Welcome To The Nxt

Written by Matt Berringer

February 26, 2016

At Nxtbook Media, we have a mission statement and a list of our core values, but our unofficial motto is, “Work Hard, Play Hard.” As such, our working atmosphere is informal and spontaneous, with a serious work-related conversation inevitably chased by a good laugh ten minutes after.

So a couple of months ago, we had this idea. Let’s make a video series about Nxtbook, at Nxtbook, featuring Nxtbookers. I mean, we talk the creative talk, so let’s walk the creative walk. Nxtbook is housed in this awesome industrial-chic workspace, for starters, so it’s a lot of fun to shoot in and interesting to see. We have an endless fount of source material and creativity from Nxtbookers, and lastly, we have our own video department eager and willing to strut their technical expertise. So…

Welcome to The Nxt, Again!

The Nxt is our in-house video series featuring different members of Nxtbook team in humorous situations, based on true stories. Each episode features a member of our team and a project or task that they are undertaking here at Nxtbook. Though the situations and characterizations of employees portrayed in The Nxt are exaggerated (Think Spinal Tap, “The numbers all go to eleven!”), they are based on the real working dynamics and quirks of the Nxtbook Team.

Building Forts with Don and Justin

In Building Forts, we wanted to feature the working relationship between the two members of our IT team, Don and Justin. Don and Justin were roommates in college, and have worked together at Nxtbook for over five years now. They have a shorthand and efficiency that only comes from working with and knowing someone for a long time. It’s obvious to everyone at Nxtbook and our external clients that they are a great team.

So, we wanted to create a video poking fun of our dynamic duo’s terrific working relationship by making them undergo a series of team-building exercises to improve communication, trust, and collaboration. Now, I don’t think there is a person among us who hasn’t been in the middle of a  team-building exercise and thought, “Seriously? Seriously?!”

So we did our research and found the names of real team-building exercises and paired them with a series of farcical activities inspired by and infused with real details from Don and Justin’s life. For example, Don is a serious Oreo-oholic who has yet to hit bottom or the fact that Justin and Don are both competitive runners with the medals to prove it. They will venture out on the coldest and hottest of days of the year and post about it on social media– unfailing when I am about to finish a bag of chips from the vending machine for lunch.

One of the funniest things we discovered during filming was that Justin, one of the nicest guys on planet Earth, was sooo good at being mischievous. The actual look of satisfaction on his face while stealing Don’s cookies or locking in him in the server room was in my opinion, Oscar-worthy.

So make some popcorn and settle back. You can also catch one of our bloopers here to see how Justin really feels about Almond Milk.

In case you missed Episode 1, Harmonizing with Matt, check it out below!

Episodes are released on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Stay tuned for next month’s episode and watch the entire series at nxtbk.co/nxtseries!