Within the Trenches - A New Kickstarter Project

(I am currently waiting for Kickstarter to approve my project as well as verify a couple other things but for now, here's my story that goes along with my project. Also at the end it will say that the audio clip is on the bottom but for this post it will be at the top. Thank you.)

Hello there! My name is Ricardo Martinez II and I’m a 9-1-1 supervisor. What does a 9-1-1 supervisor do? Well, I do it all. Along with my co-workers, I work the line which consists of taking 9-1-1 calls, non-emergency calls, work the radio for EMS, Police, and Fire, and I run warrant checks, license checks and more. There’s a lot more to what I do though. When you call 9-1-1 I’m the first one to answer the call of service. Before you ever see the police, ems, or fire department, my voice is first thing you hear. When you have a crisis I’m the first one to talk you through it. If a loved one needs CPR or is in labor, I’m the one who is there to talk you through the procedure until help arrives.

There is a lot that I do but I’m not just a voice. I have taken almost every type of call you can think of and I have a story. My fellow dispatchers and those who work within the field of emergency services have a story. This is the basis of my Kickstarter project. Over the past eight months I have produced news stories for my Masters program and they were posted on my blog. They included the Color Run that was held in Grand Rapids, MI, the Street Performer Series in Holland, MI, ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI, and finally the Emergency Services Series. This series included mini stories that revolved around a local K-9 Unit, EMS, Law Enforcement, and 9-1-1 dispatch. The point of this series was to give the public an inside look into what these people do.

This Kickstarter project will do just that. The project will consist of a podcast where I will sit down with three other people who work within the field of emergency services and have them tell you, the listeners, their story. It’s a way for us to open up about our experiences and allow you to get another angle of the story. This will be about how we feel, what brought us to this profession, and why we do what we do. This is a project that I have wanted to do for a long time. I started with a video a couple years ago. It was an assignment for a class on digital storytelling and it featured the stories of two of my co-workers. Their story was not only interesting but it gave the public a taste of what we go through as dispatchers. I want to continue this project.

In order to do this I need your help. I am trying to raise $1,500.00 in order to buy the equipment needed to make this series a reality. The money would buy four microphones, headsets, a mixer, headphone amp, call-in monitor, and a producer license with Ustream. Each episode would be recorded and streamed live over Ustream as a weekly podcast. Within Ustream, those who are listening would be able to chat with us and we would engage the audience in order to make it interactive. If the show were to grow in popularity I would spring for a couple cams so that it would be more than just audio. As of right now though, I am only looking to make this an audio podcast with a live stream over Ustream.

I want to thank you very much for reading and for your consideration in helping make this project come to life. For a sample on what the show would be about I have added an audio clip that tells a survival story of one of my fellow dispatchers. This audio clip alone is what I want this project to be about. I want to tell our story about work, our life, and what we go through.

Thank you