Last night, I talked to (more like was interviewed by) Stephen McKenney Steck, the President Emeritus of the local PBS and NPR affiliates here in town. He was very interested in what I've done and what I'm doing, and he asked me several times to send him links to everything I talked about. While composing the email, I noticed a pattern. I would talk about the project and then I felt compelled to say "but this is what it's really supposed to accomplish". This gets me thinking...
It's no secret that I'm making most of my bread and butter working for a local startup, but there's a catch: I can't keep myself stocked too well with bread and butter this month. This is no slight to Darren, Michael and Kia, it just happens that I need to find some additional sources of income.
I actually had a decent amount of inquiry about my person and my skills pre-holidays, but then the holidays happened and I don't know the status of any of these requests. I'm thinking it's time for a little of Plan A, a lot of Plan B. More on Plan B in the future, I promise.
For now, here's how I described my past work to Mr. Public Broadcasting Himself:
The Florida Creatives is a networking group that meets every Third Monday of the month in downtown Orlando. I was inspired to form this group by several usergroups and meetups I've participated in the past - we meet in bars, because the best friendships and conversations are often had in the hallways after an event or in the bar across the street. In addition to our standalone after-work events, we've also hosted Happy Hours after the Enzian Film Slam and the Orlando Fringe Festival. I'd really like to have a program that lets us get in touch with students, both college and high school, and a long-term goal would be to have a summer camp for High School students to encourage them to pursue creative careers and programs of study.
Our Email Announcement List
A community site built around the Orlando Fringe Festival. The Fringe is arguably the best 2 weeks of the year in Orlando, and I thought it deserved a fan site. I always try to get multiple people involved in writing reviews, posting updates or making videos, and in 2007 we were given the "Fringe of the Fringe" Award, which is exactly what we try to be. I was always hoping that my work on this website would get me some paying jobs, but artists don't have any money, so it's mostly a labor of love.
My personal blog. I talk about media, technology, local happenings and whatever is on my mind.
The evolution of the Blogging Fringe concept, applied to Central Florida, with the caveat that all the posts would be video-centric, and another collaboration-heavy project. My friend Rebekah Lane is an actress, so she and I produce most of the videos together. We have also had other contributors, each with varying degrees of acting and production experience. I had always hoped this could be an open channel for anyone to submit video, and I hope we can get to that point as a city some day.
A show "just for fun" I record with my friend Marc. He runs a music and media review site, and we get some music and interviews with musicians, and we've also interviewed the creators of an Internet TV show. So far, it appears we have a little Internet and a little music, which makes lots of sense if you look at the two people who host the show
This is the home of any podcast or blog I have produced myself, and those of a few friends. Many of the shows are co-hosted by friends, and 4 of them were produced solely by other authors, while I provided technical support. I had hoped that by having multiple "channels" we could attract a larger audience and become more attractive to advertisers. Now I am seeing the podcasts and blogs as a great way to support a larger content network and vice versa.
I realize as I read these descriptions back to myself that I always state a goal that is very far in the future or very much unrealized. I don't doubt that if I could quit my job and apply 40+ hours a week to any one of these projects, I could reach said goals.
I have now come up with an even bigger, better project that is a real sink or swim scenario. I must either quit my job and start making money at this idea or decide that I'm still not ready and continue freelancing and consulting for a few years until I come up with another crazy scheme. I suppose this is the same dilemma all entrepreneurs face. The real kicker is the fact that there's no easy answer to this question: When do you take the plunge?
