Penguins Unveil Consol Energy Center Model, Including Suites

Consol Energy Arena Will Have 66 Suites, Ranging In Price From $115,000-150,000

TECH SAVVY: In a front-page piece in the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, Teresa Lindeman reports the Penguins business staff this season has been "experimenting with technology add-ons -- from online games to Web polls to Twittering." Since January, about 12,400 fans have been "playing a beta-version of an online game," and more than 300 unique users at a Penguins game earlier this month "were using wi-fi enabled phones to check out angles of interim coach Dan Bylsma and [G] Marc-Andre Fleury not typically available on the Jumbo-Tron." The team has attracted around 3,500 followers on Twitter, and "more than 50 people have RSVP'd to attend a Tweetup party tonight." The NHL said that the "only city with more people signed up for a Tweetup" was N.Y. Lindeman notes the Penguins' technological efforts are a result of "brainstorming last spring" between the team and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. A 45-minute Tech Council interview made available as a podcast "brought in more than 100 proposals," and the Penguins "gave almost everyone who responded time to make a pitch." The team "chose several ideas to try to use immediately." An online poll on the Penguins' Web site was created by Pittsburgh-based Civic Science," while locally-based Content Vision "gave them the ability to manage multiple video feeds." The team also asked Pittsburgh-based Electric Owl Studios "about developing a fantasy game specific to the Penguins," and the company created Extra Attacker, which is now on the team's Web site (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/15).

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