This was our first official Big Fat Tip drop. We thought we needed a famous person and “professional” footage. Both of these ill-perceived needs slowed down our process because we had to work around his schedule and arrive extra early to set up. We will call this a “learning lesson.”
Due to our lack of filming expertise, these wound up being Go-Pro cameras propped on the table – at an angle that creates/highlights double chins. One camera also fell and filmed the ceiling for half of the time. And because we arrived early to set up cameras – the bartender and servers all knew something was up. So in the future, we decided to do quick phone footage as soon as the receipt was handed over – even if that means fuzzy pictures, bad angles, sound, and lighting. That makes them “authentic” – right? #NoFilter! We film these to share the joy these workers experience being surprised while on the job. We always ask if we can use the recording to promote the cause and get more donations. They have all happily agreed so far – most saying they want to donate, too. We hope these recordings inspire others to give. Future drops will involve teams of volunteers. Special thanks to Devon Allman for joining us on the first big drop – and for coming up with the idea to ask, “Can you check the math on this?” It has been used in every drop since!
