/Our display at Brewery Vivant on Thursday, June 23/Kiran Sood Patel
/A musician performs at GR Live on Thursday, June 16/ Kiran Sood Patel
Last week, our team at The Rapidian and the Grand Rapids Community Center hosted an event designed to welcome me and introduce me to the community. We called it Meet the Editor. The social hour, hosted at Brewery Vivant from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 23, was a lot of fun. We designed the event to be a space for conversation and connections amongst our readers, contributors and for the curious – those interested in learning more about me and The Rapidian and how things are going so far.
The event was a great example of the way the Community Media Center supports the different entities that are a part of it, and how staff supports one another. We had people present from GRTV and Catalyst Radio, two parts of our organization that work to inform and educate people in the community. It’s great to be a part of an organization that supports its staff in so many ways. I was honored to be invited to speak on a recent episode of Catalyst Radio and shared some of my plans as the new managing editor of The Rapidian. You can listen to the interview with host Katie Gordon here.
So far, I’ve had some great experiences getting to know this community and taking advantage of what it has to offer. On June 16, I attended my first episode of GR Live, a live radio show hosted once a week on Thursdays at noon at The Bob. I was introduced to brand new music, including local musician Jonny Carroll. In addition, I heard information about an upcoming festival in the community and some background on the origins of a local business. It was a relaxing afternoon and I left with information and the name of a musician to look up and follow on Instagram.
I took advantage of an opportunity earlier in June to volunteer as a video crew member with GRTV at Festival of the Arts. After attending a training session, I felt prepared to record video during performances on Friday, June 3. I walked to Calder Plaza and spent the day on my feet setting up cameras, recording and exploring the festival grounds.
Outside of work, I’ve explored businesses and restaurants along Wealthy Street, where The Rapidian is located. I’ve walked to the Fulton Street Farmers Market and attended my first movie in Ah-Nab-Awen Park. Recently, I had some incredible Dominican food at Mi Casa on Burton Street SW. I’m still exploring coffee shops across Grand Rapids in search of a cup.
Last Thursday, I had the chance to share some of these experiences so far and some of my own background with the community at Meet the Editor night. Thank you to those who attended from the community and the CMC and showed their support. We will have more opportunities to visit with us, learn more about The Rapidian and share your story coming up soon. Stay tuned to this site and our social media channels for details. I am always looking to learn more about the people and places in Grand Rapids and the neighboring areas. If there is something of note to share or let The Rapidian know about, send it our way.
The Rapidian, a program of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Community Media Center, relies on the community’s support to help cover the cost of training reporters and publishing content.
We need your help.
If each of our readers and content creators who values this community platform help support its creation and maintenance, The Rapidian can continue to educate and facilitate a conversation around issues for years to come.
Please support The Rapidian and make a contribution today.
Comments, like all content, are held to The Rapidian standards of civility and open identity as outlined in our Terms of Use and Values Statement. We reserve the right to remove any content that does not hold to these standards.