The City Wire and Things To Do In Fort Smith are working together to provide an entertaining way to deliver recent news and to provide the readers of both websites even more access to regional event information. The website collaboration and weekly video push will also include Northwest Arkansas news and event info. (See below the first installment of the video.)
Things to do in Fort Smith (TTDIFS) is an online hub for all things to do in the Fort Smith region. The concept originated in 2011 with a Facebook page, and in 2013 owner Rham Cunningham collaborated with The Richland Group to launch the website that is now used as the TTDIFS platform.
Cunningham and The Richland Group provide technical and design support, with blog support coming from area residents and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Dawson Meadows, Cunningham’s alter ego, is the “anchor” for the about three minute video segments that will be posted each Thursday on both websites.
“I’m excited to announce a new media partnership where ‘local news meets things to do’ as The City Wire and Things to do in Fort Smith collaborate, team up, and play nice together as two dot coms make sweet, sweet content. Enjoy what you see, so we can see what you enjoy,” Cunningham said.
The City Wire is a media company that covers business, politics and culture in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas regions. News on The City Wire also includes statewide business and political news. More than 2.201 million users have visited the website between Nov. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2014, and logged more than 9.94 million pageviews.
Michael Tilley, editor and a co-owner of The City Wire, said working with TTDIFS is a good fit because it provides an entertaining and informative connection to those who visit both sites. The City Wire’s event calendar, which has proven a great resource to Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith area residents for more than six years, is now connected to TTDIFS – and vice versa.
“We have been hoping to add a regular video element to our content, and the partnership with Rham and The Richland Group is a great way to test formats and measure results,” Tilley said. “We both have strong platforms, which is why I believe this is one of those deals in which the sum is greater than the parts.”