It’s Official: ‘Digital Coast’ Picked as Region’s Moniker

Welcome to the Digital Coast.

That’s the nickname the Los Angeles New Media Roundtable has chosen to describe the local high-tech industry. Mayor Richard Riordan and Kevin Wall, chief executive of the Los Angeles digital content studio BoxTop, will formally unveil the name this morning at the Los Angeles Public Library.

Riordan commissioned the New Media Roundtable in August to support and promote local high-tech companies, and choosing a nickname to help market the area has been at the top of the group’s agenda for several months. Hundreds of suggestions were narrowed down to a few finalists before Digital Coast was selected late last week and approved by attorneys, said people involved in the selection process.

Tech Coast was the leading contender until about two weeks ago, when members of the Roundtable realized that two other technology-boosters in Orange County had secured trademarks for the name, along with the World Wide Web address https://www.techcoast.com. The two people who hold the trademarks--Orange County Business Council executive Tim Cooley and Chip Parker, director of marketing for the Anaheim-based Internet service provider Deltanet--have both said they want the Tech Coast name used as an umbrella moniker to describe high-tech activity from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

Wall has said the Roundtable would like for its nickname to be linked to the Tech Coast movement.

Now that it has selected a name, the Roundtable plans to launch a marketing campaign to highlight Los Angeles’ technology industry, especially its expertise in the entertainment-related field known as new media. Members of the Roundtable hope that by raising L.A.’s profile as a technology center, companies will be better able to compete with Silicon Valley and other cities for skilled workers, venture capital and entrepreneurs.