Not quite Anchorman

Looking down
London, ON
August 2015
Thematic. Where You Work. Here.

I tend to be a bit of an itinerant worker. Wherever there's space, power and hopefully an open Wi-Fi network, I can pretty much go to town as long as I've got my backpack full of technology with me. We always knew that mobile technology would eventually free us from the static confines of immovable offices. I live that reality every day, and it makes for an interesting, if somewhat unpredictable, life.

What you're looking at here is a downward view of CTV London's anchor desk. While most of my on-air work originates from another studio in the same building, every once in a while I get to do a hit from the big chair. Which, I won't lie, was a little intimidating when they first pointed me toward the hallowed desk on a very large pedestal. I'm just an interloper, after all.

The desk has a lucite top that covers an open space below. It's actually pretty slickly designed, as it allows all sorts of workflows to happen - check the laptop below - without any of the doodads of a typical desk showing up on camera. The studio is packed with lots of other seemingly small examples of ingenuity that contribute to the magic of live and edited television. Like that string of lights that curves around the top of the image? LED Christmas lights to provide better coverage of the anchors' faces. And for the record, that's not my makeup.

There's something comforting about having my own laptop and iPad with me when I sit here. I never actually read what's on them while I'm on-air. I don't read scripts or teleprompters: Once the red light goes on, all we're doing is chatting. But having my stuff nearby makes what might seem a little stressful at first glance significantly less so - and it gives me something to focus on in the few minutes before things get busy. It's a psychological thing, but I've learned how important these little fundamental touches can be, and how powerfully influential they are to the final product.

Indeed, over time, this remarkable place far from home seems to have become more like my home than I ever thought it would. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Your turn: How do you bring a little bit of home to a remote or office workplace?