The Oscar for best outdoor video goes to…….

Gareth    eCommerce, Gareth, General Outdoor     Gareth, gear, video, webtogs, woods

This week has been a mental one as we have been out and about shooting video for the website and for a video noobie such as myself, it has been a really interesting experience. I’ve long been a big fan of videos on websites when selling stuff as people get a much better idea how things work and what it looks like in the flesh. Shooting the video has also been a great deal of fun with James and Matt acting as the crew and myself somehow ending up in front of the camera. I’m fairly sure this is down to the beard, but I’ll leave you to make up your own minds if this was a good idea when you see them on the site! James did us all proud with his shooting soup (Beef consomee, Tabasco & vodka) which was totally lush along with some old fashioned scooby snacks.

The product videos were relatively easy but the real toughy so far has been the gear guides we are starting to shoot on helping peole to choose Jackets / Boots etc, they took more than a few takes so every time I see those blooper reels, I have a certain amount of sympathy. Whats going to be interesting is to see what everyone thinks of them, do they help people come to a decision or is there anything we could do better? Stay tuned to Webtogs TV

Made it

Gareth    Gareth, General Outdoor     Gareth, startup, woods

Well we are here, and whatever I expected life to be like down in Tractor land, the reality has been somewhat different…. Moving from a corporate environment to a start up has been an eye opener. The amount of work and things that need to be done is sometimes overwhelming, but I am slowly getting my head around the fact that sometimes being able to tie up all loose ends is simply not possible! This has definitely been a strange one for me coming from such an organised working environment before hand, but the opportunity to actually design and influence the systems we will need to be able to do our work is amazing. The freedom is both liberating and a little scary if I am honest.

One thing I can’t compromise on though is our commitment to customer service. My main role here is to ensure that we have the systems in place to provide legendary customer service and we simply cannot get this wrong. My own experience of using outdoor gear websites has nearly always been disappointing from no accurate indication of items being in or out of stock, to poor delivery companies (Andy Howell touched on this here). Our aim is to get right both the product we advise our customers on, our stock situation and realistic delivery times of products 100% of the time.

From an outdoors perspective we have already been reaping the benefits, being able to get straight out in to the countryside and get some serious walking under belts has been brilliant. We have some paths near to our house but this weekend past saw us heading out to Duncliffe woods

I’m not sure what it is, but the smell of woods in Autumn is one of life’s great aromas. It was a steep ascent to the top of the hill and as my son was on my back, I realised quickly how out of shape I had become. The hard slog was worth it though and we were rewarded with views out towards Shillingston. Then it was down through the Oak and Beech trees amongst some stunning colours as autumn begins to bite. I ended up having to limbo under horse barriers with a sleeping son on my back before wandering through the mushrooms that cropped up overnight. What else could we finish up with but a pint and lunch in the local before a snooze on the sofa.

Life ain’t bad if you ask me.