For decades West Virginia has often been depicted as unsophisticated and backwards by national media, as have many other Appalachian states. Such descriptions contribute to a skewed perception of West Virginia and promote the “hillbilly” generalization. Whether it’s Abercrombie & Finch t-shirts proclaiming “It’s all relative in West Virginia” or the recent Megan Williams torture [...]

Posted in Culture, Media, West Virginia 6 Comments »

The 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 75 Marshall University football players, coaches and fans was nothing less than tragic. Last year’s filming of “We Are Marshall” provided opportunity for West Virginians to commemorate the loss and find renewed spirit. A collective energy encompassed the Tri-State area when the project was announced. Excitement [...]

Posted in Culture, Media, Tourism, West Virginia 4 Comments »

The first two weeks of September are going to be busy for six Charleston area professionals, including myself, as we raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and compete for the namesake of “Charleston’s Finest.” The goal is simple: Raise as much money as possible, via direct contributions and ticket sales for the Sept. 15 [...]

Posted in Business, Culture, Media, West Virginia 1 Comment »

In recent years mobile phone / wireless Internet services have expanded significantly across the United States. Such expansion has provided benefits in terms of safety, business, and economic development. However, many rural areas throughout the nation still lack a sufficient wireless structure. Within its larger towns/cities and along its Interstate system, West Virginia has good [...]

Posted in Business, Economy, Government, Media, Tourism, West Virginia 2 Comments »

If you spend significant time on the Internet and you’ve not learned to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication), you may want to familiarize yourself. Remember when you first learned to use a Web-browser, the most common being Internet Explorer or Netscape? It may have taken some time to get used to, but after you got [...]

Posted in Media, West Virginia 2 Comments »

The State Journal, a weekly newspaper covering state business and government, released its annual “55 Good Things About West Virginia” report just before the Memorial Day weekend, and the contents are definitely worth noting. The publication’s intention is to demonstrate “that West Virginians are an inventive and creative people, and their stories are numerous and [...]

Posted in Business, Culture, Economy, Media, Tourism, West Virginia 6 Comments »