Bertrand Martin, the Haiti-based entrepreneur behind the Haiti directory listing site Manman Pemba (ManManPemba), has a lot of work on his hands. It was quite a mammoth task to bring all of Haiti’s businesses on one platform. But it’s a challenge that he gladly took, and as a result, he now has the distinction of having what most consider one of the biggest Haitian business listing sites.

Kreyolicious: What are some of the best and most exciting things that have happened to you since you launched your brand?
In 2011: a month after the launch of www.manmanpemba.com, the very first customer who contacted me to be featured: La Réserve. It was a confirmation that the idea was relevant. I am so grateful to La Réserve, who remains a customer of ManManPemba since then!

Kreyolicious: Two…
In 2012: I got a call from Yvanka Jolicoeur, who became the Mayor of Pétion-Ville after, but at that time she was an advisor to Stéphanie Villedrouin. She wanted to meet the person behind ManManPemba, and the week after I got an offer to join the Cabinet to work for the Ministry of Tourism! It was a part-time contract, a great experience, an honor, but after a while, I decided to go back fully to ManManPemba.

Kreyolicious: Three to five…
In December 2013: the launch of the ManManPemba app, on the App Store and the Google Play Store. I remember the calls placed to my customers to announce it, and the excitement of the posts on Instagram to let people know about the app! A great memory, after so much work, sketches, coding, test, trial and errors.

In January 2016 : the very first PembaCraft video I made! Check out #PembaCraft on Instagram to see what I am talking about. It was an idea that came out to create digital content, using papercraft for short video animation, to stay original. It is well associated with the ManManPemba brand and if I could, I would make much more of those !

In December 2016, the successful launch of a sister app of ManManPemba, called HaitiGift ! A seasonal app, where people can find inspiration from hundreds of gifts available at local businesses.

As every true entrepreneur, I have lots of ideas, new projects, and for ManManPemba, I believe the best is what’s coming!

Kreyolicious: What would you do differently if you launched this year?
It is hard to reply cause the tech world and digital sector have evolved so much in Haiti. However, I wish online payment would be more developed by now in Haiti – that could change a few things – but the sad reality is, it hasn’t a bit. No matter what and when you launch though, you need to work real hard, test, debug, restart, make realistic plans. Decide to launch a full time venture in the tech and digital word, in the private sector, in Haiti, is no joke!

Kreyolicious: Do your parents support your ventures?
My parents have always been supportive of all I undertook in my life! I am grateful for that. They are even registered to the MMPB Weekly – the weekly newsletter of ManManPemba sent every Wednesday – and quite often discuss about that, about new places or exhibitions that we mention in there.

Kreyolicious: Of the classes you took in school, which proved to be the most beneficial to running your business?
I did not study business or management at all! I graduated from Sciences-Po Paris, with a major in Public Affairs and Urban Studies. I love politics and architecture ! However Sciences-Po is a great school, with a very solid generalist background. I believe it helped me to keep it real, for the good conduct of my company. But it takes a lot of pragmatism and continuous learning to run a business anyway.

One anecdote I like to share regarding my current situation as a tech entrepreneur and Sciences-Po Paris. When I came back from my year of study abroad at Boston University, Sciences-Po had totally changed their curriculum and students could now choose some classes outside of their core major. It was in 2001 and I came back from Boston where Napster was on every PCs in the dorms. I was amazed by those new opportunities offered by Internet. So at Sciences-Po I wanted so bad to follow this new class on start-ups and the “new economy” – as it was called at that time. There was not enough students who signed up, so the class did not open. I imagine that nowadays in Sciences-Po that would be part of the core curriculum ! And now, here I am, running my startup in Port-au-Prince!

This concludes the interview with the founder of Haiti business directory site Manman Pemba (ManmanPemba). CLICK HERE if you missed PART I.

CLICK HERE to visit Haiti business directory site MANMAN PEMBA.

Did you know that there are websites on the internet where serious Haitian music fans and enthusiasts go to—not just to get news on the latest releases of their favorite artists and bands, but to also get industry scoops? Haitian Beatz is one such site. Based in New York and co-founded by Moses St. Louis, the site is part informational portal and part forum. And in case you’re not too ardent of a Haitian music fan, there are plenty of articles on other aspects of Haitian culture, from travel to historical trivia and interviews. So, what goes into running Haitian Beatz? And who are the minds behind the digital media company? Read on to find out!

Moses St. Louis and Haitian Beatz co-founder Jean-Price “Jacobin” Vixama.

Kreyolicious: How did Haitianbeatz come about?
First of all, let me say “thank you” for the opportunity. I’ve been involved in the Haitian media circle for a long time now…starting back in the 1990s with Konpadirek.com, Kompa Magazine, and finally joined forces with Opamizik.com. I spent few years with the site, until 2008 when I decided to start something fresh and new. I called my good friend, my partner Jean-Price Vixama (Jacobinnoir), and asked him to join me on this adventure, and here we are eight years later.

Kreyolicious: Why that name?
I wanted something broad, because at the time, most websites had the word “konpa” in them…kompamazine.com, konpadirek.com, compascentral.com, konpaevents.com, which came later…I wanted to have something broader that would include all aspects of the Haitian music industry, not just konpa. Also the word “beat” “ can be utilized in different context…not just music…like keeping our culture “on the beat”. As you can see the word “beats” on Haitian Beatz ends with a “z”, which was one addition that my partner Jacobin came up with, that I thought was cool.

Kreyolicious: There are ideas that get thought of, but that never come to fruition. What steps did you take to get Haitianbeatz from idea to actual product?
When I spoke to Jacobin, and told him about the project, he was 100% for it. We would talk from time to time on the phone exchanging ideas. We went back and forth picking a template. Once that was done, I had my cousin working on building the site. Therefore, I was getting more the up-to-date information. Jacobin is usually the technical person, and I’m more the person who work on contents. We compliment each other in that sense. One we had agreed on the template, I started working on the contents. I remember, sending an off-line link for him to review and he was shocked, on how much contents I already had for the website, including interviews, surveys, news on different subjects.

With Wyclef and some guests at a NASQAD event.

Kreyolicious: When did you realize that you were pulling an audience and that your site was catching on?
Once I started getting, angry phone calls from our artists [Laughter] about articles I have written that were not to their liking. However, I would get praises from the readers, because they like the fact that I tell it as it is, especially [with] the trademark series NBNB (No Bias, No Bull)…[Laughter] and my motto “I report, you decide”.

Kreyolicious: What goes into a standard day of managing Haitian Beatz?
One thing people don’t realize, maintaining a website is very difficult and a lot of hard work and dedication, because the readers expect you to keep them informed on a daily basis. Especially with the reputation I have built. Once there are some rumors out there, they expect me to dig and bring them the true story…like when a few of the TVices’ musicians abruptly left the band, I wrote the most detailed story about that breakup, the band leaders were not happy, but the readers loved it. Like when RichIe [currently of the band Klass] and Gazzman [leader of Disip] decided not to put together a band, after many thought it was a done deal. I reported exactly what happened, including details of secret meetings that they were held in New York. So, to answer the question, you have to always be on top of your game. Now, it’s a little easier, because people would call me with tips for stories, without me having to dig deep for the information.

This concludes PART ONE of the interview with Haitian Beatz co-founder Moses St. Louis. Be sure to watch out for PART II.

CLICK HERE to visit Haitian Beatz. CLICK HERE to visit the Haitian Beatz page on Facebook.

As the co-founder of the wildly popular Haitian music site Haitian Beatz, Moses St. Louis is on the grind daily, sharing scoops about Haitian music with his legion of readers and users. In Part One of the interview with the web entrepreneur, he revealed that he started the website after he had already garnered a load of experience in the Haitian music industry. Taking that experience and putting it to use, he recruited another Haitian music enthusiast Jean-Price “Jacobin” Vixama and Haitian Beatz launched! Here he looking back at the beginnings of Haitian Beatz, and discussing his plans for the platform’s future.

Kreyolicious: In the time you’ve been running Haitian Beatz, what would you say have been the most trying times? Bad news first.
A few years ago, the site was hacked and a virus was inserted into the server, and many of our readers’ computers crashed. We lost many members because of that. Even though we eventually fixed the problem, we were never able to get the members who were affected back, or maybe just a few have returned.

Kreyolicious: And what would you say have been your favorite memories? Good news, last.
But there has been some good times, like receiving a proclamation from the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio on our anniversary event. Getting citations from the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly. We have become a household name in the Haitian music industry.

Kreyolicious: Technology changes at lightning bolt speed, and surely you’ve seen your share of changes since you’ve started as a webpreneur. What changes have you witnessed, and how did you handle them?
Joomla is the platform that we use for the site. It is very new and many people seem to think it is very hard to manage. To the contrary, Jacobin and I really enjoy using it for its simplicity. Even though it’s advanced, it’s very easy to manage. We are in the process of introducing something new that we are working on, but we will keep it a secret for now…[Laughter]

Kreyolicious: If you were starting this venture now, what would you do differently?
I would make social media a very active part of that project.

Kreyolicious: If you were recommending Haitian music to someone whose exposure up until then to Haitian music was minimal, or nonexistent, which artists, bands, and albums would you recommend, and why?
I’m a strong fan of Haitian roots music. I probably would direct their attention to bands like RAM, Boukman Eksperayns, Boukan Guinen, Azor…all their albums.

Kreyolicious: Where do you hope to take your brand in the next 5-7 years?
Well, I’ve been involved in this music business for many years. I’ve worn many hats as manager, promoter, and now media. I always believe in continuity. We would love to integrate some new blood into HB, to start taking the leadership of the site, under our guidance. One positive thing that is happening with the website now, especially on our forum, [is that] the members of the forum are [increasingly] the driving force of the website. I can spend a couple of days without signing into the website, but you’ll always see new topic discussions, generated by our members, which is very encouraging. HB is more member-driven lately.

This concludes PART TWO of the interview with Haitian Beatz co-founder Moses St. Louis. CLICK HERE if you missed PART I.

CLICK HERE to visit the site Haitian Beatz. CLICK HERE to visit the Facebook page for the site Haitian Beatz.

Ready…set…go…Haiti’s carnival season has begun, and PleziKanaval, a website launched by Haiti multimedia personality Carel Pedre, is at it again. The platform will be posting carnival songs from Haiti’s artists (as well as Haitian artists living outside of Haiti). For this year’s edition, Pedre announced on social media that he invested in a dedicated server—a prudent move considering the traffic the sites receives.

According to Social Blade, a website that measures social media and video content analytics, the Plezikanaval Youtube channel has over 9 million views—not counting this year’s numbers. This figure is based on just a little over 300 videos. Social Blade also estimates that a Youtube channel like Plezikanaval has the earnings potential of about $18,000 annually, from Youtube ad sources alone.

One new feature of his website is the addition of Konkou Kanaval Timoun, a kiddie edition of the carnival, that allows Haiti’s youngins to have their own celebration and carnival song contest. As he has done in previous years, the radio host-music enthusiast plans to have an awards show to reward Haitian carnival artists for their kanaval song releases.

Above: Carel Pedre poses with some artists featured on PleziKanaval. Photo Credit: Plezikanaval

In less than ten years of existence, the website has morphed into the foremost site for carnival songs and Haitian carnival-related content. But what has driven its popularity? As artists like TPO and others brought out in a previous interview, having a web platform where a user can get access to Haiti’s carnival in one place has helped tremendously. And it also helps that PleziKanaval doesn’t only posts Haitian carnival songs on its website, but also broadcasts them on the most powerful social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It’s like having a Haitian carnival song promotional package. Additionally, Pedre is a radio hosts and helms “Chokarella”, a radio morning show based in Haiti. Pedre uses the show to promote Haiti’s artists and during carnival season, he makes use of the popularity of his show to promote Haiti’s carnival season and the artists who create tracks for that purpose. And to add to all of this, he provides video coverage of carnival parades and events, completing the one-stop-shop aspect of PleziKanaval.

With more than 18,000 subscribers already on board, web traffic from all over, and a phenomenal growth rate, PleziKanaval’s growth appears to be unlimited.

CLICK HERE to visit PLEZIKANAVAL. | CLICK HERE to check out Plezikanaval on Youtube!

WikiMizik? What’s that? If you’ve ever looked up the lyrics to a song in Haitian Creole, the website WikiMizik probably figured on the first page of your search results. Managed by three techies, the site is a lyrical factory of some of the most popular Haitian konpa songs, as well as songs from other musical genres in Haitian music, and by Caribbean artists.

This is the first of three interviews that I will be conducting with the founders of WikiMizik. We will first start by having a discussion with Guignard Vilmar, the industrial engineer and techie and graduate of Florida State University on the Wikimizik team.

Kreyolicious: First things, first. How did the idea for the platform come about?
Throughout our college days friends would always ask what certain words or phrases from songs meant. Then one night someone called me at 2 a.m. asking what a line from a zouk track meant. This call disturbed my sleep, and created a train of thought that would eventually turn into Wikimizik.com The next day, Darryl and I spoke and our conversation led to project wikimizik. As a net junkie, Darryl usually knows what’s already out there. This time, he couldn’t find a site that did what we wanted to do: translate and explain Creole lyrics. So, we researched some more and brought the project to life.

Kreyolicious: Anything about your background…whether educational or work experience that has helped you in running Wikimizik?
My undergraduate degree was in Management Information Systems and a large portion of my course work dealt with computer programming. My very first career job was working as a developer. I think that background helped me design and develop the Wikimizik platform.

Kreyolicious: When did you first realize the website was taking off?
I can think of a few. Someone from New Orleans reached out to us on Facebook asking us to add an explanation for the word “chovi” from one of Belo’s songs. She spoke New Orleans Creole and loved Haitian music. She explained how their Creole is very close to ours, but there were certain words that she couldn’t understand. That made us realize Wikimizik wasn’t just for Haitians and Haitian-Americans. Folks from around the world are eager to understand Haitian lyrics and Haitian Creole. We now have hits from places like Morocco, New Caledonia, Congo, Netherlands, etc.

Another time that comes to mind is when Jean-Winer Pascal created an account and added a song on wikimizik.com. I reached out to the user because of an issue with the lyrics he had added, only to realize he was the Jean-Winer Pascal, writer of several hit songs for Beethova Obas, Emeline Michel and Belo. When we reached out, he didn’t shy away from showing how amazed and appreciative he was for the work we were doing. His words of encouragement boosted us to work even harder.
A year ago, we reached out to Michel Degraff, linguistic professor in MIT and founding member of Akademi Kreyol Ayisyen [Haitian Creole Academy]. We wanted to get his take on the concept. Mr. Degraff was amazed by the large set of searchable Kreyòl lyrics available in the Wikimizik database. Throughout the lunch meeting, he never ceased to reiterate how this idea could contribute to serious academic research. Using our relational database, we’ve now provided Mr. Degraff with several data sets that contribute to his research on the Kreyòl language.

Kreyolicious: What are your favorite lyrics from a Haitian song?
So many great songs to choose from, but if I had to pick one I would say Detripay (wikimizik.com/lyrics?song=251) by BelO. It was co-written by BelO and Jean Winer Pascal. It’s a beautiful poetic description of a sad reality. The metaphors in the lyrics are powerful, and cannot be understood without profound thinking. Every time I listen to this track it solidifies the idea behind the Wikimizik concept. Here’s an excerpt: “Yon kout kleren nou an zig zag/Lavi yon pèp tounen yon blag / Vètij grenpe tèt Maryela / Poto san fil/Jwenn madigra” [A shot of alcohol sends us astray/People’s lives done turned to a big joke/Maryela got vertigo/A street pole with no electrical wires clashed with a Mardi Gras parade]

Kreyolicious: Where do you see Wikimizik five years from now?
In five years, we want the Wikimizik brand to be fully developed and deployed. Wikimizik is more than just a website. We have several key elements that will accompany the site. Among them is the mobile app. It will provide users with some of the same features from the site on mobile devices, but it will also complement Wikimizik with a unique, exciting features. We recently hosted the first Yon Ti Koze Sou Pawòl [A Conversation About Lyrics], a series of panel discussions with artists and thinkers about lyrics and texts. We have several other projects in the pipeline that we can’t share yet. We are so excited for what’s to come!

This concludes PART I of the interview with the Wikimizik team. Be sure to check out PART 2 and PART 3.

Meanwhile, be sure to CLICK HERE to check out the WIKIMIZIK website!

Wikimizik is what happened when two techies (later joined by a third), with a love of Haitian music, came together. Florida State University graduate Guignard Vilmar, Florida A&M University grad Darryl Dieudonné, and South Florida-educated Sergio Seide are the webpreneurs behind Wikimizik, the fastest growing Haitian music lyrics site on the internet.

There was a previous interview with Vilmar. Now, it’s Boston-bred Darryl Dieudonné’s turn. A self-described “lover of all things konpa”, who will never have enough sòspwa in his system, the one-time public relations student primarily takes care of the communications aspect of Wikimizik.

Kreyolicious: Did you have any educational/work experience that has helped you in running Wikimizik?
My background in storytelling, advertising and branding has been a huge help. Whether it’s designing our logo and identity or coming up with new ways to push our brand. For example, we amplified our launch with “From Hi to I Do”—a short story that uses different songs to propel the narrative.

Kreyolicious: Did you come across any obstacles as you prepared to launch?
Figuring out the technical details of the site’s architecture and functionality gave us a few headaches. We were fortunate to connect with Georges Dugué. With his help, we were able to iron out the kinks. Some lyrics were impossible to decipher and when we’d ask artists to send the text, we’d get a Soundcloud link in our inbox.

Kreyolicious: What sort of feedback have you been getting from users of the platform?
It’s been overwhelmingly positive. People are excited about the platform’s potential and how it puts the focus on the drama in the songs, rather than the drama in the bands.

Kreyolicious: What are your favorite lyrics from a Haitian song?
Nu Look, Souvenirs. When Arly belts out, “Ou se yon istwa, yon istwa ke gòm lavi a pap janm efase menm si ou pa bò kote mwen” [You’re a story that life’s eraser can never erase/Even when you’re not around] I’m usually singing along. Pirogue – “L’Escalier”. This Hans Peters classic distills so much wisdom. These are words to live by: “Tout otan w pa mi, pa jwe ak lavi / W aprann pasyans, aprann lasyans / Dlo lavi ka pouri w, dlo lavi ka beni w. [Don’t mess with life/If you’re not old enough/Learn patience/Learn some science/Life’s water won’t rot you/Life’s water’ll bless you].

Kreyolicious: Do you think Wikimizik has gone as you envisioned it?
Our primary goal is to elevate the conversation and we feel that we’ve been doing just that. We’re able to provide historical and personal context that enrich people’s understanding of their favorite songs.

CHECK OUT THE WIKIMIZIK TEAM AT WORK BY CLICKING HERE TO VISIT THE WIKIMIZIK WEBSITE!

Have you logged on to Manman Pemba lately? You should! It’s one of the world’s biggest directories of Haiti businesses, and one of the most well-known. Manman Pemba givers business owners in Haiti the opportunity to advertise their businesses in one central location, while giving consumers a useful, mammoth site with information and ratings metrics on restaurants, hotels, and other venues all over Haiti.

As an astute observer can imagine, a site like Manman Pemba (ManManPemba) took considerable time and energy to built. And it’s taken a lot of manpower, diligence, and strategy to keep it going. Martin Bertrand Martin, the entrepreneur behind it, came from behind the computer to give ManManPemba visitors, users, and readers a glimpse of the workings of his site.

Kreyolicious: How did you get the idea?
Betrand Martin: ManManPemba is a legacy from a pre-earthquake venture called MobInfo and Le3900.com. In 2009 I launched a service called Le 3900 that was a unique product at that time! I identified mapping and geo-localization as an interesting market. My team geolocalized 7000 businesses and put them on our website using the Google Map background – back then the Port-au-Prince map was almost empty. I also had a 24/7 call center where people would call or text 3900 on their Digicel, with questions about local businesses phone numbers.

The beginnings of Le3900.com were promising. A story I like to share about this is that the very Tuesday of the [2010] quake, in the morning I was in the Digicel building with their Head of Product making big plans for Le 3900. In the afternoon, I had a phone call with an employee from Google in California about the opportunity of selling our location data to them. They told me there were not interested in purchasing data for Haiti, but eventually, the week after the quake, we signed a contract and gave them all our data so that they could update the Google Maps of Port-au-Prince to help people working on the field. The impact of the quake was way too much for a young start up like mine to recover. I had to let all my team go, and close the business.

One year after the quake, I wanted to start my own business again, and launch more of a cool city guide, rather than a full business directory. I decided to use some of the data collected before, and to add the review part to it – where people can share experience about local businesses, add the event agenda that we update every day, and add a blog too with some original content about Port-au-Prince. That’s how ManManPemba.com started in 2011. As you can see, the idea was matured over the years.

Kreyolicious: What made you pursue entrepreneurship?
Bertrand Martin: The love of independence and freedom. You got to deal with a weight of responsibility, risks and sacrifices that come with it. But overall, being able to do what you want, what you love and when you want is key! I am surrounded by inspiring entrepreneurs and business minded people, who have Haiti in their heart. You can’t be an entrepreneur here in Haiti if you don’t love Haiti. I also love meeting and discussing with all those business owners, Haitian creators, and discover new places.

Kreyolicious: Why the name Manman Pemba?
Bertrand Martin: When I decided to re-launch my business one year after the quake, I was looking for a catchy, out-of-the ordinary Creole name for the project. My wife once used that word in a discussion and it was like an enlightenment! Not only [did] I like the poetic vibe of it, but the meanings of the word ManMan Pemba are great too. The ManMan Pemba is the big drum, the “manman tambou” that sets the rhythm. One of my favorite definition of the origin of this word is the story of the cannon of Christophe in La Citadelle. I was told – yo di’m [smiles] that he had this big canon called ManMan Pemba that he fired at the sky during thunder[storms]. But mainly, the name ManMan Pemba sums up well what we want to be: a strong reference that people can trust and follow with confidence.

This concludes PART I of the interview with the founder of Haiti business directory site Manman Pemba! Look out for Part II.

Meanwhile, CLICK HERE to visit the Manman Pemba website!