How do you shoot Green Videos?” Well, that is the question we asked ourselves along with “Why” and “What for, and “How about next year?”

THE BACKGROUND… Like many of us in America and around the world, we are concerned with issues of global warming. When I talk to friends and colleagues the problems facing us worldwide seem daunting, but everyone seems to agree that if we can all do little things, all together it adds up to make a big difference. The consensus reply to my inquiries is that we can and should apply green concepts to everything we do especially in our own daily lives. For me, this approach seems to make the issue less impossible. I want to take that idea one step further and say if we also document what we do, we can increase the knowledge base of good ideas for others to build on. In the past year I have tried to do everything I can at home but I felt I also needed to take a look at my own industry. Frankly I feel we don’t do enough. So I changed the light bulbs and turned down the air condition at the office and have been riding my bike to work, but now I was looking for a more serious challenge. Of course, the most obvious choice was staring me in the face, our next series of projects. After the initial, “Oh my god, we don’t have enough time’ panic, I decided no, now is the time. And, that is exactly the goal we have set for ourselves with the production of the six videos to be screened at a large senior executive business meeting in Los Angeles scheduled for the end February.

THE CHALLENGE… …is to produce seven high-definition videos with little or no carbon footprint and of course, without inconveniencing our client. The good news is, we have an excellent client who is going to be very supportive. That said, here is what we plan to do.

THE PLAN… There are three basic phases of production for a video: the planning, the shooting and the editing. We are going to essentially try and use renewable sources for all three phases of production. Now, we are not naive to think we can be completely green, but our goal is to do as much as possible. I think our successes will be in our failures and in the fact that we are going to journal and Podcast the process. That means we will be building a base of knowledge for future endeavors.

THE TEAM… We will also be creating a list of industry people that we think will be interested and then sending out emails that direct them to the blog and notifies them of new postings. We are hoping to have new postings every couple of weeks documenting our progress. If you do not want to be on the email notification list, just respond with a “Take me off.” Because the site is a blog, visitors will hopefully give feedback and ideas. We want everyone to be actively involved and send in comments, ideas, constructive criticism and, of course, humorous anecdotes. Hopefully participants will also get other people interested in helping us with their comments.

THE VIDEOS… A little bit about the videos we will be producing would probably be helpful and set the stage. There will be six, approximately four-minute in length Employee videos and one Customer video. Each Employee video highlights the achievements of a team of people who have been selected by their management for performing exceptionally well on a specific project or contract-win over the past year. The videos consist of interviews with these leaders and b-roll footage of specific sites and product. Production will consist of traveling around the US and shooting interviews and b-roll. Sites are in the four corners of the continent and the middle of America. Think Presidential campaign.

THE OBSTACLES... The initial key issues that we have identified will be power for the cameras, video storage, lighting for the interviews, solar power in December and January, travel, backup video storage, editing and client reviews. I am certain there are many more and we are looking for help. We are also looking forward to an interesting project that in a small way helps the planet but in large way adds to our creative ideas knowledge base.

THE NEXT STEPS... Our next step is pre-production and figuring how we are going to overcome our obstacles. Our next postings will be on cameras, solar panels, travel plans, editing facilities, lighting and resources.

So, let’s get started!

Download | Duration: 00:03:38

I was brainstorming ideas for meeting themes for a client. There was three or four of us and we were doing the usual butcher paper on the wall type of exercise.

I follow a routine that was developed by Walt Disney. For the first session the rule is "No idea is a bad idea." Essentially every idea or theme is put on the list and no one can say we have done that before, that is stupid or any other negative comment. This gets the creative flow going and keeps everyone involved. The second meeting is where you get critical and pare the list down.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. One member of the group did an internet search for "Meeting Themes." All but one of the links was for meeting themes to buy. Come on. All of us in this business have sat around for hours and developed meeting themes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or even a high scholl graduate to come up with "Facing the Future" and a "World of Opportunity" and certainly no one has the rights to them. Most of them are stolen from someone else anyway.

So here is the answer. I am posting the ideas we came up with that day and they are free for the taking. All i ask is that you take some and then give some back. After your brainstorming session post the ones you come up with (or not). It's Radiohead for themes. Kooky.

Here's mine to get the ball rolling and the creative blood flowing...


Facing the Future - Together                        Facing the Challenges               Facing Forward
The Challenge of Change                              Challenge Yourself                    Meeting the Challenge
Innovate, Integrate, Motivate                       Innovation Integration               Shaping the Future
Charting the Course                                   Leadership: Share the Vision   
Leadership: Precision & Performance
Leadership Challenge                                   Worldwide Leader                         Performance Driven
Pride and Performance                                The Power of Performance               Right time - Right now
A World of Opportunities                               Focus on Success                            Success Oriented
Strategies for Success                                 Success through Synergy                    It Starts with Us
Customer Focus                                             Make it Happen                              Sharing Solutions
On Point