Alex Chandler at SlidesLive: Valuing Production With Values
Tags: Manager, Technology, Media, Production, Values

Alex Chandler is one of the production managers for SlidesLive, a company working to create an electronic library full of conferences and talks from around the world. Alex is from the greater Seattle area and has always had a passion for film and video production.

“My interest in video production started when I was in middle school,” Alex said. “Throughout highschool and college I would refine these skills, becoming the founder of the Tacoma Community College Film Club. And during my time in 4 year college, I studied business entrepreneurship, simultaneously winning a couple Film Festival awards; these awards encouraged me to start my own business and pursue videography full time.”

With a high quality education and a few film awards under his belt, Alex felt confident in his skills. However, the greatest learning experience was yet to come. And that was with the SlidesLive team.

“When I met Slideslive back in 2017, I had no idea how far they would take me and everything that I would learn,” Alex said. “From the beginning, I was enthusiastic to work for a company that honed their craft and took such care on every project. From day one I learned as much as I could have hoped to learn in the course of a year working for myself. This learning experience is what has kept me coming back over and over again.”

Alex can’t seem to get enough of SlidesLive. But who can, really?

The company offered Alex the opportunity to work as a Production Manager. He soon realized that working with a team was far more enlightening than working as an individual. Being around those who shared his passion allowed him to hone his skills and elevate them to the next level.

“As a Production Manager, I am in charge of preparing events, videographers, and seeing projects through to the final product,” Alex said. “This was immensely daunting at first, but with a great backend team, it quickly became second nature, and I began to work on larger and larger events.”

As Alex dug deeper and deeper into the SlidesLive world of production, he began to uncover his responsibilities and how to successfully complete them.

“The most important part of my job is making sure the team has both the equipment and the skills to capture the event,” Alex said. “When I am working on site, I can also teach and oversee production. There is a lot to being a production manager; from start to finish, I do my best to ensure client satisfaction and high production quality.”

However, successfully completing all Production Manager responsibilities with no errors is extremely difficult when technology is involved. Material can be deleted or equipment can malfunction. But with the SlidesLive team, there is always a way.

“On the surface, it may look like what we do is easy, but what you don’t see is the immense amount of work behind the scenes,” Alex said. “There are countless backups and last resort efforts put in place because if something can go wrong, eventually it will. We aren’t perfect, and I have made a fair number of mistakes myself, but these mistakes would have been far worse had it not been for the extra steps required by the SlidesLive process.”

Alex takes extra steps not only to ensure quality production but to create a healthy atmosphere for work as well. Being a leader is an essential part of being a Production Manager at SlidesLive, and Alex has done so in a friendly and open environment.

“My favorite part of working for SlidesLive team is that you cannot find a more enjoyable group of people to work with. The team is enthusiastic, funny, and a pleasure to be a part of!” Alex said.

Off the job, the crew enjoys themselves by exploring the cities they have traveled to. Alex expressed his appreciation for the travel opportunities that SlidesLive has afforded him with as well as the ability to have fun with his team after the real work is done.

“It’s not all hard work either,” Alex said. “For large conferences — I mean large conferences pre-covid-19 — we hang out and enjoy the unique sites around the area, too. I mean, after a week of 12+ hour days, it’s well deserved, and I couldn’t wish for a greater group to enjoy my time with.”

Nevertheless, team bonding is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Alex loves about the SlidesLive world. Unlike larger companies that seem to be operated with loose morals, SlidesLive functions as a true public service, striving to create the Library of Alexandria of the 21st century.

“Throughout my life I have struggled working for companies with poor values,” Alex said. “Then I met SlidesLive. They truly care about their customers and their vision to create a directory for all of the talks in the world. I can confidently say that no matter where you are, or what size conference or talk you want captured, SlidesLive is the best option.”