Behind The Scenes

I joined the Clarke Allen Group at the beginning of the year and have made a role for myself in the company as a jack-of-all-trades (perhaps master of none but I like to think I am).  Throughout most weeks, I find my daily responsibilities ranging from IT troubleshooting, website design, a bit of graphics, occasionally taking out the trash, and most recently, video production.

Strangely, video production is one of my strongest talents, being as I spent several years in television news and film making.  It's not common for a company like the Clarke Allen Group, which is usually associated with event and experiential design, to employ a videographer.  This, however, is possible through a division of the company with whom I do the most work, Creatrix Design.

Briefly, Creatrix Design is a segment of the whole, the whole being the Clarke Allen Group.  In the past, Creatrix specialized in temporary and permanent installations.  Basically, we designed and built anything ranging from trade-show booths to elaborate scenery for massive events.  Now, Creatrix is expanding its services beyond the physical environments and branching into the world of virtual.  This encompasses web presence, multimedia, graphic design, and believe it or not, video.  That's where I come in.

Documenting Our Story

Later today, I am picking up film equipment.  I will then spend my evening prepping myself for a few days of rigorous shooting.  I am accompanying the Clarke Allen Group and Charlotte Arrangements team to a very unique event outside of our home city, Charlotte.  The event will be somewhat small, around 50 or so guests, but will be laced with celebrities and high profile guests.  This event may be an avenue to propel our company into a regional, and potentially national, market.

I have been tasked with recording the preparations for this event.  Though we have been preparing for several weeks, tomorrow becomes the critical countdown.  When asked about how I thought we should best approach documenting the work and people behind this event, I could only see one appropriate method of telling the story.  Let's tell it as candidly and completely as possible.

Integrity in Marketing

In my experience with business, so many organizations seek to only emit their selected message.  They want to groom their marketing strategy, manipulate their press coverage, cover up all the blemishes, and present themselves as a flawless entity.  I don't agree with this approach.  For one, our troubles and missteps are what make us human and in the business world, demonstrate our ability to come from behind, fight against all odds, and though we sometimes trip up over the monumental tasks ahead of us, we always finish our goals.

Additionally, I ask myself if I want to run my business so much differently than I run my personal life.  When we make friends or even fall in love, don't we define those people's characters by what makes them unique?  If one is perfect by definition, then I surmise there is nothing that allows that person to stand out from the crowd.  There is no quirky sense of humor that doubles us over laughing, no odd tastes in music that help us expand our own collection, no awkward laugh that makes us smile and tell every joke we can just to see it manifest again.

No, I don't want to be part of a marketing strategy that exonerates us from imperfection.  I want to be a part of one that celebrates our uniqueness, flaws, strengths, and weaknesses.  It's what unites us as a team and has been the foundation of the company with whom I work.  We better ourselves by learning from folly, not dismissing it as untruth.

So as I'm preparing for our own little mini-documentary, I'm trying to keep in mind the ethical standards that consumed me for much of my career as a photojournalist.  Truth, fairness, integrity, accountability...  These are hammered into our minds as journalists and as I spend more time with the people of this group, I am realizing that these are the core standards of how we do business.