Have you ever wondered how a Merrill Gardens video is made? Or where the stories in our blogs come from and the features we post on Instagram? Well, this week we are excited to release a new video on what it's like to live at a Merrill community and we're taking you behind the scenes to show how we did it!
In August, team members from our Seattle Home Office visited Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre community in Renton, Washington to capture what life is like in their community. We arrived early in the morning and met the talent, a group of residents who generously volunteered to spend their day with us. Everyone was in great spirits and ready to get to work!
We found a quiet corner of the community and setup the camera, lights, and microphones for resident interviews. We recorded hours of footage that is then cut down to only a couple minutes after editing!
As residents were waiting for their interview we asked them to participate in short videos and skits for our social media accounts. We've had a blast on TikTok since launching on the platform earlier this year (give us a follow!), and being in a community is the perfect time to get content to showcase! Some of our favorite trends are doing "outfits of the day", where you talk about your outfit and where you bought it from, or asking seniors for life advice, like the secrets to a successful marriage or a piece of wisdom they want to share with the world.
Later in the day, we followed residents around the property and tried to keep up with their active schedules! Some of their hobbies include game groups, where they sharpen their skills with popular games like Rummikub, or hold positions like Resident Ambassador, and volunteer time with new residents to welcome them to the community.
After our full day at Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre, we were so proud of the photos, videos, and stories we had collected. It was an exciting, productive, and fun day creating content to share the lives of residents and team members, and we are so grateful to the Renton team for hosting us!
If you would like to see the result of our video shoot, click here to watch our new video! And be on the lookout for more content from this day on our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.