on the road again

Summertime, a time usually booked full with plans, this year is highlighting all the things we've sacrificed over these last few months, namely travel. Here at CVW, we just can't wait to get on the road again (and in our office again, for that matter). Since we aren't doing that just yet, we've been instead reminiscing and reflecting on the importance of traveling, specifically in a work setting.

In a typical 9-5 office setting, you spend a lot of time with your coworkers, but it’s the time you spend with your coworkers outside the office – whether it’s happy hour at the local watering hole or a work trip – that really gives you a chance to learn new things about each other, build comradery, and create meaningful memories simultaneously.

With this year being an unprecedented exception, April is usually when we take our annual pilgrimage to the National Association of Broadcasters Show (or simply “NAB”) in Las Vegas. Well… sometimes we go to NAB (more on that later). Mainly though, it’s a chance for us to work remotely and, during our off hours, experience the oddity that is Las Vegas as a group.

This trip has been happening for over 20 years now. The group may change, as well as the itinerary (as a result of the changing groups), but there are always some traditions and consistencies that remain throughout the years: seeing Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns, exploring Vegas’s food scene (from $2.99 casino steak n’ eggs to fancy fried prawns), etc.

Kevin is another constant in the NAB trip. He’s the only person who’s gone every year (there kinda wouldn’t be a trip without him).

I recall fondly the times we saw the first generation of digital video cameras, different types of software such as Cinema 4D (which eventually became our 3-D tool of choice), affordable HD—and later 4K—cameras and gear, and an endless list of other geek goodies.

A lot has changed in the industry since CVWmedia first started attending NAB. Now, big software and hardware releases can be found online either as the show is happening or even sometimes ahead of the show. So our trip has evolved to become less about NAB and more about being and working outside of our element with each other.

But it’s not all high-limit spending and caviar for us* – most of our work traveling involves long shoot days, sometimes in small, rural towns. These remote locations are accessed via roadway, and there’s nothing like a road trip to reveal something new about a coworker, whether it be a choice playlist, favorite fast food chain, or their ability to follow (or not follow) directions.

Shooting on location is also a nice way to break up our in-office work routine. We spend a majority of our time creating visuals digitally, so it’s a refreshing change whenever we’re on-site shooting all day. It gives us a more tangible, collective goal to focus and work on together.

Whatever the reason or mode of transportation (even when it’s just us “traveling” a block north to take a meeting at a Main Street restaurant rather than at the office), traveling with coworkers is an experience that always carries over in some way to our day-to-day, making the normal a little more special.

We’re not sure when we’ll get back on the road again, but we sure are looking forward to it.

_{*it actually never is}