Last Friday night we officially welcomed the start of Big Read, Sonoma County 2012 at the Arlene Francis Theater in downtown Santa Rosa. The occasion was a live recording of an original audio play produced by local high school students in collaboration with The Imaginists Theater Collective. A group of students from four different schools read passages from “Bless Me, Ultima” in English and Spanish, accompanied by Foley sound effects (such as an old pair of shoes, a water cauldron, dried branches, and a hand cranked “wind machine”). KRCB Radio 91 FM was there to record it for later broadcast so stay tuned! To get the airwaves buzzing there was a performance by Windsor Bloco preceding the radio play. Windsor Bloco is a local youth drumming and dancing group that feels the spirit and rocks the house. They will be performing at other Big Read, Sonoma County events throughout March. We are off to a great start!

No one wants to think about disaster striking but as we know one can occur any time, any place. We are especially vulnerable in California with our infamous fault lines running up and down the State, and in some cases, under our homes. This summer KRCB received a grant funded by the California Emergency Management Agency, the California Seismic Safety Commission and the California Earthquake Authority and was able to air a special program several times this past week on Channel 22:  "Totally Unprepared." If you missed it you can find short video segments on the www.totallyunprepared.com website.

KRCB was also able to distribute 1000 Emergency Preparedness Kits prepared by The Red Cross to neighborhoods that were working together to be prepared not just as individuals but as a community. The COPE program (Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies) is a model for communities seeking to come together before a disaster strikes (information available through the Santa Rosa City website). In addition KRCB received 900 "Pet Emergency Kits" that were distributed to neighborhood groups as well as to a local Human Society adoption center.

If you have suggestions for how KRCB can support your community get prepared, send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   We don't have to wait for a disaster to bring us together; we can get to know our neighbors now.

How does a public broadcasting station plan its future when everything in the world of media is constantly changing? If you are KRCB you choose a path that involves the community. The first community member to join us in this endeavor was Dr. Saul Eisen, founder of the Masters in Organization Development program at Sonoma State University and a well-respected consultant in the field. He suggested that we sponsor a future search conference.

Saul Eisen, Facilitator of the KRCB Future Search Conference, Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park, August 3, 4, 10, 11 of 2010

What exactly is a future search conference? Simply put, it is a planning process used to achieve shared goals and fast action within an organization. The design comes from theories and principles that have been tested around the world. Participants are selected so that different perspectives are part of the conversations (this is known as getting the "whole system" into the room).  Twelve members of the community participated in the conference, four KRCB Board Members: the CEO, the COO of KRCB and 24 staff members. Sometimes participants sat at tables with those who had a similar jobs/fuctions either in the community or at KRCB. Other times the tables were mixed to maximize the benefit of having the different perspectives included in the conversation. One table of community members included people working in various forms of media production:  print, video, and social media. 

Pictured:  (front & counterclockwise) Kay Clements, Radio Announcer; Dick Spotswood, Marin Independent Journal contributor;  Jake Bayless, social media entrepreneur; Dan Villalva, Executive Director, Community Media Center of Santa Rosa; (not visible) Gretchen Giles, Editor, The Bohemian; Alan Fitch, Pacific Media Clearstream Production.

Another table of community members included people in the field of the arts, education, finance, and volunteering (Karin Demarest, Arts Educator & Consultant; Lou Zweier, Center for Distributed Learning, CSU; Mary Moore-Campagna, Volunteer for Radio 91 FM; Jim Bray, Asst. Director of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County; Harry Rubins, KRCB Board Member and Financial Consultant).  Participants committed to attending every session of the conference, meeting for sixteen hours over four days.

Each day's activities were planned and noted in a workbook provided to all participants. Day one included the construction of three timelines:  the first one documented milestones in one's personal life; the second recorded milestones in the 26-year history of KRCB, and the last timeline chronicled important events at the regional and global level. This information provided a context for creating a desired future for KRCB.

In day two, participants helped create a "mind map" by identifying trends in the environment that have either a positive or negative effect on KRCB.
Later the group voted by dots on those trends they felt were the most significant and should be taken under consideration in the designing of a preferred future for the station.

Concluding day two, participants reflected on what they were proud of in their association with KRCB and those things that they were sorry about. Each item was written on a 5 by 8 card and shared with members at their table.

Pictured:  (front & counterclockwise) Ginny Berson, National Federation of Community Broadcasters; Larry Stratton, COO & Chief Engineer at KRCB; Christine Penney, Accounting; Mariah Clinton, Auction Dept.; Bruce Robinson of North Bay News; Tom McDonald, Traffic.

Cards were then placed on a large sheet of green paper and grouped by themes. One member from each table  read aloud each Proud and Sorry for the entire group to hear.

Cheryl Scholar, Community Engagement Director & Volunteer Manager

Planning can be hard work but it can also be fun. After identifying what KRCB could be in the future, participants at each table were asked to create an art project, a skit, or a presentation that conveyed their group’s vision of KRCB in the future. Props and art supplies had been brought in to inspire the group’s creativity.

Stan Marvin, Director of Broadcast Operations; Lizzie Hannon, morning host of KRCB Radio 91 FM.

On the last day, participants identified five focus areas for planning KRCB's desired future. Areas included:  Technology, Audience Identification, Content Development, Funding/Resources, and Leadership and Strategy. Participants chose a  focus area and as a group began to develop action plans. Our next step will be to bring back each focus group participant (participants may now join more than one focus group)  in meetings facilitated by interns from the Master's Program in Organization Development. The task will be to  refine the action plans  so that they can be shared with others. People who were unable to attend the conference but would like to join us in the implementation phase will be able to choose the area of focus that reflects their interest and area of skill/expertise.

Pictured:  (front to back) Gordon Stewart, Board Member; Robin Pressman, Radio Program Director; (behind Robin) Jake Bayless, social media; Karin Demarest, Arts Educator; Sean Knight, FM/TV Operations; Cathy Slack, Underwriting.

As soon as dates are set for the Action Plan/Implementation Meetings they will be announced here (participants will receive notification by e-mail. You may call Cheryl Scholar, Director of Community Engagement and Volunteer Management at KRCB at 707.584.2005.

KRCB and Project Safe, a youth leadership team run through the Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County (CAP) have teamed up to produce a series of video and audio productions featuring the stories of individuals and families whose lives have been affected by the economic crisis in various ways. This project is part of KRCB’s Voice of Youth program, an on-going venture that provides an outlet for young people to connect with the broader community in artistic and creative ways. This project was made possible by a grant from the National Center for Media Engagement.

Beginning in May of 2009, KRCB held weekly meetings with members of a youth leadership group called Project Safe. For the next three months, these young people learned about interviewing techniques, how to use a video camera to get good footage, as well as some editing skills. At the same time, they were gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of the economy’s downturn on people in their community and the impact it has overall on the quality of life in the county.

In the process of gathering stories and making a documentary, the Project Safe youth started thinking about how they could help. They identified resources that families could access to ensure that basic needs were met. But they wanted to do more – they wanted to engage more people, particularly those in positions of influence, in discussions about how to address the systemic issues related to poverty. In their eyes, there was a recurring pattern to the problems people were experiencing, and it led to a perpetual cycle of not having enough resources to rise to a basic level of self-sufficiency. Even though the period of the grant is over, it is clear that there is more work to be done.

We at KRCB feel very privileged and honored to have been able to work with a group of young people who clearly care about their community and aren’t shy about stepping up to the plate when it comes to affecting change. Our goal is to continue to support the youth in our community who have the ability and desire to make a difference in the world. We’d like to introduce you to a few of our extraordinary partners in this project. Following are excerpts from articles written by some of our Project Safe partners  after interviewing each other.

Maribel

The 15 year old Maribel, who is an incoming junior, says, “I enjoy volunteering and like to see the people happy when I am done with my work.”  She is a very helpful young woman and is looking forward to being a nurse when she is older. 

Maribel, along with her youth group, does countless hours of community service, volunteers at community events, and they all meet every Thursday of the week.  Since May 28, 2009, they have been meeting with KRCB at their youth center to discuss food and how it is affecting their community. 

 Although Maribel says that she does not suffer from hunger, she believes that hunger is one of the main issues in her community. She says that she knows a lot of people who lost their jobs and don’t have enough money to pay for food.  By August, Maribel and her group are planning to make a video in which involves people that are having problems obtaining food.  Maribel hopes that with the video, “people will see what those people are going through and donate food for the ones that don’t have anything”.

Lizbeth  

Is food a main problem in your community?  Lizbeth thinks it is.  She sees people in need of food.  The loss of jobs impacts our community because people don’t have money to by food, said Lizbeth.

She wants to show people the problems going on in the community and wants to create a solution.  This is why she and the Project Safe group, a leadership group, is doing a project with the KRCB radio station to get the word out.  When she was attending Middle School as a 7^th grader, the director for the group asked her and her twin sister to be in it, and so they did.

Lizbeth also has the opportunities to volunteer at events or at the CAP office with the group.  She says she doesn’t have a favorite project because in each thing, she learns something new. 

Lizbeth wants to be an actress when she is older and says that this project she is doing with KRCB will help her in her communications skills.  She wants people to help out and volunteer more because it won’t only help the people, but it would also help them.  Lizbeth says, “Help people out.  They’re in need, not just yourself.”

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a creative person that looks at the big picture.  She sees the world in both a positive way and negative light because she believes that there are negative things but it can always be undone. She is creative, understanding and patient. 

She got involved in the youth leadership group in 7^th grade. Throughout her years of involvement she doesn’t have a favorite project because she says that she enjoys every event.  She is also involved in a camera project with KRCB that does outreach, discussing with different people the economy issues and their effect.  She doesn’t have an assigned role yet in the project but she is interested and would like to try placing the camera because it involves lots of detail.

Elizabeth was born in September. She is Mexican but was born in L.A.  Her family is not that big.  She has 2 sisters, 1 brother and they all get along great. 

She also is concerned about the economic crisis.  She says that impacts she seen because of the economic crisis are that the prices have gone up in everything and many people are losing their jobs and homes. 

She feels that the project is going to help improve the community because the people tell them how they feel about the economic crisis, so she can help them.  She hopes that she learns how to approach people while being in this project.  Here future plan / goal with the help of this project is to find a job and this will help her with the interview. 

Ana

The dedicated Ana, who is 15 and an incoming sophomore, got involved with the youth leadership group at the age of 13.  Since then she has been extremely active around her community.  Some of the events that Ana and the youth group that she is involved with have helped out with are: Caesar Chavez, Cinco de Mayo, and the Kaiser Permanente Health Fair.  She loves volunteering because she knows she makes a difference even if is just a little thing.

Aside from working hard in her community, Ana and her group are now involved in the KRCB project in which they will discuss food and hunger and how the community is being affected by the economy.  Ana is very excited to work on this project and learn many new skills.  She believes that with this she will be well informed on what people think and hopes to help them in some way.

 “It breaks my heart to see or hear that people are going hungry and can’t afford food to fill their stomachs. I want help them,” Ana says.  She wants to be a teacher when she is older and hopes that this project helps her overcome her shyness.

Deisy

Deisy was born in Zacatecas, Mexico.  She enjoys volunteering in her spare time through her youth leadership group. Deisy views the world both positively and negative.  Positively because there are many good things in the world and negative because the fact that money is what schools and people don’t have. The economic crisis has affected Deisy because she lost her friend last year because her friend’s parents lost their house and had to move away. 

Three adjectives that Deisy picked to describe her are skinny, tall and creative.  Deisy has come out in the newspaper because of how involved she is in the community.  Deisy’s favorite project has been face painting little kids at events such as Ceasar Chavez Health Fair and Kaiser Health Fair.  Deisy also enjoys going to the movies and watches comedies.  Deisy has an older brother and a mom who has been singled since her Dad passed away.  Deisy’s goals for the future are to become a lawyer or therapist.  She thinks that this project will help her learn how to ask questions that will lead to more information.

Brenda 

“My uncle and aunt lost their home and had to move out with their kids, that impacted me a lot because I don’t like to see my family going through rough situations,” says Brenda, a 15 year old sophomore.

Brenda was born in August 1993.  She describes herself as a short, nice and bubbly person and says the best thing about here is that she is stubborn because she likes to prove people wrong and be the best.  For that reason she sees the world in a positive way because although there are various obstacles in life she believes that she can do her best and overcome them. 

When Brenda was in 7^th grade she was involved in a youth program at her school. From there she then joined the leadership group she is in now which meets every Thursday of the month.  She is a volunteer in her spare time. Doing a countless number of hours, Brenda does all sorts of volunteering projects but her favorite one has been the book drive.  She said it was very easy, quick and fun.

At this moment Brenda is involved in a project with KRCB to find how the economic crisis is affecting our community.   This will be done by interviewing people around the community. 

What Brenda hopes to get out of this project is to not be so shy because often times she wants to participate in many things and discussions but she can’t because she is too shy.  This wonderful project will help Brenda in the future because she says if she ever wants a job in media she already has experience.  “My goals for the future are to graduate from high school and go to college, perhaps Berkeley, Stanford, or UC Davis are a few of my choices,” says Brenda.  I also hope to make a difference and help out people with this project and see smiles not sad faces. 

Cynthia

Cynthia  is a 15 year old who got involved in the youth leadership group when she was in 7^th grade. She enjoys helping her community out.  She does not have a favorite activity but she mostly enjoys working and helping little kids.  Right now she is working with KRCB trying to get people’s opinion and see how the economic crisis is going for them.  She would like to be a singer when she grows up and she wants to hear what people want to say and give them a voice.