THAT SITE WE USED TO BE
The first time I decided to create Big K Media and begin writing and podcasting online was a lot like the episode of The Simpsons where Homer bought stock in a shaky company. The broker who negotiates his transaction skeptically asks if he’s aware of the risks associated with owning stock.
“Of course,” Homer replies, while his thoughts paint a picture of the dunce of a dad singing “We’re In the Money” in a tux and top hat, flanked by beautiful Broadway dancers as cash falls from the sky. Behind him, a curtain partsto show an enormous, chained-up ape Homer has purchased with his dividends.
Naturally, things end less-than-ideally for him, the only investor in a company that declares “double bankruptcy” a few days later.
Much like Homer, I only saw the glory that would come of my proposed website. Sure, I couldn’t pay anyone to write, I didn’t have a specific goal in mind and I had no enforceable deadlines, but hey, we were headed for the big time! I would just write and talk and be my usual charming, lovable, brilliant self and everything would fall into place.
Well, here we are. Winter 2011. Half a year after I started the site. And Big K Media has declared double bankruptcy.
Back in high school, I started a band with my brother and a couple of my friends because we thought it would be fun. We’d write some songs together (because that’s really easy, right?), score some gigs (not too difficult, I assume) and soon, we’d be local legends, making big money weekly. We’ll never pay for our own McDonalds ever again!
Problem was, none of us had a clue what we were doing. We’d practice once a month (usually with one or two guys missing), and on the day of a show, we’d practice for eight straight hours because we had no clue what we were doing, show up to the show exhausted and play a bunch of hastily-learned covers with all the fervor of a Del Boca Vista shuffleboard tournament. I wrote songs by myself, tried to show them to my band mates once or twice, then expected them to have them down perfectly come show time. We played crappy alternative rock songs (usually by my choosing) in front of high-school talent shows full of middle-aged parents who thought “Funeral for a Friend” was still just an Elton John song.
After our last show, my brother and his friend, who played bass with us that day, convened and essentially said “That sucked. We can never do something like this again.” They formed their own band, learned from our mistakes and have become moderately successful in southeast PA considering they all go to college and none of them are older than 20.
My hope is I learn from the errors I made in starting Big K Media back in May the same way my brother learned from our first band's mistakes (read: my really dumb decisions). For one, we didn’t have a goal. The motto of “online media by young, aspiring journalists” was just too damn broad. As charming, lovable and brilliant as I’d like to think my friends and colleagues and I are, nobody’s going to a site solely for the purpose of seeing college students write some blogs on anything that came to mind for them. You need focus for a good website. Bill Cosby once said he didn’t know what the key to success was, but the key to failure was trying to please everyone. I had a key to that second door.
With that in mind, I re-launched the site in March with a focus on the subject I know the best: Philadelphia sports. (Changing the world, just like my parents said I would)
I had a lot of fun working on it, as I’m sure my colleagues who aided me with thought-provoking and humorous stories, as well as some brilliant photography, did as well. Each one is welcome to help me with the new site, time and desire willing. Heck, YOU’RE welcome to write, record, or do anything else of the sort to contribute to the site. Shoot me an e-mail if you are. Or, shoot me an e-mail just to say hi. I’m lookin’ for a buddy.
Anyway, I hope you guys had fun checking out the site over those last few months of 2011, because I know I’ve had fun giving it a shot. I don't regret doing it because it will make whatever we do from this point forward even better.
-Kaz
“Of course,” Homer replies, while his thoughts paint a picture of the dunce of a dad singing “We’re In the Money” in a tux and top hat, flanked by beautiful Broadway dancers as cash falls from the sky. Behind him, a curtain partsto show an enormous, chained-up ape Homer has purchased with his dividends.
Naturally, things end less-than-ideally for him, the only investor in a company that declares “double bankruptcy” a few days later.
Much like Homer, I only saw the glory that would come of my proposed website. Sure, I couldn’t pay anyone to write, I didn’t have a specific goal in mind and I had no enforceable deadlines, but hey, we were headed for the big time! I would just write and talk and be my usual charming, lovable, brilliant self and everything would fall into place.
Well, here we are. Winter 2011. Half a year after I started the site. And Big K Media has declared double bankruptcy.
Back in high school, I started a band with my brother and a couple of my friends because we thought it would be fun. We’d write some songs together (because that’s really easy, right?), score some gigs (not too difficult, I assume) and soon, we’d be local legends, making big money weekly. We’ll never pay for our own McDonalds ever again!
Problem was, none of us had a clue what we were doing. We’d practice once a month (usually with one or two guys missing), and on the day of a show, we’d practice for eight straight hours because we had no clue what we were doing, show up to the show exhausted and play a bunch of hastily-learned covers with all the fervor of a Del Boca Vista shuffleboard tournament. I wrote songs by myself, tried to show them to my band mates once or twice, then expected them to have them down perfectly come show time. We played crappy alternative rock songs (usually by my choosing) in front of high-school talent shows full of middle-aged parents who thought “Funeral for a Friend” was still just an Elton John song.
After our last show, my brother and his friend, who played bass with us that day, convened and essentially said “That sucked. We can never do something like this again.” They formed their own band, learned from our mistakes and have become moderately successful in southeast PA considering they all go to college and none of them are older than 20.
My hope is I learn from the errors I made in starting Big K Media back in May the same way my brother learned from our first band's mistakes (read: my really dumb decisions). For one, we didn’t have a goal. The motto of “online media by young, aspiring journalists” was just too damn broad. As charming, lovable and brilliant as I’d like to think my friends and colleagues and I are, nobody’s going to a site solely for the purpose of seeing college students write some blogs on anything that came to mind for them. You need focus for a good website. Bill Cosby once said he didn’t know what the key to success was, but the key to failure was trying to please everyone. I had a key to that second door.
With that in mind, I re-launched the site in March with a focus on the subject I know the best: Philadelphia sports. (Changing the world, just like my parents said I would)
I had a lot of fun working on it, as I’m sure my colleagues who aided me with thought-provoking and humorous stories, as well as some brilliant photography, did as well. Each one is welcome to help me with the new site, time and desire willing. Heck, YOU’RE welcome to write, record, or do anything else of the sort to contribute to the site. Shoot me an e-mail if you are. Or, shoot me an e-mail just to say hi. I’m lookin’ for a buddy.
Anyway, I hope you guys had fun checking out the site over those last few months of 2011, because I know I’ve had fun giving it a shot. I don't regret doing it because it will make whatever we do from this point forward even better.
-Kaz