Tag: Huntiful

Statewide Digital Publication Aims to Lift Up W.Va.

A new statewide, online publication went live today – Vandaleer.com. It pulls content from affiliated, localized online storytelling publications based around the state – the collective mission: share a new, positive narrative about and by West Virginians who want to celebrate what’s interesting and unique about the state.

Jason Koegler and a few of his friends moved back to West Virginia several years ago after leaving the state to pursue schooling and work elsewhere. Upon returning to be closer to family they decided they wanted to do something – specifically, to encourage others in their small hometown of Wheeling to do something to help revitalize the town. They created the website Weelunk.com to provide a platform for people to talk about what’s special about the town, what’s important to its people.

“When we started Weelunk, we didn’t have any thoughts or vision of going outside of Wheeling but what we realized is that Wheeling could only be as good as its state,” Koegler said.

In the almost two years since Weelunk was born, satellite websites have sprung up in Elkins, Huntington, Martinsburg, and soon the New River Gorge area, and Morgantown. Vandaleer (Vandalia + Mountaineer) is the umbrella site that pulls the best content as well as produces original content for statewide audiences, and far-flung West Virginians.

“It’s filling a void that the traditional media platforms kind of miss out on sometimes where it’s maybe not as worth their while to tell a story about a local group that’s making a difference,” Koegler said.

Published stories range from inspirational personal experiences to artistic expressions and constructive ideas about the future of the regions and towns in the state. Koegler says it’s a powerful tool for change. Koegler says political coverage on the website in Wheeling has helped usher in new, progressive leadership.

The site runs predominantly on volunteer labor.

“We have stories from 16-year-old John Marshall students to 86-year-old poets,”

Weelunk boasts of 250 volunteer contributors and millions of pageviews from all across the world. Koegler hopes to continue to grow the system and hear from more people throughout pockets of the state. He says at Vandaleer.com there’s a rolling, open call for stories, poetry, videos, or photos that celebrate the state.

Huntiful Next in Growing Number of Storytelling Sites

A group of Huntington residents are spearheading a local storytelling web site. It’s an idea that’s spreading all over the state.

Huntiful, that’s the name of a new site based in Huntington telling unique and positive stories about the Huntington area.  Jessica Pressman works for the federal government during the day and along with a group of others helps run and provide material for the new site. She said it’s about showing that there are other things going on in the town that aren’t related to being the unhealthiest or having some of the worst problems with drugs. 

“It’s basically a forum for us to tell our stories in our own voices,” Pressman said. “It’s just people who live here who have a passion about Huntington writing and telling their stories about their lives.”

 The site is just the latest branch to grow from a state-wide, local story-telling endeavor  that first sprouted  in Wheeling. 

In May there will be one more, SyNRGetic, which serves the New River Gorge region. Jason Koegler, along with others, started Weelunk. 
“We don’t want to stop at the five number, we would like everywhere to have their own site, because we feel that the great thing about these sites and what’s proven successful is that we’re not sending someone from Charleston to somewhere else to do a story,” said Koegler. “We’re collecting the stories from the people, from the souls of the town’s themselves and they’re bubbling up if you will.”

We don't want to stop at the five number, we would like everywhere to have their own site. – Jason Koegler, Weelunk Founder

That number five Koegler speaks of is an umbrella site that will feature content from each of the individual sites. It will be called Vandaleer and launch sometime in June. 

Koegler says since Weelunk started in 2014 it’s had contributions from over 150 people.

Back in Huntington, Pressman works with 10-12 others on the Huntiful site. It’s still in its infancy, only having started a few weeks ago. One of those other contributors is an entrepreneur named Chris Wallace. He owns Brand Yourself in downtown Huntington. Wallace says the stories on Huntiful won’t be like those anyone else is telling. 

“There is new and interesting stuff that’s popping up all the time and we’re also trying to come up with regular story ideas, there is so many places you can go and enjoy the outdoors, I think we’re going to be doing, every couple of weeks come up with a different hike and photos and maps,” Wallace said. 

Huntiful is looking for contributors that can help tell Huntington’s story. 

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