ZAF622

The Maiden Voyage

This post is set to publish at the same time our plane is schedule to depart Denver International Airport headed to Orlando International Airport. Though ZAF622 is not the main purpose of our trip we consider it to be the maiden voyage of the show. And if I am being honest I am a bit nervous.

You see I was not able to secure anyone or anything for the show. Something that is hard to do when you really don’t have a show or any previous shows. So we are heading to Central Florida in hopes of finding show material on the fly.

Tampa is a town know for its art so I am hoping to find at least one artist who will talk to us for a few minutes. Other than that the possibilities are wide open. The important thing is to start. Starting will give us a reference point in which to improve on. Each episode should be an improvement over the last one. In this case have “a“ episode is an improvement to not having anything at all other than my random ramblings.

I am excited that we get to check a very distant state off of our list so early in the project’s life. For the next week think about us as we attempt to meet the people of Central Florida and maybe tell a story or two. We will not have easy access to the internet so you’ll have to wait until we get back to hear what happened.

Team ZAF622

This week ZAF622 is hitting the road for the first time. More on that later. This post is about Team ZAF622. My vision and my goals for ZAF622 are bigger than I can do alone. It is going to take a team of people. More and more as ZAF622 grows. But for now I am starting with one team member, my wife.

Joyce has always been my number one supporter in what is becoming my life project, ZAF622. Now she is coming on board as the first official team member of ZAF622.

Video is going to require more than one set of hands for sure. That is why I am happy that she has agreed to join me on this crazy dream of mine. She is going to be helping with basically everything from planning shows to filming shows to help with editing. Maybe I can even get her to starting posting here as well so that we can have a new perspective into the development of ZAF622.

Moving Right Along

Things are starting to come together. ZAF622 now has an upgraded camera, a Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder. Not the ideal camera, that would a be a Canon XL2 3CCD MiniDV Camcorder, which is about $3500. Even though it is not ideal the FS100 will work to get this show started. Consumer camcorders have come a long way and the recording quality will be there for sure, especially for publishing to the web. What it lacks is the ability to command someone’s attention the way a larger pro-consumer camera like the XL2 does. At the end of the day though I am thankful to have a camera as nice as the FS100.

A big issue with camcorders is always audio quality. I went with an external microphone to help improve that best I can without spending too much money. Using a bracket the SMX-10 Stereo Condenser Microphone can be mounted on the camera or with an extension cord it can be used on a boom or hand held. Time will tell what works best.

Now that the equipment is coming together it is about time for the rubber to hit the road. Which is the scary part. And even though I am expanding the scope of ZAF622 I still have to have some parameters to keep the show focused. Two words keep coming to mind when I think about this. Creativity and causes.

Creativity is nice because it covers so much. There are an endless supply of stories out there of people being creative on so many levels for so many reasons. And I believe creativity is a big part of being human.

Causes come from my desire for ZAF622 to give back. To always seek ways to help people. There are so many small non-profits and individuals out there who saw a need and started to work on it. Often times we do not hear about them because they do not have the marketing and promotion engines that large well known organizations have. I want to tell their story and shine a little light on them.

The question that I keep coming back to is will those two work together? Can it be about both? I think the answer is that I won’t know until I try. And the beauty of this project is that it can always change, adapt, and adjust as needed.

I have not posted much these past couple weeks because of the holidays and also because I did not feel there was much to say. So far it has been a lot of thinking out loud. But I do want that to be a part of this project. I don’t know exactly what it will look like or how I will do it but I want to build a community around this crazy idea. I think I will work on sharing more of the process of ZAF622 now that we are nearing the launch pad.