One of the reasons we get so excited about opening a new brewery (aside from the obvious: tons of beer!), is that we get to work side-by-side with all our awesome team members/good friends. So we’re doing a blog series with introductions to our Common Block coworkers. This way, you get to know some behind-the-scenes brewpub facts, and our team members get to take a break and write a bit about themselves – for some, maybe a love-hate task.
First up: meet Nick. In addition to being our videographer and Instagram star, he’s also a social media contributor, keyboardist, substitute teacher, cat owner, book club member, and once-a-year-runner. Take it away, Nick!
Does your cat know you drink beer?
Once, when I was drinking a can of Caldera’s Pale, my cat (whom is affectionately and deceivingly 
named Button) jumped up on a lap and bit my hand, drawing blood. She did it again with Deschutes’ Inversion IPA, the only difference being she bit my nose, but not when I was drinking Seirra Nevada’s Pale, making me think she didn’t like beers from Oregon. It happened when I was trying to nap, and once more when I was feeding her, and I realized she’s just a cat and mostly insane. I like to think I’m the owner and she’s the pet, but at times the line is so blurred and convoluted I can’t tell who’s who.
Word on the street is, you attended the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference. Tell us about that memorable (or maybe blurry) weekend in San Diego…
So much beer, and SO much time. I remember feeling exhausted at the end of it, because there were so many good beers. A WEEKEND of good, full, high alcohol, hangover-inducing beers. Everyone was pushing their latest brew, often times an experimental one more rich in flavor than a See’s Candy box. I’m not a pilsner or lager fan, but I remember being ecstatic when a brewery brought out a lighter ale for our drowning, overwhelmed pallets.
And that was just the ‘Beer’ part. The blogger part of the conference was great. I learned a lot about social media, video/photography and networking. Plus, it was great to be among people with similar interests and talents.
Nick can’t quite put his beer down.
What have been the most interesting, and most boring, videos you’ve ever shot?
The most boring video I shot was probably one I did for an event last year. I had 50+ people say the same paragraph, then spliced it all together to have those 50+ people saying parts of the whole message – solidarity and all that stuff. The video turned out great, but shooting it was rather tedious and editing, ho-boy. I had about two hours of footage to sift through and splice. And then there was the psychological damage of hearing the same paragraph of words over and over and over again. I still have those sentences dancing around in my head like a bad song I can’t get out of my mind.
This is going to sound weird, but I love timelapse videos. It makes everything cool, it’s like the microwave of film: you get to fast forward through all the meaningless stuff. Like watching paint dry? Nope! But watching a TIMELAPSE of paint dry? Well that’s another story all together. It’s fun to watch the movement happen.
I also liked doing a submission for a competition the Oregon Shakespeare Festival put on in Ashland. It was a lot of fun to work with a big group and see what kind of talents they had (or didn’t have). The video ended up taking second place in the competition, which feels just good enough to keep me motivated to make something better.
When you’re editing footage, what beer do you like to drink? When you’ve finished editing, what’s your victory beer?
My editing beer(s) is the same as my weekend, weekday, evening, after-work, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and post cat-bite treatment beer(s): something pale and something slightly hoppy. I love Caldera’s Pale ale, GoodLife’s Descender IPA and Portland Brewing Company’s IPA. After I’m done editing, I usually stay the course and drink whatever’s in my fridge, which seems to just hold beers and cheese sticks these days.
If you could have any Twitter handle, already taken or untaken, what would it be?
@SomethingWitty
And if you liked Nick, you’re really going to like:
Meet Common Blocker Andy Schow
Meet Common Blocker Ashley Nunes
Meet Common Blocker Rachel Koning
What do we do when our building permits get approved? We celebrate! And how do we celebrate? With all the best people we know, lots of beer and food, corn hole, live music, and impromptu dance parties.
The local beer and food was a hit – Ooblies Waffle Sandwiches filled the air with cooked-to-order waffle batter, which lured us all to the awesome food truck selections. Beer and cider from Southern Oregon Brewing, Standing Stone Brewing and Apple Outlaw kept us satiated all night long…and maybe helped inspire the fore-mentioned impromptu dance party.
