A place to ask WE management questions.

[Graham Wallington]

Many of you have questions that you would like answered. WE have a way for you to ask the presenters questions by emailing Final Control ([e-mail]) The director chooses which questions to ask and reads them to the presenter. However, sometimes the questions are a little difficult for the presenter to answer or they have nothing to do with what is happening on the screen. This is the place to ask those sorts of questions of the WildEarth management.

[Lily]

Hello Graham......thanks for this. Looks like it will be a great place. I have two questions for you...for starters.

First : I do understand that WE has an agreement with Djuma about sightings and that WE must give priority to other vehicles as you have explained for us on the WEBlog. But --- will you, in future, be negotiating so that WE viewers can stay on a sighting like a regular game drive vehicle does, rather than having to leave - particularly when it was the WE team who found the animal? I don't mean that WE should have longer than our share, but I have often felt that incoming game drives have driven up and taken over, and we have been kicked out precipitously, way before it was our "turn" to leave. I find myself secretly saying "don't call it in" so we can have a few minutes to watch....but of course, your team does as is required of them and radios in, and we are goners.
I am hoping you will arrange for us to have an "equal opportunity" to see.

Second: Traversing - I know there are major technical issues for transmission of signals, but when you get those all worked out, do you anticipate getting traversing rights that will allow WE to travel over a greater physical area of Djuma for the drives? (That would be awesome.)

Thanks in advance......Lily

[Graham Wallington]

Hi Lily, thanks for a great question.
Djuma, and the rest of the Sabi Sands, is undoubtbly the best place to 'do' game drives. There are a couple of reasons for this but they all relate to the fact that you will see more big iconic animals, more regularly and more consistently than anywhere else. Also, because there are (relativley) so many lodges, game drive vehicles and people; the animals (and in particular the cats) are far more relaxed with people and so, not only do you see them more often. but those sightings are better because the animals don't flee.
As a result of this, the Sabi Sands has become extremely populair with international tourists and this has made the land imensley valuable. The cost of 'using' (traversing) this land has therefore become quite high. WildEarth is a young small company and we are lucky to have been allowed to begin and grow in such a place that we otherwise could not afford. In other words WE get to drive on Djuma because our friends, Jurie and Pippa Moolman (the owners of Djuma) are kind enough to give us an easy (read: 'free') start in life. They can also see the potential of what we can become and might also have become a little addicted to broadcasting wildlife LIVE to the world over the past 10 years.
However, it is the geusts that physically visit the camps of Djuma that pay for all the staff and monstrous running costs of the three camps and reserve ... not us. Therefore it is only right that we respect those geusts and give way. Nobody has ever asked us to do this, but WE feel this to be right.
In answer to your second question ... Yes! One day, hopefully, WE will be making enough money to rent the traversing to be able to follow a pride of lions no matter where they go. Or to go and find a leopard WE have not seen for a while even if she is miles away. I am sure that that day is not so far away, and we will keep on working towards that objective ... its in our nature.

[sagresta]

Thanks for asking this Shiloh! I was just going to ask the same.

Please enlighten us on what you invision for us valued (addicted, ha ha) worldwide internet viewers in the future, as WildEarth go to the next media level.

Thanks,
Sagresta

[Graham Wallington]

Yes this is a question that I am asked often and dealing with these issues is exactly what this forum is all about.
OK, the bottom line is that WildEarth will always be available on the Internet. In fact I am of the opinion that within 5 to 10 years all TV will be available only on the Internet. The question is not whether or not it is available on the net, but rather how it is funded there. Will it be advertising funded or subscription based.
Over the past 10 years, I have oscillated between both models as streaming over the Internet has developed. Currently I am of the opinion that advertising is the way forward.
As WildEarth creates a TV channel we will make many upgrades that the Internet audience (you addicts) will enjoy. More vehicles, more presenters, better nocturnal viewing, more waterholes, LIVE bush walks, and many many more.
So relax, sit back and enjoy ... it's in your nature.

[Pat]

Graham, I am very impressed with all the new options available to WE viewers. Thanks for all the hard work that has gone into all of these.

I have a question about resets. Since the extra slots have been added to the US feed, are the resets still necessary? As I am a viewer who uses a Mac, I sometimes miss the beginning of the drives since I haven't noticed the reset has happened. With Flip4Mac, we have to completely restart. We can't just refresh. I do know that when not everyone could be watching at the same time due to a lack of available slots, it was needed. Will you consider letting the drives go on without using a reset at any time soon? TIA

[Graham Wallington]

Hi Pat,
Thank you for your very good question. To be honest I cannot think of a good reason to continue with the 'dump'. It has just not really been discussed and has therefore persisted for no good reason. I will stop it tommorow. Thank you.

[Pat]

Thank you! All Mac users will thank you in unison!

[Karen-inVA (Moderator)]

Hiya Graham and Emily,
I have been curious if any of you have heard any thing from Rodney since he left WE. I was hoping that Emily was going to surprise us with an update on him along with the others on the 1st Anniversary Blog Entry, but figured you may have lost touch with him when did not see one.
He was a really nice guy and I think about him often. :)

[Emily Wallington]

Hi Karen,
I did try to contact him but he never got back to me. As far as I know he is still studying in Cape Town. I agree he is a great guy,we had some real laughs with him. He is still very young and needs to study but maybe in time he will come back to us. He has a facebook page if you want to contact him. His name is Rodney Hanssen. maybe we should invite him to join ning?

[Lily]

Hi Graham,

On the last drive with Rexon and Alex, they had conversations and comments between them - and we heard mostly Rexon's comments and very little of Alex's. These two have awesome interaction and it really adds to the enjoyment of the drive. Would you consider some kind of sound pickup in the back of the vehicle, making it possible for us to hear the camera operator as well as the presenter? I think it would be a great addition to the drives.
Thanks in advance.

[Graham Wallington]

A very good point. This has been an ongoing problem for some time. Back in the day when Nick and Helen were driving together, WE had a lapel mic on the cameraman and it worked quite well. We eventually chewed through 4 lapel mics in only a few months, destroying one after another, so we stopped. We have all missed the interaction between presenter and cameraman/woman.
James has repaired one of our camera mics and mounted it on the camera pedastal (along with the other mics) only this one is aimed at the cameraman. Lets have a listen this afternoon and see whether or not it works.
Thanks for the comment/suggestion, please give us your thoughts after the drive.

[Graham Wallington]

Glad you are enjoying some of what WE are doing ... a lot more to come.
The ideas for the shop are noted, and hopefully WE will get to them. It is unfortunatley a 'B' priority item at the moment, but have patience, all will be done in time.
Several people have mentioned that they would like to support the Buffelshoek trust and can't. I will try to address this with them. Thanks.
In terms of WildEarth donations: I don't think that it would be appropriate to accept them, but WE certainly appreciate the thought. The best gift you can give us is your support and maybe invite your friends and family to join you on the drives and maybe here at the WE community.
Thanks for everything.