Operator : 411 What’s your emergency?
Caller : Carrrrr
Operator : Ma’am ?
Caller: Carrrrr
Operator : Ma’am is something wrong with your Car?
Caller : Girl No
Operator : Can you tell me what is your emergency?
Caller : Carnival
Operator : Carnival is in three weeks, what you need a ticket for soaka?
Caller: No and that gone…..
Operator : Ohhh sorry, so what is your emergency?
Caller : Girl forget it , I know what, I should have just called CPR
Operator : CPR? You need CPR?
Caller : Girl, I’ll just call Ken
Operator :Huh, Ken who?
Caller : Ken, YOU dunno Ken?
Operator : No, he’s a paramedic?
Caller : Yup
He’s the Carnival
Paramedic
Renaissance Man
CPR
Ahhh yuh like that eh…. ( I kinda like it too)
I had a conversation with this young man, last week and unknown to him he impacted me, so much that I had to really get into the zone to write this article.
So check me out, pacing around my house, saying Ameniki what you naming this article?
Ammm I dunno, something with visionary….. Ammmm, but that’s so LAME…..
Yeah it was a process….
You know when I got Renaissance man? 4:00 am this morning….
Sigh, somebody say BLOG WRITING AIN’T EASY!!!!
But back to the matter at hand…..
Ken Sambury, VIBES
The Vibesmaster
A man with a vision will always see what is invisible to others
And the track that Mr. Sambury is on, let’s just say there’s going to be something INNOVATIVE IN Puerto Espana
That basically means he’s a MEAN
When it comes to CARNNNNN-I -VALLL!
Wanna hear more?
Let’s go…..
TM: Why did you start this business?
KS: I saw a need in the market for someone or a group of people to supply visuals; photo, video and graphics to events, specifically for Carnival. I felt that Carnival was very different from shooting an ad or doing anything else. I would also speak to some of the other people who would shoot videos and they would be like “they not really felling to be there, they don’t really like parties” so I am like why are you here and trying to shoot the party if you don’t really like it. At the end f the day it’s just about getting money, it’s just a job for them.
TM: So do you just see it as a job?
KS: No, well that’s the point, that’s why I started this company. I felt like this should not be the case, you should be doing parties because you are passionate about parties and I feel that nobody else who shoots parties is passionate about parties. None of them wake up and be like “I can’t wait to get to the party”, nope….. that doesn’t happen. Which is fine because generally they are creative people who shoot parties because somebody asks or hires them. They would probably prefer to do something that pays more where they work less and probably where their stuff would be shown to larger audiences. Then there are the other set of people who would want to get into the party free so they would take the gig for that reason. I have my events and that was an issue which brings me to the other thing that you asked me about …….why I started to shoot videos. I hired this guy who I paid $3000 which was like a gazillion dollars at the time to me and I wanted to get an ad done for one of my events and the guy did not do the ad. It was Campus Carnival and Campus Carnival at the time was the biggest thing next to actual Carnival and I wanted to get an ad but couldn’t get the ad.
TM: Why couldn’t you get the ad?
KS: Cuz he just didn’t send it. (This disgusts me btw, like REALLY? I was ready to get my air max and earrings, so we could wake up a scene, but ammm yeah )
TM: So he disappeared?
KS: No he didn’t disappear, he was there. He just used to reply and say “I ain’t finish with it yet”. I never got it until after the event. Two days before the event he said he would put it as an intro to the after video; I said ok and I paid him for the after video as well. He did the after video and the after video in my opinion was the lamest video ever. I was like “what are you even doing” ……not equipment wise but what he was shooting. I felt like he just didn’t understand. I understood because it was my event. It was the last Campus Carnival ever so it was not like he could try it next time. There was no next time. That was already gone. So, I had a party and used the profit to buy camera equipment.
I had a film student I was working with at the time and just before the camera equipment came in he just quit. I think I had an event and I didn’t like his shots and I was upset, I didn’t curse or anything but i was on the phone and I was upset. An hour later he called me back and said “nah I cyar deal with this but we still friends”. He told me we are still friends but the work is too much pressure. This guy has a film degree now but at the time he was a film student and he was accustomed to controlled situations, he was accustomed to if you get it wrong you do it again. At an event, if you miss the shot it’s not coming back ever so if you miss, I am going to be upset forever like I’m still upset today because there is no getting that back. How events work…..you not getting the shot or you not getting the video done well could cause the promoter $50,000 – $200,000 the next year OR getting the right shots could make him that amount of money the next year. So when I am quarrelling with you it’s not about your issue, I am quarrelling about the $200,000 that’s going to make my life hard cuz i have to try and pay all these people and its going to prevent me from providing jobs and support for people.
( Helllo My name is Ken and I am addicted to success, lol…. he reminds me of somebody, call names and I will whistle….lol)
TM: How many people do you have on your team right now?
KS: I have 8 people on my team.
TM: So, the business sparked out of a need and your personal need. Where do you want to go with this is it just going to stay in Carnival?
KS: kensamburry.com? I am also part of another company doing other stuff but kensamburry.com is all about Carnival. It’s about Carnival, it’s about music videos, it’s about soca music, it’s about Trinidad and Tobago culture and it’s about ensuring that Trinidad Carnival goes worldwide. So I see expansion as taking Trinidad Carnival somewhere else not as doing something else. Why? Because I am the only video company focused on Carnival. Nobody else, you cannot find another company like mine anywhere in the world. We are the only company that is focused on carnival visuals because that is what is needed; you need carnival visuals to propel carnival, events and fetes internationally.
TM: Why are you so passionate about Carnival?
KS: I’m not sure. I like how it brings people together and I think Carnival is the next oil. In my opinion every Trinidadian should be that passionate about it because that is how we are not going to be poor. I am very passionate about us not being poor so I think that’s where my passion for Carnival comes in. Honestly, it isn’t like I am especially passionate about Carnival versus something else like hiking or going to the beach which I also like. It’s just that this is what we as a country have and I have recognized this, so I am from Trinidad and as a Trinidadian I am going to look out for the interest of Trinidad and for the Gross Domestic Product of Trinidad so it’s more about me being passionate about Trinidad.
(KAPOW…. THIS IS WHERE THE CPR comes in…. RE-VIVING THE LIFE OF A DYING ART….. this is a HUGE DEBATE, but I’m glad to see some-one PIONEERING this way of thinking)
TM: Why are you so passionate about Trinidad?
KS: Because I am from Trinidad.
TM: Ok so that’s why I ask why because we are always known for being unpatriotic and bandwagonist.
KS:
( SSsssssshhhhh, you guys need to hush okay, I swear these are HIS WORDS)
Tweet ThisI feel as though if I was in Grenada and spice was part of my country then I’d be passionate about spice and Grenada because I’m from Grenada. I feel that because I’m from Trinidad all I have to do is speak and my trini accent will already give me authority to speak on Trini Carnival, that’s what Trinis have and in business we use what is available to us. I’m from Trinidad and therefore carnival is what is available to me. Barbados is not available to me I am not in Barbados. I feel as if I was to go somewhere else and I was to have years of experience in that place then I would just do something else and be passionate about that. ( Now if only ALLLL TRINIBAGONIANS thought like this)
TM: Tell me more about your drive for success? When did you realize you had this drive? What was the defining moment?
KS: I’ve always wanted to be a success. Like seriously you could ask any of my friends. From ever since I was small I wanted to be a success. I grew up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and in this faith we would have these meetings like church, where you could speak publicly. Different congregations would come together for something called an assembly and when I was 9 years old I gave a speech in the assembly. That is an example of how when I was 9 years old I went above and beyond and I was applauded as being so young and doing that
TM: Let’s go back a bit into your childhood; how you grew up, what did your parents do to foster this drive.
KS: Absolutely nothing. They just didn’t give me anything so because they didn’t give me anything I had to find others ways of getting stuff. Okay…… that’s a lie, lol. My mom and dad gave me a really good foundation and a proper understanding of the English Language. So I would say that I owe my morals and my way with words to my parents. ( So he learnt no means NEXT OPPORTUNITY)
TM: What advice would you give to a young person getting into videography and wanting to be a creative like yourself?
KS: Hmmmmm….. figure out what you want and then find a way to do what is your passion and monetize it.
TM: Where do you see kensambury.com in the next 5 years?
KS: Behind the scences. The hub of Carnival. A place where individuals will be able to go to for Carnival. We actually want to start our own Carnival, similar to Stanford 2020 in cricket. ( That would be A REAL SCENE).
He’s great isn’t he?
You can find him
On the Internet streets
Yeah boy…..
So you guys know what to do…..
Share if you liked it
Comment if you have something to say
and send me an email and hi@trinidadmogulista.com if you wanna hear from me
Here’s some of Ken’s work! For your viewing pleasure! ( That sounded lame but say what…. )
I want to thank my accountability partner Mr. Best and my VA Mrs. Cowie for pushing me here…. ( couldn’t do it without you guys)
With love and hustle
Ameniki
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