Dara Tyson

Why Did You First Get Online?

Coming out of the book publishing/retailing world, I was attuned to what was happening in the industry from the mid 80s because of professional necessity. At home, we had a TRS 80 back in 1987 and graduated to an IBM XT in 1989. This was all pre-Windows and MS-DOS wasn’t intuitive to use nor any fun at all. I needed the cheat sheet to execute most commands and it was an exercise in frustration.

When did you first get involved with digital and why?

In 1995, I was heading up public relations for a gaming company and developing a love of technology. I had to ramp up real quick for the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) the gaming industry was one of the drivers in pushing the technology forward. I believe Internet Explorer 1.0 launched that year and was I ever ready for it. I had a sense that digital was going to be huge in so many unimaginable ways and I wanted to be part of it.

How would you describe your work and professional interests in the 1990’s (or 80’s etc).

From 1983-1990, I headed up the public relations/communications area for Waldenbooks and its subsidiaries, including WaldenSoftware. After spending several years in market research, I went to a head up the communications effort for the aforementioned gaming company. I then joined Mecklermedia, the producer of Internet World, the trade shows, the Web site and the magazine as the pr/investor relations point person. That was the cat bird seat to view all that was being introduced in the industry. The trade shows were super charged with companies holding competing press conferences to announce and launch new products/services. And thousands of reporters and analysts would converge to capture it all.

What do you think the future will hold internet/digital?

I believe sensory components will be added for mass consumption…getting the feel, smell, taste experiences. All that is external will be able to be integrated into our digital experience. That Star Trek transporter isn’t so far in the future…the abillity to materialize halfway around the world on a whim, then be home for dinner. What’s that great line? “If it can be conceived, it can be achieved”…it’s only a matter of time…and technology.