What students are up to these days

E-Mackqulent, LLC. (EMQ) is the brainchild of three Hampton University students who have a vision and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. EMQ is co-owned and operated by Antonio Hawthorne, senior media management major from Piscataway, N.J.; Erin Z. Young, senior public relations major and marketing minor from Wilmington, Del.; and SGA president Darrian Mack, junior broadcast journalism major and marketing minor from Randallstown, Md.

What is EMQ? It is a new media multimedia organization which produces EMQTV, a broadband television network highlighting the black college experience.

“We are a cable channel that exists on the Internet,” said Young.

The network site, http://www.emqtv.com/, launched in late January. EMQTV began as an idea for an on-campus television station which Hawthorne and Mack hoped would replace the “power point station” available to HU on-campus residents. Hawthorne and Mack met in a chat room during the 2004-2005 school year and began discussing their ideas to create and broadcast television programs for the student body. Young joined the group in December 2004. The students further developed the idea of their immaculate” organization and chose that name for their company with a unique spelling combining all of their names.

After several lengthy meetings and brainstorming ideas for the station, EMQ filmed their first program in Wilder Hall. This filming led to a meeting with Hampton University administrators who encouraged the students to “globalize” their project and think about how to broadcast their program to other universities.

This led to the idea of creating a broadband network.

The idea was “definitely divine intervention,” said Young. Young said the group realized that “all media companies are developing broadband media arms” and that EMQTV is the “perfect thing” to reach their target audience.

The students developed a business plan and decided to incorporate in Delaware as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Then in Summer 2006 the group began to create their site.

“We were able to afford certain technologies thanks to generous gifts from angel investors,” said Hawthorne.

We also gained “access to a lot of marketing data especially in the black collegiate market,” said Young.

Hawthorne and Mack spent months developing the site design and Young worked with Hawthorne to create the site content. EMQTV.com now contains five components: EMQ News, Submit Your Video viral video, The College Yard social network, music, and EMQ on Campus broadband television programs. The EMQ site is supported by advertising features market specific advertising and is geared toward black college students and alumni ages 18-35. The owners are excited that their market is growing because more black students are attending college than ever before.

Young said that site is not strictly for HBCU students but for all black college students because “the black college experience is shared no matter where you are.”
The group has focused on creating a socially conscious site by displaying positive images and encouraging alumni giving.

“We were not satisfied with the portrayal of black college students in other media,” said Young.
The students have spent long nights and given up their social life at times to create an impressive product.

“These guys have become a large part of my family,” said Young.
The family oriented company is not stopping with EMQTV. They have future goals of providing business consultation, establishing a “brick and mortar” cable site, and to spreading their brand among all media.

Article courtesy of Hampton University's Office of Unversity Relations. Article can be found in the Hampton University publication, Student Connection. *Note EMQNews' is a parent company of E-Mackqulent, LLC, mentioned in this article.