Members of the Digital Coast Community:

Welcome to the second edition of the Digital Coast Industry Briefing, a quarterly newsletter published by the Digital Coast Roundtable to communicate the ongoing news and events of Southern California's technology-related trade associations and networking organizations.

Several changes occurred in the local association landscape during the third quarter, most notably the defection of several AIP members to form a new association, the Internet Professionals Network. Another new organization on the local networking scene is the Women's New Media Alliance, which includes the recent acquisition of the Spiderwoman Web designer community founded by Stephanie Brail four years ago. Other organizations that have joined the Industry Relations Committee include the local SIGGRAPH chapter and the Writers Guild of America. In the coming months we plan to expand the circle of participating associations again, to include even more of the converging media industries into this community effort.

At the Digital Coast Roundtable, a lot of excitement is building for its several of its initiatives: "A Stake in the Ground" Study will officially launch in January to survey the rise and continued development of the "convergence industries" in Southern California. The DCR Education Committee is identifying education training and education advocacy initiatives throughout the Digital Coast to connect schools and organizations that would be enhanced by Digital Coast members' involvement. Also on the minds of most Digital Coast Roundtable members and the community is the issue of Open Access. Check out http://www.digitalcoast.org for more information on all three initiatives.

As the Industry Relations Committee and the Digital Coast Industry Briefing continue to evolve, we plan to provide more regular correspondence and information for the entire community. As always, we welcome your feedback regarding the Digital Coast Industry Briefing. Our goal is to continually provide news and information from the Digital Coast community that will help our entire industry grow as the international center for digital media. Thanks to all of the organizations and individuals who have supported the Industry Relations Committee this year. We will publish our fourth quarter 1999 briefing in February.

Best regards,

Tony Winders
Chairman, Industry Relations Committee
President, InterActive Agency, Inc. (iAgency)
tony@iagency.com

Our host, the Digital Coast Roundtable (DCR), was founded in 1998 and brings together industry, academic and government leaders to promote the success of the new media industry and meet the needs of a wide range of market interests in the Southern California area. The mission of the DCR is to define, map and brand LA's and Southern California's new media industry; to participate in focused public/private partnerships to upgrade the infrastructure and connectivity of the new media industry; and to support efforts to improve LA's educational infrastructure in order to develop a first class technical and creative workforce. The DCR will support favorable tax and zoning environment for the new media industry in the LA area.

One of the most noteworthy accomplishments of the DCR has been the development of an industry study that will be conducted in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers beginning this fall and continuing throughout 2000. Once complete, the study will define the size and scope of our industry and the types of companies and individuals that collectively make up the Digital Coast.

The Industry Relations Committee is a service of the Digital Coast Roundtable and brings together on a quarterly basis the presidents of Los Angeles' technology and media professional associations to discuss timely issues and events facing the companies and individuals in our local digital media industries. The Industry Relations Committee also provides a forum for the Digital Coast Roundtable to communicate its agenda to the community through its leadership. The Industry Relations Committee publishes a quarterly newsletter, "The Digital Coast Industry Briefing," to communicate to all parties the news, events and information affecting Los Angeles digital media industry. Ernst & Young has generously underwritten the cost of the Industry Relations Committee's quarterly events.

Working Criteria for Participation in the committee includes membership-based interactive media, technology and entertainment professional associations, user groups, networking organizations or trade unions with at least 25 members or a formalized Board of Directors, regularly scheduled meetings.

Associations currently participating in the Industry Relations Committee include:

A major milestone for the Digital Coast community last quarter was the first annual Digital Coast Roundup BBQ on September 12. Produced by VIC and promoted by several members of the Digital Coast Roundtable's Industry Relations Committee, the event was the first of its kind to bring together members of several associations to one networking event.

With a location that only Malibu could serve up, Calamigoas Ranch was the perfect backdrop to this Industry Relation BBQ roundup. More than 500 members of the AIAS, AIP-LA, Digital Coast Roundtable, IPro Network, Lawnmower, Los Angeles Webgrrls, IICS, ISOC-LA, Paradigm Network, SIA, WNMA, WINT and Women In Film all participated. The group enjoyed BBQ chicken and ribs, Texas-style chili & hot dogs with all the fixin's in addition to volleyball, sunbathing, dancing to NON.com and their favorite pastime - networking with other association members.

Association of Internet Professionals - AIP
http://la.association.org

The Association of Internet Professionals (AIP) announced that Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Elizabeth Echols, Executive Director of the new White House Electronic Commerce Working Group, delivered keynote addresses at its 3rd Annual CEO Industry Reception. Representing more than 8,500 individual Internet Professionals and over 125 leading Internet industry companies and educational institutions, AIP is the premier professional association of the Internet industry. The CEO Industry Reception, held October 6th in New York, is AIP's flagship networking event of the year and was attended by the top senior executives from leading Internet and related industry companies, as well as senior members of federal and local government. The event, hosted by AIP, was co-sponsored by America Online, Compaq, Comstar.net, HyCurve, Navisite and ProfessionalCity.com.

About the Association of Internet Professionals - The Association of Internet Professionals (AIP) is the premier professional association for Internet professionals worldwide. AIP, founded in 1994, is the largest and fastest growing professional association in the industry. In order to unify, support and represent the global community of Internet professionals, AIP provides the benefits and programs that allow both its individual and corporate members to succeed in today's Internet/Intranet/Extranet marketplace. The organization also serves as the voice of Internet professionals and industry corporations before the public, press, and within the online community on issues shaping the future of the Internet. AIP's web site can be found at http://la.association.org.

International Interactive Communications Society - IICS
http://iicsla.org

Web99 Roadshow - The International Interactive Communication Society (IICS) will participate in Miller-Freeman's WEB99 Road Show, which tours nine cities over the next twelve months, beginning in Austin October 26-29, 1999. Additional conferences will be held in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago and Atlanta, before returning to San Francisco in October, 2000 for its flagship national event, WEB2000. IICS will be represented at the trade show in the Association Alley and will have a physical presence at most shows in the series.

IPN Internet Professionals Network
http://www.iProNetwork.org

The Internet Professionals Network GROWS! As one of the leading organizations for new media professionals in Southern California, the Internet Professionals Network (IPN) continues to deliver. IPN creates excellent opportunities to meet professionals who can partner, collaborate, manage, design, finance, litigate, subcontract or hire you, perhaps even inspire you. From CEO to HTML developers, this is an excellent place to assemble your dream team.

Our FREE JobBank provide a great place for companies to list their openings and attract high quality talent from around the country. Current postings include Intel, American Greetings, Cisco, Forbes.com, Quest, VOLT, Ernst & Young, TicketMaster, Playboy, Sony Online and hundreds of others. http://www.iProNetwork.org/JobBank Based on our strong success to date, we're growing to meet the demands of professionals throughout the Southland with three meeting locations including the West Side, Pasadena and Orange County areas. We successfully launched one of our newest meeting locations in Pasadena last month, where we hosted over 140 Internet professionals at the Pasadena Hilton. The next Pasadena meeting will be on Thursday, November 11th and feature on-line branding expert Rob Frankel.

On November 16th we start with a bang at our IPN Orange County Kickoff Party in Irvine. Orange County is a hot area for Internet Professionals and IPN is bringing them together with excellent speakers and networking opportunities. Check out our site for locations and details - http://www.iProNetwork.org. The most focused Internet professional group continues to get hotter. Join our e-mail list to keep up with all the late breaking news! http://www.ipronetwork.org/Content/MailList/MailList.asp.

Internet Society Los Angeles Chapter - ISOC-LA
http://www.ISOC-LosAngeles.org

Not only is the Internet Society Los Angeles Chapter (ISOC-LA) web site under redesign but we are also developing a program in which responsibility for changes, updates, and maintenance will rotate among schools that teach web design and programming. This will give students and teachers an opportunity to work with a real World project in their classroom and "extra credit" experiences. The ISOC-LA Education Committee has embarked on its first survey of teachers representing schools and educational environments around the LA area to collect information about the availability and quality of educational materials and resources whether related to the Internet or not. ISOC-LA members continue to work in our communities on current issues such as the "Industry Update on Y2K" program held in conjunction with the ICANN meeting at the LAX Sheraton on November 4. Mike Todd was selected to speak about and represent "Users and Content Developers". Justin Newton of Global Internet Development represented ISPs; Roger Wells of Computer Science Corporation represented Large Corporations; and Robert Cannon represented the FCC. This event was related both to the President's Y2K Council and to the closing activities of the Asia-Pacific Internet Association's Y2K Road Show. Future monthly ISOC-LA programs and special interest group meetings will cover such controversial and important topics as Accessibility, Censorship, Fraud, Security, Privacy, Adult Content, Open Access, and Intellectual Property. Please check our web site for the latest information: http://www.ISOC-LosAngeles.org.

LAWNMOWER - The New Media Roundtable
http://www.lawnmoweronline.com

End the year, the decade, the century and the millennium with a LAWNMOWER celebration in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. On the evening of Wednesday, December 1, 1999-across three cities -- the first simultaneous multi-city new media extravaganza, including:

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS originating from New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles-- live and webcast all night long in all three cities!

The 7th ANNUAL LAWNMOWER TITLESFEST featuring cool sites, hot shows, communities, online events, games and more!

INTERACTIVELAND with a realtime Battle of the Internet Stars waged across three cities. Compete against your Alley, Valley and Digital Coast peers in a duel of wits to determine the undisputed champ of internet inside info.

The LAWNMOWER ROUNDTABLE featuring the BROADBAND BUILDERS ALLIANCE (BBA), sponsored by Cisco, in a webcast review of the mysteries of the evening's state-of-the-art interactive platform (provided by Clearband, STV, Covad, Sasco and Cisco).

The WEBEX PAVILION featuring SHOWCASE DEMOS enabled with cross-country interactivity. Engage remote demos from the privacy of your own city. Ask questions, critique user interface and evaluate content from demo stations thousands of miles away.

Take a moment, relax, kick back and celebrate with your people, your friends, your sisters and brothers in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Wednesday, December 1, 1999--

Los Angeles @ Hollywood Entertainment Museum 6-10pm,
7021 Hollywood Boulevard

San Francisco @ Metreon's The Way Things Work 6-10pm,
101 Fourth Street

New York @ NY Information Technology Center 7-11pm,
55 Broad Street

Hors d'oeuvres and no-host bar - Tickets $25 on sale at the door

LAWNMOWER's National Partners of Record: Microsoft, iTV.net, Sun Microsystems, USWeb/CKS, Larkin Associates and Shandwick Convergence. Sponsored by: Digex, Cisco Systems, Sasco Datasystems, WebEx, Blaxxun Interactive, NY Information Technology Center, STV, Clearband, Emarketworld, PRNewswire, and Covad Communications. Showcasing companies include Rotor Communications, Traffic Station, and Recruiting Solutions.

The Interactive Expo is the grand culmination of a decade of interactivity and an ode to the millennium's most exciting and innovative achievement.

Connect with the new media community by sponsoring or showcasing at this event by contacting Lance Stovall, Director of Sales lances@larkin.com (310) 899-3800 ext.167. The LAWNMOWER 24-hour Info Line (310) 899-3800 ext. 107 http://www.lawnmoweronline.com

Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance - LARTA
http://www.larta.org

Now you can connect with the players that make deals happen here in Southern California. Announcing the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance's long-awaited venture capital seminar series, "TechNet Ed." TechNet Ed prepares select high-growth technology companies to successfully attract investment through five interactive workshops focused on: writing a killer business plan, protecting your property, building the dream management team, the winning marketing plan, and how to present yourself to investors.

The series is presented in connection with California's premier venture capital forum, the annual Southern California Technology Venture Forum (SCTVF), which since 1995 has assisted presenting companies in raising more than $60 million in private investment. TechNet Ed features presentations by leading venture capital investors and service providers, and experienced entrepreneurs.

Walk-in cost for the entire series is $500, but if you apply by October 13, the fee will be only $400. If accepted for the series, you'll also receive special consideration for presenting at the next SCTVF, as well as a discounted fee to attend the forum. Unable to attend the entire series? You can attend the seminars of your choice for $99 each. Space is limited, and only a select few companies can participate. To be considered, please go to http://www.larta.org/technet_ed2.html or contact Nicole Huntington at nhuntington@larta.org or (213) 743-4164. Use the special code LARTA-E to receive the discount rate. If you received this as a forward and wish to subscribe, go to http://www.larta.org and click on registration. To sponsor the newsletter, to submit material, or for more information, please e-mail jkibbler@larta.org.

Venice Interactive Community - VIC
http://www.thevic.org

If you haven't been to a VIC event lately, you have missed some extraordinary opportunities -- to learn, to grow, to get ahead, to party! Just in the last week the VIC hosted Y2Kidz, a lively and informative 11 hour conference at the Skirball on the future impact of interactive technology on the lives of children, and the first BIG VIC, a new series of high-level panels on broadband technology that will get into full swing in the new year. The organization's cornerstone networking event, VIC@The Victorian, was sponsored by USWeb/CKS, Traffic Station, Radical-Mail, Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) and Data Return. Breakfast@VIC at the Four Seasons featured an informed look by eCompanies cofounder Jake Winebaum on the anatomy of building a company. The event was generously hosted by KPMG, Brad Marks International, Internet Wire and Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP).

Women In Film
http://www.wif.org

Universal Studios New Media continues their partnership with Women In Film by sponsoring fund-raisers on the "Real Hollywood On-Line Auction", featuring celebrity memorabilia, such as wardrobe, props and scripts, and generates funds for member benefits (http://www.universalstudios.com/auction). Digital Domain, Academy Award winning special effects company, is collaborating with the NMC and will kick off an interactive series with the "Architecture of Ideas--Hazards and Joys of Thinking Outside the Box". The evening series supports Digital Domain's company mandate to empower artists with technology.

Women's New Media Alliance - WNMA
http://www.wnma.org

The Women's New Media Alliance is picking up speed and barreling forth into the new millennium! September was a time of growth for the fledgling group, who, despite their group's relative infancy, have shown themselves to be the premiere group for Women in New Media on the Digital Coast.

At the beginning of the month, WNMA acquired Spiderwoman, an online community of talented, women Web designers. Stephanie Brail, an Internet Goddess in her own right, who also founded Herspace.com, founded the Spiderwoman community four years ago. WNMA's focus on women's career development in the New Media industry makes WNMA an ideal organization to help further and broaden Spiderwoman as a resource and a portal for women web designers.

The Spiderwoman web sites and lists will remain free online resources, enhancing WNMA's current online opportunities by taking the place of a planned tech-only mailing list and a technical resource area on the WNMA web site. If you have any questions about the acquisition, please contact operations@wnma.org

In their growing effort to booster women's place in the New Media and Tech Industries, WNMA is also now offering a Mentor-Protégé program to its membership. The program, for paid members of the Women's New Media Alliance, was created to help women achieve their goals and be successful in whatever New Media career path they choose.

WNMA has one general meeting left on the calendar for 1999, scheduled for November 2nd, and one last Education Seminar, scheduled for October 19th. WNMA is also in the process of planning their first Annual Holiday Party, scheduled for December 7th! Look for details on all upcoming WNMA events on their web site at http://www.wnma.org.

Writers Guild of America
http://www.wga.org

The Writers Guild of America is actively working to increase the digital community's awareness about the importance of writers in the creation of story-driven products. The WGA's Industry Alliances Department works closely with the New Media Committee, a WGA committee made up of writer members working in new media, to raise the profile of the interactive writer. A comprehensive web study report detailing employment opportunities for writers on the internet written by New Media Committee members Carolyn Miller and Liz Mitchell may be found on the WGA website, http://www.wga.org. In addition, articles on new media issues are included monthly in the WGA's magazine.

As part of its most recent outreach efforts, the WGA will be sponsoring the Los Angeles leg of this year's RESFEST, the touring digital film festival. RESFEST showcases artists who are taking advantage of the new digital technologies to tell their stories, and examines how these technologies are leading to innovative styles of storytelling. Festival events will include screenings, product demos, and panel discussions. Dates of the RESFEST tour in Los Angeles are November 10-14, 1999. Screenings will be held at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills and the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.