After being unexpectedly released from the Dallas Mavericks early this spring, power forward Dennis Rodman vowed to turn up somewhere else in the NBA before long. In the meantime, though, "The Worm" is turning - and he's focusing some of his rebounding efforts around a very different 'Net, to say the least.
RodmanTV.com (www.rodmantv.com) is the name of the superstar's interactive website, and the people behind it are banking on the public's considerable fascination with the controversial personality to generate awesome traffic. Rodman's Newport Beach house, known as Club 4809, will be home court to "the exciting, sometimes dramatic, always outrageous and unpredictable life" at the core of a never-ending party that's broadcast live and uncensored 24 hours a day. That's a whole lot of Rodman.
In fact, there will be those who wonder about the long-term viability of a plan to have Rodman serve as Ringmaster for an ongoing parade of raucous partygoers in the midst of a residential neighborhood. But Rodman has managed to stave off charges - based on 36 complaints made from July 5, 1999 through June 17, 2000 - regarding disturbances such as wild parties and loud music at his residence. And due to a lack of evidence, none of the charges were prosecutable, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Actually, Rodman may not even have been home during the time 15 of the complaints were filed. One can only guess at Rodman's own level of concern, as he's gone ahead and had his home wired for webcast.
The eight cameras capturing all the activity inside Club 4809 are expected to be RodmanTV.com's largest attraction, though fans will find plenty of other material to feed their fetish. Don't know what to do when Dennis is out of the house? Check in on Rodman's Road Rage and follow the icon's antics on his globetrotting road trips. Or rub elbows with the In Crowd by perusing exclusive photos and videos of sports stars and other celebrities. Truly rabid fans can even prove their devotion by taking Dennis-worship to the extreme by viewing all of the thousands of exclusive images within the Spot Light photo gallery. The video feeds are available for resale to webmasters, with a special promotion available on the show floor of September's ia2000, where Rodman himself is expected to make an appearance.
Powering the RodmanTV.com site is Wicked Interactive's technology spin-off company, DigitalOD (www.digitalod.com). The company's new product, Digital On Demand, unites streaming technology with database management for online multimedia products.
"Digital On Demand allows businesses the power to become broadcast companies without having to acquire a technology staff," says DigitalOD President Aaron Karacas. "Online video streams can now have DVD functions - times 10. Not only can chapters be edited, but so too can scenes within a chapter, or even scenes within scenes. The system is highly flexible, and depending upon a project's requirements, scene breakdowns can be as intricate as needed." What this means to surfers is a multitude of options so they can find and view exactly what they're after in the least amount of time.
What this means to Web developers is a brief time-to-market capability, the ability to manage all media formats (including Windows Media, QuickTime, and Real), topped off with a marketing bonanza. "The value of DigitalOD is that it lets webmasters quickly take their company's media collection and completely organize it," says Karacas. "Once the client's collection has been captured in the database, the DigitalOD system dynamically generates HTML pages for all of the digital media contained within.
"Clients are in control of what they're serving, who they're serving it to, and the corresponding breakdowns that accompany each piece of content. Once the content has been effectively organized, commercials and advertisements can be inserted where needed. These same features allow the end-user to benefit from user-directed delivery options, which should in turn enhance their experience."
Karacas sees the partnership with RodmanTV.com as reflecting DigitalOD's philosophy. "There really are no boundaries between the Internet and all the different media formats, which is why we are extremely excited to get the opportunity to work with a person who also has no boundaries - and has lived life on his own terms."
