Early last week, I received the 2008 Annual Report to Contributors. As I understand it, the report is publicly available for your perusal here. The report lists funding initiatives and revenue reports alongside the names of everyone who contributed last year. My name is right there on page 25:
It'll be there next year too; I re-upped my membership about 10 days ago. (A long story, but in a nut: I dropped in on someone's blind date and ended up having a drink. A couple days later, I realized the card I got back was someone else's, so I had to cancel mine and update the info on all of my automatic withdrawals, one of which was KEXP. I had a staffer in membership on the phone, my year was up, and it seemed the thing to do.)
As a member in good standing, I was excited to receive the report a few days later. It also names staff and their positions, and here I am again:
I'm going to be super optimistic here and say I hope to be there again by next year. But you never know. I remain a production assistant at KEXP, and with my newly available time I'm angling to increase my duties there.
At the moment, I won't lie to you. I'm bummed. At the time I was let go, I'd been board-opping for a year and five months. This coming May, I'll have volunteered there 5 years. I have, you might say, some investment. And so do the people who run the station.
Speaking of, let me show you the letter from Tom Mara where he outlines where KEXP has been and where it's going. It's interesting for sure. I can't imagine the juggling of motivations and goals that goes into running a non-profit organization, especially one as large and public as KEXP.
You may notice Mara mentions strategic planning towards a new home for KEXP. If you've never visited the station--and right now is a fabulous time to do so--you're missing out: it's an old bank building, with exactly the right mix of character and business. They keep the swag in the vault, which always tickles me. At the same time, they outgrew the building about a year ago. I can't begrudge them wanting to move. And won't, as long as they don't begrudge me wanting to stay.
I tell you all this as a reminder that today begins KEXP's fall pledge drive. I've given. Will you? I'm not naive--the station meeting its goal changes nothing about my status there--but for the next few days, when you find yourself voluntarily listening to KEXP's DJs cajoling you for cash over whatever godforsaken thing The End is playing, please realize I might be a canary, and you need their song.
