Over the course of the winter, DIG has expanded Downtown DIG into much more than the original daily one minute clip of random updates. We've gone as far as to bring it up to a 15 minute clip, jam-packed with interviews, highlights, and the stories of places and people you may have never heard of.Well, we want to take it a step further.
Now, we want you to get more involved with Downtown DIG, and we're going to tell you of a couple of different ways how you can.
#1- Become a Downtown DIG Reporter
Believe it or not, sometimes we have problems assigning reporters to stories. Whats the problem? We don't have enough people to report on the stories we want to cover. So if you want to see your face in the next edition of Downtown DIG, go ahead and sign up to be a reporter! You can sign up to be a reporter by heading over to http://www.digfortwayne.com/, and filling out the Downtown DIG reporter form. Spots are limited, however.
#2- Send in your own report
You may have seen something like this on media giants such as CNN or MSNBC, or maybe even on local media sites such as Indiana's Newscenter. Well, now Downtown DIG is joining the media trend by allowing you to send in content that you created. For example- maybe there's a story you want us to cover, but you just can't wait until the next edition of Downtown DIG to see it- go ahead and tape it, and send it in to us! We'll feature it on our site, and if we like what we see- we'll try to find a way to fit in our next edition.
Right now, things are in the process of changing, so we don't have any flashy upload forms for you to use to upload your videos. However, if you send the video in an attachment to an email, or post the video on a blip.tv page, we'll be able to get it and upload it to our site.
#3- Work behind the scenes
We're always looking for new stories to cover, new places to film from, and new people to talk to. So if you've got any ideas for us, let us know! We're always open to suggestions, and strongly encourage public input. We'd like most of our content to feature stuff downtown (hence the name, Downtown DIG), but we don't have a problem featuring something from around the area every once and a while.
Oh, and a little side note- not all of our content needs to feature things in Fort Wayne. If you live in New Haven, and you'd like to show us around your downtown, go ahead an invite us! The same goes for all the other surrounding cities and towns. We're nice people, I promise.
#4- Help us spread the word
We're always in need of people to help us get the word out about Downtown DIG, since we're just getting started with the new series and all. If you'd like to hand out fliers, we've got plenty! Just drop us and email and we'll drop them off (kinda catchy, eh?). Or if you'd like a poster or flier for your workplace/store/etc, just contact us and we'll get some to you asap.
Also, if you see us out filming somewhere, don't be camera shy! Go ahead and talk in front of the camera. Who knows, you could end up seeing yourself in our next edition! A little heads up-we'll be at all of the Downtown Improvement District's events this summer.
#5- Get involved downtown!
We love to see people get involved in downtown, and there's plenty of opportunities too! Volunteer at the community center, or buy something from WLDE's Weenie Wagon. Whatever your cup of tea is, its ours too!
So that gives you just a few ideas of different ways to get involved with Downtown DIG. We're always open to new ideas, even if you're giving us ideas about giving ideas! Whatever it is that you want to see, go ahead and tell us. Now there's one thing that we've left out so far, and that happens to be contact, so here it is-
DIG
Email: info@digfortwayne.com
Downtown DIG
Email:
nick@digfortwayne.com
nick@downtownfortwayne.com
or, email the DID
Yeah we know, those were all email addresses. But like we said, we're in the process of changing things a bit, so an email address is pretty much all we can provide you with at the moment. However, if you contact someone with DIG, Downtown DIG, or the DID, they can give you a number of someone with Downtown DIG to call if needed.
But we like emails. =)
One Last Thing. A little bit about Downtown DIG-
In the event that you catch us out on the streets, or you'd like us to do a story on something/someone, or whatever the connection may be between us and you, its always nice to know a little bit about someone before you talk to them. So we'll go ahead and give you a little summary of who we are and what we do.
Downtown DIG was started in September of 2007 by DIG (Downtown Improvement Group), a grass-roots organization focused on helping people of all ages get involved in downtown. In December of 2007, Downtown DIG went through a transformation, so to speak. Downtown DIG was picked up by the Downtown Improvement District, and became a collaborative effort between the DID and DIG. Also in December, the new edition of Downtown DIG was released, the first in the DIG-DID series. The new edition was roughly 14 minutes long, and featured a variety of different types of stories. The crew of Downtown DIG was, and still is, as follows:
Nick Arnett- Host, Camera, Editing
Meagan Ford- Lead reporter, part time co-host
Hannah Alexander- Reporter
Rachel Davenport-Reporter, Downtown DIG organizer
Mona Del Priore- Reporter, Reporter Assistant
So that pretty much sums most of it up. To give you another little heads up, we've got a lot of big things coming up in the next several months, and some big announcments to be made in the next couple of weeks. So keep checking back!
