Tips for Getting Video Crew Through Security
You’re in marketing and you’ve set an interview for 9AM with your very busy VP of sales. It’s 9AM and your film crew hasn’t arrived. That’s because they are downstairs still trying to get through security. It’s every video crew’s nightmare.
This happens quite a lot in large corporate buildings.
Here’s how it goes; the crew arrives and unloads their gear in the front of your building. They need to find a place to park their van. This could be downstairs in the parking garage or five blocks away. Once they’ve parked the front desk security tells them to go around the building to the loading dock. At the loading dock security ask who they are visiting but can’t find their names on his roster. At 9:00 AM you get a call from the crew to clear them through security. Wait, the building manger is telling the crew there is no certificate of insurance on file. They won’t let them in without it. An hour later the certificate is emailed to the building manager and the crew is ready to set up. It’s 9:30 or 10AM and your interviewee says he has an appointment at 10:30. The crew sets up in half an hour, a fast set up, but your VP needs to leave. Sound crazy, it happens more often than you think.
Here’s a great way to avoid this scenario. Pre-plan. Check with the building manager to see if a COI is needed. Check with security to see what is needed to get the crew into the building and to your floor as quickly as possible. Speak with the crew and let them know you have reserved a spot for them to park. If you can’t do that, find where the nearest parking will be.
No one has a good day when security is an afterthought.
