Eric Hanson from our local station KCCI Channel 8 emailed me seemingly out of nowhere. He said that he’d like to do a story on my birthday project. He continued to tell me how a co-worker had forwarded my website to him on Facebook. When we were finally able to nail down a time to film, they were in a hurry. They wanted to film it and air it the same day, I said bring it on. It just so happens that the day we filmed was April 25th, World Malaria Day.

My friend Derian had been in the loop through the whole thing. He happened to be in town and I told him to stop by and watch the shoot. Secretly, I wanted him to get in on it. Derian has been on board since day one, and has a great way of communicating. I thought if I turn into a stump under pressure, he was more than capable of telling the story.

Eric is a really cool (and very tall) guy. He had no notes, no pen or paper. He sat and talked with us like we were old friends. He asked me if my plan of only communicating through Social Media was working. I said, “well, how did you hear about me?” He nodded at me with a smile as if to say, “Touche’, I’ll give you that one.” He asked me leading questions that unraveled my story like a pro. Derian added a thought about the Birthday Heroes feature on the website. Eric asked if Derian had become a Birthday Hero, and Derian assured him that he had. Right then and there Eric said, “ok, let’s get you in here.” Apparently, my plan was flawless. As a filmmaker and someone who is usually on the other side of the camera, I was a little more comfortable watching Derian being interviewed.

Here’s the final:

KCCI Channel 8 News Story about Happy Birthday Nate from Nate Beaird on Vimeo.

After we were done, Eric told me a story of something that happened right before they came to film. He was at another interview, and the guy asked him where he was off to next, so Eric explained what I was doing. The guy pulled $30 out of his wallet and said, “Give him this for me, will ya?” It’s easy to give to something like this, it’s easy to save lives. Thanks for considering giving to this worthy cause!

Nate
Birthday Boy