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SOUTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION AND HYPER MEDIA EDUCATION LINK UP TO DEMONSTRATE ‘NEXT GENERATION’ E-COMMERCE MODELS FOR RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

From Sioux Falls Press

Using multiple point Video Conferencing over high-speed Internet connections, demonstration will show how latest technology can connect farm families and their rural communities to urban families and other consumer groups for a window on new markets.

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota – June 26^th, 2001 – The South Dakota Farmers’ Union and Hyper Media Education of Beverly Hills, today announced that it will demonstrate potential ‘Next Generation Internet’ real time, video supported, ‘Visual Commerce’ models for rural community development on July 2, 2001, from Canaries Baseball Stadium. The first-of-its-kind, live demonstration will feature a ground breaking  research consortium of technologists, farmers, creative planners and businesses:

·         Dennis Wiese, president of the family farm advocate, the South Dakota Farmers’ Union;

·         Benjamin Thompson, CEO of the use-of-technology innovator Hyper Media Education;

·         Robert S. Dixon, Ph D, PE, Chief Research Engineer, Office of the CIO, Ohio State University;

·         Deb Gearhart, Director, Distance Learning Department of Dakota State University;

·         Ron Campbell, event moderator, participating from the University of Washington, Seattle;

·         Video Portraits of South Dakota Family Farms/Businesses: Buffalo Run Winery, Adee Farms Honey; Beaver Creek Bison; Neubergers’ Goosemobile and Dakota Natural Lamb;

·         Sunnyside Farms Institute of Rappahannock County, Virginia;

·         US Geological Survey EROS Data Center Outreach Program;

·         Co-Sponsoring Telecommunications Carriers Mid Continent and SDN Communications;

Event includes a demonstration for a live audience of 2,500.  Segments in the presentation will show that leveraging technology, such as interactive video communications, can help rural communities to develop sustainable economic models.  This ‘Visual Commerce’ (V-Com) model provides three levels of service: 1) Allowing small to mid-size producers and processors to explore ways to collaborate using Business to Business video applications for planning and production; 2) Linking new rural e-cooperatives to urban e-commerce consumers for farmer-to-consumer direct marketing and distribution; 3) Advancing real time availability for video customer services that will bring the global economy to home and office.  These models will also prosper use of new education technology, as graduate students use new media to study the challenge of connecting their own community to larger markets and other important resources.

EVENT BACKGROUND

“We can no longer be held captive by the so-called global economy as if there is no place for the family farmer in it,” says South Dakota Farmer’s Union President, Dennis Wiese, “We must move swiftly to define how both consumers and family farmers can use new technology to shape the future by bundling local economies to influence the global.”  

Key participants will originate this from Canaries Baseball Field, thanks to the generous support of the Canaries, Mid Continent Communications and SDN Communications.  Event is hosted by the South Dakota Farmers’ Union. The ‘Visual Commerce’ concept and the design of this demonstration event was conceived of and produced by Hyper Media Director, Benjamin Thompson.  The Event Facilitator is Ron Campbell, appearing from Seattle, Washington; Robert S Dixon will link up from Ohio State University and Deb Gearhart of Dakota State University, will be stationed at the EROS Data Center. 

Participants will be joined in a multi-point videoconferencing call, using the ViewStation^™ FX from Polycom^® – one of the most sophisticated videoconferencing systems on the market. The session will be displayed on the Daktronics Pro Star Video Wall at the baseball stadium for attendees to see and hear.  The videoconference will be connected over Internet2, via the US Geological Survey EROS Data Center, outside Sioux Falls.  EROS will handle the feed from the stadium using a virtual path over a high speed DS3 line. SDN Communications will light the DS3 fiber optic cable, including the segment that MidContinent Communications has specially pulled for this event between the MidCo Point of Presence and the stadium.

Event schedule:

 July 2 – 5-7 p.m. CST

Farmers’ Share Evening Events:

Multi-Point Video Conference Research Session

 7-9 p.m. CST

Present Segments representing  ‘Visual Commerce’ Prototypes

 For more information on attending the event – contact Sioux Falls Canaries (605) 333-0179

1001 N. West Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, near the 29 at the 90 in south east SD

About Hyper Media Education (HME)

HME creates bridges between the challenges of today and the solutions of tomorrow. As use of collaborative, video-supported, online services gains momentum, visually based tools in business, education and in creative works will become the expected norm.  “Creative use of New Media has just begun” says Thompson, “It is as if we now stand with Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, in 1915, when the feature film had not yet come of age -- so too is New Media just beginning to find ways to flourish.” 

Thompson’s team of collaborating technicians, business consultants, leaders in education and creative artists develop New Media formats.  One of Thompson’s key partners is Kevin Barron, Co-Chair of the Advanced Applications Council for CENIC, (www.cenic.org) the Corporation for Network Initiatives in California, which oversees the advanced network in California.  Kevin has been involved in numerous working groups regarding use of advanced networks across the US.

 About Dr. Robert S. Dixon

Dr. Robert S. Dixon is chief research engineer for the Office of the Chief of Information Officer at The Ohio State University, and senior systems developer/engineer for the Ohio Academic Research Network (OARNet).  He organized Megaconference II at the Internet2 Fall Meeting, 2000. IT was te world’s first all virtual conference track, with hundreds of video conference participants from around the globe. Dixon also served as organizer and host of Megaconference I. He is considered one of the leading individuals on matters of models for video conferencing collaboration.   

About Sunnyside Farms Institute

Established in 1720, Sunnyside Farm is among America's oldest working farms. Located on over five hundred acres in Rappahannock County, Virginia, the farm is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and lies adjacent to Shenandoah National Park.  The Sunnyside Institute is located in the town of Washington, Virginia, which was laid out by a 17 year old surveyor, named George Washington.  The Institute offers students top-flight instruction in sustainable farm management. Students may attend weekend workshops and symposiums, work as interns and apprentices, or choose to undertake the ten-month Sustainable Farm Management degree, all the while utilizing Sunnyside Farms as a living and growing classroom. 

In the last few years Sunnyside Farms has begun forming a network of alliances with other local farms in which Sunnyside acts as hub and centerpiece. Our collective goal is production of top-quality organic food in a sustainable manner which marries agricultural excellence with the ability to make a living through farming. While large-scale conventional agriculture has created a difficult marketplace for small and family-owned farms, the sustainable agriculture movement has the potential to reinvigorate such farms, restoring in the process some of the rural economic and cultural fabric worn thin in the wake of factory-farm monoculture. As it has been in the past, Sunnyside will continue to be a center for agricultural innovation in the service of the consumer, the community, and the environment.

 About Deb Gearhart and Dakota State University

Deb Gearhart has been the Director of Distance Education at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota, for the past 5 years. She earned an M.Ed. in Adult Education with a distance education emphasis and an M.P.A. in Public Administration, both from Penn State.  Deb is currently A.B.D in her Ph.D. program in Education from Capella University. 

Dakota State University is an institution specializing in programs in computer management, computer information systems, and other related undergraduate and graduate programs as outlined in SDCL 13-59-2.2. A special emphasis is the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers with expertise in the use of computer technology and information processing in the teaching and learning process. A secondary purpose is to offer two-year and one-year programs and short courses for application and operator

 About SDN Communications

                        Founded in 1989 by a group of independent telephone companies within South Dakota, SDN Communications is a leading provider of diverse network solutions to multi-location business clients and wholesale carrier clients. SDN offers broadband voice, data and video transport over a 100% next generation fiber optic network, with a complete range of products that includes private line leasing, frame relay, ATM, high speed internet and web services.  SDN's self-healing network uses SONET ring technology, unique in the region, to ensure reliable speed and service. Over 5,000 network miles connect most major markets within the state, and by partnering with network providers in surrounding states, SDN offers regional and nationwide reach. SDN has been labeled one of the fastest growing companies in South Dakota.