Top 6 Moments Of Genius House, Year One | Video Agency Culture
So it is true, time flies when you are having fun. How is it even possible that Genius House has been in business for a year? It truly feels like a couple of months. But on this day in 2013, Adam and I dumped our savings into a business bank account, and said a toast over lunch where we promptly had a few panic attacks with intermittent bursts of exhilaration. To be honest, the mix of insecurity and elation still exists. Every day, in fact. Fortunately, as business took off, we hit the ground running fast enough to forget the apprehension most of the time.
But instead of reflecting on the struggles, one thing we’ve learned is that this milestone is an opportunity for shameless self-promotion! So let us take this special day to share our top Genius House moments:
1. Working with the OGs (Original Geniuses): We have strong roots in Ohio, where Genius House actually formed as a video production/ events/ drinking croquet/ side business/ hobby with best friends. When Genius House was hired to film performances in Columbus at Revelator’s 4th & 4th Fest, the original team was magically back together with Bobby Miller, owner of Revelator / Event Manager, Audio Engineer, Grant Gundlach on sound, Production Technician, Greg Sutton on detail (beers), and all around smart guy, Bry Taylor surveying his potential investment. Looking around at our crew, with incredible music playing live in front of us was so awesome I could not help but tearing up a few times. Wish I had a better picture than this:
2. Montana: In October Adam and Darren ventured out of the city for a weeklong shoot in mountain country for Dickies. They faced unexpected blizzard conditions covering foresters, ranchers, cattle herding in the mountains and sawmill workers. Four a.m. call times, freezing appendages, and learning to keep a wolfhound nearby to avoid bear attacks were the norm for the week, but it was all worth it when the videos came together:
3. First social client: Within a month of launching we received a call from a startup in need of social content creation and profile management. After one pitch meeting, a contract was signed and we were both pinching ourselves daily, absolutely shocked that we were being sought out for services that we love to do.
4. Attending SXSW: You go to learn/ validate what you know, and to network/ party, but attending as a business owner adds 100 times the value to this conference. Not to mention we felt like hotshots during introductions and business card exchanges. I will probably add hotshot to my business card in time for next year.
5. Hiring an employee: The day we made an offer and Darren accepted was one of the proudest Genius House moments. Not only because of the talent we knew we were adding to the team, but because with this addition, we became a legitimate team.
6. Most recent: We were stoked when we were asked to film a one-time project for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. We were thrilled when they were an absolute pleasure to work with. And we were ecstatic when the sample video came together and they called last week asking us to produce a number of videos for them over the next year.
It’s sounds so cliché but the most important message here is thank YOU. If you are reading this, you are likely a client, friend, family member or someone who cares about what we are doing. It has taken a lot of hard work, some luck and some balls, but we couldn’t do it without the love and encouragement from you.
- CF