There’s only a compass. No map. No flashlight.

So much of what we’ve done lacks a definitive roadmap or existing experience we can pull from. We’ve adopted the mindset of simply feeling our way through the dark and experimenting. There’s an understanding and admission that there’s going to be polarizing deviations based on mistakes, substantiated research, and gut calls.  

This element of fluidity and experimentation is not without its own pushback. It’s made us wonder, what do we stand for structurally as MAEKAN and what’s up for debate and trial? 

Our biggest revelation has been to separate structure and fluidity. You don’t want to pursue every single opportunity under the guise of an “experiment.” Limited resources and a lack of direction can leave you disorientated and without identity. You also don’t want to practice structure in the face of innovation and progression.  

It’s revealed itself that the structural side represents our values and our philosophy, while fluidity is something we embrace in execution. Our goals and visions shouldn’t deviate drastically, but they are up for interpretation. 

A few ongoing experiments include:

• Our Slack community which has connected people around the world and created some fascinating discussions
• Our first digital MAEKAN Session that will allow our members to connect with multi-faceted artist and musician Ta-ku through a live discussion
• Revisiting how we communicate certain features and distribute stories. If you’ve seen our latest Instagram stories, we’re trying to offer something different and compelling.
  

On the story front, we’re excited to debut our new series “Sounds of…” which brings together the aural signature of a city and transforms it into a full-fledged soundtrack. We hear from comic book artist and doctor, Ryan Montoya, on how visually-driven narratives involving both patient and doctor are an important tool in the treatment process. We also speak with “Everybody Loves Raymond” Creator and Executive Producer Phil Rosenthal about his current TV show “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having”, and how travel is critical to ending prejudice and fear.

This month also marks the launch of a new series of lightweight stories called the MAEKAN Beat, it’s part news, part exploration into culture around us.

As always if you have any feedback, please let us know on Slack as we hope to make each month better than the last.

Until next month,