Letter

from the

Editor

Dan Mathers shares some personal insight into this month’s theme

I am a product of the digital age. I beat Crash Bandicoot on the first-generation PlayStation and Halo on the first-generation Xbox. I spent hours of elementary school across the street at my friend’s house futilely trying to beat Donkey Kong Country on Super Nintendo, and I learned to code my first web-

site in HTML at age 12. In my teens I’d help friends install MP3 and iPod compatible receivers in their car stereos. I became an early adopter of music streaming services like Grooveshark, and later Spotify, after realizing that using Napster, Kazaa and Limewire to illegally download music meant I was in a constant battle to keep my computer clean from all the accompanying viruses. Through college I used the power of PhotoShop and a digital scanner for... less than reputable purposes. These days I live in a smart home, where my thermostat, lights, door locks, security alarms and even my vacuum are controlled through a central, voice-activated hub. Thanks to some help from Kevin Mash and West Chester Computer Doctors, I’ve got a custom-built media machine that lets me control my living room TV as though it were a giant 4k computer monitor. But I’m also likely the last generation to remember what the world was like before these life-altering technologies became the norm. I grew up in an era where, if you wanted to talk to your elementary school crush, you had to call her parents’ house and politely ask to speak with her (or have a friend inelegantly handle that interaction for you if you were too nervous to manage it yourself). My brothers, 16 years my juniors, have never had to experience this level of dating-related discomfort; they’ve had smart iPhones since fifth grade. In many ways, I toe the line between the wholly digital generations that came after me, and the entirely analog generations that came before. It’s my opinion that those of us bridging this gap serve as guides to others on either side. Despite the fact that my little brothers are both living at home, my mother often still turns to me for IT support. My brothers, she says, will simply snatch her device away, fix the problem and hand it back without thinking about what they’re doing — the solutions are as natural to them as breathing. So, when she wants someone who can see where the pitfalls might be and explain the issues that aren’t so obvious to her, I get a call. This magazine features a lot of people in that same position, folks who understand the digital divide and are designing for the future with it in mind. From building next-generation arcades to educating the next generation of media mavericks, West Chester is building for the digital age but doing so in a way that instills the ideals we’ve always valued. It’s my hope that, with these sort of folks shaping our world — those who’ve learned from the past and glimpsed the future — we can hope for a better and more inclusive tomorrow. —dan@thewcpress.com

The

“The pace at which people are taking to digital technology defies our stereotypes of age, education, language and income.” –Narendra Modi

Press PUBLISHER Dan Mathers dan@thewcpress.com

ADVERTISING MANAGER Nick Vecchio nick@thewcpress.com MANAGING EDITOR Kate Chadwick kchadwick@thewcpress.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Nazarena Luzzi Castro nazarenaluzzi.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Michael Lynch mlynch@thewcpress.com STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Erik Weber @westchesterviews CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Amy Tucker amytuckerphotography.com

COLUMNISTS Becca Boyd bboyd@thewcpress.com Jamie Jones jjones@thewcpress.com Andrea Mason amason@thewcpress.com DJ Romeo romeo@thewcpress.com Rotary Club of West Chester rotary@thewcpress.com Published By... Mathers Productions 24 W Market St, Ste 4 West Chester, PA 19382 mathersproductions.com 610-344-3463 The WC Press is a monthly magazine distributed free of charge to more than 250 businesses. For a free digital subscription, visit thewcpress.com. For more information about specific distribution locations, visit thewcpress.com/distribution.

Worth

Noting

Our no-nonsense table of contents

#THEWCPRESS Our favorite social media posts from fans are getting printed

CAN’T-MISS FEBRUARY EVENTS Our guide to everthing happening this month

LEVEL UP LEVEL13 Gaming Center brings eSports to West Chester

OWNERS OF THE MONTH Keith Kenna and Mark Ferrari are cybersecurity experts

MAKING THE CUT WCU’s paving the way through an evolving digital landscape

SPECIAL EFFECTS A visit to Neverland Virtual Reality

PHOTO HUNT Spot the five differences and win a Barnaby’s gift card

FEBRUARY 2020 THEWCPRESS.COM