Recap of book signing at Left Bank books. Learn how Scopio started with just $50,000 and the WHY?

In this episode CEO Christina Hawatmeh reads an article by Nicki‘s Central West End Guide about the year time stopped the launch at Left bank books in Saint Louis, Missouri.  In June, Left Bank Books held a book signing for St. Louis native Christina Hawatmeh, one of the few in-person author events held since the pandemic began. Coincidentally, the pandemic is precisely what Hawatmeh’s book is about. The Year Time Stopped, The Global Pandemic in Photos, features 200 photographs from around the world depicting the beauty and the turbulence of 2020. Hawatmeh, who grew up in West County, now divides her time between New York and L.A.  After earning her graduate degree at Columbia University, she was unable to find funding for her start-up idea in New York.  She then applied for a St. Louis-based Arch Grant, and in 2015 was awarded $50,000 to build Scopio, a community-based image marketplace, where people around the world share their photographs and stories. “Anyone, anywhere can share images and get hired for their creative skills on Scopio in less than 3 minutes.” To date, 15,000 photographers from 193 countries have posted 1,000,000 photographs on the site.  The photographs can be purchased as “high-quality, authentic images, and as NFTs (non-fungible tokens).” Since the launch of Scopio, Hawatmeh has been recognized as the first woman to create an NFT photography marketplace. She was also featured in Business Insider and Forbes Magazine, and finally got that N.Y. recognition she missed out on earlier, when New York Finance named her one of 2021’s  “Top Entrepreneurs to Follow.” A book wasn’t in the plans for Hawatmeh and Scopio CPO Nour Chamoun, but to their surprise their large social media presence attracted the attention of publisher Harper Collins, and so they forged ahead. They sifted through thousands of photographs to find the best that told the story of the tumultuous year. Their book offers “an unforgettable visual history that captures the world’s response to major events that defined 2020— from COVID to sweeping movements for racial and social justice.”  (Here is a link to portions of the book accompanied by audio from the photographers.)... Watch the full book signing interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FARkf1W1MP8 Read the full article here: https://www.nickiscentralwestendguide.com/2022/08/book-signing-for-former-st-louisan-christina-hawatmeh-at-left-bank-books/