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Visitors to one of our newest wahis will be welcomed by a surprise cast member beginning this week. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine will now personally introduce and welcome viewers to a wahi for gang prevention in the Commonwealth of Virginia called VirginiaGangStory.com. We are very proud to have the Governor’s support and he has joined the cast of this wahi to weigh in on his thoughts regarding gang activity in Virginia.

When visiting VirginiaGangStory.com you’ll be able to engage in an interactive discussion with people like you, who have stories to share and information to help you. You can speak with a former gang member who can tell you about his experiences or a parent who deals with this issue every day. Not only has the Governor joined the conversation, but you can also hear from other community leaders such as Secretary John Marshall of the Department of Public Safety, Virginia Delegate Paula Miller, Mentor and Professor Julius Hayes and Captain Tom Martin from Virginia’s Fusion Center. This wahi was created to be a one stop information resource for the citizen’s of Virginia and we thank Governor Kaine and Secretary Marshall for their innovation and desire to address this issue proactively in their State. Governor Kaine’s words on this issue are included below in full and we are honored to have worked with his office and the Department of Public Safety to create VirginiaGangStory.com.

The Tampa Police Department held a press conference on July 15th to announce the launch of their newest anti-gang initiative, TampaBayGangs.com. The project uses the wahi technology to created an interactive conversation about gang activity in the Tampa Bay area and is focused on education and outreach to prevent gang activity from the start. Chief Hogue of the Tampa PD spoke of the vision for this initiative. “TampaBayGangs.com aims to discourage young people from engaging in the lifestyle. The site doesn’t look like it comes from a government or police agency because that kind of look might turn off the people who need guidance about gangs. We want to get to those children before the gangs do,” he said.

Hillsborough County Sheriff, David Gee called this “the missing piece” in their fight against gangs. “There are not enough cops around to deal with it from an enforcement side.” he said. “The smart money is on reaching kids early to keep them out of gangs.” Mayor Pam Iorio was also at the launch and says that “many young people go to gangs because they feel that there’s something missing in their lives. They go down a path that’s very destructive once they join a gang.” She said, “In order to reach them you have to have effective marketing. Marketing that they can relate to.”

This is where the interactive approach and technology provided by Wahi Media comes in. With the support of local celebrities like NFL running back Warrick Dunn and an outpouring of community support, the TampaBayGangs.com wahi was created to empower parents, kids, educators and other citizens with the knowledge they need to resist and defeat gang activity in their area. Not only will they learn about gang acitivity, but the wahi technology provides each audience member the opportunity to say what they think about the issue and how it’s impacting them. This is extremely exciting! With the launch of TampaBayGangs.com, an entire community is coming together to open a discussion on gang activity and work together to find a solution. Wahi Media is proud to be a part of this initiative!

Mega-Fi, Inc. has just launched a major gang awareness and prevention initiative for the Tallahassee Police Department in Tallahassee, Fl. The site is http://www.talgangs.com/ and the local news release is below.

When we discuss our technology with people and describe to the them the possibilities of creating a true, two-way dialogue over the Internet they always start rattling off tons of opportunities and uses for this approach. And they’re right! The applications of this technology are endless. Training, recruiting, product knowledge, organizational communication (internally and external), leadership development, and on and on. We are working in those areas and they are exciting. The next question always intrigues me. “Why prevention?” My response, “because we can make a difference with this technology.”

Our technology provides a unique resource to engage people in conversations that may be difficult with any other medium. Talking about gangs, drugs, STD’s, bullying, alcohol abuse and the list goes on. With our approach and technology, we are able to engage many different audience segments (parents, youth, teachers) in one medium. We can target the message based on their responses to provide information valuable to them, specifically. We can also provide an opportunity for each audience member to provide feedback of their own. We know that we can make a difference in our communities and around the country. It’s as easy as starting up a conversation.