Post 13.

Collaboration is an amazing process when used to increase public value. I had the opportunity to help my supervisor and a few of our co-workers put together a video intended to help users navigate ADEQ's website. It outlined the basic features of the website and showed them how to use the various tools available to look up different information about neighborhoods and communities around the state.

The idea for this video did not come from upper management it was simply put forth by a few people in the office who felt it would be a helpful feature for citizens who visited the website. Since it didn't come from upper management it was an unfunded project and most of the man hours it took to complete the 10 minute video were off the clock. It was a great way to see the different sides of people around the office. The GIS engineer also happened to be a film enthusiast and used his professional video recording equipment to shoot all of the scenes. He was also tasked with editing the film, and for those of you who have ever edited film before you know what a time-consuming process it can be. I estimate that he spent close to 100+ hrs shooting, editing, re-shooting, and creating a musical score for this video. Given that it was going to be sent to the department heads to be authorized, this had to be a quality video that stayed within the boundaries of what the department was allowed to publish. This required a lot of pre-planning to ensure that all of the content would be suitable for upper management.

The video featured a few of my co-workers who were excited to get their 15 minutes of fame. I played a key behind the scenes role as the script holder! It was a really fun experience and was a chance for us to step away from the pressures of the office and do something different but still work related. It was great to see the many hidden talents my co-workers possessed and to have all of those talents come together to make something that we all felt would be a contribution to the department.

The final product turned out really well. I was very impressed by how professional yet entertaining it was. When I left ADEQ they were still awaiting approval from the director but I can't see a reason why he wouldn't give it the ok (unless it was for budgetary reasons).