About Us

What's the point?

This Is Roanoke is a prototype -- a proof of concept, an experiment, or whatever you want to call it. The idea is to present relevant Roanoke news and information in a quick and easy read, with contributions from the community.

Right now we've got news from every major local news source (and some non-local ones), plus a variety of useful stuff -- weekly store circulars, links to things like school calendars, and so on. And more will be coming.

FAQ

Who's doing this?

Andrew Kantor, the former technology reporter for the Roanoke Times, conceived and executed the intial site and is working with Whisper One Media, Inc. to develop it further..

It's a one-man operation? How?

Well, now it's more like two and a half. Nevertheless, welcome to the world of off-the-shelf Web technology. The site is powered by a variety of open-source software, notably WordPress. Then there's just coding in things like news feeds and links. It's not that hard (the site was built in a few hours a day over less than a week), but it looks complex.

How did it come about? How long did it take to make?

Originally, the site was a place for Kantor to put his photos of the Roanoke area -- a photo blog. But he wasn't updating it was often as he really should have, and it languished.

At the same time, he was experimenting with software on his personal blog that would allow him to include feeds from other blogs. (Instead of a list of his favorite blogs, he wanted to show the latest entries in each.)

He realized that Roanoke was lacking a good, all-around site that aggregated various news sources -- not only the obvious mainstream media players, but also bloggers and even people sending in tips. It should also be easy to navigate and easy to maintain.

When he left the Roanoke Times in 2007, he tore down the existing This is Roanoke site and rebuilt it. Using that feed-reading software, he found he could easily populate TiR with news from any source he wanted. (Both Google and Yahoo allow you to create news feeds based on search terms, for example.)

So he collected a list of local blogs, tweaked the software, and built the site.

It took him, working a few hours a day, about three days to do. He's been tweaking it ever since, trying to get the right balance of news, blogs, and other content (e.g., easy access to local stores' sale circulars).

What's the long-term plan?

To continue building on a great idea. We want to add more features -- classified ads are coming soon (and may even be working when you read this), along with clear, easy to use message boards. Better site navigation is also in the works. Maybe it will make money. Maybe it won't. [shrug] As it says on the bottom of the home page, it's more of a proof of concept than anything else.

And imagine what we could do if we had more time or some help. :)