Thursday, June 28, 2007

The “New” Smell

There is something to be said about the smell and shine of new things. If you have ever purchased a new car, you know what I am talking about.

Just like cars get old and need replacing, our cameras needed to be replaced. After all, these cameras are put to work every day. They are expected to withstand grueling conditions as we aggressively cover hurricanes, rain storms, snow, hail, building fires and so much more.

Several weeks ago, the stack of boxes arrived with the new cameras inside. Our technical folks have been getting them ready to hit the streets. Now they’re ready to rollout.

Rolling out a fleet of new cameras is never easy. It’s not as easy as exchanging an old camera for a new one and sending the photographer on his/her merry way. You have to train them on the new equipment and than test everything to make sure it all works. Not to mention, the photographers like to have time with their new gear so they can play around with all the buttons, gizmos, gadgets and whatchamacallits.

From the Content Center, this means we had to do juggle our staff of photographers to get them all trained. We refer to this as time “off the streets”. Not everyone can be “off the streets” at the same time. We have to space them out.

We have a few more cameras to swap out and than the rollout will be complete.