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On Tuesday July 25th, members of the SAA Business Archives Section (BAS) were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the Nike Archives in Portland, Oregon. The tour was hosted by Scott Reames (Content Director/Historian) and Rick Shannon (Director), along with the Department of Nike Archives (DNA) staff. Began in 2006, DNA is “Dedicated to collecting, protecting, and proactively leveraging decades of organizational memory and historical assets to Nike’s strategic advantage.” Today the collection includes over 200,000 assets, and is growing rapidly.
The guests arrive to the Nike Archives.
Nike arranged for the BAS members to take charter buses from downtown Portland to the Nike Archives facility at the company’s headquarters. Upon arrival and check-in, smaller groups were organized to rotate through the massive 150,000 square foot complex. The DNA staff explained how they support employees, designers, and researchers by fulfilling requests. DNA manages a password-protected website, providing targeted access to the collection online. The website includes object records, photographs, and other contextual information. In addition to the online access, DNA curates “Rig Rooms” at the Nike Archives, comprised of themed exhibitions on display, covering specific product lines or other topics. Taking up to 3 days for the DNA staff to prepare, the Rig Rooms provide boundless inspiration to designers and Nike staff. Seeing and interacting with the products in person helps the designers to understand how the products were constructed, and to inform future products and reissues.
Keenan Jones leads the tour of the footwear archives.
In addition to the Rig Rooms, the tour included a look inside the processing areas, photography & imaging studios, and the impressive archives storage. The DNA team provided a comprehensive overview of the facility and their work processes, answering all questions from an eager audience.
Scott Reames provides key insights about how DNA operates.
Following the tour, Nike generously hosted an outdoor reception with food and refreshments. The reception provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to discuss further and network.
Guests and DNA staff enjoying the outdoor reception.
To close out the day, BAS members had an opportunity to shop at the Nike employee store, utilizing a generous discount!
We are grateful to Nike for sponsoring the tour and providing an opportunity to learn more about Nike’s heritage and history. In addition we are grateful to the DNA team for leading the tour and being terrific hosts:
Rick Shannon (DNA Director)
Scott Reames (Content Director/Historian)
Kristi Kieffer (Archivist/Operations Director)
Todd Olbrantz (Archives Manager/Acquisitions)
Mark Locker (Data Manager)
Aaron Last (2-D Database Manager)
Matt Williams & Jessica Kingrey, Sr. (Content Developers)
Dawn Achee (Apparel Collection Manager)
Tina Warner (Footwear Collection Manager)
To learn more about Nike’s history and DNA, check out this article in Popular Mechanics.
Photographs courtesy the Department of Nike Archives (DNA).
