Members companies range in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. Approximately 5% of MDG's members are located outside the US; additional outreach to non-US companies is facilitated and maintained through MDG's formal alliances with over 5 key organizations located in Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Germany. MDG operates as a common voice, facilitator and champion of its members to the industry as a whole, and the world at large. MDG can be reached by telephone at (415) 553-2300, by email at MDGOffice@aol.com, and on the World Wide Web at http://www.mdg.org/.
CyberCash and CyberCoin are trademarks of CyberCash, Inc.