26 Feb Meet the Hopkins Clubhouse A/V Team
Did you happen to catch the recent video promoting the Services for Services Auction? If not check it out here. This award-worthy video – engaging, goofy, and just a hoot – was a production of the Hopkins Clubhouse Audio/Visual Team. It’s a testament to Clubhouse community, creativity, and commitment! Two years ago members and staff at a Clubhouse Training in Greenville, South Carolina were inspired by that Clubhouse’s focus on video production in their work day. They decided to bring some of that creative energy back to our Clubhouse community … with amazing results!
The A/V Team has produced videos covering just about everything touching our Clubhouse community and all of Vail Place-
• An overview of our programs for new members
• Tobacco Independence videos to cover the transition to our new Tobacco Free policy
• Week-at-a-glance (WAAG) videos to cover … well, what’s happening during the week … at a glance
• Thank-you videos to donors (like the personal thank you videos that went to every person who donated to GiveMN last November – a real hit!)
• Agency training events
• A member mental health recovery story
• Promotions for upcoming events
Where does this creativity come from?
Well, on the production side … Derek (a member with an extensive IT background), Kevin (a member with a long-time passion for editing), and Jonathan (a multi-talented staff member) have been the principal captains of the ship. Wait! Are we mixing metaphors? Did we have a metaphor, to begin with? Never mind … let’s sail on.
Katie (another multi-talented staff member) has also been a bosun and often a captain of the A/V ship. You could even say an explorer, sailing to discover new video territory and generating great enthusiasm and creative energy.
And Richard (a member who’s sailed through three Dr. Vail Hour performances) has done a great job as a lead actor (first mate) in many projects including our auction video.
But what keeps the A/V ship on course is having so many dedicated sailors. At the weekly media meetings and in conversations around the club dozens of people have come forward, eager to be part of a project. And every project engages lots of different people. The WAAG videos have a different host/anchor each week – and just recently one of our members composed original WAAG theme music. The larger projects bring in different people based on their interests, whether it’s doing voiceovers, storyboarding, digital editing, camera operation, acting, or script-writing.
With just a Canon hand-held camera – or a smartphone – and cloud-based editing software the A/V Team has harnessed boundless creativity, energy and humor to bring so much to the Clubhouse community and our entire Vail Place family. They’ve created opportunities for work and comradery. They’ve expressed the challenges and the aspirations of people pursuing recovery. They’ve been ambassadors, educating, while delighting, the broader community about mental health. They’ve been bringing to life our mission of “Cultivating hope and inspiring change to promote mental health recovery.”