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News Release – Introducing Sudztown: a digital hub for local community

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      NEWS RELEASE
      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
      September 4, 2025

      Introducing Sudztown: a digital hub for local community

      SUDBURY, ON CANADA – Sudbury has a new hub in town, and it’s looking for members. This year sees the launch of a new platform in Greater Sudbury community.

      The project was initially launched in September 2021 under various other brand names including Gosudbury, Sudz Social, Sudbury Square and finally Sudztown.

      As a business graduate with a background in the music industry, local podcaster Dani Star (Canadian Idol, Season 5) describes its conception as “sitting on the couch, a hand on my laptop the other hand in a bowl of chips kind of thing. I just wanted to do something good for the community.”

      He continues:
      “I’m looking for a place to join locally. After searching online I can’t find anything. So that’s how it started in 2021.”

      Dani started building websites after graduating college in 2007, as a means to promote his entertainment business.

      “I was broke and loaded with debt, you know how it is. My girlfriend had full time job, a computer and internet so when she went to work, I sat there at the computer. I had to figure it all out. Trust me, it’s a steep learning curve in the beginning, but I never gave up. It’s quite extraordinary considering I’m not really a web developer. But I do have a very strong determination to get the job done.”

      Fast forward to 2025 and he’s now completed building his 2nd internet platform, the first also being a resource for the community. The first site Sudburyevents.com is well established, founded in January 2017. It features local events and a City Guide for business advertisers.

      “We only serve Sudbury area. We’re not a national site, there are some events from outskirts or whatever, the Island you know they post stuff, but by far it’s all about Sudbury.”

      Dani credits John Lindsay, a well-known local advocate as having an impact on how he came to understand the greatest component of Sudztown, and what makes it unique.

      John Lindsay explains:

      “We have a very fractured universe with respect to media, entertainment at one time, What did we have for entertainment visually? One TV station. Everybody watched the same thing. So the next day if you’re talking to people who remember back that far, we all watched the same thing. Now the chances of somebody watching the same thing that you watch is very remote…getting the message out here in Sudbury, trying to communicate if you’re an advertiser, you know, it’s very difficult.”

      *Taken from Sudbury Interviews Podcast, Hosted by Dani Star. Episode 19 (20:48 minutes)

      Dani adds:

      “Sudztown is an original, there’s nothing else like it. And it’s John Lindsay who helped me understand this, before the internet people mostly watched the same shows after work. As a kid we had maybe 45 cable TV channels. Now we’re all living in a different universe, none of us are seeing or watching the same thing.’

      Social media is designed to produce unique algorithms catered specifically to individual users, and an unlimited number of movies, tv programs and websites to choose from is what defines the current entertainment landscape.

      Dani continues:

      “So there are no two people with the same social feed, it’s based on your interests and other websites you visit.”

      Sudztown contains no algorithms. The Loop Top 10 feed is based entirely on recent activity. New posts start at the top, and new replies bump it back to the top, even if the post is months or years old. Past conversations can become new again or re-visited.

      Dani continues:

      “There are no followers, or page likes. Instead of following people you follow topics, and you can follow to receive new posts to your email. That’s how we get the conversation going and you’re notified so you can reply. Everything posted is public. Kind of like a hall with only one stage and one person speaking at a time”

      He goes on to explain that the name was difficult to find.

      “I knew it needed a short name” Dani explains. “Most of the major platforms have 2 syllables in the name, like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and I knew the word Sudz had to be in there as the colloquial nickname for Sudbury. But that wasn’t enough because it almost sounds like a laundromat or having to do with soap, and it’s not clear what it is, so it needs a second word to describe it and bring it to 2 syllables. Then it hit me all at once and I knew Sudztown was the keeper. It took 4 years and incarnations to find it.”

      Dani says life always leads us where we are meant to be.

      “Some of the greatest things in life aren’t planned. We have to trust the path. It’s a philosophy I learned about, everyone has a God given gift, and we have the obligation to share what’s good in us with others. Otherwise it can become a curse. So really, I just needed to add my piece to the puzzle, you know…do my part. I’m not a political person and really have no idea about any of that. I’m just the custodian, I clean the toilet and mop the floor, I look after the sites and keep the bills paid, but it’s all for community.”

      You can find us on Sudztown.com and join the conversation. Members can use their legal name or choose a username and remain private. Please read carefully the terms and conditions before you join. The privacy link can be found at the bottom of every page. The site is free – all you need is an email address.

      – 30 –

      Contact:
      Dani Star
      President & Founder
      Sudztown.com
      Email: show@sudztown.com
      Podcast: Sudbury Interviews on all platforms
      Danistar.ca
      Sudburyevents.com

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