TheDigitel.com has the skinny on Charleston Twestival.
I created this video for the www.charleston.twestival.com site. I figured, Charleston needed a way to relate to Twestival since many businesses seem hesitant to get involved with Twitter. It’s really funny how uncommonly un-mainstream Twitter is in the Lowcountry and that organizations are unsure if they want to be associated with it.
It humors me that having concern and awareness for others strikes cognitive dissonance. I may be communicating in a different way, but the message remains clear. Twestival is here to umbrella cities + communities on the same day for the same awareness and energy to be exerted on March 25th, worldwide. No, we don’t spend the time tweeting when we’re in-person. Twitter is an introduction and a handshake into conversation that can flow from an online space to an offline environment. Twestival is the comforting hug for children around the world in the poorest nations.
Let it spread into your heart, your home, and your soul. Take it away, Avett Brothers!
Many news websites are working to refocus on local news, and often this means turning to automated aggregation. One hyper-local startup in Charleston, S.C., is blending links, community and visuals to try and redefine aggregation by giving it a human context.
TheDigitel.com was launched by Ken Hawkins in June 2008, and recently received its first round of venture capital funding from Palmetto Investments & Exchange Group.
Hawkins and his team are now deciding where to expand next. In keeping with its community philosophy, TheDigitel has even asked readers to vote for its next destination.
Hawkins spoke about the concept of “context aggregation,” using wikis to engage readers, and other topics shortly after the funding was announced in October 2009. Here’s an edited version of my interview with him.
Can you say how much funding you received?
Hawkins: It’s not huge, but it does give us the momentum to ‘break out’ of the test market in Charleston and start expanding.
Talk about the process of finding your investors. How much control will they have?
Hawkins: The investors were pointed our way through a mutual contact at another
local company, BeliefNetworks. I still retain more than a ’super majority’ of [TheDigitel]. However the investors bring not only cash but more of a business background, something journalists are often lacking.
Belated congratulations to Ken Hawkins and his team at TheDigitel for landing their recent investment. TheDigitel is a true asset to the Charleston community, both tech and otherwise; I know that I’ve become better in-tune with my city than ever not only because of the work they do, but because they permit citizens like you and me to directly contribute to the news.
[ Read original ]
A Charleston digital media company that launched a little more than a year ago has closed on a first round of venture capital financing and plans to use the money to expand its business model to other markets.
TheDigitel.com aggregates local news from a variety of sources, including original content creation, and builds a community discussion around story summaries and links regarding news, events, arts and entertainment happenings.
TheDigitel uses a variety of online tools — such as Twitter feeds and message boards — and original video production on the Web to drive traffic from its site to media outlets across the Lowcountry. Ken Hawkins, founder and creator, said the key focus has been to make the content “hyperlocal.” That focus led to discussions with Palmetto Investments & Exchange Group, a Charleston-based venture capital firm that is focused on startup companies with long-term potential, according to its Web site.
Hawkins said his company found Palmetto Investments through word of mouth.
“They were referred to us from the folks at Belief Networks,” he said. “Belief Networks knew we were kind of getting to that point. … It was about a monthlong process. We wound up closing on Tuesday of last week.”
Ken Hawkins and Chris Giganti created Giant Hawk Media for this, “Giant Hawk Media is founded on the principle that online success requires you to be a good Web citizen and provide a straightforward, interactive, and comprehensive view of the community and what is happening within it.”
“Our product is called TheDigitel.com, and it creates unparalleled access to a community’s pulse. It also gives media producers — whether individuals, large media outlets, or something in between — traffic from a broader audience.”
It works like an open channel with two-way traffic. TheDigitel is the platform for the community to participate and the news professionals to investigate more organic stories, and for the news-savvy to find all of the hyper-local headlines in one location.