Marva Lord

We hope that Griots.net can become financially independent through a number of means including sponsorship agreements. Sites like Griots.net are definitely a labour of love. If CARP becomes law in the US, there may be serious ramifications for other independent web broadcasters like Griots.net. The effects could see us limited to providing broadcast segments as a subscription service. Increasingly, we hope to financially maintain Griots.net through fees for affordable web and alternative promotion services. You can find more information about this, here.

Our UK clients have include:
bfm (black filmmaker magazine) and
NLPAC (North London Performing Arts Centre)

The inspiration for Griots.net stems from a number of sources. First my husband, Stephen Lord, who's unwavering belief, patience and generosity has helped me to finally get back to business after a long absence from the international cultural community I have been part of for many years. Stephen has contributed lots of love and moral support, server space, the hardware and software to get Griots.net off the ground, and dosh (UK-speak for cash) for incidentals. Then, there is the original vision of Griots.net to present, via
various new media tools, the open format, freeflowing, inquiring programming similar to the shows which I produced for many years at 88.1 ckln radio in Toronto. Those programs were dedicated to indie culture, the artists who
create and the audiences who appreciate the art. Several artists in Canada
and the UK have been very supportive of this vision and will be profiled over
the coming months at Griots.net.

Portions of Griots.net were created using free web resources available at www.elated.com (copyright Elated Communications Ltd 1996-2001 Elated PageKits ) I used Homesite 4.5 and Dreamweaver 4 demos to adapt the templates from Elated.com and from my original web site konekshuns.com (coproduced with friends Lance Mitchell, Julian Palmer and Marlon Stephen).
As well I gathered ideas from many hours surfing and reviewing some visually stunning sites through resources like coolhomepages.com (They also have some great links to online resources to stimulate your creativity).
I had an idea that Griots.net could be developed initially inexpensively with
tools found mostly on the Internet. I will share info about such tools whenever
I come across ones that are accessible & user-friendly.

Thanks to friends and family! Again I cannot say thank you enough for the inspiration and love that has helped to get Griots.net online: Coding wizard extraordinaire and cool guitar player Stephen Lord (www.suntail.com); my children Natalie (the queen), Kandace (the goddess) and Josie (mini-me); my sisters Donna Jackson, Nadine Blagrove and Andrea Mills; Tim and Joanne Whelan; artists Shaheen Merali, Sharron McLeod, Lillian Allen, ahdri zhina mandiela, Lance Ingleton, Elizabeth Willing, Cornelia Bailey, Debbie Douglas, Gabriela Micallef, Coman Poon, Louise Bak, Menelik Shabazz (bfm online); and many others, including Net buddies Marlon Stephen, Lance Mitchell, Ron Nelson (reggaemania), Glenda and the women at busygirl.co.uk, Sharon Hensley (www.dawnfx.com), and Floyd Webb (itutu.com). A special thank you to the many listeners who, during the years while I was at 88.1 ckln fm in Toronto, taught me so much through sharing their wisdom, strength and beliefs.