Nonstop Honolulu Coming Monday

If there’s buzz, we’re on it.” So says Diane Seo today, in announcing NonstopHonolulu.com, which she hopes will be the city’s “main online source for eating, nightlife and events.”

The site is rising from the ashes of a former shining star.

When the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin morphed into the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, one of the former newspaper’s most successful online initiatives didn’t survive the transition. Metromix Honolulu saw over 62 million page views in its 22 month run, but it was dropped by the merged publication earlier this year.

Most of the Metromix Honolulu team are now aboard to launch version 2.0.

The new site will be an independent effort, free of the constraints of a mainstream parent company. Of course, it will also lack the backing and considerable exposure that a daily newspaper can provide. But with the accumulated contacts and track record of the people involved (and a cross-promotional partnership with Hawaii News Now), I’d say their chances of success are pretty good.

Seo was the manager of the weekly “TGIF” weekend feature at the Honolulu Advertiser and managing producer of Metromix Honolulu. Joining her at the helm is John Garcia. Garcia was the paper’s Digital Supervisor of Design, and has a day job as a digital designer at Kamehameha Schools.

Their team will include local media star and blogger Catherine Toth, PR diva Melissa Chang, photographer and baking guru Ed Morita, photographer and writer Tracy Chan, and foodie Mari Taketa.

And while it’s no Star-Advertiser, it looks like NonstopHonolulu.com will have some dead-tree connections through Chang’s InsideOut magazine, which launched earlier this month.

Metromix was a constant presence at local events, documenting the local arts and music scene, Honolulu dining, and especially island nightlife. Its photo galleries were a constant and major draw, some seeing half a million visitors. Considering how popular it was, its closure hit its many contributors pretty hard. In June, Seo wrote a farewell letter from the Metromix team, and Chang penned her own sign-off in her blog.

Now they’re back. I’m excited to see what these talented (and exhaustingly hyperactive) people can do on their own. The site launches next week, but you can connect with NonstopHonolulu.com now via Twitter and Facebook.

14 Responses

  1. John Garcia says:

    Mahalo for the mention, Ryan!

    We’re really looking forward to picking up where things left off.

    Quality content, a smooth user experience and a whole lot of social media.

    I’ll also be blogging design, tech and social media along with some of the inner workings of the Web site and daily technical musings — it should be fun!

    Hope you stop on by and continue to spread the word!

    Cheers!
    JG

  2. Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ food ‘n’ nightlife ‘n’ photos. See you on Monday.

  3. mel says:

    As long as it is not behind a pay wall like another website covered here, it should be successful!

  4. mari says:

    the site is loaded and ready to go w/ photo galleries, restaurant reviews, event pics, blogs and lots more. can’t wait for live launch on monday!

  5. John Garcia says:

    @Mel No pay walls! All we ask is that you spread the word and leave your comments. :)

  6. Andreas says:

    Diane, John, Tracy, Cat, Melissa, Ed and Mari — What a dream team it is that’s pulling this spectacular site together. I’m so happy for all of you and I’m looking forward to living vicariously through your site.

  7. A.Alba says:

    One of the biggest things I missed from the Advertiser website was Metromix. I’m happy to see something similar will be looking to fill its void with such a talented group of individuals. Really looking forward to this, thanks for the story.

  8. Liz says:

    Whoo hoo! Way 2 Go cuzzo!!! Congrats!

  9. diane says:

    Thank you Ryan and everyone else for the support on our new venture. We’re hopeful that we can make Nonstop work. Our team is ready!

  10. Alex Cortez says:

    Wow, looking forward to see if it reaches its full potential (which is HUGE). To Diane and the rest of the Nonstop staff, best of luck in your endeavors.

  1. August 21, 2010

    […] Nonstop Honolulu Coming Monday – Hawaii Blog […]

  2. August 23, 2010

    […] you want more details and background on Nonstop Honolulu, Ryan Ozawa wrote a great blog entry on Friday that I […]

  3. August 23, 2010

    […] we are now ready to launch Nonstop Honolulu this Monday, August 23rd.The move has been announced by Hawaii Blog, The Daily Dish, and in Pacific Business News stating:NonstopHonolulu.com will launch on Monday […]

  4. August 29, 2014

    […] this year, and it was hardly the first social platform. Diane Seo of Frolic Hawaii (formerly Nonstop Honolulu) wanted to know whether people who embraced these tools early on were still fans… notably […]

Discover more from Hawaii Blog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading