GRANDE VITESSE SYSTEMS
For Immediate Release August 8, 2000
Grande Vitesse Systems
Web Site: www.gvsf.com


Grande Vitesse Systems’ E-Business to Business Solutions Offers a Fresh Approach to The Democratic National Convention (“ DNC”).

San Francisco, C.A., August 8, 2000 – Grande Vitesse Systems, a leader in end-to-end EBusiness and Business system solutions (targeted at the entertainment, manufacturing, and web industries), announces their partnership with Fresh Technologies for the delivery of a “ Digital Stills Gallery”; to be utilized at the Democratic National Convention 2000, in Los Angeles.

The Digital Stills Gallery is, in essence, a large library of still (digital) images and/or captured video footage, taken from the Democratic National Convention itself and then made available to the Press/Media via the web. Authorized users of this system will be able to search for and view thousands of digital images stored in the Stills Library (database), from within their Internet web browser. Selected images or content can then be downloaded or printed (to their local printer) for immediate use in online or printed editorials.

Fresh Technologies, who conceptualized and sold the idea of a Digital Stills Gallery to the DNC sought out Grande Vitesse Systems for their expertise in the areas of Digital Asset Management or Media Asset Management, File Servers, Firewall security systems, cross-platform integration (Mac/PC), and distribution of stored data (images) locally and to the web; which is really the core (technology) of the Digital Stills Gallery. Because GVS had extensive knowledge and experience with both the applications required and the hardware backend necessary to round out a solution of this nature, they were granted the contract for this project.

One of Fresh Technologies’ challenges for this project was to be able to capture, assemble, organize, and make available to the web all of DNC’s images (digital content), in a very short period of time. The images would be taken or captured from CDs, photographs, videos, and other media and categorized according to various participating Democratic Party members. The images would then need to be loaded onto GVS’ Metropolis 3500 (Sun-based server) located at the DNC in Los Angeles, as well as GVS’ Metropolis 2400 (Sun based server) located at a co-location in New York. AT& T (NY) would provide the high bandwidth internet connectivity necessary for the uploading, downloading, and online image manipulation that will take place - throughout the course of the convention - in real-time.

“ The real beauty of a solution such as this” says Kevin Young Director of Marketing at Grande Vitesse Systems, “ is that the Digital Stills Gallery requires no special knowledge – on the part of the press or media (or anyone) – to use it.” “ Anyone who has surfed the web or downloaded information from the internet will have no trouble utilizing this tool for print and web publishing.”

The interface itself is extremely ‘ user-friendly’ offering image-based (thumbnail), text, or subject searches and various combinations of the two. The application is cross-platform compatible, as well, so users can access the content from either a PC or Macintosh through whatever internet browser they want (Netscape/Internet Express, etc).

Developed initially for broadcast (entertainment), publishing, and web-based companies, GVS’ Metropolis Server and MAM (Media Asset Management) solutions have found ready application in medical, transportation, financial, and other industries as well. Their systems have been shipping for several years and are, by industry standards a solid and mature technology.

Information about GVS’ system solutions and services can be found on their website www.gvsf.com and live demonstrations are offered at their facility, located in San Francisco’s financial district.



Grande Vitesse Systems