Honolulu-based Eden in Love boutique has won one of three top prizes in the National Retail Federation’s "This Is Retail" video contest by promoting the philanthropic possibilities the industry offers.

"We were so excited, we couldn’t even sleep last night," co-owner Tanna Dang said Tuesday. She and husband Bryson own Eden in Love and The Wedding Cafe, both at Ward Warehouse, under the parent company Bamboo River LLC. "I kept checking my phone, and then at 4:30 this morning we received the email that we were in the top three. It’s really, really exciting," she said. Public voting online boosted the store to the top.

They won’t know the ranking of their win or the size of their cash prize until the big reveal May 16 at the National Retail Federation conference in Washington, D.C. First place is worth $25,000; second place, $15,000; and the third-place winner will receive $10,000.

The Dangs and store general manager Tessa Gomes are working on flight arrangements for the conference, as well as figuring out what to do with the money. They did only a little bit of research during the contest, "because we didn’t want to bachi ourselves," Tanna Dang said.

The company has a monthly tradition of raising awareness and funds for local nonprofits, but the kind of serious money it now faces has Dang thinking bigger. "We can go international, spread our wings and share the mission of Divas Doing Good," the name for the stores’ philanthropic efforts.

She’s looking at Africa, China or Thailand for a proj­ect that will get the most bang for the buck. The world is "so huge. … When you can supply somebody with a business, even a micro-business, it can sustain an entire village," she said. "That’s what I want our team to be part of. … There’s so much good we can do, and that’s the most important thing about this whole journey."

TAP-TO-TWEET

Old mech meets new tech in the TeleTweet iPhone app by Hawaii Kai-based Shacked Software LLC. Users of the 99-cent app can send and receive Twitter messages the, um, old-fashioned way: via Morse code.

For the handful of people who don’t have Morse code memorized, the app includes a guide.

Business partners Chad Podoski and Jason Skicewicz "wanted to do something that melds the past with the future, and we came up with the telegraph system," Skicewicz said. Morse code dates back to the 1800s; Twitter was launched in 2006.

Samuel Morse developed a long-distance telegraph and is credited with the "dit" and "dah" system of dots and dashes used to create words. Twitter’s launch is widely credited to San Francisco’s Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams.

"Both Chad and I like steampunk design," Skicewicz added.

Steampunk describes a genre of literature, design, objects and apparel, but a full explanation could fill a column. To sum it up, one might think of a combination of science-fiction authors Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and a Victorian version of Lady Gaga. Goggles, gears and steam power would likely be involved.

Released via the iTunes store April 19, "we’ve gotten tremendous feedback on where to take it. We’re working on an update" that may enable tweeting in "dits" and "dahs," as well as decoding, Skicewicz said.

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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.