EKOS Communications, Inc.

Talk about bad timing. No sooner had we launched ekosTV.com seven and half months ago with much fanfare and excitment when my personal life descended into near chaos. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice to say that much of my time was consumed by five moves in four months! My wife and I are finally settling in again, and what a place we now call home is. Just beyond the patio, tiny lawn and narrow band of flowers and shrubs, the property plunges down to a sand beach and provides us with a sweeping vista of the Juan De Fuca Strait and the Olympic Mountains. Inside, large windows allow light to flood the kitchen, living room and my office.

Since moving in, my wife and I have spent considerable amounts of time just sitting and gazing at the ever-changing  kaleidoscope of colour, patterns, and textures set in motion by the passing of the sun or moon accompanied by winds of varying stengths. I guess you get the picture that we consider ourselves very fortunate, especially when we remind ourselves of the conditions much of the world’s population live under.

And, should you be wondering, we’re renting. We simply couldn’t afford to buy a house, townhouse or condo that met our needs. 

There’s much I could say about the lessons learned and the insights gained as a result of the search for the right place to live and all the torturous moves that are pertinent to the discussion of ecological literacy and sustainability. But these are not as important as filling in those of you who have been wondering about the prolonged periods of inactivity and reassuring you that they are about to end.

The moves were a huge distraction. Anyone who has had to move even once knows this. Now that I’m settled again, I’m focusing my energies completely on ekosTV. Not that it’s up to me alone. I’m truly blessed to be working with an extremely talented, passionate, and dedicated team. If it weren’t for them, the vision of an alternative form of mass communication on environmental issues affecting the planet would never have taken shape, much less been sustained through a bumpy start-up. To them, I’m forever indebted and they have my sincere and unconditional gratitude.

Within a few days, we’ll be rolling out a new look for the site plus an exciting range of fresh content. We’re delighted to bring you an incredibly thought-provoking analysis of ethical investing and corporate social responsibility presented by a staunch and eloquent advocate of social justice, none other than Stephen Lewis, former Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund and former Ambassador to the United Nations. Debra Koon Garcia produced, wrote and shot "The Future of Food" - a hard-hitting attack on biogenetically engineered foods grounded in meticulous research and fact-checking. Garcia was outraged by the bullying, deceitful ways the industry was insunating itself the growing of crops in her home state of California as well as around the world. With these encounters, we’re about to add podcasts to our quiver, along with the videos, radio interviews and articles. And, as if this wasn’t enough, we’ll also be featuring the work of Victoria-based cartoonist Ole Heggen who uses humour to deliver dire warnings about climate change.

In a week or so, we’ll also have our second episode up which features two pieces on climate change and one on the environmental impacts of the tsunami that swept over much of SE Asia’s coastline last December. Tasha Bradsell co-hosts the show with me. This was the first time we appeared on camera together since our days at what was then called The New VI (now called A-Channel), and it was a real treat for both of us. I’m sure that you’ll be seeing more of her in weeks and months ahead.

While much of our programming has been produced in-house, this too is about to change. At this moment, a videotape is on its way across the Atlantic carrying footage and interviews with people involved with state-of-the-art green buildings and sustainable communities in Scandinavia. Soon, a quartet of recently-graduated university students from BC will set off their bicycles for Mexico, a trip they expect will take 3 months to complete. Along the way, one of them will be filing regular updates with ekosTV via a blog and accompanying photos. One of their primary interests is the quest for truly sustainable agriculture, so you can expect observations and reflections on everything from permaculture to living off the grid. From the beginning, ekosTV was conceived as a means for such stories to be seen, heard, or read about. We’re delighted to see this potential beginning to take form, and encourage you to consider becoming a contributor as well. Contact me if you’d like more details as to how.

All of the above is to say that, although ekosTV has only been able to inch forward over the past several months, momentum has been building for a significant leap forward. Hence the reason I say that it has been the worst of times and the best of times. 

To our viewers, registered users and subscribers, thank you for sticking with us through this challenging period.

Rick Searle

Executive Producer