In the Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, and Germany, national networks exist of collaborating excellent research groups in the areas of multimedia content analysis and social and peer-to-peer networks. The aim of the PetaMedia Network of Excellence is to exploit synergies across Europe, first by bringing together these four strong national networks and then reaching out to other European research groups to finally form a European network of national networks. The purpose of joining efforts across Europe is to achieve larger momentum, to integrate available resources, and to further develop complementary expertise necessary for pushing new paradigms in enabling efficient and effective access to multimedia content in emerging network structures. A particular scientific challenge that binds the partners is the synergetic combination of user-based collaborative tagging, peer-to-peer networks and multimedia content analysis (PetaMedia triple synergy). In this context PetaMedia strives to impact the field of multimedia research along two dimensions. • Promoting excellence of research based on the PetaMedia Triple synergy • Coordinating and supporting PetaMedia researchers in carrying out integrative research towards demonstrating the efficacy of the Triple Synergy. A significant portion of the PetaMedia resources is allocated to field trials, which will be key to demonstrate the effectiveness of the PetaMedia paradigm and its impact. This talk illustrates the different concepts leading to the PetaMedia field trials. It outlines the corresponding technical background underpinning both the target research and the field trials. Three user scenarios driving the integration of research towards the field trials are also explained. The talk concludes presenting achievements and plan for future work aiming at successful completion of the field trials.