The Most Surprising Thing About Working at the White House?
Photo: White House/Adam Schultz
People often ask me what surprised me most about working at the White House.
There were plenty of jaw-dropping moments—motorcades, meetings with world leaders, the sheer scale of the operation. But one of the most genuinely shocking things?
Images were being shared as email attachments—in Outlook.
That’s right. In one of the most powerful offices in the world, critical visual assets were passed around the same way family photos might be in the early 2000s: as attachments in email threads.
This created no shortage of problems:
File size limits made it hard to send large batches
No visibility into who had what or whether the right people received them
No easy way to give feedback or request edits
No control over access or versioning
And forget trying to swap in updated files after the fact
It was messy. Slow. Risky.
The Fix
“Behind every iconic image or video is a layer of infrastructure that most people never see.
Getting that layer right ensures that the right stories get told, and the right people get to see them.”
Eventually, I helped implement a proper cloud-based asset sharing system: specifically, Frame.io.
Getting there wasn’t simple. Procurement, interdepartmental coordination, onboarding hurdles; it was a bureaucratic maze. But those hurdles were nothing compared to the gains:
Large files batches could be shared easily
Approval and feedback loops were built in
Everyone on the team had visibility into what was distributed
Files could be added, removed, or updated in real-time
The Impact
These weren’t just technical improvements. They had real, tangible outcomes.
We were able to streamline approvals with the Outer Oval Office for publishing images to Flickr. We could more efficiently distribute official photos—like moments between the President and visitors, foreign leaders, or everyday Americans.
It meant more people who had their once-in-a-lifetime moment with the President actually received their images. It meant diplomacy was documented, managed, and shared with care.
The Bigger Picture
Even the largest, most sophisticated institutions struggle with creative asset management.
But the right tools, and the willingness to navigate the challenges of change, can make a huge difference.
Behind every iconic image or video is a layer of infrastructure that most people never see. Getting that layer right ensures that the right stories get told, and the right people get to see them. Sometimes that means shaping public perception. Other times, it just means making sure someone gets the photo of the moment they shook the President’s hand.
Either way, it matters.
If this sounds painfully familiar, you're not alone—and we can help.
