PublicMaps Beta goes live with donation data! The web-based application starts simplifies complex data into visual maps, so anyone can understand who donated to whom, find patterns, and do quick analysis of these networks. Interesting findings in the Asheville data include: donors switching parties, and some social network visualization fireworks…fireworks? Data-driven fireworks! Yeah! (see our blog for details)
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For Immediate Release
Patriots & Social Networks: Jute PublicMaps Beta Launches With Political Donation Data
Asheville, NC July 4, 2008 — Jute Networks, LLC announces the launch of its free, web-based PublicMaps Beta [link: http://www.jutenetworks.com] software today. Any visitor to the company’s website can view “Jute Maps” (interactive maps) that show relationships between politicians, their donors and employers. To celebrate the July 4 holiday, the company has posted data from their hometown, Asheville, NC.
Jute PublicMaps Beta takes complex data and simplifies it into visual maps, so anyone can understand who donated to whom, find patterns, and do quick analysis of these networks. Interesting findings in the Asheville data include: a donor who switched parties, first supporting Edwards then McCain, that Buncombe County School employees who gave all supported Democrats, that McCain had no support from downtown, while Obama had a strong network of support, and how the community has a propensity to support rogue candidates like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
“Lcal political contributions prove that our community is full of active, engaged patriots. There’s no better time to celebrate that than on July 4.” said Sean McDonald, Co-Founder and President of the company. “Plus, this campaign is historic: millions of grassroots donors getting involved. That’s exciting, but without a tool like Jute, that data is inaccessible, meangingless to the average person. But with Jute, it’s easy to understand who Asheville’s dollars support.”
“Asheville Presidential Donations 2008” is the first data set that will be made available to the public, but the company promises more to come. Jute isn’t revealing all of their plans for their premium software product, Jute NRM, but McDonald says, “We’ve got some big things coming for Jute. We’ve recruited a world class team, with backgrounds ranging from Red Hat to NASA. The PublicMaps Beta is a small sample of a larger offering. Soon, individuals and businesses will have the ability to apply Jute’s software to any personal or professional network.”
Jute Networks, LLC’s Ties To The Community
Earlier this year, Jute Networks was the third startup to be awarded the Advantage Opportunity Fund Loan, a program created by Advantage West to support this type of entrepreneurialism in Western North Carolina. Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council (BREC) Program Director Pam Lewis says “We know WNC is a great place to attract and grow tech start-ups and we are pleased to be able to offer the necessary funding piece through this new revolving loan program. We are excited about Jute’s launch and look forward to more good things to come from this bright young company.”
About Jute Networks, LLC
Jute Networks, LLC delivers the best-in-class Network Relationship Management (NRM) software service for individuals and small teams to manage relationship capital and professional networks. The company’s website www.jutenetworks.com features Jute PublicMaps Beta, a free social network visualization tool that utilizes publicly-available data sets. Recognized as a leader in early-stage technology development in NC, the company is a 2008 recipient of the NC IDEA Grant Fund. The company is headquartered in Asheville, NC.
Content For Use
For the convenience of publications that wish to publish content from Jute PublicMaps Beta, the company has provided a 1-minute video and an embeddable image.
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yOrQLoKqgg
Contact:
Sean McDonald
email
828/545.9539
20 Battery Park Ave
Suite 406
Asheville, NC 28801