IQALUIT
It's been just over a year since two Iqaluit residents, Anubha Momin and Sara Statham, met up at the legion to discuss starting a blog about the best Iqaluit has to offer.

Sara Statham, left, and Anubha Momin show their Iqaluit media credentials by dressing as a First Air-Canadian North merger zombie and the Iqaluit Dumpcano for Halloween at the Royal Canadian Legion. - photo courtesy of findingtruenorth.ca

In a land where few blog about the territory, Finding True North is a busy and bright virtual location that goes against the grain of personal blogs to provide local lifestyle, entertainment and travel information to help readers enhance their lives in the territory.

Each contributes equally to the blog, and both solicit guest posts from others. Momin is the social media lead on Twitter and Facebook, while Statham manages the Instagram account (the women started the #nunagram hashtag, which encourages others to post their best photos of Nunavut).

Momin was recently recognized by Samara Canada as a runner-up in its Everyday Political Citizen competition. She was the only nominee from Nunavut.

Since both women were travelling during December – Momin in Peru and Statham in Bali – Casey Lessard discussed the blog with them – appropriately enough – virtually via e-mail.

N/N: What was your most popular post in 2014? What were people talking about?

AM: By far, our runaway post of 2014 was our exit interview with Polarman (ed: Iqaluit's long-time self-styled superhero left the territory in December). We were credited with breaking the story of his departure, and the interview was shared and liked thousands of times over. Evidently, many people have been touched by Polarman. It was a real pleasure to bring that story to Iqalummiut.

SS: We had no idea that our Polarman interview would be so widely shared and read. The post has well over 15,000 views – something we could never achieve without the support of others. Anubha and I joked that we should retire after that one, because we will never be able to top it. But we can try.

N/N: What do you think Nunavut will be talking about in 2015?

SS: I think that a lot of the same issues continue to be at the forefront in Nunavut, unfortunately. However, not everyone wants to constantly read about them. Nunavut has many positives that are often overshadowed by negatives, so we try to write about the territory from a strength-based perspective instead.

AM: According to our statistics, Nunavummiut love celebrating local triumphs, be it individuals, businesses, or the land. In 2015, I think we will be talking about Northern change-makers and innovators. Unless there's another Dumpcano; then we'll talk about that.

N/N: What are your thoughts on Anubha's recent nomination for the Samara Canada Everyday Political Citizen competition?

SS: I am really happy that Anubha has been formally recognized for all her hard work. While Finding True North is a strong partnership between the two of us, Anubha really takes it further in terms of reaching out to others with her social media skills and trying to make a positive difference. But not only is Anubha an active community member with the blog, she also volunteers for various organizations and gets involved in all sorts of local events. She's one of the most engaged Iqalummiut I know.

AM: (Being named runner-up) was totally unexpected and deeply appreciated. I was chosen by the selection committee due to my work as a community blogger. To me, this signifies that there is a lot of interest in new media within and about the North, and I am so glad Finding True North is part of that trend.

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