Treks in the City

Posted by Special Contributor on 31 May 2011 | 2 Comments

Chow and Chatter blogger Rebecca Subbiah recently interview Winston-Salem resident and social media guru Susan Morris about a newly released app, Treks in the City, which highlights Winston-Salem's top spots. 

RS: Tell us a little about yourself and the passion you have for Winston Salem. What do you think makes this city so special?

SM: I moved to Winston-Salem, from West Orange, New Jersey, when I was 10 years old. Although she left her beloved Manhattan, my mother embraced our new city with its friendly people, southern charm, and focus on the arts.  She shared her love and dreams for Winston-Salem with her three daughters (she wanted to make downtown a little New York — and after all, it had its own Empire State Building), so we also worked and spent time downtown. After moving away for almost a decade, I returned to Winston-Salem in 2000 and could not believe how much the city had changed. There were new buildings in the skyline, downtown revitalization had finally been accepted (after trying for almost two decades), shopping centers were getting face lifts, and older neighborhoods were filling up with new families.

We live in a city with amazing history, architecture, and support of the arts. Our city was essentially built by two families and the companies they created in Winston-Salem. We have known the value of an arts-rich community for decades, creating the first Arts Council in the country and doing whatever it took to have the UNC School of the Arts in our city. As we have moved into the 21st century, we have added more businesses, restaurants, cultural events, and innovation all over town. Weekends can easily be filled with activities close to home, with Gallery Hops, Scavenger Hunts, Cultural Fesivals, Film Festivals, a fabulous new baseball stadium/team, live music downtown, etc. But for all of the amazing things that we have to offer, we retain the friendly people and southern charm. Winston-Salem is special. 

RS: I just downloaded the app Treks in the City — I love it! What gave you all the idea and how does it work?

SM: While visiting Asheville, my husband Joe and I downloaded their Urban Trail app, which is a walking tour that highlights some amazing bronze sculptures that tell the history of the city. I thought that we could do something similar in Winston-Salem, but on a larger scale. I shared my idea with Debra Chirello, who co-founded the Scene in Winston-Salem Scavenger Hunt with me four years ago. We came up with the original concept of using the scavenger hunt destinations as our first locations since we had already gathered information. We also wanted to include the businesses that had sponsored the scavenger hunt as a way to say thank you. We knew what we wanted, we just needed to partner with someone who could bring our idea to fruition.

Debra worked with Patrick Turner, the CTO of Small Footprint, on a tech council. She explained our idea and Patrick showed interest. The pieces of the puzzle came together when Scene in Winston-Salem and Small Footprint joined forces in December 2010 to create Treks in the City, a mobile application of walking tours.

Treks in the City: Winston-Salem allows users to view destinations that are grouped by categorized Treks: Arts, Architecture, Bars, Business, Dining, Entertainment, History, and Points of Interest. Each destination includes a photo, information, and interesting facts. Users can choose from an existing trek or create their own trek my generating a trek after selection their desired destinations. Once the treks are chosen, the app uses the phone’s GPS feature to create a walking tour. When visiting the destinations, users can upload photos, comments, and share their location on Facebook. We have enjoyed seeing the pictures of great food that have been uploaded from local restaurants.

The thing that we are the most proud of is that we are able to offer the application to users at no cost. Small Footprint has donated the development work (we LOVE Small Footprint) and Scene in Winston-Salem will continue to provide the content.  We wanted this to be a gift to the community and to those who visit our great city.

RS: Can we expect updates along the way, and do you think other cities in NC will release them?

SM: We are updating locations on the app every week. As we learn about more places that are points of interest, we will add them to the app. We already have plans for an Old Salem Trek, and a trek that includes Secca, Graylyn, and Reynolda House. Those of us that are working on the project have full-time jobs that take priority, but we are excited about Treks in the City and we work on the project whenever we can. We believe that Treks in the City would be an asset to other NC cities, as well as the rest of the country. We are thinking BIG!

RS: Where can folks find out more information about the app and the project?

SM: Folks can learn more about Treks in the City on our Web site, www.treksinthecity.com. We will constantly be updating information in the application, and continuing our personal trek to make Treks in the City available in all US cities.

Rebecca Subbiah, RD is a registered dietitian, food blogger, radio host and social media coach. A world-traveing Brit living in Winston-Salem, Rebecca is married with a little daughter and a baby on the way. View Rebecca's vlog post on the app here.