What is AIR?
What is the Makers Quest 2.0?
Why AIR?
Do I have to be an AIR member to participate?
What's the timeline for MQ2, and how will it work?
What type of candidate are you looking for?
Who gets to nominate?
How can I get involved if I am a producer?
How can I get involved if I am not an individual but represent a station, network, or other organization?
How can I apply?
To be eligible for a grant, do I have to produce for radio or Internet only?
Do I have to have a résumé in public radio?
Where will my work be heard if I am chosen?
Who decides who will be receiving a grant? [Who are the judges?]
When will the committee make its final selections?
What does MQ2 have to do with public radio?
If I work at a station, can I be nominated?
How much money can I win?
How many individuals will be chosen?
If I've been nominated, may I collaborate with others?
Is this a one-time initiative, or do you expect it to be ongoing?
Are there age restrictions?
How can I find out more?
Can I nominate more than one person?
Will it strengthen my nomination if I have more than one person nominating me?

1. What is AIR?
AIR, the Association of Independents in Radio, Inc., is public radio's most vibrant social and professional network of producers and associates who work independently at stations and at the networks. Members come from 44 U.S. states and nine countries. AIR was formally incorporated 20 years ago on March 30, 1988, with a commitment to preserving a place on public radio for the work and inspiration of the individual producer. The mission, which still centers on belief in the inherent power of the maker, extends a wider vision of service not only to public radio listeners, but also to a diversifying America that listens via earbuds, computer speakers, cell phones, and other emerging devices.

AIR, with its 700 producers and associates, is the long-standing refuge and touchstone for radio’s most respected and diverse pool of veteran reporters and audio artists. The three networks -- NPR, PRI, APM -- belong to AIR, as do PRX and about a dozen of the industry's leading producing stations. Now, with the ranks expanding at an average of 3.5 new producers each week, the organization has emerged as the entry point for many newcomers who are passionate about learning the craft of sound. There is promise on the horizon as more and more podcasters, print journalists, and sound artists find a home in the spirit and practice embodied by AIR.

2. What is the Makers Quest 2.0?
AIR launched MQ2 on September 1, 2008, with principal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The initiative will disburse $400,000 in grants of $20,000 to $40,000 to about a dozen producers to experiment with new ways of producing for both traditional broadcast and new digital platforms. MQ2 is significant in two chief ways. This is the first time in 20 years that CPB has dedicated a pool of funds solely to individual producers; since the late 1980s, producers have had to compete with the networks and stations for resources from CPB's Program Fund. Secondly, MQ2 calls on producers during this time of change in the industry to help lead the transition from public radio to public media.

The projects that will receive funding will be those that experiment with bridging traditional and emerging platforms. That is, there must be an element that is suitable for on-air broadcast via a radio station or network, and there must be an element that takes the programming beyond the airwaves to harness the power of the digital distribution realm. This could mean online streaming, mobile phone distribution, some sort of social network production strategy.

The emphasis is on audio. Winning projects may be strictly audio, but we encourage projects that mix media -- videos, slide shows, flash, etc.

Philadelphia-based Ingrid Lakey is the Talent Manager who will lead the project. Ingrid has worked in many capacities throughout public radio, including as program director at WETA-FM and most recently as executive producer for NPR's Justice Talking.

3. Why AIR?
Through its mentorship program, publications, listserv, and training programs, AIR is the taproot into the brain trust of audio-producing talent. It is recognized as a leader and advocate for public radio's creative culture.

4. Do I have to be an AIR member to participate?
No, AIR membership is not required.

5. What's the timeline for MQ2, and how will it work?
MQ2 will select its grantees through a nomination process. There will not be an open RFP, or call for applications. Producers must be nominated.

We expect to "open the gates" to the project in early October, inviting individuals to nominate producers. Nominations will be accepted via a simple online form throughout October. No later than the first week of November, nominees who are accepted will be invited to submit a short proposal. They will have until December 1 to submit this proposal online.

We will appoint a seven- or eight-member Talent Committee whose task will be to work with the Talent Manager to select nominees.

6. What type of candidate are you looking for?
The ideal candidate for MQ2 is recognized as a "bright spark" -- an individual who:

• is experienced and adept in the craft of audio -- a lover of sound
• is passionate about radio as a listener or practitioner. Experience working in radio is preferred, but it is not requisite
• thrives in a time of change and is challenged and energized by the next frontier of public media
• has started to experiment with and/or actively work on digital/technological platforms and with digital and Web-based tools and applications
• is active in the medium of audio, working, for example
  • as an independent/sole proprietor
  • under the umbrella of a 501(c)(3)
  • at a radio station or a network
  • as a student or trainee, either independent study or at the high school or college level
  • as a sound artist or musician
• has an existing relationship with a radio station. This is not requisite, but we will be looking for ways to "marry" traditional outlets with newer, emerging outlets. Candidates with winning ideas AND a station willing to "incubate" that idea will have an advantage
• is at least 18 years old

7. Who gets to nominate?
Anyone is free to nominate, and we will be looking for nominations that are rooted in some sort of work experience. Nominations that come from a collaborator, a teacher, a supervisor, or another who has firsthand experience of the person they're nominating will be strongest. Nominees may not be nominated by a relative.

8. How can I get involved if I am a producer?
If you are a member of AIR, you will automatically receive notice when MQ2 is officially launched and we begin taking nominations. If you are not a member of AIR, you can ask to be added to the project distribution list. Contact AIR's membership director, Erin Mishkin <erin@airmedia.org>.

In the meantime, be thinking about people you want to nominate. If you want to be nominated, consider approaching people you'd like to have nominate you to discuss your idea and get their buy-in.

9. How can I get involved if I am not an individual but represent a station, network, or other organization?
We'd love to hear from you. We'll be looking for stations and organizations to foster our selected producers and to help shape their projects. Contact Ingrid Lakey <ingrid@airmedia.org>.

10. How can I apply?
You cannot apply. You must be nominated.

11. To be eligible for a grant, do I have to produce for radio or Internet only?
The projects that will receive funding will be those that experiment with bridging traditional and emerging platforms. That is, there must be an element that is suitable for on-air broadcast via a radio station or network, and there must be an element that takes the programming beyond the airwaves to harness the power of the digital distribution realm. This could mean online streaming, mobile phone distribution, some sort of social network production strategy.

12. Do I have to have a résumé in public radio?
No. We welcome producers from areas outside public radio.

13. Where will my work be heard if I am chosen?
MQ2 will not determine that. We'll be looking carefully at what ideas producers present in their proposals, especially with respect to nonbroadcast distribution. With respect to broadcast outlets, MQ2 will work closely with chosen producers to place them at stations willing to "incubate" one of our projects. We cannot guarantee that a relationship with a station or network will be the outcome.

14. Who decides who will be receiving a grant? [Who are the judges?]
MQ2 will appoint a Talent Committee tasked with reviewing the proposals and recommending producers for funding. Final decision on grant awards rests with CPB.

15. When will the committee make its final selections?
Mid-December.

16. What does MQ2 have to do with public radio?
Principal funding for the project comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), an agency formed in 1967 by an act of Congress, when it passed the Public Broadcasting Act, which then made way for NPR and the interconnected station network that we know today. CPB is tasked with disbursing an annual congressional appropriation, currently set at $400 million for 2009. Further, AIR was originally founded in 1988 by a group of independent producers working in public radio. The organization has expanded and diversified its activities and membership, but the public radio industry remains a cornerstone and public radio stations, the networks, and sister organizations critical partners and investors.

17. If I work at a station, can I be nominated?
Yes. But if your nomination is to be accepted, you have to submit a proposal as an individual. Should you win, grant monies would be disbursed strictly to you, not to the station where you are employed.

18. How much money can I win?
We anticipate awarding grants ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 each.

19. How many individuals will be chosen?
It depends, to some degree, on the number and quality of proposals. We estimate that we will choose between 12 and 15 producers to receive grant monies.

20. If I've been nominated, may I collaborate with others?
Yes. We welcome ideas that involve collaboration. The rule still applies, however, that an individual must submit the proposal and be responsible for the financial administration of the project, meeting deliverables, and fulfilling the terms of the agreement he or she has with AIR.

21. Is this a one-time initiative, or do you expect it to be ongoing?
MQ2 is currently a one-year initiative. CPB and AIR have agreed that the intention is to make this an ongoing project, contingent upon the success of this round. They will evaluate the outcomes of the project sometime in mid-2009 and make decisions about whether to proceed further.

22. Are there age restrictions?
You must be 18 years of age or older.

23. How can I find out more?
If you belong to AIR, you will automatically receive notices in your in-box. We will also be spreading word far and wide via other channels. If you want to be sure to be kept apprised, send an e-mail to Erin Mishkin, AIR's membership director <erin@airmedia.org> to request that you be put on our e-mail distribution list. We also have an MQ2.0 Facebook page and a Web site dedicated to the project.

24. Can I nominate more than one person?
You may nominate up to three people. Technically, while you are free to nominate more than one person, we ask that you remember our goal is to find the very best and brightest producers and sound artists. We are looking to those nominating to help us by thinking carefully and selectively about who you choose to nominate.

25. Will it strengthen my nomination if I have more than one person nominating me?
We accept a maximum of three nominations for the same person, in the order received. The number of nominations, however, will not weigh more heavily than the quality of who is nominating and what they have to say about their nominee.