The Young Presidents’ Organization, or YPO, is a global peer networking group that connects CEOs under 45 around the world. Each local chapter plans an annual calendar of events, giving this group of exceptional men and women a chance to reconnect, learn, and relax together. The theme for the 2013-14 events calendar was “EXPLORE,” as each unique event would ask its members to do just that, from stepping out of the office and into the morgue for a rare lecture opportunity, to a family weekend retreat in the Appalachians, to a conference in steamy Miami, Florida. The chapter administrator, Jennifer Fraps, had a great schedule of events on tap, but she needed a visual way to present them at the YPO Kick-off party. She pulled together a script, and I was tapped to produce a video that would get the members excited for the coming year. The catch? I had only eight days to record the voiceover, find stock footage, build a great soundtrack of popular music (as this was not to be used by a non-profit for internal distribution, the board members assured me they were not worried about licensing,) and put it all together in a world-explorer themed presentation. Despite the hectic turnaround, I enjoyed the scavenger hunt of finding footage to represent each event, and relished the opportunity to set the right mood with a great soundtrack, unfettered by pesky licensing issues. It was such a fun project to produce, it’s no wonder the video was received so well.
Credit due: Voiceover performance & recording: Chris Sanborn, Impulse Recording Script: Jennifer Fraps, YPO Video production, soundtrack and visual design: Alexandra Pilla