Jake’s Journal: GPSMAP 62st steals spotlight at video shoot

Whenever we talk about our Garmin tutorial videos, everyone here mentions that we’re lucky to have “cheap talent” … meaning me. Then they point out that even that description is a bit of an exaggeration. Both the “cheap” (it’s actually “free”) and the “talent” parts. Fortunately, I know how to surround myself with good people. From the writers (Peg and Carl know how to knock out some scripts) to the video team (Beau and Owen do amazing work while having far too much fun) to the folks using the products while I ramble on in the background. The vast majority of the time, these actors are none other than our Garmin colleagues from engineering, product support, industrial design, human resources, the warehouse or sales. Yet another huge benefit to vertical integration and all of us being housed under one roof. And more times than not, they’re good friends of mine, willing to spend early mornings, late nights and long weekends hiking, running or cycling on camera … all for some pizza, laughs and assurances that I owe them a favor.

But the real star of the show is always the product itself. From our first tutorial series with the revolutionary Forerunner 405 and then the feature-packed Edge 705 and simplified Forerunner 110, our lean team of fitness engineers never ceases to amaze me. And not to be outdone, the outdoor recreation group keeps topping themselves with products such as the Oregon and Dakota families that are tough as nails, yet easy to learn. So I was excited last week to head out into the woods with the video team and my buddy Josh, an aviation engineer,  to showcase our newest outdoor handheld, the GPSMAP 62st. Under thick tree cover and along dramatic hillsides, we filmed a handful of tutorials with topics ranging from a general overview to specific features such as paperless geocaching, wireless data transfer and the vast variety of mapping capabilities. We’ll be adding them to our online learning center, where you can find helpful videos for these devices and more, including aviation and marine products. And you can always follow us on Twitter and check out our GarminBlog YouTube channel to see our ads, unboxing videos and other behind-the-scenes fun featuring the best “cheap talent” that pizza can buy.

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