SITE SURVEY SAVANTS

By Mark Rast

The world of ReadyCam site surveys is fast paced and glamorous.  Here is a rare inside look at this fascinating lifestyle…

4:42 AM

The alarm goes off.

Check that…it doesn’t go off.  I set it for 5 AM but I have woken up early.  I have lost 18 minutes of sleep.  DAMN YOU READYCAM! You’ve got me so excited, I can’t sleep!

My morning preparations go smoothly, except for laundry tag paranoia.  I have dressed in the dark and I’m concerned that I have failed to locate all the dry cleaning tags on my trousers.  I don’t want any to surface later, in the middle of a meeting, stapled to my fly.

6:15 AM

I have managed to leave my house without stepping on a cat, falling down the stairs, or starting a fire (…all of which are fairly regular work departure occurrences in my domain).  Clearly my senses are super tuned with ReadyCam anticipation.

I arrive at the airport, but overshoot the entrance to the parking garage.  I have to go around.  I walk into the terminal and head to the gate; the wrong gate, as it turns out.  I imagine the pilot of my flight today having the same genetic make-up as myself.

I feel doom.

6:45 AM

I get through security.  The TSA guys don’t fondle me but give me some odd looks.  I think about the laundry tag again.

I successfully bridge the language gap and purchase a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee.  (That Rosetta Stone investment has really paid off!)  I sit quietly in the gate area and manage to not spill the scalding hot fluid on my crotch.  Things are looking up.

7:10 AM

I glance out the window and notice the plane I will be flying on, sitting on the tarmac.  Paint is literally peeling off the fuselage beneath the cockpit area.  I wonder what the crew has been throwing out the window during flight.

7:40 AM

I spot my travel partner for this excursion, Dan Connolly.  He is sitting in a corner by himself, staring blankly into middle space, swatting away imaginary flies.  Early mornings are not Dan’s best time.  I approach Dan, slowly, and make eye contact.  He recognizes me and says hello.  I am satisfied that he is reasonably lucid, I don’t want to over tax him at this early hour, and so I retreat, leaving him to his dementia.  Dan is the ReadyCam project manager and will be running this site survey.

7:50 AM

The other passengers begin boarding the plane.  I make a quick sign of the cross and join them.  I make my way to my seat.  I sit down, look over, and discover that my row mate is dressed like a pilot.  Being a little insecure, it occurs to me that perhaps he actually IS the pilot.  I find this a little unsettling.  Shouldn’t he be up front where all the controls are?  Can he actually steer this thing from the middle of the cabin?  Is he sitting here just trying to get up his nerve?  What happened up on the flight deck?  Was there a sudden odor?  And why has he chosen to sit in the emergency exit row?  What does he know???

Eventually I figure out that he is just deadhead commuting on the airline dime.  I feel better.  I strike up a conversation and mention that I work for the company that makes ReadyCams.  He asks me for an autograph.  I say “Really?”  He says “No.  Not really.”  He then gets up and spends the rest of the flight in the bathroom flushing something.

9:30 AM

We land in Washington DC.  The flight has gone well.  We have not exploded in mid-air or made an unexpected water landing.  However, passing over NYC we were approached by an Aero Mexico flight that pulled up next to us and offered us cheap bodywork.

We deplane.  I follow Dan who leads us to the boarding area for the Mobile Lounge transfer buses that take passengers to the main arrival terminal.  As we walk we pass what looks like some sort of air-locked containment facility full of desperate looking characters with wrinkles and stained skin.  I wonder if there has been an outbreak of Ebola.  Turns out to be a designated smoking room.

We stand waiting for the buses, staring out the window for 15 minutes, and then notice the following sign:

There is no time to mourn those lost minutes.  We have business to do, ReadyCam business.  We move on.

9:50 AM

We have managed to locate the new passenger train transport that takes us to rental car shuttle bus area.  So far Dan has been doing an amazing job.

Our shuttle bus driver seems competent, almost sober, and does a good job telling us to sit down.  Along the way, he is flagged down by a mother with her three teenage sons.  As they board she loudly announces to all on the bus “We have to go back!  HE (pointing to a son) LEFT HIS SHOES IN THE CAR!”

It was a touching moment in a  “roots of Columbine” sort of way.

The laundry tag thing still percolates in my brain.

10:00 AM

Dan takes care of renting a car.  The rental agent, Angie, is very enthusiastic.  She wants to know all about Dan…where he is from, who he works for, why he is here, who is his favorite Jonas brother, does he know anything about assembling nuclear weapons.  I detect a slight accent.  Without being prompted, she mentions being “Dutch”.  We mention that we are in town on ReadyCam business, hoping that dropping the ReadyCam name will get us an upgrade.  We are given a Hyundai Sonata that looks like it may have been in a hit and run

Angie helps Dan fill out the paper work and together they inspect the car.  I watch from afar.  Angie is doing a lot of shrugging.

Dan and I load up and drive away.  Angie blows us a kiss.

10:07 AM

As is our usual practice, we wait until we are on an active highway before programming our cutting edge GPS device.  This makes for some of the most exciting ReadyCam moments ever, as we sit in a breakdown lane waiting to acquire long dead satellites while tanker trucks full of jet fuel whiz past us.  It is the lure of adrenalized moments like these that got us into this business.

Eventually science works, and we are on our way!

10:25 AM

Dan earns his EOM (Employee of the Month) stripes again, observing before it’s too late that what we thought was a radar detector is actually an E-Z Pass toll transponder device.  He reduces his speed to 95mph.

Although because of our mission we don’t necessarily feel bound by ordinary rules, we also don’t want to sully the ReadyCam team reputation with a speeding ticket here in the nations capitol.  …Not to mention that both of us probably have outstanding warrants.

11:00 AM

Downtown DC.  We arrive at our destination.  Daniel’s fine driving has gotten us to our location 2.5 hours early.  Now it’s time to secure parking.  We spot 5 or 6 traditional gated parking garages but finally settle on an obscure alley way with the word “parkeen” spray painted on the wall.

At the end of the alley, a man who may or may not be a terrorist approaches us and indicates he wants our keys.  We oblige with the assurance that he will someday provide a receipt.  “What could possibly go wrong?” we say.  Anyway, we have bigger things to consider.

Lunch.

We stagger off in search of food.

11:05 AM

As we walk down the street I hear strangers laughing, …at me, I presume.  Perhaps it is because I’m in terrible physical shape, I’m trudging through 105-degree DC humidity wearing heavy clothes, and I now look like I just walked through a car wash.

…The other possibility?

…That damn laundry tag!

11:15 AM

Dan and I find a restaurant so desperate for customers that they are willing to seat us.  We mention we are in town on ReadyCam business.  They give us kids menus, crayons, and tell us to let them know if it is either of our birthdays.

I order a light lunch.  I am disappointed.  Not so much by the flavor, as the presentation.

12:30 PM

We head for our appointment.  We progress 1/2 block before Dan announces that because of his menu choice, he must return to the restaurant.  I decide that it is in best ReadyCam interest that I not protest.

1:00 PM

As always, we arrive for our appointment on time and smelling reasonably well, all things considered.

Our clients, who describe themselves as moderate centrists, and who for security and privacy reasons shall here by remain identified only as a high end Washington think-tank whose views reflect the best interests of all Americans, greet us warmly.

(Just for the record, virtually all of our think-tank clients describe themselves as moderate centrists who are acting in Americas best interest.  We believe them.)

Our client contacts are pleasant and professional and all aspects of the site survey go wonderfully.  We provide our usual high level of ReadyCam excellence.  We indicate to our new ReadyCam friends that our expectation is that theirs…will be the best ReadyCam ever!

After the meeting as we are riding down in the elevator it occurs to me that I didn’t note the names or get the business card of anyone I had talked to.  I did notice that all of them had good skin.  I wonder if any of them noticed anything about me…like a pink laundry tag.

We exit the building.  The temperature is 130 degrees.  Parked cars are melting.  We have an hour to kill.  We wonder how to spend it wisely.

2:30 PM

We decide to walk around and sightsee for iconic Washington landmarks.

2:40 PM

We are lost and hallucinating from the heat.  We decide that iconic Washington DC landmarks are too difficult to locate under these conditions.  We resolve to search ten more minutes before giving up.

2:41 PM

We give up.  We are sad but it seems impossible.  We ask a passing Japanese tourist to take our picture in front of the pretty black fence.  He does.  Where are our feet?

2:45 PM

We begin walking back to our car.  Our intention is to get to the airport early enough to drink lemonade and talk about ReadyCam strategy.  We pass The Mayflower Hotel, which Dan points out, is a famous DC landmark.  I ask him if it has anything to do with the “Mayflower Madam” or notorious entrepreneur Heidi Fleiss.  He says I am hormonally confused, and mixing up my ill reputes. He helps me sort out the details of my misunderstandings.  He seems to know a lot about these things.

2:50 PM

We pass the ABC News Washington Bureau headquarters.  I can tell that the impressive building facade has triggered some deep thoughts on Dan’s part.  He mumbles something about “Carpe’ Diem”.  I’m sure he is thinking about how, with ReadyCams, he can make ABC News even better!

…Either that or he’s fantasizing about Diane Sawyer, again.

We move on.

3:05 PM

By pure chance we stumble upon the alley and the guy who took our Sonata.  He seems eager to return it to us.  He runs off to retrieve it, and while we are waiting for his return we notice a family of foreign tourists waiting for their car as well.  One of them, a young boy, has two toy pistols stuffed into his pant pockets.  Dan and I agree that given the fact that he is standing in the middle Washington DC, this is probably not a good idea.  We also agree that the entire family will probably be getting water-boarded by sundown.

Our rental car is returned.  It appears to have been wiped clean of prints.

4:00 PM

We return the rental beast without incident and ride the bus to the terminal.  Before he handles any luggage, the bus driver dons some sort of fireproof asbestos safety gloves.  He offers no explanations and we don’t ask.  We just want to get to our lemonade.

4:15 PM

We navigate our way through security and head for the lemonade stand, although Dan disappears briefly in the process.  My guess is that he has slipped away briefly to drop a dime to the feds about the toy terrorist we saw at the parking garage.  Bool-Yah, Dan!  Keeping America FREE, Bro!!!

When we arrive at the lemonade stand we are crushed to learn that they are completely out of lemonade, and have nothing left to drink except beer.  We are horrified.  We discuss whether we should try and change airlines, but decide the extra expense would be unfair to our client.  We are severely dehydrated and concerned (terrified actually) that without liquid nourishment we will not be able to complete our important ReadyCam mission.  Putting the needs of ReadyCam first, we hold our noses and force ourselves to imbibe the wretched brown liquid.

Ninety minutes later we can’t remember our names.

5:45 PM

Our flight is called for boarding.  Airline employees wearing latex gloves help us to our seats.

8:00 PM

The cleaning crew wakes us and tells us with sign language that we have to leave the plane.  One of them is holding a pink laundry tag.  The mystery continues.  But no matter, because…

WE MADE IT!

We gather our stuff and go home.

Here’s to another ReadyCam “Mission Accomplished”!

Sharing is Caring

I’ve come across an article that I think is worthy of sharing, ignore the date on this article it is definitely still relevant!

-Jacqueline

Enjoy

10 Tips to Create Your “Remarkable” Corporate Video

Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 07:56AM

I’m going to go out on a limb. Feel free to join me.

Most marketing departments don’t know how to make a corporate video worth talking about.

When it comes to producing corporate videos, most internal marketing departments are “safe departments.” “Safe” works. “Safe” is easy. “Safe” will keep your job. “Safe” sells. “Safe” gets me through the day.

Not really. “Safe” doesn’t produce conversations. “Safe” doesn’t ignite action. “Safe” doesn’t make me think harder. Or differently. Or stretch me. “Safe” doesn’t make me go, “A-Ha!”

Producing a remarkable video for your company isn’t hard. It takes work, it takes time, but it’s not hard.

You know what’s hard? Producing a film that is boring. That’s hard.

When no one is talking about your video and management wants to know where the ROI is from the video, you’ll be doing some fancy footwork dancing down the hallways of the ivory tower. Now that’s hard. That’s a day you might want to call in “sick.”

Here are ten ways how to make your corporate video get noticed, ignite conversations and spark some action. Oh, yeah…and keep management happy, too.

1. Think STORY. Tell me a story. Please. Take me on a journey. My brain is hard-wired for beginnings, middles and ends. Really. Don’t tell me about your corporate numbers. I have Excel for that, thank you.

2. Think ONE. There is only one person you need to think about when making your corporate video: the person in front of the tube. Period. Double period. Triple…

3. Think TIMELESS. It goes back to that “story” thing my brain really loves. A powerful story is timeless; it’s magical. It doesn’t get stale. The same is true with a powerful corporate video.

4. Think REAL. People know a lie when they see one. Authenticity works.

5. Think QUALITY. Hire the most qualified producer and director you can. Find a producer who understands exactly what you are trying to accomplish; not what they need to make their demo reel look better.

6. Think eMOTION. “e” for emotion, energy, enthusiasm, engaging. Video captures emotion unlike any other medium. Use it accordingly. Keep your charts, PDF’s and spreadsheets away from video. Please.

7. Think CUSTOMER. Your customers can tell your story, too. Let them tell the world how great you are. It’s one thing when you toot your own horn. It’s another when customers toot it for you.

8. Think PLAY. Does your video have “playful” moments? Even the most reserved companies have opportunities to capture some fun and playfulness. Find those moments and your video will outshine your competitor’s in a heartbeat.

9. Think 30. Every 30 seconds change your pace, rhythm, content. You can make your ten minute film feel like five minutes with this trick. Create new “chapters” with new ideas or themes. Change the music, too. Your video will be so engaging, repeat viewings will be demanded. It works like a charm.

10. Think HERO. Find your heroes. When given the chance, employees want to tell their story. They want to change the world with their journey. What they need is the opportunity and the chance.

Bonus Tip. Think DESIGN. Video is incredibly malleable. You can keep your corporate branding people happy by integrating your current logo guidelines, etc. Or you can break out a bit and create something different.

“Safe” or “remarkable.”

Still with me? Out on that limb?

—Tom

You ask, we deliver.

By Mark Mignini

Sometimes when the work day begins one never knows what twists and turns will come your way.  Case in point – July 8^th, 2010.  The day started out well enough.  I chatted up with the cute waitress while getting my morning coffee.  The commute on the Pike was a piece of cake.  Logged on to my computer, noticed that my fantasy baseball team did well the night before, was making plans to play poker in the evening.  My boss checked in and asked what was on the books for today and I said looks like a relatively calm day.  BIG MISTAKE!!.

Fast forward to 1pm.  I get a call from a client and they ask, how long will it take you to get to Greenwich, CT for an HD feed.  Since I am from CT, this was an easy question – 3.5 – 4 hours depending on traffic.  Client says “good, we need you there for 4pm”.  I make a quick call to Josh and get him heading to Greenwich to take part in the Lebron James “Decision Day” festivities.  Nice snag on our part and we get to be part of a momentous sports day.

Noon time rolls around and I get a crew request for a shoot on the Cape.  Client says “tell the crew to get there as fast as you can, ideally we need the footage by 5pm”.  As I scramble to put together a crew, I talk to the Producer and explain that it is an hour and a half to the Cape and during the summer it can be even longer.  We can do the shoot but traffic will most likely prohibit us from making the deadline.  The Producer was fine with that and everything was shot and fed to the client by 7:30pm.  Obviously this was later than she wanted but in the end she was happy with our efforts.

So far so good…one truck job and one crew job.  Turns out to be a pretty good day.  Catch up on some emails, check on the Bean Machine as she is coming up for a weekend event in Boston.  All is good.

2pm – “We need a truck and crew on the North Shore for 5pm” echoes another client.  The truck was the easy part.  I called Jimmy told him where and when to be there and he was good to go.  The crew part was a bit tricky.  Our in house crew was working on a VL Creative project and began to call some trusted and respected freelancers.  Call after call produced the same dreaded and feared response – “sorry already working”.  I eventually had a camera guy for the job but I was still searching for an audio tech.  I went through my whole list.  Nobody was available and this wasn’t looking good and I was about to enter panic mode.  Somehow the stars aligned right and the studio shoot finished early.  Basically we grabbed Carlos gave him an audio kit and said head North young man.

So now its 4pm, two trucks working, two crews working not too shabby for a day that had slow written all over it 8 hours earlier.  I head back to my desk, check emails, create invoices, make calls and wait until I can call it a day.

Fast forward to 7pm when my cell phone rings and I answer and I hear two words that can only mean trouble is a brewing – “Hello Boss”  I slump to my chair and watch more hair fall out as the one and only K2 explains some engine trouble she is having.  Seems as though a turbo gadget has gone (sorry I am not My Goodwrench so I can never explain mechanical failures) BUT she had a spare, we here at VideoLink are always prepared!  She pulls off to the side of the road, whips out her handy dandy crescent wrench set and goes to town.  Alas – another “hello boss” phone call.  The wrench is too big and she can’t get it over the nut.  So I literally run (quite a site thankfully it was an empty building) to the engineering shop to find smaller wrenches.  I was pulling out every drawer full of tools and sending pictures to her to see if something looked like it would fit and as you might expect nothing fit.  We both came to the realization that the only solution was a call to a towing company.  She makes the call to our towing company and waits for the truck.  At this point, I am heading home for the day and since she ultimately broke down twenty minutes from my house I head to the rest area to keep her company.  As I arrived, the mechanic was there and recommended a tow as there were some rotted lines and he feared snapping them.  So onto the flatbed she goes (Beans not K2) and then we all came to discover one teeny tiny problem.  On the flatbed truck, Beans was 14’2”.  The height for trucks on the Pike was 13’9”.  You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see this wouldn’t work.  The mechanic makes a quick call to his co-worker and 20 minutes later a big ass monster tow truck shows up and the whole process begins again.  Around midnight or so everything was hooked up and off she went with the mechanic to Boston where K2 parked the truck at the hotel, and off to bed she went for a few hours of sleep before beginning her weekend job. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the mechanic as he had about 4 more tows to get to before his day would end.

So the lessons to be learned from all this – 1) TV is never boring and 2) VideoLink may occasionally be down but never out and the job gets done.

Does This Frog Have a Power Outlet?

By Bradford Norman

I recently had the opportunity to film a team of environmental scientists hired to design a plan for a massive clean-up effort on the Housatonic River in Lenox, MA.  For decades, GE has used the area for testing new technologies such as smarter power grids and aerial power line maintenance, and, as important as these technologies are to developing more efficient energy initiatives, they have certainly taken their toll on the river and its inhabitants.  This team’s goal is to clean a maximum amount of contamination with minimal negative effects on the surrounding wildlife and vegetation.

When we arrived at the river, I wirelessly mic’d up 2 of the scientists, hopped into a canoe with trusty shooter Chris O’Hare, and took off down the river.  I sat in the front, had the mixer by my knees, and a boom pointing down at the water in front of the canoe.  (I loved the sound this picked up!  It really grabbed the ripple sounds of the boat cutting through the still water.)  Occasionally, we would stop along the way and one of the scientists would talk about a species of birds or frogs, and how the erosion of the shore was affecting its food chain.  At one point, we got out, hiked through a field of wild fiddleheads (a weird curly-cue vegetable that tastes a little like asparagus) and shot in an area of swamplands in danger of losing all animal activity.

I gotta say, there are a lot worse ways to spend a work day than floating down a quiet river on a beautiful sunny afternoon! It was very peaceful, relaxing, and I got some good color.  The only downside is I woke up with 22 bug bites the next day.

http://www.epa.gov/ne/ge/

Brad are you going hiking, camping, canoeing or just another day in the life of a VideoLinker?