Attention, Nomads: Chokti Tiptoes its Way Into Your World and Roars

Chokti, Inc. (Chokti) has soft launched an interactive and personalized, travel/tourism/information resource web site that is sure to revolutionize the way we travel and see the world: www.chokti.com. The word "Chokti" denotes different things in several languages: it can be a man's name, a place high in the Himalayan Mountains, a market, an ancient Mayan word or Orthodox Christian prayer beads. For Chokti, its name signifies the contribution and connection that exist amongst all people: one pearl of wisdom passed on from person to person throughout time, much in the way that all lore is maintained. Just as "Chokti" has multiple meanings, an object of art or a cultural institution or a certain canyon may signify something to one person and quite a different thing to another; they are viewed through the eyes of our individual and collective experience. Imagine a collective sharing of such varying perspectives, experiences and information in a single place where one meets his or her world, someone else's world, and -- the past and present. This is Chokti.

New York, New York (PRWEB) July 26, 2007 -- Chokti, Inc. (Chokti) has soft launched an interactive and personalized travel/tourism/information resource web site that is sure to revolutionize the way we travel and see the world: www.chokti.com. The word "Chokti" denotes different things in several languages: it can be a man's name, a place high in the Himalayan Mountains, a market, an ancient Mayan word or Orthodox Christian prayer beads. For Chokti, its name signifies the contribution and connection that exist amongst all people: one pearl of wisdom passed on from person to person throughout time, much in the way that all lore is maintained. Just as "Chokti" has multiple meanings, an object of art or a cultural institution or a certain canyon may signify something to one person and quite a different thing to another; they are viewed through the eyes of our individual and collective experience. Imagine a collective sharing of such varying perspectives, experiences and information in a single place where one meets his or her world, someone else's world, and -- the past and present. This is Chokti.

Born and raised in New York City (now based there) and having lived nearly the last two decades abroad, Chokti's founder muses that "as a Nomad, my whole life has been a continuous cultural challenge -- always having to confront who I am, or at least think I am, with people who see the world through different cultural lenses". The impetus behind Chokti was to create a place so that all these people could meet and access different perspectives regarding their worlds and cultures. Most other travel sites have the proprietary approach with information from a single source. Chokti was designed so that the Nomad could access information about one place from many different sources, in one unifying place where technical, artistic, religious, cultural, historical perspectives come together from many different contributors. Thus, if a user is interested in a particular permanent or temporary exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, he or she can access information produced by the museum itself as well as other sources (be it other user opinions, various guides, etc.), all with a click of the mouse. Imagine having all those points of view on the exhibition (whether from a curator, art historian, professor, truck driver or housewife, etc.) translated into the major languages of the world, allowing users to be touched by both the individual and the collective experience. That makes for quite a body of work.

as a Nomad, my whole life has been a continuous cultural challenge -- always having to confront who I am, or at least think I am, with people who see the world through different cultural lenses

But Chokti's vision goes way beyond that. It encompasses not only all the exhibits in that one museum but all the museums in NYC. Then, it goes on to capture the places of interest likes neighborhoods, parks, statues, streets, buildings, views -- any place that touches you in some special way. Now don't stop there. Chokti provides content from all over the United States. In fact, Chokti covers over 20 countries at present: North America, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. Just imagine if all those notable churches, monuments and more that so many pilgrimage to, were included. Chokti elevates sightseeing to an art with the benefit of foresight and hindsight that makes for a meaningful experience.

Because all information is geotagged, Chokti allows one to effectively and efficiently search tourism related information that resides on sites not owned or controlled by Chokti and brings them together, tailored to a user's own objectives. In particular, Chokti provides brief descriptions of the content to help users identify media files of interest. When users select the content, they are linked to the producer's site via RSS feed and retrieve the audio/video/photo/pdf file that is stored there. Users can then review the media before emailing it to a friend, creating their own personalized RSS feed and downloading it. Chokti encourages and relies on its users to create and collect content about the places they love to visit and share them with the Chokti community.

Chokti can be used in so many different ways because it organizes RSS feeds from various web sites in a highly effective manner with a comprehensive search engine that pulls together as much content as possible that relates to a certain topic in an easy-to-use format. The site can be used to: access guides to cities, museums, historical sites, parks, zoos, restaurants, hotels and amusement parks; distribute supplemental information through pdf files containing maps, coupons and vouchers; and promote current and upcoming events such as gallery exhibits. The interactive aspect is the key feature and advantage of Chokti. Instead of unwieldy or limited maps, Chokti provides one easily searchable map to find the place one is looking for and has user generated content. Presently, users can ask for a particular guide and soon they can a comment on each others' contributions or just exchange ideas in the forum

There is no subscription fee to Chokti because knowledge is priceless and therefore, the service is provided at no charge. Thus far, Chokti has tiptoed silently, whispering into the ears of a chosen few; it has relied on its tight network of friends and supporters to test it so that it can be improved and refined into the powerful tool that it is meant to be for everyone. However, Chokti welcomes those who are interested, to visit www.chokti.com and offer their suggestions on how to make it the best culture and travel resource, before the official launch of Chokti this Fall 2007.

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