✏️ Roundup Newsletter: “Pesky Trust Falls”

Tuesday July 28, 2020
From the desk of Amanda Eichstaedt…

Catch Me!

I think I have only done trust falls once in my life. I can’t remember the situation exactly, but I remember my anxiety around doing it. I wasn’t as worried about actually hitting the ground as I was about being caught by people that I didn’t really know. I get the concept, but it was extremely stressful for me.

In the Round Up last week I reference trust falls at the very end of the column, but what happened was that I had forgotten that I removed the paragraph earlier in the piece that referenced things that we have given up due to COVID-19, including hugs, convening with one another, and trust falls.

As I write this, more programmers are working on honing their own technical skills to produce audio from home. Program Director Jeff Manson is patiently working with some of our volunteers to help them come up to speed. I’m even chipping away at it, and it’s not easy. My hat is off to those folks who have taken on home production during COVID. Bravo!

When I’m engineering for folks in Studio A who are on the phone or Skype, it’s a bit like a trust fall. Most volunteer programmers provide me with a “run sheet.” This tells me what they expect to happen and when, including playing music tracks, etc. Back in March (remember way back then?) I would fade down the music and then silence. I’d hop on the mic and let the programmer know they were live on the air. Now they slide right into their programs like the pros that the are!  We have built skills, and trust with one another.

One thing about being in the studio when someone else is doing a program is that you end up listening really closely, not for errors, but to the exchange in the interviews. I am getting a kick out of being an “engineer,” although my Wednesday show seems to fly by in comparison to other days. And I do end up getting other work done while I’m perched in Studio A.

Upon further research I discovered that there is no scientific basis that trust falls actually build trust. I think I remember it so well because it was uncomfortable. I can ponder the many other ways that I have developed trusting relationships with people. Maybe it’s like how we remember negative interactions so much better than positive ones. We ran a bed and breakfast for fifteen years. We had thousands of guests that I had contact with, checking them in, then making them breakfast and chatting with them about their visit. I can recall vividly the five or six real doozies – and while they make for some interesting tales, they are not the full story.

 Throwback Tuesday, Waylon as a pup.   photo: Amanda Eichstaedt

To be honest with you, I’m not sure where this column is going. Some come easy. Not this week. With the astronomical amount of downright insane news we are being subjected to (if we tune into the news), it feels like being sprayed with a firehose.

KWMR is keeping it local and relevant. I’m sure there is at least one typo, so catch me if you can!

Thank you all for reading, tuning in, and for your support of community radio, KWMR.

Amanda Eichstaedt, Station Manager and Executive Director

p.s. Learn HERE about how to get a COVID test in Marin County.

p.p.s. Have you completed the Census? It’s easy and funding for our rural communities depends on it!