Monthly Archives: January 2014

Every Point on the Map

EPOTM: The Escapades of Amateurs Managing a PR Campaign

Using my lunch hour efficiently, this Thursday I managed to get to the KSBI-52 studio, complete a short interview, and get back to the precepting room at work with a little time to spare.  But not without sweating a few bullets.

I’ve only been on TV three times in my life.  The first was when Cherokee Ballard interviewed me at my home because there was “a rash of car thefts” in the area where we lived.  I won’t mention that the main reason our car was stolen was that I left the keys in the ignition and didn’t quite close the doors.  Therefore, the overhead light was a beacon for the thieves, and when they peeked in – bingo! Keys!  I did get a little ticked off when two nights later they came back and stole my husband’s truck as well.  But, they had the keys and I can hear their logic:

Hey – we’ve got this set of keys and need two cars…

Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin?

Yeah.  Let’s go back and steal that truck.

Like taking candy from a baby…

Later I had a chance to say my piece to the thieves as they sat handcuffed in the back of a police car.  The cops had called after finding my car at a 7-11 and “could we come and identify it?”  As Mick and I pulled into the parking lot in our rental, I felt compelled to walk up to the window and make darn sure the thieves knew “that truck was my father-in-law’s, and he just DIED a few months ago!”  Well, I told them, huh?  I will say the one closest to the window looked a little frightened. Not sure if it was because he just got arrested or because a crazed person just verbally accosted him about his bad deeds…

Where was I?  Oh yeah…TV.  I’ve only been on TV three times.  So, number one was about car thefts.

Numbers two and now three were on KSBI covering information highlighted right here on the Red Dirt Chronicles.  This week it was about Every Point on the Map (EPOM).  Number four will be next week.  Our friends at Oklahoma Horizon TV will be covering EPOM in a slightly different way, and they’ll be partnering with our project by lending us a bit of equipment.

In case you missed it, here’s our piece on KSBI: Continue reading EPOTM: The Escapades of Amateurs Managing a PR Campaign →

Every Point on the Map

Every Point on the Map: Do We Have Personal Buy-In?

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Two days ago we launched our “Every Point on the Map” crowd funding site.

It was a big step, more than a little scary, and now the hard work begins.  We need to raise $3100 in 30 days or we get nothing.  It’s that simple.

Or, maybe…it’s that hard.

Since the first year of my marriage I’ve been buying cookies from Girl Scouts, and buying popcorn or sausage from Boy Scouts.  We’ve donated money to our children’s schools, to our church, to organizations we believe in… but I’ve never personally had a project where I ask for money.  I’ve never personally had to tell people:  “Look, I really believe in this project.  Would you be willing to support it?”

I’ve never had to learn how to ask.  You have to have personal buy-in at a level where no doubt exists.  We’re there.  Now we need to convince other people we’re there.

Giving is so much easier…

Our goal is relatively modest.  We asked for just enough money to get through the first year.  We’ll have a better idea of the costs at that point, but to roll out the project we know having support will free us up to focus on achieving our goals.

So, for those of you who are reading this post, please know this:  We’ll take care of your money.  We’ll do the very best we can to achieve optimum “Every Point on the Map” with minimum monetary expenditures.  And, we’ll do all we’re able in order to produce read-worthy, think-worthy, consideration-worthy, life-changing-worthy pieces.

We believe in this project and we’d love to have your support.  Really, truly, genuinely.

Love and gratefulness for any money you can pledge to our project, (click this link to support us!)

[kelly] and Rachel Apple

Every Point on the Map

“Every Point on the Map” – Fair Questions and the Nitty Gritty Details

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It’s only been a few days since we announced Every Point on the Map, but we’ve been asked quite a few very good questions.

These range from the, “Where are you going to start first?” types (geographical) to the “How are you going to decide who to interview?” (logistical) kind.  Here are a few others we’ve encountered:

  1. How are you going to fund this project?
  2. Who have you contacted to publicize your work?
  3. What kind of documentation are you going to do (I like video best; or, I like photos best; or, you’re going to write, right??)?
  4. Could I ride with you during one of your trips?
  5. Are you going to write a book?  Make an installment at a museum?
  6. What about passing along a gift from one stop to the next, kind of like geocaching, only different?

Holy Road Trip, Batman –  we have some decisions to make, eh?

I will say that we’ve begun to sort many of these decisions out.  For example, we’ll be rolling out a Kickstarter fundraising opportunity to bankroll our first year on Monday of next week.  We’ve been working with Tree & Leaf designer Dusty Gilpin on our project logo.  And, we’ll be introducing the project on Oklahoma Horizon TV and through other media or publication outlets as we are ready.  I’ve even outlined various legs of the trip so we can be efficient, cover a good amount of ground, and locate places to spend the night from time to time if needed.

In other words, the answers to these questions are coming together, slowly but surely.  And, we’ll cover each of them in individual posts as they are ready to share.  But there is one we’re still mulling and we could quite frankly use your help.  Here’s the deal… Continue reading “Every Point on the Map” – Fair Questions and the Nitty Gritty Details →

Every Point on the Map, Photography, Travel

“Every Point on the Map” or Why My Heart Has the Flutters

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Have you ever had an idea spark at some point in your brain, move from the incubation stages slowly and deliberately, then continuously remerge in your consciousness until it demands to be reckoned with?

I would imagine those types of ideas are the fabric from which “Bucket Lists” are constructed.  They’re the kinds of ideas that send little currants of electricity down your spine, or through your teeth.  They’re the visions that, when played out in your head, give your heart a little flutter, or awaken the butterflies in your stomach.

They’re the kinds of ideas that aren’t uttered aloud until you can own them.  And, until you can own the results of your utterances.

One such result might be that by uttering your idea aloud, you’ve implied some kind of social contract with the person who heard you.  Or, perhaps a contract with yourself.

Some people blurt their ideas in the early stages, before they’re fully developed.  Others harbor them covertly until they’ve weighed every risk associated and every aspect or contingency.  I fall more into the second camp.  And that’s why it’s not until NOW that I’ve decided to publicly announce a project I’ll be starting in February called, “Every Point on the Map.”

Every Point on the Map will be a ten year journey to visit each one of Oklahoma’s 593 townships or cities and have a meaningful conversation with one person in each place.  My daughter will be traveling with me, documenting the journey through two types of digital video and with two different cameras.  Every Point on the Map is something of a “bucket list-type” idea that has been incubating for a while, and by virtue of writing this beginning post – to me – it’s like forming a social contract with Oklahomans at large.  To me, it’s like the beginning of trying to introduce the idea.  And, to introduce you to the “why” behind the idea. Continue reading “Every Point on the Map” or Why My Heart Has the Flutters →