The star of WVIK's newest podcast is you!
We all know someone with a great story, and the Great Quad Cities Listen is your opportunity to invite them to share their story with the world. WVIK is collecting stories of Quad Citizens from all walks of life and turning them into their newest podcast.
The Great Quad Cities Listen intends to capture the diverse voices that make up our Quad Cities by collecting, preserving, and sharing their stories. As we listen to one another's life stories, we hope to not only gain in civic pride, but also to build connections and create a more compassionate Quad Cities.
The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce is one of the many organizations who have already offered to support the initiative.
"One thing that distinguishes the Quad Cities region is our collection of interesting and unique people and communities," said Rene Gellerman, speaking as both a Q2030 Loaned Executive and Senior Vice President of the Chamber. "WVIK's program will provide a platform to share the stories of every day Quad Citizens who are contributing to making our region cool, creative, connected, and prosperous. They'll inspire us, give us hope, and encourage us to seek our own place in shaping the future of the Quad Cities."
WVIK is seeking additional organizations and businesses to invite the great storytellers among their memberships to participate. WVIK is also seeking recording locations around the Quad Cities and access to the great story tellers among their memberships. The growing list of locations includes not only the WVIK studios at the Doris and Victor Day Broadcast Center in Rock Island, but also at the German American Heritage Center, the River Music Experience in Davenport, the Rock Island Public Library, the Moline Public Library, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley during the Mercado on Fifth in the Floreciente Neighborhood, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Rock Island.
A growing list of partners is posted at greatqclisten.org. You can also learn more about inviting the Great Quad Cities Listen to your location on the website.
All interview sessions will require two participants, an interviewer and an interviewee. While it is normal for these sessions to be conversational, at least one participant should spend some time preparing questions for their partner. Resources to help prepare for the interview, including a database of possible questions, is available on the website.
In addition to being distributed as a podcast, select stories will be broadcast on WVIK during Morning Edition. Moreover, all stories collected during the project will be shared with StoryCorps and through them archived in the Library of Congress. The Rock Island Public Library will also be archiving all stories here in the Quad Cities using their Biblioboard system.
"Today seems like the opportune time to bring the StoryCorps model to the Quad Cities," says WVIK General Manager and CEO Jay Pearce. "The proliferation of podcasts and other online listening has opened up many new opportunities for WVIK. We can't wait to hear so many community voices on our air and online."
The Great Quad Cities Listen is produced by Lacy Scarmana. This project is made possible by support from the Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation.
