Internal communications are essential to keeping your company aligned and informed with organizational changes. Seth Weingarten, VP of Network Operations at Ampersand, knows a thing or two about navigating and communicating change. After all, Ampersand recently rebranded after operating as NCC Media for 30 years. During our latest episode of Working Lunch, we spoke with Seth to learn how Ampersand scaled its internal comms video strategy from live streaming quarterly all-hands to sharing new product announcements, engaging branch offices with their HQ, and developing virtual training for all employees with both live and on-demand video.  

Email for internal communications is one-dimensional. There’s no context or inflection. The more video we bring [to our internal comms], the more people can feel that excitement.

Seth Weingarten VP of Network Operations, Ampersand
  As a TV advertising sales and technology company, Ampersand commits to embracing video for all kinds of its internal communications. And as a leader on its network ops team, Seth has learned first-hand how to engage employees (or internal customers, as he likes to call them) using video. “TV has been the center of our culture for decades, and we’re trying to bring that same feeling to every communication that we do,” he says. How? The Ampersand team has grown its video strategy from quarterly all-hands with the CEO, to involving everyone with video. While they continue to live stream company-wide updates from its leadership team, Seth is working on video content that involves and engages every employee — even those who may not be comfortable in front of a camera at first. “The goal is to involve as many people in the company as possible, not just people who are really good on camera,” he says. “Some of the best people who are good at explaining an application aren’t necessarily the best people who are great in front of a live camera, so why take them out of the picture? We’re finding that the more that we pre-record our trainings, people are happier and less nervous about it.” Watch the episode now to learn:
  • Why video is a better medium for communicating change than other channels
  • How video can engage branch or satellite offices with teams at company headquarters
  • Ways to support camera-shy team members to help create video content
 
His advice for scaling a video strategy at a large national company like Ampersand revolves around inclusivity. “Involve as many people as possible from your organization,” he says. “Don’t think of video as solely a marketing function. I’m not a marketing guy, I’m a network operations person, but I’m bringing everybody to the table.” Stay tuned for our next episode, where we’ll be talking experiential marketing trends with Andrew Edell of Convene. Find us over at the Vimeo Enterprise LinkedIn page on Wednesday at 2 PM ET. Featured articles in this week’s episode: