Say hello to newsletter ‘shorties’: Here are the deets on Technical.ly DC’s new initiative

If you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve been adding some extra-short news bites to the top of Technical.ly DC’s newsletter for the past two weeks. I’ve affectionately coined these extra tidbits “shorties,” an idea that’s been on my brain for a while as I try to become a better reporter, cover more tech startup news in the region and add more content to our daily newsletter.

Shorties are a work in progress. I’ve been using them to cover more tech tips I receive or see in the news, but I’ll also use this outlet to send reminders about any events or services Technical.ly has coming up, ask for interviews for upcoming stories, or share tips on how to effectively pitch to me. I’ll also do callouts for the (semi)monthly columns we publish: Events Roundup, Power Moves, On the Market, M&A Moves and Money Moves.

I work best with constructive criticism, so tell me, what do you think of this new idea? Feel free to offer some commentary in this short survey, or email me directly at michelai@technical.ly. I’m still figuring out how often shorties will be included in our newsletters, but for now, expect to see them every week day unless my managing editor, Julie Zeglen, has some other notes to share. [Editor’s note: Hi!] This roundup could also publish as an article on Fridays for those who missed our daily newsletters.

For example, here are the shorties that were included in our newsletters on Tuesday and Thursday this week:

• Applications close on Oct. 12 for the Halcyon Arts Lab Fellowship, which is a five-month residential program that provides support and resources to emerging artists. The fifth cohort is slated to start in Spring 2021.
• Montgomery County is partnering with Main Street Connect, Plume and Positron Access Solutions to run a pilot program that offers free internet and home Wi-Fi to low-income and special needs residents at Main Street Apartments in Rockville, Maryland.
• Telehealth company Pacify and its parent company Advantia Health are expanding their Diversity in Lactation scholarship program to offer more funding to underrepresented professionals working to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. Find more deets here.
• Cameron Hardesty, founder and CEO of Ivy City-based tech-enabled flower startup Poppy, shared her company’s story during the “Today Show’s” She Made It segment yesterday. Check out this feature we did on Poppy’s pandemic pivot earlier this year.
• The Alexandria Back to Business (ALX B2B) program received an additional $2.4 million from the Alexandria City Council to fund a second round of grants. Apply here for a grant ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. Here are the deets on the 300+ Alexandria businesses that received grants in the first round.
• Universal Health Services, Foggy Bottom-based George Washington University Hospital’s parent company, was hit with a cyberattack across its facilities. UHS temporarily took its U.S. IT operations offline to deal with the matter. WBJ’s Sara Gilgore took a deeper look at the incident.