2024 marks a big milestone for Parkway. We’re lucky to celebrate our 10th anniversary as an agency this year. While we always enjoy looking ahead and jumping into new projects at the start of a new year, we’ve recently spent time reflecting on the past 10 years too. It’s pretty incredible to see how far Parkway has come in that time. What started as a duo with an idea became a full-fledged team committed to Parkway’s success. We found an identity, expanded our services, moved to a new office and built relationships with our clients, emphasizing working partnerships and a strategic approach. With so much self-discovery and growth over the last decade, our 10th anniversary felt like the right time to reflect on Parkway’s story.
When our copywriter, Summer, suggested we make a video series documenting Parkway’s journey, we were a little surprised. Some members of our team had previous video experience but it isn’t an area Parkway works in very often. There were nerves about the learning curve and accomplishing such a large project right out of the gate. Still, we were excited about the prospect of working together on something new. As a team, Parkway embraced the opportunity to collaborate and create a documentary series putting our history, people, culture and future on display.
Getting Organized
After getting the green light, we spent hours around the conference table brainstorming how to transform the concept into something we could execute and maybe even interest people in. That turned out to be even more difficult than we anticipated. Early sessions often left us with a lot of ideas but little direction. So, we pivoted to recording and reviewing conversations to help us create a coherent outline. Though we had organization hurdles early on, one thing was clear from the start: it couldn’t just be Chris, Parkway’s creative director, telling the agency’s story alone. The people who contributed to Parkway in its early years, including former team members, had important perspectives to share too.
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Early sessions often left us with a lot of ideas but little direction.
Learning As We Go
Once we divided the outline into individual videos and determined what each video would be about and who would be featured, we dove headfirst into research. On the content side, seamlessly translating the narrative into video was essential, and that meant figuring out how to ask the right questions and creating a comfortable environment. The design team’s challenges were even more involved. We spent hours dabbling in editing software, studying camera operating and angles, learning how to capture audio and exploring how to mix and master that audio.
It took us a few months to collect equipment, sort out filming locations and schedule interview dates. And when we did finally start filming, we ran into problems almost immediately. Cameras overheated and broke. Footage had to be reshot. Audio was compromised. But through trial and error, our team worked together in ways we hadn’t before to capture footage that, eventually, became something pretty special.
Gaining New Perspectives
For Aryn, Summer and Tyler, documenting Parkway’s story was especially enlightening. As “newer” members of team Parkway, they only saw the agency as a wholly functioning business with a clear direction. Learning about the early days when winging it and rolling with the punches was standard practice was really interesting because it mirrored what the team went through to capture Parkway’s story on film.
Enjoy…and Stay Tuned
If you’re interested, we hope you’ll give Episode 1 a watch and let us know what you think. The next piece of our story is coming soon, so keep an eye out. We can’t wait to share the rest with you.
