St. Louis Argus News covers the launch of an interactive indoor video platform for a Metro East St. Louis nonprofit mentoring program, poised to increase exposure and form partnerships.
The creative video technology is now part of an East St. Louis mentoring program to aim the organization to achieve new heights in its outreach and awareness efforts.
A partnership between Dynasty Media Network and the Metro East St. Louis Community Initiative (MESLCI) Foundation has been formed to promote businesses and individuals in the region and to serve as a fundraiser to support MESLCI programming.
Dynasty Media Network last year launched in the St. Louis area the indoor digital platform, Dynasty Interactive Screen Community (DISC). The new platform reaches new audiences in the most trafficked businesses and institutions throughout the metro and is designed to reach African American consumers where they live, work, and play.
“The DISC program will assist us in our messaging across the region to help our fundraising and promote programming for the development of boys to men,” says the Rev. Dr. Wilfert Lee, Board Chairman of MESLCI. “It will help us make what we do visible to the public in the metro-east area as well as attract sponsorships for the organization.”
Visitors, staff, volunteers, and the youth who visit MESLCI headquarters will see two colorful and interactive video screens with expressive images moving before their eyes. The screens have embedded QR Codes which allow real-time interaction.
Housed in a spacious facility that formerly was a church at 8601 Washington Street in East St. Louis, Il., the organization was founded 10 years ago by the Delta Epsilon Foundation, Inc. The nonprofit charitable foundation provides enrichment education, scholarships, and mentoring to youths in local communities who would not otherwise be able to thrive financially, economically, or educationally. The foundation is an outreach of the Delta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. which operates independently from the fraternity but in collaboration with it.
MESLCI targets male, African American teenagers. The mentors are all Black males and are professional types from such professions as schoolteachers, lawyers, business owners, law enforcement, entrepreneurs, real estate as well as retirees. Since its inception a decade ago, the program has served about 500 young men. The goal in 2024 is to reach 200 youth. Sessions are held on the second Saturday of every month.
“Our goal is to be a positive influence on young men to show them a better way and let them see some black professionals,” Lee says. “We think it’s very important for them to see accomplished men who look like us.”
In the age when digital access is on the fingertips and in the eyesight of consumers, the priority to reach a diverse audience via active and creative media content is at a premium. The DISC system is the unlocked door to that access.
Video screens scroll with advertisements about black businesses and facts about vital community resources and services. Moving and colorful visuals include ads about restaurants, beauty salons and hair care, banking, social services, technology, sports, and more.
The DISC system hit St. Louis in May 2023, in partnership with The Heartland Black Chamber, The Reynolds Journalism Foundation, NAACP, and local businesses. It was launched in a city-wide digital indoor network designed to promote multicultural news headlines, community initiatives, and events throughout St. Louis City and County areas, and now Metro East with the addition of MELSCI.
The network reaches over 367K people who frequent over 20 locations. Digital networks in KC, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Des Moines, Baltimore, and Washington DC are reaching over 4.5 million viewers. Plans are to expand to New York, Los Angeles, and Houston this year.
David Beckford, Creative Director, and Founder of Dynasty Media, which has generated over $2.5 million in advertising revenue for its Media Partners since 2019, said technology is free to establishments to host a screen. He said the benefits are enormous.
“Screen host locations receive free promotion throughout the year,” he said. “Our media and marketing teams work to advertise the business to attract new customers, fill seats at events, and drive revenue. And to be seen and heard by thousands of prospective clients.”
The DISC indoor video platform allows MESLCI not only to promote businesses and individuals but also to expand DISC services and media. The system also can mobilize the “Divine Nine” to join screen expansion to deepen connections to the communities it serves, Lee says.
The “Divine Nine” is another name for the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), a collaborative umbrella council composed of nine historically African American fraternities and sororities. NPHC promotes interaction through forums, meetings, and other mediums for the exchange of information and engages in cooperative programming and initiatives through various activities and functions.
The nine international Greek-letter sororities and fraternities are: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Lee sees the DISC program at the MESLCI as a catalyst for “broad exposure” for the organization and for fostering fruitful partnerships for the community, corporate, and institutional entities.
“As the Foundation ventures out, our desire for the organization is to have our presence seen and felt and let people know the potential of the video screens in their endeavors,” Lee says. “It will help expand their work in the metro-east area and the entire St. Louis area.”
