When AMCP was formed by marketing and communication professionals from Dallas and Fort Worth in 1994, we settled in Arlington because it was convenient for everyone to meet half way between the cities. Over the years, most of the original folks were succeeded by people half their age, paper gave way to digital and entry and fulfilment transcended into the cloud.
Out with the old (above) in with the new (below).
After 20 years of growth, it was long past time for a new facility to house an expanding and changing operation. So, we moved into the former Al’s Water Coolers in the Dallas Design District. Well, by then it wasn’t Al’s anymore. We spent well over a year turning the old brick repair shop into a space that would be comfortable and fun to work in.
Cleaning out the Arlington warehouse brought back a lot of old memories and provided provocative insite into how far marketing and communications has come in the last 20 years. Huddled together in a closet, were once state-of-the-art VHS, S-VHS, Beta, DV and DVD players and a DAT audio machine. Nearby, in the warehouse were an audio board and old production monitor that together took up the space of a Mini Cooper.
A recycler was called to evict the still working equipment along with two IBM Selectrics, and over a dozen computers and CRTs. Our first computer, an Apple II, the only thing that could still be worth some money, could not be found. It was probably thrown out years ago with someone’s old baseball cards.
It hurt to get rid of this once prized technology. But, it could have been worse. About a decade ago, we were able to sell or give away our ¾ in, 1 in and Beta SP machines.
AMCP – The old days. Look at that equipment!
Ten years ago our judging room looked like a production studio with multiple video players and presentation tables. Now, a Mac and a PC do most of the work.
But while we may have less equipment, we need more work areas to accommodate the judges who go over the thousands of entries that are reviewed each year in the MarCom, Hermes and AVA Digital competitions.
The new building doesn’t need as much storage space as the old one. We used to get all of our entries through the mail or delivery services and sort through them on tables. Now we deal mostly with megabytes and gigabytes and keep them in the cloud. Next time we move should be a lot easier.
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