Author: Dan Martin
The executive order was issued,
And the world felt like it stopped.
That was 5 years ago today.
The feelings I remember were…so much uncertainty paired with fear of the unknown.
It was the day of my 40th birthday, and I don’t remember much about that milestone as everything was sucked up in daily headlines. Kzoom lost $100,000 of booked business overnight.
So much changed, and so much change for everyone all at once. It was hard, negative, relationally disconnected, and difficult.
We had no idea the wild ride Kzoom would be on, stretching from surviving as a four person team, to the company we are today. By the end of March 2020, our plan was to lay off half of the team, which was paused 1 day before employees filed for unemployment upon the curiosity of if “PPP” could be the support we needed.
You may also remember this, as well, the frustration of too many conversations processing Covid. On the opposite end of this, it’s surprising that we don’t talk about it more. We think it’s due a checkpoint to look back.
Here’s the wild adventure Kzoom went through.
When the Stay at Home order was issued, we contacted principal Wendy Somers saying, “tomorrow looks like the last day to get your footage”. Jordan & Dan spent that day in the schools getting critical footage to pass the School Bond.
March 13, 2020In collaboration with Vintage Mitten, in the first 2 weeks of the stay at home order, we created this video energizing Kalamazoo, which was shared over 1600 times.
April 1st, 2020We assisted the Family Health Center and local healthcare instructing how to get Covid tested from the parking lot.
April 10th, 2020In response to the need for events being livestreamed, Kzoom got into the stream.
October 5th, 2020Kzoom was hired by Pfizer to shoot photography and videography of the vaccine release. This is our story of what we experienced.
December 1st, 2020
Kzoom’s images from the Vaccine release were used in this New York Times article as well as many news and online outlets.
View ArticleDecember 14th, 2020
Our team’s first coverage of a U.S. President when President Biden toured Pfizer with Governor Whitmer.
February 2021
Kzoom footage was used in this National Geographic documentary of Covid-19.
March 2021
After a year and a half of waiting for the right time, we assisted Discover Kalamazoo with this "Return to Safe" video to begin a blended return to events and streetside dining.
The “world’s first masked lip dub” brought joy to CSM workers across the country as part of their annual summit.
July 2021
After a year of planning and production, Kzoom directs “WMed Live,” the 10-year celebration of Kalamazoo’s medical school.
2021
Kzoom celebrates our 20-year anniversary with a 2003 themed party.
2023Looking back 5 years, we have grown from a 4-person small business to a 12-person full service marketing team with specialists in every area of marketing, offering Videography, Photography, Graphic Design, Web Design, Social Media, SEO, Digital Advertising, all with a side of Borderline Too Much Fun.
We’ve grown to almost 20 businesses where we direct all aspects of marketing.
